1945 Retro Hugo Award Longlist (awarded in 2020)

The Retro Hugos are a failure from almost every perspective. I have written about this extensively over the last couple of years, and I'm not going to rehash all of those arguments again here. I've laid out the evidence, I've made the arguments, and I think I've made the case.

That said, there is one potential reason that could justify the Retro Hugos, and that is the list of works that are associated with the Retro Hugo longlist could be used as a guide to finding worthwhile works from an older era, highlighting overlooked or forgotten gems from a bygone era, and allowing modern readers to discover lesser-known older writers and their works.

The problem is, even in the longlist, the Retro Hugos are not particularly good at serving this purpose. Every year it seems like the same handful of authors dominate both the list of official finalists and the longlist as well. As an example, look at the longlist for the Best Short Story category: Two stories by Ray Bradbury and one story each from Isaac Asimov, Fredric Brown, Lester del Rey, Fritz Leiber, C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner, John R. Pierce,  Dorothy Quick, and Manly Wade Wellman. That's a list of eight authors that are already famous and well-regarded, and two who are somewhat obscure.

The question more or less boils down to: Is it worth keeping an award this flawed in order to provide a spotlight that will bring one or two authors in each category back into relevance? Is that enough to keep handing out awards to mediocre early work by authors like Asimov and Bradbury? Is that enough to justify handing another editing award to Jon W. Campbell? Is a list dominated by authors who one really needs no help finding worth creating on a regular basis? Seriously, all you have to do is mention that you are interested in science fiction and you will be offered a dozen suggestions penned by Asimov, Bradbury, Burroughs, and Heinlein, and only slightly fewer suggestions for works by authors like Brackett, Kuttner, Leiber, Sturgeon, and van Vogt. No one needs any "help" finding them or their work.

In the end, the Retro Hugos are nothing but a self-indulgent nostalgia fest for the tiny handful of Worldcon members who bother to participate. This is, for the most part, the reason why the retro Hugos have become the useless appendage on the actual Hugos that they are. Fortunately, they are limited by the rules that create them, so there are only seven more opportunities to go through this nigh- pointless exercise.

Best Novel

Finalists:
The Golden Fleece (Hercules, My Shipmate) by Robert Graves
Land of Terror by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Shadow Over Mars (The Nemesis from Terra) by Leigh Brackett [winner]
Sirius: A Fantasy of Love and Discord by Olaf Stapledon
The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater
The Winged Man by A.E. van Vogt and E. Mayne Hull

Longlisted Nominees:
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Delicate Ape by Dorothy B. Hughes
Destiny Times Three by Fritz Leiber
The Golden Amazon by John Russell Fearn
Magic Moon by Brett Sterling
Miss Shumway Waves a Wand by James Hadley Chase
Renaissance by Raymond F.Jones
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
Time Must Have a Stop by Aldous Huxley
Le Voyageur Imprudent (Future Times Three) by René Barjavel
The World of Null-A by A.E. van Vogt
Worlds Beginning by Robert Ardrey

Best Novella

Finalists:
The Changeling by A.E. van Vogt
A God Named Kroo by Henry Kuttner
Intruders from the Stars by Ross Rocklynne
The Jewel of Bas by Leigh Brackett

Killdozer! by Theodore Sturgeon [winner]

Old Man in New World by Olaf Stapledon [ineligible]
Trog by Murray Leinster

Longlisted Nominees:
The Dead Hand by Isaac Asimov
The Dweller in Darkness by August Derleth
Giant Killer by A. Bertram Chandler
The Giant Runt by Ross Rocklynne
Judgment Night by C.L. Moore
The Mad Robot by William P. McGivern
Minions of the Crystal Sphere by Albert dePina
The Mule by Isaac Asimov (reviewed as part of Foundation and Empire)
Murder In Space by David V. Reed
Plague by Murray Leinster
The Return of Jongor by Robert Moore Williams
Star Base X by Robert Moore Williams
Strangers on the Heights by Manly Wade Wellman
Sword of Tomorrow by Henry Kuttner
Wanderers of the Wolf Moon by Nelson S. Bond

Best Novelette

Finalists:
Arena by Fredric Brown
The Big and the Little (The Merchant Princes) by Isaac Asimov
The Children’s Hour by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner

City by Clifford D. Simak (reviewed as part of the fix up novel City) [winner]

No Woman Born by C.L. Moore
When the Bough Breaks by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner

Longlisted Nominees
The Beasts of Barsac by Robert Bloch
Census by Clifford Simak
The Day the World Stood Still by Allison Harding
Deadline by Cleve Cartmill
The Dweller in Darkness by August Derleth
Plague by Murray Leinster
Ride the El to Doom by Allison Harding
Technical Error by Hal Clement
Terror Out of Space by Leigh Brackett
The Veil of Astellar by Leigh Brackett

Best Short Story

Finalists:
And the Gods Laughed by Fredric Brown
Desertion by Clifford D. Simak
Far Centaurus by A. E. van Vogt

Huddling Place by Clifford D. Simak (reviewed in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume I, 1929-1964)

I, Rocket by Ray Bradbury [winner]
The Wedge (The Traders) by Isaac Asimov

Longlisted Nominees
And Then, the Silence by Ray Bradbury
Catch that Rabbit by Isaac Asimov (reviewed in I. Robot)
The Gothic Window by Dorothy Quick
Hoofs by Manly Wade Wellman
Housing Problem by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner
Invariant by John R. Pierce
Kindness by Lester del Rey
The Lake by Ray Bradbury
Sanity by Fritz Leiber
The Yehudi Principle by Fredric Brown

Best Series

Finalists:
Captain Future by Edmond Hamilton
The Cthulhu Mythos by H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and others [winner]
Doc Savage by Kenneth Robeson (mostly Lester Dent)
Foundation by Isaac Asimov [ineligible] (starting with Foundation)
Jules de Grandin by Seabury Quinn
Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Shadow by Walter B. Gibson
Venus Equilateral by George O. Smith [ineligible]

Longlisted Nominees
Buck Rogers by Dick Calkins
City by Clifford Simak
Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond
G-8 and His Battle Aces by Robert J. Hogan
The Golden Amazon by John Russell Fearn
John Thunstone by Manly Wade Wellman
Joseph Jorkens by Lord Dunsany
Robots by Isaac Asimov (starting with I, Robot and The Caves of Steel)

Best Related Work

Finalists:

’42 To ’44: A Contemporary Memoir Upon Human Behavior During the Crisis of the World Revolution by H.G. Wells

The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley [ineligible]
Fancyclopedia by Jack Speer
Mr. Tompkins Explores the Atom by George Gamow
Rockets: The Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere by Willy Ley

The Science-Fiction Field by Leigh Brackett [winner]

The Works of H.P. Lovecraft: Suggestions for a Critical Appraisal by Fritz Leiber

Longlisted Nominees
Futurian War Digest edited by J. Michael Rosenblum
The Grey Mouser (poem) by Fritz Leiber
The Inner Ring by C.S. Lewis
Little Known Fantaisistes by Harold Wakefield
Marginalia: H.P. Lovecraft edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei
Panic: The Orson Welles Broadcast That Hoaxed America
Rockets: A Prelude to Space Travel by Willy Ley
The Story Behind the Story: Veil of Astellar by Leigh Brackett
A Treasury of American Folklore edited by Benjamin Botkin

Best Graphic Story

Finalists:
Buck Rogers: Hollow Planetoid by Dick Calkins
Donald Duck: The Mad Chemist by Carl Barks
Flash Gordon: Battle for Tropica by Don Moore and Alex Raymond
Flash Gordon: Triumph in Tropica by Don Moore and Alex Raymond

The Spirit: For the Love of Clara Defoe by Manly Wade Wellman, Lou Fine and Don Komisarow

Superman: The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Brick Bradford: Beyond the Crystal Door by William Ritt; art by Clarence Gray
Buck Rogers: Monkeymen of Planet by Dick Calkins
Buck Rogers: Planet of the Rising Sun by Dick Calkins
Buck Rogers: Plastic Percy by Dick Calkins
Captain Marvel Adventures: Monster Society of Evil by Otto Binder; art by C.C. Beck
Captain Marvel Adventures: Silvana's Twin by Otto Binder; art by C.C. Beck

Detective Comics #94 Batman by by Bill Finger and Jack Farr; art by Ed Kressy, Dick Sprang, Jack Farr, Howard Sherman, George Roussos and Louis Cazeneuve

Ibis the Invincible: Loki the Terrible by Otto Binder; art by C.C. Beck
Lady Satan: The Allied Assassination Plot art by George Tuska
Mandrake the Magician: The Dome by Lee Falk and Phil Davis
Mandrake: The Earthshaker by Lee Falk and Phil Davis
Mandrake: The Garden of Wuzzu by Lee Falk and Phil Davis
Mandrake: The Mirror People by Lee Falk and Phil Davis
The Phantom: High-Sea Hijacker by Lee Falk; art by Wilson McCoy
Plastic Man: The Gay Nineties Nightmare by Gary Wheeler
Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure by Hérge

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Finalists:

The Canterville Ghost screenplay by Edwin Harvey Blum from a story by Oscar Wilde [winner]

The Curse of the Cat People written by DeWitt Bodeen [winner]
Donovan’s Brain adapted by Robert L. Richards from a story by Curt Siodmak

House of Frankenstein screenplay by Edward T. Lowe, Jr. from a story by Curt Siodmak

The Invisible Man’s Revenge written by Bertram Millhauser
It Happened Tomorrow screenplay and adaptation by Dudley Nichols and René Clair

Longlisted Nominees:
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves written by Edmund L. Hartmann
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street written by Dr. Seuss
The Mysterious Traveler: Beware of Tomorrow written by Robert A. Arthur
The Mysterious Traveler: The Queen of the Cats by Maurice Tarplin

The Lady and the Monster screenplay by Dane Lussier and Frederick Kohner, based on the novel by Curt Siodmak

The Old Gray Hare written by Michael Sasanoff
The Shadow: The Man who Dreamed Too Much
They Came to a City by J.B. Priestley, Basil Dearden, and Sidney Cole
Time Flies written by Ted Kavanagh, J.O.C. Orton, and Howard Irving Young

The Uninvited screenplay by Dodie Smith and Frank Partos, based on the novel by Dorothy Macardle

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
John W. Campbell [winner]
Oscar J. Friend
Mary Gnaedinger
Dorothy McIlwraith
Raymond A. Palmer
W. Scott Peacock

Longlisted Nominees:
Bernard G. Davis
William de Grouchy
Sam Moskowitz
Frederik Pohl
Babette Rosmond
Donald A. Wollheim

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Earle K. Bergey
Margaret Brundage [winner]
Boris Dolgov
Matt Fox
Paul Orban
William Timmins

Longlisted Nominees:
Rudolph Belarski
Hannes Bok
Chesley Bonestell
Virgil Finlay
Graham Ingels
Harry Lemon Parkhurst
Frank R. Paul
J. Allen St. John
Modest Stein
Lawrence Stevens
Vin Sullivan
A.R. Tilburne

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
The Acolyte edited by Francis T. Laney and Samuel D. Russell
Diablerie edited by Bill Watson
Futurian War Digest edited by J. Michael Rosenblum
Shangri L’Affaires edited by Charles Burbee

Voice of the Imagi-Nation edited by Forrest J. Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas [winner]

Le Zombie edited by Bob Tucker and E.E. Evans

Longlisted Nominees:

British Fantasy Society Bulletin edited by D.R. Smith

Centauri edited by Andy Anderson
Chanticleer edited by Walt Liebscher
Fanewscard edited by Ed Connor and Frank Robinson
Fantasite edited by Phil Bronson and Walt Daugerty
Fantasticonglomeration edited by Forrest J. Ackerman
Fantasy Fiction Field edited by Julius Unger
Fantasy Times edited by Sam Moskowitz
Guteto edited by Morojo (aka Myrtle R. Douglas)
Horizons edited by Harry Warner, Jr.
The Phantagraph edited by Donald A. Wollheim
Sappho edited by Bill Watson and George Ebey
Toward Tomorrow edited by James Kepner
YHOS edited by Art Widner
Zizzle-Pop edited by Louis Russell Chauvenet

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:
Fritz Leiber [winner]
Morojo (aka Myrtle R. Douglas)
J. Michael Rosenblum
Jack Speer
Bob Tucker
Harry Warner, Jr.

Longlisted Nominees:
Forrest J. Ackerman
Robert Bloch
Charles Burbee
Ted Carnell
Russell Chauvenet
E. Everett Evans
F.T. Laney
David Langford
Sam Moskowitz
Elmer Purdue
Milton A. Rothman
Samuel D. Russell
Julius Unger
Harold Wakefield
Bill Watson
Art Widner
Donald A. Wollheim
Elsie Wollheim
T. Bruce Yerke

Go to previous year's longlist: 1944 (awarded in 2019)
Go to subsequent year's longlist: 1946 (awarded in 1996)

Go to 1945 Hugo Finalists and Winners

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1944 Retro Hugo Award Longlist (awarded in 2019)

Looking through the Retro Hugo information to create the 2019 Retro Hugo Longlist brings to my mind the question that I always have about the Retro Hugos: Why do these exist?

One justification that could be raised is that the Retro Hugos are intended to honor the finalists and winners, giving them the kudos they deserve for their contributions to the genre, but that seems like a fairly flimsy rationale to me. I have not checked to see for certain, but I am reasonably confident that everyone who either is on this longlist or was involved in the creation of a work appearing on this longlist is now dead. They are beyond caring what is done to honor them for their work.

Another justification that might be raised is that the Worldcon members feel the need to express their admiration of the people and works nominated - sort of the flip side of the first rationale, but with the people being gratified being people who are living current Worldcon members rather than artists, writers, and editors who have passed away. Given the level of participation that the Retro Hugos engender, this seems like a weak rationale as well. Some people have criticized the Hugo Awards as having an unrepresentative voting base, but at the very least one can say that the bulk of the attending and supporting Worldcon members participate in the process that results in those awards. In contrast, only a tiny fraction of the Worldcon members bother with the Retro Hugos.

So few people participate in the Retro Hugos, that entire categories are routinely left off of the ballot due to a lack of nominations for finalists. In 2019, Best Related Work, Best Semiprozine, Best Long Form Professional Editor, Best Fancast, Best Fan Artist, and Best Art Book all failed to garner enough support to even appear on the ballot. For some of these categories, such as Best Fancast, the reason is obvious, while for others it seems that voters just couldn't be bothered to come up with appropriate nominees. The number of people participating the the nominating process is minuscule - some of the longlisted nominees on this list got their by virtue of a single nominating vote, many more with two or three nominations. The number of nominators topped out at about six dozen for the most nominated novel. The number of Worldcon voters who participated in the actual vote to determine the Retro Hugo winners was only marginally higher.

In addition to this apparent lack of interest, it seems that many who do participate in the Retro Hugo process don't actually have any idea what they are supposed to be nominating. Two potential finalists were disqualified because they were not published in 1943. When I was going through the longlist to fill out the incomplete data about the nominees, it became apparent that many of the longlisted works were also ineligible due to being published in a year other than 1943. One person even cast a nominating ballot for Exit Strategy, a novella that was published in 2018.

One might think this confusion would lead to an interesting array of nominees being put forward, and that might be a reason for the Retro Hugos - to put a spotlight on people and works that otherwise might be forgotten. The reality, however, is that the nominees seem to be drawn from the relatively small pool of options that have endured the test of time. Most of the fiction nominees were written by the same handful of well-known authors, the same holds true for the artist and editor categories - the same handful of people get nominated over an over again. Functionally what this means is that figures like Fritz Leiber, Robert A. Henlein, John W. Campbell, Leigh Brackett, and A.E. van Vogt dominate the resulting lists of nominees. Do these people really need more recognition?

The potential honorees are dead, almost no Worldcon members participate, those that do seem to be frequently confused about what is eligible, and the nominees are largely people who who were already weighted down with honors during their lifetimes. So, the question remains: Why do the Retro Hugos exist? What purpose do they serve?

Best Novel

Finalists:
Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber [winner]
Earth’s Last Citadel by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner
Gather, Darkness! by Fritz Leiber
Das Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game) by Hermann Hesse
Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
The Weapon Makers by A.E. van Vogt

Longlisted Nominees:
The Black, Black Witch by Kenneth Robeson
The Book of Ptath by A.E. van Vogt
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft
Fog Magic by Julia L. Sauer
Judgment Night by C.L. Moore
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Malpertuis by Jean Ray
Mary Poppins Opens the Door by P.L. Travers
Ravage/Ashes Ashes by René Barjavel
Sirius by Olaf Stapledon

Best Novella

Finalists:
Attitude by Hal Clement
Clash by Night by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry [winner]

The Magic Bed-Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons by Mary Norton

We Print the Truth by Anthony Boucher

Longlisted Nominees:
Exile to Centauri by Ross Rocklynne
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Genie of Bagdad by William P. McGivern
The Giant Atom by Malcolm Jameson
The Great Brain Panic by Don Wilcox
Hell Hath Fury by Cleve Cartmill
Killdozer by Theodore Sturgeon
The Lost Warship by Robert Moore Williams
One-Way Trip by Anthony Boucher
Opposites-React! by Jack Williamson
The Robot Master by Walter B. Gibson

The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag by Robert A. Heinlein (reviewed in The Fantasies of Robert A,. Heinlein)

Waldo by Robert A. Heinlein (reviewed in The Fantasies of Robert A,. Heinlein)

Wings of Icarus by Ray Cummings

Best Novelette

Finalists:
Citadel of Lost Ships by Leigh Brackett
The Halfling by Leigh Brackett

Mimsy Were the Borogoves by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner [winner]

The Proud Robot by Henry Kuttner
Symbiotica by Eric Frank Russell

Thieves’ House by Fritz Leiber

Longlisted Nominees
Angelic Angleworm by Fredric Brown
The Beast by A.E. van Vogt
The Cave by P. Schuyler Miller
Daymare by Fredric Brown
Elsewhen by Anthony Boucher
Greenface by James H. Schmitz
Message from Mars by Clifford Simak
The Storm by A.E. van Vogt
Thralls of the Endless Night by Leigh Brackett
Time Locker by Henry Kuttner

Best Short Story

Finalists:
Death Sentence by Isaac Asimov
Doorway into Time by C.L. Moore
Exile by Edmond Hamilton
King of the Gray Spaces (aka R is for Rocket) by Ray Bradbury [winner]
Q.U.R. by H.H. Holmes
Yours Truly – Jack the Ripper by Robert Bloch

Longlisted Nominees
The Crowd by Ray Bradbury
The Devil Is Not Mocked by Manly Wade Wellman
The Geezenstacks by Fredric Brown
The Gremlins by Roald Dahl
The Iron Standard by Lewis Padgett
Nothing But Gingerbread Left by Henry Kuttner
The Secret Miracle by Jorge Luis Borges
The Scythe by Ray Bradbury
They Bite by Anthony Boucher
The Wind by Ray Bradbury

Best Graphic Story

Finalists:

Buck Rogers: Martians Invade Jupiter by Philip Nowlan and Dick Calkins

Flash Gordon: Fiery Desert of Mongo by Alex Raymond
Garth by Steve Dowling
Nelvana of the Northern Lights and the Ice-Beam by Adrian Dingle [ineligible]
Plastic Man #1: The Game of Death by Jack Cole
Le Secret de la Licorne (The Secret of the Unicorn) by Hergé

Wonder Woman #5: Battle for Womanhood written by William Moulton Marsden, art by Harry G. Peter [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:

All-Star Comics #18 written by Gardner Fox, art by Joe Gallagher, Sheldon Moldoff, Pierce Rice, Arturo Cazeneuve, Bernard Baily, Howard Sherman, and Stan Aschmeier

Brick Bradford: On the Throne of Titania written by William Ritt, art by Clarence Gray
Buck Rogers: Mechanical Bloodhound written by Flint Dille, art by Dick Calkins

Captain America Comics written by Stan Lee, Otto Binder, and Ray Cummings, art by Al Avison, Harry Sahle, Don Rico, Ed Asch, Syd Shores, Bob Oksner, Guy Blythe, Carl Pfeufer, Jack Alderman, Paul Reinman, Vince Alascia, Carmine Infantino, Al Fagaly, Al Bellman, Sid Greene, Al Gabriele, Jimmy Thompson, Ken Bald, and Mike Sekowsky

Donald Duck: The Mummy's Ring by Carl Banks
Donald Duck: The Victory Garden by Carl Banks
Green Lantern #7: The Wizard of Odds written by Bill Finger, art by Martin Nodell

Green Lantern #10: The Man Who Wanted the World written by Alfred Bester, art by Martin Nodell

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Mandrake the Magician: Baron Kord written by Lee Falk, art by Phil Davis
Many Moons written by James Thurber, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
Otomox written by André Mavimus, art by Roger Roux
The Phantom: The Phantom's Engagement written by Lee Falk, art by Wilson McCoy
Le Rayon U by Edgar P. Jacobs
Submariner and The Green Island Menace art by Carl Pfeufer
Tintin: The Crab with the Golden Claws by Hergé
Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure by Hergé


Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Finalists:
Batman written by Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker and Harry L. Fraser
Cabin in the Sky written by Joseph Schrank
A Guy Named Joe written by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Dalton Trumbo
Heaven Can Wait written by Samson Raphaelson [winner]
Münchhausen written by Erich Kästner and Rudolph Erich Raspe

The Phantom (serial) written by Morgan Cox, Victor McLeod, Sherman L. Lowe, Leslie Swabacker, Lee Falk, and Ray Moore [ineligible]

Phantom of the Opera written by Eric Taylor, Samuel Hoffenstein and Hans Jacoby

Longlisted Nominees:
Calling Dr. Death written by Edward Dein
The Curse of the Cat People written by DeWitt Bodeen
Faustus Kelly written by Flann O'Brien

Flesh and Fantasy written by Ellis St. Joseph, Oscar Wilde, László Vadnay, Ernest Pascal, and Samuel Hoffenstein

The Insect Play (Rhapsody in Stephen's Green) written by Clifford Bax, Karel Capek, Nigel Playfair, and Paul Selver

The Leopard Man written by Ardel Wray, Edward Dein, and Cornell Woolrich

The Masked Marvel written by Royal K. Cole, Ronald Davidson, Basil Dickey, Jesse Duffy, Grant Nelson, George H. Plympton, and Joseph F. Poland

Shadow of a Doubt written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, Alma Reville, and Gordon McDonell

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death written by Bertram Millhauser and Arthur Conan Doyle

The Tin Men

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Finalists:
The Ape Man written by Barney A. Sarecky
Der Fuehrer’s Face story by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman written by Curt Siodmak [winner]
I Walked With a Zombie written by Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray
The Seventh Victim written by Charles O’Neal and DeWitt Bodeen
Super-Rabbit written by Tedd Pierce

Longlisted Nominees:

Captive Wild Woman written by Ted Fithian, Neil P. Varnick, Jay Griffin, and Henry Sucher

The Mad Ghoul written by Brenda Weisberg, Paul Gangelin, and Hanns Kräly

La Main du Diable/Carnival of Sinners written by Jean-Paul Le Chanois and Gérard de Nerval

Meshes of the Afternoon written by Maya Deren
Momotarô's Sea Eagles written by Arishige Kurihara

The Underground World written by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Jay Morton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Silent Village by Humphrey Jennings
Son of Dracula written by Eric Taylor and Curt Siodmak
Red Hot Riding Hood written by Rich Hogan
The Return of the Vampire written by Jay Griffin, Kurt Neumann, and Randall Faye

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
John W. Campbell [winner]
Oscar J. Friend
Mary Gnaedinger
Dorothy McIlwraith
Raymond A. Palmer
Donald A. Wollheim

Longlisted Nominees:
Robert A. W. Lowdnes
Frank A. Munsey
Alden H. Norton
W. Scott Peacock
Frederik Pohl
Malcolm Reiss
Farnsworth Wright

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Hannes Bok
Margaret Brundage
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Virgil Finlay [winner]
J. Allen St. John
William Timmins

Longlisted Nominees:
Earle Bergey
Edd Cartier
Harold W. McCauley
Paul Orban
Frank R. Paul
Mervyn Peake
George Rozen
Alex Schomburg
A.R. Tilburne
Dorothy M. Wheeler

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
Futurian War Digest edited by J. Michael Rosenblum
Guteto edited by Myrtle R. Douglas
The Phantagraph edited by Donald A. Wollheim
Voice of the Imagi-Nation edited by Jack Erman and Myrtle Douglas
Le Zombie edited by Wilson “Bob” Tucker [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
British Fantasy Society Bulletin by D.R. Smith
Chanticleer by Walt Liebscher
Cosmic Circle Commentator by Claude Degler (writing as Dan Rogers)
En Garde by Al Ashley and Abby Lu Ashley
Fanfare by The Stranger Club
Fantasy Fiction Field by Julius Unger
Fantasy News by James Taurasi and William Sykora
Horizons by Harry Warner, Jr.
Inspiration edited by Lynn Bridges
Light by Leslie A. Croutch
Madman of Mars #4 by Forrest J Ackerman
Nebula 6 by Larry Shaw and Rusty Barron
Shangri L’Affaires edited by Walt Daugherty, Arthur Joquel, and Phil Bronson
Sustainability Program by Jack Speer

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:
Forrest J. Ackerman [winner]
Myrtle Douglas
Jack Speer
Wilson “Bob” Tucker
Art Widner
Donald A. Wollheim

Longlisted Nominees:
Al Ashley
Helen Bradleigh
Lynn Bridges
Russ Chauvenet
Leslie E. Crouch
Walter J. Daugherty
E. Everett Evans
Harry Jenkins, Jr.
Francis Towner Laney
Don Rogers
J. Michael Rosenblum
Larry Shaw
William S. Sykora
Harry Turner
Julius Unger
Harry Warner Jr.
Douglas Webster

Go to previous year's longlist: 1943 (awarded in 2018)
Go to subsequent year's longlist: 1946 (awarded in 1996)

Go to 1944 Hugo Finalists and Winners

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1943 Retro Hugo Award Longlist (awarded in 2018)

2018 is the year that I go back to complaining about the Retro Hugo Awards. On the one hand, it is nice to have direct evidence refuting those who claim that "Heinlein could never win a Hugo award today" in the form of Heinlein winning Hugo Awards pretty much every time a Retro Hugo Award ceremony is held. On the other hand, every time the Retro Hugo Awards are handed out, they always seem to end up going to the same four or five people, which the range of individuals nominated is only very slightly broader than that, which seems to call into question their validity.

The problem with the Retro Hugo Awards is that they require looking back over such long distances of time that the works of authors who had lengthy careers after the year the Retro Hugos are associated with are the ones that seem to loom largest in the minds of those nominating and voting on the awards. The end result is the kind of hyper-focused results that are evident in the winners, the finalists, and even the longlisted nominees. The result is that the question that comes to my mind is simply this: Is it worth holding Retro Hugo Award ceremonies if the only thing that is going to happen is handing Heinlein, Asimov, and Campbell another posthumous award? Is there a desperate need to give those individuals yet more recognition? Is that the only purpose this award serves? Because right now, that seems to be the case.

Best Novel

Finalists:
Beyond This Horizon by Robert A. Heinlein [winner]
Darkness and the Light by Olaf Stapledon
Donovan’s Brain by Curt Siodmak
Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright
Second Stage Lensmen by E.E. “Doc” Smith
The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle

Longlisted Nominees:
The Adventures of Superman by George F. Lowther
Grand Canyon by Vita Sackville-West
Land of Unreason by Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp
Rocket to the Morgue by Anthony Boucher
The Sorcerer's Ship by Hannes Bok

Best Novella

Finalists:
Asylum by A.E. van Vogt
The Compleat Werewolf by Anthony Boucher
Hell Is Forever by Alfred Bester
Nerves by Lester del Rey

The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag by Robert A. Heinlein (reviewed in The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein)

Waldo by Robert A. Heinlein (reviewed in The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein) [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Barrier by Anthony Boucher
The Push of a Finger by Alfred Bester
Recruiting Station by A.E. van Vogt
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Best Novelette

Finalists:
Bridle and Saddle by Isaac Asimov
Foundation by Isaac Asimov [winner]
Goldfish Bowl by Robert A. Heinlein
The Star Mouse by Fredric Brown
There Shall Be Darkness by C.L. Moore

The Twonky by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner [ineligible, nominated in wrong category]

The Weapon Shop by A.E. van Vogt (reviewed in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume I, 1929-1964)

Longlisted Nominees
Child of the Sun by Leigh Brackett
Medusa by Theodore Sturgeon
QRM - Interplanetary by George O. Smith
Runaround by Isaac Asimov (reviewed in I, Robot)
The Sorcerer of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett

Best Short Story

Finalists:
Etaoin Shrdlu by Fredric Brown
Mimic by Donald A. Wollheim
Proof by Hal Clement
Runaround by Isaac Asimov (reviewed in I, Robot)
The Sunken Land by Fritz Leiber
The Twonky by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner [winner]

Longlisted Nominees
Child of the Green Light by Leigh Brackett
Deadlock by Leigh Brackett and Henry Kuttner
Funes the Memorious by Jorge Luis Borges
Goldfish Bowl by Robert A. Heinlein
Masquerade by Henry Kuttner
Robot AL-76 Goes Astray by Isaac Asimov
Victory Unintentional by Isaac Asimov
Waldo by Robert A. Heinlein (reviewed in The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein)
The Wings of Night by Lester del Rey

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Finalists:
Bambi [winner]
Cat People
The Ghost of Frankenstein
I Married a Witch
Invisible Agent
Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book

Longlisted Nominees:
The Corpse Vanishes
The Mouse of Tomorrow

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
John W. Campbell [winner]
Oscar J. Friend
Dorothy McIlwraith
Raymond A. Palmer
Malcolm Reiss
Donald A. Wollheim

Longlisted Nominees:
Alden H. Norton
Frederik Pohl

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Hannes Bok
Margaret Brundage
Edd Cartier
Virgil Finlay [winner]
Harold W. McCauley
Hubert Rogers

Longlisted Nominees:
Earle Bergey
J. Allen St. John

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
Futurian War Digest edited by J. Michael Rosenblum
Inspiration edited by Lynn Bridges
The Phantagraph edited by Donald A. Wollheim
Spaceways edited by Harry Warner, Jr.
Voice of the Imagi-Nation edited by Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo
Le Zombie edited by Arthur Wilson “Bob” Tucker [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
The Acolyte edited by Francis Towner Laney
Fanfare by The Stranger Club
Fantasy Fiction Field by Julius Unger
Fantasite by Phil Bronson
Madman of Mars by Forrest J Ackerman

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:
Forrest J Ackerman [winner]
Jack Speer
Arthur Wilson “Bob” Tucker
Harry Warner, Jr.
Art Widner
Donald A. Wollheim

Longlisted Nominees:
Ray Bradbury

Go to previous year's longlist: 1941 (awarded in 2016)
Go to subsequent year's longlist: 1944 (awarded in 2019)

Go to 1943 Hugo Finalists and Winners

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Review - Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey

Short review: Earth is in ruins, Mars is in disarray, the OPA is divided against itself, and those are just the easy problems.

Haiku
The Earth on fire
Humanity divided
Can Holden save us?

Long review: Babylon's Ashes is the sixth book in the Expanse series, and is essentially the second part of the story that was begun in Nemesis Games. As this novel opens up, the heroes have been reunited, but the Earth is still under siege and Inaros' splinter portion of the OPA still holds the alien gateway to the thousands of extra-Solar worlds. Even though Holden, Naomi, Alex and Amos are reunited, and Avasarala and Bobbi have survived to try to salvage something out of the wreckage of the inner planets, the "Free Navy" still seems to hold all the cards and our heroes still have their backs up against the wall.

The entire Expanse series of novels has a few themes running through it, and Babylon's Ashes is no exception. The only odd thing about this novel is that one of the themes is not "Holden makes any situation he comes into contact with worse", but the other - "Humans continue to try to kill one another in the  face of inscrutable alien technology" - is definitely to be found here. The grievances that caused Inaros' and his followers to launch their attack on Earth are rooted in the very existence of the alien gateway to the stars that has formed the core storyline that runs through the entire series. Fearful at being left behind now that they are no longer needed, Inaros' radical group of Belters leveraged the existing grievances the denizens of the outer planets had before the protomolecule opened up a thousand new worlds to colonize, and once they had obtained a sufficient power base, they lashed out and murdered hundreds of millions of people on Earth, essentially wrecking the planet (and in the process, almost unthinkingly dooming the people they claimed to be representing). The interesting twist on the running theme is that even though the inscrutable alien technology is the primary driver of the conflict in this novel, it doesn't really appear in it much. The novel is essentially about the consequences of introducing humanity to alien forces, but none of those consequences actually flow from the actions of the alien presence.

This novel continues the practice of rotating between viewpoint characters in each chapter, but unlike previous volumes, the range of viewpoint characters is not limited to a handful of critical individuals. Instead, there are at least seventeen viewpoint characters in this novel, including both Chrisjen Avasarala, Fred Johnson, and Marcos Inaros. The most frequent viewpoint characters are Holden, who is as close as this series has to a central protagonist, and Pa, one of Marcos' fleet captains, but we also have chapters told from the perspective of other familiar character such as Amos, Alex, Naomi, Prax, Bobbie, and even Filip. This works to show just how expansive the conflict is as it reaches across the entire Solar System and affects nearly every human within it, and also emphasizes that every previous element of the series has been leading to the events in this volume, Equally important to the breadth of characters featured is exactly who is featured - the viewpoints expressed come from all sides of the conflict, and in many cases, multiple social levels within each side, resulting in a multifaceted perspective on the interplanetary war. Using the rotating viewpoint has always been an element of this series, but in Babylon's Ashes, the rotating viewpoint is not merely an interesting literary device, it is an integral part of telling the story.

Much of the action in this book is centered on the ongoing war started in Nemesis Games. The book opens with the Earth still subjected to the asteroid bombardment that has killed billions, the Martian government in disarray, and the OPA so divided against itself that it is often difficult to determine who is friend and who is foe. While one might go into the novel feeling like the heroes should rise up in righteous rage and retaliate for the atrocities committed by Inaros' Free Navy, the authors don't let them have that easy of a solution, and that is what makes this story so very compelling. The plot turns as much on delicate political negotiations as it does on military strategy and derring do, which is perfectly in keeping with this series. The only drawback to this is that if one goes into this story expecting to see the villains punished and the virtuous vindicated, then you are likely to be disappointed. Attaining victory, or even something that resembles a settlement, requires compromise and sacrifice from everyone involved, and those who are unwilling to do either almost inevitably end up on the short end of the stick. Corey has created a harsh, unforgiving universe, and this is a harsh, unforgiving story.

Even though the Expanse series is destined to become a nine book series, this volume feels like the end of a major arc. Certainly it is the second half of the story started in Nemesis Games, but it is more than that. This book serves as an effective conclusion for most of the plot threads that have run through the series since Leviathan Wakes. Conflicts are resolved, allies and enemies die or are otherwise removed from the board, there are losses, victories, and compromises, and long-held secrets are forced into the open. This is not to say that there are no remaining mysteries to be solved: The inscrutable alien technology is still inscrutable, at least two inimical forces still lurk out in the void, and while the raging fires have been put out, one can still see the smoldering embers that litter the landscape of the Solar System. Ultimately, this book manages the difficult trick of being both an ending of a number of long-running story arcs, and a promise of a fresh set of new ones at the same time.

By the time a series reaches its sixth volume, it is relatively common for the series to begin to drift, with books filled with padding simply providing pages of nothing to increase the word count. With Babylon's Ashes, the Expanse has managed to avoid this fate. Instead, Corey grabbed all of the characters and plot threads that have been built up over the five previous books and wrapped them into a story filled with action and intrigue. After Babylon's Ashes everything about the Expanse is clearly going to be dramatically changed, but the series is in no danger of slowing down at all.

Previous book in the series: Nemesis Games
Subsequent book in the series: Persepolis Rising

2017 Hugo Longlist
2018 Locus Award Nominees

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Review - Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer

Short review: Alex Lomax is the only private eye on Mars, and and everyone comes to him with their problems. Unfortunately, these problems involve murder, greed, and treachery and frequently pose serious hazards to Lomax's continued health.

Haiku
When in New Klondike
You can go hunt for fossils
But it's dangerous

Disclosure: I received this book as a Review Copy. Some people think this may bias a reviewer so I am making sure to put this information up front. I don't think it biases my reviews, but I'll let others be the judge of that.

Full review: Red Planet Blues is a noir-ish science fiction novel clearly inspired by the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Set on Mars and featuring Alex Lomax, the red planet's only private investigator, the novel presents a set of interconnected mysteries involving murder, money, and insanity with a healthy dose of alien artifacts and imaginative technology to complicate matters. The novel winds through a series of smaller mysteries, that are threaded together by the facts that almost everyone on Mars lives in one relatively small settlement and Lomax is really the only option people have to turn to when they need a crime solved.

Alex Lomax lives in New Klondike, a domed city on the surface of Mars (which is also the only city on Mars), exiled from Earth for somewhat mysterious reasons that are only revealed near the very end of the book. Without much in the way of technical skills, Lomax plies his trade as a private investigator, filling in for the mostly disinterested local police force. The fictional future world Sawyer created for him lives in is dominated by the technology of identity transfer, a development managed by the "NewYou" corporation, and which allows people to move their consciousness into a new and usually much improved body that is often stronger, more durable, and can be made more attractive, even to the point of changing one's appearance to match that of a well-known celebrity. "Transfers" as individuals who have undergone the process are called, also don't need to eat, sleep, or breathe, can comfortably work unprotected on the surface of Mars, and are exempt from certain life-support related taxes, which quite understandably makes transferring quite popular among the denizens of New Klondike. Despite some legal controls, in short order it becomes relatively obvious that this technology, if abused by someone with nefarious intent, can be used to hide one's identity, and make it very difficult to identify who is actually in a particular body.

It should be noted that the first ten chapters of this novel are a moderately rewritten version of the previously published novella Identity Theft, and they work pretty much as a stand-alone story. This is not to say that the first section is disconnected from the rest of the novel, but if one were to read through to the end of chapter ten and stop, one would have read a reasonably satisfying complete story. The novella (and thus, the novel) opens up like most hard-boiled detective stories do: When a beautiful woman named Cassandra shows up in Lomax's office asking him to find her missing husband. Both Cassandra and her missing husband Joshua are not only transfers, they own the local NewYou franchise. Cassandra's missing husband is located in relatively short order, but that only causes the mystery to deepen and the tale of greed, kidnapping, and murder ensues that takes a couple of interesting twists and turns and hinges on the use (or rather misuse) of identity transfer technology and the attendant difficulties that logically ensue concerning how do you prove who someone actually is, or how one proves which one the "real" version of someone is. By the end of the opening novella, the villains have been foiled, the innocent have been vindicated, and at least some modicum of justice has been served.

Even though the remaining plot of the novel is something of a "fix-up", Sawyer is a skillful storyteller, which means that he is able to pick up the slender threads left by these opening chapters and build the rest of the novel upon them to create a coherent whole. The mystery that runs through every section of the book concerns the Alpha Deposit, a legendary find that kicked off the Great Martian Fossil Rush as hungry fortune seekers flocked to the planet hoping to find alien fossils they could ship to collectors back on Earth for huge profits. The location of the Alpha Deposit, and the fate of Weingarten and O'Reilly - the two explorers who found it - is unknown, and, given the fact that anyone who could answer these unknowns would find themselves immensely wealthy, there is keen interest in being the person who can answer them. There is a further mystery involving a notorious passenger ship and the horrors that took place upon it that wraps into the narrative, adding still more intrigue to the story. Everything is told in Sawyer's extremely readable style, and the text of the entire book just flows smoothly. I have always found Sawyer's prose to be extremely enjoyable and capable of being consumed at a rapid clip, and this book is no exception.

There are only a couple of minor flaws to Red Planet Blues. The first concerns the identity transfer technology, which is described as being a well-established technology that has been in use for decades and so well-entrenched in society that only adherents to fringe religious groups object to its use. Despite this, the inhabitants in the story seem to be frequently surprised or unprepared for the realities of dealing with "transfers". For example, Lomax carries a handgun, which is pretty much useless against transfers due to their incredibly durable artificial bodies, but he seems to act like the weapon should serve as protection in such cases, even while simultaneously pointing out that it won't be. Many of the twists in the story turn on people being caught off-guard by what should be pretty routine ways of exploiting transfer technology, and so on. One is also left wondering why everyone who can doesn't simply transfer - as presented in the book, transferring makes one younger, stronger, and essentially immortal. Given the fact that everyone who isn't regarded as a crackpot holds the opinion that identity transfer is a safe and proven process, there doesn't really seem to be a reason for anyone to not do it.

The second flaw concerns the women in the book. Pretty much everyone who shows up in the story gets involved in the deadly hunt for the Alpha Deposit from geologists to down-on-their-luck thugs, to housewives to writers in residence to police officers, each of whom plays a part. While the men are described as coming in all shapes and sizes, almost all of the women are described as various stripes of beautiful with the one notable exception being a woman who is described as looking like an ape - if a woman isn't sexy, apparently the only other option is for her to look simian. Lomax spends his internal monologue leering at and salivating over these women no matter what circumstances he encounters them under, which serves to make him seem kind of sleazy and unlikable.. Further, this collection of women seem to find Alex improbably attractive, even the ones who would seem to have no real reason to. To a certain extent, this is probably an effort to mimic the noir detective stories that inspired Red Planet Blues, after all, beautiful women who fall for hard-boiled detectives are kind of a staple of such novels. The problem is, the trope sticks out like a sore thumb when imported into this novel, and doesn't really do much other than give the story some uncomfortably creepy segments.

Despite these small missteps, Red Planet Blues is a good science fiction detective story. Lomax is a flawed but ultimately engaging and enjoyable character who inhabits a world that is both interesting and plausible. The mysteries that he is confronted with are just cryptic enough to keep the reader guessing but still sufficiently well-laid out that it feels like the author is playing fair. In the end, anyone looking for something akin to The Maltese Falcon on Mars is likely to come away from this book feeling like they got what they came for. If a noir-era mystery in a science fiction setting sounds like something you would enjoy, this is pretty much exactly what you need to scratch that itch.

2006 Hugo Award Finalists
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2006 Nebula Award Nominees

Robert J. Sawyer     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Review - The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne Valente

Short review: Six women consigned to permanent residency in Deadtown whose lives were sacrificed to advance someone else's story tell their own stories.

Haiku
All women deserve
More than being stuffed in a
Refrigerator

Full review: "Fridging" a character specifically refers to an incident in the Green Lantern comic book in which the hero Kyle Rayner's girlfriend Alexandra DeWitt was killed by the villain Major Force and stuffed into a refrigerator for Rayner to find later. This kind of plot device then sends the hero into a righteous wrath whereupon he then goes upon a rage-driven quest for revenge to avenge his lost love. The use of the term in a more general sense, to mean a character (who is almost always a woman) who is killed off in order to provide motivation and character development for the hero (who is almost always a man), was originally coined by Gail Simone, and has since become a widely used term to refer to this sort of lazy and misogynistic trope.

The framing of "fridging" is to subordinate the fridged character to the protagonist's story - the now-dead character only exists in the story to help tell the story of the "more important" central character. Because this trope is almost always presented as a female character being sacrificed to give depth and meaning to the story of a male character, this has the effect of erasing the women's stories. In many of these cases, the female character to be killed off is presented in as shallow a way as possible - since she exists only to further someone else's story, to the extent her story is told, it is usually only told to the extent that her story intersects with the protagonist's. The end result is that there is a rogue's gallery consisting of dozens (or, more likely hundreds) of female characters whose stories were never told, because they were killed off so that Bob Squarejaw could experience a little angst and dedicate himself to vengeance. Marvel's Punisher is a character entirely built upon this premise, and his wife and children pretty much only exist within flashbacks in his story. I suspect that the fact that the villain's killed Wick's dog in John Wick was intended as a kind of joke - replacing the usual girlfriend, wife, sister, or daughter of the hero with a dog, and part of the commentary provided was that the dog got as much character development as the usual victim would have.

Cat Valente's Refrigerator Monologues takes this trope and flips it on its head. The characters given voices in this book are all women who are residents of Deadtown - the place where the discarded comic book characters go when they die. Some characters die and then come back to life, but others, the ones who were "fridged", are all eternally confined to the never-ending autumn of Deadtown. They call themselves the Hell Hath Club, aren't happy about their deaths, and they are going to tell anyone who shows up at the Lethe Café on open mic night. They are Paige Embry, Julia Ash, Pauline Ketch, Blue Bayou, Daisy Green, and Samantha Dane, they all have their own stories to tell, and in this book Cat Valente tells them all.

To provide a setting for her heroines to exist in, Valente has crafted a complete world around them, populated with super-heroes, super-villains, love interests, mentors, children, and everyone else. Although the world is very clearly inspired by the fictional worlds of some of the major comic book publishers, and several of the characters and storylines are reminiscent of characters and storylines that have appeared in those worlds, Valente's world is a distinct entity unto its own. To a certain extent, such similarities are unavoidable, and some are possibly even unintentional, but it is clear that many of the elements that run parallel to well-known comic book stories were included quite deliberately. These parallels are, after all, part of the point of the book: To highlight how these stories in previously published stories sideline and marginalize women's stories, one has to emulate them to some extent, and Valente manages to come close enough for the references to be recognizable, but not so close that the stories she is telling are diminished.

Each of the six stories told in this book ends tragically, which seems like an inevitable outcome given that this is a book about women who died to further the story of another person. Even within this limitation, Valente refuses to allow the stories of these character to be erased - even if the story they were supposed to have originally appeared in cast them as a secondary character, in this book they take center stage and give full voice to their own lives and experiences. The characters in this book might be a girlfriend who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or a superheroine whose powers were "too dangerous" for her teammates to allow her to live, or a disaffected punk teen who finds love and has an ill-fated child, but that is not all they are, and in each of their stories that is made painfully clear. This is a book full of rage, rage at being dead, but also rage at having their story erased. But there is so much more than rage in these stories, because as Valente presents them, these are fully realized characters with complete lives: The anger that runs through each woman's story is engendered by the joy she had in her life - the hopes, the dreams, and the ambitions she had for herself that were all snatched away by the necessities of formulaic storytelling.

There are some books that need to be written to make a point. The Refrigerator Monologues is one of those books. But like the women depicted in its pages, it isn't only that kind of book. While some books intended to make a point can become didactic polemics, in Valente's hands, the premise results in a collection of fully realized women living in what feels like a completely distinct and yet entirely familiar fictional comic book world. This is, quite simply, a brilliant book. These are stories that needed to be told, and it turns out that Valente was the perfect person to tell them.

2018 Locus Award Nominees

2018 Hugo Award Longlist

Catherynne Valente     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

Review - The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley

Short review: Zan has no memory, but Jayd assures her that her destiny is to claim the world of Mokshi. Then things get brutal and weird.

Disclosure: I received this book as a Review Copy. Some people think this may bias a reviewer so I am making sure to put this information up front. I don't think it biases my reviews, but I'll let others be the judge of that.

Full review: Some books are simply difficult to review. The Stars Are Legion is one of those books. This is not due to any deficiency in the book, but rather because, to a certain extent, even discussing what makes this book so very good will ruin the reading experience for someone. This is a book with secrets inside of secrets, and following along as the characters uncover the answers to them is a significant part of what makes this book so fascinating, in large part because the answers both feel so naturally correct, and are so unexpected at the same time. This book is, in many ways, a masterpiece of misdirection and discovery packed into a gripping space opera complete with armies dueling in the coldness of space, monsters to evade, political intrigue, romance, betrayals, and revelations.

The central characters in the story are Zan and Jayd, ostensibly two lovers and co-conspirators working on a plan of sorts to take control of the Legion by conquering the world named Mokshi. The story is told from their perspectives, with chapters alternating between their respective viewpoints. The mystery in the story revolves mostly around exactly what that allegedly shared objective is, because at the start of the book Zan has lost her memory, and the only information she has is that provided to her by Jayd. This makes Zan something of a stand-in for the reader, as she has essentially exactly the same amount of information about the world as the reader does, but it also introduces an element of uncertainty, as neither Zan nor the reader can ever be sure that Jayd is actually telling them the truth. This uncertainty is compounded by the fact that Jayd assures Zan than it is better that she not remember her past, because when she remembers, she goes insane.

Hurley is an uncompromising writer who simply throws her readers into the story without much in the way of explanation, trusting that they will be able to figure out her world as the story moves along. In The Stars Are Legion, this style enhances the effect of Zan's confusion, putting the reader alongside the memory-impaired protagonist as she moves through a world that is alien and at times bewildering. This also works well when the story is told from Jayd's viewpoint, as Jayd spends much of her time plotting and scheming, but little time thinking about the ultimate objective of her intrigues, or what the larger meaning of her actions might be. The net effect of this chaos is a story that feels completely immersive, while also feeling disjointed and frightening. Zan fights, struggles, and otherwise endures for reasons that, for the most part, she doesn't understand, working towards an unknown goal. Jayd, for her part, provides almost no illumination on these subjects, holding her cards so close to her own chest in an almost paranoid self-defense, terrified to give anything away, even to herself. The only real guidance the reader receives, apart from the discoveries made in the story by the characters, is brief quotes from "Lord Mokshi" found at the beginning of each chapter, and even those serve to heighten the feeling of unease and and disquiet that permeates much of the book.

At the outset, Zan is told that she and Jayd are part of a family of warriors named the Katazyrnas, and they are in conflict with another family known as the Bhavajas, both named after the worlds they inhabit, floating among the many worlds of the Legion. But the worlds each family inhabits are slowly dying, and to tilt the struggle in the Katazyrna's favor, Zan is told she must seize the rogue world Mokshi, a feat she is told she is uniquely suited for, although she is not told why. Through twists and turns, Zan and Jayd are separated, with Zan embarking on a journey through Katazyrna, while Jayd finds herself trying to survive among the Bhajavas on their world. In the course of their respective journeys, Zan discovers that she (and the other Katazyrnas, and many of the other people in the Legion) may not truly understand the living worlds that they inhabit, while Jayd discovers that her plans and schemes may not be quite as clever as she had believed them to be. These voyages of discovery form the heart of the story, and through them, Hurley lays out how the assumptions made by the characters lead them astray, but also how they react when they are shown that what they believed turned out to be wrong.

While Zan and Jayd are at the center of the book, the supporting characters that surround them are what gives the story its emotional and intellectual heft. Through her travels Zan acquires a retinue of companions, each pushed outside of their comfort zone by the journey, and each responds in a different manner to the unknown. Das Muni, Casamir, and Arankadash each leave their familiar haunts and accompany Zan as she works her way through Katazyrna, but each makes this choice for a different reason, and each deals with the world in a distinctly different way: Where Casamir is curious and adventurous, Das Muni is timid and afraid. Casamir relies upon what she views as science, while Arankadesh places her trust in faith and tradition. Each of them has a perfectly reasonable basis for their world view, and yet each of them also brings wholly irrational prejudices to the table as well. Jayd's story has fewer truly compelling characters - her plotline is dominated by Anat, the leader of the Katazyrnas, and Rasida, the leader of the Bhajavas, and how the two women wield their power in very different ways. Most of Jayd's story revolves around the sacrifices one must make for their goals, and how even the best laid plans can go wildly awry if one miscalculates the intentions of others.

Lurking even behind the obvious set of supporting characters is yet another layer - the worlds themselves are alive, and in conjunction with the mysterious and misshapen witches, influence the course of events in accord with their own needs and designs. While many imagined science fictional universes contemplate a future in which biological elements are replaced by clean mechanical processes, Hurley's future is messy, full of living (and dying) biotechnology. The worlds are alive, and the women who inhabit them (and all of the inhabitants are women) are not so much living symbiotically with them, but are an integral part of their functioning, necessary to replace parts of the worlds as needed. This reality gives the entire story a somewhat creepy, and definitely icky feel, which is enhanced by the fact that no one, except maybe the witches actually understands how the worlds everyone lives within work, or how they are connected to the women in the story, and if they do know, the witches aren't telling. Like everything else about the world in The Stars Are Legion this seems to be calculated to be as disorienting as possible, putting the reader on edge throughout the book. This effectively puts the reader in much the same position as Zan, and serves to heighten the tension that one feels when reading the book.

The book only has one real misstep, and that takes place close to the end after Zan and Jayd undergo their respective journeys, when the book is reaching its climax. At that point, a narrator of sorts appears on the scene to basically do a giant exposition dump, explaining the meaning of much of the story. This scene is so at odds with the tone of the rest of the novel that it feels jarring, almost like Hurley got to this point of the story and decided it was time to wrap things up in a few pages. Given the strength of the storytelling in the rest of the book, this is a somewhat minor quibble, but it does stick out, and since it is near the end of the book, it leaves a lasting impression.

The Stars Are Legion is a deeply unsettling book, but it is deeply unsettling in one of the best possible ways. One of the best things done by good science fiction is that it takes fanciful ideas and explores the full range of their ramifications. In this book, Hurley tackles a number of such ideas and takes them to their completely logical, although completely disturbing conclusions. Even though the story doesn't really have a happy ending, it does have a satisfying one. Even though this book is often creepy and disturbing, it is a glimpse into an intriguingly designed world full of complex and fascinating characters, and overall it is an excellent read.

2018 Locus Award Nominees

2018 Hugo Award Longlist

Kameron Hurley     Book Reviews A-Z     Home

1941 Retro Hugo Award Longlist (awarded in 2016)

"Robert Heinlein could not win a Hugo Award today." - John C. Wright on May 7, 2014
On August 18, 2016, Heinlein won not one, but two Retro Hugo awards. He was nominated four more times. His work appeared on the longlist another three times. In summary, Heinlein is so disfavored by modern Hugo voters that his work appears on this list nine times.

"Sadly, I suspect the only way Heinlein could get on the ballot today would be if my horde of uncouth barbarian outsiders got involved and put him on our suggested slate." - Larry Correia on April 9, 2015
Three of Heinlein's works that received 2016 Retro Hugo nominations were notably absent from this year's Sad Puppy list. None of Heinlein's works that appear on the longlist were on the Sad Puppy list. Heinlein seems to have had no trouble at all getting on this year's ballot without any help from Correia's "uncouth barbarians".


"Makes you wonder if Robert Heinlein could get a Hugo Award today. (Answer: Probably not.)" - Glenn Reynolds on April 28, 2014
Since 2000, Heinlein has won five Retro Hugos (for the stories Farmer in the Sky, If This Goes On . ., The Man Who Sold the Moon, and The Roads Must Roll, as well as one for the movie Destination Moon, which he cowrote). This means that Heinlein has won more Retro Hugo Awards than he won actual Hugo Awards. In short, there is not only no evidence for the proposition that Heinlein could not win a Hugo today, the available evidence directly and comprehensively refutes this assertion. Not only could Heinlein win a Hugo Award today, Heinlein has won Hugo Awards today, and is enjoying more success on that front today than he ever did in his lifetime.

Most people don't take the complaints of the various Puppies seriously. This is a decent illustration why: They make claims that are complete bullshit, and which are pretty easily shown to be complete bullshit. Time and again, the Puppies and their fellow travelers have made clear that their claims have absolutely no relationship to reality. No one takes the Puppies' complaints seriously because anyone with even a little bit of knowledge on the subjects of science fiction history or the current state of science fiction knows that the Puppies are simply talking out of their ass whenever they opine on any subject.

Heinlein can win Hugo Awards today. This is a demonstrably true fact. This was a demonstrably true fact when Wright, Correia, and Reynolds made their pronouncements. Given that they are dead wrong on this, a point on which the actual evidence completely disproves their assertions, why should anyone take the evidence-free Puppy claims - such as their claims that there is a secret cabal controlling the Hugo voting, or that the Hugo voters are biased against conservatives - seriously? From my perspective, there is simply no reason to do so.

Looking at the longlist, the fact that Heinlein won isn't surprising, but it is clear that Heinlein had substantial competition, and it wasn't just from the other finalists. All of the short fiction categories had excellent selections that didn't even make the finalist list. The novel category was a little weak, but the science fiction novel was still in an embryonic stage in 1941 - with many books now called "novels" being the result of pieces of short fiction stitched together as "fix ups". Both of the Dramatic Presentation categories were filled with strong choices, although the fact that many works were nominated in the incorrect category highlights just how difficult it is to nominate works seventy-five years after they were originally released.

One thing that this longlist makes clear about the Retro Hugos is that information decay is a problem. Many of the categories were either dropped entirely due to the lack of fan interest in the nomination process (where "lack of fan interest" essentially means that an insufficient number of people nominated works in that category) or there simply were not very many total nominees - Best Fan Writer only has one name on the longlist, Best Fanzine only has six, and Best Graphic Story only has four. One could say that graphic stories were still finding their feet as a medium, but even so one would think that more than ten total examples of worthwhile nominees could have been found. The problem is that from such a distance in time, it is often difficult for someone who is not a historian focused on pop culture of the era to come up with options. A persistent and valid criticism of the Retro Hugo awards is that fans from decades later are likely to select finalists and winners that are very different from those that would have been chosen by fans of the era. To that it seems that one can add the criticism that fans from later decades may not have the depth of knowledge in certain categories to be able to nominate at all.

Best Novel

Finalists:
Gray Lensman by E.E. Doc Smith
The Ill-Made Knight by T.H. White
The Incomplete Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt [ineligible]
Kallocain by Karin Boye
The Reign of Wizardry by Jack Williamson
Slan by A.E. van Vogt [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Captain Future and the Space Emperor by Edmond Hamilton
Final Blackout by L. Ron Hubbard
The Man Who Went Back by Warwick Deeping
A Million Years to Conquer by Henry Kuttner
Synthetic Men of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Twenty-Fifth Hour by Herbert Best
Twice in Time by Manly Wade Wellman
Typewriter in the Sky by L. Ron Hubbard
The Wonder City of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Best Novella

Finalists:
Coventry by Robert A. Heinlein
If This Goes On . . . by Robert A. Heinlein [winner]

Magic, Inc. by Robert A. Heinlein (reviewed in The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein)

The Mathematics of Magic by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
The Roaring Trumpet by L. Sprague DeCamp and Fletcher Pratt

Longlisted Nominees:
But Without Horns by Norvell Page
By His Bootstraps by Robert A. Heinlein
Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson
Fear by L. Ron Hubbard
The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
The Mound by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop
Soldiers of the Black Goat by Marian O'Hearn
The Sun Maker by Jack Williamson
Universe by Robert A. Heinlein
The Wheels of If by L. Sprague de Camp

Best Novelette

Finalists:
Blowups Happen by Robert A. Heinlein
Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson [ineligible in this category]
Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates
It by Theodore Sturgeon

The Roads Must Roll by Robert A. Heinlein (reviewed in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume I, 1929-1964 ) [winner]

Vault of the Beast by A.E. van Vogt

Longlisted Nominees
All is Illusion by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore
Cargo by Theodore Sturgeon
Fruit of Knowledge by C.L. Moore
Half-Breed by Isaac Asimov
The Hardwood Pile by L. Sprague de Camp
Into the Darkness by Ross Rocklynne
John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years by Don Wilcox
Voyage to Nowhere by Alfred Bester
The Warrior Race by L. Sprague de Camp

Best Short Story

Finalists:
Martian Quest by Leigh Brackett

Requiem by Robert A. Heinlein

Robbie by Isaac Asimov (reviewed in I, Robot) [winner]
The Stellar Legion by Leigh Brackett
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges

Longlisted Nominees
The Automatic Pistol by Fritz Leiber
The Bleak Shore by Fritz Leiber
Clerical Error by Clifford D. Simak
Dark Mission by Lester del Rey
Hindsight by Jack Williamson
Homo Sol by Isaac Asimov
Let There Be Light by Robert A. Heinlein

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov (reviewed in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume I, 1929-1964)

Quietus by Ross Rocklynne
Song in a Minor Key by C.L. Moore
The Tapestry Gate by Leigh Brackett

Best Graphic Story

Finalists:
Batman #1 by Bob Kane [winner]
Captain America Comics #1 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby [ineligible]
Flash Gordon: Ice Kingdom of Mongo by Don Moore and Alex Raymond
Introducing Captain Marvel! by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck
The Origin of the Spirit by Will Eisner and Joe Kubert
The Spectre! The Spectre Strikes! by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily

Longlisted Nominees:
Flash Comics #1 by Gardner Fox, Sheldon Moldoff, and Harry Lampert
Flash Gordon

Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss

Prince Valiant by Hal Foster

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Finalists:
Dr. Cyclops
Fantasia [winner]
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
One Million B.C.
Pinocchio [ineligible in this category]
The Thief of Bagdad

Longlisted Nominees:
Black Friday
The Great Dictator
The Invisible Man Returns
The Invisible Woman
Mysterious Doctor Satan
The Shadow
Son of Ingagi

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Finalists:
The Adventures of Superman
Dr. Cyclops [nominated in long form category]
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe [nominated in long form category]
The Invisible Man Returns
Pinocchio [winner]
The Shadow [ineligible in this category]
A Wild Hare
You Ought to Be in Pictures

Longlisted Nominees:
Buck Rogers
Ghost Wanted
The Invisible Woman
The Milky Way
Night on Bald Mountain
One Million B.C.
Puss Gets the Boot
Scrappy Man of Tin
Son of Ingagi
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Weltraumschiff 1 Startet

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
John W. Campbell, Jr. [winner]
Dorothy McIlwraith
Raymond A. Palmer
Frederik Pohl
Mort Weisinger

Longlisted Nominees:
Mary Gnaedinger
Martin Goodman
Charles D. Hornig
Malcolm Reiss
Farnsworth Wright

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Hannes Bok [winner]
Margaret Brundage
Edd Cartier
Virgil Finlay
Frank R. Paul
Hubert Rogers

Longlisted Nominees:
Earle Bergey
Howard V. Brown
Robert Fuqua
Charles Schneeman
Alex Schomburg
J.W. Scott
J. Allen St. John

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
Futuria Fantasia edited by Ray Bradbury [winner]
Novacious edited by Forrest J. Ackerman and Morojo
Spaceways edited by Harry Warner, Jr.
Voice of the ImagiNation edited by Forrest J. Ackerman and Morojo
Le Zombie edited by Arthur Wilson "Bob" Tucker

Longlisted Nominees:
Detours edited by Russ Chauvenet
Futurian War Digest edited by J. Michael Rosenblum
The Phantagraph edited by Don Wollheim
Snide edited by Damon Knight
Spaceship
YHOS edited by Art Widner

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:
Forrest J. Ackerman
Ray Bradbury [winner]
H.P. Lovecraft
Bob Tucker
Harry Warner

Longlisted Nominees:
Art Widner

Go to previous year's longlist: 1939 (awarded in 2014)
Go to subsequent year's longlist: 1943 (awarded in 1996)

Go to 1941 Hugo Finalists and Winners

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