Saturday, August 20, 2011

2011 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: Renovation in Reno, Nevada.

Comments: The 2011 Hugo Awards should have put to rest the canard that women cannot write good science fiction. Not only did Connie Willis win the Best Novel Hugo for her two-part novel Blackout/All Clear, but of the remaining four nominees, three were women. In addition, Mary Robinette Kowal won the Best Short Story Hugo for For Want of a Nail, Sheila Williams won the Hugo for Best Short Form Editor, and women were well-represented in all of the other categories.

The only real disappointment was that Doctor Who won yet another award for Best Short Form Dramatic Presentation for the two part story The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. But in this year the amazingly brilliant song by Rachel Bloom Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury was also nominated. Granted, Doctor Who is a fine show, but if the award is just going to go to it every year while inventive and original material like Bloom's gets no better than "also ran" status, then the Short Form category is more or less just a waste of an award.

Best Novel

Winner:
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis

Other Finalists:
Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
Feed by Mira Grant
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

Best Novella

Winner:
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang

Other Finalists:
The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window by Rachel Swirsky
The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon by Elizabeth Hand (reviewed in Errantry: Strange Stories)
Troika by Alastair Reynolds

Best Novelette

Winner:

Other Finalists:
The Jaguar House, in Shadow by Aliette de Bodard (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, No. 7 (July 2010))
That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made by Eric James Stone (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXX, No. 9 (September 2010))

Best Short Story

Winner:

Other Finalists:
Amaryllis by Carrie Vaughn
Ponies by Kij Johnson
The Things by Peter Watts

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:
Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It edited by Tara O'Shea and Lynne M. Thomas

Other Finalists:
Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001 by Gary K. Wolfe
The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing by Barry N. Malzberg and Mike Resnick
Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1: 1907-1948: Learning Curve by William H. Patterson, Jr.
Writing Excuses, Season 4 by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells

Best Graphic Story

Winner:
Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio

Other Finalists:
Fables: Witches by Bill Willingham; art by Mark Buckingham
Grandville Mon Amour by Bryan Talbot
Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel by Howard Tayler
The Unwritten, Vol. 2: Inside Man by Mike Carey; art by Peter Gross

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Winner:
Inception

Other Finalists:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
How to Train Your Dragon
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Toy Story 3

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Winner:
Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang

Other Finalists:
Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol
Doctor Who: Vincent and the Doctor
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury
The Lost Thing

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Winner:
Sheila Williams

Other Finalists:
John Joseph Adams
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Gordon van Gelder

Best Professional Editor Long Form

Winner;
Lou Anders

Other Finalists:
Ginjer Buchanan
Moshe Feder
Liz Gorinsky
Nick Mamatas
Beth Meacham
Juliet Ulman

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Shaun Tan

Other Finalists:
Daniel Dos Santos
Bob Eggleton
Stephan Martiniere
John Picacio

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:
Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, and Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker

Other Finalists:
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Lightspeed edited by John Joseph Adams
Locus edited by Kirsten Gong-Wong and Liza Groen Trombi
Weird Tales edited by Stephen H. Segal and Ann VanderMeer

Best Fanzine

Winner:
The Drink Tank edited by James Bacon and Christopher J. Garcia

Other Finalists:
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
StarShipSofa edited by Tony C. Smith

Best Fan Writer

Winner:
Claire Brialey

Other Finalists:
James Bacon
Christopher J. Garcia
James Nicoll
Steven H. Silver

Best Fan Artist

Winner:
Brad W. Foster

Other Finalists:
Randall Munroe
Maurine Starkey
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Lev Grossman

Other Finalists:
Saladin Ahmed
Lauren Beukes
Larry Correia
Dan Wells

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's finalists: 2010
Go to subsequent year's finalists: 2012

2011 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home

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