1975 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: Aussiecon One in Melbourne, Australia.

Comments: In 1975 Ursula K. Le Guin won the Hugo Award for Best Novel with one of my favorite science fiction novels, The Dispossessed. George R.R. Martin won his first Hugo for A Song for Lya, and Ellison added yet another trophy to his collection with Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W. Robert Silverberg took just enough time off from his editing duties to garner two Hugo nominations, and Larry Niven won a Hugo and was nominated for another with The Mote in God's Eye coauthored with Jerry Pournelle. None of these developments were particularly surprising.

The list of nominees for the Best Dramatic Presentation Award, however, was embarrassingly awful. The winner was Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks' send up of classic monster movies, which was a decent movie, and not a particularly awful winning entry. The other nominees, however, made this year's slate a truly awful field of candidates: Zardoz, which features Sean Connery in a diaper and an incomprehensible plot, Phantom of the Paradise, an indifferent and forgettable musical, and Flesh Gordon, a soft core porn parody of the Flash Gordon movie serials. The only worthwhile competitor for Young Frankenstein was the made for television movie The Questor Tapes, and that's setting the bar pretty low for a Hugo ballot.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Other Nominees:
Fire Time by Poul Anderson
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
The Inverted World by Christopher Priest
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Best Novella

Winner:

A Song for Lya by George R.R. Martin (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
Assault on a City by Jack Vance
Born with the Dead by Robert Silverberg
Riding the Torch by Norman Spinrad
Strangers by Gardner Dozois

Best Novelette

Winner:

Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W by Harlan Ellison (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
After the Dreamtime by Richard Lupoff
A Brother to Dragons, a Companion of Owls by Kate Wilhelm
Extreme Prejudice by Jerry Pournelle
Midnight by the Morphy Watch by Fritz Leiber
Nix Olympica by William Walling
-That Thou Art Mindful of Him! by Isaac Asimov

Best Short Story

Winner:

The Hole Man by Larry Niven (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
Cathadonian Odyssey by Michael Bishop
The Day Before the Revolution by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Four-Hour Fugue by Alfred Bester
Schwartz Between the Galaxies by Robert Silverberg

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Young Frankenstein

Other Nominees:
Flesh Gordon
Phantom of the Paradise
The Questor Tapes (television movie)
Zardoz

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Ben Bova

Other Nominees:
Jim Baen
Terry Carr
Edward L. Ferman
Robert Silverberg
Ted White

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Frank Kelly Freas

Other Nominees:
Steve Fabian
Tim Kirk
John Schoenherr
Rick Sternbach

Best Fanzine

Winner:

The Alien Critic edited by Richard E. Geis

Other Nominees:
Algol edited by Andrew Porter
Locus edited by Charles Brown and Dena Brown
Outworlds edited by Bill Bowers and Joan Bowers
SF Commentary edited by Bruce Gillespie
Starling edited by Hank Luttrell and Lesleigh Luttrell

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Richard E. Geis

Other Nominees:
John Bangsund
Sandra Miesel
Don C. Thompson
Susan Wood

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Bill Rotsler

Other Nominees:
George Barr
Grant Canfield
Jim Shull

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
P.J. Plauger

Other Nominees:
Alan Brennert
Suzy McKee Charnas
Felix C. Gotschalk
Brenda Pearce
John Varley

What Are the Hugo Awards?

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1975 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: New York City, New York.

Comments: In 1975, the SFWA changed the rules relating to Nebula Award nominations very slightly, limiting the number of finalists on the ballot to three in most categories. Starting in this year, a jury would select the three finalists from the preliminary ballot, and then the SFWA membership would vote on the overall winner. As a result, getting on the final ballot for the Nebula Awards in this year was almost as difficult as actually winning the award.

As to the awards themselves, Ursula K. Le Guin became the first author to win the Nebula Award for Best Novel twice with The Dispossessed, a brilliant book that is one of the many reasons I love her writing so much. Not only that, Le Guin also won the Best Short Story Nebula for The Day Before the Revolution, pulling off the impressive feat of winning two Nebulas in one year. Given his dominance of the 1970s thus far, it should come as no surprise that Robert Silverberg won the Best Novella Nebula for Born with the Dead. In fact, the only unusual Nebula winner this year was Woody Allen, who won for his screenplay for the movie Sleeper.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Other Nominees:
334 by Thomas M. Disch
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
The Godwhale by T.J. Bass

Best Novella

Winner:

Born with the Dead by Robert Silverberg

Other Nominees:
On the Street of the Serpents by Michael Bishop

A Song for Lya by George R.R. Martin (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Best Novelette

Winner:

If the Stars Are Gods by Gordon Eklund and Gregory Benford

Other Nominees:
The Rest Is Silence by Charles L. Grant
Twilla by Tom Reamy

Best Short Story

Winner:
The Day Before the Revolution by Ursula K. Le Guin

Other Nominees:

After King Kong Fell by Philip José Farmer

The Engine at Heartspring's Center by Roger Zelazny

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:

Sleeper by Woody Allen

Other Nominees:

Fantastic Planet screenplay by René Laloux and Roland Topor; based on work by Stefan Wul

Frankenstein: The True Story teleplay by Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy; based on the novel by Mary Shelley

Go to previous year's nominees: 1974
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1974 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: Because the Locus Awards are determined by a poll of the readers of Locus magazine, they are, more than any other genre fiction award, a measure of the popularity of books and authors. The Hugo Awards, voted on by the attendees at the annual Worldcon, give a sense of what is most popular among the hard-core devoted fans. The Nebula Awards, voted on by judges selected from the ranks of the SFWA, give a sense of what is most highly regarded among professional genre fiction authors. But only the Locus Award, with its broad reach, gives a sense of what is most popular among science fiction and fantasy fandom in general. So if one wants to get a snapshot of the general state of science fiction and fantasy at a particular point in time, the best place to start is probably the Locus Award nominees.

Best Novel
Winner:
1.   Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Other Nominees:
2.   Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein
3.   The People of the Wind by Poul Anderson
4.   Protector by Larry Niven
5.   The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold
6.   Trullion: Alastor 2262 by Jack Vance
7.   The Far Call by Gordon R. Dickson
8.   To Die In Italbar by Roger Zelazny
9.   Today We Choose Faces by Roger Zelazny
10. The Cloud Walker by Edmund Cooper
11. Relatives by George Alec Effinger
12. Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
13. Herovit's World by Barry N. Malzberg
14. Hiero's Journey by Sterling Lanier
15. The Doomsday Gene by John Boyd

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   The Death of Doctor Island by Gene Wolfe

Other Nominees:
2.   The White Otters of Childhood by Michael Bishop
3.   The Feast of St. Dionysus by Robert Silverberg
4.   Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind by Philip José Farmer
5.   Chains of the Sea by Gardner Dozois
6.   The Defenseless Dead by Larry Niven
7.   Death and Designation Among the Asadi by Michael Bishop
8.   Rumfuddle by Jack Vance
9.   The Safety Engineer by S. Kye Boult
10. In the Problem Pit by Frederik Pohl
11. Junction by Jack Dann
12. My Brother Leopold by Edgar Pangborn
13. 'Kjwalll'kje'k'koothailll'kje'k by Roger Zelazny
14. Case and the Dreamer by Theodore Sturgeon

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   The Deathbird by Harlan Ellison (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
2.    Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand by Vonda N. McIntyre
3.   Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death by James Tiptree, Jr.

4.   The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree, Jr. (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

5.   Ms. Found in an Abandoned Time Machine by Robert Silverberg

6.   The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

7.   Wings by Vonda N. McIntyre
8.   With Morning Comes Mistfall by George R.R. Martin
9.   Mud Violet by R.A. Lafferty
10. In the Group by Robert Silverberg
11. (tie) The Field of Vision by Ursula K. Le Guin
      (tie) Many Mansions by Robert Silverberg
13. (tie) The Answer by Terry Carr
      (tie) Barnaby's Clock by R.A. Lafferty
      (tie) Brothers by Gordon R. Dickson
16. The World Is a Sphere by Edgar Pangborn
17. Epilog by Clifford D. Simak
18. The Women Men Don't See by James Tiptree, Jr.

Best Original Anthology
Winner:
1.   Astounding edited by Harry Harrison

Other Nominees:
2.   New Dimensions 3 edited by Robert Silverberg
3.   Universe 3 edited by Terry Carr
4.   An Exaltation of Stars edited by Terry Carr
5.   Orbit 12 edited by Damon Knight
6.   The Alien Condition edited by Stephen Goldin
7.   Chains of the Sea edited by Robert Silverberg
8.   Ten Tomorrows edited by Roger Elwood
9.   Nova 3 edited by Harry Harrison
10. Future City edited by Roger Elwood
11. Flashing Swords #1 edited by Lin Carter
12. Eros In Orbit edited by Joseph Elder
13. Showcase edited by Roger Elwood
14. Bad Moon Rising edited by Thomas M. Disch

Best Reprint Anthology or Collection
Winner:
1.   The Best Science Fiction of the Year #2 edited by Terry Carr

Other Nominees:
2.   The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 2a & 2b edited by Ben Bova

3.   The 1973 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

4.   Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home by James Tiptree, Jr.
5.   Jupiter edited by Carol Pohl and Frederik Pohl
6.   Those Who Can edited by Robin Scott Wilson

7.   The Astounding-Analog Reader, Volume Two edited by Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss

8.   Alpha 4 edited by Robert Silverberg
9.   The Book of Philip José Farmer by Philip José Farmer
10. Nebula Award Stories 8 edited by Isaac Asimov
11. Nebula Award Stories Seven edited by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.
12. Science Fiction: The Great Years edited by Carol Pohl and Frederik Pohl
13. The Book of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick
14. (tie) The Flight of the Horse by Larry Niven
      (tie) The Star Road by Gordon R. Dickson

Best Magazine
Winner:
1. Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
2. Analog edited by Ben Bova
3. Galaxy edited by Ejler Jakobsson
4. Amazing Stories edited by Ted White
5. Vertex edited by Don Pfeil
6. Fantastic edited by Ted White
7. If edited by Ejler Jakobsson

Best Fanzine
Winner:
1.   Locus edited by Charlie Brown and Dena Brown

Other Nominees:
2.   The Alien Critic edited by Richard E. Geis
3.   Algol edited by Andy Porter
4.   Outworlds edited by the Bowers
5.   SF Commentary edited by Bruce Gillespie
6.   Prehensile edited by Mike Glyer
7.   Yandro edited by Robert Coulson and Juanita Coulson
8.   Starling edited by the Lutrells
9.   (tie) Energumen edited by Mike Glicksohn and Susan Glicksohn
      (tie) Moebius Trip edited by Ed Connor
      (tie) Riverside Quarterly edited by Sapirol
12. (tie) Granfalloon edited by the Bushyagers
      (tie) Title edited by Donn Brazier
14. Speculation edited by Pete Weston

Best Critic
Winner:
1.   Richard E. Geis

Other Nominees:
2.   (tie) Joanna Russ
      (tie) P. Schuyler Miller
4.   Theodore Sturgeon
5.   Brian W. Aldiss
6.   Alexei Panshin and Cory Panshin
7.   Lester del Rey
8.   Dick Lupoff
9.   Dave Hartwell
10. James Blish
11. Charlie Brown
12. Harlan Ellison
13. Richard Delap
14. Buck Coulson
15. (tie) Tony Lewis
      (tie) Cy Chauvin

Best Book Publisher
Winner:
1.   Ballantine

Other Nominees:
2.   DAW
3.   Science Fiction Book Club
4.   Doubleday
5.   Ace
6.   Harper & Row
7.   Random House
8.   Signet (New American Library)
9.   Putnam
10. Bantam
11. Berkley
12. Avon
13. Donald M. Grant
14. Mirage Press
15. Dell
16. Sphere

Best Professional Artist
Winner:
1.   Frank Kelly Freas

Other Nominees:
2.   Jack Gaughan
3.   Vincent Di Fate
4.   John Schoenherr
5.   Frank Frazetta
6.   Tim Kirk
7.   George Barr
8.   Mike Hinge
9.   (tie) Jeff Jones
      (tie) Gahan Wilson
11. Gene Szafran
12. Don Davis
13. Alicia Austin
14. Karel Thole
15. (tie) David Hardy
      (tie) Dean Ellis

Best Fan Artist
Winner:
1.   Tim Kirk

Other Nominees:
2.    Bill Rotsler
3.   Grant Canfield
4.   ATom (aka Arthur Thomson)
5.   Alicia Austin
6.   George Barr
7.   James Shull
8.   Steve Fabian
9.   Steve Stiles
10. Jim McLeod
11. Helmut Pesch
12. Vincent Di Fate

Go to previous year's nominees: 1973
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1975

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1974 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown

Comments: In 1974 Mary Stewart became the first two-time winner of the Mythopoeic Award, winning in the Best Adult Fantasy literature category with her book The Hollow Hills. When one considers the history of the Mythopoeic Awards through 1974, it isn't surprising that the first two-time winner of the award was a woman. On the other hand, when one considers the wider contemporaneous context of genre awards, it is somewhat astounding, but then again, by this point, I have come to expect nothing less from the Mythopoeic Awards.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart

Other Nominees:
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
Exaclibur by Sanders Anne Laubenthal
High Deryni by Katherine Kurtz
Hrolf Kraki's Saga by Poul Anderson

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christian by Kathryn A. Lindskoog

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1973
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1974 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: Discon II in Washington, D.C.

Comments: After Isaac Asimov took home the Best Novel prize in 1973 for The Gods Themselves, the only one of the "Big Three" without a Best Novel Hugo Award was Arthur C. Clarke. As soon as the voters got the chance, they rectified this situation, handing the award to Clarke in 1974 for his novel Rendezvous with Rama. In an interesting twist, Clarke beat out fellow "Big Three" member Heinlein for the honor, with his novel topping Heinlein's Time Enough for Love. Perhaps the voters were nonplussed by the incest storyline in Heinlein's book. Robert Silverberg didn't have any novels or stories nominated this year, but does appear on the slate for the Best Professional Editor Award, although he lost the award to Ben Bova.

While Ursula K. Le Guin's win for The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas was heralded as another step towards breaking up the male-dominance of the Hugo Awards, one interesting note is that, although no one knew it at the time, two Hugo awards were won by women in 1974. No one knew it, because no one at the time knew that James Tiptree, Jr. was actually Alice B. Sheldon (well, no one other than Alice B. Sheldon).

The real oddity of the year's awards was in the Best Dramatic Presentation category where the Woody Allen comedy Sleeper beat out a collection of other, more deserving nominees. Perhaps it was the environment of the mid-1970s that made Allen's piece of sexual fluff seem more weighty than it actually is, but for it to beat out a movie like Soylent Green seems almost inexplicable now. Oddly, the set-up for Allen's movie is very similar to the set up for the also-nominated Genesis II. I suppose 1974 was just a year in which stories about cryogenicaly frozen humans being revived after sleeping for hundreds of years seemed like a good idea to production executives.

Best Novel

Winner:
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Other Nominees:
The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold
The People of the Wind by Poul Anderson
Protector by Larry Niven
Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein

Best Novella

Winner:

The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree, Jr. (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
Chains of the Sea by Gardner Dozois
Death and Designation Among the Asadi by Michael Bishop
The Death of Doctor Island by Gene Wolfe
The White Otters of Childhood by Michael Bishop

Best Novelette

Winner:

The Deathbird by Harlan Ellison (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
The City on the Sand by George Alec Effinger
He Fell Into a Dark Hole by Jerry Pournelle
Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death by James Tiptree, Jr.
Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand by Vonda N. McIntyre

Best Short Story

Winner:

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
Construction Shack by Clifford D. Simak
Wings by Vonda N. McIntyre
With Morning Comes Mistfall by George R.R. Martin

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Sleeper

Other Nominees:
Genesis II (television movie)
The Six Million Dollar Man (television movie)
Soylent Green
Westworld

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Ben Bova

Other Nominees:
Terry Carr
Edward L. Ferman
Robert Silverberg
Ted White
Donald A. Wollheim

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Frank Kelly Freas

Other Nominees:
Vincent Di Fate
Frank Frazetta
Jack Gaughan
John Schoenherr

Best Fanzine

Winner:

(tie) Algol edited by Andrew Porter

(tie) The Alien Critic edited by Richard E. Geis

Other Nominees:
Locus edited by Charles Brown and Dena Brown
Outworlds edited by Bill Bowers and Joan Bowers

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Susan Wood

Other Nominees:
Laura Basta
Richard E. Geis
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Sandra Miesel

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Tim Kirk

Other Nominees:
Alicia Austin
Grant Canfield
Bill Rotsler
Arthur Thomson

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
(tie) Spider Robinson
(tie) Lisa Tuttle

Other Nominees:
Jesse Miller
Thomas F. Monteleone
Guy Snyder

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1973
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1974 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, California.

Comments: After winning the 1973 Best Novella Nebula for A Meeting with Medusa, Arthur C. Clarke followed up by winning the Best Novel Nebula in 1974 for what was probably his best book: Rendezvous with Rama. And after begin denied in 1972 and losing to "No Award" for Best Short Story, Gene Wolfe recovered and won the Best Novella Nebula in 1974 for The Island of Doctor Death.

But the real development of 1974 was the introduction of the Best Dramatic Presentation Nebula, designed to honor scriptwriters with the dystopian Soylent Green taking home the prize in this category's first year. Because the SFWA, which sponsors the Nebula Awards, is a writers' organization, the award is directed to the screenwriter, and sometimes to the novelist upon who an adapted work is based, rather than the producers of the film being honored.

Best Novel

Winner:
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Other Nominees:
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
4The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold
The People of the Wind by Poul Anderson
Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein

Best Novella

Winner:

The Death of Doctor Island by Gene Wolfe

Other Nominees:
Chains of the Sea by Gardner Dozois
Death and Designation Among the Asadi by Michael Bishop
Junction by Jack Dann
The White Otters of Childhood by Michael Bishop

Best Novelette

Winner:

Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand by Vonda N. McIntyre

Other Nominees:
Case and the Dreamer by Theodore Sturgeon

The Deathbird by Harlan Ellison (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree, Jr. (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Best Short Story

Winner:
Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death by James Tiptree, Jr.

Other Nominees:

How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion by Gene Wolfe

Shark by Edward Bryant
A Thing of Beauty by Norman Spinrad
Wings by Vonda N. McIntyre
With Morning Comes Mistfall by George R.R. Martin

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:

Soylent Green by Stanley R. Greenberg, screenplay; based on a novel by Harry Harrison

Other Nominees:
Catholics (TV production) by Brian Moore
Steambath by Bruce Jay Friedman
Westworld by Michael Crichton

Go to previous year's nominees: 1973
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1974 Campbell Award Nominees

Location: California State University in Fullerton, California.

Comments: In 1974, the Campbell Award for Best Novel resulted in not one, but two ties, which is odd, because technically, there is only one award given. But because they track second (and usually third) place finishers rather than simply list all of the shortlisted but non-winning nominees (like most other awards do), the award found itself with a tie for both first and second place.

The other odd thing about the 1974 Campbell Awards is that the judges saw fit to hand out an award for Best Nonfiction Book, which went to Carl Sagan's The Cosmic Connection. As with Silverberg's 1973 Special Award for Writing Excellence for his novel Dying Inside the year, this award category seems to have had no precedent at the Campbell Awards, and the category has not been repeated, making its appearance in this year all the more mystifying.

Best Novel

Winner:
(tie) Malevil by Robert Merle

(tie) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Second Place:
(tie) The Embedding by Ian Watson
(tie) The Green Gene by Peter Dickinson

Best Nonfiction Book

Winner:
The Cosmic Connection by Carl Sagan

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1973
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Book Award Reviews     Home

1973 Campbell Award Nominees

Location: Campbell Conference Awards Banquet in Lawrence, Kansas.

Comments: In the first year for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the trophy was handed to Barry Malzberg for his novel Beyond Apollo, an entirely unsurprising result. The interesting thing this year was the decision to hand out a Special Award for Excellence in Writing to Robert Silverberg for his novel Dying Inside. It seems somewhat odd that in the inaugural year of the award the judges felt the need to create a special category and recognize a second work. I think Dying Inside is a good science fiction book, but I just don't see that it is good enough that there would be a compelling reason to create a special award category just to recognize it.

Best Novel

Winner:

Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg

Second Place:
The Listeners by James E. Gunn

Third Place:
Darkening Island by Christopher Priest

Special Award for Excellence in Writing

Winner:
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg

Other Nominees:
None

Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1974

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1973 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown

Comments: For the third year in  row, a work by a woman won the Mythopoeic Award for Best Adult Fantasy Literature. In addition, half of the nominees on the short list were works written by women. I hate to sound like a broken record on this, but in an era while other genre awards were apparently flummoxed by the idea that women make up half of the population of the world, and perhaps might be responsible for a fair share of the quality genre literature that was published, the Mythopoeic Awards were cheerfully running the other direction and giving female-authored literature its due.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
The Song of Rhiannon by Evangeline Walton

Other Nominees:
The Dancer from Atlantis by Poul Anderson
Deryni Checkmate by Katherine Kurtz
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
Green Phoenix by Thomas Burnett Swann
The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:
Master of Middle-Earth by Paul H. Kocher

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1972
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1973 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: The first thing to note about the 1973 Nebula Awards is that Isaac Asimov won the Best Novel Award this year for The Gods Themselves. There are many people who denigrate Asimov's writing, and at times he can definitely be a little dry, but those of us that love his books can always point to the fact that his peers awarded him the highest honor they could for the quality of his prose. Given that their two careers seem to have been inextricably intertwined, it seems fitting that Arthur C. Clarke also won his first Nebula in 1973, for the novella A Meeting with Medusa.

The second thing to note is that Robert Silverberg dominated science fiction of the the early 1970s in a way that few other writers have dominated an era. And he did it in a weirdly unobtrusive manner, with only one award for novel writing - his 1972 Nebula win for A Time of Changes. But although he didn't win any Nebula Awards in 1973, he was nominated for the Best Novel award twice, and also garnered a nomination for Best Short Story.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

Other Nominees:
The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg
The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad
The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
What Entropy Means to Me by George Alec Effinger
When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One by David Gerrold

Best Novella

Winner:

A Meeting with Medusa Arthur C. Clarke

Other Nominees:
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe
The Gold at the Starbow's End by Frederik Pohl
Son of the Morning by Phyllis Gotlieb
With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Old New Alabama by Richard A. Lupoff

The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Best Novelette

Winner:

Goat Song by Poul Anderson (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
The Animal Fair by Alfred Bester
Basilisk by Harlan Ellison
The Funeral by Kate Wilhelm
In the Deadlands by David Gerrold
A Kingdom by the Sea by Gardner Dozois
Patron of the Arts by William Rotsler

Best Short Story

Winner:
When It Changed by Joanna Russ

Other Nominees:
Against the Lafayette Escadrille by Gene Wolfe
And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side by James Tiptree, Jr.
On the Downhill Side by Harlan Ellison
Shaffery Among the Immortals by Frederik Pohl
When We Went to See the End of the World by Robert Silverberg

Go to previous year's nominees: 1972
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1973 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: The most pervasive form of sexism is subtle. Sexism does not prosper because women are barred from entry into men's clubs or similar overt exclusionary practices. No, sexism prospers because it lurks unseen until you start examining things closely. In 1973, the slate of Locus Award nominees was biased heavily in favor of male writers. Even so, a couple of works by women were nominated in the fiction categories, and those works placed at least reasonably well. So one might think that the balance was slowly tilting more towards equality.

But if one looks at the lists of nominated anthologies, one might notice the complete lack of any female editors. Male authors who were at best moderately successful as authors seem to have been routinely asked to edit anthologies, but even the most successful female authors were excluded from this role. In effect, when the time came for publishers to select editors for their anthologies, they seem to have simply bypassed women. If you asked the publishers, they likely would have said that they were in favor of women's equality, and they probably didn't exclude women intentionally, but the effect is still the same as if they had. This is how sexism persists.

Best Novel
Winner:
1.   The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

Other Nominees:
2.   The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg
3.   Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg
4.   When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One by David Gerrold
5.   A Choice of Gods by Clifford D. Simak
6.   The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
7.   There Will Be Time by Poul Anderson
8.   The Listeners by James E. Gunn
9.   The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny
10 The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad
11. The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe
12. What Entropy Means to Me by George Alec Effinger
13. The Pritcher Mass by Gordon R. Dickson
14. The Brave, Free Men by Jack Vance
15. Deryni Checkmate by Katherine Kurtz
16. Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg
17. (tie) Other Days, Other Eyes by Bob Shaw

      (tie) A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! (aka Tunnel Through the Deeps) by Harry Harrison

19. Yesterday's Children by David Gerrold
20. The Castle Keeps by andrew j. offutt
21. Beyond the Resurrection by Gordon Eklund

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   The Gold at the Starbow's End by Frederik Pohl

Other Nominees:

2.   The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

3.   The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe
4.   Hero by Joe Haldeman
5.   Midsummer Century by James Blish
6.   With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Old New Alabama by Richard A. Lupoff
7.   The Merchants of Venus by Frederik Pohl
8.   Things Which are Caesar's by Gordon R. Dickson
9.   334 by Thomas M. Disch
10. Seventy Years of DecPop by Philip José Farmer
11. What Good Is a Glass Dagger? by Larry Niven
12. The Mercenary by Jerry Pournelle
13. (tie) Collision Course by S. Kye Boult
      (tie) Common Denominator by David Lewis
      (tie) Solo Kill by S. Kye Boult
16. Love is a Dragonfly by Thomas Burnett Swann
17. In the Ocean of Night by Gregory Benford
18. Son of the Morning by Phyllis Gotlieb

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Basilisk by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:
2.    Patron of the Arts by William Rotsler

3.   Goat Song by Poul Anderson (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

4.   And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side by James Tiptree, Jr.
5.   A Kingdom by the Sea by Gardner Dozois
6.   When It Changed by Joanna Russ
7.   The Second Kind of Loneliness by George R.R. Martin
8.   Painwise by James Tiptree, Jr.

9.   The Meeting by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth) (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

10. The Funeral by Kate Wilhelm
11. Man's Reach by Anthony Boucher
12. Caliban by Robert Silverberg
13. On the Downhill Side by Harlan Ellison
14. (tie) Nobody's Home by Joanna Russ
      (tie) When We Went to See the End of the World by Robert Silverberg
      (tie) The Big Space Fuck by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

      (tie) Eurema's Dam by R.A. Lafferty (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

      (tie) The Milk of Paradise by James Tiptree, Jr.
      (tie) (Now+n), (Now-n) by Robert Silverberg

Best Original Anthology
Winner:
1.   Again, Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:
2.   Universe 2 edited by Terry Carr
3.   New Dimensions II edited by Robert Silverberg
4.   Orbit 10 edited by Damon Knight
5.   Nova 2 edited by Harry Harrison
6.   Orbit 11 edited by Damon Knight
7.   Generation edited by David Gerrold
8.   Infinity Four edited by Robert Hoskins
9.   The Day the Sun Stood Still edited by Robert Silverberg
10. Clarion II edited by Robin Scott Wilson
11. New Worlds Quarterly #4 edited by Michael Moorcock
12. New Worlds Quarterly #3 edited by Michael Moorcock
13. Infinity Three edited by Robert Hoskins
14. And Walk Now Gently Through the Fire edited by Roger Elwood
15. New Writings in SF 21 edited by Ted Carnell

Best Reprint Anthology or Collection
Winner:
1.   The Best Science Fiction of the Year edited by Terry Carr

Other Nominees:

2.   The 1972 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

3.   A Science Fiction Argosy edited by Damon Knight
4.   Alpha Three edited by Robert Silverberg
5.   The Early Asimov by Isaac Asimov
6.   The Gold at the Starbow's End by Frederik Pohl
7.   Best Science Fiction for 1972 edited by Frederik Pohl
8.  (tie) The Hugo Winners, Volumes 1 & 2 edited by Isaac Asimov
     (tie) The Wind from the Sun by Arthur C. Clarke
10. A Day in the Life edited by Gardner Dozois
11. Best SF: 1971 edited by Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss
12. First Person, Peculiar by T.L. Sherred

13. (tie) The Astounding-Analog Reader, Volume One edited by Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss

      (tie) Nebula Award Stories Seven edited by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.
      (tie) Strange Doings by R.A. Lafferty

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction

Other Nominees:
2.   Analog
3.   Amazing Stories
4.   Galaxy
5.   Fantastic
6.   If
7.   Orbit
8.   Universe
9.   New Dimensions
10. New Worlds Quarterly
11. Infinity

Best Fanzine
Winner:
1.   Locus

Other Nominees:
2.   Energumen
3.   Algol
4.   SF Commentary
5.   Granfalloon
6.   Richard E. Geis
7.   Outworlds
8.   Speculation
9.   Yandro
10. Luna
11. Riverside Quarterly
12. Nyctalops
13. (tie) Amra
      (tie) ERB-dom
15. Title
16. Is
17. Moebius Trip
18. Extrapolation
19. Starling

Best Fan Writer
Winner:
1.   Terry Carr

Other Nominees:
2.   Dick Geis
3.   Charlie Brown
4.   Harry Warner, Jr.
5.   Tony Lewis
6.   Sandra Miesel
7.   Paul Walker
8.   Bruce Gillespie
9.   Jack Gaughan
10. Rosemary Ullyot
11. Susan Glicksohn
12. Dave Hartwell
13. Mike Glicksohn
14. Buck Coulson
15. Ted White
16. John Bangsund

Best Book Publisher
Winner:
1.   Ballantine

Other Nominees:
2.   DAW
3.   Doubleday
4.   Ace
5.   Science Fiction Book Club
6.   NAL/Signet
7.   Scribners
8.   Berkley
9.   Lancer
10. Putnam
11. Avon
12. Harper & Row
13. Arkham House
14. Mirage Press

Best Paperback Cover Artist
Winner:
1.   Frank Kelly Freas

Other Nominees:
2.   Gene Szafran
3.   (tie) Jack Gaughan
      (tie) Frank Frazetta
5.   Jeff Jones
6.   Dean Ellis
7.   Paul Lehr
8.   George Barr
9.   Vincent Di Fate
10. Gervasio Gallardo
11. Karel Thole
12. Tim Kirk
13. John Schoenherr
14. Bob Pepper
15. Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
16. John Berkey
17. David Johnston
18. Richard Powers

Best Magazine Artist
Winner:
1.   Frank Kelly Freas

Other Nominees:
2.   John Schoenherr
3.   Jack Gaughan
4.   Vincent Di Fate
5.   Mike Hinge
6.   Jeff Jones
7.   Gahan Wilson
8.   Mike Kaluta
9.   David Hardy
10. Leo Summers
11. Don Davis
12. Ron Walotsky
13. Vaughn Bodé
14. (tie) Ed Emsh
      (tie) Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
16. Bert Tanner
17. Brian Boyle

Best Fan Artist
Winner:
1.   Bill Rotsler

Other Nominees:
2.   Tim Kirk
3.   Grant Canfield
4.   Alicia Austin
5.   Vincent Di Fate
6.   Arthur Thomson
7.   George Barr
8.   Jim McLeod
9.   Helmut Pesch
10. Jack Gaughan
11. Steve Fabian
12. Steve Stiles
13. James Shull
14. Mike Gilbert

Go to previous year's nominees: 1972
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1974

Book Award Reviews     Home

1973 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: Torcon II in Toronto, Canada.

Comments: In 1973, after complaining about being overlooked for years, Isaac Asimov finally won a Hugo Award, taking home the trophy for his novel The Gods Themselves. Also in 1973, the Best Professional Magazine Award was eliminated and replaced by the Best Professional Editor Award, which went to Ben Bova who had taken over the reins at Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact in 1972 following the death of John W. Campbell, Jr.

The nominee list for this year also highlights yet again what a prolific writer Robert Silverberg has been throughout his career, as once again he had two novels and a short story nominated for awards. Given how often he shows up on the nominee lists, I have to wonder if Silverberg actually slept during the 1970s, or just kept writing twenty-four hours a day for weeks on end.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

Other Nominees:
The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg
A Choice of Gods by Clifford D. Simak
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg
There Will Be Time by Poul Anderson
When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One by David Gerrold

Best Novella

Winner:

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe
The Gold at the Starbow's End by Frederik Pohl
Hero by Joe Haldeman
The Mercenary by Jerry Pournelle

Best Novelette

Winner:

Goat Song by Poul Anderson (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
Basilisk by Harlan Ellison
A Kingdom by the Sea by Gardner Dozois
Painwise by James Tiptree, Jr.
Patron of the Arts by William Rotsler

Best Short Story

Winner:

(tie) Eurema's Dam by R.A. Lafferty (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

(tie) The Meeting by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 2)

Other Nominees:
And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side by James Tiptree, Jr.
When It Changed by Joanna Russ
When We Went to See the End of the World by Robert Silverberg

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Slaughterhouse-Five

Other Nominees:
Between Time and Timbuktu (television movie)
The People (television movie)
Silent Running

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Ben Bova

Other Nominees:
Terry Carr
Edward L. Ferman
Ted White
Donald A. Wollheim

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Frank Kelly Freas

Other Nominees:
Vincent Di Fate
Jack Gaughan
Mike Hinge
John Schoenherr

Best Fanzine

Winner:

Energumen edited by Michael Glicksohn and Susan Wood Glicksohn

Other Nominees:
Algol edited by Andrew Porter
Granfalloon edited by Ron and Linda Bushyager
Locus edited by Charles Brown and Dena Brown
SF Commentary edited by Bruce Gillespie

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Terry Carr

Other Nominees:
Charles Brown
Richard E. Geis
Susan Glicksohn
Sandra Miesel
Rosemary Ullyot

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Tim Kirk

Other Nominees:
Grant Canfield
Bill Rotsler
Jim Shull
Arthur Thomson

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Jerry Pournelle

Other Nominees:
Ruth Berman
Geo. Alec Effinger
George R.R. Martin
Robert Thurston
Lisa Tuttle

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1972
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1974

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