Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

There is time for another contest. And here it goes:

Let’s guess which works will win Hugo Awards this year

The rules:

1. Each member of the group allowed to name one winner in each of the following categories: 2019 Best Novel; 2019 Best Novella; 2019 Best Novelette; 2019 Best Short Story; 1944 Retro Hugo Best Novel; 1944 Retro Hugo Best Novella; 1944 Retro Hugo Best Novelette; 1944 Retro Hugo Best Short Story.
2. Correct choices will give: 5 points for 2019 Best Novel; 3 point for 2019 Best Novella; 2 points for 2019 Best Novelette; 1 point for all other categories.
3. The winner should get maximum number of points summed up
4. In case of a tie, when members have the same number of points their names (as shown by GR) will be arranged alphabetically to assign number and then the winner is chosen by using random.org by a moderator.
5. The winner will receive $10 Amazon Gift Card, 2nd and 3rd place – 1 ENC each.

The winners of Hugo award will be announced August 19, 2019. The deadline for your submissions is a week earlier - Aug. 9 You may submit/change/edit your choice before that date

The list of nominees:

Best Novel

The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)
Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
Space Opera, by Catherynne M. Valente (Saga)
Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Macmillan)
Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)
Best Novella

Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells (Tor.com publishing)
Beneath the Sugar Sky, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com publishing)
Binti: The Night Masquerade, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com publishing)
The Black God’s Drums, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com publishing)
Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, by Kelly Robson (Tor.com publishing)
The Tea Master and the Detective, by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean Press / JABberwocky Literary Agency)
Best Novelette

“If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, 29 November 2018)
“The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections,” by Tina Connolly (Tor.com, 11 July 2018)
“Nine Last Days on Planet Earth,” by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com, 19 September 2018)
The Only Harmless Great Thing, by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com publishing)
“The Thing About Ghost Stories,” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)
“When We Were Starless,” by Simone Heller (Clarkesworld 145, October 2018)
Best Short Story

“The Court Magician,” by Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed, January 2018)
“The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society,” by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)
“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” by P. Djèlí Clark (Fireside Magazine, February 2018)
“STET,” by Sarah Gailey (Fireside Magazine, October 2018)
“The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine 23, July-August 2018)
“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, February 2018)


The finalists for the 1944 Retrospective Hugo Awards are:
Best Novel

Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Unknown Worlds, April 1943)
Earth’s Last Citadel, by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner (Argosy, April 1943)
Gather, Darkness! by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Astounding Science-Fiction, May-July 1943)
Das Glasperlenspiel [The Glass Bead Game], by Hermann Hesse (Fretz & Wasmuth)
Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis (John Lane, The Bodley Head)
The Weapon Makers, by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science-Fiction, February-April 1943)
Best Novella

“Attitude,” by Hal Clement (Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1943)
“Clash by Night,” by Lawrence O’Donnell (Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore) (Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1943)
“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” by H.P. Lovecraft, (Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Arkham House)
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Reynal & Hitchcock)
The Magic Bed-Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons, by Mary Norton (Hyperion Press)
“We Print the Truth,” by Anthony Boucher (Astounding Science-Fiction, December 1943)
Best Novelette

“Citadel of Lost Ships,” by Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories, March 1943)
“The Halfling,” by Leigh Brackett (Astonishing Stories, February 1943)
“Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1943)
“The Proud Robot,” by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1943)
“Symbiotica,” by Eric Frank Russell (Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1943)
“Thieves’ House,” by Fritz Leiber, Jr (Unknown Worlds, February 1943)
Best Short Story

“Death Sentence,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1943)
“Doorway into Time,” by C.L. Moore (Famous Fantastic Mysteries, September 1943)
“Exile,” by Edmond Hamilton (Super Science Stories, May 1943)
“King of the Gray Spaces” (“R is for Rocket”), by Ray Bradbury (Famous Fantastic Mysteries, December 1943)
“Q.U.R.,” by H.H. Holmes (Anthony Boucher) (Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1943)
“Yours Truly – Jack the Ripper,” by Robert Bloch (Weird Tales, July 1943)

I think The Calculating Stars

I would like Conjure Wife to win because I liked it, but I have not read several of these, including the Glass Bead Game, which seems a likely possiblity

I won't guess on the others as I have not read enough of them.

Last time I hedged my bets, so this time no such waffling:

2019
Novel: Roanhorse. No contest.

Novella: Djèlí Clark. I'm much less confident about this one. Couple obvious non-wonners here: McGuire wasn't as good as previous installments in the series, so no award, and I hope against hope that Hugo voters are bright enough not to award Okorafor's extremely disappointing conclusion to her series.

Novelette: Connolly. Although I liked it the least of the nominees, it semed to be optimized for the Hugo crowd.

Short Story: Harrow. No contest.


1944
Novel: Hesse. I assume this classic literary work is best known of the nominees.

Novella: de Saint-Exupéry. No contest.

Novelette: Mimsy Were the Borogoves. I'd sayit's an order of magnitude more known than any other nominee.

Short Story: Bradbury. I have no idea who'll win this category. Not Asimov, since his reputation isn't just now the best in these post-#metoo times. So let's go with Bradbury.

Novel:
- The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)

Novella:
- Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells (Tor.com publishing)

Novelette:
- The Only Harmless Great Thing, by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com publishing)

Short Story (this is a shot into the wild, I've read none of these)
- “STET,” by Sarah Gailey (Fireside Magazine, October 2018)

1944

Novel:
- Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Unknown Worlds, April 1943)

Novella:
- The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Reynal & Hitchcock)

Novelette:
- “Thieves’ House,” by Fritz Leiber, Jr (Unknown Worlds, February 1943)

Short Story:
- “Yours Truly – Jack the Ripper,” by Robert Bloch (Weird Tales, July 1943)
(my gut says Bradbury, but Antti has already voted for it, so...)

pareidolia (Donna) wrote: "(my gut says Bradbury, but Antti has already voted for it, so...)"

Members may vote for the same works other members have voted. Even a complete copy is allowed

Saving my spot, will edit after I finish with (some of) the package.

Best novel
Most likely to win: The Calculating Stars
The one I want to win: Revenant Gun

Best novella
Most likely to win: TBA
The one I want to win: Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach (so far)

Best novelette
Most likely to win: The Only Harmless Great Thing
The one I want to win: idem

Best short story
Most likely to win: The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington
The one I want to win: The Court Magician, maybe.

My list (note, those are 'most likely to win', not 'most liked by me')
Best Novel: Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Macmillan)

Best Novella: Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells (Tor.com publishing)

Best Novelette: “The Thing About Ghost Stories,” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)

Best Short Story TBA

The finalists for the 1944 Retrospective Hugo Awards are:
Best Novel: Das Glasperlenspiel [The Glass Bead Game], by Hermann Hesse (Fretz & Wasmuth)

Best Novella: The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Reynal & Hitchcock)

Best Novelette: “Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1943)

Best Short Story: “King of the Gray Spaces” (“R is for Rocket”), by Ray Bradbury (Famous Fantastic Mysteries, December 1943)

I haven't read any of these yet, but I found links to some of the short stories and Novelettes all handily collected here: https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/2/182...

That's how I'll be filling my spare moments at work next week, before I make my predictions :)

Thanks for pointing me to this thread, Art!

I'm voting this year, so I'll do a double take like some others, with what I think will win vs. what I'm voting for:

Best Novel
Most likely to win: The Calculating Stars by MRK
I'm voting for: TBA, but definitely not the above.
Thoughts: I don't think the list is very strong this year, but I was deeply unimpressed with Kowal's book, which won the Nebula and seems to have the most momentum right now. Starting Trail of Lightning today.

Best Novella
Most likely to win: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
I'm voting for: Artificial Condition or Gods, Monsters...
Thoughts: I haven't finished Kelly Robson's novella yet, and Martha Wells was predictably great.

Best Novelette
Most likely to win: The Only Harmless Great Thing
I'm voting for: Nine Last Days on Planet Earth

Best Short Story
Most likely to win: I honestly don't know, if we follow the Nebula then Nine Negro Teeth
I'm voting for: The Court Magician

Hi, Kalin, welcome to the discussion and guessing the winners. I agree that this year's nominees for the best novel aren't very strong. They are fine, but not great, at least for m me

Sarah wrote: "I haven't read any of these yet, but I found links to some of the short stories and Novelettes all handily collected here: https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/2/182......"

Same here, haven't read enough of these to make a sound judgement.

Sarah, thanks so much for the link. I am keeping it for later reading.

I just read several of the stories and novelettes that are nominated. I may have some opinions soon!

I've finished all the stories now, and I pick A Witch’s Guide to Escape A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies to win, though it probably won't. I loved it, so it is probably too pedestrian to be the winner.

The Boy Who Will Become Court Magician a/k/a The Court Magician==Well written but ultimately unsatisfying

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society==I liked it a lot, but I didn't really get the end of it.

STET==I thought it was really cute when I read it a while back. Great idea, but really just a gimmick. Probably the format idea was thunk up and a story manufactured to fit the format.

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington==interesting concept, but I found the writing kind of stuffy and the story boring before I got to the end.

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat==I read only the first little bit of this and quit. This author's style is just not for me. I also had The Only Harmless Great Thing out of the library and DNF at at an early stage.

It will take me a bit longer to do the novelettes except for The Only Harmless Great Thing--see above

Novelettes:

Looking at the list of novelettes, I realize I had read more of them already than I thought. The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections. I really liked it, and it's my choice for winning novelette.

When We Were Starless was ok, but I found the story confusing. After all was said and done, I kind of figured out what was going on, but though I like puzzles, I don't really like confusing things to read.

And I already said that The Only Harmless Great Thing was not for me.

I will finish the rest soon.

Everybody seemed to like The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat so much that I gave it another chance. It had its own little charm, but still is not one of my favorites. I was impressed by the ability of the author to be consistent with the voice she had chosen. But she is just never going to be one of my favorites, I don't think. We'll see . . .

I've read three works by Bolander, and so far in her stories there hasn't been even one male character who wasn't stupid and/or evil, nor a single female character who was either of those things. I guess this is supposed to be empowering or something, but this sort of reverse sexism is just irritating to me.

Maybe Bolander is just paying back the Brothers Grimm for all those wicked old witches? :-)

Kateblue wrote: "Everybody seemed to like The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat"

I'm yet to finish this story

Kateblue wrote: "Maybe Bolander is just paying back the Brothers Grimm for all those wicked old witches? :-)"

But Grimm had positive/neutral female characters as well. once again it is not that there should be stupid/evil/arrogant characters of a given gender, but a diversity of them :)

Rest of the novelettes:

I'm done reading all novelettes now. Nine Last Days on Planet Earth was well written and I really liked it and then (view spoiler)[ the ending sucked. Or maybe I should say, it just ended and I didn't see how the invasion ended up. No ending, in other words. What? Am I supposed to infer that we won?? Maybe because everything is green behind him? Or that we adapted?? What?! So stupid to not have a clear ending. (hide spoiler)] This does not encourage me to read his novel Spoonbenders, which has been on my list for a long time. (view spoiler)[If I read a whole novel and got an ending like this, I would really be annoyed. (hide spoiler)]

When We Were Starless was ok, but I found the story confusing. After all was said and done, I kind of figured out what was going on, but though I like puzzles, I don't really like confusing things to read.


If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again was slow at first, I thought, but got better, and was (view spoiler)[heartwarming by the end. I know I will remember it with fondness, maybe more, even, than my favorite (hide spoiler)] Does this mean I should vote for it for my favorite instead? No, because I really like The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections the best right now.

I really liked The Last Nine Days of Planet Earth; it might even be my favourite (that, or When We Were Sunless). I think it was pretty much the point that (view spoiler)[the book just ended without any resolution. The whole theme of the story was how the passing of time is very different for animals and plants. Timescales that seem long to us are fleeting to plants. Therefore we shouldn't expect to see any resolution in this human-scaled story that tells of the slow invasion of the plants. (hide spoiler)]

Wow Antti, what a great explanation of (view spoiler)[the non-ending (hide spoiler)] in Nine Last Days on Planet Earth. I still have not changed my opinion of the story because I don't like (view spoiler)[non-endings--there's too much uncertainty in the world, I don't need it in my fiction. (hide spoiler)] But, hey, I get it now.

re The Last Nine Days of Planet Earth - the Easter egg there (view spoiler)[difference in dates is a Fibonacci sequence, often seen in plants' symmetry (hide spoiler)]

Oleksandr: I didn't realise that; thanks!

I also found Brooke Bolander's writing to be grating, especially in the Raptors story.

Just an update about when awards will be announced:

The results of the voting will be announced with the presentation of the 1944 Retro-Hugo Awards on Thursday, August 15 as part of the Opening Ceremonies of Dublin 2019, an Irish Worldcon, with the 2019 Hugo Awards presented on Sunday, August 18 at Dublin 2019.

So, Retros are in just two days!

So excited! I will wake up in the morning of the 19th with the results out.

Silvana wrote: "So excited! I will wake up in the morning of the 19th with the results out."

I'm especially interested in detailed data on nominations and voting, which I hope they will publish like the last year. I want to see which works were just short of a nomination

[EDIT:Link fixed]
Retro Hugo winners have been announced!

BEST NOVEL
Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Unknown Worlds, April 1943)

BEST NOVELLA
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Reynal & Hitchcock)

BEST NOVELETTE
“Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1943)

BEST SHORT STORY
“King of the Gray Spaces” (“R is for Rocket”), by Ray Bradbury (Famous Fantastic Mysteries, December 1943)

Thanks, Antti!

And while we wait for the rest of Hugos, here is a song that mentions the winning short story (not safe for work, as the warning goes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxO...

Thanks Antii! The link wouldn't work for me for some reason. Trying another link: link

@mods, maybe we could put up some Virgil Finlay art as the group banner in homage?

Sarah: Thanks for the notice; fixed.

Oleksandr amd Silvana: I noticed you both still have one "TBA" in your predictions; there's still time to announce your predictions for those categories!

This is fun. We should do it every year.

Hmm.
Let me put Aliette de Bodard 'sTea Master novella then to replace the TBA :)

Antti wrote: "Oleksandr amd Silvana: I noticed you both still have one "TBA" in your predictions; there's still time to announce your predictions for those categories!"

Sadly enough, I myself set the rules, according to which

"The deadline for your submissions is a week earlier - Aug. 9 You may submit/change/edit your choice before that date"

I forgot to update my entry and now I face the consequences :)

Sarah wrote: "@mods, maybe we could put up some Virgil Finlay art as the group banner in homage?"

Great idea, Sarah, thanks! I'm looking for an appropriate art - it should be quite wide to be placed in the header

Woops, I totally missed that there was a hard deadline last week :)

Oleksandr wrote: "it should be quite wide to be placed in the header "

In the advanced options on Google image search, they have 'panoramic' as an option under aspect ratio, which is just ideal for finding header images!

Live streaming and text update links here:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/2019/08/...

Silvana wrote: "Live streaming and text update links here:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/2019/08/..."

Thank you, Silvana!

I got 4 out of 8... could have been better.

And so the president of the SFWA won a Nebula and a Hugo this year - I bet everyone's reeeeaaaally surprised now, lol.

It won't load for me. Can someone post? Our WiFi has been stupid lately, but can't change to AT&T here, no CBS

Stats:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/wp-conte...

Winners

BEST NOVEL
The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)

BEST NOVELLA
Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)

BEST NOVELETTE
“If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, 29 November 2018)

BEST SHORT STORY
“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, February 2018)

BEST SERIES
Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)

BEST RELATED WORK
Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

BEST GRAPHIC STORY
Monstress, Volume 3: Haven, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image Comics

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman (Sony)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM
The Good Place: “Janet(s),” written by Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan, directed by Morgan Sackett (NBC)
BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM
Gardner Dozois

BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM
Navah Wolfe

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST
Charles Vess

BEST SEMIPROZINE
Uncanny Magazine, publishers/editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, managing editor Michi Trota, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky, Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction Special Issue editors-in-chief Elsa Sjunneson-Henry and Dominik Parisien

BEST FANZINE
Lady Business, editors Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay & Susan

BEST FANCAST
Our Opinions Are Correct, hosted by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders

BEST FAN WRITER
Foz Meadows

BEST FAN ARTIST
Likhain (Mia Sereno)

BEST ART BOOK
(A one-off category created as per WSFS rules by Dublin 2019)
The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga Press /Gollancz)
The following awards which are administered by WSFS and voted on alongside the Hugo Awards were also included in the ceremony.

LODESTAR AWARD for BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK
Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt / Macmillan Children’s Books)

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD for BEST NEW WRITER
Jeannette Ng (2nd year of eligibility)

Seemed I voted for most runner ups.
Winners I voted included Alix Harrow, Uncanny, OOAC podcast and most of the fan category winners.

I really need to read the Murderbot series!

I'm very surprised that the Trail of Lightning fared so badly: I expected it would win (or maybe come close second), but it wasn't even in the Top 3.

Artificial Condition won rightly; I can't remember why I didn't vote for it.

"If at first you don't succeed" is another surprise. It wasn't bad, but I really didn't see it as a winner.

"Witch's guide" was the only one I got right.

I'm surprised as well.

The final count of points and an announcement of the winners will be done later today

Is that different with the stats in link above?