SFF Chronicles News
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19th April 2010 09:06 PM
Elaine Frei
I’ve just spent about an hour looking around at the official site of the Hugo Awards, nominations for which were announced earlier this month, on 4 April. Fascinating site. Well, fascinating for me, because I’ve always been fascinated by awards and by the people who manage to win them. But it should be interesting to anyone who loves science fiction, since all you have to do to find some of the best work in the genre is to look at the list of nominees for the year. Doesn’t matter what year; it’s good work, or it wouldn’t have been nominated..
The first interesting thing is the way the nominations, and then the awards are arrived at. Anyone with a membership to the current year’s Worldcon or the previous year’s Worldcon can nominate a work or an artist, and then members of the current year’s con vote for the winners from among the final ballot of nominees.
I suppose I should stop here and explain about Worldcon. Worldcon is the World Science Fiction Convention, in its 68th year this year, held every year at a different location. Last year it was in Montreal. This year it will be held 2 – 6 September in Melbourne, Australia. Next year, it returns to the United States, to Reno, Nevada. It is sponsored by the World Science Fiction Society. The Hugo Awards are presented at Worldcon each year.
Anyway, if you purchase a membership to Worldcon, you can vote.
There are fifteen categories, all the way from Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Novelette, Best Short Story, and Best Graphic Story to nominations for best new and fan writers, best professional and fan artists, best fan- and semiprozines and best Dramatic Presentations in long and short form. It’s kind of like the Academy Awards for work in science fiction.
This year’s nominees for Best Novel include Cherie Priest for Boneshaker (Tor); The City & The City, by China Meiville (Del Rey, Macmillan UK); Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, by Robert Charles Wilson (Tor), Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra), Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer (Ace; Pentuin; Gollancz; Analog), and The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade).
Nominees in the other categories are just as illustrious, and I was happy to see some of my favorites nominated. John Scalzi, for example, is nominated for his novella, The God Engines (Subterranean). Also among nominees in the same category is the late Kage Baker, for The Women of Nell Gwynne’s (Subterranean). Both are among my favorite writers. I’ve not read either of these novellas, but I will.
As a Whovian, I was also excited to see that three of the five 2009 Doctor Who Specials were nominated in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation, Short form: The Last Doctor, Planet of the Dead, and The Waters of Mars. And I’ve seen four of the five nominees in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. Of Avatar, District 9, Moon, Star Trek, and Up, the only one I haven’t seen is Moon, and that’s only because it hasn’t played in my town.
There are far too many nominees to post here, but I’d recommend Googling the Hugo Awards website and taking a look for yourself. Maybe you’ll find old favorites there too, and perhaps discover some new favorites besides.
Elaine Frei
I’ve just spent about an hour looking around at the official site of the Hugo Awards, nominations for which were announced earlier this month, on 4 April. Fascinating site. Well, fascinating for me, because I’ve always been fascinated by awards and by the people who manage to win them. But it should be interesting to anyone who loves science fiction, since all you have to do to find some of the best work in the genre is to look at the list of nominees for the year. Doesn’t matter what year; it’s good work, or it wouldn’t have been nominated..
The first interesting thing is the way the nominations, and then the awards are arrived at. Anyone with a membership to the current year’s Worldcon or the previous year’s Worldcon can nominate a work or an artist, and then members of the current year’s con vote for the winners from among the final ballot of nominees.
I suppose I should stop here and explain about Worldcon. Worldcon is the World Science Fiction Convention, in its 68th year this year, held every year at a different location. Last year it was in Montreal. This year it will be held 2 – 6 September in Melbourne, Australia. Next year, it returns to the United States, to Reno, Nevada. It is sponsored by the World Science Fiction Society. The Hugo Awards are presented at Worldcon each year.
Anyway, if you purchase a membership to Worldcon, you can vote.
There are fifteen categories, all the way from Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Novelette, Best Short Story, and Best Graphic Story to nominations for best new and fan writers, best professional and fan artists, best fan- and semiprozines and best Dramatic Presentations in long and short form. It’s kind of like the Academy Awards for work in science fiction.
This year’s nominees for Best Novel include Cherie Priest for Boneshaker (Tor); The City & The City, by China Meiville (Del Rey, Macmillan UK); Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, by Robert Charles Wilson (Tor), Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra), Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer (Ace; Pentuin; Gollancz; Analog), and The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade).
Nominees in the other categories are just as illustrious, and I was happy to see some of my favorites nominated. John Scalzi, for example, is nominated for his novella, The God Engines (Subterranean). Also among nominees in the same category is the late Kage Baker, for The Women of Nell Gwynne’s (Subterranean). Both are among my favorite writers. I’ve not read either of these novellas, but I will.
As a Whovian, I was also excited to see that three of the five 2009 Doctor Who Specials were nominated in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation, Short form: The Last Doctor, Planet of the Dead, and The Waters of Mars. And I’ve seen four of the five nominees in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. Of Avatar, District 9, Moon, Star Trek, and Up, the only one I haven’t seen is Moon, and that’s only because it hasn’t played in my town.
There are far too many nominees to post here, but I’d recommend Googling the Hugo Awards website and taking a look for yourself. Maybe you’ll find old favorites there too, and perhaps discover some new favorites besides.
