2017 Hugo Nominees With Links

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Here's the complete list of Hugo Nominees, with links provided by the ever-useful File 770.

Where to Find the 2017 Hugo Finalists For Free Online


Here are the fiction ones. A work that was also nominated for a Nebula gets an asterix from me:


Best Novel

*All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Books / Titan Books)

A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager US)

Death’s End by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu (Tor Books / Head of Zeus)

*Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris Books)

*The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit Books)

Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)


Best Novella

*The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle (Tor.com publishing)

*The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, by Kij Johnson (Tor.com publishing)

*Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com publishing)

Penric and the Shaman, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum Literary Agency)

*A Taste of Honey, by Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com publishing)

This Census-Taker, by China Miéville (Del Rey / Picador)


Best Novelette

Alien Stripper Boned From Behind By The T-Rex, by Stix Hiscock (self-published)

“The Art of Space Travel”, by Nina Allan (Tor.com , July 2016)

*“The Jewel and Her Lapidary”, by Fran Wilde (Tor.com publishing, May 2016)

“The Tomato Thief”, by Ursula Vernon (Apex Magazine, January 2016)

“Touring with the Alien”, by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2016)

*“You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay”, by Alyssa Wong (Uncanny Magazine, May 2016)


Best Short Story

“The City Born Great”, by N. K. Jemisin (Tor.com, September 2016)

*“A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers”, by Alyssa Wong (Tor.com, March 2016)

*“Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies”, by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine, November 2016)

*“Seasons of Glass and Iron”, by Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, Saga Press)

“That Game We Played During the War”, by Carrie Vaughn (Tor.com, March 2016)

“An Unimaginable Light”, by John C. Wright (God, Robot, Castalia House)


Not as much contamination of the nominees by Vox Day as before, so that disease seems to be fading away slowly.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I've already read some of the short fiction nominees when they got Nebula nominations.

Short Stories:

"Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies" by Brooke Bolander

Not as violent or in-your-face as the author's nominated story from last year, "And You Shall Know Her By the Trail of Dead." It still seems to have been written in a white-hot frenzy of rage. The foul-mouthed narrator is some kind of immortal phoenix-like being who is "killed" by a man while she is in mortal disguise, so she gets her revenge. The author actually avoids the gory details this time, and the bulk of the story is written as a series of bulleted paragraphs rather than traditional narrative. More original than the author's previous nominated story.

"Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar

Mixes themes from fairy tales to present a feminist twist on traditional stories. A woman who has to walk on iron shoes until she has worn out seven pairs encounters a princess who sits alone on top of a glass mountain. It won't surprise anybody that they live happily ever after. OK for that kind of modernization of old fables.

"A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers" by Alyssa Wong

Two sisters (one of whom is not quite what she seems to be, slowly revealed in the story) have immense powers to control the weather, and even to destroy entire realities and create new ones. Overall it seems to be a way to convey the narrator's rage and grief over the loss of her sister, and the sister's despair over not being accepted for what she is. Somewhat overwritten, as the title suggests, but emotionally powerful.

And one novelette:

You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay" by Alyssa Wong

Intriguing Weird West story, narrated in second person present tense, about a boy with mysterious powers over the dead and other supernatural themes. It held my interest throughout.

None of which were my favorites among the Nebula nominees in their categories, for whatever that might be worth.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The other short stories:

"The City Born Great" by N. K. Jemisin

Narrated by a homeless young man in New York City who is, in some metaphysical sense, involved in the city being born into a living, thinking being. He has to fight off an enemy, one part of which takes the form of an Lovecraftian monster. Written in the kind of fast-paced, slangy, angry style which seems to be popular these days.

"That Game We Played During the War" by Carrie Vaughn

Takes place during a truce between two warring nations, one of which is populated by telepaths. There is no explanation for this, and the setting otherwise seems very much like the modern world, so you can think of it as minimal SF or minimal fantasy. Anyway, the non-telepathic protagonist, a nurse in the military, goes to visit an enemy telepathic officer in a hospital. Due to the vagaries of war, each was once a prisoner of the other's side. The non-telepath taught the telepath the game of chess, and she has returned to finish their game. It's a quiet, character-driven story.

"An Unimaginable Light" by John C. Wright is not available on-line, so I cannot comment.

Of the ones I can read on-line, I would probably go with the Vaughn.

 

[Stuart Suffel]

Thanks for this Victoria.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Of the novelettes, the self-published one (obviously only on the list as another insult from the Rabid Puppies) is not available on-line (for which one should be grateful) and the Wilde is only available as an excerpt (most likely because it is very long for a novelette, nearly a novella.)

Which leaves three on-line which I'll get to one by one.

"The Art of Space Travel" by Nina Allan

This story is set in the late 21st century. The narrator is a woman who is head of housekeeping at a hotel where astronauts about to leave for Mars are staying. (The first attempt to reach Mars ended in disaster, and it is strongly implied that this next mission will never return to Earth.) She has to deal with all the hoopla around the astronauts as well as her ailing mother, whose mind and body are deteriorating, probably as a result of exposure to radiation from the wreckage of a plane crash, of which she was one of the investigators. There's also the fact that the narrator doesn't know who her father is. You may figure out that last question from various clues dropped in the story. Anyway, this would be easy to dismiss this as a mainstream soap opera with futuristic elements thrown in, but it's an effective story anyway.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

"The Tomato Thief" by Ursula Vernon

Weird West fantasy in which an old woman tracks down the person who has been stealing her tomatoes, getting her mixed up with supernatural forces. Starts off realistically, then adds fantasy concepts one by one as the story goes on, maybe a little too much so. Some unique concepts, such as the fact that trains are god-like beings who have to be communicated with through priests. The mood combines magic realism, folk tale, and epic fantasy, possibly not quite as smoothly as one might wish, but it's pretty good.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

"Touring with the Alien" by Carolyn Ives Gilman

The protagonist, a driver for a company which specializes in jobs other transportation companies won't touch, is assigned to take an alien and its human "translator" (although he's much more than that) on a trip through the country. Combines scientific speculation, philosophy, and human interest. This would easily get my vote among the other stories in this category which I have read.

 

[williamjm]

"Touring with the Alien" by Carolyn Ives Gilman

The protagonist, a driver for a company which specializes in jobs other transportation companies won't touch, is assigned to take an alien and its human "translator" (although he's much more than that) on a trip through the country. Combines scientific speculation, philosophy, and human interest. This would easily get my vote among the other stories in this category which I have read.

I haven't read all the other stories in this category yet, but I think this would be a worthy winner. Although it feels like a fairly light read with some amusing moments, it does have some really interesting ideas in it, including an unusual take on the 'First Contact' trope.

 

[AndrewT]

Here's the complete list of Hugo Nominees, with links provided by the ever-useful File 770.


Best Novelette

Alien Stripper Boned From Behind By The T-Rex, by Stix Hiscock (self-published)

“The Art of Space Travel”, by Nina Allan (Tor.com , July 2016)

*“The Jewel and Her Lapidary”, by Fran Wilde (Tor.com publishing, May 2016)

“The Tomato Thief”, by Ursula Vernon (Apex Magazine, January 2016)

“Touring with the Alien”, by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2016)

*“You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay”, by Alyssa Wong (Uncanny Magazine, May 2016)

Sounds like some interesting titles. Are those really the nominees?

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Sounds like some interesting titles. Are those really the nominees?

Yes, indeed. The stupid one listed first is the one which was obviously planted there by the minions of Vox Day, whose stated purpose is to destroy the Hugos. Fortunately their poison is weakening.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Silly me. I still thought the Worldcon was held in early September. The winners were announced two weeks ago, and I just heard about it.

2017 Hugo Awards

Notable for the fact that women won all the fiction categories as well as a lot of the other ones.

 

[Connavar]

Very interesting, promising that these SFF awards are more open to SFF writers from all around the world, writers who has roots elswhere than anglo saxon, english speaking countries. Its also good to see the award wins raise the profile of more modern female SFF writers.

Thanks to World Con in Helsinki, i got to see,listen to prominent SFF writers speak seriously about SFF in Stockholm. Scott Lynch, Kameron Hurley, Elizabeth Bear, Fran Wilde and Jo Walton.

 

[Nerds_feather]

My blog came in third for best fanzine, which was fun.

In terms of the fiction categories, I was really happy with Obelisk Gate and "Seasons of Glass and Iron" winning. Thought both were very deserving. Was not a fan of Every Heart a Doorway, but WorldCon voters seem to love everything she publishes.