Announcing the 2020 Hugo Award Finalists

The finalists for the 2020 Hugo Awards, one of the most prestigious book awards in science fiction and fantasy, were announced last night. The award conference, which had been planned to take place in New Zealand, instead occurred virtually over a conference call due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Nevertheless, the judges were undeterred and the finalists represent some of the most talented authors in the genre. Several of the books mentioned here have been reviewed by students here at the City Voice, and any authors or books in the lists below that have been reviewed contain a link to the review.

The Finalists

Best Novel

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Best Novella

“Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom” from Exhalation by Ted Chiang
The Deep by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Best Novelette

“The Archronology of Love”, by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed, April 2019)
“Away With the Wolves”, by Sarah Gailey (Uncanny Magazine: Disabled People Destroy Fantasy Special Issue, September/October 2019)
“The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye”, by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, July-August 2019)
Emergency Skin, by N.K. Jemisin (Forward Collection (Amazon))
“For He Can Creep”, by Siobhan Carroll (Tor.com, 10 July 2019)
“Omphalos”, by Ted Chiang (Exhalation (Borzoi/Alfred A. Knopf; Picador))

Best Short Story

“And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, by Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons, 9 September 2019)
“As the Last I May Know”, by S.L. Huang (Tor.com, 23 October 2019)
“Blood Is Another Word for Hunger”, by Rivers Solomon (Tor.com, 24 July 2019)
“A Catalog of Storms”, by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2019)
“Do Not Look Back, My Lion”, by Alix E. Harrow (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, January 2019)
“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, by Nibedita Sen (Nightmare Magazine, May 2019)

Best Series

The Expanse by James S. A. Corey
InCryptid by Seanan McGuire
Luna by Ian McDonald
Planetfall by Emma Newman
Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
The Wormwood Trilogy by Tade Thompson

Best Related Work

Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood, by J. Michael Straczynski (Harper Voyager US)
Joanna Russ, by Gwyneth Jones (University of Illinois Press (Modern Masters of Science Fiction))
The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, by Mallory O’Meara (Hanover Square)
The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, by Farah Mendlesohn (Unbound)
“2019 John W. Campbell Award Acceptance Speech”, by Jeannette Ng
Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, produced and directed by Arwen Curry

Best Graphic Story or Comic

Die, Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles
LaGuardia written by Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford, colours by James Devlin
Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
Mooncakes by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker, letters by Joamette Gil
Paper Girls, Volume 6 written by Brian K. Vaughan, drawn by Cliff Chiang, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 9: Okay by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Clayton Cowles

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Avengers: Endgame, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Studios)
Captain Marvel, screenplay by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios/Animal Logic (Australia))
Good Omens, written by Neil Gaiman, directed by Douglas Mackinnon (Amazon Studios/BBC Studios/Narrativia/The Blank Corporation)
Russian Doll (Season One), created by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler, directed by Leslye Headland, Jamie Babbit and Natasha Lyonne (3 Arts Entertainment/Jax Media/Netflix/Paper Kite Productions/Universal Television)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, screenplay by Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams, directed by J.J. Abrams (Walt Disney Pictures/Lucasfilm/Bad Robot)
Us, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Monkeypaw Productions/Universal Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

The Good Place: “The Answer”, written by Daniel Schofield, directed by Valeria Migliassi Collins (Fremulon/3 Arts Entertainment/Universal Television)
The Expanse: “Cibola Burn”, written by Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck and Naren Shankar, directed by Breck Eisner (Amazon Prime Video)
Watchmen: “A God Walks into Abar”, written by Jeff Jensen and Damon Lindelof, directed by Nicole Kassell (HBO)
The Mandalorian: “Redemption”, written by Jon Favreau, directed by Taika Waititi (Disney+)
Doctor Who: “Resolution”, written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Wayne Yip (BBC)
Watchmen: “This Extraordinary Being”, written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson, directed by Stephen Williams (HBO)

Best Editor, Short Form

Neil Clarke
Ellen Datlow
C.C. Finlay
Jonathan Strahan
Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form

Sheila E. Gilbert
Brit Hvide
Diana M. Pho
Devi Pillai
Miriam Weinberg
Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist

Tommy Arnold
Rovina Cai
Galen Dara
John Picacio
Yuko Shimizu
Alyssa Winans

Best Semiprozine

Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor Scott H. Andrews
Escape Pod, editors Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya, assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney, audio producers Adam Pracht and Summer Brooks, hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart
Fireside Magazine, editor Julia Rios, managing editor Elsa Sjunneson, copyeditor Chelle Parker, social coordinator Meg Frank, publisher & art director Pablo Defendini, founding editor Brian White
FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, executive editor Troy L. Wiggins, editors Eboni Dunbar, Brent Lambert, L.D. Lewis, Danny Lore, Brandon O’Brien and Kaleb Russell
Strange Horizons, Vanessa Rose Phin, Catherine Krahe, AJ Odasso, Dan Hartland, Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz and the Strange Horizons staff
Uncanny Magazine, editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, nonfiction/managing editor Michi Trota, managing editor Chimedum Ohaegbu, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Best Fanzine

The Book Smugglers, editors Ana Grilo and Thea James
Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus, senior writers Rosemary Benton, Lorelei Marcus and Victoria Silverwolf
Journey Planet, editors James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, Alissa McKersie, Ann Gry, Chuck Serface, John Coxon and Steven H Silver
nerds of a feather, flock together, editors Adri Joy, Joe Sherry, Vance Kotrla, and The G
Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
The Rec Center, editors Elizabeth Minkel and Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

Best Fancast

Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
Claire Rousseau’s YouTube channel, produced & presented by Claire Rousseau
The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts, producer Andrew Finch
Our Opinions Are Correct, presented by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders
The Skiffy and Fanty Show, presented by Jen Zink and Shaun Duke