The World Science Fiction Society, arbiter of the Hugo Awards, has announced the list of finalists for this year’s ballot. Besides the main list of Hugo Award nominees, there is also a ballot for the 1941 Retro Hugo Awards, which cover years in which Hugos were not awarded prior.

Presented since 1955, the Hugos — named for Amazing Stories publisher Hugo Gernsback — are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention. The Hugo is considered by some to be the most prestigious award in the science fiction community, although recent years have seen controversy arise over the value of the award in some circles.

2016 Hugo Award Finalists

4032 valid nominating ballots (4015 electronic and 17 paper) were received and counted from the members of Sasquan, MidAmeriCon II, and Worldcon 75.

BEST NOVEL (3695 ballots)

• Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
• The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)
• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
• Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

BEST NOVELLA (2416 ballots)

• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
• The Builders by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)
• Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
• Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
• Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)

BEST NOVELETTE (1975 ballots)

• “And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead” by Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed, Feb2015)
• “Flashpoint: Titan” by CHEAH Kai Wai (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
• “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)
• “Obits” by Stephen King (The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner)
• “What Price Humanity?” by David VanDyke (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)

BEST SHORT STORY (2451 ballots)

• “Asymmetrical Warfare” by S. R. Algernon (Nature, Mar 2015)
• The Commuter by Thomas A. Mays (Stealth)
• “If You Were an Award, My Love” by Juan Tabo and S. Harris (voxday.blogspot.com, Jun 2015)
• “Seven Kill Tiger” by Charles Shao (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
• Space Raptor Butt Invasion by Chuck Tingle (Amazon Digital Services)

BEST RELATED WORK (2080 ballots)

• Between Light and Shadow: An Exploration of the Fiction of Gene Wolfe, 1951 to 1986 by Marc Aramini (Castalia House)
• “The First Draft of My Appendix N Book” by Jeffro Johnson (jeffro.wordpress.com)
• “Safe Space as Rape Room” by Daniel Eness (castaliahouse.com)
• SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day (Castalia House)
• “The Story of Moira Greyland” by Moira Greyland (askthebigot.com)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY (1838 ballots)

• The Divine written by Boaz Lavie, art by Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka (First Second)
• Erin Dies Alone written by Grey Carter, art by Cory Rydell (dyingalone.net)
• Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams (ffn.nodwick.com)
• Invisible Republic Vol 1 written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman (Image Comics)
• The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM) (2904 ballots)

• Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
• Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
• Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
• The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM) (2219 ballots)

• Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)
• Grimm: “Headache” written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf(Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
• Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions;Netflix)
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media/Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)
• Supernatural: “Just My Imagination” written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)

BEST EDITOR – SHORT FORM (1891 ballots)

• John Joseph Adams
• Neil Clarke
• Ellen Datlow
• Jerry Pournelle
• Sheila Williams

BEST EDITOR – LONG FORM (1764 ballots)

• Liz Gorinsky
• Vox Day
• Sheila E. Gilbert
• Jim Minz
• Toni Weisskopf

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST (1481 ballots)

• Lars Braad Andersen
• Larry Elmore
• Abigail Larson
• Michal Karcz
• Larry Rostant

BEST SEMIPROZINE (1457 ballots)

• Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews, Nicole Lavigne, and Kate Marshall
• Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
• Sci Phi Journal edited by Jason Rennie
• Strange Horizons edited by Catherine Krahe, Julia Rios, A. J. Odasso, Vanessa Rose Phin,Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons staff
• Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

BEST FANZINE (1455 ballots)

• Black Gate edited by John O’Neill
• Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson
• File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
• Superversive SF edited by Jason Rennie
• Tangent Online edited by Dave Truesdale

BEST FANCAST (1267 ballots)

• 8-4 Play, Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Hiroko Minamoto, and Justin Epperson
• Cane and Rinse, Cane and Rinse
• HelloGreedo, HelloGreedo
• The Rageaholic, RazörFist
• Tales to Terrify, Stephen Kilpatrick

BEST FAN WRITER (1568 ballots)

• Douglas Ernst
• Mike Glyer
• Morgan Holmes
• Jeffro Johnson
• Shamus Young

BEST FAN ARTIST (1073 ballots)

• Matthew Callahan
• Christian Quinot
• disse86
• Kukuruyo
• Steve Stiles

Also announced were the finalists for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. A total of 1922 ballots were received in this category.

• Pierce Brown
• Sebastien de Castell
• Brian Miemeier
• Andy Weir
• Alyssa Wong

There is also a John W. Campbell Memorial Award, which is given out at the annual Campbell Conference along with the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. The Campbell Conference is usually held mid-summer at the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction on the campus of the University of Kansas, but this year will be held as an academic track for Worldcon.

 

1941 Retro Hugo Award Finalists

481 valid nominating ballots (475 electronic and 6 paper) were received and counted from the members of Sasquan, MidAmeriCon II, and Worldcon 75.

BEST NOVEL (352 ballots)

• Gray Lensman by E.E. “Doc” Smith (Astounding Science‐Fiction, Jan 1940)
• The Ill‐Made Knight by T.H. White (Collins)
• Kallocain by Karin Boye (Bonnier)
• The Reign of Wizardry by Jack Williamson (Unknown, Mar 1940)
• Slan by A.E. Van Vogt (Astounding Science‐Fiction, Dec 1940)

BEST NOVELLA (318 ballots)

• “Coventry” by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding Science‐Fiction, July 1940)
• “If This Goes On…” by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding Science‐Fiction, Feb 1940)
• “Magic, Inc.” by Robert A. Heinlein (Unknown, Sept 1940)
• “The Mathematics of Magic” by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (Unknown, Aug 1940)
• “The Roaring Trumpet” by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (Unknown, May 1940)

BEST NOVELETTE (310 ballots)

• “Blowups Happen” by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding Science‐Fiction, Sept 1940)
• “Darker Than You Think” by Jack Williamson (Unknown, Dec 1940)
• “Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates (Astounding Science‐Fiction, Oct 1940)
• “It!” by Theodore Sturgeon (Unknown, Aug 1940)
• “The Roads Must Roll” by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding Science‐Fiction, June 1940)

BEST SHORT STORY (324 ballots)

• “Martian Quest” by Leigh Brackett (Astounding Science‐Fiction, Feb 1940)
• “Requiem” by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding Science‐Fiction, Jan 1940)
• “Robbie” by Isaac Asimov (Super Science Stories, Sept 1940)
• “The Stellar Legion” by Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories, Winter 1940)
• “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges (Sur, 1940)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY (92 ballots)

• Batman #1 (Detective Comics, Spring 1940)
• Captain Marvel: “Introducing Captain Marvel” by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck (Whiz Comics #2, Feb 1940)
• Flash Gordon: “The Ice Kingdom of Mongo” by Alex Raymond and Don Moore (King Features Syndicate, Apr 1940)
• The Origin of the Spirit by Will Eisner (Register and Tribune Syndicate, June 1940)
• The Spectre: “The Spectre”/”The Spectre Strikes!” by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily (More Fun Comics #52/53, Feb/Mar 1940)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM) (250 ballots)

• Dr. Cyclops written by Tom Kilpatrick, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack (Paramount Pictures)
• Fantasia written by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer, directed by Samuel Armstrong et al. (Walt Disney Productions, RKO Radio Pictures)
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe written by George H. Plympton, Basil Dickey, and Barry Shipman, directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor (Universal Pictures)
• One Million B.C. written by Mickell Novack, George Baker, and Joseph Frickert, directed by Hal Roach and Hal Roach, Jr. (United Artists)
• The Thief of Bagdad written by Lajos Bíró and Miles Malleson, directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan (London Films, United Artists)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM) (123 ballots)

• The Adventures of Superman: “The Baby from Krypton” written by George Ludlam, produced by Frank Chase (WOR)
• The Invisible Man Returns written by Joe May, Kurt Siodmak, and Lester Cole, directed by Joe May (Universal Pictures)
• Looney Tunes: “You Ought to Be in Pictures” written by Jack Miller, directed by Friz Freleng (Warner Bros.)
• Merrie Melodies: “A Wild Hare” written by Rich Hogan, directed by Tex Avery (Warner Bros.)
• Pinocchio written by Ted Sears et al., directed by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske (Walt Disney Productions, RKO Radio Pictures)

BEST EDITOR ‐ SHORT FORM (183 ballots)

• John W. Campbell
• Dorothy McIlwraith
• Raymond A. Palmer
• Frederik Pohl
• Mort Weisinger

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST (117 ballots)

• Hannes Bok
• Margaret Brundage
• Edd Cartier
• Virgil Finlay
• Frank R. Paul
• Hubert Rogers

Note: Category has 6 finalists due to a tie for 5th place.

BEST FANZINE (63 ballots)

• Futuria Fantasia by Ray Bradbury
• Le Zombie by Bob Tucker
• Novacious by Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo
• Spaceways by Harry Warner, Jr.
• Voice of the Imagi‐Nation by Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo

BEST FAN WRITER (70 ballots)

• Forrest J Ackerman
• Ray Bradbury
• H. P. Lovecraft
• Bob Tucker
• Harry Warner

 

Voting on the nominee list will continue between now and July, and the awards will be given in August at this year’s Worldcon, MidAmericon II, in Kansas City August 17-21. SciFi4Me plans to be on the scene to cover the entire convention as it happens.