2018/1943 Hugo Award Finalists Announced

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Finalists for the 2018 Hugo Awards, Award for Best Young Adult Book, and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were announced at multiple events on Saturday, March 31, 2018 at Noon Pacific Daylight Time and via a video announcement posted to YouTube that same day.

Best Novel

The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi (Tor)
New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
Provenance, by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty (Orbit)
The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

I hope we'll select one of the new pretenders for May. Also see 1943 Retro, here is the list:
Beyond This Horizon, by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science Fiction, April & May 1942)
Darkness and the Light, by Olaf Stapledon (Methuen / S.J.R. Saunders)
Donovan’s Brain, by Curt Siodmak (Black Mask, September-November 1942)
Islandia, by Austin Tappan Wright (Farrar & Rinehart)
Second Stage Lensmen, by E. E. “Doc” Smith (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1941 to February 1942)
The Uninvited, by Dorothy Macardle (Doubleday, Doran / S.J.R. Saunders)

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Oleksandr wrote: "I hope we'll select one of the new pretenders for May...."

That gave me an idea of compiling a bookshelf which contains solely new releases. We can keep only the last 2 years of nominees on it.

Also I suppose we could add all of these as nominees, but the winners will only be determined in May and August for Nebula and Hugo respectively.

[Robin]

This was news to me...https://io9.gizmodo.com/worldcon-is-r...

I have only gone to one Worldcon, the 70th, when it was last in Chicago.
Was anyone planning on going to San Jose?

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Thanks for sharing the link, an interesting article to say the least

That being said, not at all sure about those "pronouns" though, rest in peace orthography.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Art wrote: "That being said, not at all sure about those "pronouns" though, rest in peace orthography."

I guess this is largely a US thing :) especially bearing in mind that there are other languages out there with different semantic constructs.
I think that anyone can ask to be called any way that person wants, it is just polite to oblige this desire. At the same time in this specific Hugo case I think that was an artificially created hype - most likely if e noted the error to the management it would be corrected w/o a fuss, but e wanted to make a public scandal

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

The issue is slightly larger than that, there are existing pronouns and those that were created on someone's blog, these largely fall into the latter category. I support the author, but I also understand where organisers of one of the most important literary awards in the world are coming from.

If an author has a biography containing unconventional slang or non-words, I see no problem with them attempting to fix it. Maybe they should have payed more attention to it, or at the very least could have been prepared to face the eventual sh*tstorm that followed, but as you've said, it is probably a simple PR stunt, so I say "ack ey".

[Robin]

I confess that I had no idea that there was this whole other syntax for gender/ non-gender pronouns. I can't imagine attempting to put together a public gathering and attempting to wade through the complex rules our society has in place now. People take offense very easily now in a very public arena (no judgement on whether or not they are justified in their response). I can see both sides of this, an attempt to live your life the way you want and educate other people about how you identify; and, on the other hand, an attempt to convey information about someone in conventional ways so that the majority of people understand what they are reading. Reading the comments on that other thread makes me feel that I am totally out of the loop regarding gender identification. I'm okay with that. One of the things I love about science fiction is that it introduces totally new ideas and concepts that pulls me out of myself. What I don't like is when people are offended when some of us don't grasp these new concepts quickly.

It looks like, though, that a number of past Hugo award winners have pulled out of their panels because of panel creation and inclusion issues. I'm curious as to the long term ramifications this will have on the Hugo awards, if any.

[Ed]

I want to support transgender, intersex, and all people and will try to refer to them the way they want. But it may be going too far to expect everyone to introduce completely new pronouns into their language based on each individual persons desires. There is a performer whom I like who uses the pronoun "Judy". (Judy is not his/her/their name, just their preferred pronoun.) If I refer to that person as "they" and "Judy" gets offended, I don't know how to take that. I'm not trying to offend, but "Judy" just isn't a pronoun to me.

Charlie Jane Anders pulled out of this year's conference to give room for newer creators. Fine, no problem. Charlie Jane Anders is someone I've seen deliver two talks in real life and I still have no idea how that person identifies in terms of gender. So if I call that person "they", it isn't meant to offend.

Anyhow, there were other issues raised besides one person's pronouns. Some were complaining that newer voices weren't being included enough in the panels. I can't tell. But that is always going to be a delicate balance. If the panels are only new writers that few people have heard of, that is a problem. If it is only well-established writers, that could be a problem. Is there a perfect mix that will please everyone?

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Today Hugo awards 2018 will be announced.
Which books will win in each category? You guess...
For the novel I guess N.K. Jemisin with Scalzi closely behind
for novella most likely All Systems Red
novellette “The Secret Life of Bots,”
short story “Carnival Nine,”

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Give us a URL when they show up, Oleksandr, please.

I thought they announced the winner at the World Science Fiction convention on Labor Day weekend. What happened? Do the writers now know who won before the convention? (Labor Day is an American holiday, the first Monday of September, and that weekend is when WorldCon is always held, I think.)

[Ed]

I predict that for graphic story it will be My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1. If not, it should be.

[Ed]

Kateblue wrote: "I thought they announced the winner at the World Science Fiction convention on Labor Day weekend...."

Worldcon is happening now. Hugos will be announced this evening. It is near me, but I didn't see any need to go.

[Antti]

My guesses / favourites:
Novel: Jemisin
Novella: All Systems Red
Novelette: Children of Thorns
Short Story: Sun, Moon, Dust

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

http://www.thehugoawards.org/2018/08/...

[Bryan, Village Idiot]

Spreadsheet was updated. I would have been surprised if Jemisin didn't win. That entire trilogy was amazing. The first one being one of my all time favorites.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Bryan wrote: "Spreadsheet was updated. I would have been surprised if Jemisin didn't win. That entire trilogy was amazing. The first one being one of my all time favorites."

So true!
What surprised me is that the short story winner is much weaker than alternatives

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Oleksandr wrote: "What surprised me is that the short story winner is much weaker than alternatives "

Duh! It's about the oppressed!

If that story wasn't just a collection of ripped off ideas, the setting and writing style wasn't all too bad. Just that it was painfully unoriginal, even though the setting had some thought put into it.

I'd like to read more stuff by that author in any case. Though "Carnival Nine" still remains my favorite.

[Antti]

I had a hunch that Authentic Indian Experience would win, but I didn't want to believe it. "Carnival Nine" was surely better, as was "The Martian Obelisk" (not to mention my personal favourite "Sun, Moon,Dust").

But all in all, the short stories were a bit disappointing to me. Last year was better on that front. Novelettes, on the other hand, were mostly decent.

[Ed]

Art wrote: "Oleksandr wrote: "What surprised me is that the short story winner is much weaker than alternatives "

Duh! It's about the oppressed! ..."

I haven't read that short-story yet. But, yeah, it isn't always the highest quality that wins. Did Ursula LeGuin's book win because it is the best of the year? or because people are sad that she died? I don't know the answer, but I'm sure things like that do affect the outcome.

I'm surprised that Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood beat My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. I have less problem with Sana Takeda winning for artist. The art in that book is gorgeous. But the story is weaker than volume 1. Anyhow, there was some stiff competition in that category. A very nice change from the early days where Girl Genius won 3 years in a row. It is good, but come on!

[Allan]

Was The Stone Sky added to the double winner list?

[Bryan, Village Idiot]

Allan wrote: "Was The Stone Sky added to the double winner list?"

Yes sir, I added it to the spreadsheet and uploaded it to the link.

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Allan wrote: "Was The Stone Sky added to the double winner list?"

I haven't updated any sub-genre bookshelves for the group, the reason for that being that we have a bookshelf with "New Releases" and all the titles that are found on that shelf do not have ANY other tags turned on. Since we do themed monthly reads, leaving those new titles apart made more sense at the time I was arranging the library.

I believe a couple of months back we even had a poll where "New Release" was nominated as one of our Monthly Reads nomination themes.

I suppose a year may seem like a long grace period to get new entries and distribute old ones across their appropriate shelves, but then again we're not in a rush!