Deciding on Post Hugo 2022 group's nomination

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

As many of you know, this March we as a group, just like the last year, will nominate works for Hugo 2022. This is the fourth time we are doing it, and the rules are the same as the year ago. There are three formal stages, but actually, we always have finished with just two.

First Stage
Everyone is eligible to post their personal list (up to 5 nominations) for each category they wish to vote. Set nominations in each category starting with the most wanted outcome first, for example:

You like to have 3 novels, you want to nominate and if you have to choose only one you go for Novel#1, so you write:

Best novel
Novel#1
Novel#2
Novel#3

Please nominate only works you have read!

Second Stage
You read each other’s list and if you think that it will be nice to join your lists you need to agree on a new joint list, any of you then posts it This way we can end up with a single group list - this was the case of all previous group nominations. If not, we enter

Third Stage
Which is voting, one member one vote for either lists or, if there are too many or other problems, then for works (I guess only novel/novella/novelette/short story), which are #1 in personal nomination lists.

Everyone is able to edit and update their lists before the final vote!

Here is the schedule:
Now - Mar 5 - nomination lists are formed
Mar 6-10th voting for lists if needed (last year we managed to create a combined list w/o voting)
Mar 11th any final decisions
Mar 13th submission (formal deadline is Mar 15th but it is better to submit earlier)

[Kristenelle]

Fun!

Best Novel:
Ariadne
The Memory Theater
Jade Legacy
Sorrowland
Far from the Light of Heaven

Best Novella:
Inside Man
Comfort Me with Apples
We Shall Sing a Song Into the Deep
The Past Is Red
One Day All This Will Be Yours

Best Short Story:
The Revolution Will Not Be Served with Fries by Meg Elison - https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
Ennui Tea by Ivy Grimes - https://magazine.metaphorosis.com/sto...
The Sin of America by Catherynne M. Valente - https://uncannymagazine.com/article/t...
I Was a Teenage Space Jockey by Stephen Graham Jones - https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
All Worlds Left Behind by Iona Datt Sharma - https://www.khoreomag.com/fiction/all...

Best Series;
The Greenbone Saga
The Rampart Trilogy
Dandelion Dynasty (I've only read the first one)
The Kingston Cycle

Best Dramatic Long Form:
Infinity Train Book 4: Duet

Best Fan Artist:
Can we nominate Gabi? Her work is incredible. What name should I put? https://twitter.com/DahkurArt

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Best Novel:
Shards of Earth
The Memory Theater
A Desolation Called Peace
Project Hail Mary
She Who Became the Sun
+ The Hood

Best Novella:
One Day All This Will Be Yours
A ROCKET FOR DIMITRIOS by Ray Nayler (Asimov's)

Best Novelette:
Año Nuevo – Ray Nayler (Asimov's May/June 2021)
Philly Killed His Car – Will McIntosh (July/August 2021)
“Super Sprouts” by Ian Creasey
Damocles by Sean McMullen

Best Short Story:
Muallim – Ray Nayler (November/December 2021)
“Tweak” by Taimur Ahmad
Room to Live – Marie Vibbert (Analog September/October 2021)
Heart of Stone – Tom Jolly (Analog May/June 2021)
The Hunger – Marco Frassetto (Analog September/October 2021)

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Kristenelle wrote: "Can we nominate Gabi? Her work is incredible. What name should I put? https://twitter.com/DahkurArt
.."

Definitely!

[Rebecca]

Oh my god Gabi, you are so talented! Those are spectacular drawings of the WoT characters!!

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Rebecca wrote: "Oh my god Gabi, you are so talented! Those are spectacular drawings of the WoT characters!!"

True, true!

[Allan]

Z had laid out March 5 as the deadline for member lists. Given that we are a bit crunched, we may need to extend that, but of course it shortens voting time. Either way, get your lists in!

[Allan]

This site has a link to the Locus Recommended Reading List for this year.

https://reiszwolf.wordpress.com/seaso...

[Allan]

The two novels I would nominate are:

A Desolation Called Peace
Project Hail Mary

I didn't read many new books in 2021 and the others didn't grab me enough to where I think they would win.

[Antti]

I'm (unsurprisingly) with Allan, but would add The Memory Theater to the Best Novel list.

Novellas:
Prophet of Corruption
Elder Race

Novelette:
I'm Waiting for You

[Kalin]

Yeah, I also stepped back from trying to race to read enough books to nominate authoritatively this year.

I've still read more releases from the prior year (7 read from 2021 so far) by this point in the new year (I'd read 5 2020 releases by end of Feb last year).

This is what I've got:

Best Novel

The Memory Theater; Karin Tidbeck

Best Novella

A Psalm for the Wild-Built; Becky Chambers
The Prophet of Corruption; Kim Bo-Young
One Day All This Will Be Yours; Adrian Tchaikovsky
Fugitive Telemetry; Martha Wells

Best Novelette

I'm Waiting for You; Kim Bo-Young

Best Related Work

Out of This World; Rachel Cordasco
Science Fiction in Translation: Perspectives on the Global Theory and Practice of Translation; Ian Campbell

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Dune
See, Season 2
For All Mankind, Season 2

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

"The Emperor's Peace"; Foundation
"The First Crisis"; Foundation
"The Dinner Party"; See
"The Final Word"; RWBY
"User One"; Made for Love

Best Fancast

The Coode Street Podcast

[Kalin]

Antti wrote: "Novellas:
I'm Waiting for You."

It's a novelette. :)

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

@Allan and @Antti, all three novels are in my list, so you're welcome to join :)

With novellas, I agree to add them, but I guess we should decide which Tchaikovsky's novella to add to not spread the efforts.

[Silvana]

I barely read anything that qualifies but would like to propose the following if it's not too late:

Novel
She Who Became the Sun
A Master of Djinn

Novella
The Prophet of Corruption

Novelette
I'm Waiting for You

Graphic novel
Monstress, Vol. 6: The Vow

Series
The Age of Madness (Joe Abercrombie) - last book of the trilogy The Wisdom of Crowds

Dramatic presentation short form
The Expanse - "Redoubt"

Most of the 2021 works I read are three stars, hmm.
Not for the group due to your deadline, but I'll be reading the rest of Isabel Yap's Never Have I Ever collection soon so hopefully I could still nominate one from there since I mostly enjoy her short stuff. I am also still pondering whether I should nominate The Expanse for best series....

[Antti]

Kalin wrote: "I'm Waiting for You."

It's a novelette. :)"

D'oh! Thanks, I edited my post.

[Ed]

I don't have much to add. Just these.

Graphic Novel: Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin. (It has been coming out in pieces for a few years, but the full story was published as a stand-alone last year.)

Drama: "Don't Look Up"

Video Game Writing: Psychonauts 2.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

I'll add shorter works tomorrow, joining it

[Kristenelle]

Good call, Ed. Far Sector is on my real ballot.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Updated version, adding Antti's, Ed's, Silvana's and Kalin's
Best Novel:
Shards of Earth
She Who Became the Sun (upped it)
The Memory Theater
A Desolation Called Peace
Project Hail Mary
+ A Master of Djinn (a possible replacement for any above)


Best Novella:
One Day All This Will Be Yours
Elder Race
A Psalm for the Wild-Built; Becky Chambers
The Prophet of Corruption; Kim Bo-Young
A ROCKET FOR DIMITRIOS by Ray Nayler (Asimov's)
+Fugitive Telemetry (I guess it is 99% will be in the final list, so let's support less known)

Best Novelette:
I'm Waiting for You; Kim Bo-Young
Año Nuevo – Ray Nayler (Asimov's May/June 2021)
Philly Killed His Car – Will McIntosh (July/August 2021)
“Super Sprouts” by Ian Creasey
Damocles by Sean McMullen

Best Short Story:
Muallim – Ray Nayler (November/December 2021)
“Tweak” by Taimur Ahmad
Room to Live – Marie Vibbert (Analog September/October 2021)
Heart of Stone – Tom Jolly (Analog May/June 2021)
The Hunger – Marco Frassetto (Analog September/October 2021)

Graphic novel
Monstress, Vol. 6: The Vow
Far Sector

Series
The Age of Madness (Joe Abercrombie) - last book of the trilogy The Wisdom of Crowds


Best Related Work

Out of This World; Rachel Cordasco
Science Fiction in Translation: Perspectives on the Global Theory and Practice of Translation; Ian Campbell

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Dune
See, Season 2
For All Mankind, Season 2
"Don't Look Up"

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
The Expanse - "Redoubt"
"The Emperor's Peace"; Foundation
"The First Crisis"; Foundation
"The Dinner Party"; See
"The Final Word"; RWBY
"User One"; Made for Love

Best Fancast

The Coode Street Podcast

Best Fan Artist
Gabi

Video Game Writing:
Psychonauts 2.

[Kalin]

I'm updating mine slightly:

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
ADDING: For All Mankind - "The Grey" (I just finished the season, and this is by far the standout episode of the year for me)
"The Emperor's Peace"; Foundation
"The First Crisis"; Foundation
"The Dinner Party"; See
REMOVING: "The Final Word"; RWBY
"User One"; Made for Love


Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Dune
See, Season 2
For All Mankind, Season 2
ADDING: Foundation, Season 1

For me, it's a hat trick from Apple TV. :)



Best Semiprozine

Clarkesworld Magazine
Uncanny Magazine
Revue Solaris
Samovar
On Spec


I wish Video Game writing was still on the ballot, but it's not. It was a one-time special category for DisCon 3.

[Ed]

Kalin wrote: "I wish Video Game writing was still on the ballot, but it's not. It was a one-time special category for DisCon 3. ..."

Well, poop! You can remove it from my list then.

I gave it my own award: I purchased it for full price.

[Kalin]

Ed wrote: "Well, poop! You can remove it from my list then.

I gave it my own award: I purchased it for full price."

I didn't play it although the first Psychonauts was definitely a good time. If this were still a category I'd probably nominate Subnautica: Below Zero, although not as good as the original. And Impostor Factory is a shoe-in.

The video game category should really be permanent.

[Ed]

I had not heard of Imposter Factory. I may look into it.

Psychonauts 2 is very similar to the first, but with better graphics. I enjoyed it, but it is the writing and voice acting that stands-out, not the gameplay.

[Kalin]

Ed wrote: "I had not heard of Imposter Factory. I may look into it."

It's the third in the series begun by To the Moon and followed by Finding Paradise. They are indie story-based/narrative games that definitely fall into SF genre. To the Moon is one of my favourites of all time.

[Silvana]

Nebula finalists for some late reading and consideration https://www.tor.com/2022/03/08/here-a...

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Reminder: today the deadline for nominations

[Allan]

Yes, thank you for the reminder. I'll compile the comments above and come up with a recommendation. I've got two of the nominees checked out from the library but haven't had a chance to make much progress.

[Allan]

The Hugo reading packet became available on May 27 and ballots are due August 11. Not sure how the March timeline fits - was that for Nebula? At any rate, the later dates can be seen on the Chicon site. I'll post a full list of the nominees later and anyone who has comments can post here. I'll compile the votes into a group ballot and submit.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

The March deadline was for nominations, Aug 11 is for voting

[Kalin]

I've been reading through the short fiction categories and was thinking about starting a thread to discuss!

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Kalin wrote: "I've been reading through the short fiction categories and was thinking about starting a thread to discuss!"

Great! Go ahead, I'll join reading shorter works next month

[Ed]

Kalin wrote: "Antti wrote: "Novellas:
I'm Waiting for You."

It's a novelette. :)"

I read another one of Bo-Young Kim's collections last month. In the end notes, "I'm waiting for you" and "The prophet of corruption" are both called "full-length novels." ;)

I think what that really meant in this case is that they were each published originally as single-story books.

[Allan]

Here's the full list:

Best Novel
1151 ballots for 443 nominees; finalist range 111-242
A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, by Becky Chambers
Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki
A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan

Best Novella
807 ballots for 138 nominees; finalist range 90-235
Across the Green Grass Fields, by Seanan McGuire
Elder Race, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Fireheart Tiger, by Aliette de Bodard
The Past Is Red, by Catherynne M. Valente
A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers
A Spindle Splintered, by Alix E. Harrow

Best Novelette
463 ballots for 171 nominees; finalist range 44-74
“Bots of the Lost Ark”, by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, Jun 2021)
“Colors of the Immortal Palette”, by Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
L’Esprit de L’Escalier, by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)
“O2 Arena”, by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge, Nov 2021)
“That Story Isn’t the Story”, by John Wiswell (Uncanny Magazine, Nov/Dec 2021)
“Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.”, by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)

Best Short Story
632 ballots for 589 nominees; finalist range 44-96
“Mr. Death”, by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, Feb 2021)
“Proof by Induction”, by José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)
“The Sin of America”, by Catherynne M. Valente (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
“Tangles”, by Seanan McGuire (Magicthegathering.com: Magic Story, Sep 2021)
“Unknown Number”, by Blue Neustifter (Twitter, Jul 2021)
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)


Best Series
707 ballots for 194 nominees; finalist range 66-242
The Green Bone Saga, by Fonda Lee (Orbit)
The Kingston Cycle, by C. L. Polk (Tordotcom)
Merchant Princes, by Charles Stross (Tor UK / Tor)
Terra Ignota, by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)
Wayward Children, by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
The World of the White Rat, by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) (Argyll Productions)

Best Graphic Story or Comic
340 ballots for 239 nominees; finalist range 19-66
DIE, vol. 4: Bleed, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Stephanie Hans, lettering by Clayton Cowles (Image)
Far Sector, written by N.K. Jemisin, art by Jamal Campbell (DC)
Lore Olympus, vol. 1, by Rachel Smythe (Del Rey)
Monstress, vol. 6: The Vow, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image)
Once & Future, vol. 3: The Parliament of Magpies, written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain (BOOM!)
Strange Adventures, written by Tom King, art by Mitch Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner (DC)

Best Related Work
453 ballots for 303 nominees; finalist range 27-65
Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism, by Elsa Sjunneson (Tiller Press)
The Complete Debarkle: Saga of a Culture War, by Camestros Felapton (Camestros Felapton)
Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985, edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre (PM Press)
“How Twitter can ruin a life”, by Emily St. James (Vox, Jun 2021)
Never Say You Can’t Survive, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tordotcom)
True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, by Abraham Riesman (Crown)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
597 ballots for 192 nominees; finalist range 67-261
Dune, screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth; directed by Denis Villeneuve; based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert (Warner Bros / Legendary Entertainment)
Encanto, screenplay by Charise Castro Smith and Jared Bush; directed by Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
The Green Knight, written and directed by David Lowery (BRON Studios/A24)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, screenplay by Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham; directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Space Sweepers, screenplay by Jo Sung-hee, Yookang Seo-ae, and Yoon Seung-min; directed by Jo Sung-hee (Bidangil Pictures)
WandaVision, screenplay by Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer (created by and head writer), Cameron Squires, Gretchen Enders, Chuck Hayward; directed by Matt Shakman (Disney+)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
386 ballots for 337 nominees; finalist range 25-44
The Wheel of Time: “The Flame of Tar Valon,” written by Justine Juel Gillmer, directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield, based on The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (Amazon Studios)
For All Mankind: “The Grey,” written by Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi; directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Tall Ship Productions/Sony Pictures Television)
Arcane: “The Monster You Created,” written by Christian Linke and Alex Yee; story by Christian Linke, Alex Yee, Conor Sheehy, and Ash Brannon; directed by Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord (Netflix)
The Expanse: “Nemesis Games,” written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, and Naren Shankar; directed by Breck Eisner (Amazon Studios)
Loki: “The Nexus Event,” written by Eric Martin, directed by Kate Herron, created for television by Michael Waldron (Disney+)
Star Trek: Lower Decks: “wej Duj,” written by Kathryn Lyn, directed by Bob Suarez (CBS Eye Animation Productions)

Best Editor, Short Form
319 ballots for 123 nominees; finalist range 47-72
Neil Clarke
Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
Mur Lafferty & S.B. Divya
Jonathan Strahan
Sheree Renée Thomas
Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form
182 ballots for 85 nominees; finalist range 12-44
Ruoxi Chen
Nivia Evans
Sarah T. Guan
Brit Hvide
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist
233 ballots for 210 nominees; finalist range 19-34
Tommy Arnold
Rovina Cai
Ashley Mackenzie
Maurizio Manzieri
Will Staehle
Alyssa Winans

Best Semiprozine
312 ballots for 78 nominees, finalist range 39-113
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor Scott H. Andrews
Escape Pod, editors S.B. Divya, Mur Lafferty, and Valerie Valdes; assistant editors Benjamin C. Kinney and Premee Mohamed; guest editor Brent C. Lambert; hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart; audio producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht; and the entire Escape Pod team
FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, publisher Troy L Wiggins; executive editor DaVaun Sanders; managing editor Eboni Dunbar; poetry editor B. Sharise Moore; reviews editor and social media manager Brent Lambert; art director L. D. Lewis; web editor Chavonne Brown; non-fiction editor Margeaux Weston; guest editors Summer Farah and Nadia Shammas; acquiring editors Kaleb Russell, Rebecca McGee, Kerine Wint, Joshua Morley, Emmalia Harrington, Genine Tyson, Tonya R. Moore, Danny Lore; technical assistant Nelson Rolon
PodCastle, co-editors Jen R. Albert, C. L. Clark, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, and Eleanor R. Wood; assistant editors Summer Fletcher and Sofía Barker; audio producer Peter Adrian Behravesh; host Matt Dovey; and the entire PodCastle team
Strange Horizons, Vanessa Aguirre, Joseph Aitken, Kwan-Ann Tan, Rachel Ayers, M H Ayinde, Tierney Bailey, Scott Beggs, Drew Matthew Beyer, Gautam Bhatia, Tom Borger, S. K. Campbell, Emma Celi, Zhui Ning Chang, Rita Chen, Tania Chen, Liz Christman, Emma-Grace Clarke, Linda H. Codega, Bruhad Dave, Sarah Davidson, Tahlia Day, Belen Edwards, Rebecca Evans, Ciro Faienza, Courtney Floyd, Lila Garrott, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright, Colette Grecco, Julia Gunnison, Dan Hartland, Sydney Hilton, Angela Hinck, Amanda Jean, Jamie Johnson, Sean Joyce-Farley, Erika Kanda, Kat Kourbeti, Catherine Krahe, Anna Krepinsky, Clayton Kroh, Natasha Leullier, Dante Luiz, Gui Machiavelli, Cameron Mack, Samantha Manaktola, Marisa Manuel, Jean McConnell, Heather McDougal, Maria Morabe, Amelia Moriarty, Sarah Noakes, Aidan Oatway, AJ Odasso, Joel Oliver-Cormier, Kristina Palmer, Karintha Parker, Anjali Patel, Juliana Pinho, Nicasio Reed, Belicia Rhea, Abbey Schlanz, Elijah Rain Smith, Alyn Spector, Hebe Stanton, Melody Steiner, Romie Stott, Yejin Suh, Sonia Sulaiman, Ben Tyrrell, Renee Van Siclen, Kathryn Weaver, Liza Wemakor, Aigner Loren Wilson, E.M. Wright, Vicki Xu, and The Strange Horizons Editorial Collective
Uncanny Magazine, publishers and editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas; managing/poetry editor Chimedum Ohaegbu; nonfiction editor Elsa Sjunneson; podcast producers Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

Best Fanzine
243 ballots for 87 nominees; finalist range 21-76
The Full Lid, by Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner
Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus; editor Janice L. Newman; associate writers Gwyn Conaway, Jason Sacks, and John Boston
Journey Planet, edited by Erin Underwood, Jean Martin, Sara Felix, Vanessa Applegate, Chuck Serface, Errick Nunnally, Evan Reeves, Steven H Silver, James Bacon, and Christopher J Garcia
Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
Small Gods, Lee Moyer (Icon) and Seanan McGuire (Story)
Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, editors Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne

Best Fancast
384 ballots for 202 nominees, finalist range 32-55
Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske, and Jennifer Mace
The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan producer
Hugo, Girl!, hosts Haley Zapal, Amy Salley, and Lori Anderson; producer/editor Kevin Anderson
Octothorpe, by John Coxon, Alison Scott, and Liz Batty
Our Opinions Are Correct, presented by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders, produced by Veronica Simonetti
Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Cass Morris, Rowenna Miller, and Marshall Ryan Maresca

Best Fan Writer
368 ballots for 168 nominees; finalist range 31-117
Chris M. Barkley
Bitter Karella
Alex Brown
Cora Buhlert
Jason Sanford
Paul Weimer

Best Fan Artist
230 ballots for 122 nominees, finalist range 15-49
Iain J. Clark
Lorelei Esther
Sara Felix
Ariela Housman
Nilah Magruder
Lee Moyer

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (not a Hugo)
450 ballots for 208 nominees; finalist range 59-117
Chaos on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen / Rock the Boat)
The Last Graduate, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey Books)
Redemptor, by Jordan Ifueko (Amulet Books / Hot Key Books)
A Snake Falls to Earth, by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
Victories Greater Than Death, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen / Titan)

Astounding Award for Best New Writer, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo)
416 ballots for 187 nominees; finalist range 44-119
Tracy Deonn (2nd year of eligibility)
Micaiah Johnson (2nd year of eligibility)
A.K. Larkwood (2nd year of eligibility)
Everina Maxwell (1st year of eligibility)
Shelley Parker-Chan (1st year of eligibility)
Xiran Jay Zhao (1st year of eligibility)

[Kalin]

Can anyone shed light on the quality of Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire? Is it an improvement on other recent volumes in this series, or just another standard McGuire? They haven't been doing anything special for awhile and mostly are on the shortlist because her stanbase votes up anything with her name on it (cf. the totally forgettable "Tangles" in short story category).

It's the only novella I haven't read from the ballot, and I already know it won't compete with its tough competition; The Past is Red, Wild-Built, and Elder Race are all easily better. But should I read it?

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

Kalin wrote: "Can anyone shed light on the quality of Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire? Is it an improvement on other recent volumes in this series, or just anothe..."

I found it to be better than several of them, but still not a good as the initial one.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Kalin wrote: "Can anyone shed light on the quality of Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire? Is it an improvement on other recent volumes in this series, or just anothe..."

I haven't read but I assume it is on a level with earlier volumes. Unlike Kate, I cannot say that even the first one was notably above average for Hugo-nominated novellas

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

Yes, McGuire only has a hit for me probably every third book or even less. For example, in the Ghost Road series https://www.goodreads.com/series/1003... I loved the second book, really liked the first book, and disliked the third. I also quit reading the October Day series https://www.goodreads.com/series/4674... because, after reading five of them, I only really liked the second of them because the October character is too passive in most of the books.