Sci-Fi Storm

The list of nominees for the 2019 Hugo Awards are out…rather than list them all out here, you can read the entire list here or watch the announcements below.

The 2019 Hugo Awards will be given out at Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon in Dublin, Ireland, August 15-19.

So the nominations for the 91st Oscars are out, and as usual we take a look at where the science fiction/fantasy genre landed – and it’s mostly Disney vs. Disney between Black Panther and Mary Poppins Returns – but neither received any acting nominations, which is disappointing.

Black Panther scored a Best Picture nomination, along with Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score, Original Song for “All The Stars”, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing,

Mary Poppins Returns is nominated for Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score, Original Song for “The Place Where Lost Things Go”,

Avengers: Infinity War, Christopher Robin, Ready Player One, Solo: A Star Wars Story all received one nomination for Visual Effects.

A Quiet Place received one nomination for Sound Editing.

Incredibles 2, Ralph Breaks The Internet and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse all share the Animated Film nomination with Isle of Dogs and Mirai.

The 2016 Hugo Awards were given out yesterday at MidAmeriCon II, the 74th World Science Fiction collection. Like last year, a group calling itself “Rabid Puppies”, led by Theodore Beale, tried to game the system and encouraged voting for a particular slate of nominees, but like last year were largely ignored by the more than 3,000 votes given.

BEST NOVEL

[asin=0316229296]The Fifth Season[/asin] by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

BEST NOVELLA

[asin=0765385252]Binti[/asin] by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)

BEST NOVELETTE

“Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)

BEST SHORT STORY

“Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2015)

BEST RELATED WORK

No Award

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

[asin=1401248969]The Sandman: Overture[/asin] written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM

[asin=B017S3OP34]The Martian[/asin] screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM

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)

BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM

Ellen Datlow

BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM

Sheila E. Gilbert

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

Abigail Larson

BEST SEMIPROZINE

Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

BEST FANZINE

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

BEST FANCAST

No Award

BEST FAN WRITER

Mike Glyer

BEST FAN ARTIST

Steve Stiles

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (Not a Hugo Award, but administered along with the Hugo Awards) went to: Andy Weir

Game Of Thrones was the big winner not just among the few genre programs nominated, but overall and even for all time, taking home 12 different Emmys – the most ever taken by a single series in a single year! And this was with writer George R.R. Martin in attendance.

The series took home the Outstanding Drama award at the conclusion of the night, after it had already won Director (David Nutter), Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage), and Writing (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss). The other eight were awarded last week at the Creative Emmys.

Alas, no other genre shows won anything at the Big Show.

The 2015 Hugo Awards, given at this weekend’s World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle at Sasquan, saw controversy even before the nominations were out, with the group “Sad Puppies” attempting to influence the nomination and voting process to correct what they perceived as the infiltration of the genre by women and minorities, where it was formerly “ruled” by white males. Sounds like the same mentality that led to Gamergate…but in the end, the Sad Puppies lost out, and may have resulted in perhaps deserving winners winding up as collateral damage due to the Puppies support. 5 categories – Best Novella, Best Short Story, Best Related Work, Best Editor, Short Form, and Best Editor, Long Form all resulted in “No Award” winning, with four others having No Award in second place, as well as the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer also coming in second. In fact, in the cases where “No Award” won, it did so by a far margin on the first pass of ballot. This seems to be a resounding defeat of the Sad Puppies movement.

The winners that did come away with a rocketship:

Best Novel: [asin=0765377063]The Three Body Problem[/asin], Cixin Liu, Ken Liu translator

Best Novelette: The Day the World Turned Upside Down, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Lia Belt translator

Best Graphic Story: [asin=0785198288]Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal[/asin], written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Jake Wyatt

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Guardians of the Galaxy, written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, directed by James Gunn

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Orphan Black: “By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried”, ” written by Graham Manson, directed by John Fawcett

Best Professional Artist: Julie Dillon

Best Semiprozine: Lightspeed Magazine, edited by John Joseph Adams, Stefan Rudnicki, Rich Horton, Wendy N. Wagner, and Christie Yant

Best Fanzine: Journey Planet, edited by James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, Colin Harris, Alissa McKersie, and Helen J. Montgomery

Best Fancast: Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)

Best Fan Writer: Laura J. Mixon

Best Fan Artist: Elizabeth Leggett

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: Wesley Chu

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) today announced that the 2015 recipient of the 31st Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is none other than one of our favorite authors, Larry Niven!

The multiple Hugo and Nebula winning author is best known for his [asin=0345333926]Ringworld[/asin] novels that helped define the megastructure genre, but he was also a prolific writer of short stories set within multiple universes, and teamed up well with other authors, notably Jerry Pournelle, with whom he shared several Hugo and Nebula nominated novels.

SFWA President Steven Gould said, “One of the great honors of being SFWA president is the announcing the latest Grandmaster recipient. One of the drawbacks is only getting to name one at a time when we have several worthy candidates. I take great pleasure in naming Larry Niven as this year’s Damon Knight Memorial Grandmaster. As Lev Grossman said in Time Magazine about Niven’s work, “It’s a bravura demonstration of technology and psychology both playing off and feeding back into each other. This feedback loop — so fundamental to great science fiction’s power — is at the heart of Niven’s work: we create tools, and our tools shape the world, but they also shape us, in unintended and unexpected ways.”

“I’ve always wanted one of these. It does definitely mean I’ve gotten old,” said Niven. “I’ve been publishing fiction for more than fifty years now. I’m convinced I picked the right career.”

Niven joins 30 other Grand Masters, with names as prestigious as Bradbury, Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov and more.

Bravo, Master.

The Hugo Awards were presented this weekend! Here is the list of winners:

Best Novel:

[asin=0765334798]Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas[/asin], John Scalzi (Tor)

Best Novella:

[asin=1616960922]The Emperor’s Soul[/asin], Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications)

Best Novelette:

“The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi”, Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity, Solaris)

Best Short Story:

“Mono no Aware”, Ken Liu (The Future is Japanese, VIZ Media LLC)

Best Related Work:

Writing Excuses Season Seven, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler and Jordan Sanderson

Best Graphic Story:

[asin=1607066017]Saga, Volume One[/asin], written by Brian K. Vaughn, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:

[sfs=1249]The Avengers[/sfs], Screenplay & Directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount)
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The nominees for the 2013 Hugo Awards were announced yesterday…here they are (with links when available if you want to check them out). The 2013 Hugos will be presented at LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, Texas, August 29-September 2, 2013 – the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention.

Best Novel:

[asin=0316098124]2312[/asin], Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
[asin=0316081078]Blackout[/asin], Mira Grant (Orbit)
[asin=1451638450]Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance[/asin], Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
[asin=0765334798]Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas[/asin], John Scalzi (Tor)
[asin=B00B9ZEMN6]Throne of the Crescent Moon[/asin], Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

Best Novella:

[asin=1616960655]After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall[/asin], Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications)
[asin=1616960922]The Emperor’s Soul[/asin], Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications)
[asin=0956392458]On a Red Station, Drifting[/asin], Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
[asin=B0089EHIA4]San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats[/asin], Mira Grant (Orbit)
“The Stars Do Not Lie”, Jay Lake (Asimov’s, Oct-Nov 2012)
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The Oscars opened up last night to host Seth Macfarlane interrupted by a large-screen bearing the image of Captain James T. Kirk himself, having come back in time to help prevent Seth from being labeled the worst Oscar host ever (whether that was successful of not is a matter of opinion – although a number of jokes fell flat or may have been a little too off color, I think overall he did well – we did laugh hysterically at the “We saw your boobs” number…), but that was about the limit of the genre recognition – not that it was up for many awards. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror, Mirror all came up empty.

The one place where it couldn’t use was the Animated Feature category, where it was it was generally felt to be a two-film race between Disney features, with Brave beating Wreck-it Ralph for the honor.

The winners of the 2012 Hugo Awards were announced last night at Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention. Neil Gaiman, with several Hugos already, picked up another – but instead of getting Best Novel, he won the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form award for the Doctor Who episode, “The Doctor’s Wife”.

Here is a list of the winners:
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