psocoptera

Voting stats and longlist here. [2021 ETA: that link is no longer working, try here.] Behind the cut, commentary.

Novel

1. A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
2. Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire
3. Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
4. The Light Brigade, by Kameron Hurley
5. The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders
6. The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow

This was both my first-place vote and my prediction. I had thought Light Brigade might win if Memory didn't, and I'm a little surprised it didn't do better - but I also think that's fine, we don't need to be hung up on milSF! Interesting facts from the stats and longlist: Leckie declined a nom for Raven Tower, Middlegame was in the lead in the first couple rounds of voting.

Novella

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

I voted for Chambers and predicted Chiang (although I had forgotten I had predicted that and said tonight that Time War would take it). Sisters of the Vast Black and Desdemona and the Deep both on the longlist (and of the ten longlist nominees that didn't make the finalists, I've read five of them - I think this continues to be the category I'm "most on top of" in some sense.)

Novelette

1. Emergency Skin, by N.K. Jemisin
2.“Omphalos”, by Ted Chiang
3.“Away With the Wolves”, by Sarah Gailey
4.“For He Can Creep”, by Siobhan Carroll
5.“The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye”, by Sarah Pinsker
6.“The Archronology of Love”, by Caroline M. Yoachim

Voted for and predicted Chiang. A couple of my nominees on the longlist!

Short Story

1. “As the Last I May Know”, by S.L. Huang
2.“Do Not Look Back, My Lion”, by Alix E. Harrow
3.“And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, by Shiv Ramdas
4.“A Catalog of Storms”, by Fran Wilde
5.“Blood Is Another Word for Hunger”, by Rivers Solomon
6.“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, by Nibedita Sen

Voted for Sen but did predict Huang would win.

Series

1. The Expanse, by James S. A. Corey
2.InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire
3.Planetfall series, by Emma Newman
4.Winternight Trilogy, by Katherine Arden
5.The Wormwood Trilogy, by Tade Thompson
6.Luna, by Ian McDonald

No prediction. I was initially happy we'd get Expanse off of future ballots, but then it occurred to me that in fact reading for this category is an enormous pain and the more things that are on here that I don't have to do anything about, the better, so if Expanse wanted to sit there for further years that might have been nice. Ah well. (Man, there isn't even much in the longlist I would want to have to read. Maybe I... don't like series??)

Related Work

1. “2019 John W. Campbell Award Acceptance Speech”, by Jeannette Ng
2.Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, produced and directed by Arwen Curry
3.The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, by Mallory O’Meara
4.Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood, by J. Michael Straczynski
5.The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, by Farah Mendlesohn
6.Joanna Russ, by Gwyneth Jones

I voted for the Le Guin, but this was my second choice and I love that it won. GRRM may have had the mic but the voters have Ng's back. (I have said some things elsewhere about how bad the ceremony was and don't want to go into it here, but if you weren't watching, uh. It was not great.)

Graphic Story or Comic

1. LaGuardia, written by Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford
2.Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
3.Mooncakes, by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker, letters by Joamette Gil
4.Paper Girls, Volume 6, written by Brian K. Vaughan, drawn by Cliff Chiang
5.The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 9: “Okay”, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
6.Die, Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker, by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans

I'm very pleased with this win. I did rank WicDiv higher (and thought it would win) but I'm psyched to see something other than Monstress get attention. The most disappointing thing in all the results is that Chronin didn't make the long list though. :( :( It was so good!

Dramatic Long

1. Good Omens
2.Captain Marvel
3.Russian Doll(Season One)
4.Avengers: Endgame,
5.Us
6.Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Predicted this! I am not entirely sure I like what's going on in the Dramatics with series vs episodes - Watchmen got removed from the Longs because two episodes were nominated for the Shorts with "more votes collectively", while a Good Omens episode got nominated for the Shorts but got removed because the series was nominated for the Longs. On the one hand, I agree we don't need to give *both* Dramatic Hugos to one damn show, and on the other hand, I feel like an episode is different than a show and blargh.

Dramatic Short

The Good Place: “The Answer”
2.(tie) Watchmen: “A God Walks into Abar”
2.(tie) The Mandalorian: “Redemption”
4.The Expanse: “Cibola Burn”
5.Watchmen: “This Extraordinary Being”
6.Doctor Who: “Resolution”

Wow, how often do you get an actual tie. I'm really glad to see Steven Universe "Change Your Mind" on the long list; it was amazing and I'm glad 24 other nominators thought so.

Short Editor

1. Ellen Datlow
2.Jonathan Strahan
3.Sheila Williams
4.(tie) Neil Clarke
4.(tie) Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
6. C.C. Finlay

Sure.

Long Editor

1. Navah Wolfe
2.Diana M. Pho
3.Sheila E. Gilbert
4.Devi Pillai
5.Miriam Weinberg
6.Brit Hvide

Also sure.

Professional Artist

1. John Picacio
2.Galen Dara
3.Yuko Shimizu
4.Rovina Cai
5.Tommy Arnold
6.Alyssa Winans

This is the most boring possible outcome, sorry. (I voted for and predicted Dara.)

Semiprozine

1. Uncanny Magazine
2.FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction
3.Strange Horizons
4.Escape Pod
5.Beneath Ceaseless Skies
6.Fireside Magazine

Wait, I lied, *this* is the most boring possible outcome. Yes, we all love Uncanny, let's move on. Maybe FIYAH can win next year at a time when the host will bother pronouncing it right.

Fanzine

1. The Book Smugglers
2.nerds of a feather, flock together
3.Journey Planet
4.Galactic Journey
5.Quick Sip Reviews
6.The Rec Center

So, okay, my top two placed last, my middle two placed first, and my bottom two placed middle, sort of funny.

Fancast

Is a thing that happened and Annalee Newitz wore an extremely great shirt with a knife print. Literally sharply-dressed, hee!

Fan Writer

So glad to see Bogi Takács win this!

Fan Artist

1. Elise Matthesen
2.Sara Felix
3.Iain Clark
4.Meg Frank
5.Grace P. Fong
6.Ariela Housman

I voted for her! And I think it's neat to see a win for jewelry art instead of drawing or painting. I had predicted Clark.

Lodestar Not a Hugo

1. Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer
2.Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher
3.Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee
4.Riverland, by Fran Wilde
5.Deeplight, by Frances Hardinge
6.The Wicked King, by Holly Black

My prediction and my vote. :) ("I would expect Hugo-frequent-flyers Kritzer, Lee, Vernon, and Wilde to have a bit of an edge over Hardinge and Black", I said, so that's clearly my most successful prediction of the year.)

Astounding Not a Hugo And Also Not Named For That Guy Any More No Matter How Much You Loved Him GRRM

1. R.F. Kuang
2.Nibedita Sen
3.Tasha Suri
4.Emily Tesh
5.Sam Hawke
6.Jenn Lyons

I voted for and predicted Sen, but Kuang was my second choice and I think this is a nice outcome.

So, okay: of ten predictions, I got four of them right. Comparing to last year, for those same ten categories (I made more predictions last year), I believe I got six right, so I'm apparently getting worse at this. :) Tune in next year when we'll see if I can at least beat a d6.