2020 Hugo winners

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine wins best novel.
The full list here: https://www.tor.com/2020/07/31/announcing-the-2020-hugo-award-winners/

A Winner I've actually read. I also suspect it was the best book on the shortlist, although I wasn't overly impressed.

Am learning the Hugo ceremony was a shitshow from start to finish, with mcs George RR Martin and Robert Silverberg reminiscing about Campbell, people's names mispronounced, transphobic jokes, and even complaints that other works should have won.

Ugh. I didn't pay too much attention this year, but I have to say that having followed it a bit more closely the last decade or so has certainily diminished the value of a Hugo to me.
Do you know, Ian, (or anyone else), if being able to claim a work or author is a "Hugo winner" still has a lot of commercial impact?

>4 igorken: In the US, it probably has some impact, but only for Best Novel. Otoh, Martine is now extremely unlikely to be dropped before her trilogy is completed.

I can't keep up. I'd've put the Ted Chiang above "...Time War"; the latter was good but I don't understand how it's won all the awards this year. Will try to read the rest of the novellas, at least.

Yay. I loved A Memory Called Empire and thought it the best of the bunch.

>6 dukedom_enough: That's a book that some people really seem to love.

In my book groups, there were people who loved loved it, people who thought it was okay, people who were frustrated by all the magical-seeming tech stuff, and one person who hated it. At least it made for a pretty good discussion!

Well, whatever else you want to say this collection of winners is a good snapshot of the state of play in the field. I will say in regards to the Astounding Award it was almost unfair for the rest of the contestants to be placed up against Rebecca Kuang, but it's not as though all new writers charge out of the box with a well-received trilogy as their first work. Kinda like deciding to take up mountain climbing and starting with Mt. Everest!

Interestingly Arkady Martine was eligible for the Astounding Award but didn't make it into the nominees.

>10 Aquila:

Not true, Arkady Martine has published work going back to at least 2015

As I was feeling curious, I looked up Martine's publishing history to compare to the Astounding Award qualifications.

https://www.arkadymartine.net/short-fiction-poetry

https://astoundingaward.info/#faq

Martine does appear to have qualified on a short story too many years ago, maybe in 2015.

>12 aspirit: The isfdb says first publication in 2012. Handy, that site, for this exact question.

>13 karenb: the first publication is different than the first qualifying "professional" publication, though.

Ah, ok, I made assumptions based on the atounding nominee longlist, but they may have only crossed out those that made the nomination cut.

>14 aspirit: Oh, right, of course.

I was having internet issues in real-time when the ceremony was running, so I didn't invest any time in watching it, but as a once-and-future con-runner I'm taking notes on what not to do. GRRM is going to be living this down for a long, long time.

>15 Aquila:

Yep, they generally only investigate eligibility for those above the line.

re: eligibility

In the beginning of the calendar year, lately there's been a crowdfunded Google sheet for posting nominations. It includes ways to question eligibility and leave notes about same. It's been quite useful for the Hugo nominations. And if it saves me from using a nomination slot on an ineligible work/person, all the better.

(ETA: Don't the Hugo folks also accept eligibility questions ahead of time? For example, for a work published first outside the US but gained much wider popularity after US publication.)

I'll try to remember to post a link when the time comes. In the past, I think it gets promoted via the Ladybusiness community on Dreamwidth.

Memory Called Empire was my favorite of the Novel short list, so I am happy to see it win. Better shortlist for Novel than in the past couple years, in my opinion. Good Novella shortlist, too, so even though I have Time War down in third, I am fine with its victory.

Best Short Story was a disaster this year, though, in my opinion. I No Awarded the entire category.... and I had the winning story down in seventh! Hugo nominators clearly do not value what I value in short fiction.

>5 iansales: I think the Teixcalaan books are just a duology, though course these things always expand. (The Baru Cormorant books were a trilogy and will be a tetrology.)

I was very disappointed in the novel short list - firmly not interested in 3 of the nominees and DNF'd 2 of the others. Did greatly enjoy Kameron Hurley's The Light Brigade. Looking at the declines and cutoffs I'm wishing Ann Leckie hadn't declined and Sarah Pinsker had made it in.

Haven't read the novellas but did read the novelettes. Thought Ted Chiang's Omphalos was very thought provoking and Siobhan Carroll's For He Can Creep was very fun. NK Jemisin's Emergency Skin was a disappointment - usually really like her work.

Agree with Stevil that the short story category was very poor. Liked Sen's but thought it needed to be fleshed out more. Solomon's was the one I wanted to win.

Do find the entire thing in general great fun and I'm not going to let my personal tastes or any insensitive announcing spoil that. Don't buy a membership but look forward to the award live stream and finding good stuff through the nominees each year.

2021 Hugo sheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w5rNvJLJZ1lno7X4PXzG9BBhCjtHjAc0cgPoKfQU...

Nice to see some love for Cliff Simak's "City" in the Retros. No surprise that I'm ignorant of the new stuff!