Sunday 5 August 2018

Open Discussion — What's worth considering for the ballot in 2019?

The following list will be updated over the next few months as we read, watch, and listen to Hugo-eligible works for 2019. These are not necessarily what we plan to nominate, but rather works that at least one member of the Edmonton Hugo Book Club has enjoyed and believes to be worth consideration. We appreciate any additional suggestions in the comments.

Items that are controversial amongst our club are marked with an asterisk (*)


(List last updated on October 25, 2018). 


Novel
The Quantum Magician — Derek Künsken
Embers of War — Gareth Powell
The Calculating Stars — Mary Robinette Kowal
Record of a Spaceborn Few — Becky Chambers
Blackfish City — Sam J. Miller

Novella
The Million — Karl Shroeder
Gods, Monsters & The Lucky Peach — Kelly Robson*
The Expert System's Brother — Adrian Tchaikovsky

Novelette
The Only Harmless Great Thing — Brooke Bolander
A Study In Oils — Kelly Robson (Full text of story is HERE)

Short Story
Tierra y libertad — Madeline Ashby (Full text of story is HERE)
Noon In the Antilibrary — Karl Schroeder (Full text of story is HERE)
Contingency Plans For The Apocalypse — S.B. Divya
Thirty-Three Percent Joe — Suzanne Palmer (Full text of story is HERE)

Best Series
Centennial Cycle — Malka Older
Merchant Princes / Empire Games — Charles Stross
Peter Grant / Rivers Of London — Ben Aaronovitch
Adventures of Arabella Ashby — David D. Levine

Related Work

Best Professional Artist

The Endless

Dramatic Presentation - Short Form
Westworld Season 2, Episode 8 "Kiksuya" — Written by Carly Wray & Dan Dietz
Preacher Season 3, Episode 8 — Written by Carla Ching, directed by Michael Morris
Expanse Season 3, Episode 10 "Abaddon's Gate" — Written by Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck and Naren Shankar
Counterpart Season 1, Episode 6, "Act Like You've Been Here Before" — Written by Jennifer Getzinger, directed by Justin Britt-Gibson
The Terror, Episode 1 "Go For Broke" — Written by David Kajganich, directed by Edward Berger

Graphic Story
Paradiso, Vol. 1: Essential Singularity — Ram V and Dev Pramanik
Days of Hate, Act One — Aleš Kot, Danijel Žeželj, Jordie Bellaire, and Tom Muller
The Black Monday Murders —  Jonathan Hickman, Tomm Coker, Michael Garland, and Rus Wooten
Eternity Girl — Magdalene Visaggio and Sonny Liew
The Wild Storm — Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt

Fan Writer
Alasdair Stewart

Fancast
The Alternate Historian
Doctor Whooch
New Books In Science Fiction 
Verity 
Skiffy & Fanty

Semiprozine
Black Nerd Problems
Escape Pod
Strange Horizons

Best YA Novel
The Disasters — M.K. England 


6 comments:

  1. So far I've found six novellas I gave five stars and seven novellas I gave four stars. I notice that most of these are parts of larger series, which might mitigate against nominating them for a Hugo.

    I also liked the Bolander story, but at just 16,825 words, it's a novelette, not a novella.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for pointing out the length of OHGT, I've edited the above post. It's probably top of my list for this year in any category.

      Read Artificial Condition & Beneath Sugar Sky are both great ... but I have a bias against sequels. Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach was good (and gets points for being set in my home town), but isn't quite what I look for on my nominating ballot.

      Will definitely read most of the other ones you have recommended.

      Delete
  2. On the topic of Graphic Story, I've already called my ballot for this year:

    The Electric State, written and illustrated by Simon Stålenhag (Simon & Schuster UK / Skybound Books US)

    https://www.amazon.com/Electric-State-Simon-St%C3%A5lenhag/dp/1501181416

    Kill Six Billion Demons, Book 3: Seeker of Thrones, written and illustrated by Tom Parkinson-Morgan (killsixbilliondemons.com)

    https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comic/seeker-of-thrones/

    Mare Internum, written and illustrated by Der-shing Helmer (marecomic.com)

    http://www.marecomic.com/comic/intro-page-1/

    Mister Miracle, written by Tom King, illustrated by Mitch Gerads (DC Comics)

    https://www.amazon.com/Mister-Miracle-Tom-King/dp/1401283543/

    Ophiuchus, written by Ali Leriger de la Plante, illustrated by Natasha Tara Petrovic (serpentbearer.com)

    http://serpentbearer.com/post/157835297930

    Saga, Volume 9, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

    https://www.amazon.com/Saga-Vol-9-Brian-Vaughan-ebook/dp/B07GL6ZJLF/

    All the personal love to Mister Miracle especially.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope it's OK for me to make a suggestion (as I'm not a member of the Edmonton Hugo Book Club and it's a self-interested nomination). Might you consider in the fancast category the podcast I host, New Books in Science Fiction? I try to spotlight many writers who, as you've suggested for the film category, are not "blockbuster" authors and yet have produced excellent, fresh work. https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/arts-letters/science-fiction/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, this comment prompted me to subscribe to your podcast.

      Excited to check it out!

      Delete
  4. My favourite short story of 2018 was "A cure for homesickness", published on EscapePod, Episode 617.

    ReplyDelete