Aliette de Bodard is Overdue for a Hugo Award Win

Aliette de Bodard at the 2024
Hugo Awards.
(Photo by Olav Rokne)

There are only 27 authors whose works have appeared on the prose-fiction Hugo Award ballot at least 10 times. It’s a list of some of the most recognizable and prolific names in the history of the genre: Heinlein, le Guin, Simak, Ellison, Bujold, Chiang.

It’s an achievement to pen even a single work of fiction that speaks to the Hugo voting public enough that it earns a spot on the ballot. The fact that each of these authors have done so on at least ten occasions speaks to the fact that they were important voices in science fiction and fantasy over a significant period of time.

Of this exclusive list of 27 authors, 25 of them have taken home the trophy on at least one occasion. The others are Michael A. Burstein, a terrific author of short fiction who largely stopped publishing new work about a decade ago, and Aliette de Bodard, who earned her 10th and 11th Hugo nods this summer in Glasgow.

Having yet again been a runner-up at Glasgow (losing Short Story to Naomi Kritzer and series to Ann Leckie), Aliette de Bodard now holds the distinction of being the person who has been a finalist for a fiction-category Hugo the most often without winning.

She has come close on numerous occasions.

In 2013, “Immersion” — her nuanced and insightful story about the folly of reducing culture to data — placed second to Ken Liu’s “Mono no Aware.”

In 2019, her novella The Tea Master and The Detective led the balloting during the nominations stage, but that was a year in which the Murderbot books were an unstoppable juggernaut. Aliette de Bodard’s Sherlock Holmes tribute fell short by about 300 votes on the final ballot, placing second to Artificial Condition by Martha Wells.

To us at least, it feels as if de Bodard was robbed in 2015 given that one of her absolute best works "The Breath of War" was prevented from getting on the short story Hugo ballot by the notorious Sad Puppies slate. No short story award was given that year, and damn it Aliette de Bodard probably should have won.

She’s placed fifth to Becky Chambers and fourth to Mary Robinette Kowal. She’s been a finalist in some incredibly strong shortlists. But to date, she’s never taken home the shiny chrome rocket ship. That’s something we think needs to change.

Now, we should mention that de Bodard has been recognized with other literary awards. She’s taken home awards from the BSFA, from the Nebulas, the Locus, the Writers of the Future, and the Ignytes. It would be difficult to argue that she isn’t already one of the genre’s most awarded authors. But the Hugo Awards have a special place for those of us in the Worldcon community. Not only is her work entirely deserving of a Hugo, she attends Worldcon and is a participant in panels, book signings, and other events. She’s a contributing member of the Worldcon community.

This year, de Bodard has two works that could be considered for a Hugo Award: a novel Navigational Entanglements, a novella In The Shadow of the Ship. (Her series “Universe of Xuya” cannot be renominated until 2026 because it was on the ballot in 2024.)

de Bodard's latest novella ranks
amongst her all-time best.
(Image via Subterranean Press)

The novella In the Shadow of the Ship hit shelves just last week. Set in her Universe of Xuya — a future timeline in which space has been conquered by Confucian galactic empires — In the Shadow of the Ship deals with toxic family relationships on board a horrific refugee ship, where children are sacrificed. The protagonist, Khuyên, is among de Bodard’s most memorable characters, having fled the ship on which she was raised only to return for a family funeral. She understands much of the problematic culture she was raised with, but also brings a reflective outsider’s perspective. Although this is a darker and moodier work than others in the Xuya series, de Bodard continues to explore similar themes of family tensions and mother-daughter relationships. It is on a short list of de Bodard’s best works.

The novel is Navigational Entanglements, which hit shelves this spring, is an action-fuelled political thriller about a neurodivergent navigator who has to hunt down a dangerous creature while dealing with fallout from the assassination of an imperial envoy. It seems a likely candidate for the Hugo shortlist.

It has been 15 years since Aliette de Bodard first made a splash in SFF literary circles when she was shortlisted for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer (which we still feel she should have won). In the time since, she has continued to evolve as a writer and has become a master of her craft. It is astonishing that she does not have a Hugo Award yet, and it is an omission we hope will be rectified in short order.