Hugos 2024: The Finalists

The drama from the 2023 Hugo Awards will probably continue for some time, but the 2024 Hugo Award finalists have been announced—so it's time for me to get my books and start reading! Last weekend, I ordered all my books, and I have until approximately mid-July to get it all done. I'm estimating that's 7,751 pages of reading to complete in 103 days, so a pace of 75.3 pages per day is what I will need. Fairly doable, I think, but we'll see!

Before I begins, some thoughts on some different categories: (I'm not going to do every category, just ones I have opinions about based on the finalists.)

Best Novel

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager UK)
• The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
• Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Tordotcom, Orbit UK)
• Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Tor, Tor UK)
• Translation State by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK)
• Witch King by Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

I think this is the most interesting Best Novel finalist list I've seen in some years, in that it contains three novels I literally know nothing about! I've never heard of Adventures of Amina or Saint of Bright Doors, and all I know about Some Desperate Glory is that I recognize the title. The last couple years have felt kind of stale, in my opinion, so it will be nice to have some totally new-to-me authors.

Translation State is Leckie's fifth novel in the Imperial Radch milieu, but I haven't got to it yet, so it's good to have the motivation. I know of Martha Wells, of course, but I didn't even know she had a non-Murderbot novel (fantasy, I'm assuming) out last year, so that will be interesting.

Starter Villain I will be skipping under my "you are allowed to skip books that there is absolutely no chance you will enjoy" rule. Scalzi does snarky would-be supervillain? Please don't.

Best Novella

• “Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)
• Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
• The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (Tordotcom) 
• Rose/House by Arkady Martine (Subterranean) 
• “Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)
• Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK)

This is also a pretty interesting Best Novella list. Only two Tordotcom novellas, plus one Tor novella! (Wouldn't want to confuse those things.) I didn't know it was possible. Two of the six are Chinese translations; I guess some Chinese Worldcon members from last year exercised their nominating rights. I'm interested in seeing what new thing Arkady Martine has come up with.

Best Graphic Story or Comic

• Bea Wolf, written by Zach Weinersmith, art by Boulet (First Second)
• Saga, Vol. 11 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
• Shubeik Lubeik, Deena Mohamed (Pantheon); as Your Wish Is My Command (Granta)
• 三体漫画：第一部 / The Three Body Problem, Part One, adapted from the novels by 刘慈欣 (Liu Cixin), written by 蔡劲 (Cai Jin),戈闻頔 (Ge Wendi), and 薄暮 (Bo Mu), art by 草祭九日东 (Caojijiuridong) (Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House) 
• The Witches of World War II written by Paul Cornell, art by Valeria Burzo (TKO Studios LLC)
• Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, art by Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott (DC Comics)

I often groan at the Best Graphic Story finalists (last year's Cyberpunk 2077 tie-in being a case in point), but this one looks interesting, with the usual Saga nomination, plus a few things I haven't heard of (Bea Wolf, Your Wish Is My Command), something from the usually dependable Paul Cornell, and a Wonder Woman comic with a top-notch creative team.

I don't see any evidence that there's an English translation of The Three Body Problem adaptation, so I may be giving it a miss.

Best Related Work

• All These Worlds: Reviews & Essays by Niall Harrison (Briardene Books)
• 中国科幻口述史, 第二卷, 第三卷，(Chinese Science Fiction: An Oral History, vols 2 and 3) ed. 杨枫 / Yang Feng (8-Light Minutes Culture & Chengdu Time Press)
• A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith (Penguin Press; Particular Books)
• The Culture: The Drawings, by Iain M. Banks (Orbit)
• 雨果X访谈 (Discover X), presented by 王雅婷 (Tina Wong)
• A Traveller in Time: The Critical Practice of Maureen Kincaid Speller, by Maureen Kincaid Speller, edited by Nina Allan (Luna Press Publishing)

Last year, volume one of Chinese Science Fiction: A History was a finalist, and it was not translated, so I am wondering if that will be true again this year. Discover X is a professional podcast, I think? The other finalists look solid and the exact kind of thing I like to see in this category: two collections of sf criticism, an art book by the late Iain M. Banks, and a nonfiction book about colonizing Mars. Thankfully no Twitter threads or conventions.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• Barbie, screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, directed by Greta Gerwig (Warner Bros. Studios)
• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, screenplay by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein and Michael Gilio, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Paramount Pictures)
• Nimona, screenplay by Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor, directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (Annapurna Animations) 
• Poor Things, screenplay by Tony McNamara, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Element Pictures)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Dave Callaham, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson (Columbia Pictures / Marvel Entertainment / Avi Arad Productions / Lord Miller / Pascal Pictures / Sony Pictures Animation)
• 流浪地球2 / The Wandering Earth II, based on the novel by 刘慈欣 Liu Cixin, screenplay by 杨治学 Yang Zhixue, 郭帆 / Frant Gwo, 龚格尔 Gong Geer, and 叶濡畅 Ye Ruchang, script consultant 王红卫 Wang Hongwei, directed by 郭帆 / Frant Gwo (中影创意（北京）电影有限公司 / CFC Pictures Ltd, 郭帆（北京）影业有限公司 / G!Film (Beijing) Studio Co. Ltd, 北京登峰国际文化传播有限公司 / Beijing Dengfeng International Culture Communication Co, Ltd, 中国电影股份有限公司 / China Film Co. Ltd)

I was assuming Dune, Part Two would be on the list, but then I remembered that only came out this year. My wife really liked Nimona, so I'm looking forward to seeing it, and though I haven't actually done anything to watch it up until now, I am curious about Barbie. I really enjoyed the first Spider-Verse movie, so am glad to have a reason to see the second. Poor Things doesn't sound good but I guess I will give it a shot.

Despite the title, The Wandering Earth II is a prequel to the first Wandering Earth movie; they're based on a novel by Cixin Liu. Hopefully it stands alone, and hopefully it has an English release.

Thankfully, no complete seasons on the ballot!

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• Doctor Who: “The Giggle”, written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Chanya Button (Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for The BBC and Disney Branded Television)
• Loki: “Glorious Purpose”, screenplay by Eric Martin, Michael Waldron and Katharyn Blair, directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Marvel / Disney+)
• The Last of Us: “Long, Long Time”, written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, directed by Peter Hoar (Naughty Dog / Sony Pictures)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: “Those Old Scientists”, written by Kathryn Lyn and Bill Wolkoff, directed by Jonathan Frakes (CBS / Paramount+)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: “Subspace Rhapsody”, written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, directed by Dermott Downs (CBS / Paramount+)
• Doctor Who: “Wild Blue Yonder”, written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Tom Kingsley (Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for The BBC and Disney Branded Television)

I nominated "Those Old Scientists" and "Wild Blue Yonder," so am happy to see both on the ballot; I am not surprised that "Those Old Scientists" and "Subspace Rhapsody" made it, as they are the exact kind of things Hugo voters love. But confession time... I am way behind on Strange New Worlds (I cheated and watched (some of) "Those Old Scientists" out of order), so I will need to watch nine SNW episodes in addition to the finalists in order to get the context!

Only one MCU thing this year across both sets of Dramatic Presentation finalists! Maybe our long national nightmare really is coming to an end.

Best Game or Interactive Work

• Alan Wake 2, developed by Remedy Entertainment, published by Epic Games 
• Baldur’s Gate 3, produced by Larian Studios
• Chants of Sennaar, developed by Rundisc, published by Focus Entertainment
• DREDGE, developed by Black Salt Games, published by Team17
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, produced by Nintendo
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, developed by Respawn Entertainment, published by Electronic Arts

I don't care about videogames, but my wife and kid play Tears of the Kingdom, so I might actually vote for it.

Lodestar Award for Best YA Book

• Abeni’s Song by P. Djèlí Clark (Starscape)
• Liberty’s Daughter by Naomi Kritzer (Fairwood Press)
• Promises Stronger than Darkness by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen)
• The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix (Katherine Tegen Books, Gollancz and Allen & Unwin)
• To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (Del Rey)
• Unraveller by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Children’s Books; eligible due to 2023 U.S. publication by Amulet)

Always happy to have an excuse to read more Frances Hardinge. Again, it's a stronger set of finalists than we've had in recent years, with only one being a sequel to a previous finalist. (Promises, which is the one I will skip, not having enjoyed the first book in the sequence at all.) I like Kritzer, Clark has done some good work, I've never read any Garth Nix even though he's kind of a big deal, and I've never even heard of Blackgoose. So Promises aside, I'm very into this set of books.

Overall, I think it's the strongest Hugo ballot we've seen in a few years... at least, that's how I feel before reading it!