Your Science Fiction Award Nomination Suggestions

Posted on February 9, 2010    Posted by      87 Comments

Hey, kids, look! It’s Hugh, the Hugo-Impaled Headcrab! And he has something he wants to say to us all! Let’s lean in close (but not too close) and listen to what he has to say:

“Hello, geeks of Earth! Did you know that this is science fiction awards nomination season? Well it is! Hugo nominations are due within the next month, and for those of you humans who are also members of SFWA, Nebula nominations are due by the end of the week! There’s no time to lose! So don’t just stand there like a headcrab impaled on a Hugo! Get nominating!”

What wise and telling words, Hugh. Yes, indeed, it’s time to make those nominations, and in doing so let the world know what you think is the best science fiction of the year.

But wait: You say you know what you’re going to nominate in some categories but not in others? You say that you wouldn’t mind hearing suggestions about what to read so as to consider it for nominations? You also say that you wouldn’t mind sharing your own suggestions for Hugo and Nebula-worthy work in the past year?

Excellent. Because as it happens, I’m creating this very thread to be a repository for science fiction award nomination suggestions. Geeks of the world, fill this thread with the novels, stories, movies and other stuff you think is worth nominating for the year. There are only two rules:

1. Make sure that what you’re suggesting is actually eligible for nomination (for the Hugos, that means it was released in the 2009 calendar year; for the Nebulas, released from July 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009), and fits in the current categories for the Hugos and the Nebulas, and their associated awards (the Campbell Award for Best New Writer; the Andre Norton and Bradbury Awards);

2. Don’t suggest anything by me, because I’ve already done my own award pimpage post, and this is for everything else.

Also, if you are someone eligible for an award, don’t be shy: Feel free to recommend your own work. You’ll note I did an award pimpage post of my own, so clearly I’m not opposed to people tooting their own horn. And, you know. 40,000 folks visit here daily. Some of them nominate for awards. Tell ’em about your stuff.

So: What do you suggest for the science fiction awards this year? Tell us all in the comments.

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87 Comments on “Your Science Fiction Award Nomination Suggestions”

  1. Award nomination pimpage? No problem:

    Novelette:

    –The Very Difficult Diwali of Sub-Inspector Gurushankar Rajaram by Jeff Soesbe;
    –The Branding of Shu Mei Feng by Amanda Clark;
    –The Courage of the Lion Tamer by Anya Martin;
    –Fembot by Carlos Hernandez;

    Short story:

    –Horrorhouse by David D. Levine;

    All from my own DayBreak Magazine.

  2. For Best Science Fiction Novel I would like to nominate Steel Across The Sky by Nancy Kress.

  3. Connected to the Hugos is the Campbell Award for new authors; the Campbell website lists a ton of eligible authors well-worth your consideration: http://tinyurl.com/qkmloz. (And yes, I’m on that list, for my psychological horror novel “I Am Not a Serial Killer,” published by Headline UK. Give it a read, I think you’ll like it.)

    I also do a podcast, http://www.writingexcuses.com, with fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson and SF cartoonist Howard Tayler, and our second season is eligible for a “Best Related Work” Hugo. It’s a weekly podcast for writers, and we’d love for all of you to check it out.

    While I’m here, I’ll mention that Howard’s comic, Schlock Mercenary, has a book called “Longshoreman of the Apocalypse” that’s eligible in the new Graphic Novel Hugo category. You can read the entire book for free here: http://www.schlockmercenary.com/Schlock-LOTA-HugoReader.pdf

  4. I actually have two works (one horror, but the Hugos will take it) that I feel comfortable suggesting that folks nominate:

    “Kicking the Habit”, which was published as part of the e-anthology Hungry for Your Love. I understand that one of St. Martin’s imprints is going to make a dead tree edition this year as well. (Yes, it’s billed as romance. But ZOMBIES, man, ZOMBIES.)

    “Conscious Illusion”, which ran in 2009 in Everyday Wierdness (and actually just got reprinted in The Shine Journal.

    I could also recommend Brain Harvest for semipro ‘zine. They’ve got a good eye for twisting the limits of short fiction.

  7. Funny, I just posted this in the pimp thread this morning, but this seems a much more appropriate place for it:

    The best book I read last year I learned about in a ‘Big Idea’ post here on Whatever:

    The Magicians by Lev Grossman

    Although the Big Idea article makes the inevitable comparison to Harry Potter, I found The Chronicles of Narnia to be a much more relevant touchstone because of my age and affection for that series.

    For anyone here who grew up wishing you could go through that wardrobe, or thought that Hogwarts would be much improved with some sex and other adult pursuits, THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN FOR YOU.

    http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/08/19/the-big-idea-lev-grossman/

    I’m not a nominating or voting member for the Hugo or Nebula awards, and in fact unsure if this fantasy deconstruction would be within the purview of either- but thought I’d mention it as a reminder, or for anyone looking for something good to check out for a nomination!

  9. Do these science fiction/fantasy awards really help sales? Do authors see an uptick in sales from an award?

    It seems like the awards are snobbish. Bestsellers rarely win. Robert Jordan got nominated what once? He changed the fantasy genre and sold 50 million copies.

  10. My novel Moxyland (http://www.moxyland.com) is eligible for a Hugo for best novel or a W. Campbell for best new writer.

    It’s also eligible for a Nebula and the Locus poll/awards.

    But there are some amazing books I read last year that I’d love to see win tons of awards.

    I’ll second Dan Well’s I Am Not A Serial Killer – a blackhearted romp that turns to unexpected places and cuts to the heart of teenagedom. (which is a much nicer word than “adolescence”)

    Jeff vanderMeer’s Finch was just amazing, a gorgeous fungal noir, riveting and queasy. Haven’t been able to eat mushrooms since.

    Jebediah Berry’s The Manual of Detection was another noir, this one a circusfreak dark whimsy noir with echoes of Dark City / Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.

    Also loved Daryl Gregory’s Devil’s Alphabet for being strange and disturbingly original.

    But nothing disturbed me more than Kaaron Warren’s Slights, about a woman with a creepy backyard and visiting rights to a hellish purgatory. It’s up for a Stoker award, but it should win lots more too. Awesome debut.

    In comics, Bill Willingham’s Fables: The Dark Ages

    Paul Cornell’s Captain Britain and MI-13: Vampire State

    Matt Sturges’ House of Mystery.

    And artists: John Picacio. He’s a serious talent and has been nominated for tons of Hugos but not yet won any (I may be biased cos I conned him into doing the cover for my new novel, Zoo City).

    Magazines: don’t have access to a whole lot in South Africa, alas, but I’ve been very impressed with Weird Tales and looking forward to good things from Lightspeed for next year’s awards season.

    Oh, which reminds me, The Living Dead was a truly awesome anthology. I’d like to add that to the list and to include John Joseph Adams as best editor.

  12. Dan Wells’s I Am Not a Serial Killer was indeed awesome. I hope it gets nominated.

    I fall over dead with joy (figuratively) if someone nominated my short story “Fugue,” which was published in Volume III of the Candlelight Anthology edited by Jonathan Schlosser.

  13. While I doubt it’ll be a competitor, I’d like to point out that last year I adapted my Hugo-nominated short story “Decisions” into an audio play. The audio play version, which was produced by The Chronic Rift podcast, is eligible for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, and can be heard here:
    http://www.mevio.com/episode/176260/Spotlight+-+Michael+A.+Burstein+s+Decisions

    Or, you can right-click the following link and download it as an mp3:
    http://m.podshow.com/media/23007/episodes/176260/chronicrift-176260-06-29-2009.mp3

  14. (Not sure if this got posted. If it did, delete this duplicate.)

    Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form:

    Last year I adapted my Hugo-nominated short story “Decisions” into an audio play. The audio play version, which was produced by The Chronic Rift podcast, is eligible for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, and can be heard here:
    http://www.mevio.com/episode/176260/Spotlight+-+Michael+A.+Burstein+s+Decisions

    Or, you can right-click the following link and download it as an mp3:
    http://m.podshow.com/media/23007/episodes/176260/chronicrift-176260-06-29-2009.mp3

  15. In the Hugo Fan writer category I would recommend Taral Wayne. He’s an artist you say? Yes, but he’s been writing some great stuff that”s been appearing in “File 770” and “The Drink Tank.”

    For Best Fanzine I’m nominating “Exhibition Hall”, a truly great Steampunk zine.

    I’ll also be nominating Yipe! – The Costume Fanzine of Record, the new costuming fanzine.

    And the most consistantly great fanzine of them all; “File 770.”

    You can check out samples of Taral’s writing and all these zines at http://efanzines.com/

    I’m nominating Pixar’s “UP”, and “District 9” for the dramatic presentation long form Hugo!

    Thanks for the Hugo pimping thread John!

  16. Lauren Beukes @ #10:

    Thanks for reminding me about Moxyland! I’ve been meaning to pick this up for a while, and now I’m determined to do so today.

  17. For Best Novel I’d like to suggest The Wind-Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, Finch by Jeff Vandermeer,and The City and the City by China Mieville.
    For the Hugo Best-Related books I’d like to suggest Songs of the Dying Earth George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, editors.
    Cheek by Jowl:Essays by Ursula K. LeGuin
    Best Graphic Story-The Umbrella Academy:Dallas by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba. (Yes, I know. Read it anyway.)
    Captain Britain and MI-13:Vampire State by Paul Cornell
    Novellas: The Women of Nell Gwynne’s by Kage Baker
    Cuckoo By Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, and Leah Bobet Shadow Unit 8/02/09
    Novelette: Mongooe by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear Lovecraft Unbound.

  18. For Best Novel, In Great Waters by Kit Whitfield: tough, political, and one of the best exercises in creating an alien perspective I’ve read for years. There are other books I’ve read this year that are worthy of nomination, but they’ve all had lots of attention. This one hasn’t. Almost everyone I know who’s read it and is a Hugo voter is planning to nominate it, but not enough people have read it, so that’s only about nine nominations. It’s available in paperback in the US (and in the UK from the start of March). If you read one more book to consider for your Hugo ballot this year, read this one.

  19. Thanks to everyone who’s mentioned Captain Britain and MI-13: Vampire State. That’s very kind of you.

    There’s also a novelette I’m proud of, ‘One of Our Bastards is Missing’, which was in The Solaris Book of New SF #3 in 2009. I’d like to mention Moxyland and Yellow Blue Tibia for Best Novel, Lou Anders for Best Editor: Long Form, Lauren Beukes for the Campbell, and surely this must be John Picacio’s year for Best Artist?

    In terms of comics that Hugo voters might consider, all within the rules of the category, I took the liberty of preparing a list of 30 of them, with covers and links to sample pages:

    http://www.paulcornell.com/2009/08/thirty-comics-for-hugo-voters.html

    And added another 5 around Christmas:

    http://www.paulcornell.com/2009/12/12-blogs-of-christmas-seven-five-more.html

    With the aim of pointing out to Hugo folk the huge range of fantasy and SF comics out there.

    Thanks for the space, John.

  23. Three of my nominations for Best Novel are going to be The Caryatids by Bruce Sterling; WWW:Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer; and Ark, by Stephen Baxter. I also have high hopes for Galileo’s Dream, by Kim Stanley Robinson – but I just started it so the jury’s still out…

    The Short Stories, Novelette and Novella categories are going to be brutal – it’s been a really good year.

    On the long form media front, I’d love to see “Moon” win, but I’m sure it’ll be overshadowed by D9 and Avatar…

  24. I’m still really uncomfortable pimping myself–so I’ll pimp myself and a bunch of other people at the same time.

    I felt really honored to be part of the 25th volume of the Writers of the Future. It’s a great collection of stories. So I’ll list them all, and encourage you to read the book and pick your favorites.

    And check out the artwork too, done by some great new artists.

    (In order of appearance, and I believe they are all Novelettes)

    Garden of Tian Zi– Emery Huang
    Illustrated by Douglas Bosley
    The Shadow Man– Donald Mead
    Illustrated by Brianne Hills
    Life in Steam– Gra Linnaea
    Illustrated by Ryan Behrens
    The Assignment of Runner ETI– Fiona Lehn
    Illustrated by A.R. Stone
    The Candy Store– Heather McDougal
    Illustrated by Jamie Luhn
    Risqueman– Mike Wood
    Illustrated by Evan Jensen
    Gray Queen Homecoming– Schon M. Zwakman
    Illustrated by Tobias A. Fruge
    The Dizzy Bridge– Krista Hoeppner Leahy
    Illustrated by Aaron Anderson
    Gone Black– Matthew S. Rotundo
    Illustrated by Luke Eidenschink
    The Reflection of Memory– C.L. Holland
    Illustrated by Oleksandra Barysheva
    After the Final Sunset, Again– Jordan Lapp
    Illustrated by Joshua J. Stewart
    The Farthest Born– Gary Kloster
    Illustrated by Mark Payton

  25. Eric James Stone’s short story “Attitude Adjustment” from the September issue of Analog has been chosen for the Year’s Best SF #15 anthology, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. It’s award-eligible in the short story category.

  27. Artist; Daniel Dos Santos, Cory and Catska Ench, Raphael Lacoste

    Graphic Story; Rich Morris’ The Ten Doctors
    http://comics.shipsinker.com/the-ten-doctors/

    Dramatic Presentation short form; I’d like to see some love for the podcasts;
    Escape Pod
    http://escapepod.org/2009/08/13/ep211-carthago-delenda-est/
    Radio Free Skaro
    http://www.radiofreeskaro.com/
    Starship Sofa;
    http://www.starshipsofa.com/
    The Sofanauts
    http://sofanauts.com/?s=worldcon&x=0&y=0

    Short story; Mr. Penumbra’s Twenty-Four-Hour Bookstore
    http://robinsloan.com/mr-penumbra

    Fanzine; I’ll second Yipe!
    http://www.yipezine.com/

  28. Sure, I’ll toot my own horn. (And a few others, too.)

    Novel: In Ashes Lie

    Short stories:
    # “Letter Found in a Chest Belonging to the Marquis de Montseraille Following the Death of That Worthy Individual” — Abyss and Apex #29
    # “Driftwood” — Beneath Ceaseless Skies #14
    # “Salt Feels No Pain” — Paradox Magazine #13
    # “Once a Goddess” — Clockwork Phoenix 2, ed. Mike Allen
    # “Tower in Moonlight” — Shroud Magazine #6
    # “The Waking of Angantyr” — Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #2
    # “The Snow-White Heart” — Talebones #39

    Short stories (Nebula addition):
    # “A Mask of Flesh” — Clockwork Phoenix, ed. Mike Allen
    # “Kingspeaker” — Beneath Ceaseless Skies #3
    # “A Heretic by Degrees” — Intergalactic Medicine Show #10

    I’d like to give a particular shout-out to Mike Allen for the Clockwork Phoenix anthologies — there are some amazing stories in there. And I believe he is willing to provide a PDF copy to any SFWA member doing Nebula nominations.

    Also, a shout-out to Scott Andrews of Beneath Ceaseless Skies. The magazine is eligible for Best Semipro Zine, and they’ve been doing a lovely job putting out secondary-world fantasy in fresh, well-drawn settings.

  31. A couple of noms from me:

    Best Novel:
    Slights by Kaaron Warren
    The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
    Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

    Best Novella:
    The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough (PS Publishing)

    and free-to-read Hub Magazine (hubfiction.com) is eligible for Best semi-prozine (I’m the publisher of this one, hence me sticking it in the middle of the noms where no-one will notice…)

    Best Artist:
    John Picacio

    Campbell:
    Lauren Beukes

    Best Comic:
    Captain Britain and MI13: Vampire State by Cornell, Kirk & Collins
    Daredevil: The Return of the King TPB by Brubaker, Lark & Aja

    Best Drama, Short Form:
    Season 1, episode 4

    Best Drama, Long Form:
    Moon or
    District 9

  34. For Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, I’m nominating the Dollhouse episode “Belonging”. I’ve been told that “Epitaph One” deserves the nomination more, but hey, if you’ve got empty spaces on the form, stick them both on!

    I’m reading “The Windup Girl” now, and so far it looks good.

  37. I am a Hugo nominator, so here’s what I’m nominating (so far):

    Novels:
    Bitter Angels C. L. Anderson
    Boneshaker, Cherie Priest
    Heart of Veridon, Tim Akers

    Shorts:
    Visual Silence, M. C. Chambers (in “Return to Luna” anthology)
    The Creature in Your Neighborhood, Jim C. Hines (in “Stripmauled”)

  38. Haven’t scanned the whole list, but I cannot recommend the following enough:

    — BONESHAKER by Cherie Priest
    — GREEN by Jay Lake

    There are more, but I’d hate to see these two overlooked.

    Best,

    Bill
    SubPress

  39. Also for best graphic story The Unwritten, Vol I by Mike Carey-if you liked Gaiman’s Sandman, you’ll like this.

  40. Novel: DRUIDS, by Barbara Galler-Smith and Josh Langston, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2009

  41. I fail at categorizing; podcasts should more properly be in the Fanzine or Semiprozine category or in Best Related, if one shots.

  43. I’d definitely have Lauren Beukes for the Campbell and also for “Moxyland” as best novel.

    I’d like to add:

    Best novella:
    Paul Haines, “Wives” from X6
    Tansy Rayner Roberts “Siren Beat” from Twelfth Planet Press

    Best short story:
    Cat Sparks, “Seventeen” from Masques
    Deborah Biancotti, “Problems of Light and Dark” from A Book of Endings

  44. Possibly because I don’t know if it will win an Academy, I would like to make sure people remember District 9 (Sony) for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. You know, the one about the alien concentration camps…

  45. Heh. I’m technically eligible in Best Fanwriter although I don’t think this is the year. Maybe next year, when I get that long-promised fanzine off the ground…

    One of the best fanzines I’ve read this year is Journey Planet, with editors James Bacon, Claire Brialey, and Chris Garcia. It’s been a fun fanzine so far, and is worth a nod.

    That said, Claire Brialey deserves a Best Fanwriter award on her own. Between the work in Journey Planet and the stuff in Banana Wings, she is definitely getting one of my votes this year.

    And that’s the big two that comes to mind when asked who I’d give a nod to.

    -kat

  46. As a side note, the Hugo does not mean much to me anymore. I say that because there are so many previous winners that I do not classify as science fiction. I wish they had a separate award for Fantasy and let the Hugo be for science fiction…

  47. I’ll certainly echo Claire Brialey being well-deserving of a Hugo to call her own as Best Fan Writer, and I think that Journey Planet is a great zine. Yes, I’m an editor of it, but issue 3, which I had almost nothing to do with (http://efanzines.com/JourneyPlanet/JourneyPlanet03.pdf), is my favorite issue of any zine I read this year. Peter Young, Claire and James Bacon did an amazing job with it.

    Sadly, a zine I would nominate, Yipe!, isn’t eligible because it only had three issues. Kevin Roche and Jason Schachat are both on my Best Fan Writer ballot, though.

    I’ll add Earl Kemp’s eI and Bruce Gillespie’s brg to Bet Fanzine lists.

    Best Fan Artist? Mo Starkey, who did covers for The Drink Tank and Argentus, is my number one pick. Espana Sheriff’s been on my ballot for a while, as have both Dan Steffan and Taral Wayne, who should also get a nom for Best Fan Writer.

    Phil Foglio, Daniel Dos Santos (Danny Two Saints to some!), John Picacio and Donato are all my Best Pro Artist picks.

    And Bryan Talbot for Grandville for best Graphic Story. An awesome story that presaged the Sherlock Holmes movie in many ways.

    Also, for Best Dramatic Short Form, the Hulu commercials from early last year (Alec Baldwin, Eliza Dushku) and Sunday Afternoon, a short film set in Montreal where the world is ending and three people are trapped in their convenience store. it’s amazing stuff.

    Chris

  49. I definitely second Kaaron’s suggestions of “Seventeen” by Cat Sparks, “Problems of Light and Dark” by Deborah Biancotti and particularly “Wives” by Paul Haines, which is one of the best and most disturbing near-future dystopia stories I’ve read in a long time.

    In short fiction, I also loved “Ferryman” by Margo Lanagan, Kij Johnson’s “Spar,” Holly Black’s “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown,” (available free online), Karen Joy Fowler’s “The Pelican Bar” and Sara Genge’s “As Women Fight.”

    Kaaron’s first novel Slights was a brilliant horror books, I’d love to see that considered.

    For ‘best related book’ I will be nominating: On Joanna Russ by Farah Mendelsohn, The Secret Feminist Cabal by Helen Merrick and The Wiscon Chronicles 3 by Liz Henry.

    Oh, and Peter M Ball is an up and coming Australian short fiction writer who is eligible for the John W Campbell. His novella “Horn” is also worth checking out.

  50. Jeez, did I really not read anything released in the first half of last year? I must have…

    My personal nomination thoughts, thus far:

    Novel:
    – Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valente; just bloody gorgeous writing
    – Julian Comstock, by Robert Charles Wilson

    Novella:
    – Pelago, by Judith Berman, published in the February issue of Asimov’s (preview here)
    – Seven for a Secret, by Elizabeth Bear, published by Subterranean Press

    Short Story:
    – “Sleepless in the House of Ye,” by Ian McHugh, Asimov’s July 2009
    – “As Women Fight,” by Sarah Genge, Asimov’s December 2009
    – “The Horrid Glory of Its Wings”, by Elizabeth Bear, published on Tor.com
    – “Bridesicle,” by Will McIntosh, Asimov’s January 2009
    – I’ll second the mention above of “Mr. Penumbra’s Twenty-Four Hour Bookstore”

    I have, as yet, no good ideas for the rest of the categories. Didn’t watch much TV this year. Eek.

  51. This is my final year of eligibility for the Campbell Award, so if you feel inclined you could check out my short stories at
    http://www.mrmarkey.com/fiction
    All of my stories are available online. (And every one but the Fantasy Magazine short story is eligible for Hugo/Nebula consideration.

    Thanks!!

  52. Definitely like to put Peter M Ball forward for the Campbell.

    His novella “Horn” is also eligible. Tansy Rayner Roberts has a Novelette “Siren Beat” eligible this year, and Kaaron Warren’s novel “Slights” is worthy of consideration!

    Jonathan Strahan had a great year with a heap of books out, so would be a worthy contender (again!) for Best Editor (Short Form). And I think Alisa Krasnostein of Twelfth Planet Press is also eligible for this, as well as for Best Fan Writer!

    So many eligible things, so little space – I’ll stop now!

  53. Have just thought mainly about the novel so far so most likely will be nominating the following:

    The City & The City, China Mieville

    The Windup Girl , Paolo Bacigalupi

    Julian Comstock, Robert Charles Wilson

    The Quiet War, Paul McAuley (eligible by extension)

    House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds (eligible by extension)

  55. Also: “Wonders of a Godless World” by Andrew McGahan. It won Best Science Fiction Novel at the Aurealis Awards last month (although it’s equally classifiable as fantasy) and it’s a wonderful work, blew me out of my boots. I’m pushing it on everyone I know.

  57. My noms for novel (subject to change until I actually send in my nominating ballot):

    * Nancy Kress, Steal Across the Sky
    * Paul Melko, The Walls of the Universe
    * Cherie Priest, Boneshaker
    * Robert J. Sawyer, WWW: Wake
    * Robert Charles Wilson, Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America

  58. Ah – a quick scan of the Hugo voting rules (followed by an email to A Very Knowledgable Person) confirms that Lauren Beukes’ Moxyland is ineligible Hugo consideration this year, but will be eligible next.

    My “Best Novel” noms therefore go to:
    Slights by Kaaron Warren and
    The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

    Lauren Beukes *is* eligible for the Campbell, though, as the eligibility rules differ from those of the Hugos, so my nom remains with her.

  59. I’d just like to confirm what Marie Brennan said in #28: I will offer PDF copies of Clockwork Phoenix and Clockwork Phoenix 2 to any SFWA member doing Nebula nominations. (Marie had terrific stories in the first two books and will again in the third.)

    One of the stories from Clockwork Phoenix 2 can be read online, like, free: “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela” by Saladin Ahmed.

    I guess I’ll make this a Hugo-oriented post and say that anyone who wants to consider the CP2 stories thus should get in touch with me. Here’s the second volume’s table of contents; all are short stories except those marked *, which are novelettes:

    Claude Lalumière – “Three Friends”*
    Leah Bobet – “Six”
    Marie Brennan – “Once a Goddess”
    Ian McHugh – “Angel Dust”
    Ann Leckie – “The Endangered Camp”
    Mary Robinette Kowal – “At the Edge of Dying”
    Saladin Ahmed – “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela”
    Tanith Lee – “The Pain of Glass” (a new Flat Earth tale)*
    Joanna Galbraith – “The Fish of Al-Kawthar’s Fountain”
    Catherynne M. Valente – “The Secret History of Mirrors”
    Forrest Aguirre – “Never nor Ever”
    Gemma Files and Stephen J. Barringer – “each thing i show you is a piece of my death”*
    Kelly Barnhill – “Open the Door and the Light Pours Through”
    Barbara Krasnoff – “Rosemary, That’s For Remembrance”
    Steve Rasnic Tem – “When We Moved On”

    I’m going to throw in a couple stories of my own from last year that might be worth at least an hour’s entertainment: “The Blessed Days” and “Stone Flowers.”

    And finally, a Hugo and Nebula eligible story that I wish I had been the publisher of: “And Their Lips Rang with the Sun” by Amal El-Mohtar.

  60. I have a couple novelettes that have been doing well in Nebula nominations this year, both from tor.com:

    Eros, Philia, Agape

    and A Memory of Wind

    I wrote some posts about my recommendations for the Nebula award: short stories, novelettes, and novellas.

    Here are some of my favorites from those lists which are available online:

    Short stories:
    RemembranceIs Something Like a House by Will Ludwigsen

    Mermaids Singing Each to Each by Cat Rambo

    Tio Gilberto and the Twenty-Seven Ghosts by Ben Francisco (audio)

    Novelettes:

    The Ships Like Clouds Risen By Their Rain by Jason Sanford

    Narrative of a Beast’s Life by Cat Rambo (audio)

    The Curandero and the Swede: A Tale from the American 1001 Nights by Daniel Abraham (audio)

  61. CORRECTION:

    Eek! Sincere apologies, Niall Harrison just pointed out that Moxyland is NOT in fact eligible for the best novel Hugo this year according to arcane law and US release dates. It’s only out in the US in May 2010, so it will only be eligible for the Hugos in 2011.

    But still up for others including the John W. Campbell Prize.

    – Lauren

  63. Can’t get enough of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series. Book two of the trilogy, Catching Fire, should be eligible for this year, and would be my suggestion.

  64. If anyone is still in need of more recommendations there are many more (plus links to other recommendation sites and pimpage posts) here: http://www.sfawardswatch.com/?page_id=6.

    Thanks for doing this, John.

    My own pimpage is for Clarkesworld (semiprozine) and the very many wonderful short stories we have published this year.

    I do love Yipe, but it is new and I’m not sure that it had the necessary for issues published by the end of last year.

  65. I’m not sure if it’s entirely eligible, but I that’s never stopped me from mentioning

    John Dies at the End by David Wong

  66. The “Writing Excuses” podcast deserves consideration for a “Best Related Work” Hugo. I’ve recommended it to many of my high school students who are interested in writing speculative fiction; the podcast is great as a guide to good writing and as entertainment in its own right.

  67. I always do what headcrabs tell me to do.

    My medieval Islamic fantasy story “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela” is, as Mike Allen mentioned, eligible for the Short Story Nebula. Folks can read it here:

    http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2009/09/special-online-story-from-clockwork.html

    and SFWA members can vote for it here:

    http://www.sfwa.org/member-links/elections/

    As far as recs go, I’ll second the praises sang of the Clockwork Phoenix anthologies and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I’ll also add that Daniel Abraham’s The Price of Spring really ought to win a major award, as it’s the final volume of the best fantasy series of the past ten years.

  69. My Nominations for this years hugo’s include a fair amount of Angry Robot publications, so for best novel:

    Sixty-One Nails – Mike Shevdon
    Kells Legend – Andy Remic
    Nekropolis – Tim Waggonner

    And not by Angry Robot:
    While the Gods Sleep – Johnny Fincham
    The Walls of the Universe – Paul Melko

    While for best new writer (John W Campbell Award)

    Moxyland – Lauren Beukes
    Sixty-One Nails – Mike Shevdon

  70. España – I’m with you on nominating EscapePod e (http://www.escapepod.org) episodes for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Also, consider the related podcasts: PodCastle (http://www.podcastle.org) and Pseudopod (http://www.pseudopod.org). My suggestion is for EscapePod Episode 194: Exhalation. This was a reading of Ted Chiang’s Hugo-nominated short story, and I found that the dramatic reading made me love the story much more than the printed word.

    I’d like to see podcasts nominated for other categories, as well:
    * Sofanauts (http://sofanauts.com/) for Best Related Work
    * Starship Sofa (http://sofanauts.com/) for Best Fanzine

    For Best Editor, Short Form – perhaps surprisingly – Robert Sawyer. He put together a really fantastic anthology last year – Early Distant Warnings.

  71. I would like to nominate a few titles for best novel:

    Sixty-One Nails – Mike Shevdon
    Nekropolis – Tim Waggonner
    Kell’s Legend – Andy Remic
    While the Gods Sleep – Johnny Fincham

    and for the John W Campbell award:

    Lauren Beukes for Moxyland
    Mike Shevdon for Sixty-One Nails

  75. Hi! I’d like to offer a story of mine that’s been getting some nods in the unofficial poll: “And Their Lips Rang with the Sun,” a story inspired from a curious fact about the Arabic alphabet, which appeared in Strange Horizons last October.

    I’d also like to second Mike Allen’s nods towards the Clockwork Phoenix anthologies, but most especially to point out a novelette I wish would get more attention: “each thing i show you is a piece of my death,” by Gemma Files and Stephen J. Barringer.

    Also, Cat Valente’s “The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew” is gorgeous.

    For best novel, the two that stick out most for me from last year are Christopher Barzak’s The Love We Share Without Knowing and Catherynne Valente’s Palimpsest, although I loved her The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making best of all.

    Thanks for opening the floor to recommendations!

  78. Joining the chorus about StarShipSofa. I’m not certain enough of the Hugo categories & parameters, however, and what fits an aural magazine and the material published in it. May we have input from those more familiar?

    If the Hugo Awards are to represent the year’s best works, then there must be something that fits because there is excellent work going on at http://www.starshipsofa.com. Have you read Lord Dickens’s Declaration? There’s also an old-fashioned paper-in-binding short story collection, StarshipSofa Stories, Volume 1, containing material to blow off one’s socks.

  80. I would love to nominate a little know pod cast from Tony Smith called Starshipsofa, if you have not listen to this you are missing a real gem. He single headedly created an audio magazine that includes a fact feature, flash fiction, poetry, main fiction, he reviews book. He also had short stories from Gene Wolfe, M John Harrison, Cory Doctorow, Charlie Stross, Neal Asher, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, Ted Chang, Alister Reynods, Richard Morgen, Joan Vinge, Harry Harrison, Joe Haldeman, China Melville and over a hundred more to numerous to mention. If you never listen to a other pod cast then listen to this. It is pure quality and each pod cast runs to over a hour. Tony does more to heighten the love of SF in its short form than any one I can mention and he gives all his time freely, humour and with out payment. The address is http://www.starshipsofa.com . All the narrators give up their time to contribute the fantastic pod cast please give it a try. He also host a SF chat with a sister pod cast called Sofanauts for all things SF.

  81. Hi!

    I’d like to chime in seconding Amal El Mohtar’s suggestions — her story, And Their Lips Rang with the Sun (Strange Horizons, October ’09), is strange and gorgeous, and got me right between the ribs. And the scope of re-imagining in Catherynne M. Valente’s The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew (Clarkesworld, August ’09) takes my breath away.

    I know I have other suggestions but I’m blanking right now. So for now, just pimping my own stuff — I’m eligible for the Campbell Award this year, and my stories Nira and I (Strange Horizons, March ’09), Charms (Strange Horizons, August ’09), and Daya and Dharma (GUD magazine, Spring 2009) are all Hugo and Nebula eligible. They’re also freely available online, as is some of my other stuff; I’ll happily send electronic versions of other work along to people for voting purposes.

  84. Thanks so much, John and Marie and Sara for your endorsements of Beneath Ceaseless Skies! The magazine is eligible for Best Semiprozine, and I am eligible for Best Editor, Short Form (if you find me worthy).

    I personally would vote Neil Clarke a special award of some kind for his tireless campaign last year to save the semiprozine Hugo category.

  85. Ack! I neglected to mention above that I am also eligible for the Campbell award this year. I’ve had stories in IGMS, Strange Horizons, and a few other places. My Campbell profile is here:

    http://www.writertopia.com/profiles/SaladinAhmed

    and it has links to all of my free online stories, which range from Islamic-inspired sword and sorcery to a goofy supervillain story about race, prison, and a 900-lb blue guy named “Masher.”

  86. Since I haven’t seen any mention of the TV series, MEDIUM, I’d like to throw that into the mix. I have always appreciated how gritty it is and how willing that show is to explore different areas of creativity. The writing and acting is consistently well done. Of the new episodes that were aired in 2009, I beg indulgence by considering the following for the dramatic short form catagory:

    “Bite Me,” which spliced in scenes from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

    “The Man in the Mirror,” which Allison falls into a coma and swaps bodies with a middle-aged man.

    “The Devil Inside, Parts 1 & 2,” where a spirit manipulates Allison’s dreams so she keeps seeing familiar faces instead of the true images of the real villians.

    The following three-part episode would fall under the long form category:

    “How to Make a Killing in Business, Parts 1-3,” when Allison finds herself battling her own ethics after accepts a job with a commercial company that uses their contact to prevent her from reporting a serious crime.

  87. I’ll be the nth person to support the mighty StarShipSofa for a nomination for Best Fanzine… over the years it’s been a great resource of SF history with its original show, released some of the best short fiction in audio form, from classic authors like Mike Moorcock to today’s big hitters like Ted Chiang, it’s narration is second to none and it has some great original non-fiction pieces in the mix too – and it’s free and run by a motley crew of volunteers from around the world. I’m not sure what the readership is of paper-based SF fanzines these days but SSS truly has a global audience and can only be a shot in the arm for SF as a whole…

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