Nominations are now open for the 2018 Hugo Awards. We have until 11:59pm Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7:00) on March 16th to pick out our favorites from 2017. First up, I’m looking at Best Novel:
A science fiction or fantasy story of 40,000 words or more that appeared for the first time in 2017.
So far, I’ve got a couple that will probably be on my ballot:
- The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
- Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
And I’m currently reading The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin. At this point, it’s definitely on track to join my short list. [Update 2/8/18: Finished it last night and just added it to my ballot!]
In a world where I could read all I wanted (or at least read faster than I do), here are some others I’d consider:
- Phantom Pains by Mishell Baker
- Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys
- The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone
- Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
- The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley
- Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
- The Changeling by Victor LaValle
- Provenance by Ann Leckie [added to my ballot 2/13/18]
- Jade City by Fonda Lee
- Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
- The Five Daughters of the Moon by Leena Likitalo
- Autonomous by Annalee Newitz
- New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
- The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
- The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland
- Borne by Jeff VanderMeer [added to my ballot 2/17/18]
- Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
Any thoughts on what I should prioritize from that list?
Here are some places to find recommendations:
- 2017 Locus Recommended Reading List
- 2018 Nerds of a Feather Hugo Awards Longlist, Part 1: Fiction Categories
- File 770’s 2017 Recommended SF/F List
- Hugo Nominees 2018 Wiki
- 2018 Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom
- Nebula Reading List
At last year’s WSFS Business Meeting, a committee was formed to look into possible changes to the Hugo Award categories. Obviously Best Novel is here to stay, but I could see the word count requirement being raised. The average novel length has definitely gotten longer, and books marketed as novellas are pushing into the lower end of this category.
