The winners of the 2022 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer will be announced one week from today at the Hugo Award Ceremony at Chicon 8 on September 4, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. CDT (UTC-5). Here’s how I personally ranked the finalists:
Best Novel
- She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor / Mantle)
- A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine (Tor)
- The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager / Hodder & Stoughton)
- Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki (Tor)
- Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir (Ballantine / Del Rey)
- A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom / Orbit UK)
Best Novella
- A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
- Across the Green Grass Fields, by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
- Elder Race, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom)
- Fireheart Tiger, by Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
- The Past Is Red, by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)
- A Spindle Splintered, by Alix E. Harrow (Tordotcom)
Best Novelette
- “Colors of the Immortal Palette”, by Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
- “Bots of the Lost Ark”, by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, Jun 2021)
- “Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.”, by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)
- L’Esprit de L’Escalier, by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)
- “That Story Isn’t the Story”, by John Wiswell (Uncanny Magazine, Nov/Dec 2021)
- “O2 Arena”, by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge, Nov 2021)
Best Short Story
- “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
- “Mr. Death”, by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, Feb 2021)
- “Proof by Induction”, by José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)
- “Tangles”, by Seanan McGuire (Magicthegathering.com: Magic Story, Sep 2021)
- “Unknown Number”, by Blue Neustifter (Twitter, Jul 2021)
- “The Sin of America”, by Catherynne M. Valente (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
Best Series
- Wayward Children, by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
- The Green Bone Saga, by Fonda Lee (Orbit)
- The Kingston Cycle, by C. L. Polk (Tordotcom)
- The World of the White Rat, by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) (Argyll Productions)
- Terra Ignota, by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)
- Merchant Princes, by Charles Stross (Tor UK / Tor)
Best Graphic Story or Comic
- Monstress, vol. 6: The Vow, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image)
- DIE, vol. 4: Bleed, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Stephanie Hans, lettering by Clayton Cowles (Image)
- Once & Future, vol. 3: The Parliament of Magpies, written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain (BOOM!)
- Lore Olympus, vol. 1, by Rachel Smythe (Del Rey)
- Far Sector, written by N.K. Jemisin, art by Jamal Campbell (DC)
- Strange Adventures, written by Tom King, art by Mitch Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner (DC)
Best Related Work
- Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985, edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre (PM Press)
- True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, by Abraham Riesman (Crown)
- The Complete Debarkle: Saga of a Culture War, by Camestros Felapton (Camestros Felapton)
- Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism, by Elsa Sjunneson (Tiller Press)
- Never Say You Can’t Survive, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tordotcom)
- “How Twitter can ruin a life”, by Emily St. James (Vox, Jun 2021)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
- Dune, screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth; directed by Denis Villeneuve; based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert (Warner Bros / Legendary Entertainment)
- The Green Knight, written and directed by David Lowery (BRON Studios/A24)
- Space Sweepers, screenplay by Jo Sung-hee, Yookang Seo-ae, and Yoon Seung-min; directed by Jo Sung-hee (Bidangil Pictures)
- WandaVision, screenplay by Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer (created by and head writer), Cameron Squires, Gretchen Enders, Chuck Hayward; directed by Matt Shakman (Disney+)
- Encanto, screenplay by Charise Castro Smith and Jared Bush; directed by Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, screenplay by Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham; directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
- The Expanse: “Nemesis Games”, written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, and Naren Shankar; directed by Breck Eisner (Amazon Studios)
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: “wej Duj”, written by Kathryn Lyn, directed by Bob Suarez (CBS Eye Animation Productions)
- The Wheel of Time: “The Flame of Tar Valon”, written by Justine Juel Gillmer, directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield, based on The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (Amazon Studios)
- Loki: “The Nexus Event”, written by Eric Martin, directed by Kate Herron, created for television by Michael Waldron (Disney+)
- For All Mankind: “The Grey”, written by Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi; directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Tall Ship Productions/Sony Pictures Television)
- Arcane: “The Monster You Created”, written by Christian Linke and Alex Yee; story by Christian Linke, Alex Yee, Conor Sheehy, and Ash Brannon; directed by Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord (Netflix)
Best Editor, Short Form
- Sheree Renée Thomas
- Neil Clarke
- Jonathan Strahan
- Sheila Williams
- Mur Lafferty & S.B. Divya
- Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
Best Editor, Long Form
- Ruoxi Chen
- Brit Hvide
- Navah Wolfe
- Nivia Evans
- Sarah T. Guan
- Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Best Professional Artist
- Tommy Arnold
- Alyssa Winans
- Ashley Mackenzie
- Maurizio Manzieri
- Rovina Cai
- Will Staehle
Best Semiprozine
- Uncanny Magazine, publishers and editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas; managing/poetry editor Chimedum Ohaegbu; nonfiction editor Elsa Sjunneson; podcast producers Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor Scott H. Andrews
- Strange Horizons, Vanessa Aguirre, Joseph Aitken, Kwan-Ann Tan, Rachel Ayers, M H Ayinde, Tierney Bailey, Scott Beggs, Drew Matthew Beyer, Gautam Bhatia, Tom Borger, S. K. Campbell, Emma Celi, Zhui Ning Chang, Rita Chen, Tania Chen, Liz Christman, Emma-Grace Clarke, Linda H. Codega, Bruhad Dave, Sarah Davidson, Tahlia Day, Belen Edwards, Rebecca Evans, Ciro Faienza, Courtney Floyd, Lila Garrott, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright, Colette Grecco, Julia Gunnison, Dan Hartland, Sydney Hilton, Angela Hinck, Amanda Jean, Jamie Johnson, Sean Joyce-Farley, Erika Kanda, Kat Kourbeti, Catherine Krahe, Anna Krepinsky, Clayton Kroh, Natasha Leullier, Dante Luiz, Gui Machiavelli, Cameron Mack, Samantha Manaktola, Marisa Manuel, Jean McConnell, Heather McDougal, Maria Morabe, Amelia Moriarty, Sarah Noakes, Aidan Oatway, AJ Odasso, Joel Oliver-Cormier, Kristina Palmer, Karintha Parker, Anjali Patel, Juliana Pinho, Nicasio Reed, Belicia Rhea, Abbey Schlanz, Elijah Rain Smith, Alyn Spector, Hebe Stanton, Melody Steiner, Romie Stott, Yejin Suh, Sonia Sulaiman, Ben Tyrrell, Renee Van Siclen, Kathryn Weaver, Liza Wemakor, Aigner Loren Wilson, E.M. Wright, Vicki Xu, and The Strange Horizons Editorial Collective
- FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, publisher Troy L Wiggins; executive editor DaVaun Sanders; managing editor Eboni Dunbar; poetry editor B. Sharise Moore; reviews editor and social media manager Brent Lambert; art director L. D. Lewis; web editor Chavonne Brown; non-fiction editor Margeaux Weston; guest editors Summer Farah and Nadia Shammas; acquiring editors Kaleb Russell, Rebecca McGee, Kerine Wint, Joshua Morley, Emmalia Harrington, Genine Tyson, Tonya R. Moore, Danny Lore; technical assistant Nelson Rolon
- PodCastle, co-editors Jen R. Albert, C. L. Clark, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, and Eleanor R. Wood; assistant editors Summer Fletcher and Sofía Barker; audio producer Peter Adrian Behravesh; host Matt Dovey; and the entire PodCastle team
- Escape Pod, editors S.B. Divya, Mur Lafferty, and Valerie Valdes; assistant editors Benjamin C. Kinney and Premee Mohamed; guest editor Brent C. Lambert; hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart; audio producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht; and the entire Escape Pod team
Best Fanzine
- Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, editors Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne
- Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
- Small Gods, Lee Moyer (Icon) and Seanan McGuire (Story)
- Journey Planet, edited by Erin Underwood, Jean Martin, Sara Felix, Vanessa Applegate, Chuck Serface, Errick Nunnally, Evan Reeves, Steven H Silver, James Bacon and Christopher J Garcia
- Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus; editor Janice L. Newman; associate writers Gwyn Conaway, Jason Sacks, and John Boston
- The Full Lid, by Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner
Best Fancast
- Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske, and Jennifer Mace
- Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Cass Morris, Rowenna Miller, and Marshall Ryan Maresca
- Hugo, Girl!, hosts Haley Zapal, Amy Salley, and Lori Anderson; producer/editor Kevin Anderson
- Octothorpe, by John Coxon, Alison Scott, and Liz Batty
- The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan producer
- Our Opinions Are Correct, presented by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders, produced by Veronica Simonetti
Best Fan Writer
- Cora Buhlert
- Paul Weimer
- Jason Sanford
- Chris M. Barkley
- Alex Brown
- Bitter Karella
Best Fan Artist
- Iain J. Clark
- Ariela Housman
- Sara Felix
- Nilah Magruder
- Lee Moyer
- Lorelei Esther
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (not a Hugo)
- Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen / Rock the Boat)
- A Snake Falls to Earth, by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
- The Last Graduate, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey Books)
- Chaos on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
- Redemptor, by Jordan Ifueko (Amulet Books / Hot Key Books)
- Victories Greater Than Death, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen / Titan)
Astounding Award for Best New Writer, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo)
- Micaiah Johnson (2nd year of eligibility)
- Shelley Parker-Chan (1st year of eligibility)
- Xiran Jay Zhao (1st year of eligibility)
- Tracy Deonn (2nd year of eligibility)
- Everina Maxwell (1st year of eligibility)
- A.K. Larkwood (2nd year of eligibility)
Which finalists are you hoping to see take home shiny trophies?