The 2018 Hugo Awards in detail
The results are here! The stats are here!
Headlines:
Best Novel
The Stone Sky was well ahead at every stage, winning by 1263 to 974 for The Collapsing Empire, which took second place ahead of Raven Stratagem. Provenance, which had been sixth on the first count, rose to take third place; Six Wakes took fourth by 12 votes ahead of Raven Strategem, which came fifth with New York 2140 sixth.
At nominations stage, The Stone Sky was also far ahead, with almost twice as many nominations as Raven Stratagem. The Stars Are Legion, by Kameron Hurley, and Autonomous, by Annalee Newitz, both had more votes than New York 2140 but considerably fewer points. Edited to add Over on File 770, "Goobergunch" points out that The Stars Are Legion would have been nominated over New York 2140 if Raven Stratagem had received 2.58 more points, and that Autonomous was one vote away from being in the same position.
Best Novella
All Systems Red was far ahead, winning on the fifth count with 1021 votes to 554 for Down Among the Sticks and Bones and 457 for "And Then There Were (N-One)". "And Then There Were (N-One)" took second place by 28 votes ahead of Down Among the Sticks and Bones, which took third. Binti: Home came fourth, The Black Tides of Heaven fifth, River of Teeth sixth.
All Systems Red was also far ahead at nominations stage. The nearest miss was Passing Strange by Ellen Klages, but it was well adrift.
Best Novelette
"The Secret Life of Bots" won by 856 votes to 697 for "Wind Will Rove". "Wind Will Rove" came second, "A Series of Steaks" third, "Extracurricular Activities" fourth, "Children of Thorns" fifth and "Small Changes over Long Periods of Time" sixth.
Nominations were much tighter here, with "The Secret Life of Bots" top on votes but "Small Changes over Long Periods of Time" getting more points. "The Dark Birds", by Ursula Vernon, narrowly missed and would have got on the ballot with another 3 votes worth 0.96 points, or another 4 votes.
Best Short Story
"Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" was ahead at all stages and won by 913 to 844 for "The Martian Obelisk". "Fandom for Robots" took second place, "The Martian Obelisk" third, "Sun, Moon, Dust" fourth, "Carnival Nine" fifth and "Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand" sixth.
At nominations stage, "Fandom for Robots" had a strong lead, and "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" was a strong second place. The nearest miss was "Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance", by Tobias S. Buckell, which needed another three votes worth 1.83 points, or another four votes, to qualify.
Best Series
A second victory for Bujold as the World of the Five Gods beat InCryptid by 864 to 595. InCryptid came second, The Memoirs of Lady Trent third by 18 votes over the Books of the Raksura, which came fourth. The Stormlight Archive took fifth place by 5 votes ahead of the Divine Cities, which came sixth.
The Broken Earth topped the nominations poll but N.K. Jemisin declined nomination. In addition, The Expanse, The Craft Sequence and the October Daye books came second, fifth and seventh, but were all deemed ineligible due to not having added enough to the series since last year (this was a contentious rules question, but I agree with the approach taken by this year's Hugo administrators). The Stormlight Archive therefore got onto the final ballot despite finishing tenth in nominations. C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series had more votes than The Stormlight Archive, but needed another 1.64 points to qualify for the final ballot.
Best Related Work
No Time to Spare was a close second to Crash Override on the first count, but picked up transfers to win by 760 votes to 660. Crash Override won a convincing second place. Luminescent Threads came third, Iain M. Banks beat Sleeping With Monsters by 2 votes for fourth place (the closest result of the night), Sleeping With Monsters came fifth and A Lit Fuse sixth.
At nominations stage, No Time To Spare came third, in a tight race with Crash Override, Iain M. Banks and Luminescent Threads. At the other end, An Archive of Our Own needed only 0.25 more points to qualify, the nearest miss of the lot; it would have displaced Sleeping with Monsters.
Best Graphic Story:
Monstress vol 2 was ahead at all stages and beat Saga vol 7 by 687 to 438. Saga vol 7 came second, Bitch Planet vol 2 came third; Black Bolt vol 1 came fourth; Paper Girls vol 3 came fifth by 11 votes; and My Favourite Thing Is Monsters came sixth.
Unusually, this was also the order at nominations stage, with Monstress vol 2 far ahead. Ms Marvel vol 7 was only one vote behind My Favourite Thing is Monsters, but was much further adrift in points so would have needed two more votes (of any value) to qualify. Ladycastle, The Wicked + The Divine vol 5 and Ms Marvel vol 8 were all in the zone as well.
Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form
Wonder Woman started only 4 votes ahead of Get Out, but extended that lead to win by 1307 to 971. Get Out won second place by only 20 votes ahead of Thor: Ragnarok, which came third. Star Wars: The Last Jedi came fourth, The Shape of Water fifth and Blade Runner 2049 sixth.
Wonder Woman was also substantially ahead in nominations. The nearest miss was Logan, but it was pretty far behind Blade Runner 2049.
Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form
The Good Place: The Trolley Problem actually started 34 votes behind Black Mirror: USS Callister, but picked up transfers from The Good Place: Michael's Gambit and won by 750 to 709. USS Callister came second, Michael's Gambit third, Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time fourth, Star Trek: Discovery: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad fifth and The Deep sixth.
Michael's Gambit was actually far ahead on nominations, with USS Callister and The Trolley Problem trailing in second and third place. The Expanse: Caliban's War needed another 9 votes to catch Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.
Best Editor: Long Form
Sheila E. Gilbert was ahead at all stages and won by 437 to 368 for Navah Wolfe, who came second. Diana M. Pho beat Devi Pillai for third place by 14 votes, having trailed up to the last stage. Devi Pillai came fourth, Miriam Weinberg fifth and Joe Monti sixth. Worth noting perhaps that No Award got 112 first preferences here, its best result for any category.
Navah Wolfe was far ahead in nominations here. Liz Gorinsky declined, bringing Devi Pillai onto the ballot. Will Hinton, the next in line, was 5 votes and 6.24 points adrift.
Best Editor, Short Form
The Thomases started 5 votes ahead of Sheila Williams and finished 6 votes ahead, winning by 466 to 460, the closest result for the top spot on the night. Sheila Williams came second, Neil Clarke third, John Joseph Adams fourth, Jonathan Strahan fifth and Lee Harris sixth.
The Thomases were well ahead at nominations stage. At the other end, C.C. Finlay would have displaced Sheila Williams with another bullet vote, and Ellen Datlow was also in the zone.
Best Professional Artist
Sana Takeda started 15 votes behind John Picacio, but beat him in the end by 653 to 533. Picacio took second place by 13 votes ahead of Galen Dara, who came third. Victo Ngai was fourth, Kathleen Jennings fifth and Bastien Lecouffe Deharme sixth.
Victo Ngai got the most nominating votes. Julie Dillon, who came fourth in nominations, declined, bringing Bastien Lecouffe Deharme onto the ballot. Yuko Shimizu had more votes than Bastien Lecouffe Deharme, and the same number as Kathleen Jennings; she was far behind both on points, but with one more vote would have displaced Jennings from the ballot.
Best Semiprozine
Uncanny Magazine was far ahead and won on the fifth count with 627 votes to 309 for Strange Horizons and 280 for Escape Pod. Strange Horizons came second, Beneath Ceaseless Skies third, Escape Pod fourth, Fireside Magazine fifth and The Book Smugglers sixth.
Uncanny Magazine was also far ahead in nominations. FIYAH Literary Magazine was the nearest miss, but was some way behind Escape Pod.
Best Fanzine
File 770 pulled off the strongest win of the night, twenty votes off a first-round victory and beating the rest after No Award's transfers. SF Bluestocking came second, nerds of a feather, flock together beat Journey Planet by 10 votes for third place, Journey Planet came fourth, Galactic Journey fifth and Rocket Stack Rank sixth.
File 770 was also very far ahead at nomination stage. At the other end, Black Gate would have displaced Rocket Stack Rank with one more vote.
Best Fancast
Ditch Diggers was only 8 votes ahead of The Coode Street Podcast on the first count, but extended the lead to win by 317 to 271. The other results were closely contested. Fangirl Happy Hour rose to take second place by a 6-vote margin over The Coode Street Podcast, which won third by 12 votes over Sword and Laser, which then lost fourth place to Galactic Suburbia by 18 votes but won fifth, Verity! coming in sixth.
Ditch Diggers topped the nominations poll, though The Coode Street Podcast was close behind. Tea and Jeopardy came fifth, but declined nomination. The nearest miss was The Skiffy and Fanty Show, but it was well adrift of Sword and Laser.
Best Fan Writer
Sarah Gailey was only 12 votes ahead on first preferences, but won by 509 to 396 for Mike Glyer. Foz Meadows won second place, and Mike Glyer third by 19 votes over Bogi Takács, who came fourth. Camestros Felapton was fifth, Charles Payseur sixth.
Charles Payseur had actually topped the nomination votes, though it was a tight range - 67 for him, 54 for Bogi Takács with the rest in between. Natalie Luhrs, the nearest miss, was well behind.
Best Fan Artist
Geneva Benton started 9 votes ahead of Likhain and extended that lead to win by 436 to 342. Likhain came second, Grace P. Fong third, Maya hahto fourth, Spring Schoenhuth fifth and Steve Stiles sixth.
Likhain was far ahead at nominations stage, with more than three times as many votes as second-placed Geneva Benton. At the other end, Stephanie Law had more votes than Maya Hahto but far fewer points - Hahto's support was much more concentrated.
WSFS Award for Best Young Adult Book
Akata Warrior was ahead at all stages and won by 616 to 496 for Summer in Orcus, which came second. In Other Lands came third, A Skinful of Shadows beat La Belle Sauvage by 7 votes for fourth place, The Art of Starving also beat La Belle Sauvage by 7 votes for fifth place, and La Belle Sauvage came sixth.
Akata Warrior also had a substantial lead at nominations stage. The nearest miss was Buried Heart, by Kate Elliott, but it was some way from displacing A Skinful of Shadows.
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Rebecca Roanhorse and Vina Jie-Min Prasad actually tied for first preferences, and were nip and tuck, tying again on the penultimate stage, until Rivers Solomon's transfers pulled Roanhorse ahead to win by 561 to 523. Vina Jie-Min Prasad took second place, and Jeannette Ng then rose to take third, Rivers Solomon coming fourth, Katherine Arden fifth and Sarah Kuhn sixth.
Vina Jie-Min Prasad was substantially ahead of Rivers Solomon at the nominations stage. The nearest miss was S. A. Chakraborty, who would have needed 8 more votes to displace the winner, Rebecca Roanhorse.
I think that's it!!!
Headlines:
- Closest result of the night was Best Editor Short Form - Lynne M. Thomas and Michael D. Thomas finished just 6 votes ahead of Sheila Williams.
- Most crushing victory was File 770 for Best Fanzine, 20 votes short of a first-count win, easily getting there on the second count.
- Missed being on the final ballot by a single nominating vote:
- Archive of Our Own (Best Related), would have replaced Sleeping with Monsters;
- C.C. Finlay (Best Editor, Short Form), would have replaced Sheila Williams;
- Yuko Shimizu (Best Professional Artist), would have replaced Kathleen Jennings;
- Black Gate (Best Fanzine), would have replaced Rocket Stack Rank.
- Declined nomination:
- Best Series - The Broken Earth (N.K. Jemisin);
- Best Editor Long Form - Liz Gorinsky;
- Best Professional Artist - Julie Dillon;
- Best Fancast - Tea and Jeopardy
- For Best Series, N.K. Jemisin declined for The Broken Earth;
- the following were ruled ineligible, due to not having added enough to the series since last year:
- The Expanse,
- The Craft Sequence,
- the October Daye books
Best Novel
The Stone Sky was well ahead at every stage, winning by 1263 to 974 for The Collapsing Empire, which took second place ahead of Raven Stratagem. Provenance, which had been sixth on the first count, rose to take third place; Six Wakes took fourth by 12 votes ahead of Raven Strategem, which came fifth with New York 2140 sixth.
At nominations stage, The Stone Sky was also far ahead, with almost twice as many nominations as Raven Stratagem. The Stars Are Legion, by Kameron Hurley, and Autonomous, by Annalee Newitz, both had more votes than New York 2140 but considerably fewer points. Edited to add Over on File 770, "Goobergunch" points out that The Stars Are Legion would have been nominated over New York 2140 if Raven Stratagem had received 2.58 more points, and that Autonomous was one vote away from being in the same position.
Best Novella
All Systems Red was far ahead, winning on the fifth count with 1021 votes to 554 for Down Among the Sticks and Bones and 457 for "And Then There Were (N-One)". "And Then There Were (N-One)" took second place by 28 votes ahead of Down Among the Sticks and Bones, which took third. Binti: Home came fourth, The Black Tides of Heaven fifth, River of Teeth sixth.
All Systems Red was also far ahead at nominations stage. The nearest miss was Passing Strange by Ellen Klages, but it was well adrift.
Best Novelette
"The Secret Life of Bots" won by 856 votes to 697 for "Wind Will Rove". "Wind Will Rove" came second, "A Series of Steaks" third, "Extracurricular Activities" fourth, "Children of Thorns" fifth and "Small Changes over Long Periods of Time" sixth.
Nominations were much tighter here, with "The Secret Life of Bots" top on votes but "Small Changes over Long Periods of Time" getting more points. "The Dark Birds", by Ursula Vernon, narrowly missed and would have got on the ballot with another 3 votes worth 0.96 points, or another 4 votes.
Best Short Story
"Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" was ahead at all stages and won by 913 to 844 for "The Martian Obelisk". "Fandom for Robots" took second place, "The Martian Obelisk" third, "Sun, Moon, Dust" fourth, "Carnival Nine" fifth and "Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand" sixth.
At nominations stage, "Fandom for Robots" had a strong lead, and "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" was a strong second place. The nearest miss was "Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance", by Tobias S. Buckell, which needed another three votes worth 1.83 points, or another four votes, to qualify.
Best Series
A second victory for Bujold as the World of the Five Gods beat InCryptid by 864 to 595. InCryptid came second, The Memoirs of Lady Trent third by 18 votes over the Books of the Raksura, which came fourth. The Stormlight Archive took fifth place by 5 votes ahead of the Divine Cities, which came sixth.
The Broken Earth topped the nominations poll but N.K. Jemisin declined nomination. In addition, The Expanse, The Craft Sequence and the October Daye books came second, fifth and seventh, but were all deemed ineligible due to not having added enough to the series since last year (this was a contentious rules question, but I agree with the approach taken by this year's Hugo administrators). The Stormlight Archive therefore got onto the final ballot despite finishing tenth in nominations. C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series had more votes than The Stormlight Archive, but needed another 1.64 points to qualify for the final ballot.
Best Related Work
No Time to Spare was a close second to Crash Override on the first count, but picked up transfers to win by 760 votes to 660. Crash Override won a convincing second place. Luminescent Threads came third, Iain M. Banks beat Sleeping With Monsters by 2 votes for fourth place (the closest result of the night), Sleeping With Monsters came fifth and A Lit Fuse sixth.
At nominations stage, No Time To Spare came third, in a tight race with Crash Override, Iain M. Banks and Luminescent Threads. At the other end, An Archive of Our Own needed only 0.25 more points to qualify, the nearest miss of the lot; it would have displaced Sleeping with Monsters.
Best Graphic Story:
Monstress vol 2 was ahead at all stages and beat Saga vol 7 by 687 to 438. Saga vol 7 came second, Bitch Planet vol 2 came third; Black Bolt vol 1 came fourth; Paper Girls vol 3 came fifth by 11 votes; and My Favourite Thing Is Monsters came sixth.
Unusually, this was also the order at nominations stage, with Monstress vol 2 far ahead. Ms Marvel vol 7 was only one vote behind My Favourite Thing is Monsters, but was much further adrift in points so would have needed two more votes (of any value) to qualify. Ladycastle, The Wicked + The Divine vol 5 and Ms Marvel vol 8 were all in the zone as well.
Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form
Wonder Woman started only 4 votes ahead of Get Out, but extended that lead to win by 1307 to 971. Get Out won second place by only 20 votes ahead of Thor: Ragnarok, which came third. Star Wars: The Last Jedi came fourth, The Shape of Water fifth and Blade Runner 2049 sixth.
Wonder Woman was also substantially ahead in nominations. The nearest miss was Logan, but it was pretty far behind Blade Runner 2049.
Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form
The Good Place: The Trolley Problem actually started 34 votes behind Black Mirror: USS Callister, but picked up transfers from The Good Place: Michael's Gambit and won by 750 to 709. USS Callister came second, Michael's Gambit third, Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time fourth, Star Trek: Discovery: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad fifth and The Deep sixth.
Michael's Gambit was actually far ahead on nominations, with USS Callister and The Trolley Problem trailing in second and third place. The Expanse: Caliban's War needed another 9 votes to catch Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.
Best Editor: Long Form
Sheila E. Gilbert was ahead at all stages and won by 437 to 368 for Navah Wolfe, who came second. Diana M. Pho beat Devi Pillai for third place by 14 votes, having trailed up to the last stage. Devi Pillai came fourth, Miriam Weinberg fifth and Joe Monti sixth. Worth noting perhaps that No Award got 112 first preferences here, its best result for any category.
Navah Wolfe was far ahead in nominations here. Liz Gorinsky declined, bringing Devi Pillai onto the ballot. Will Hinton, the next in line, was 5 votes and 6.24 points adrift.
Best Editor, Short Form
The Thomases started 5 votes ahead of Sheila Williams and finished 6 votes ahead, winning by 466 to 460, the closest result for the top spot on the night. Sheila Williams came second, Neil Clarke third, John Joseph Adams fourth, Jonathan Strahan fifth and Lee Harris sixth.
The Thomases were well ahead at nominations stage. At the other end, C.C. Finlay would have displaced Sheila Williams with another bullet vote, and Ellen Datlow was also in the zone.
Best Professional Artist
Sana Takeda started 15 votes behind John Picacio, but beat him in the end by 653 to 533. Picacio took second place by 13 votes ahead of Galen Dara, who came third. Victo Ngai was fourth, Kathleen Jennings fifth and Bastien Lecouffe Deharme sixth.
Victo Ngai got the most nominating votes. Julie Dillon, who came fourth in nominations, declined, bringing Bastien Lecouffe Deharme onto the ballot. Yuko Shimizu had more votes than Bastien Lecouffe Deharme, and the same number as Kathleen Jennings; she was far behind both on points, but with one more vote would have displaced Jennings from the ballot.
Best Semiprozine
Uncanny Magazine was far ahead and won on the fifth count with 627 votes to 309 for Strange Horizons and 280 for Escape Pod. Strange Horizons came second, Beneath Ceaseless Skies third, Escape Pod fourth, Fireside Magazine fifth and The Book Smugglers sixth.
Uncanny Magazine was also far ahead in nominations. FIYAH Literary Magazine was the nearest miss, but was some way behind Escape Pod.
Best Fanzine
File 770 pulled off the strongest win of the night, twenty votes off a first-round victory and beating the rest after No Award's transfers. SF Bluestocking came second, nerds of a feather, flock together beat Journey Planet by 10 votes for third place, Journey Planet came fourth, Galactic Journey fifth and Rocket Stack Rank sixth.
File 770 was also very far ahead at nomination stage. At the other end, Black Gate would have displaced Rocket Stack Rank with one more vote.
Best Fancast
Ditch Diggers was only 8 votes ahead of The Coode Street Podcast on the first count, but extended the lead to win by 317 to 271. The other results were closely contested. Fangirl Happy Hour rose to take second place by a 6-vote margin over The Coode Street Podcast, which won third by 12 votes over Sword and Laser, which then lost fourth place to Galactic Suburbia by 18 votes but won fifth, Verity! coming in sixth.
Ditch Diggers topped the nominations poll, though The Coode Street Podcast was close behind. Tea and Jeopardy came fifth, but declined nomination. The nearest miss was The Skiffy and Fanty Show, but it was well adrift of Sword and Laser.
Best Fan Writer
Sarah Gailey was only 12 votes ahead on first preferences, but won by 509 to 396 for Mike Glyer. Foz Meadows won second place, and Mike Glyer third by 19 votes over Bogi Takács, who came fourth. Camestros Felapton was fifth, Charles Payseur sixth.
Charles Payseur had actually topped the nomination votes, though it was a tight range - 67 for him, 54 for Bogi Takács with the rest in between. Natalie Luhrs, the nearest miss, was well behind.
Best Fan Artist
Geneva Benton started 9 votes ahead of Likhain and extended that lead to win by 436 to 342. Likhain came second, Grace P. Fong third, Maya hahto fourth, Spring Schoenhuth fifth and Steve Stiles sixth.
Likhain was far ahead at nominations stage, with more than three times as many votes as second-placed Geneva Benton. At the other end, Stephanie Law had more votes than Maya Hahto but far fewer points - Hahto's support was much more concentrated.
WSFS Award for Best Young Adult Book
Akata Warrior was ahead at all stages and won by 616 to 496 for Summer in Orcus, which came second. In Other Lands came third, A Skinful of Shadows beat La Belle Sauvage by 7 votes for fourth place, The Art of Starving also beat La Belle Sauvage by 7 votes for fifth place, and La Belle Sauvage came sixth.
Akata Warrior also had a substantial lead at nominations stage. The nearest miss was Buried Heart, by Kate Elliott, but it was some way from displacing A Skinful of Shadows.
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Rebecca Roanhorse and Vina Jie-Min Prasad actually tied for first preferences, and were nip and tuck, tying again on the penultimate stage, until Rivers Solomon's transfers pulled Roanhorse ahead to win by 561 to 523. Vina Jie-Min Prasad took second place, and Jeannette Ng then rose to take third, Rivers Solomon coming fourth, Katherine Arden fifth and Sarah Kuhn sixth.
Vina Jie-Min Prasad was substantially ahead of Rivers Solomon at the nominations stage. The nearest miss was S. A. Chakraborty, who would have needed 8 more votes to displace the winner, Rebecca Roanhorse.
I think that's it!!!