2020 Hugos in detail
1584 votes cast at nominations phase, 2221 on the final ballot. Lower than any year since 2013, higher than any year up to 2013. As expected for a smaller worldcon in difficult times. Full stats here.
The closest result was for Best Fanzine, where the winner had a margin of 4 votes on the final count. Best Graphic Story or Comic was decided by 11 votes.
The following also received enough nominating votes to reach the final ballot:
The winners of Best Graphic Story or Comic and of Best Professional Editor, Short Form were the last to qualify for the final ballot in their categories.
Best Novel
A Memory Called Empire surged from second place, starting 57 votes behind Middlegame but eventually beating it by 88, 880 to 792, on transfers (getting more from eliminated candidates in every single round). Middlegame came a convincing second over Gideon the Ninth, which came an even more convincing third over The City in the Middle of the Night. But fourth place was taken by The Light Brigade in a close contest with The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and The City in the Middle of the Night took fifth place by only 1 vote over The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which came sixth.
At nominations stage, Ann Leckie declined nomination for The Raven Tower which had come third. A Memory called Empire and Gideon the Ninth topped the poll on votes and points respectively. The City in the Middle of the Night qualified thanks to The Raven Tower's removal. Tiamat’s Wrath, by James S.A. Corey, would have needed 27 more votes or in excess of 12.65 more points to qualify for the final ballot. It was actually ahead of The City in the Middle of the Night on points, but way behind on votes - seven other nominees had an equal or larger number of nominations (but did less well on points).
Best Novella
This is How You Lose the Time War was ahead at all stages but needed to go to the sixth count to win over In An Absent Dream, by 994 to 634. In An Absent Dream started 62 votes ahead for second place, but scraped in by only two votes over To Be Taught if Fortunate. To Be Taught if Fortunate beat "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom" handily for third place, and although "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" started with the most votes for fourth place, it was beaten by The Haunting of Tram Car 015 on transfers from The Deep. However, "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" secured a solid enough fifth place against The Deep, which got a convincing sixth.
At nominations stage, This is How You Lose the Time War was far ahead of the field, and "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" the last to qualify. Silver in the Wood, by Emily Tesh, needed another 11 votes worth 8.25 points to qualify for the final ballot.
Best Novelette
Emergency Skin was ahead at all stages and beat "Omphalos" by 776 to 550 on the sixth count. "Omphalos" beat "Away with the Wolves" similarly convincingly for second place, and "Away with the Wolves" came from behind to beat "For He Can Creep" for third. "For He Can Creep" beat "The Blur in the Corner of your Eye" by only 17 votes for fourth place, but "The Blur in the Corner of your Eye" beat "The Archronology of Love" convincingly for fifth place and "The Archronology of Love" took sixth even more convincingly.
Emergency Skin was only fourth at nomination stage, with "Omphalos" first, "For He Can Creep" second and "Away with the Wolves" third. "The Archronology of Love" was the last to qualify; "Nice Things" by Ellen Klages needed only 2 more votes to get on the ballot.
Best Short Story
"As the Last I May Know" was ahead at all stages but needed the sixth round to beat "Do Not Look Back My Lion" by 720 to 513. The other places went convincingly to "Do Not Look Back My Lion", "And Now His Lordship Is Laughing", "A Catalog of Storms", "Blood Is Another Word for Hunger" and "Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island" which came sixth despite having the third highest number of first preferences. I guess some people didn't like its format; myself I thought it was inventive and interesting.
At nominations stage, "Do Not Look Back My Lion" topped the poll and the eventual winner, "As the Last I May Know", was in fourth place. "And Now His Lordship is Laughing" was the last to qualify; "Give the Family My Love", by A. T. Greenblatt, would have qualified with another two votes or 0.83 points, and "Articulated Restraint", by Mary Robinette Kowal, was also close behind.
Best Series
More drama here as The Expanse, starting 72 votes behind InCryptid, pulled ahead on transfers to win by 22 votes, 683 to 661. InCryptid not surprisingly crushed the opposition to come second, Planetfall beat The Wormwood Trilogy convincingly for third place, and the Winternight Trilogy scraped into fourth place by four votes, again over The Wormwood Trilogy, which however convincingly beat Luna for fifth place, and Luna then came a solid sixth.
InCryptid was well in the lead at nominations, with The Wormwood Trilogy (just) second on votes but fourth on points, and The Expanse second on points but third on votes. The Winternight Trilogy had the fewest votes among the finalists, but Luna was the last to qualify, and the Alliance-Union series by C.J. Cherryh needed another 2 votes or in excess of 0.25 more points to get on the ballot.
Best Related Work
Jeannette Ng's Campbell Award acceptance speech was well ahead at all stages, eventually beating Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin by 606 to 540. Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin came second; The Lady from the Black Lagoon came third narrowly, 14 votes ahead of Becoming Superman; Becoming Superman came a strong fourth, The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein beat Joanna Russ by 20 points for fifth place, and Joanna Russ came sixth.
Jeannette Ng's speech had the fewest nomination votes of any of the finalists, but was not the last to qualify - the last place on the ballot was taken by Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, whose eligibility had been specifically extended by the 2019 Business Meeting. The last nominee eliminated was Monster, She Wrote, by Lisa Kröger & Melanie R. Anderson, which would have needed another 13 votes worth at least 6.33 points, or 6.42 points from fewer than 13 votes, to qualify for the ballot
Best Graphic Story or Comic
Laguardia started 22 votes in the lead and ended winning by 11, 410 to 399 for Monstress v4. Monstress v4 took second place, Mooncakes third, Paper Girls fourth, The Wicked + The Divine won fifth by 7 votes from Die: Fantasy Heartbreaker, which came sixth.
At nominations stage, Monstress v4 topped the poll and The Wicked + The Divine came a strong second, with the winner, Laguardia, the last to qualify (though Mooncakes had fewer votes). Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 1, by G. Willow Wilson would have needed 9 more votes worth 3.34 points, or fewer votes worth 5.59 more points, to qualify.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Good Omens was far ahead from the beginning, and won with 946 votes to 413 for Captain Marvel and 392 for Russian Doll. The other places were all pretty clear, Captain Marvel second, Russian Doll third, Avengers: Endgame fourth, Us fifth and Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker sixth.
At nominations stage, Watchmen gained enough votes to qualify in this category, but two individual episodes also qualified for the Short Form category, with more votes collectively. The Administrators therefore removed Watchmen from this category. Captain Marvel topped the poll, with Good Omens second. The removal of Watchmen allowed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker to take the last place on the ballot; Spider-man: Far from Home would have taken that place with 1 more vote.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
The Good Place: The Answer was well ahead from the start, winning by 720 votes to 520 for Watchmen: A God Walks Into Abar, which then tied for second place with The Mandalorian: Redemption. Cibola Burn, which started the run for second place in a tie for the lead, took fourth place easily, with Watchmen: This Extraordinary Being in fifth and Doctor Who: Resolution in sixth.
At nominations stage, Good Omens: Hard Times gained enough votes to qualify in this category - in fact, it topped the poll - but the entire series of Good Omens also qualified for the Long Form category, with more votes. The Administrators therefore removed Good Omens: Hard Times from this category. Doctor Who: Resolution therefore took the last place on the ballot. The last nominee eliminated was another episode of The Good Place, Pandemonium, which needed another 6 votes to qualify.
Best Professional Editor, Short Form
Ellen Datlow was in the lead from the beginning, winning by 453 to 265 for Lynne M Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas. The Thomases started in the lead for second place, but transfers pulled Jonathan Strahan to finish 18 votes ahead. The Thomases also started in the lead for third place, but transfers pulled Sheila Williams to finish 12 votes ahead. The Thomases also started in the lead for fourth place, but transfers pulled Neil Clarke to finish level with them in another tie. C.C. Finlay took sixth place.
Neil Clarke topped the poll at nominations. Navah Wolfe got enough votes to qualify for the ballot in this category, but is not eligible (she made up for it elsewhere). The last place on the ballot was taken by Ellen Datlow, who went on to win the award. Lee Harris would have qualified for the ballot with three more votes.
Best Professional Editor, Long Form
Navah Wolfe was in the lead from the beginning, winning with 389 votes to 239 for Sheila Gilbert. Gilbert started in the lead for second place, but transfers pulled Diana M. Pho ahead by 2 in the end. Gilbert won third place clearly, and Devi Pillai likewise solidly won fourth place. Miriam Weinberg beat Brit Hvide by just 7 votes for fifth place, and Hvide won sixth place comfortably.
Navah Wolfe also topped the poll at the nominations stage. Miriam Weinberg was the last finalist to qualify; Gillian Redfearn, with a lot fewer votes, would still have qualified if she had had in excess of 2.37 more points. Others were also close - difficult to be sure, but Nivia Evans would have had a good chance with 3 more votes, and Priyanka Hrishnan with 2.
Best Professional Artist
John Picacio was ahead at all stages, winning by 445 votes to 392 for Yujo Shimizu. Galen Dara, who was fourth in the first round, took second place very narrowly, 9 votes ahead of Shimizu who led at a couple of stages. Shimizu won third place, Rovina Cai fourth, Tommy Arnold fifth and Amyssa Winans sixth.
Tommy Arnold topped the poll at nominations stage, John Picacio coming second. It was very tight at the lower end of the qualification stage; Will Staehle would certainly have qualified with 3 more votes, and Jaime Jones was also not far off.
Best Semiprozine
Uncanny Magazine started 21 votes ahead of FIYAH, and finished 34 votes ahead, winning by 434 to 400. FIYAH took second place 18 votes ahead of Strange Horizons, which came a very comfortable third. Escape Pod took fouth place, Beneath Ceaseless Skies fifth and Fireside Magazine sixth,
Uncanny Magazine also topped the poll at nominations stage. Fireside Magazine was the last to qualify; Interzone, the last to be eliminated, needed 7.15 more points to qualify, and also PodCastle would probably have qualified with 4 more votes worth 2.02 points.
Best Fanzine
In the closest result of the night, The Book Smugglers started 8 votes ahead of nerds of a feather, briefly lost the lead and then regained it to win by 243 to 239, a margin of 4. The other results were much clearer, nerds of a feather coming second, Journey Planet third, Galactic Journey fourth, Quick Sip Reviews fifth and The Rec Center sixth.
nerds of a feather topped the poll at nominations stage. Galactic Journey was the last to qualify; the Hugo Book Club Blog needed another 5 votes.
Best Fancast
Our Opinions Are Correct was ahead from the start and won by 371 votes to 211 for the Coode Street Podcast. The Coode Street Podcast led at all stages but the last in the count for second place, losing to Galactic Suburbia by 14 points. Coode Street won third place handily, The Skiffy and Fanty Show (which got the fewest first preferences in the first round) took fourth place also comfortably, and Be The Serpent beat Claire Rousseau for fifth place by 20 votes; Claire Rousseau came sixth.
Be the Serpent topped the poll at nominations stage, with The Coode Street Podcast second and Our Opinions Are Correct third. The Skiffy and Fanty Show was the last to qualify; Verity! and Kalanadi would each have qualified with another 6 votes.
Best Fan Writer
Bogi Takács was ahead from the start, and won by 284 votes to 263 for Cora Buhlert, who won second place by a good margin. Alasdair Stuart beat James David Nicoll by 11 points for third place, Nicoll came fourth, Paul Weimer fifth and Adam Whitehead sixth.
Alasdair Stuart and Paul Weimer jointly got the most nominating votes, James David Nicoll getting the most points and Bogi Takács not far behind. Cora Buhlert was the last to qualify for the ballot; Charles Payseur would have qualified with 5 more votes.
Best Fan Artist
Elise Matthesen was ahead from the start and won by 371 votes to 339 for Iain Clark, who then lost to Sara Felix for second place by only 14 votes, but comfortably won third place. Meg Frank beat Grace P. Fong by 19 votes for fourth place; Fong took fifth place and Ariela Housman sixth.
Sara Felix got the most votes and Elise Matthesen the most points at nominations stage. The last finalist to qualify was Meg Frank, with the late Steve Stiles the last eliminated nominee; he would have needed at least another 10 votes of 6.59 points to qualify. Anna Steinbauer, however, would have qualified with just 1 more vote.
Lodestar Award
Catfishing on Catnet was ahead from the start, beating Minor Mage by 435 to 403. The other places were clear, Minor Mage winning second, Dragon Pearl third, Riverland fourth, Deeplight fifth and The Wicked King sixth.
Catfishing on Catnet was also well ahead at nominations stage, with Dragon Pearl and then Minor Mage in second and third place and the other three very close to each other. Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth nneded 3 more votes to qualify. The Ten thousand Doors of January was the second last to be eliminated, but of course also qualified in Best Novel.
Astounding Award
R.F. Kuang was far in the lead and won the first Astounding Award by 421 votes to 213 for Nibedita Sen and 194 for Tasha Suri. Sen won second place and Suri third. Emily Tesh beat Sam Hawke by 19 votes for fourth place, and Kawke then beat Jenn Lyons by five points for fifth place; Lyons came sixth.
R.F. Kuang was also far ahead at nominations stage. Tamsyn Muir got enough votes to qualify but is not eligible, with several pre-2018 professional publication. The last place on the ballot was then taken by Sam Hawke. The last nominee eliminated was Arkady Martine, who would have mathematically qualified with 2.20 more points, but was also ineligible due to pre-2018 professional publications. Alexandra Rowland would have qualified with 7 more votes worth 3.93 more points (her first novel came out in 2012, but was self-published and so does not count for Astounding eligibility). At least one of the other "long-listed" nominees was also ineligible.
The closest result was for Best Fanzine, where the winner had a margin of 4 votes on the final count. Best Graphic Story or Comic was decided by 11 votes.
The following also received enough nominating votes to reach the final ballot:
- Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie (Best Novel - declined nomination)
- Watchmen (Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form - two episodes, with more nominating votes, had also qualified for the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category)
- Good Omens: “Hard Times” (Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form - the entire series, with more nominating votes, had also qualified for the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form category)
- Navah Wolfe (Best Professional Editor, Short Form - not eligible)
- Tamsyn Muir (Astounding Award for Best New Writer - not eligible)
The winners of Best Graphic Story or Comic and of Best Professional Editor, Short Form were the last to qualify for the final ballot in their categories.
Best Novel
A Memory Called Empire surged from second place, starting 57 votes behind Middlegame but eventually beating it by 88, 880 to 792, on transfers (getting more from eliminated candidates in every single round). Middlegame came a convincing second over Gideon the Ninth, which came an even more convincing third over The City in the Middle of the Night. But fourth place was taken by The Light Brigade in a close contest with The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and The City in the Middle of the Night took fifth place by only 1 vote over The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which came sixth.
At nominations stage, Ann Leckie declined nomination for The Raven Tower which had come third. A Memory called Empire and Gideon the Ninth topped the poll on votes and points respectively. The City in the Middle of the Night qualified thanks to The Raven Tower's removal. Tiamat’s Wrath, by James S.A. Corey, would have needed 27 more votes or in excess of 12.65 more points to qualify for the final ballot. It was actually ahead of The City in the Middle of the Night on points, but way behind on votes - seven other nominees had an equal or larger number of nominations (but did less well on points).
Best Novella
This is How You Lose the Time War was ahead at all stages but needed to go to the sixth count to win over In An Absent Dream, by 994 to 634. In An Absent Dream started 62 votes ahead for second place, but scraped in by only two votes over To Be Taught if Fortunate. To Be Taught if Fortunate beat "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom" handily for third place, and although "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" started with the most votes for fourth place, it was beaten by The Haunting of Tram Car 015 on transfers from The Deep. However, "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" secured a solid enough fifth place against The Deep, which got a convincing sixth.
At nominations stage, This is How You Lose the Time War was far ahead of the field, and "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" the last to qualify. Silver in the Wood, by Emily Tesh, needed another 11 votes worth 8.25 points to qualify for the final ballot.
Best Novelette
Emergency Skin was ahead at all stages and beat "Omphalos" by 776 to 550 on the sixth count. "Omphalos" beat "Away with the Wolves" similarly convincingly for second place, and "Away with the Wolves" came from behind to beat "For He Can Creep" for third. "For He Can Creep" beat "The Blur in the Corner of your Eye" by only 17 votes for fourth place, but "The Blur in the Corner of your Eye" beat "The Archronology of Love" convincingly for fifth place and "The Archronology of Love" took sixth even more convincingly.
Emergency Skin was only fourth at nomination stage, with "Omphalos" first, "For He Can Creep" second and "Away with the Wolves" third. "The Archronology of Love" was the last to qualify; "Nice Things" by Ellen Klages needed only 2 more votes to get on the ballot.
Best Short Story
"As the Last I May Know" was ahead at all stages but needed the sixth round to beat "Do Not Look Back My Lion" by 720 to 513. The other places went convincingly to "Do Not Look Back My Lion", "And Now His Lordship Is Laughing", "A Catalog of Storms", "Blood Is Another Word for Hunger" and "Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island" which came sixth despite having the third highest number of first preferences. I guess some people didn't like its format; myself I thought it was inventive and interesting.
At nominations stage, "Do Not Look Back My Lion" topped the poll and the eventual winner, "As the Last I May Know", was in fourth place. "And Now His Lordship is Laughing" was the last to qualify; "Give the Family My Love", by A. T. Greenblatt, would have qualified with another two votes or 0.83 points, and "Articulated Restraint", by Mary Robinette Kowal, was also close behind.
Best Series
More drama here as The Expanse, starting 72 votes behind InCryptid, pulled ahead on transfers to win by 22 votes, 683 to 661. InCryptid not surprisingly crushed the opposition to come second, Planetfall beat The Wormwood Trilogy convincingly for third place, and the Winternight Trilogy scraped into fourth place by four votes, again over The Wormwood Trilogy, which however convincingly beat Luna for fifth place, and Luna then came a solid sixth.
InCryptid was well in the lead at nominations, with The Wormwood Trilogy (just) second on votes but fourth on points, and The Expanse second on points but third on votes. The Winternight Trilogy had the fewest votes among the finalists, but Luna was the last to qualify, and the Alliance-Union series by C.J. Cherryh needed another 2 votes or in excess of 0.25 more points to get on the ballot.
Best Related Work
Jeannette Ng's Campbell Award acceptance speech was well ahead at all stages, eventually beating Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin by 606 to 540. Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin came second; The Lady from the Black Lagoon came third narrowly, 14 votes ahead of Becoming Superman; Becoming Superman came a strong fourth, The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein beat Joanna Russ by 20 points for fifth place, and Joanna Russ came sixth.
Jeannette Ng's speech had the fewest nomination votes of any of the finalists, but was not the last to qualify - the last place on the ballot was taken by Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, whose eligibility had been specifically extended by the 2019 Business Meeting. The last nominee eliminated was Monster, She Wrote, by Lisa Kröger & Melanie R. Anderson, which would have needed another 13 votes worth at least 6.33 points, or 6.42 points from fewer than 13 votes, to qualify for the ballot
Best Graphic Story or Comic
Laguardia started 22 votes in the lead and ended winning by 11, 410 to 399 for Monstress v4. Monstress v4 took second place, Mooncakes third, Paper Girls fourth, The Wicked + The Divine won fifth by 7 votes from Die: Fantasy Heartbreaker, which came sixth.
At nominations stage, Monstress v4 topped the poll and The Wicked + The Divine came a strong second, with the winner, Laguardia, the last to qualify (though Mooncakes had fewer votes). Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 1, by G. Willow Wilson would have needed 9 more votes worth 3.34 points, or fewer votes worth 5.59 more points, to qualify.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Good Omens was far ahead from the beginning, and won with 946 votes to 413 for Captain Marvel and 392 for Russian Doll. The other places were all pretty clear, Captain Marvel second, Russian Doll third, Avengers: Endgame fourth, Us fifth and Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker sixth.
At nominations stage, Watchmen gained enough votes to qualify in this category, but two individual episodes also qualified for the Short Form category, with more votes collectively. The Administrators therefore removed Watchmen from this category. Captain Marvel topped the poll, with Good Omens second. The removal of Watchmen allowed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker to take the last place on the ballot; Spider-man: Far from Home would have taken that place with 1 more vote.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
The Good Place: The Answer was well ahead from the start, winning by 720 votes to 520 for Watchmen: A God Walks Into Abar, which then tied for second place with The Mandalorian: Redemption. Cibola Burn, which started the run for second place in a tie for the lead, took fourth place easily, with Watchmen: This Extraordinary Being in fifth and Doctor Who: Resolution in sixth.
At nominations stage, Good Omens: Hard Times gained enough votes to qualify in this category - in fact, it topped the poll - but the entire series of Good Omens also qualified for the Long Form category, with more votes. The Administrators therefore removed Good Omens: Hard Times from this category. Doctor Who: Resolution therefore took the last place on the ballot. The last nominee eliminated was another episode of The Good Place, Pandemonium, which needed another 6 votes to qualify.
Best Professional Editor, Short Form
Ellen Datlow was in the lead from the beginning, winning by 453 to 265 for Lynne M Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas. The Thomases started in the lead for second place, but transfers pulled Jonathan Strahan to finish 18 votes ahead. The Thomases also started in the lead for third place, but transfers pulled Sheila Williams to finish 12 votes ahead. The Thomases also started in the lead for fourth place, but transfers pulled Neil Clarke to finish level with them in another tie. C.C. Finlay took sixth place.
Neil Clarke topped the poll at nominations. Navah Wolfe got enough votes to qualify for the ballot in this category, but is not eligible (she made up for it elsewhere). The last place on the ballot was taken by Ellen Datlow, who went on to win the award. Lee Harris would have qualified for the ballot with three more votes.
Best Professional Editor, Long Form
Navah Wolfe was in the lead from the beginning, winning with 389 votes to 239 for Sheila Gilbert. Gilbert started in the lead for second place, but transfers pulled Diana M. Pho ahead by 2 in the end. Gilbert won third place clearly, and Devi Pillai likewise solidly won fourth place. Miriam Weinberg beat Brit Hvide by just 7 votes for fifth place, and Hvide won sixth place comfortably.
Navah Wolfe also topped the poll at the nominations stage. Miriam Weinberg was the last finalist to qualify; Gillian Redfearn, with a lot fewer votes, would still have qualified if she had had in excess of 2.37 more points. Others were also close - difficult to be sure, but Nivia Evans would have had a good chance with 3 more votes, and Priyanka Hrishnan with 2.
Best Professional Artist
John Picacio was ahead at all stages, winning by 445 votes to 392 for Yujo Shimizu. Galen Dara, who was fourth in the first round, took second place very narrowly, 9 votes ahead of Shimizu who led at a couple of stages. Shimizu won third place, Rovina Cai fourth, Tommy Arnold fifth and Amyssa Winans sixth.
Tommy Arnold topped the poll at nominations stage, John Picacio coming second. It was very tight at the lower end of the qualification stage; Will Staehle would certainly have qualified with 3 more votes, and Jaime Jones was also not far off.
Best Semiprozine
Uncanny Magazine started 21 votes ahead of FIYAH, and finished 34 votes ahead, winning by 434 to 400. FIYAH took second place 18 votes ahead of Strange Horizons, which came a very comfortable third. Escape Pod took fouth place, Beneath Ceaseless Skies fifth and Fireside Magazine sixth,
Uncanny Magazine also topped the poll at nominations stage. Fireside Magazine was the last to qualify; Interzone, the last to be eliminated, needed 7.15 more points to qualify, and also PodCastle would probably have qualified with 4 more votes worth 2.02 points.
Best Fanzine
In the closest result of the night, The Book Smugglers started 8 votes ahead of nerds of a feather, briefly lost the lead and then regained it to win by 243 to 239, a margin of 4. The other results were much clearer, nerds of a feather coming second, Journey Planet third, Galactic Journey fourth, Quick Sip Reviews fifth and The Rec Center sixth.
nerds of a feather topped the poll at nominations stage. Galactic Journey was the last to qualify; the Hugo Book Club Blog needed another 5 votes.
Best Fancast
Our Opinions Are Correct was ahead from the start and won by 371 votes to 211 for the Coode Street Podcast. The Coode Street Podcast led at all stages but the last in the count for second place, losing to Galactic Suburbia by 14 points. Coode Street won third place handily, The Skiffy and Fanty Show (which got the fewest first preferences in the first round) took fourth place also comfortably, and Be The Serpent beat Claire Rousseau for fifth place by 20 votes; Claire Rousseau came sixth.
Be the Serpent topped the poll at nominations stage, with The Coode Street Podcast second and Our Opinions Are Correct third. The Skiffy and Fanty Show was the last to qualify; Verity! and Kalanadi would each have qualified with another 6 votes.
Best Fan Writer
Bogi Takács was ahead from the start, and won by 284 votes to 263 for Cora Buhlert, who won second place by a good margin. Alasdair Stuart beat James David Nicoll by 11 points for third place, Nicoll came fourth, Paul Weimer fifth and Adam Whitehead sixth.
Alasdair Stuart and Paul Weimer jointly got the most nominating votes, James David Nicoll getting the most points and Bogi Takács not far behind. Cora Buhlert was the last to qualify for the ballot; Charles Payseur would have qualified with 5 more votes.
Best Fan Artist
Elise Matthesen was ahead from the start and won by 371 votes to 339 for Iain Clark, who then lost to Sara Felix for second place by only 14 votes, but comfortably won third place. Meg Frank beat Grace P. Fong by 19 votes for fourth place; Fong took fifth place and Ariela Housman sixth.
Sara Felix got the most votes and Elise Matthesen the most points at nominations stage. The last finalist to qualify was Meg Frank, with the late Steve Stiles the last eliminated nominee; he would have needed at least another 10 votes of 6.59 points to qualify. Anna Steinbauer, however, would have qualified with just 1 more vote.
Lodestar Award
Catfishing on Catnet was ahead from the start, beating Minor Mage by 435 to 403. The other places were clear, Minor Mage winning second, Dragon Pearl third, Riverland fourth, Deeplight fifth and The Wicked King sixth.
Catfishing on Catnet was also well ahead at nominations stage, with Dragon Pearl and then Minor Mage in second and third place and the other three very close to each other. Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth nneded 3 more votes to qualify. The Ten thousand Doors of January was the second last to be eliminated, but of course also qualified in Best Novel.
Astounding Award
R.F. Kuang was far in the lead and won the first Astounding Award by 421 votes to 213 for Nibedita Sen and 194 for Tasha Suri. Sen won second place and Suri third. Emily Tesh beat Sam Hawke by 19 votes for fourth place, and Kawke then beat Jenn Lyons by five points for fifth place; Lyons came sixth.
R.F. Kuang was also far ahead at nominations stage. Tamsyn Muir got enough votes to qualify but is not eligible, with several pre-2018 professional publication. The last place on the ballot was then taken by Sam Hawke. The last nominee eliminated was Arkady Martine, who would have mathematically qualified with 2.20 more points, but was also ineligible due to pre-2018 professional publications. Alexandra Rowland would have qualified with 7 more votes worth 3.93 more points (her first novel came out in 2012, but was self-published and so does not count for Astounding eligibility). At least one of the other "long-listed" nominees was also ineligible.