The Hugo Awards are alongside the World Fantasy Award, Nebula and a couple of others, the most prestigious awards for a genre work. Now, I don’t actually give much of a damn who wins - I think I’d have to be involved in ‘em for that to happen - but I like to see my favourites receive the honour they deserve. To view the entire list I recommend that you click this link since I’ll only be commenting on the nominees that I find interesting or am at all familiar with.

Here we go:

Best Novel

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)
Brasyl by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor; Analog Oct. 2006-Jan/Feb. 2007)
The Last Colony by John Scalzi (Tor)
Halting State by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit)

The first thing that’s notable about this list is that there isn’t a single fantasy book among them. Which is crap, but not surprising since the Hugo is historically more of a mainstream Sci-fi award than it’s a fantasy award. The second thing is that I’ve doubled my number of read Hugo nominees from last year’s bunch, where I’d only flicked through Naomi Novik’s ‘His Majesty’s Dragon’ (currently being developed for the big screen by Peter Jackson). This time around I find myself staring back at two previous acquaintances, where I’d only halfway expected to see one. Charlie Stross has gotten a novel on the list five years in a row (a new record!), so seeing ‘Halting State’ there didn’t make me wet the bed. However, the inclusion of John Scalzi’s thoroughly enjoyable yet shallow novel, ‘The Last Colony’, did make me sit up and take notice. I liked that book well enough, but it’s hardly worthy of an award.

The biggest favourite is naturally Ian Mcdonald’s ‘Brasyl’, closely followed by Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” (currently being adapted to the big screen by those pesky Coen brothers). I’d like to read the latter of these two since I haven’t heard a bad word about Chabon in my life and he’s just about reached a legendary status within and outside the genre.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Enchanted Written by Bill Kelly, Directed by Kevin Lima (Walt Disney Pictures)
The Golden Compass Written by Chris Weitz, Based on the novel by Philip Pullman, Directed by Chris Weitz (New Line Cinema)
Heroes, Season 1, Created by Tim Kring (NBC Universal Television and Tailwind Productions Written by Tim Kring, Jeff Loeb, Bryan Fuller, Michael Green, Natalie Chaidez, Jesse Alexander, Adam Armus, Aron Eli Coleite, Joe Pokaski, Christopher Zatta, Chuck Kim, Directed by David Semel, Allan Arkush, Greg Beeman, Ernest R. Dickerson, Paul Shapiro, Donna Deitch, Paul A. Edwards, John Badham, Terrence O’Hara, Jeannot Szwarc, Roxann Dawson, Kevin Bray, Adam Kane
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Written by Michael Goldenberg, Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling, Directed by David Yates (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Stardust Written by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn, Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures)

I’ve shaken hands with three out of five nominees in this category, which isn’t bad but not really good either. My excuse for the two remaining is that I’ve little to none interest of watching a musical featuring old Disney characters in New York, and no interest at all of watching a children’s movie based on a book I couldn’t finish (’The Golden Compass’). I don’t think I’ve missed out with those either, since I’m holding ‘Heroes Season 1′ and ‘Stardust’ as clear favourites in this field, with the possibility of Harry Potter coming in and ruining the party for the cool kids. I loathed the last HP movie, but sadly there seems like there’s no escaping the bastard these days.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Battlestar Galactica “Razor” written by Michael Taylor, directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and Wayne Rose (Sci Fi Channel) (televised version, not DVD)
Dr. Who “Blink” written by Stephen Moffat, directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)
Dr. Who “Human Nature” / “Family of Blood” written by Paul Cornell, directed by Charles Palmer (BBC)
Star Trek New Voyages “World Enough and Time” written by Michael Reaves & Marc Scott Zicree, directed by Marc Scott Zicree (Cawley Entertainment Co. and The Magic Time Co.)
Torchwood “Captain Jack Harkness” written by Catherine Tregenna, directed by Ashley Way (BBC Wales)

This isn’t even a competition in my mind, yet I sense that not everyone is as clear sighted about this as they should be. Dr. Who’s ‘Blink’ is the best Who-episode I’ve ever seen and should sprint away with this Hugo with ease. The ‘Human Nature/Family of Blood’ arc was also of a very high quality, yet not up there with the genius of ‘Blink’ (which was so scarily brilliant that I’m still traumatized by it). BSG’s ‘Razor’ is also a strong contender and may win.

Best Fan Writer

Chris Garcia
David Langford
Cheryl Morgan
John Scalzi
Steven H Silver

This is actually a very debated category. ‘Best Fan Writer’ has been won by David Langford for what seems like an eternity (I think he’s got 27 of ‘em), but the rising of skilled bloggers may be what finally knocks him off the throne. I know for example that GRRM has been rooting for Patrick St. Denis of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist to win this category, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him up there, but the Hugo’s are a bit conservative so it may yet take a few more ballots before that happy day arrives. It won’t come as a surprise that I’m all for John Scalzi winning this award as I think that ‘Whatever’ is one of the very best blogs not only inside the genre, but on the entirety of the Internet. Go Scalzi! You deserve it.

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Writer

An award for the best new writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy appeared during 2006 or 2007 in a professional publication. Sponsored by Dell Magazines.

Joe Abercrombie (2nd year of eligibility)
Jon Armstrong (1st year of eligibility)
David Anthony Durham (1st year of eligibility)
David Louis Edelman (2nd year of eligibility)
Mary Robinette Kowal (2nd year of eligibility)
Scott Lynch (2nd year of eligibility)

Finally doth the gods of fantasy shine upon us! Err… Okay, not quite so much gods as much as some real talent. And by talent I of course first and foremost mean the divinity called Scott Lynch, closely followed by the smart-mouthed superhero Joe Abercrombie. I’m currently reading Joe’s latest offering, ‘Last Argument of Kings’, and it’s really good, but I’m still too much of a Scott Lynch fan to be swayed towards Joe’s devious direction. Congrats also to David Anthony Durham who, despite receiving some mixed reviews (including my own), managed to nab a spot on the list. That may have something to do with his already established reputation as a historical fiction writer, but it’s admirable none the less.

So overall I’m quite pleased with the quality of the work that’s nominated this year, aside from the frustrating lack of fantasies in the ‘Best Novel’ category. Patrick Rothfuss’ ‘The Name of the Wind’ should obviously have been nominated, and Scott Lynch’s ‘Red Seas Under Red Skies’ was a far stronger novel than ‘Halting State’ and ‘The Last Colony’. Next year’s nominations should be interesting in this regard since both GRRM and Neil Gaiman should have eligible fantasy works out by then.