2016 Hugo Awards Winners Announced

The 2016 Hugo Awards Ceremony was held last night at the World Science Fiction Convention, a.k.a. MidAmeriCon II, in Kansas City, Missouri. The Hugo Awards are considered by many to be the Academy Awards of the science fiction and fantasy genre, with awards categories spanning novels, television and film, and fanzines and podcasts. Winners are voted on by members of the convention.

The Hugo Awards have been plagued by controversy in recent years. A group called the “Sad Puppies” has run several campaigns to stuff the ballot box with nominees of their choosing. Their efforts have been successful, but other fans have countered by voting off-ballot in staggering numbers. The result has been an unprecedented increase in the total number of Hugo voters, several awards handed out to write-in candidates, and several other categories where “No Award” was given out.

Neil Gaiman and J.H. Williams III’s The Sandman: Overture, a prequel to Gaiman’s award-winning Vertigo Comics series, took this year’s Hugo Award for “Best Graphic Story.” The Marvel’s Jessica Jones Season 1 finale episode, “AKA Smile,” won for “Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form,” beating frequent Hugo Award nominee and six-time Hugo Award-winning series Doctor Who. “Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form” went to The Martian, beating Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

A full list of 2016 Hugo Award nominees is provided below, with winners in bold:

Best Novel (2,903 final ballots, 3695 nominating ballots)

• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
• Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
• The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)
• Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

Best Novella (2,903 final ballots, 2416 nominating ballots)

• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
• The Builders by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)
• Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
• Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
• Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)

Best Novelette (2,560 final ballots, 1975 nominating ballots)

• “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)
• “And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead” by Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed, Feb 2015)
• “Flashpoint: Titan” by CHEAH Kai Wai (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
• “Obits” by Stephen King (The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner)
• “What Price Humanity?” by David VanDyke (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)

Best Short Story (2,706 final ballots, 2451 nominating ballots)

• “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2015)
• “Asymmetrical Warfare” by S. R. Algernon (Nature, Mar 2015)
• “If You Were an Award, My Love” by Juan Tabo and S. Harris (voxday.blogspot.com, Jun 2015)
• “Seven Kill Tiger” by Charles Shao (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
• Space Raptor Butt Invasion by Chuck Tingle (Amazon Digital Services)

Best Related Work (2,545 final ballots, 2080 nominating ballots)

• No Award
• Between Light and Shadow: An Exploration of the Fiction of Gene Wolfe, 1951 to 1986 by Marc Aramini (Castalia House)
• “The First Draft of My Appendix N Book” by Jeffro Johnson (jeffro.wordpress.com)
• “Safe Space as Rape Room” by Daniel Eness (castaliahouse.com)
• SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day (Castalia House)
• “The Story of Moira Greyland” by Moira Greyland (askthebigot.com)

Best Graphic Story (2,171 final ballots, 1838 nominating ballots)

• The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)
• The Divine written by Boaz Lavie, art by Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka (First Second)
• Erin Dies Alone written by Grey Carter, art by Cory Rydell (dyingalone.net)
• Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams (ffn.nodwick.com)
• Invisible Republic Vol 1 written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman (Image Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (2,171 final ballots, 2904 nominating ballots)

• The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
• Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
• Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (2,423 final ballots, 2219 nominating ballots)

• Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions;Netflix)
• Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)
• Grimm: “Headache” written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf (Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media/Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)
• Supernatural: “Just My Imagination” written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)

Best Editor, Short Form (2,257 final ballots, 1891 nominating ballots)

• Ellen Datlow
• John Joseph Adams
• Neil Clarke
• Jerry Pournelle
• Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form (2,386 final ballots, 1764 nominating ballots)

• Sheila E. Gilbert
• Vox Day
• Liz Gorinsky
• Jim Minz
• Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist (1,907 final ballots, 1481 nominating ballots)

• Abigail Larson
• Lars Braad Andersen
• Larry Elmore
• Michal Karcz
• Larry Rostant

Best Semiprozine (2,063 final ballots, 1457 nominating ballots)

• Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
• Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
• Sci Phi Journal edited by Jason Rennie
• Strange Horizons edited by Catherine Krahe, Julia Rios, A. J. Odasso, Vanessa Rose Phin, Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons staff

Best Fanzine (2,281 final ballots, 1455 nominating ballots)

• File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
• Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson
• Lady Business edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan
• Superversive SF edited by Jason Rennie
• Tangent Online edited by Dave Truesdale

Best Fancast (1,497 final ballots, 1267 nominating ballots)

• No Award
• 8-4 Play, Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Hiroko Minamoto, and Justin Epperson
• Cane and Rinse, Cane and Rinse
• HelloGreedo, HelloGreedo
• The Rageaholic, RazörFist
• Tales to Terrify, Stephen Kilpatrick

Best Fan Writer (1,909 final ballots, 1568 nominating ballots)

• Mike Glyer
• Douglas Ernst
• Morgan Holmes
• Jeffro Johnson
• Shamus Young

Best Fan Artist (1,855 final ballots, 1073 nominating ballots)

• Steve Stiles
• Matthew Callahan
• Christian Quinot
• disse86
• Kukuruyo

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (2,406 final ballots, 1922 nominating ballots)
Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2014 or 2015, sponsored by Dell Magazines. (Not a Hugo Award, but administered along with the Hugo Awards.)

• Andy Weir *
• Pierce Brown *
• Sebastien de Castell *
• Brian Niemeier
• Alyssa Wong *

* Finalists in their 2nd year of eligibility.