Hugo Award Nominee Recommendations

For all the genre movies being made these days, hard science fiction films are still rare. Intelligent ones, rarer still. I had to go out of my way to see Moon (the nearest theater playing it was an hour's drive away), and it was well worth the trip.

The plot is, by sf standards, basic. Sam Bell is the only human resident of a moon-based automated mining station. He's only a couple of weeks from the end of his three year contract, when there's an accident. And then . . . well, anything more would be a spoiler.

Thanks to a smart script by Nathan Parker (especially noteworthy these days for having the courage to leave some things up to the viewer to figure out), solid direction by Duncan Jones, and a truly outstanding performance by Sam Rockwell, Moon succeeds almost completely. Does the science work? I honestly don't know enough to say for sure, but I was able to suspend disbelief while watching. There are a couple of fairly minor questions that remain unanswered. But overall, I recommend searching it out.

This sad, sweet, brilliant story was read by Ellen at her Guest of Honor reading at Wiscon and appears in the chapbook "What Remains" issued by Aqueduct Press for the convention. (It also contains a couple of lively stories by Geoff Ryman, Wiscon's other GoH, and interviews with Geoff and Ellen.) I don't know if the chapbook can be ordered from Aqueduct, or if this story can be obtained anywhere else, but it's worth tracking down!

ETA: I find myself unable to properly tag this entry "2009-short-story-hugo" or even to remove the incorrect "2008-short-story-hugo" tag. Help?

A movie which is way, way better than its Tomatometer rating. (Looking at some random negative reviews, the main complaints from the reviewers are that it contains Nicholas Cage and genre elements.)

WORLD SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY
http://www.thehugoawards.org/
Contact: info@TheHugoAwards.org

Release Date: April 8, 2009

HUGO AWARD LOGO DESIGN CONTEST ANNOUNCED

The World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) has announced a contest for a design for an official logo for the Hugo Awards. The Hugo Awards honor the best in written and dramatized science fiction and fantasy, as well as other categories, and are the highest honors in the field of science fiction and fantasy. While the streamlined rocket that is a common feature of the Hugo Award trophy is well known within the field of science fiction and fantasy, there has never been an official logo suitable for designating that a work is a Hugo Award winner. WSFS, through its Hugo Awards Marketing Committee, is soliciting designs for such a logo, which would be suitable for use in the publishing and film/television industries, and in solidifying the Hugo Awards "brand."

The contest is open to individual designers. Full submission guidelines are available on the Hugo Awards web site at http://www.thehugoawards.org/logocontest.htm.( Contest Details )

Today's the day! Get those ballots in before 23:59 Pacific Time in English or in French!

This is a terribly late recommendation, but it's just now occurred to me and I'm smacking myself for missing the obvious sooner:

I'm nominating for Best Fan Writer: Jacob Clifton, whose commentary at the website TelevisionWithoutPity.com has been among the most heartfelt writing about television drama that I've ever read. SF fans know him as the columnist who simultaneously recaps and analyzes every episode of Battlestar Galactica, and in the past has also covered Doctor Who and Farscape (as well as, with surprisingly equal brilliance, American Idol).

His most recent full column: http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/battlestar_galactica/no_exit_2a.php

Index of his Galactica work from 2008: http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/battlestar-galactica/recaps.php

Gord Sellar is one of three Canadian writers eligible for this year's Campbell award (http://www.sfwriter.com/2009/01/kotowych-pi-and-sellar-for-campbell.html).

His novelette "Lester Young and the Jupiter Moons' Blues" was included in The Year's best Science Fiction, 26th Edition, edited by Gardner Dozois, and his novella "Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang" was included in Tesseracts Twelve edited by Claude Lalumière, a well-regarded repeating collection of Canadian SF. Both stories made the Locus Recommended Reading List for 2008 - http://www.locusmag.com/2009/2008RecommendedReading.html.

His work has also appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Interzone, Apex, and on Podcastle.

His first sale, to Nature was in August 2007.


You can find more information at WriterTopia http://www.writertopia.com/profiles/GordSellar, including snippets of reviews, or at his website www.gordsellar.com.

My full list of recommendations follows, but please remember -

This may be the last year for a "magazine" category, as the elimination of the Semiprozine category is likely to be confirmed at this years' WSFS meeting.  A fortunate set of circumstances actually qualifies Weird Tales for the Semiprozine category.  Somehow, in 85 years of publishing some of the most outstanding authors we know, Weird Tales itself has never won a Hugo.  I'm hoping you'll agree that the outstanding work of the past couple years earns them a nomination in what may be the final year of Semiprozine awards.

• Best Semiprozine  -  Weird Tales, edited by Stephen H. Segal and Ann VanderMeer  (see Year in Review and eligible works published in WT)

And also - this is the first year for the Graphic Stories category.  Categories only live on if there's adequate interest, so I urge you to nominate some of your favorites in this category.

• Best Graphic Story  -  "In the Cage", published in Mushishi volume 4

And the rest of my recommendations:

• Best Novel  -  "The Alchemy of Stone" by Ekaterina Sedia

bovil, when you add the tags for the new award year (which I assume you'll do in March after nominations close this year), could you possibly make them start with 2010- rather than 2009-? The Hugo Awards are named for the year in which they are awarded, and not all works eligible in a given year were actually published in the previous year, thanks to the eligibility extension rules. It seems like it would be less confusing when people come looking for recommendations for the 2010 Hugo Awards early next year if they could search for 2010 tags.

I know it's a bit early for this, but here's a shout out to the Hulu ad (first shown during the Super Bowl) featuring Alec Baldwin as an alien. A finer one minute science fiction featurette may not exist. It definitely deserves some consideration for the 2010 Short Form Dramatic Presentation Hugo.

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

The Alchemy of Stone (The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia): CM
Ananthem (Neal Stephenson): CJG, GMG, SL
An Autumn War (Daniel Abraham): CM
Devil's Eye (Jack McDevitt): BJH
The Gone-Away World (Nick Harkaway): CM
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman): DC
Liberation (Brian Francis Slattery): CM
Little Brother (Cory Doctorow): AJF
The Quiet War (Paul MacAuley): CM
Saturn's Children (Charles Stross): BJH
Time Engine (Sean McMullen): AJF, BJH, MYS

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

The Political Prisoner (F&SF 8/08, Charles Coleman Finley): AJF
The Spacetime Pool (Analog, Catherine Asaro): AJF

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

The Border (F&SF 3/08, Alex Jablokov): AJF
Five Thrillers (F&SF 4/08, Robert Reed): AJF
Leave (F&SF 12/08, Robert Reed): AJF
The Twilight Year (F&SF 1/08, Sean McMullen): AJF

Update, 14 Feb 0950: Removed ineligible work pointed out in comments.

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica (Clarkesworld #20, Catherynne M. Valente): CM
Character Flu (F&SF 5/08, Robert Reed): AJF
Don't Stop (Asimov's, James Patrick Kelly): AJF
How Music Begins (Asimov's, James Van Pelt): AJF
Reunion (F&SF 5/08, Robert Reed): AJF
Salad for Two (F&SF 9/08, Robert Reed): AJF
Shed that Guilt! Double Your Productivity! (F&SF 9/08, Michael Swanwick & Eileen Gunn): AJF
Skull Valley (Asimov's 10-11/08, Michael Cassutt): AJF
The Sky that Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue and Into the Black (Clarkesworld #18, Jay Lake): CM

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

The Writer's Tale (Russell T. Davies): DWG
The Rhetorics of Fantasy (Farah Mendlesohn): CJG, CM
The Vorkosigan Companion (Lillian S. Carl): SL

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

Captain Britain & MI13: Secret Invasion: CM, KP, KS, MYS
Girl Genius Vol 8: ATT, BJH, CJG, CP, DC, GNH, KPR, LDH, MYS, SL
La Muse: CM, KS
Locke & Key Vol 1: CM
Oblivion High Vol 1: CM, KS
The Sands of Sarasvati: CM, KS
Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic: ATT, BJH, GNH
Spider-Man #573 (The Steven Colbert Issue): CJG, DC
"With Friends Like These" by Seanan McGuire http://cadhla.livejournal.com/ ; example http://www.crossovers.net/underhill/fltcampbell.jpg: CJG, HS, LDH

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

Bolt: GNH, LDH
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: AJF
The Dark Knight: AJF, ATT, CJG, GNH, KP, MYS
Forbidden Kingdom: BJH
Iron Man: BJH, CJG, CM, GNH, HS, MYS
Madagascar 2: BJH, GNH
Prince Caspian: LDH
Wall-E: ATT, CJG, CM, DC, KP, LDH, MYS, SS

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

Chris Garcia Eats Cake: AJF, BJH, CJG, DC, GMG, HS, MYS
Doctor Who: "The Fires of Pompeii": AJF, LDH, MYS, SL
Doctor Who: "Midnight": KP, LDH
Doctor Who: "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead": AJF, ATT, DC, DWG, LDH"
Doctor Who: "Stolen Earth/Journey's End": AJF
Doctor Who: "Turn Left": DC, KP, SL
Doctor Who: "Unicorn & the Wasp": AJF, LDH
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: ATT, BJH, CJG, DC, DWG, LDH, MYS
Ghost Whisperer: "Heart and Soul": AJF
Life On Mars: [The one where he OD's]: MYS
Medium: "But for the Grace of God": AJF
Medium: "Wicked Game, Parts I and II": AJF
Metatropolis: CM
Primeval: "Episode 4": AJF
Primeval: Season Finale: AJF, DC, MYS
Torchwood: "Adam": AJF
Torchwood: "Fragments/Exit Wounds": AJF, CJG
Torchwood: "To the Last Man": AJF
The Venture Brothers, "Trial of the Monarch": DC, MYS

As in previous years, the Bay Area Science Fiction Association held Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and we are posting our accumulated recommendations in a series of entries here. We're following the current community standard on tagging entries whereby the tags read 2008 for the (theoretical) eligibility year rather than 2009, the year in which the award will be presented.

A key to the initials of the people making recommendations is in basfa's community journal. This post may change if we receive additional recommendations from club members.

Lou Anders: CM, KS
Jennifer Brehl: BJH, CM
Liz Gorinsky: CM
David Hartwell: BJH, CJG, DC, DWG, KS, MYS
Elizabeth Mitchell: BJH, DC
Juliet Ulman: CM
Sean Wallace: CM