2025 Hugo winners

[psocoptera]

Watching the livestream and writing this post as we go! Winners with my commentary.



Best Novel

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey, Hodderscape UK)
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit US, Tor UK)
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader Press, Sceptre)
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom)
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell (DAW)
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher (Tor)

Wow, I totally thought Vernon was going to win this, or else Tchaikovsky would manage to un-split the vote through the magic of ranked choice, very interesting! And I know Bennett turned some people off with pro-AI remarks, too!

Best Novella

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler (Tordotcom)
The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom)
Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom)
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher (Nightfire)

Wow, unexpected! I'm pleased to see it go to a standalone rather than a series installment but would not have guessed this.

Best Novelette

“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer (Asimov’s, September/October 2024)
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld, May 2024)
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed (Strange Horizons, Fund Drive 2024)
“Lake of Souls” by Ann Leckie in Lake of Souls (Orbit)
“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 58)
“Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 59)

Sure.

Best Short Story

“Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 57)
“Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachael K. Jones (Lightspeed Magazine, Jan 2024 (Issue 164))
“Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 56)
“Three Faces of a Beheading” by Arkady Martine (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 58)
“We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed Magazine, May 2024 (Issue 168))
“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld, February 2024)

Well, somebody had to win, could have been worse.

Best Series

Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga Press)
The Burning Kingdoms by Tasha Suri (Orbit)
InCryptid by Seanan McGuire (DAW)
Southern Reach by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (Tor Books)
The Tyrant Philosophers by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Ad Astra)

Yay, she had my vote!

Best Graphic Story or Comic

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way written by Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio (IDW Publishing)
The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag (Graphix)
The Hunger and the Dusk: Vol. 1 written by G. Willow Wilson, art by Chris Wildgoose (IDW Publishing)
Monstress, Vol. 9: The Possessed written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image)
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Book 2 by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
We Called Them Giants written by Kieron Gillen, art by Stephanie Hans, lettering by Clayton Cowles (Image)

Ok! I would have liked to see Ostertag get it but I think this is well-deserved!

Best Related Work

Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right by Jordan S. Carroll (University of Minnesota Press)
“Charting the Cliff: An Investigation into the 2023 Hugo Nomination Statistics” by Camestros Felapton and Heather Rose Jones (File 770, February 22, 2024)
r/Fantasy’s 2024 Bingo Reading Challenge (r/Fantasy on Reddit)
“The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel” by Jenny Nicholson (YouTube)
Track Changes by Abigail Nussbaum (Briardene Books)
“The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion” by Chris M. Barkley and Jason Sanford (Genre Grapevine and File770, February 14, 2024)

I didn't manage to vote in this category but interesting to see how this one turned out. I think I like it going to (what I assume is) a substantial academic work rather than something meta about the Hugo problems.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Dune: Part Two, screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Legendary Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures)
Flow, screenplay by Gints Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža, directed by Gints Zilbalodis (Dream Well Studio)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, screenplay by George Miller and Nick Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Warner Bros. Pictures)
I Saw the TV Glow, screenplay by Jane Schoenbrun, directed by Jane Schoenbrun (Fruit Tree / Smudge Films / A24)
Wicked, screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, directed by Jon M. Chu (Universal Pictures)
The Wild Robot, screenplay by Chris Sanders and Peter Brown, directed by Chris Sanders (DreamWorks Animation)

Also won the Bradbury, still don't really want to bother seeing it.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Star Trek: Lower Decks: “The New Next Generation” created and written by Mike McMahan, based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry, directed by Megan Lloyd (CBS Eye Animation Productions for Paramount+)
Fallout: “The Beginning”
Agatha All Along: “Death’s Hand in Mine”
Doctor Who: “Dot and Bubble”
Star Trek: Lower Decks: “Fissure Quest”
Doctor Who: “73 Yards”

Best Game or Interactive Work

Caves of Qud, co-creators Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat; contributors Nick DeCapua, Corey Frang, Craig Hamilton, Autumn McDonell, Bastia Rosen, Caelyn Sandel, Samuel Wilson (Freehold Games); sound design A Shell in the Pit; publisher Kitfox Games
Dragon Age: The Veilguard produced by BioWare
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom produced by Nintendo
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes produced by Simogo
Tactical Breach Wizards developed by Suspicious Developments
1000xRESIST developed by sunset visitor 斜陽過客, published by Fellow Traveller

Best Editor Short Form

Neil Clarke
Scott H. Andrews
Jennifer Brozek
Jonathan Strahan
Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
Sheila Williams

Four in a row - I do love Clarkesworld but I'd like to see more turnover, kind of hope he declines next year.

Best Editor Long Form

Diana M. Pho
Carl Engle-Laird
Ali Fisher
Lee Harris
David Thomas Moore
Stephanie Stein

Best Professional Artist

Alyssa Winans
Micaela Alcaino
Audrey Benjaminsen
Rovina Cai
Maurizio Manzieri
Tran Nguyen

Yay, she had my vote!

Best Semiprozine

Uncanny Magazine, publishers and editors-in-chief: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas; managing editor Monte Lin; poetry editor Betsy Aoki, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky
The Deadlands
Escape Pod
FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction
khōréō
Strange Horizons

Uncanny you're great but you have won this one enough already.

Best Fanzine

Black Nerd Problems, editors William Evans and Omar Holmon
Ancillary Review of Books, editors Jake Casella Brookins, Zachary Gillan, Lane Gillespie, Misha Grifka Wander, Gareth A. Reeves, Bianca Skrinyár, Cynthia Zhang
The Full Lid, written by Alasdair Stuart and edited by Marguerite Kenner
Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice L. Newman, associate writers Cora Buhlert, Jessica Holmes, Kerrie Dougherty, Kris Vyas-Myall, and Natalie Devitt, and the rest of the Journey team
Journey Planet, edited by Allison Hartman Adams, Amanda Wakurak, Ann Gry, Jean Martin, Sara Felix, Sarah Gulde, Chuck Serface, David Ferguson, Olav Rokne, Paul Weimer, Steven H Silver, Christopher J. Garcia and James Bacon
Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, editors Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk

Best Fancast

Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, presented by Emily Tesh and Rebecca Fraimow
The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe, producer Jonathan Strahan
Hugo, Girl!, presented by Haley Zapal, Amy Salley, Lori Anderson, and Kevin Anderson
Hugos There, presented by Seth Heasley
A Meal of Thorns, presented by Jake Casella Brookins
Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Marshall Ryan Maresca, Cass Morris and Natania Barron

If I listened to podcasts this is definitely the one of these I would pick to listen to!

Best Fan Writer

Abigail Nussbaum
Camestros Felapton
Roseanna Pendlebury
Jason Sanford
Alasdair Stuart
Örjan Westin

Best Fan Artist

Sara Felix
Iain J. Clark
Meg Frank
Michelle Morrell
Alison Scott
España Sheriff

I like her dress.

Best Poem

“A War of Words” by Marie Brennan (Strange Horizons, September 2024)
Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead (Titan)
“Ever Noir” by Mari Ness (Haven Spec Magazine, Issue 16, July 2024)
“there are no taxis for the dead” by Angela Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 58)
“We Drink Lava” by Ai Jiang (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 56)
“Your Visiting Dragon” by Devan Barlow (Strange Horizons, Fund Drive 2024)

My second-place vote, and probably the one I would have predicted.

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
The Feast Makers by H.A. Clarke (Erewhon)
Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao (Tundra Books)
The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko (Amulet)
So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
(and Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee, withdrawn)

My second-place vote! And gosh does she have great hair!

Astounding Award for Best New Writer (sponsored by Dell Magazines)

Moniquill Blackgoose (2nd year of eligibility)
Bethany Jacobs (2nd year of eligibility)
Hannah Kaner (2nd year of eligibility)
Angela Liu (2nd year of eligibility)
Jared Pechaček (1st year of eligibility)
Tia Tashiro (2nd year of eligibility)

Very pleased and excited about this outcome!