The Hugo Awards for 2021
December 19, 2021 12:57 AM   Subscribe

2021's Hugo Award winners have been announced. See: Martha Wells's Network Effect on Fanfare; complete voting stats [PDF]; annual "In Memoriam" list; and the complete ceremony (some light moments: Michael Schur's recording at 1:21 and Ursula Vernon's slime mold facts at 1:44 and 2:03). Under section 3.3.19 of the WSFS Constitution [PDF], DisCon III awarded a unique Hugo for Best Video Game. This year's awards were sponsored by Google and Raytheon. The site of Worldcon 2023 has also been selected: Chengdu, despite a special resolution. On Twitter: Jeannette Ng; Michi Trota; James Nicoll (NASFiC defined); Chengdu's bid team / fandom.
posted by Wobbuffet (72 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
There needs to be a new category, best except murderbot or something, just to be fair to other people.

Also thanks for posting this. I need some more reading material. :)
posted by Literaryhero at 1:24 AM on December 19, 2021 [14 favorites]


“This year's awards were sponsored by Google and Raytheon.”

Now there’s a combo straight out of dystopian science fiction. They know everything about you and a missile is on the way to blow up your neighborhood.
posted by Kattullus at 1:45 AM on December 19, 2021 [58 favorites]


Good old James Nicoll, always trying to smooth the waters in complex, nuanced, tense situations.

/s × 1000

(The guy's been a fuckin troll as far back as LiveJournal.)
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:03 AM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


Pretty chuffed that two of my favorite authors won twice!
posted by kyrademon at 2:16 AM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


I feel like the decision to have the awards in China can and should be its own thread...because I'm happy to let this be a place to celebrate and discuss who was nominated and who won. But the decision to have the con in China is...quite unfortunate. And I care a lot about speculative fiction in China. But I kind of want to let this thread be more celebratory. Plus, how can I say it better than Jeannette Ng?
posted by wooh at 2:30 AM on December 19, 2021 [21 favorites]


Agreed on the Chengdu decision really needing a thread of its own, rather than getting it mixed up with celebrating the winners and nominees. (So many excellent works to get excited about!)
posted by harujion at 3:24 AM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]


I'm kind of surprised that Hades won a video game Hugo; not that it's not deserving, it's a fantastic game, but as a game deeply rooted in Greek mythology it feels a little outside the Hugo's typical wheelhouse. (Other than 'is this sci-fi?' I don't have a problem with the nominees.)

Then again, the Eurovision comedy that Will Ferrell was in was nominated for a Hugo too so I got no idea what's going on with some of these categories.
posted by Merus at 3:59 AM on December 19, 2021 [6 favorites]


You do not need to be a "The Good Place" fan to enjoy the Michael Schur acceptance speech part of the ceremony video. It is very short and silly and fun. Recommended.
posted by brainwane at 4:03 AM on December 19, 2021 [4 favorites]


The masked chior for In Memoriam, and the way the list continued, outrunning the song..
posted by joeyh at 4:05 AM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


I have a friend in her sixties who's been an sf/f fan for many decades. The In Memoriam segment invariably is the way she finds out, every year, that at least one person she knows has died. Sometimes several.
posted by brainwane at 4:17 AM on December 19, 2021 [7 favorites]


I didn't think the last episode of The Good Place stuck the landing at all, especially since the penultimate episodes were so good. Except for Tahani who got a very unexpected and very deserved ending, everyone else just kind of faded out in a way that seemed to contradict the premise the show had just rebelled against. Infinity is an enormous place to explore, and it just didn't seem to thematically fit that most everyone would accomplish "everything" and grow bored.

The She Ra finale was so much more satisfying and the show really deserved a Hugo because it was just awesome in every way possible.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:21 AM on December 19, 2021 [7 favorites]


Looking forward to the detailed statistics about what got nominated.

As I mentioned in a comment a little while ago, regarding what gets nominated in the short fiction categories:

My personal assumption is that, even if the fundamental circulation numbers for the print SF&F magazines are comparable to the fundamental circulation numbers for the better-known online SF&F magazines, linkability makes a big difference to circulation of a particular story.
posted by brainwane at 4:30 AM on December 19, 2021 [7 favorites]


It looks like the video of the complete ceremony has been locked.

(Yay Murderbot!)
posted by Pronoiac at 4:33 AM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


Harrow was robbed! But it’s good to see the awards didn’t go to a bunch of white dudes
posted by thedaniel at 4:51 AM on December 19, 2021 [6 favorites]


2362 ballots total. I wondered whether we might have a big increase in ballots because people had more time to read the voters' packet (because of Worldcon's delay to December) but it looks like that did not happen.... or there was an effect but it compensated for a decrease in people's time and attention due to pandemic.

Also: I am actually eligible for Best Fan Writer because of my series of short story recommendations here on the blue, in case any of you are putting together your nomination lists for next year.
posted by brainwane at 5:14 AM on December 19, 2021 [29 favorites]


Hugo finalist "The Pill" by Meg Elison is available at a discounted price till January 1. I thought it was very good.
posted by brainwane at 5:20 AM on December 19, 2021


I was cheering for Piranesi - a book that is beautiful and strange and I definitely haven't read a better science fiction or fantasy book in the year-and-change since I read it. (Harrow was great and I would've been happy with that one too, but I assumed a second book in a series that's impossible to jump into without reading the first didn't stand much of a chance.)
posted by Jeanne at 5:20 AM on December 19, 2021 [12 favorites]


James Nicoll's trolling is entirely directed at cishet white dudes voting for cishet white dudes.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:02 AM on December 19, 2021 [7 favorites]


Every year, there is some kind of Hugo drama. Why the hell did China win? And how, because people seem to be implying something went on? I concur with Jeannette on why this is bad and unsafe.

I am happy for the works I read that won but am really sad that what I was rooting for did not, so I will just go hide in the corner now.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:08 AM on December 19, 2021 [3 favorites]


Why the hell did China win ?

Because more people eligible to vote in Worldcon site selection voted for the Chengdu bid than for the Winnipeg bid.

And how

Because more people eligible to vote in Worldcon site selection voted for the Chengdu bid than for the Winnipeg bid.

because people seem to be implying something went on

Well, something did go on, in that the meeting of the body that owns the rights to Worldcon (so providing continuity for an event that moves to a different organising committee annually) voted on a no-notice motion to approve an advisory interpretation of the voting rules that would have disqualified most of the votes for the Chengdu bid. Fortunately the chair of the site selection meeting disregarded such 'advice', which if followed would have reclassified 3/4 of the votes for Chengdu as 'no preference' and resulted in the 2023 Worldcon going to the Winnipeg bid.

I've been involved with Worldcon at various levels since 1992 and like many other such people I know I have been deeply dismayed to see the shenanigans of the last few days. As one friend noted, it's obviously the fashion in Washington DC to try to rewrite the rules of an election on the fly.
posted by Major Clanger at 6:26 AM on December 19, 2021 [10 favorites]


Yay murderbot, that was well deserved. And Ursula Vernon gets her second (third? Does the Lodestar Award count?) Hugo.

And definitely supporting having a second thread about the site selection.
posted by Hactar at 6:28 AM on December 19, 2021 [6 favorites]


Lodestar is technically not a Hugo, but also I appreciate Ursula Vernon's dedication to weird facts acceptance speeches.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:30 AM on December 19, 2021 [4 favorites]


I'm glad to see the Murderbot series honored. I've enjoyed the books quite a bit.

Here's some stuff to read (also this) about the voting controversy at Worldcon.
posted by Nelson at 6:53 AM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


I'm sad the video got locked. I was going to watch that.
posted by hippybear at 7:37 AM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]


I loved the entire Murder Bot series but Piranesi is probably the best book I've read in a very long time.
posted by bluesky43 at 7:53 AM on December 19, 2021 [14 favorites]


This year's awards were sponsored by Google and Raytheon.
So, a certain poetry to Murderbot winning this year.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 7:57 AM on December 19, 2021 [21 favorites]


Waiting for the inevitable Netflix MURDERBOT series so Martha Wells can win yet another Hugo.
posted by SPrintF at 9:37 AM on December 19, 2021 [8 favorites]


RUNNER!
posted by clavdivs at 9:40 AM on December 19, 2021


Could Awkwafina star in it?
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:45 AM on December 19, 2021 [6 favorites]


Ditto on the Murderbot love but Piranesi is fantastic.
posted by jclarkin at 10:02 AM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


Hades also won a 2020 Nebula Award for Best Game Writing.

In 2019, The Outer Worlds somehow beat Outer Wilds for the Nebula. This might be because a bunch of voters got them confused. Or it might be because Outer Wilds deserved to win not for writing but in a category that didn't exist: Best Use of a Video Game to Create a Work of Science Fiction.
posted by straight at 12:41 PM on December 19, 2021 [4 favorites]


I feel like I don't read any more and I've got no idea what's out there any more, but reading the list of nominees and awards, I see some things I have read. Apparently I'm not a hermit yet!

I didn't realize there was also a best artist section. It was fun to paste those names into Google Image search to see their work
posted by Cusp at 12:45 PM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]


Here is a new link for the ceremony video.
posted by Darken Skye at 1:15 PM on December 19, 2021 [5 favorites]


Sponsored by Raytheon. Disgusting.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 1:48 PM on December 19, 2021 [8 favorites]


I've paid very little attention to the Hugos, so it was surprising to see that nominated in the Dramatic Long Form was Will Ferrel's "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga." ??!
posted by ewan at 2:53 PM on December 19, 2021


Seanan McGuire, who is very popular among Hugo voters/nominators, actively campaigned for the Eurovision nom.

The number votes required to become a Hugo nominee is relatively small (Eurovision received 69 votes in the nomination phase), so a push from a popular writer can make a difference.
posted by creepygirl at 3:22 PM on December 19, 2021 [8 favorites]


So glad Martha Wells did not have to throw in the towel and become an aerobics instructor.
posted by kkar at 4:00 PM on December 19, 2021 [6 favorites]


My eyes were instantly drawn to that "in memoriam" list and yes, sure enough, there are absent friends on it. People I haven't talked to in a decade or more, but old acquaintances none the less. We won't be talking for a great deal longer now, it seems.

Which is just to say...if you have a chance to say hello to someone, do it.

Also, and even as the part of me that was raised by decent Ohio lapsed Protestants knows it's NONE OF MY BUSINESS, to this day every time I see that Terry Goodkind has passed, a part of me wonders what happened. (A part of me is relatively certain she'll never know.)
posted by offalark at 4:25 PM on December 19, 2021 [3 favorites]


This is how I learned the co-owner of my favourite second-hand bookshop died a year ago. Really good SFF section. Looks like they are still trading, maybe I should visit before the next Covid wave hits us.

The Eurovision movie, for those who are too "cool" to have watched it, or gotten any girl cooties from doing so, has fantasy elements which are essential to the plot. (It doesn't altogether lack cold equations but they are supplied by the villains.)
posted by Coaticass at 4:32 PM on December 19, 2021 [4 favorites]


Good to see The Old Guard win the Hugo. A much underappreciated sci-fi flick.
posted by storybored at 5:21 PM on December 19, 2021 [3 favorites]


I need to read Piranesi. It's now further up The Stack (TM).

Harrow the Ninth was good.

As a MetaFilter outlier, I found Murderbot very interesting and have been trying to understand the series' popularity.
posted by doctornemo at 5:23 PM on December 19, 2021


The short story winner: Metal Like Blood in the Dark.
posted by storybored at 5:24 PM on December 19, 2021 [5 favorites]


Not much love for Raytheon on Twitter, either. How they see the future: Inside Raytheon's four-year blueprint for growth, Ross Wilkers, Defense Systems, May 19, 2021.
posted by cenoxo at 5:47 PM on December 19, 2021


The winner's posted upthread, but here are the other nominees in the Short Story category, also worth a read.

Little Free Library
A Guide for Working Breeds
Open House on Haunted Hill
The Mermaid Astronaut
Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse
posted by Runes at 6:45 PM on December 19, 2021 [5 favorites]


And in the novelette category:

Two truths and a lie
The Inaccessibility of Heaven
Monster
The Pill is mentioned upthread
Helicopter Story has been taken down at the request of the author, please lets not get into that.
Burn or The Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super
posted by Runes at 6:52 PM on December 19, 2021 [4 favorites]


Is this the place to acknowldge I had a really hard time with Pinesi? It seemed sort of fussy, and Edwardian? Also, I know there was a central allegory, but I found it distracting, and kind of difficult to parse? This hasn't annoyed me in the past, but the confusion about the central message didn't seem on purpose? Most likely my fault, but has anyone read anything good in terms of criticism of it, either raves or dissenting opinons?
posted by PinkMoose at 7:00 PM on December 19, 2021 [2 favorites]


Is this the place to acknowldge I had a really hard time with Pinesi?

I had a hard time with it too.
posted by Runes at 7:07 PM on December 19, 2021


The best thing I read about Piranesi is not criticism but this long piece on the author and what she's been going through.

I think reading that before reading the novel helped me get ahold of it. I think it is very good -- I'd probably have given it the top slot -- but it is not easy. I would probably have voted for it for best novel, though I could also have voted for Harrow or Network effect happily. Good year for novels.
posted by feckless at 7:22 PM on December 19, 2021 [7 favorites]


I have read the profile, and kept it in mind. I don't mind dense fiction, and it did help, but it's still a little too slippery for me to completely grasp what shes doing .
posted by PinkMoose at 7:24 PM on December 19, 2021


Doctornemo As a MetaFilter outlier, I found Murderbot very interesting and have been trying to understand the series' popularity.

I think to be a big fan, you don't HAVE to be a traumatised Aspie (or similar) struggling with relationships and the moral hazards of your precarious employment, whose main coping strategies are sarcasm and addictive binge-watching of your favourite TV shows, but it probably helps.

Besides that the stories are well written, political, hilarious and ripping yarns.

No shade to the other nominees, I loved all that I've read. (And I wish Seanan McGuire could have won one of her things! Someone should give that lady some ponies.)
posted by Coaticass at 7:26 PM on December 19, 2021 [9 favorites]


Thank you for the new video link. I'm watching now. :D
posted by hippybear at 7:35 PM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


So happy about Network Effect! Also really loved The City We Became and Black Sun. Started Piranesi, but it didn't grab me right away, and I got busy, so haven't returned to it yet. It was a good year for books!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:28 PM on December 19, 2021


I'm really glad I watched the awards. So many of the speeches were great, and the low production levels were charming and made it all feel more special somehow.
posted by hippybear at 9:49 PM on December 19, 2021 [1 favorite]


My experience with Piranesi was that it makes a difference if you're connected to the source material that inspired the book. The Magician's Nephew and Tombs of Atuan both had a huge impact on me as a young reader, and I was obsessed with Piranesi's artwork in my twenties, to the point of obsessively drawing my own versions, so it was inevitable that I love this book.
Some of my friends don't connect with it at all, finding it deeply disturbing.
posted by Zumbador at 10:38 PM on December 19, 2021 [4 favorites]


I bounced off Piranesi crazy hard the first time I tried to read it. I just couldn't do it. The second time, though, I was totally in tune with it.


For me what made the difference is that it is a "big mood" book (like Becky Chambers' older and more serious sister?), and I just need to be in the right headspace for something like that.
posted by Literaryhero at 2:17 AM on December 20, 2021 [1 favorite]


Thank you, Coaticass. The neuro/social aspect is one that I'm missing.

Alas, I don't find what I've read of them to be well written, political, hilarious and ripping yarns.
posted by doctornemo at 5:47 AM on December 20, 2021


I loved Piranesi--I just did a re-read of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and am reading The Ladies of Grace Adieu, which I never got around to back in the day, because I wanted to swim around in Susanna Clarke's head some more.

When I started it, I think I was trying a bit too hard to figure out what was going on--e.g., trying to keep track of the dates--but once I realized that it was meant to be pretty opaque/unreliable narrator and just let it wash over me, I really got into it.
posted by damayanti at 6:38 AM on December 20, 2021 [5 favorites]


As a MetaFilter outlier, I found Murderbot very interesting and have been trying to understand the series' popularity.

One reason I think it's found an audience is that it's "hard" science fiction in the sense that it takes its technical premise seriously, without being grim. I'm a science fiction reader who will lose patience with a book if the characters don't exploit the premise. I remember getting frustrated with a book where the characters are trying to hijack a spaceship, and we're meant to think they're competent, and they have an intelligent box that can manufacture literally anything on command, and they use it to manufacture a gun and go on with their day. You just wasted your whole setup and gave me nothing to look at! Where's the exoskeleton and drone swarm and whatnot?

Murderbot is "hard" science fiction in this sense -- part of the contract is the expert fighting machine with hacking skills and superhuman timing will blow things up in a plausibly satisfying and detailed way that draws on its specific resources by the end of the book. But a lot of books that are good at delivering that part come from a military grimdark perspective that I find gross. Murderbot doesn't -- another part of the contract is the characters will be mostly decent and learn something about themselves and it will end happily, more or less the contract that comes with a romance novel.

Tl;dr my basic theory is if you combine a hard science fiction contract with a romance novel contract there's a lot of readers there.

I also agree with Coaticass that an important part of the Murderbot series is that it features a character who seems to be autistic, in a way that isn't condescending but relatable and heroic and credibly first-person. This is a little tricky because (on a quick google search) Martha Wells doesn't identify as autistic and says the character is based on herself, so I don't want to overreach, but it sure seems to work if you choose to read it that way. E.g.:
I drew from a lot of my own experiences, my own anger and frustration and social anxiety. I didn't intend for Murderbot to have autism spectrum traits, but again, I'm drawing from my own experience
And:
> As a mental health professional, I can't help but notice that, were he a human, Murderbot would likely be considered to be on the autistic spectrum. Was that a conscious choice or more of a coincidence? If it was an intentional decision to have Murderbot and autism overlap, what did you study to better represent neurodiversity on the page?

Those aspects of the character were based on my own experience. I'm not neurotypical, and I've been affected by depression and anxiety all my life.
posted by john hadron collider at 7:11 AM on December 20, 2021 [10 favorites]


This year I managed to read all of the nominated novels (pats self on back) and I can say that they're all very well written, though I struggled with The City We Became as urban fantasy is not really my thing. Aaaand (pats self on back again) I managed to get my eldest hooked on The Murderbot Diaries.
posted by Harald74 at 8:17 AM on December 20, 2021 [2 favorites]


john hadron collider, thank you for that comment. I appreciate the links and extra consideration.

I share your frustration with failing to exploit an sf premise.

This bit also stands out:
another part of the contract is the characters will be mostly decent and learn something about themselves and it will end happily, more or less the contract that comes with a romance novel.
That sounds like Becky Chambers and other cozy sf.
posted by doctornemo at 9:34 AM on December 20, 2021 [1 favorite]


I think the key to liking Murderbot is the realization that it's an unreliable narrator. Not in the sense that Murderbot lies, but that Murderbot doesn't understand the vast universe around it. There is a bit in the second book, Artificial Condition, in which Murderbot and ART watch Sanctuary Moon together. ART, who has a incomprehensibly vast intelligence, can't make sense of the serial without the aid of Crew. (Indeed, ART agonizes whenever Crew are threatened, even in fiction.) ART is like Murderbot once removed; Murderbot can at least mimic human activity, whereas ART is completely at a loss. The recurring business of Murderbot watching endless streams of media demands the question: what is Murderbot getting out of it? By its own admission, real people are not like actors, so why is Murderbot so hooked on human drama?

Murderbot is not human. (Murderbot would be the first to agree!) We, as humans, want to engage with it, even though Murderbot is horrified by the idea. Maybe the autism spectrum is a way for us to understand Murderbot, but ultimately a SecUnit is its own thing. Murderbot is a compelling and sympathetic "alien" shocked and struggling with its interactions with humans.
posted by SPrintF at 10:44 AM on December 20, 2021 [5 favorites]


I see that the Murderbot Diaries is a series of 5 novellas and 1 novel---the current Hugo Winner. Is it a good idea to read the novel first and then novellas whenever, or is it necessary to read them in order?
posted by TreeRooster at 11:34 AM on December 20, 2021


I would read them in order. The novellas first and the novel last. There is a lot of character development in the series--the Murderbot in the first novella is not the same person (I guess that's right) as the one in the novel.
posted by Quonab at 11:37 AM on December 20, 2021 [5 favorites]


SecUnit and ART are people, but not human people.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 12:42 PM on December 20, 2021 [10 favorites]


I've read Piranesi, and for the first half I thought it was the worst world-building I'd ever seen. The viewpoint character was engaging and the images were striking, but it didn't make much sense. Halfway through, there's an explanation of sorts, which was good enough for me.

I liked Elatsoe tremendously-- fantasy premises based on a culture I'm not familiar with, and very good use of them. Also, possibly the doggiest dog I've read.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:49 PM on December 20, 2021 [1 favorite]


So happy about Network Effect! Also really loved The City We Became and Black Sun. Started Piranesi, but it didn't grab me right away, and I got busy, so haven't returned to it yet. It was a good year for books!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:28 PM on December 19 [+] [!]


Just realized that I have not, in fact, started and quickly set aside Piranesi, after all. I have started and quickly set aside a novel by Paolini, which is an altogether different book. As I said, I've been busy. Too busy for reading comprehension and short term memory, apparently.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:08 PM on December 20, 2021


I was put off by Piranisi's premise, but I soon realized it was a mystery story and then it became very enjoyable.

Clarke is VERY good at portraying the unsettling nature of magic, if it were to exist.
posted by emjaybee at 4:21 PM on December 20, 2021 [6 favorites]


To join in the Piranesi discussion - the fact that the character and the world they lived in slowly unfolded over the first half of the book was what I loved about it. I felt like I was discovering something with many hypotheses tried and discarded until I just went with the flow. When the 'explanation' for the first part of the book unfolded in the second part of the book, I found it less satisfying but the mystery in the first half is what totally drew me in. But I see the point for those who couldn't get into it.
posted by bluesky43 at 4:51 PM on December 20, 2021 [1 favorite]


I think the thing about Piranesi is that it’s got heavy Borges DNA, and I’ve always struggled with Borges
posted by angrycat at 3:00 PM on December 21, 2021 [3 favorites]




Thanks to all the people who post about this as it is just about the only way I get Hugo information anymore.

Despite feeling far removed from the foaming crest of the current SFF waves, I was surprised to see that I'd read this year's Best Novella, The Empress of Salt and Fortune. I knew it was fairly recent, but didn't think it was that new, when I stumbled upon it. Anyhow, even though the war mammoths weren't featured as much as I'd like, one of my favourite fantasy reads of recent years.
posted by house-goblin at 12:32 PM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]


DisCon III's Statement and Apology on DisCon III Sponsorship
posted by Wobbuffet at 1:54 PM on December 23, 2021 [4 favorites]


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