The Sword and Laser discussion

In the last podcast Tom and Veronica said they’re going to pick books that are likely to be Hugo nominated, does anyone know where I can see what books are leading the polls?

See who won in the past, then see if they have a new book.

I'd be surprised if 2-3 of the finalists aren't from this list
Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders
The Light Brigade, by Kameron Hurley
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow

I'd guess at least 2 will come from these:
The Future of Another Timeline, by Annalee Newitz
A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire
A Song for a New Day, by Sarah Pinsker
The Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie
Magic for Liars, by Sarah Gailey

Long Shots
The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood
Ancestral Night, by Elizabeth Bear
Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James
The Dragon Republic, by R.F. Kuang
The Empress of Forever, by Max Gladstone
Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Rage of Dragons, by Evan Winter
Storm of Locusts, by Rebecca Roanhorse
Wanderers, by Chuck Wendig
Velocity Weapon, by Megan O'Keefe

Two Novellas, Near Locks
This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
The Deep, by Rivers Solomon

I think all you can do is look at the various "Best of 2019" science fiction and fantasy lists that have been posted here and there. Nominations close March 13. Final ballot will probably be posted early April.

I found a site with some: https://hugo-noms-2020.fandom.com/wik...

It's not up yet (in the next week, I'd guess), but Locus Magazine does their Locus Recommended lists for Fantasy, Science Fiction, Debut Author, Horror and other categories. It's not specifically for the Hugo Awards or necessarily all encompassing, but it gives a *very* good overview at what books were notable and important in the genre in a given year.

Here's a link for the Locus list for 2018 books, as a point of reference: https://locusmag.com/2019/02/2018-loc...

Patiently waiting for a Peter F. Hamilton lifetime achievement award.

I should have waited until today - the 2019 Locus Recommended Reading List is out: https://locusmag.com/2020/02/2019-loc...

Joe wrote: "I should have waited until today - the 2019 Locus Recommended Reading List is out: https://locusmag.com/2020/02/2019-loc..."

A really good list. Thanks, Joe.

All the buzzy books are here, plus quite a few others.

I wonder which ones sold the most.

My five nominees at this point.
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
Holy Sister
A Little Hatred
The Dragon Republic
Tiamat's Wrath

Nice list at Locus. The Hugos need to expand past 5 nominees. They are almost always books and authors that have buzz or are well known. I'd love to see what's come in 6-10 the last few years (or any period really... this isn't a new phenomenon).

As soon as the Hugos are awarded, the long list of nominees is published. Has been for years. Example: http://www.thehugoawards.org/wp-conte... (last section is the long list). The info is at http://www.thehugoawards.org/

I would be very surprised if Ninth House was not nominated.

My bets are for The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley and The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz, both I read and enjoyed immensely. The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders might make it too though it was just okay for me, and of course The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow even though it's fantasy but very hyped and she won last year.

In my list but small chance to get the nod: Tiamat's Wrath (not even in the Locus list!), Luna: Moon Rising, and Interference.

Y’all are the best. This thread is super helpful. Thanks!’

On thinking on it a bit more. I’d actually be a bit surprised if Tiamat's Wrath didn’t make the list. With the popularity and notoriety of the show, and it’s authors, along with previous book nominations. I think it stands a better then even chance. But then again, I haven’t read it yet, so maybe it fell flat for some.

I'm skeptical of Tiamat's Wrath making the ballot. Only the first book, Leviathan Wakes, was a Hugo finalist for Best Novel and while there is history of deeper series work on the Best Novel ballot, they are often more standalone work (Lois McMaster Bujold and Anne McCaffrey are the two most prominent examples, I think, with Vorkosigan and Pern respectively).

The other comparable work might be Jim Butcher's Skin Job (Book 15), with no other works in the series having previously made the ballot - but that should probably be considered a special case given that it occurred in the midst of the Sad and Rabid Puppy campaigns (a much longer story, not perhaps worth getting into if you're not already familiar - though I can probably sum up reasonably quickly if necessary)

Where I would expect to see The Expanse on the ballot is for Best Series because it is eligible again - though my personal preference is to not nominate it now and to wait for the publication of Book 9 so that we can recognize a full and complete series. It is unlikely to be eligible if it makes the ballot this year.

Good perspective Joe. For some reason I had it in my head that a couple other of the books had made the short list, but I was mistaken. Looking back at the long list of nominations for 2018 Persepolis Rising had the fewest nominations even on the list at 76, about 50 votes shy of making the short list.

And I think you are correct that Puppy campaign years are a bit of a special case, and I was a voting member both those years so I remember the chaos. But aren't you ignoring a trend in some of the more recent novels like A Closed and Common Orbit 2017( I will admit this is mostly stand alone), The Stone Sky 2018, and Ancillary Mercy 2016. Just a thought.

I think you are correct that it very may show in Series, and I also think you are right that it would make more sense to give it the award with the final book. That is still a newer category, and I do think there are some bugs to possibly be worked out with it. I guess the authors could decline the nomination this time (assuming they get it), in the hopes that they get it for book 9 as well.

John: Completely agree on the recent trend to nominate more series work than in previous years, especially series work that is dependent on other books rather than related standalone work - though I'd have to do a deeper dive into Hugo history to figure that out.

It's certainly not impossible for Tiamat's Wrath to make the ballot, but it might be unprecedented (Skin Job notwithstanding) for the 8th book of a series to make the ballot where the series is not comprised of standalones and most of the previous volumes were not on the ballot.

I don't *think* I'm trying to set a super narrow standard just to have my cake - but it would be a remarkable thing and substantially different (in my mind) than books 1-3 of a series on the ballot compared to Book 1 and 8 and

Actually - we almost had a great point of comparison in 2014 when The Wheel of Time was nominated as a single novel rather than A Memory of Light being pushed on its own. Best Series definitely would have helped that year.

I picked Tiamat's Wrath for Best Novel because a relative called me and asked if I was all right because according to the My Life app, I had not moved for two days ! That alone makes it one of my best books of the 2019!