Winners of the 2020 Hugo Awards will be announced at the 78th World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon) which will be in New Zealand (CoNZealand) this year, though events are virtual due to COVID. The final award ceremony takes place on Saturday August 1 and George R.R. Martin will be the toastmaster. The Hugo Award finalists, listed below, are chosen by a poll of readers.
Click the title links below to read our reviews and on the author links to visit our page for the author. We’ve included the cover art for our favorites.
Which, if any, of these finalists have you read? Who do you think will win the Hugo Award in these categories? Are there any titles you think should have been on this list but aren’t? Answer below for a chance to win a book from our stacks.
BEST SHORT STORY
- “And Now His Lordship Is Laughing” by Shiv Ramdas, Strange Horizons
- “Blood Is Another Word for Hunger” by Rivers Solomon, Tor.com
- “A Catalog of Storms” by Fran Wilde, Uncanny Magazine
- “As the Last I May Know” by S.L. Huang, Tor.com
- “Do Not Look Back, My Lion” by Alix E. Harrow, Beneath Ceaseless Skies
- “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island” by Nibedita Sen, Nightmare Magazine
BEST NOVELETTE
- “The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye” by Sarah Pinsker, Uncanny Magazine
- “Emergency Skin” by N.K. Jemisin, Forward Collection
- “The Archronology of Love” by Caroline M. Yoachim, Lightspeed Magazine
- “Omphalos” by Ted Chiang, Knopf
- “For He Can Creep” by Siobhan Carroll, Tor.com
- “Away With the Wolves” by Sarah Gailey, Uncanny Magazine
BEST NOVELLA
- The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Saga
- The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark, Tor.com Publishing
- In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire, Tor.com Publishing
- To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers, Harper Voyager; Hodder & Stoughton
- Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom by Ted Chiang, Knopf
- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, Saga Press; Jo Fletcher Books
BEST NOVEL
- The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley, Saga
- A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, Tor
- Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, Tor.com Publishing
- The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders, Tor; Titan
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, Tor.com
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, Redhook; Orbit UK
LODESTAR AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
- Riverland by Fran Wilde, Amulet
- Deeplight by Frances Hardinge, Macmillan
- Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer, Tor Teen
- Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee, Disney Hyperion
- Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher, Argyll
- The Wicked King by Holly Black, Little, Brown; Hot Key
BEST SERIES
- InCryptid by Seanan McGuire, DAW
- Luna by Ian McDonald, Tor; Gollancz
- The Wormwood Trilogy by Tade Thompson, Orbit
- The Expanse by James S.A. Corey, Orbit
- Planetfall series by Emma Newman, Ace; Gollancz
- Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden, Del Rey
THE ASTOUNDING AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER
(formerly the John W. Campbell Award)
THE 1945 RETROSPECTIVE HUGO AWARDS
Each year since 1996, Retro Hugos have been awarded for years before 1953 when the first Hugo Awards were given. This year we celebrate the best science fiction of 1944 (which would have been eligible for a Hugo in 1945).
BEST SHORT STORY
- “Far Centaurus” by A. E. van Vogt, Astounding Science Fiction
- “The Wedge” (“The Traders”) by Isaac Asimov, Astounding Science Fiction
- “Huddling Place” by Clifford D. Simak, Astounding Science Fiction
- “And the Gods Laughed” by Fredric Brown, Planet Stories
- “I, Rocket” by Ray Bradbury, Amazing Stories
- “Desertion” by Clifford D. Simak, Astounding Science Fiction
BEST NOVELETTE
- “City” by Clifford D. Simak, Astounding Science Fiction
- “The Children’s Hour” by Lawrence O’Donnell (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner), Astounding Science Fiction
- “When the Bough Breaks” by Lewis Padgett, Astounding Science Fiction
- “The Big and the Little” (“The Merchant Princes”) by Isaac Asimov, Astounding Science Fiction
- “No Woman Born” by C.L. Moore, Astounding Science Fiction
- “Arena” by Fredric Brown, Astounding Science Fiction
BEST NOVELLA
- “Intruders from the Stars” by Ross Rocklynne, Amazing Stories
- “Trog” by Murray Leinster, Astounding Science Fiction
- “The Changeling” by A.E. van Vogt, Astounding Science Fiction
- “Killdozer!” by Theodore Sturgeon, Astounding Science Fiction
- “The Jewel of Bas” by Leigh Brackett, Planet Stories
- “A God Named Kroo” by Henry Kuttner, Thrilling Wonder Stories
BEST NOVEL
- The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves, Cassell
- Sirius: A Fantasy of Love and Discord by Olaf Stapledon, Secker & Warburg
- Shadow Over Mars by Leigh Brackett, Startling Stories
- Land of Terror by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
- The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater, Macmillan
- The Winged Man by A.E. van Vogt and E. Mayne Hull, Astounding Science Fiction
We’re updating our theme, so things may be a little messy or slow until we’re finished. Thank you for being patient with us!
I have read all of them for the modern Hugos for the first time.
I believe either Anders or Martine will win for best novel, Chiang or Yoachim for novelette, Chiang or Gladstone for best novella, and The Expanse for best series.
My votes were: Anders, Yoachim, Chiang, and, for best series, Planetfall, which I have been obsessed about for a while now.
I think the “Winternight Trilogy” by Katherine Arden would be a good choice for Best Series!
I loved both the Winternight trilogy and The Ten Thousand Doors of January
So many amazing books on this list! My vote has to go to Middlegame, though. It was a new take on an interesting theme.
I’ll admit I haven’t read all of them.
Yet.
However, based on friends and acquaintances reactions, here are some guesses. I’m not saying they SHOULD OR SHOULDN’T win. ALL the entires are worthy of winning.
Novel: Gideon the Ninth
Novella: This is How You Lose the Time War
Novelette: Omphalos
Short Story: A Catalog of Storms
Series: The Expanse
Lodestar: Dragon Pearl
Retrospective Short Story: Desertion
Retrospective Novelette: Arena
Retrospective Novella: The Changeling
Retrospective Novel: The Golden Fleece
We’ll find out in a week how good all our predictions are.
So many amazing titles! I have “Gideon the Ninth” and “The Ten Thousand Doors of January”.
I love each & every one of the novels and novellas this year.
Picking a winner seems next to impossible, but my personal favourite was Middlegame. But I wouldn’t be surprised, and would still be absolutely delighted, if A Memory Called Empire or Gideon took the title.
Heard a lot of praise for Middlegame.
I couldn’t believe how close and good some of the categories were! There are years when I haven’t found a single book as good as Middlegame, Gideon the Ninth, or 10,000 Doors of January, though I found Middlegame edged into first by depth of world. There were several categories where I was marking 5th place and had to shake my head that there could be 4 better works in the category. It was a great year.
Speaking of series, slowly building our Luna, InCryptid and Winternight libraries.
The only one I’be read is Middlegame
So many good choices this year! I am really enjoyed The Expanse series and The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
Arthur Maia, if you live in the USA, you win a book of your choice from our stacks.
Please contact me (Marion) with your choice and a US address. Happy reading!