Usually as soon as the detailed Hugo statistics have been published, I run an analysis looking at the closely results, the lower placings, and the almost-nominated. I have done it again this year – see who won by one vote, who got onto the ballot by one vote, who came sixth despite almost topping the final ballot in their category and who was beaten by No Award – but I also have thoughts about the strengths of the individual categories.
As usual, Best Novel and Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, appear the strongest, with the most nomination votes and the most nominees. The other two categories that look very robust are the two Best Artist categories, which had the lowest number of first preference votes for No Award and both the lowest number and the lowest percentage of No Award votes in the runoff.
But other categories seem a bit more vulnerable. If the old 25% rule had still been in force, two categories would have been No Awarded this year – Best Editor Long Form and Best Fanzine (the latter by a hair’s breadth). Best Editor Long Form also had the lowest number of nominating votes, the lowest number of nominees, the lowest number of final ballot votes and the highest percentage of No Award votes among first preferences. I have long been of the view that it is difficult for Hugo voters to make a fair assessment of the editor’s role in bringing a novel to press.
Best Fanzine has been struggling to attract voters for a while. Fanzines are at the core of the history of science fiction fandom, and it would be a sad day if we had to admit that they are no longer relevant for a critical majority of fans. But sometimes sad days come.
The special Best Poem category performed below my expectations. It had the lowest threshold for getting on the final ballot, and the highest number of No Award first preference votes. I would want to see at least one more trial before I voted to ratify it as a new Hugo category.
More robust than the above, but worth noting that Best Game or Interactive Work had the highest percentage of No Award votes in the runoff.
Detailed analysis follows.
Best Novel
The Tainted Cup was well ahead at all stages for the final ballot, getting the highest number of first preference votes for any finalist, and beat A Sorceress Comes To Call by 230 votes. This category had the most nominating votes, the most nominees, the highest threshold to get on the ballot, the highest number of final ballot votes, and the lowest percentage of No Award votes among first preferences. It also had the highest number of No Award votes at the runoff.
A Sorceress Comes To Call beat Alien Clay for second place; Alien Clay overtook Someone You Can Build a Nest In to take third place; Someone You Can Build a Nest In beat Service Model for fourth place; and Service Model beat The Ministry of Time by 17 votes for fifth place. I am sorry about The Ministry of Time, which got my own vote.
The Tainted Cup was also way ahead of the field on nomination votes, but only just ahead of Someone You Can Build a Nest In and A Sorceress Comes to Call on EPH points.
The Mercy of Gods, by James S.A. Corey, was six votes off getting on the ballot at the expense of Service Model.
Best Novella
The Tusks of Extinction was comfortably ahead at all stages on the final ballot, and won by 55 votes.
Butcher of the Forest overtook both What Feasts at Night and The Practice, the Horizon and the Chain to take second place; What Feasts at Night beat The Practice, the Horizon and the Chain for third place; The Practice, the Horizon and the Chain beat The Brides of High Hill by four votes for fourth place; and The Brides of High Hill beat Navigational Entanglements for fifth place. Again I voted for the sixth-placed finalist, Navigational Entanglements.
Butcher of the Forest was comfortably in the lead on both nomination votes and EPH points. The Tusks of Extinction was third on both.
Navigational Entanglements and Haunt Sweet Home (by Sarah Pinsker) had the same number of nomination votes, but Navigational Entanglements was well ahead on EPH points. A single extra vote for Haunt Sweet Home would have got it on the ballot.
Best Novelette
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” was comfortably ahead at all stages of the final ballot, and beat “Lake of Souls” by 71 votes. This time I voted for the winner.
”Lake of Souls” beat “Signs of Life” for second place; “Signs of Life” beat “By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” for third place; “By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” beat “The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” for fourth place; and “The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” beat “Loneliness Universe” for fifth place, all by decent margins.
“Signs of Life”, by Sarah Pinsker, was comfortably in the lead on both nomination votes and EPH points. “The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” was third on votes and fourth on EPH points.
“A Stranger Knocks”, by Tananarive Due, needed 4 more votes worth 2.58 points to get on the ballot, which would have been at the expense of “Loneliness Universe”, by Eugenia Triantafyllou.
Best Short Story
“Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” and “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole?” started exactly level on first preferences, but “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” picked up far more transfers and won by 146 votes.
“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole?” beat “Marginalia” for second place; “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” overtook “Marginalia” to take third place; “Marginalia”, which I voted for, beat “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” for fourth place; and “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” beat “Three Faces of a Beheading” for fifth place, all by large margins.
“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole?” was far ahead at nominations stage, with more votes and EPH points than any other two nominees in this category put together. “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” was the second last nominee to reach the ballot, with less than a third of the votes of “Omelas” and less than a quarter of its EPH points. This is one of the most striking reversals of fortune between the two rounds that I can remember.
“Rude Litterbox Space”, by Mary Robinette Kowal, needed 7 more votes worth 3.5 points to get on the ballot, which would have been at the expense of “Three Faces of a Beheading”.
Best Series
An extraordinary result, as Between Earth and Sky started fourth on first preferences, but then overtook The Stormlight Archive and Southern Reach to beat InCryptid by 95 votes.
InCryptid beat Southern Reach by just 3 votes for second place; Southern Reach beat The Stormlight Archive for third place; The Tyrant Philosophers overtook The Stormlight Archive on transfers from The Burning Kingdoms To take fourth place; and the report is unclear about the fifth place, but I think what happened is that The Stormlight Archive and The Burning Kingdoms tied. The Stormlight Archive seems to have been a somewhat polarising finalist.
I voted No Award here as I usually do, giving my second preference to The Burning Kingdoms which came joint last.
The Tyrant Philosophers, which came fifth in the final balloting, was well ahead on nomination votes, and comfortably ahead on EPH points. Between Earth and Sky was second on votes but third on points.
We had to disqualify the Singing Hills Cycle, by Nghi Vo, because it is well short of the 240,000 total word threshold.
The Alliance-Union series by C.J. Cherryh needed 6 more votes to get on the ballot, which would have been at the expense of the Stormlight Archive.
Best Graphic Story or Comic
Warp Your Own Way was comfortably ahead at all stages and won by 127 votes, beating The Deep Dark. I voted for it too.
We Called Them Giants overtook The Deep Dark to win second place by 4 votes. The Deep Dark Beat The Hunger and the Dusk for third place. The Hunger and the Dusk beat Monstress for fourth place, and Monstress beat My Favorite Thing is Monsters for fifth place.
Warp Your Own Way was also well ahead at nominations phase. The numbers suggest that 30 of the 37 who voted for it had no other finalists on their ballot.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, by Patrick Horvath and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, needed 1 more vote worth 0.25 points to get on the ballot and tie with The Deep Dark.
Best Related Work
The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel got the most first preferences, but ended up beaten by both A Report on Censorship and Exclusion and Speculative Whiteness, the latter winning by 20 votes.
A Report on Censorship and Exclusion beat The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel for second place; “Charting the Cliff” then also beat The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel for third place by 11 votes; The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel beat Track Changes for fourth place; and Track Changes, which I voted for, beat r/Fantasy’s 2024 Bingo Reading Challenge for fifth place.
The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion was far ahead on both nomination votes and EPH points. Speculative Whiteness had the second most votes but (by a whisker) the third highest tally of points.
“Dave McCarty Is Excoriated By A Woman In A Fabulous Hat”, by Ursula Vernon, needed 4 more votes to get on the ballot, at the expense of “Charting the Cliff”. We would have scratched our heads briefly about its eligibility, but personally I do not see why social media commentary would not fall within the scope of 3.3.6. We certainly rules that way last year, though the nominee in question declined nomination.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Dune Part 2 beat Flow by a comfortable 120 votes.
Flow, which I voted for, beat The Wild Robot for second place; The Wild Robot beat Wicked for third place; Wicked beat Furiosa for fourth place; and Furiosa beat I Saw the TV Glow for fifth place.
Dune Part 2 was far ahead at nominations stage, with more votes and EPH points than any other two nominees in this category put together, and the highest number of votes for any nominee in any category.
The Substance needed 8 more votes worth 7.12 points (or 9 more votes of any value) to get on the ballot at the expense of Flow.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
For the final ballot, Agatha All Along: Deaths Hand in Mine started with a three-vote lead over Fallout: The Beginning; but Star Trek Lower Decks: The New Next Generation made up for an initial deficit of more than 80 and beat Agatha by 9. This was the category where the winner had the lowest percentage of first preference votes, and where No Award got the highest percentage in the runoff.
Star Trek Lower Decks took second place as well, with Fissure Quest beating Agatha All Along: Deaths Hand in Mine by 15 votes. Agatha All Along: Deaths Hand in Mine beat Fallout: The Beginning for third place; Doctor Who: 73 Yards, which I voted for, also beat Fallout: The Beginning by 11 votes for fourth place, on transfers from Doctor Who: Dot and Bubble; and Fallout: The Beginning beat Doctor Who: Dot and Bubble by 4 votes for fifth place (probably; the voting numbers seem to be incomplete).
At nominations stage, Agatha All Along: Death’s Hand in Mine came top, just ahead of the two Doctor Who episodes.
We had to disqualify Dune: The Musical, which was first performed before 2024. Star Trek Lower Decks: The New Next Generation started sixth on nomination votes and EPH points, though was then bumped up to fifth after the disqualification.
That brought another nominee onto the ballot. Fallout: The Beginning and Doctor Who: Rogue both had the same number of votes, but The Beginning had more EPH points. If Rogue had had one more point, however, it would have been the third Doctor Who episode on the ballot; one of the three would have had to be removed under 3.8.6 and The Beginning would have got back onto the ballot (under a clarifying amendment proposed this year, Rogue would simply have been skipped as there were two Doctor Who episodes already on the ballot).
The next nominee in line was another live theatre show from Glasgow, The Dark Room, which would have caused some head-scratching about eligibility as it was first performed several years ago. Next after that would have been the Perestroika episode of For All Mankind.
Best Game or Interactive Story
A very tight contest initially with only 11 votes separating the top four on the first count, Dragon Age: The Veilguard leading by a margin of one over The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom; and by the third count the race had actually tightened, with only 9 votes between the top four, Caves of Qud having dropped to fourth place from third. But Caves of Qud then took the lead with transfers from Tactical Breach Wizards and went on to win by a margin of 53 votes over Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
All of the other places were tight too. Dragon Age: The Veilguard beat 1000xResist by 12 votes for second place; 1000xResist overtook The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom to take third place by 25 votes; Lorelei and the Laser Eyes also overtook The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom to win fourth place by 18 votes; and Tactical Breach Wizards again beat The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom by 20 votes for fifth place.
Bearing in mind that The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was just one vote behind the leader on the first count of the first round, it is remarkable that it won only the sixth place; it was clearly marmite, as they say. (Ugh! Marmite!)
This was also much closer at nominations than in 2021 or 2024, with Tactical Breach Wizards in the lead in nomination votes and Dragon Age: The Veilguard ahead on EPH points. Caves of Qud was in fourth place by both rankings, but not very far behind the respective leaders.
This was another case where the sixth place on the ballot was very close, with Helldivers 2 just one vote behind Lorelei and the Laser Eyes but with more EPH points; an extra vote for Helldivers 2 would have swung it the other way.
Best Editor, Short Form
Neil Clarke started with a lead of four votes over the Thomases, and ended with a lead of 67.
The Thomases beat Jonathan Strahan by 14 votes for second place; Sheila Williams then overtook Jonathan Strahan to win third place by 6 votes; Jonathan Strahan then beat Jennifer Brozek for fourth place, and Jennifer Brozek beat Scott H. Andrews for fifth place by 7 votes.
Neil Clarke was well in the lead on both nomination votes and EPH points.
Dave Ring needed 1.35 more EPH points to leapfrog both Jennifer Brozek and Sheila Williams, and would have taken Jennifer Brozek’s place on the ballot.
Best Editor, Long Form
Diana M. Pho started with a lead of 12 over Lee Harris, and ended with a lead of 25. This category had the lowest number of nominating votes, the lowest number of nominees, the lowest number of final ballot votes and the highest percentage of No Award votes among first preferences, including mine.
Under the old 25% threshold rule, there would have been no award in this category because there were only 392 first preferences for nominees other than No Award (the threshold would have been 490.5).
Lee Harris beat Carl Engle-Laird for second place; Carl Engle-Laird crushed the opposition to take third place; Stephanie Stein beat David Thomas Moore for fourth place by 13 votes; and Ali Fisher also beat David Thomas Moore for fifth place by 5 votes.
Lee Harris, Diana M. Pho and Carl Engle-Laird, in that order, were tightly bunched at the top on both nomination votes and EPH points.
Kelly Lonesome needed two more votes to get on the ballot at the expense of Ali Fisher.
Best Professional Artist
Alyssa Winans started 6 votes behind Rovina Cai, and ended 19 votes ahead. This category had the second lowest number of No Award first preference votes, and the lowest number and percentage of No Award votes in the runoff.
Rovina Cai beat Maurizio Manzieri for second place; Tran Nguyen overtook Maurizio Manzieri to win third place by 6 votes; Micaela Alcaino, who I voted for, also overtook Maurizio Manzieri to win fourth place by 4 votes; and Maurizio Manzieri beat Audrey Benjaminsen for fifth place.
Alyssa Winans led on nomination votes, though Maurizio Manzieri was a whisker ahead on EPH points.
The last place on the ballot was very close indeed, with Audrey Benjaminsen one vote ahead of both Lulu Chen and Ashley Mackenzie. Lulu Chen had more EPH points and so would just have needed one more vote of any value to get on the ballot; Ashley MacKenzie would have needed a full value vote to overtake Audrey Benjaminsen.
Best Semiprozine
Uncanny started with a good lead and beat FIYAH by 98 votes.
Strange Horizons beat FIYAH for second place; FIYAH overtook Escape Pod to take third place; Escape Pod crushed the opposition to take fourth place; and khōréō beat The Deadlands for fifth place.
Strange Horizons was well in the lead at nominations stage on both votes and EPH points, with Uncanny in second place.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies declined nomination, bringing The Deadlands onto the ballot.
Clarkesworld needed three more votes at full value, or four more votes of any value, to take that last place.
Best Fanzine
Black Nerd Problems started and ended with a 19-vote lead over The Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog.
Under the old 25% threshold rule, there would have been no award in this category because there were only 489 first preferences for nominees other than No Award (the threshold would have been 490.5, so it would have missed by a hair).
The Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, which I voted for, beat Journey Planet for second place; Journey Planet beat The Ancillary Review of Books for third place; The Ancillary Review of Books beat Galactic Journey for fourth place; and Galactic Journey beat The Full Lid for fifth place.
The Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog had a clear lead in nomination votes and a narrow lead on EPH points. Black Nerd Problems was fourth on votes and fifth on points.
The Rec Center needed 6 more votes worth 4.57 points, or 7 more votes of any value, to get on the ballot at the cost of Galactic Journey.
Best Fancast
In the closest result of the evening, Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones started 15 votes behind Worldbuilding for Masochists and won by a single vote. I voted for it myself.
Hugo, Girl overtook Worldbuilding for Masochists to take second place by 11 votes; Worldbuilding for Masochists, which had been only one vote away from winning, had to be satisfied with third place over The Coode Street Podcast; The Coode Street Podcast beat Hugos There for fourth place; and Hugos There beat Meal of Thorns for fifth place.
Hugo, Girl! was well ahead of the field on both nomination votes and EPH points. Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones was fourth on both rankings.
Stitch & Bitch needed in excess of 1.67 more EPH points to leapfrog Hugos There and knock A Meal of Thorns off the ballot.
Best Fan Writer
Camestros Felapton topped the first preference vote, with a 14 vote lead over both Abigail Nussbaum and Jason Sanford; but Abigail Nussbaum picked up more preferences and beat Camestros Felapton by 24 votes. Again I voted for the winner.
Camestros Felapton beat Jason Sanford for second place: Jason Sanford beat Örjan Westin for third place; Alastair Stuart also beat Örjan Westin for fourth place; and Roseanna Pendlebury also beat Örjan Westin for fifth place.
Jason Sanford was well ahead on both nomination votes and EPH points. Abigail Nussbaum was sixth out of six on both rankings – the only winner to have got the last place in the ballot.
Tarvolon needed 4 more votes to displace Abigail Nussbaum from the ballot.
Best Fan Artist
Sara Felix was well ahead at all stages and beat Iain Clark by 69 votes. This category had the lowest number of No Award first preference votes, and the second lowest number and percentage of No Award votes in the runoff.
Iain Clark, who I voted for, beat Meg Frank for second place; Meg Frank beat Michelle Morrell for third place; Michelle Morrell crushed the opposition to take fourth place; and Alison Scott beat España Sheriff for fifth place.
Iain Clark was clearly ahead on both nomination votes and EPH points. Sara Felix was second on votes but narrowly third on points.
Yuumei needed in excess of 1.58 more points to leapfrog Alison Scott and displace España Sheriff from the ballot.
Best Poem
Calypso, which I voted for, started 17 votes ahead, but “A War of Words” picked up many transfers and won by 76. This category had the lowest threshold to get on the ballot (11 votes), and the highest number of No Award first preference votes on the final ballot.
“there are no taxis for the dead” overtook both Calypso and “Your Visiting Dragon” to take second place by 14 votes. “Your Visiting Dragon” overtook Calypso to take third place by 9 votes. Calypso beat “Ever Noir” by 18 votes for fourth place. “Ever Noir” beat “We Drink Lava” for fifth place.
“A War of Words” had a clear lead on both nomination votes and EPH points.
No less than five poems were within one or two votes of taking the last place on the ballot from “We Drink Lava”.
Lodestar Award
Heavenly Tyrant started 6 votes ahead of Sheine Lende, but lost by 35.
The Maid and the Crocodile, which I voted for, overtook Heavenly Tyrant to take second place by 9 votes. Heavenly Tyrant beat So Let Them Burn for third place; So Let Them Burn beat The Feast Makers for fourth place; The Feast Makers beat Moonstorm for fifth place; and uniquely this year, No Award beat Moonstorm by 5 votes, 66 to 61, for sixth place. Moonstorm had been withdrawn for consideration by the author, but only after the ballot paper had been published. I think this is the first time since 2017 that No Award has finished better than seventh in any category.
Heavenly Tyrant was in the lead on both nomination votes and EPH points, with Sheine Lende second.
Andrew Joseph White declined nomination for Compound Fracture before the ballot was announced, bringing So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole onto the list. Yoon Ha Lee withdrew Moonstorm from consideration after the ballot announcement; it was not replaced and votes for it were counted.
Both Dead Girls Don’t Dream, by Nino Cipri, and A Tempest of Tea, by Hafsah Faizal, would have qualified for the replacement space with 4 more votes of sufficient EPH value, or 5 more votes of any value.
Astounding Award
In the most one-sided result of the night, Moniquill Blackgoose was far ahead on first preferences and won with Jared Pechaček and Angela Liu still in the race. This was the category where the winner had the highest percentage of first preference votes.
Angela Liu beat Hannah Kaner for second place; Hannah Kaner beat Jared Pechaček for third place; Bethany Jacobs also beat Jared Pechaček for fourth place; and Jared Pechaček beat Tia Tashiro for fifth place. Another case where I voted for the sixth-placed nominee, Tia Tashiro.
Moniquill Blackgoose was also far ahead at nominations stage, with more votes and EPH points than any other two nominees put together.
Em X. Liu needed two more votes to displace Hannah Kaner from the ballot.
More next year, folks!