![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thehugoawards.org\/content\/Logos\/Hugo_Logo_1_300px.png?w=625\"){kind=logo}
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The 1945 Retro Hugo and 2020 Hugo Award finalists were announced a few days ago. Here are the links (for anyone that has been hiding in a bunker):<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.thehugoawards.org\/hugo-h\u2026\/1945-retro-hugo-awards\/<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.thehugoawards.org\/hugo-history\/2020-hugo-awards\/<\/a><\/p>\n Brief comments follow (for those in search of more detail, have a look at Cora Buhlert\u2019s blog, link on the right).<\/p>\n 1945 Retro-Hugo Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n Best Novel: I\u2019ve only read the Hull\/van Vogt novel, and the Stapledon years ago. Looks like a weak year for novels to me.<\/p>\n Best Novella: Another weak category. I\u2019ve read three: the Sturgeon is a strong story, the van Vogt is mediocre and the Leinster is plain awful. I\u2019ve been meaning to read the issue that has the Kuttner novel, and this will provide some encouragement.<\/p>\n Best Novelette: The C. L. Moore story is a novella (19,600 words when I OCRd the Great SF Stories<\/em> version; the magazine version came out higher). Best Short Story: I\u2019ve only read half of these. I don\u2019t think the van Vogt should be here (strong start but weak ending), and I was lukewarm about Huddling Place<\/em> (but there are obviously a lot of agoraphobia fans or sufferers out there). Ditto my comments about the Asimov. Best Editor, Short Form: Campbell again I think.<\/p>\n Best Professional Artist: Woo-hoo, my nominations actually count for something for once. Dolgov gets a Hugo nod, and so does Timmins. 2020 Hugo Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve only read a couple of the shorter pieces of fiction (the Siobhan Carroll story is cute but it\u2019s not Hugo worthy, and Rivers Solomon\u2019s short story is awful), so general comments only:<\/p>\n Women continue to dominate the novel, novella, novelette, and short story categories, with 6 out of 6 in the novel, 3\u00bd (plus one non-binary) out of 6 in the novella (Solomon\u2019s piece is listed as a solo work by ISFDB, and does not list any co-contributors), 5 out of 6 in the novelette, and 5 out of 6 in the short story. Of the male writers, I think one is white, and he has \u00bd a nomination as a collaborator (i.e. he wouldn\u2019t have got there without his female beard). Edited 10th April 2020: Changed “4\u00bd” to “3\u00bd (plus one non-binary)” in novella.<\/em><\/p>\n The 1945 Retro Hugo and 2020 Hugo Award finalists were announced a few days ago. Here are the links (for anyone that has been hiding in a bunker): http:\/\/www.thehugoawards.org\/hugo-h\u2026\/1945-retro-hugo-awards\/ http:\/\/www.thehugoawards.org\/hugo-history\/2020-hugo-awards\/ Brief comments follow (for those in search of more detail, have a look at Cora Buhlert\u2019s blog, link on the right). 1945 Retro-Hugo Awards Best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Pcj7-3fU","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12518"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12536,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518\/revisions\/12536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe Golden Fleece<\/em> by Robert Graves (Cassell)
\nLand of Terror <\/em>by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.)
\nShadow Over Mars<\/em> (The Nemesis from Terra<\/em>) by Leigh Brackett (Startling Stories<\/em>, Fall 1944)
\nSirius: A Fantasy of Love and Discord<\/em> by Olaf Stapledon (Secker & Warburg)
\nThe Wind on the Moon<\/em> by Eric Linklater (Macmillan)
\nThe Winged Man<\/em> by A.E. van Vogt and E. Mayne Hull (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, May-June 1944)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nThe Changeling<\/em> by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, April 1944)
\nA God Named Kroo<\/em> by Henry Kuttner (Thrilling Wonder Stories<\/em>, Winter 1944)
\nIntruders from the Stars<\/em> by Ross Rocklynne (Amazing Stories<\/em>, January 1944)
\nThe Jewel of Bas<\/em> by Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories<\/em>, Spring 1944)
\nKilldozer!<\/em> by Theodore Sturgeon (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, November 1944)
\nTrog <\/em>by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, June 1944)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nArena <\/em>by Fredric Brown (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, June 1944)
\nThe Big and the Little<\/em> (The Merchant Princes<\/em>), by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, August 1944)
\nThe Children\u2019s Hour<\/em> by Lawrence O\u2019Donnell (C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, March 1944)
\nCity <\/em>by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, May 1944)
\nNo Woman Born<\/em> by C.L. Moore (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, December 1944)
\nWhen the Bough Breaks<\/em> by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, November 1944)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nA strong category, although I don\u2019t know what City<\/em> is doing here (Census<\/em> is a stronger piece if you must have a \u2018City\u2019 story in this category). I haven\u2019t read the Asimov recently (and I hope the voters don\u2019t award this series another<\/em> Hugo). Brackett\u2019s The Veil of Astellar<\/em> should probably be here.
\nThe Children\u2019s Hour<\/em> would be my pick, even if No Woman Born<\/em> isn\u2019t transferred to the novella category.<\/p>\n
\nAnd the Gods Laughed<\/em> by Fredric Brown (Planet Stories<\/em>, Spring 1944)
\nDesertion <\/em>by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, November 1944)
\nFar Centaurus<\/em> by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, January 1944)
\nHuddling Place<\/em> by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, July 1944)
\nI, Rocket<\/em> by Ray Bradbury (Amazing Stories, May 1944)
\nThe Wedge<\/em> (The Traders<\/em>), by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction<\/em>, October 1944)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nDesertion<\/em> seems the obvious choice to me.<\/p>\n
\nJohn W. Campbell, Jr.
\nOscar J. Friend
\nMary Gnaedinger
\nDorothy McIlwraith
\nRaymond A. Palmer
\nW. Scott Peacock<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nEarle Bergey
\nMargaret Brundage
\nBoris Dolgov
\nMatt Fox
\nPaul Orban
\nWilliam Timmins<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nI think I may vote for Brundage though, as it may be the last chance to do so (I think her artwork peters out after 1944).<\/p>\n
\nThis tribal voting is completely out of whack with writer demographics (never mind what may actually be the \u201cbest\u201d in the field), and it is, if memory serves, at least the third year in a row that this has happened.
\nI also note that nearly all the novelette and short fiction comes from free vs. pay-for publications.
\nIf the aforementioned gender and race bias isn\u2019t dispiriting enough, Jeanette Ng\u2019s personal attack on John Campbell (and wider attack on the field) at last year\u2019s Hugo Award ceremony is a finalist for the Best Related Work Hugo. I don\u2019t know what is more depressing, that several hundred so-called fans decided to do some Trumpian doubling-down on this unpleasant incident, or that Ng actually accepted the nomination (all potential finalists are contacted ahead of time and given the opportunity to withdraw). Just think about the thought process that happened there.
\nIt looks like the lunatics are still in charge of the asylum (or at least the main building and a couple of the wings).<\/p>\n![\"rss\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfmagazines.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/16x16\/rss.png?resize=16%2C16&ssl=1\" "\\"Subscribe")
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