Reading for Treasure: The Hugo Awards!

 

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles (and other readings) that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction! 

 

Looking for something fun to read, but not ready to start a long book? This month’s Reading For Treasure has some award-nominated short fiction that is outstanding and free!

 

The Hugo nominations were announced last month. The Hugos are the fan nominated and selected awards for science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. To learn more about the Hugos, click here. Fans who are attending or supporting the World Science Fiction convention each summer may nominate and vote for these awards. I try to do this every year, even if I am not traveling to the actual convention. This year, the convention, which was going to be hosted in Wellington, New Zealand, has gone virtual. So you won’t have to travel to participate – or vote for the Hugos!

 

The Hugos have many categories. Here is the official list of all the nominees. Since there were no science fiction conventions during World War II, many worldcons also have RetroHugo awards for a year in which the awards were not given. This year, the RetroHugos are for 1945. Here is the list of Retro nominees.

 

If you register and become a member of the convention (either supporting or attending), not only can you vote for the Hugos, you can also download a reading packet with many of the nominated works in it. Click here to become a member; an attending membership will allow you full access to the online convention. A supporting membership means you will receive all the updates and publications (including the reading packet), be able to vote for the Hugos and the site selection of the 2022 World Science Fiction Convention.

 

However, you can read many of the nominated works without doing anything! Here is a list of nominated short stories and novelettes that are only a click away. Since all of the short story nominees are available online, if you read them all, let me know which you think should win. I am voting!

 

Short Stories:

 

·       “And Now His Lordship Is Laughing” by Shiv Ramdas

·        “As the Last I May Know” by S.L. Huang

·       “Blood Is Another Word for Hunger” by Rivers Solomon

·       “A Catalog of Storms” by Fran Wilde

·       “Do Not Look Back, My Lion” by Alix E. Harrow

·       “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island” by Nibedita Sen

 

Novelettes:

 

·       “The Archronology of Love” by Caroline M. Yoachim

·       “Away With the Wolves” by Sarah Gailey

·       “The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye” by Sarah Pinsker

·       Emergency Skin, by N.K. Jemisin  (you have to be a Prime member to read the whole story).

·       “For He Can Creep”, by Siobhan Carroll

·       “Omphalos”, by Ted Chiang  - this one is not available for free

 

 

I am currently reading the Hugo nominated short fiction (short stories, novelettes, and novellas).