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Hugo Awards 2008 – the winners

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Via SF Signal, here are the winners of this year’s Hugo Awards:

  • BEST NOVEL: The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)
  • BEST NOVELLA: “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec. 2007, Subterranean Press)
  • BEST NOVELETTE: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (F&SF Sept. 2007)
  • BEST SHORT STORY: “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s June 2007)
  • BEST RELATED BOOK: Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher (Oxford University Press)
  • BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM: Stardust Written by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn; based on the novel by Neil Gaiman; directed by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures)
  • BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM: Doctor Who “Blink”; written by Stephen Moffat; directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)
  • BEST PROFESSIONAL EDITOR, SHORT FORM: Gordon Van Gelder
  • BEST PROFESSIONAL EDITOR, LONG FORM: David G. Hartwell
  • BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST: Stephan Martiniere
  • BEST SEMIPROZINE: Locus
  • BEST FANZINE: File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
  • BEST FAN WRITER: John Scalzi
  • BEST FAN ARTIST: Brad Foster
  • JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER: Mary Robinette Kowal

Very few surprises there, I think it’s safe to say. Ted Chiang’s victory was a given long before the nominations were announced, for example; Van Gelder is a shoo-in based on subscriber figures alone, and likewise Scalzi.

The only vague surprise is Chabon taking the Best Novel – not because it’s an undeserving book, as I’m assured it’s excellent, but because its definition as sf has been such a controversial issue elsewhere.

How would you rewrite this list if you had control of sf fandom for the day?

2 thoughts on “Hugo Awards 2008 – the winners”

  1. I’m happy with the novel award, although I’d like to have seen Brasyl do better. But the novella is a joke – the Willis is one of her twee Christmas stories, and more skiffy than science fiction. The best of the bunch, the Shepard, came last. Novelette – that one actually seems to have gone right, even down to the final order. Short story – thought it was a weak category, but I’d have preferred Steve Baxter to take it.

    Still, 745 ballots counted for Best novel. Out of 5,000 – 6,000 attendees?

  2. I haven’t read the Chabon novel yet, and very few of the other winners (I did see Stardust), but I will say that Brasyl is an incredibly brilliant novel, with great ideas and great characters. I can’t recommend it highly enough to serious readers of sf.

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