Hugo Nominees Are Out

The Hugo Award nominations have been announced. Here's the ones that jumped out at me, either because a friend is involved, or because I've actually read/seen the work, or both (Please note: this is NOT the full list of nominations, follow the link above to get that):

Best Novelette

• "Eros, Philia, Agape", Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 3/09)
• "The Island", Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)
• "It Takes Two", Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
• "One of Our Bastards is Missing", Paul Cornell (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three)
• "Overtime", Charles Stross (Tor.com 12/09)
• "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast", Eugie Foster (Interzone 2/09)

This one is of interest to me because of Doctor Who writer, and old friend, Paul Cornell getting a nom. I haven't actually read any of the works, though. I'm rooting for Paul on the basis of his previous works and the fact that he wrote me into a Doctor Who novel as a little Dutch dressmaker.

Best Graphic Story

• Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Written by Neil Gaiman; Pencilled by Andy Kubert; Inked by Scott Williams (DC Comics)
• Captain Britain And MI13. Volume 3: Vampire State Written by Paul Cornell; Pencilled by Leonard Kirk with Mike Collins, Adrian Alphona and Ardian Syaf (Marvel Comics)
• Fables Vol 12: The Dark Ages Written by Bill Willingham; Pencilled by Mark Buckingham; Art by Peter Gross & Andrew Pepoy, Michael Allred, David Hahn; Colour by Lee Loughridge & Laura Allred; Letters by Todd Klein (Vertigo Comics)
• Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm Written by Kaja and Phil Foglio; Art by Phil Foglio; Colours by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
• Schlock Mercenary: The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse Written and Illustrated by Howard Tayler

This one has me rooting for two different nominations. As you can see, Paul got another nomination, and Girl Genius has been nominated again this year after their win last year. In this category, however, I've read both Paul's effort and Girl Genius. For purely personal preference, I'd go with Girl Genius. The only reason I wouldn't vote for Paul is because I'm really sick of vampires, and despite Paul handling the Marvel Universe characters with great skill and producing a wonderful comic book... it had vampires in it. It's almost a relief to me that I'm not voting for real.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• Avatar Screenplay and Directed by James Cameron (Twentieth Century Fox)
• District 9 Screenplay by Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell; Directed by Neill Blomkamp (TriStar Pictures)
• Moon Screenplay by Nathan Parker; Story by Duncan Jones; Directed by Duncan Jones (Liberty Films)
• Star Trek Screenplay by Robert Orci & Alex Kurtzman; Directed by J.J. Abrams (Paramount)
• Up Screenplay by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter; Story by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, & Thomas McCarthy; Directed by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar)

I've still only seen Avatar. District 9, Star Trek, and Up are all in the Netflix queue, though.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• Doctor Who: "The Next Doctor" Written by Russell T Davies; Directed by Andy Goddard (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: "Planet of the Dead" Written by Russell T Davies & Gareth Roberts; Directed by James Strong (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: "The Waters of Mars" Written by Russell T Davies & Phil Ford; Directed by Graeme Harper (BBC Wales)
• Dollhouse: "Epitaph 1" Story by Joss Whedon; Written by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon; Directed by David Solomon (Mutant Enemy)
• FlashForward: "No More Good Days" Written by Brannon Braga & David S. Goyer; Directed by David S. Goyer; based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer (ABC)

Well, I've seen all three Doctor Who stories, but neither of the others. I would pick "The Next Doctor", with "Water of Mars" a close second despite the fatal flaws in the plot. "Planet of the Dead" would be a close third.

Best Editor, Long Form

• Lou Anders
• Ginjer Buchanan
• Liz Gorinsky
• Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• Juliet Ulman

This category should be entirely based on the works produced by the editors, but I'm afraid my choice is Lou, because he's an old friend and part of the Special K crowd like Paul.

Yeah, definitely a good thing I'm not voting.

Check out the whole list of nominees at The Hugo Awards Website. And feel free to criticize my choices, or give your own stories of who should get a Hugo this year. But not Torvald, he's already got one: