John, Alison and Liz discuss this year’s Hugo Awards finalists.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

A note from John: I’ve done my level best to find useful URLs and link them below. Please let me know if there are better links or things I’ve missed!

• Best Novel
  • Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
  • Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
  • A Sorceress Comes to Call by T Kingfisher
  • The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
• Best Novella
  • The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo
  • The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
  • Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
  • The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
  • The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
  • What Feasts at Night by T Kingfisher
• Best Novelette
  • “The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha
  • “By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed
  • “The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer
  • “Lake of Souls” by Ann Leckie
  • “Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou
  • “Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker
• Best Short Story
  • “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachael K Jones
  • “Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal
  • “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo
  • “Three Faces of a Beheading” by Arkady Martine
  • “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” by Caroline M Yoachim
  • “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J Kim
• Best Series
  • Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhorse
  • The Burning Kingdoms by Tasha Suri
  • InCryptid by Seanan McGuire
  • Southern Reach by Jeff VanderMeer
  • The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
  • The Tyrant Philosophers by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Best Graphic Story
  • The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag
  • The Hunger and the Dusk, Vol. 1 by G Willow Wilson and Chris Wildgoose
  • Monstress, Vol. 9 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
  • My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Vol. 2 by Emil Ferris
  • Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio
  • We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans
• Best Related Work
  • “Charting the Cliff: An Investigation into the 2023 Hugo Nomination Statistics” by Camestros Felapton and Heather Rose Jones
  • r/Fantasy’s 2024 Bingo Reading Challenge
  • “The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel” by Jenny Nicholson
  • Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right by Jordan S Carroll
  • Track Changes by Abigail Nussbaum
  • “The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion” by Chris M Barkley and Jason Sanford
• Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
  • Dune: Part Two
  • Flow
  • Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
  • I Saw the TV Glow
  • Wicked
  • The Wild Robot
• Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)
  • “The Beginning” (Fallout)
  • “Death’s Hand in Mine” (Agatha All Along)
  • “Dot and Bubble” (Doctor Who)
  • “Fissure Quest” (Star Trek: Lower Decks)
  • “The New Next Generation” (Star Trek: Lower Decks)
  • “73 Yards” (Doctor Who)
• Best Game or Interactive Work
  • Caves of Qud
  • Dragon Age: The Veilguard
  • The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
  • Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
  • Tactical Breach Wizards
  • 1000xRESIST
• Best Editor (Short Form)
  • Scott H. Andrews
  • Jennifer Brozek
  • Neil Clarke
  • Jonathan Strahan
  • Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
  • Sheila Williams
• Best Editor (Long Form)
  • Carl Engle-Laird
  • Ali Fisher
  • Lee Harris
  • David Thomas Moore
  • Diana M. Pho
  • Stephanie Stein
• Best Professional Artist
  • Micaela Alcaino
  • Audrey Benjaminsen
  • Rovina Cai
  • Maurizio Manzieri
  • Tran Nguyen
  • Alyssa Winans
• Best Semiprozine
  • The Deadlands
  • Escape Pod
  • FIYAH
  • khōréō
  • Strange Horizons
  • Uncanny Magazine
• Best Fanzine
  • The Ancillary Review of Books
  • Black Nerd Problems
  • The Full Lid
  • Galactic Journey
  • Journey Planet
  • Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog
• Best Fancast
  • The Coode Street Podcast
  • Eight of Diana Wynne Jones
  • Hugo, Girl!
  • Hugos There
  • A Meal of Thorns
  • Worldbuilding for Mascochists
• Best Fan Writer
  • Camestros Felapton
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Roseanna Pendlebury
  • Jason Sanford
  • Alasdair Stuart
  • Örjan Westin
• Best Fan Artist
  • Iain Clark
  • Sara Felix
  • Meg Frank
  • Michelle Morrell
  • España Sheriff
  • Alison Scott
• Best Poem
  • Calypso by Oliver K Langmead
  • “Ever Noir” by Mari Ness
  • “there are no taxis for the dead” by Angela Liu
  • “A War of Words” by Marie Brennan
  • “We Drink Lava” by Ai Jiang
  • “Your Visiting Dragon” by Devan Barlow
• Lodestar Award
  • The Feast Makers by H.A. Clarke
  • Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
  • The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
  • Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee
  • Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger
  • So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole
• Astounding Award
  • Moniquill Blackgoose
  • Bethany Jacobs
  • Hannah Kaner
  • Angela Liu
  • Jared Pechaček
  • Tia Tashiro
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Scorching Hot Takes” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A black background. Text in purple reads “Octothorpe 132” while text MADE OF FIRE says “Scorching hot takes on the Hugo finalists”.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)