The Hugo Nominees You Can Read on the Internet, Right Now, For Free

It’s a fact: every time the Hugos or the Eisners or the Harvey awards get announced, you sweep your eyes down a list of books, stories, comics, and movies that you totally meant to read this year, everybody said they were so good, but you never really get around to it. Or, you say to yourself, awesome, I have a new reading list! And then you never actually follow through.

Worry not. Here are all of the nominees for the 2013 Hugo Awards for excellence in science fiction and fantasy, with, wherever possible, links to excerpts and in some cases the full work available online, right now, for free. Get your read on!

Best Novel

• 2312 (excerpt) by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
• Blackout (excerpt) by Mira Grant (Orbit)
• Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
• Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas (excerpt) by John Scalzi (Tor)
• Throne of the Crescent Moon (excerpt) by Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

Best Novella

• After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications)
• The Emperor’s Soul (excerpt) by Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications)
• On a Red Station, Drifting (excerpt) by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
• San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant (Orbit)
• “The Stars Do Not Lie” (complete) by Jay Lake (Asimov’s, Oct-Nov 2012)

Best Novelette

• “The Boy Who Cast No Shadow” (complete story available for free on eReaders) by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Postscripts 26/27: Unfit For Eden, PS Publications)
• “Fade to White” (complete) by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
• “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi” by Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity, Solaris)
• “In Sea-Salt Tears” by Seanan McGuire (Self-published)
• “Rat-Catcher” by Seanan McGuire (A Fantasy Medley 2, Subterranean)

Best Short Story

• “Immersion” (complete) by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld, June 2012)
• “Mantis Wives” (complete) by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
• “Mono no Aware” by Ken Liu (The Future is Japanese, VIZ Media LLC)

Best Graphic Story

• Grandville Bete Noire Written and illustrated by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse Comics, Jonathan Cape)
• Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks Written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
• Saga, Volume One (issue #1 available free) Written by Brian K. Vaughn, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
• Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia Written by Howard Tayler, colors by Travis Walton (Hypernode Media)
• Saucer Country, Volume 1: Run Written by Paul Cornell, illustrated by Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Broxton and Goran Sudžuka (Vertigo)

Best Related Work

• The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn (Cambridge University Press)
• Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them Edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Sigrid Ellis (Mad Norwegian Press) [Editor’s note: Our own Jill Pantozzi has an essay in this one!]
• Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who Edited by Deborah Stanish & L.M. Myles (Mad Norwegian Press)
• I Have an Idea for a Book… The Bibliography of Martin H. Greenberg Compiled and edited by John Helfers (The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box)
• Writing Excuses, Season Seven by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Jordan Sanderson

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)

• The Avengers Screenplay and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount)
• The Cabin in the Woods Screenplay by Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon, directed by Drew Goddard (Mutant Enemy, Lionsgate)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, directed by Peter Jackson (WingNut Films, New Line Cinema, MGM, Warner Bros)
• The Hunger Games Screenplay by Gary Ross & Suzanne Collins, directed by Gary Ross (Lionsgate, Color Force)
• Looper Screenplay and directed by Rian Johnson (FilmDistrict, EndGame Entertainment)

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

• Doctor Who: “The Angels Take Manhattan” Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: “Asylum of the Daleks” Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: “The Snowmen” Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Saul Metzstein (BBC Wales)
• Fringe: “Letters of Transit” Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Akiva Goldsman, J.H.Wyman, Jeff Pinkner; directed by Joe Chappelle (Fox)
• Game of Thrones: “Blackwater” Written by George R.R. Martin, directed by Neil Marshall, created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)

Best Editor – Short Form

• John Joseph Adams
• Neil Clarke
• Stanley Schmidt
• Jonathan Strahan
• Sheila Williams

Best Editor – Long Form

• Lou Anders
• Sheila Gilbert
• Liz Gorinsky
• Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist

• Vincent Chong
• Julie Dillon
• Dan Dos Santos
• Chris McGrath
• John Picacio

Best Semiprozine

• Apex Magazine Edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Jason Sizemore, and Michael Damian Thomas
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies Edited by Scott H. Andrews
• Clarkesworld Edited by Neil Clarke, Jason Heller, Sean Wallace, and Kate Baker
• Lightspeed Edited by John Joseph Adams and Stefan Rudnicki
• Strange Horizons Edited by Niall Harrison, Jed Hartman, Brit Mandelo, An Owomoyela, Julia Rios, Abigail Nussbaum, Sonya Taaffe, Dave Nagdeman, and Rebecca Cross

Best Fanzine

• Banana Wings Edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
• The Drink Tank Edited by Chris Garcia and James Bacon
• Elitist Book Reviews Edited by Steven Diamond
• Journey Planet Edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Emma J. King, Helen J. Montgomery, and Pete Young
• SF Signal Edited by John DeNardo, JP Frantz, and Patrick Hester

Best Fancast

• The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
• Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (presenters) and Andrew Finch (producer)
• SF Signal Podcast, Patrick Hester, John DeNardo, and JP Frantz
• SF Squeecast, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, Catherynne M. Valente (presenters) and David McHone-Chase (technical producer)
• StarShipSofa, Tony C. Smith

Best Fan Writer

• James Bacon
• Christopher J. Garcia
• Mark Oshiro
• Tansy Rayner Roberts
• Steven H. Silver

Best Fan Artist

• Galen Dara
• Brad W. Foster
• Spring Schoenhuth
• Maurine Starkey
• Steve Stiles

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

• Zen Cho
• Max Gladstone
• Mur Lafferty
• Stina Leicht
• Chuck Wendig