132: Almost Everything Is Not Mac

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)