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)

R’ Eliyahu Mizrachi of Istanbul, the Greatest Romaniote Gadol