As I noted last year, the Hugo is one of the two major awards given in the world of science fiction and fantasy writing (the other being the Nebula). This year’s nominees were just announced, and the winners will be announced at Worldcon in September (held this year in Melbourne).

As always, these nominations are usually a great reading list, especially if you’re interested in short fiction. There are some familiar names on the list, like Nancy Kress, Mike Resnick, and John Scalzi, and quite a few I’ve never heard of. The only novel I’ve read from the list is Boneshaker by Cherie Priest – which I highly recommend, especially if you like steampunk and/or zombies.

There are also categories for graphic novels, films, and television shows. And in typical fashion, Doctor Who dominates the latter category (with Dollhouse and FlashForward also represented). As far as movies go, maybe Avatar will pick up a Hugo to make up for the Oscar snubs (though as far as writing goes, I think maybe Star Trek would have a better shot with the Worldcon crowd, or even Up).