(MEGA-GIVEAWAY: One lucky commenter with a US address will get a copy of each of the nominated books — that’s right, eight volumes!)

Yes, it’s award season again. With the Prometheus Awards short list announced and the Arthur C. Clarke Awards already chosen, the Nebulas and the Hugos are coming up rapidly. The Nebulas will be awarded at the Nebula Weekend in Chicago, Illinois, June 4-7. The Hugo awards will be announced on August 22, at Sasquan, in Spokane, Washington.

The Hugos made the news this year with articles in venues as diverse as Slate, the UK Guardian, and even The New York Times. Sadly, the notoriety was not for the exciting works that were short-listed but for the use of bloc-voting to promote a slate of works. In spite of the success of the slate among the categories of shorter works, the nominees for Best Novel don’t seem to have been affected by the bloc-voting.

What’s on the lists? As usual, there is some overlap.

THE NEBULAS:





THE HUGOS:

Who do you think will win? Will it be the strong sequel to the book that swept the awards last year, or the exquisite second-world fantasy? Can a strong entry in a long-running urban fantasy series win a Hugo? Or will the long-awaited hard SF novel from China be the breakout winner?

Is it a year for space opera, exciting military science fiction or eerie, can’t-trust-your-own-senses doings on our own planet?

Who do you want to win? Which books do you think are the best, and deserving of the award, and why? Tell us below.

And now, about that exciting give-away opportunity. The publishers have provided one copy of each of the nominated books*. (This means we have one copy even if the book is nominated for both awards.) One commenter with a US address will win the entire set of eight books.

Let the debate begin!

*Special thanks to Sarah Skolaut, Jim Butcher’s assistant, for some above-and-beyond help.

Marion Deeds, with us since March, 2011, is the author of the fantasy novella ALUMINUM LEAVES. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthologies BEYOND THE STARS, THE WAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, STRANGE CALIFORNIA, and in Podcastle, The Noyo River Review, Daily Science Fiction and Flash Fiction Online. She’s retired from 35 years in county government, and spends some of her free time volunteering at a second-hand bookstore in her home town. You can read her blog at deedsandwords.com, and follow her on Twitter: @mariond_d. View all posts by →

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