Last night saw the announcement of the 2012 nominees for science fiction's prestigious Hugo Award. It's a particularly fine ballot, reflecting a record number of nominating ballots (wisdom of the crowds and all that). Included on the ballot are our own moderator Avram (as part of the team that publishes The New York Review of Science Fiction) and one of my all-time favorite books, Among Others. Also noteworthy: the much-deserved John W Campbell Award nomination (for best new writer) for the fabulous Mur Lafferty, a nomination for the indispensable Science Fiction Encyclopedia, Third Edition, a nomination for IO9's Charlie Jane Anders's story Six Months, Three Days, and a fourth nomination for much-favored Fables graphic novels.

Best Novel (932 ballots)

Among Others by Jo Walton (Tor)

A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin (Bantam Spectra)

Deadline by Mira Grant (Orbit)

Embassytown by China Miéville (Macmillan / Del Rey)

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey (Orbit)

Best Novella (473 ballots)

Countdown by Mira Grant (Orbit)

"The Ice Owl" by Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction November/December 2011)

"Kiss Me Twice" by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov's June 2011)

"The Man Who Bridged the Mist" by Kij Johnson (Asimov's September/October 2011)

"The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary" by Ken Liu (Panverse 3)

Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA)

Best Novelette (499 ballots)

"The Copenhagen Interpretation" by Paul Cornell (Asimov's July 2011)

"Fields of Gold" by Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse Four)

"Ray of Light" by Brad R. Torgersen (Analog December 2011)

"Six Months, Three Days" by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com)

"What We Found" by Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction March/April 2011)

Best Short Story (593 ballots)

"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees" by E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld April 2011)

"The Homecoming" by Mike Resnick (Asimov's April/May 2011)

"Movement" by Nancy Fulda (Asimov's March 2011)

"The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction March/April 2011)

"Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue" by John Scalzi (Tor.com)