The shortlists are listed, the juries are ready to judge, and I can already feel the chaos looming. It’s time to dig into this year’s Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards! Let’s look at the shortlists, shall we?

 

 

BEST SHORT STORY

“Immortal Coil” by Ellen Kushner (Uncanny Magazine)

“Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self” by Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld)

“The Badger’s Digestion; or The First First-Hand Description of Deneskan Beastcraft by an Aouwan Researcher” by Malka Older (Constelación)

“The Amazing Exploding Women of the Twentieth Century” by A.C. Wise (Apex Magazine)

 

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL

The Girl From The Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

Tidesong by Wendy Xu

Shadow Life by Hiromi Gotu & Ann Xu

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

 

BEST NOVELLA

& This Is How To Stay Alive by Shingai Njeri Kagunda

Tower of Mud and Straw by Yaroslav Barsukov

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden

A Manslaughter of Crows by Chris Willrich (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)

A Psalm For The Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

These Lifeless Things by Premee Mohamed

One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente

The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

The Future God of Love by Dilman Dila

 

BEST SERIES

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

The Kingston Cycle by C.L. Polk

Los Nefilim by T. Frohock

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

The Expanse by James S.A. Corey

 

 

BEST YOUNG ADULT

The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

We Light Up The Sky by Lilliam Rivera

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

 

BEST DEBUT

This Is Our Undoing by Lorraine Wilson

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

Unity by Elly Bangs

Inscape by Louise Carey

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

The Councillor by E.J. Beaton

 

BEST BLURRED BOUNDARIES

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Nightwatch on the Hinterlands by K. Eason

The Cabinet by Un-su Kim

The Actual Star by Monica Byrne

The Library of the Dead by TL Huchu

On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu

The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

The Velocity of Revolution by Ryan Marshall Maresca

 

BEST SCIENCE FICTION

Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson

Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kalsuke

Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace

Notes From The Burning Age by Claire North

Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Alyx: An AI’s Guide to Love and Murder by Brent A. Harris

The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

 

BEST FANTASY

The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajader

Sistersong by Lucy Holland

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Wendy. Darling by A.C. Wise

Blackheart Knights by Laure Eve

 

*Deep breath* Let’s get reading!