Whew, it’s been a bit of a journey getting to this stage of this year’s Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards. This first-timer is stocking up on the popcorn and carving out more free time, though, because we have selected our finalists and the next round of voting is on the horizon!

Note: Because we apparently like to make things interesting for ourselves, a couple of categories have not two, but three finalists thanks to some ties in the first round of voting! And yes, the angsting has already begun over my decision-making. But anyway! Who made the cut? Let’s see!

Fantasy

Finalist: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Finalist: The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

Comet Weather by Liz Williams

The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

Science Fiction

Finalist: Goldilocks by Laura Lam

Finalist: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Deal With The Devil by Kit Rocha

Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jiminez

Repo Virtual by Corey J. White

Blurred Boundaries

Finalist: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

Finalist: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Finalist: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Series

Finalist: Dominion of the Fallen by Aliette de Bodard

Finalist: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

Islands of Blood and Storm by Kacen Callender

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Pérez

The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty

Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell

Novella

Finalist: The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

Finalist: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

Sweet Harmony by Claire North

Short Story

Finalist: You Perfect, Broken Thing by C.L. Clark

Finalist: Yellow and the Perception of Reality by Maureen F. McHugh

Tiger Lawyer Gets It Right by Sarah Gailey

Convergence in Chorus Architecture by Dare Segun Falowo

In Kind by Kayla Whaley

Volumes by Laura Duerr

Juice Like Wounds by Seanan McGuire

Debut

Finalist: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Finalist: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Finalist: Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

Those are the results so far, and while I still have a chunk of reading to do in order to vote in all of these categories, as opposed to the select number I opted for in the first round, I’m in the interesting position of both a) having a clear idea of who I’ll be voting for in some categories, and b) having absolutely no idea how I’m going to choose in some others. This is going to be painful. So painful.

Best get on with it, then!