Hugo Finalists Revealed

The 2026 Hugo finalists are out, putting this year’s science fiction and fantasy ballot in place four months before Worldcon opens in Anaheim. (lacon.org) LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention, announced the finalists on April 21. The awards ceremony is scheduled for August 30, 2026, during the convention’s August 27-31 run in Anaheim, California. (thehugoawards.org) (lacon.org) This year’s nominating round drew 1,488 valid ballots, including six paper ballots, and 23,543 nominations covering 4,299 works and people across 21 categories. Final voting opens in early May, and only LAcon V World Science Fiction Society members can cast the final ballot. (lacon.org) (thehugoawards.org) The Hugo Awards are voted on by Worldcon members rather than a jury, which makes the finalist list a snapshot of organized fan support as much as critical acclaim. LAcon V said members of both the 2025 Seattle Worldcon and the 2026 convention were eligible to nominate. (lacon.org 1) (lacon.org 2) The best novel lineup includes Robert Jackson Bennett’s *A Drop of Corruption*, Nnedi Okorafor’s *Death of the Author*, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s *Shroud*, Alix E. Harrow’s *The Everlasting*, Emily Tesh’s *The Incandescent*, and Antonia Hodgson’s *The Raven Scholar*. That category alone logged 1,153 ballots and 555 nominees. (lacon.org) In best novella, the finalists include Annalee Newitz’s *Automatic Noodle*, Freya Marske’s *Cinder House*, Olivia Waite’s *Murder by Memory*, Amal El-Mohtar’s *The River Has Roots*, Naomi Novik’s *The Summer War*, and T. Kingfisher’s *What Stalks the Deep*. LAcon V reported 807 ballots cast and 172 nominees in that category. (lacon.org) Short fiction finalists stretch across magazine and online venues including *Uncanny Magazine*, *Clarkesworld*, *Reactor*, and *Diabolical Plots*. The 2026 ballot also keeps Best Poem, an additional category LAcon V said it chose to include after the category was used in 2025. (lacon.org 1) (lacon.org 2) The ballot extends beyond fiction to the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, two fan-voted honors administered alongside the Hugos at Worldcon. LAcon V said all three awards will be presented at the same August 30 ceremony. (thehugoawards.org) (lacon.org) What happens next is straightforward: finalists campaign for reader attention, members vote over the next several months, and the winners are unveiled onstage in Anaheim at the end of August. (lacon.org)