Hugo Finalists Announced

LAcon V has announced the 2026 Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding finalists, starting this year’s Worldcon awards race. (lacon.org) The finalists were announced on April 21, 2026 by LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention, which will meet in Anaheim from August 27 to 31. Members of the 2025 and 2026 Worldcons cast 1,488 valid nominating ballots, including six paper ballots. (thehugoawards.org (lacon.org )) Nominators submitted 23,543 nominations covering 4,299 works and people across 21 categories. LAcon V said final-ballot voting will open in early May, and only LAcon V World Science Fiction Society members can vote in that round. (lacon.org) The Hugo Awards are voted on by Worldcon members, not by a jury, and the awards have been presented since 1953, with annual awards every year since 1955. That structure is why the finalist list is read as both a set of honors and a snapshot of what active convention members were reading, watching, and playing over the last year. (thehugoawards.org (lacon.org) ) This year’s ballot again includes Best Poem, a category LAcon V said it carried over after a 2025 trial run in Seattle. Hugo Awards Administrator Tammy Coxen said organizers wanted another year of data before the World Science Fiction Society business meeting decides whether to make the category permanent. (thehugoawards.org (amazingstories.com) ) The fiction ballot is led by six Best Novel finalists: *A Drop of Corruption* by Robert Jackson Bennett, *Death of the Author* by Nnedi Okorafor, *Shroud* by Adrian Tchaikovsky, *The Everlasting* by Alix E. Harrow, *The Incandescent* by Emily Tesh, and *The Raven Scholar* by Antonia Hodgson. The category drew 1,153 ballots for 555 nominees, with finalists ranging from 126 to 210 nominations. (lacon.org) The game shortlist under Best Game or Interactive Work includes *Blue Prince*, *Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector*, *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33*, *Dispatch*, *Dragon Age: The Veilguard*, and *The Rise of the Golden Idol*. Their presence keeps a newer Hugo category centered on interactive storytelling alongside books, television, film, fan writing, and professional art. (lacon.org) Reaction started almost immediately on fan sites and review blogs. SFF Book Reviews wrote on April 22 that the list “took a while this year” and then singled out several prose categories for discussion, while Locus and Reactor both reposted the finalists for the broader science fiction and fantasy audience. (sffbookreview.wordpress.com (locusmag.com (reactormag.com) )) The winners will be announced at LAcon V’s formal ceremony on Sunday, August 30, 2026. Between now and then, the finalist list will do what Hugo ballots usually do: set months of reading lists, watchlists, and arguments in motion. (lacon.org)