The Hugo Packet for the 2012 Hugo awards is out now. It contains “electronic copies of individually nominated works, and representative works from people and groups nominated for their 2011 body of work as a whole. To thank the authors and publishers who have generously provided these materials, we urge you to provide your financial support to them in bookstores, at art shows, and online.”
It is available to anyone who is a member of Chicon 7. Note that you can become a supporting member for just $50 and then you get to vote for the Hugo and Campbell awards and get this cool packet.
I’ll be reviewing a majority of the works found in the packet. Here is my list of the finalists with links to what I have reviewed so far. I’ll be updating that page as I go and I’ll post my selections at some point before the Tuesday, July 31, 2012 deadline. I’ve got some reading to do, although not as much as last year.

The nominations for the 2012 Hugo Awards were announced on Saturday. Minicon happened to be one of the sites doing a live feed of the nomination list, so I got to hear these live and in person. I was fairly pleased as a number of the works I nominated made it to the final ballot. Here are the lists with links to reviews I’ve already done:

Best Novel

• Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)
• A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin (Bantam Spectra) This one presents me with a problem as I haven’t gotten that far in the series. I think I will have to pass on reviewing this.
• Deadline, Mira Grant (Orbit)
• Embassytown, China Miéville (Macmillan / Del Rey)
• Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey (Orbit)

Best Novella

• Countdown, Mira Grant (Orbit)
• “The Ice Owl”, Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
• “Kiss Me Twice”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s)
• “The Man Who Bridged the Mist”, Kij Johnson (Asimov’s)
• “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary”, Ken Liu (Panverse 3)
• Silently and Very Fast, Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA)

Best Novelette

• “The Copenhagen Interpretation”, Paul Cornell (Asimov’s)
• “Fields of Gold”, Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse Four)
• “Ray of Light”, Brad R. Torgersen (Analog)
• “Six Months, Three Days”, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com)
• “What We Found”, Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

Best Short Story

• “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees”, E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld)
• “The Homecoming”, Mike Resnick (Asimov’s)
• “Movement”, Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s)
• “The Paper Menagerie”, Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
• “Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue”, John Scalzi (Tor.com)

Best Related Work

• The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Third Edition, edited by John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls, and Graham Sleight (Gollancz)
• Jar Jar Binks Must Die…and other Observations about Science Fiction Movies, Daniel M. Kimmel (Fantastic Books)
• The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature, Jeff VanderMeer and S. J. Chambers (Abrams Image)
• Wicked Girls (CD), Seanan McGuire
• Writing Excuses, Season 6 (podcast series), Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Jordan Sanderson

Best Graphic Story

• Digger, by Ursula Vernon (Sofawolf Press)
• Fables Vol 15: Rose Red, by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)
• Locke & Key Volume 4: Keys To The Kingdom, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
• Schlock Mercenary: Force Multiplication, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler, colors by Travis Walton (The Tayler Corporation)
• The Unwritten (Volume 4): Leviathan, created by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, written by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• Captain America: The First Avenger, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephan McFeely; directed by Joe Johnston (Marvel)
• Game of Thrones (Season 1), created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss;
  written by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, and George R. R. Martin; directed by Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan, Tim van Patten, and Alan Taylor (HBO)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner Bros.)
• Hugo, screenplay by John Logan; directed by Martin Scorsese (Paramount)
• Source Code, screenplay by Ben Ripley; directed by Duncan Jones (Vendome Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• Doctor Who, ”The Doctor’s Wife”, written by Neil Gaiman; directed by Richard Clark (BBC Wales)
• “The Drink Tank’s Hugo Acceptance Speech”, Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon (Renovation)
• Doctor Who, ”The Girl Who Waited”, written by Tom MacRae; directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who, ”A Good Man Goes to War”, written by Steven Moffat; directed by Peter Hoar (BBC Wales)
• Community, ”Remedial Chaos Theory”, written by Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna; directed by Jeff Melman (NBC)

Best Semiprozine

• Apex Magazine, edited by Catherynne M. Valente, Lynne M. Thomas, and Jason Sizemore
• Interzone, edited by Andy Cox
• Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams
• Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi, Kirsten Gong-Wong, et al.
• New York Review of Science Fiction, edited by David G. Hartwell, Kevin J. Maroney, Kris Dikeman, and Avram Grumer

Best Fanzine

• Banana Wings, edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
• The Drink Tank, edited by James Bacon and Christopher J Garcia
• File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
• Journey Planet, edited by James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, et al.
• SF Signal, edited by John DeNardo

Best Fancast

• The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan & Gary K. Wolfe
• Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts (presenters) and Andrew Finch (producer)
• SF Signal Podcast, John DeNardo and JP Frantz (presenters), Patrick Hester (producer)
• SF Squeecast, Lynne M. Thomas, Seanan McGuire, Paul Cornell, Elizabeth Bear, and Catherynne M. Valente
• StarShipSofa, Tony C. Smith

Best Editor, Long Form

• Lou Anders
• Liz Gorinsky
• Anne Lesley Groell
• Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• Betsy Wollheim

Best Editor, Short Form

• John Joseph Adams
• Neil Clarke
• Stanley Schmidt
• Jonathan Strahan
• Sheila Williams

Best Professional Artist

• Dan dos Santos
• Bob Eggleton
• Michael Komarck
• Stephan Martiniere
• John Picacio

Best Fan Artist

• Brad W. Foster
• Randall Munroe
• Spring Schoenhuth
• Maurine Starkey
• Steve Stiles
• Taral Wayne

Best Fan Writer

• James Bacon
• Claire Brialey
• Christopher J. Garcia
• Jim C. Hines
• Steven H Silver

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

• Mur Lafferty
• Stina Leicht
• Karen Lord
• Brad R. Torgersen
• E. Lily Yu

I’ve posted individual reviews for the bet Novel and Novella categories. In each category, you can rank your preferences (1 being best.) They encourage you not to vote for categories in which you have no experience (don’t just guess in other words.) Here are my picks:
Best Novel

1. Feed by Mira Grant.
2. The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
3. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
4. Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold
5. Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis

Feed and The Dervish House were pretty close together in my thoughts. Overall, though, I found Feed to be the more griping read.

Best Novella

1. The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang
2. The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon by Elizabeth Hand
3. The Sultan of the Clouds by Geoffrey A. Landis
4. Troika by Alastair Reynolds
5. The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window by Rachel Swirsky

Best Short Story

1. “The Things” by Peter Watts
2. “Ponies” by Kij Johnson
3. “For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal
4. “Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn

I liked “The Things” quite a lot. It was fun (in a weird sort of way) and did a really good job of showing a truly alien perspective.

Best Related Work

1. Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea
2. Writing Excuses, Season 4, by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells

Best Graphic Story

1. Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler; colors by Howard Tayler and Travis Walton
2. Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright

As a whole story so far, I love Girl Genius, but for this particular years input, Schlock Mercenary edged them out by a hair.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

1. Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan
2. Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich; directed by Lee Unkrich
3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, screenplay by Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright; directed by Edgar Wright
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates
5. How to Train Your Dragon, screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders; directed by Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

1. Doctor Who: “Vincent and the Doctor,” written by Richard Curtis; directed by Jonny Campbell
2. Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes
3. Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes

I loved “Vincent and the Doctor.” Truly wonderful.

Best Professional Artist

1. Daniel Dos Santos

Best Fan Artist

1. Randall Munroe

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

1. Dan Wells