Hugos 2025: Alien Clay conquers Best Novel (and more standouts)

The Hugo Awards celebrate the year’s standout science fiction and fantasy, voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention. They’re a snapshot of the community’s enthusiasms across forms—from short stories to sprawling series.

Winners by category (2025):

• Best Novel — Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. A first-contact survival tale that turns on ecology, adaptation, and the unknowability of truly alien life.
• Best Novella — The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo. Gothic glamour meets quiet dread in a story about masks, marriage, and the bargains we live with.
• Best Novelette — The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video by Thomas Ha. A nimble, uncanny riff on memory and media that binds neighborhood myth to digital hauntings.
• Best Short Story — Five Views of the Planet Tartarus by Rachael K. Jones. Fragmented perspectives circle fate and place, making a small world feel vast.
• Best Series — Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhorse. Epic fantasy grounded in Mesoamerican-inspired worldbuilding with political intrigue and celestial stakes.
• Best Graphic Story — The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag. Lush, moody visuals carry a story about descent, discovery, and the cost of light.
• Best YA Book — The Feast Makers by H.A. Clarke. A fierce coming-of-age set against ritual and rebellion, threaded with sharp voice.

Browse the full year: Hugo winners in 2025. Compare with other prizes via the faceted browse.