The End of the Dragon

The results are in

I’ve been lazy lately. I admit it. I only did one blog the other week. I genuinely hope it was last week.

But I should tell you the results of the Dragon Awards.

And no, these aren’t the last of the Dragon Awards, or the end of DragonCon (that I know of). But I need more titles.

1. Best Science Fiction Novel

• Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

• The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

• Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow

• Machine by Elizabeth Bear

• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

• A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

And the winner is…

Do I need to tell you that it’s Andy Weir?

2. Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)

• Dead Lies Dreaming by Charles Stross

• Battle Ground by Jim Butcher

• Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

• Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

I was about to say that I didn’t have to tell you that Jim Butcher won, but I’m told Brandon Sanderson is also an awesome writer.

But Jim Butcher won. Believe it or not, this is the first time he’s won this award, for a Dresden novel. And everyone seems to think he should get one for an actual book. But now that he’s got a three-pack, maybe someone else will get it next year.

I’m still blown away that some idiot on Twitter tried to say that Jim Butcher winning for a Dresden novel meant that “the Dragons were still unserious.” Really? Welcome to Twitter, where brain cells go to die.

That’s like saying that Laurell K Hamilton shouldn’t win an award for erotic fiction…

Actually, no, that should probably go to Chloe Tzang. Sadly, I don’t know anyone who gives out that sort of award.

3. Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

• The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira by Lou Diamond Phillips

• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

• Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

• A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

• A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer

• The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke

Pretty much everyone I know was really Gung Ho about A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. So I’m not surprised it won. But to be honest, I thought Novik or Philips would win on sheer name recognition.

4. Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel

• Orders of Battle by Marko Kloos

• Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio

• Sentenced to War by J.N. Chaney, Jonathan Brazee

• Direct Fire by Rick Partlow

• Fleet Elements by Walter Jon Williams

• Gun Runner by Larry Correia, John D. Brown

Winner: Gun Runner.

Larry Correia keeps telling his readers not to vote for him. So, they vote for books he’s co-authored and say “We’re not voting for Larry, we’re voting for the co-author, honest,” wink wink nudge nudge. When Larry stops co-authoring, then Christopher Ruocchio can finally win, since his fans can’t find an excuse.

…Until, of course, his fans say “It’s been too long since Larry won an award.” But shh, let’s not give them any ideas.

5. Best Alternate History Novel

• The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

• Daggers in Darkness by S.M. Stirling

• 1637: No Peace Beyond The Line by Eric Flint, Charles Gannon

• A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

• Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

• The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris

Winner: 1637

I can’t say I’m surprised. The 1634 and beyond universe has been insanely popular among its followers.

6. Best Media Tie-In Novel

• MacGyver: Meltdown by Eric Kelley, Lee Zlotoff

• Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy by Timothy Zahn

• Shadows Rising World of Warcraft: Shadowlands by Madeleine Roux

• Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule

• Firefly: Generations by Tim Lebbon

• Penitent by Dan Abnett

Winner: Firefly: Generations

The Firefly fanbase is rabid, so they probably got the entire fanbase to vote for one category, then disappeared.

7. Best Horror Novel

• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

• The Taxidermist’s Lover by Polly Hall

• True Story: A Novel by Kate Reed Perry

• The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

• Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay

• Synchronicity by Michaelbrent Collings

Winner: The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

I’m not surprised. Kingfisher was popular in one category, and ended up with wins in two. Even I voted for Hollow Places.

Now, from here on out, I didn’t have a horse in … any of these races. I’m not invested. I honestly don’t think I had someone to nominate outside of market sales. But I didn’t read any of them Much of my information on them in secondhand. But…

8. Best Comic Book

• Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto

• Once & Future by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora

• Invisible Kingdom by G. Willow Wilson, Christian Ward

• Monstress by Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda

• Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett

• X-Men by Jonathan Hickman, Mahmud Asrar

Winner: X-Men

Realy? This one, I don’t get.

Start with the list of nominees. The manga Demon Hunter has out-sold the entire American comic book industry but didn’t even get a nomination?

I liked what I saw of Immortal Hulk, I’ve seen some good work out of Marjorie Liu.

And everything I’ve heard of X-Men lately sounds even worse than the worst of the films. So who the Hell voted for this trash plots and nobody writer?

9. Best Graphic Novel

• The Book Tour by Andi Watson

• Pulp by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips

• The Green Lantern Season Two by Grant Morrison, Liam Sharp

• Dracula, Motherf**ker by Alex de Campi, Erica Henderson

• The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

• The Magicians: New Class by Lev Grossman, Lilah Sturges, Pius Bak

Winner: The Magicians

Let me get this straight.

Grant Morrison, who has written practically every big name DC Comics has, didn’t win.

Ed Brubaker, who created The Winter Soldier and ran one of the best runs of Captain America I’ve ever seen, didn’t win.

But The Magicians, one of the more horrible, trash premises ever, won?

Something is wrong with the comic book voters out there.

Again, didn’t have a horse in this race, but this makes no intellectual sense.

10. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series

• The Expanse, Amazon

• WandaVision, Disney+

• Star Trek: Discovery, Paramount+

• Resident Alien, SYFY

• Loki, Disney+

• Shadow & Bone, Netflix

• The Nevers, HBO

Winner: The Expanse.

I … have no thoughts on any of these. I haven’t seen a single one. So, yay? Go them?

11. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

• Tenet by Christopher Nolan

• The Old Guard by Gina Prince-Bythewood

• Justice League by Zack Snyder

• Godzilla vs Kong by Adam Wingard

• Space Sweepers by Sung-hee Jo

• Wonder Woman 1984 by Patty Jenkins

• Bill & Ted Face the Music by Dean Parisot

Winner: The Old Guard

Again, I don’t have an opinion here. I figured on Godzilla vs Kong, since I’ve heard largely mixed reviews about everything else. And The Old Guard didn’t really leap out at me when I saw it.

12. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game

• Ghost of Tsushima, Sony Interactive Entertainment

• Crusader Kings III, Paradox Interactive

• Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Ubisoft

• Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt

• Hades, Supergiant Games

• Star Wars: Squadrons, Electronic Arts

Winner: Assassin’s Creed, Viking LSD Trip

Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Ubisoft has a large distribution, and the people who are into Assassin’s Creed must fiercely love this franchise, considering how bad it started. If they can get past the terrible plotting and fighting mechanics of the first game, they must love it.

I can see how the others didn’t win. Hades was smaller and more indie, Cyberpunk was a dumpster fire (I don’t even know how it was nominated), Squadrons was a shorter game. I don’t even think either Ghost of Tsushima or Crusader Kings III counts as SFF.

So, it makes sense, I suppose.

13. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game

• Genshin Impact, miHoYo

• Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells, Zynga

• Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, Ustwo & Plug in Digital

• South of the Circle, State of Play Games

• Empire of Sin, Paradox Interactive

• Orwell’s Animal Farm, The Dairymen Ltd.

Winner: Harry Potter.

I know, I’m shocked too. (We need a sarcasm font for moments like this.) I don’t even know what I voted for, so, we know how invest I am in this.

14. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game

• Marvel United, CMON Games

• Dune: Imperium, Dire Wolf Games

• Pandemic: Legacy Season 0, Z-Man Games

• Oceans, North Star Games

• Sleeping Gods, Red Raven Games

• Curious Cargo, Capstone Games

Winner: Dune

Dune as a board game. Huh.

15. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game

• Magic: The Gathering, Zendikar Rising, Wizards of the Coast

• Magic: The Gathering, Strixhaven: School of Mages, Wizards of the Coast

• Cyberpunk RED, R. Talsorian Games

• Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, Wizards of the Coast

• Warhammer: Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Role-Playing Game, Cubicle 7

• Pokemon TCG: Champion’s Path Elite Trainer Box, Pokemon

Winner: Warhammer

Again, not a surprise. It’s a franchise that’s been a juggernaut for decades.

All in all, I like most of the winners. Some of these I don’t understand, but most I do.

Overall, I think this was a great Dragon Awards. Let’s do this again next year. Maybe there will be some films, TV and comics that are halfway decent.

And by then, there will even be a Demon Hunter video game. Heh.