THE 2026 HUGO AWARD FINALISTS: SHORT STORY

RATED 100% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 4.2 OUT OF 5

6 STORIES: 1 GREAT / 5 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF

It is the first time in six years of reviewing Hugo Awards Finalists that I’ve given a 100% positive score! That’s impressive and I had to double check my blog to make sure it was true. While only one story made the great list - Tashiro’s powerful Missing Helen - there are no problems in this bunch. I’m happy to see that.

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In Science Fiction, the most prestigious awards are the Hugo Awards. Voted on by the fans who buy a voting membership and are given out at The World Science Fiction Convention. The 2025 WorldCon will be taking place in Seattle on August 13-17, 2025 The list of finalists just dropped.

This is the sixth year that I am trying to review and rank all of the short fiction finalists.

Novella. Stories of between 17,500 and 40,000 words. (Reviewed: 2024, 2023 & 2022)
Novelettes. Stories of between 7,500 and 17,500 words (Reviewed: 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 & 2021)
Short Stories. Stories of less than 7,500 words. (Reviewed: 2025, 2024, 2022 & 2021)

Best Short Story

All the stories are legally free to read at the links provided

“Missing Helen” by Tia Tashiro (Clarkesworld, Issue 226)
Great. A woman learns that her ex-husband is marrying her clone, built from her DNA that she sold at a young age to fund her escape from a traumatic upbringing. We’ve had a lot of marrying a robot, marrying a clone, sexbot stories in science fiction over the years. This one really thinks about it differently. I love it.
“10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days” by Samantha Mills (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 63)
Good. Short vignettes of apocalyptic horror scenarios and the ways that a couple handles it. Quirky and earnest at the same time.
“Wire Mother” by Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld, Issue 229)
Good. In a future where digital people serve as partners, parents, and friends, a teenage girl struggles with a neurological condition that prevents her from feeling empathy toward them. Including the digital mother her father adores.
“Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots, May 16, 2025)
Good. You can be super-abled, be in a wheelchair, and the damned superhero union won’t build a ramp to let you in the clubhouse.
“In My Country” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld, Issue 223, Uncertain Sons and Other Stories)
Good. In a world that claims have no king, but is always under the surveillance of the First Citizen, a father watches his two children choose different forms of rebellion. Complex symbolic literature vs risky direct action.
“Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 62)
Good. Our protagonist is planning a procedure by which their identity is ‘adjusted,’ but first they need people in their lives to give feedback on what changes are needed.