Gaiman Says 'Yes' to Hugo Nomination
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By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 03/25/2009
Neil Gaiman may have turned down his Hugo Award nomination for Anansi Boys (2005) in 2006, but he’s game this time with his recent recognition for The Graveyard Book (2008, both HarperCollins).
The Hugos are awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy—and this year, four out of five nominees in the Best Novel category were written for a younger audience.
In a blog post from 2006, Gaiman explained why he withdrew his work from consideration for the Hugo, writing, “I suppose partly I did it because I have three Hugos already, and I felt it was better to get more names on the ballot that weren't mine, and partly because I think I feel more comfortable when the things of mine that get Hugo nominations are marginally closer to SF than to pure fantasy.”
This year is different “because it’s really astonishingly nice company to be in,” Gaiman wrote.
Fellow nominee John Scalzi for Zoe’s Tale (Tor) had a similar reaction to his nomination. "I am extremely 
happy with this category, and I feel pity for you Hugo voters, because this is a hell of a slate to choose from."
Named after Hugo Gernsback, a magazine editor who did much to bring science fiction to a wider audience, the Hugo Awards are given out each year at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and voting is open to all members of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS).
The nominations for Best Novel are:
Anathem (Morrow) by Neal Stephenson
Erasmas is living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers. He is involved in a drama that will determine the future of his world—as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet and beyond.
The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins) by Neil Gaiman
Owens lives in a sprawling graveyard with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead, and is being raised and educated by ghosts.
Little Brother (Tor) by Cory Doctorow
Several teenagers in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in San Francisco defend themselves against what they see as the Department of Homeland Security’s attacks on the Bill of Rights.
Saturn’s Children (Ace) by Charles Stross
Sometime in the 23rd Century, humanity became extinct—leaving only androids behind. Freya Nakamichi, 47, is a femmebot, one of the last of her kind still functioning. With no humans left to pay for the pleasures she provides, she agrees to transport a mysterious package from Mercury to Mars. Unfortunately for Freya, she has just made herself a moving target for some very powerful, very determined humanoids who will stop at nothing to possess the contents of the package.
Zoe’s Tale (Tor) by John Scalzi
Seventeen-year-old Zoe is a colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. She is a player (and a pawn) in an interstellar chess match to save humanity, or to see it fall.
