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The Hugo Awards: the best science fiction & fantasy books since 1953

First awarded to Alfred Bester in 1953, the Hugo Award is considered the most prestigious literary award in science fiction. Voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, the Hugo Award is given annually to the best science fiction or fantasy book from the previous year.

Book cover for Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Emily Tesh won the Hugo Award in 2024.

The Hugo Award has recognized sci-fi masters like Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Isaac Asimov just to name a few. Some authors have multiple Hugo wins to their name - N. K. Jemisin won the Hugo Award in 2016, 2017, and 2018 for each book in her Broken Earth trilogy, while Connie Willis tied with herself in 2011 for her two-volume release of Blackout and All Clear.

Despite creating an epic universe spanning six novels, Frank Herbert appears on the list just once in 1966 for his original Dune novel. Named for Hugo Gernsback who launched the pioneering sci-fi magazine Amazing Stories in 1926, the Hugo Award continues to celebrate the best in science fiction and fantasy.

The 2024 winner for best novel is Emily Tesh for Some Desperate Glory, a thrillingly told queer space opera. Emily Tesh is also a winner of the Astounding Award and of the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. She is the author of the Greenhollow Duology, which begins with Silver in the Wood and concludes with Drowned Country.

Explore our list of every Hugo winner for best science fiction and fantasy novel since 1953.

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Shop for Hugo Award winners for best novel

By Emily Tesh
2024
By T. Kingfisher
2023
By Arkady Martine
2022
By Arkady Martine
2020
By Mary Robinette Kowal
2019
By N. K. Jemisin
2018
By N. K. Jemisin
2017
By N. K. Jemisin
2016
By Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu
2015
By Ann Leckie
2014
By John Scalzi
2013
By Jo Walton
2012
By Connie Willis
2011 (tie)
By Connie Willis
2011 (tie)
By Paolo Bacigalupi
2010 (tie)
By China Miéville
2010 (tie)
By Neil Gaiman
2009
By Michael Chabon
2008
By Vernor Vinge
2007
By Robert Charles Wilson
2006
By Susanna Clarke
2005
By Lois McMaster Bujold
2004
By Robert J. Sawyer
2003
By Neil Gaiman
2002
By Vernor Vinge
2000
By Connie Willis
1999
By Joe Haldeman
1998
By Kim Stanley Robinson
1997
By Neal Stephenson
1996
By Lois McMaster Bujold
1995
By Kim Stanley Robinson
1994
By Vernor Vinge
1993
By Connie Willis
1993
By Lois McMaster Bujold
1992
By Lois McMaster Bujold
1991
By Dan Simmons
1990
By C. J. Cherryh
1989
By David Brin
1988
By Orson Scott Card
1987
By Orson Scott Card
1986
By William Gibson
1985
By David Brin
1984
By Isaac Asimov
1983
By C. J. Cherryh
1982
By Joan D. Vinge
1981
By Arthur C. Clarke
1980
By Vonda N. McIntyre
1979
By Frederik Pohl
1978
By Joe Haldeman
1976
By Ursula K. Le Guin
1975
By Arthur C. Clarke
1974
By Isaac Asimov
1973
By Philip José Farmer
1972
By Larry Niven
1971
By Ursula K. Le Guin
1970
By John Brunner
1969
By Roger Zelazny
1968
By Robert A. Heinlein
1967
By Frank Herbert
1966 (tie)
By Roger Zelazny
1966 (tie)
By Fritz Leiber
1965
By Clifford D. Simak
1964
By Philip K. Dick
1963
By Robert A. Heinlein
1962
By Walter M. Miller Jr.
1961
By Robert A. Heinlein
1960
By James Blish
1959
By Fritz Leiber
1958
By Robert A. Heinlein
1956
By Mark Clifton & Frank Riley
1955
By Alfred Bester
1953

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