DragonCon was held this past weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, and the convention announced today the recipients of the second annual Dragon Awards. The prize is designed to be a “true reflection” of what science fiction and fantasy fans like and enjoy, and was marked with some controversy earlier this summer.
This year’s winners included the latest Expanse novel from James S.A. Corey, Babylon’s Ashes, as well as Larry Correia and John Ringo’s Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge, Cory Doctorow’s Walkaway, Netflix’s Stranger Things, and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A full list of the winners can be seen below.
The awards were founded as an alternative to the better-known Hugo Awards, issued annually at the World Science Fiction convention, and includes a range of novels, comics, video games, television shows, and movies.
This year’s awards were not without some controversy: several authors complained that the stories they were nominated for were being used by right-wing groups as a sort of proxy in a genre culture war. The convention initially refused to let them withdraw their works from the ballot, but later backtracked and permitted them to remove themselves. One of the authors who backed out of the ballot, N.K. Jemisin, did come away from the convention with an award: the Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction, for her story ”The City Born Great”, although this is unrelated to the Dragon Awards.
Here are the winners (indicated in bold):
Best Science Fiction Novel
- Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey
- A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
- Death’s End by Cixin Liu
- Escaping Infinity by Richard Paolinelli
- Rise by Brian Guthrie
- Space Tripping by Patrick Edwards
- The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
- The Secret Kings by Brian Niemeier
Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
- Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge by Larry Correia and John Ringo
- A Sea of Skulls by Vox Day
- Beast Master by Shayne Silvers
- Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter
- Dangerous Ways by R.R. Virdi
- The Heartstone Thief by Pippa DaCosta
- Wings of Justice by Michael-Scott Earle
Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
- The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
- A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
- Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
- Firebrand by A.J. Hartley
- It’s All Fun and Games by Dave Barrett
- Rachel and the Many Splendored Dreamland by L. Jagi Lamplighter
- Swan Knight’s Son by John C Wright
Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel
- Iron Dragoons by Richard Fox
- Allies and Enemies: Exiles by Amy J. Murphy
- Caine’s Mutiny by Charles E. Gannon
- Cartwright’s Cavaliers by Mark Wandrey
- Invasion: Resistance by J.F. Holmes
- Star Realms: Rescue Run by Jon Del Arroz
- Starship Liberator by B.V. Larson and David VanDyke
- The Span of Empire by Eric Flint and David Carrico
Best Alternate History Novel
- Fallout: The Hot War by Harry Turtledove
- 1636: The Ottoman Onslaught by Eric Flint
- A Change in Crime by D.R. Perry
- Another Girl, Another Planet by Lou Antonelli
- Breath of Earth by Beth Cato
- No Gods, Only Daimons by Kai Wai Cheah
- The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville
- Witchy Eye by D.J. Butler
Best Apocalyptic Novel
- Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
- A Place Outside the Wild by Daniel Humphreys
- American War by Omar El Akkad
- Codename: Unsub by Declan Finn and Allan Yoskowitz
- The Seventh Age: Dawn by Rick Heinz
- ZK: Falling by J.F. Holmes
Best Horror Novel
- The Changeling by Victor LaValle
- A God in the Shed by J-F Dubeau
- Blood of Invidia by Tom Tinney and Morgen Batten
- Donn’s Hill by Caryn Larrinaga
- Live and Let Bite by Declan Finn
- Nothing Left to Lose by Dan Wells
- The Bleak December by Kevin G. Summers
Best Comic Book
- The Dresden Files: Dog Men by Jim Butcher, Mark Powers, Diego Galindo
- Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eleven by Christos Gage, Rebekah Isaacs
- Monstress by Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda
- Motor Girl by Terry Moore
- Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa
- Saga by Brian K Vaughan, Fiona Staples
- Wynonna Earp Legends by Beau Smith, Tim Rozon, Melanie Scrofano, Chris Evenhuis
Best Graphic Novel
- Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Wild Card by Jim Butcher, Carlos Gomez
- Clive Barker Nightbreed #3 by Marc Andreyko, Clive Barker, Emmanuel Xerx Javier
- Girl Genius: the Second Journey of Agatha Heterodyne, Book 2: The City of Lightning by Phil and Kaja Foglio
- Love is Love by Marc Andreyko, Sarah Gaydos, James S. Rich
- March Book 3 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
- My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
- Stuck in My Head by J.R. Mounts
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series
- Stranger Things, Netflix
- Doctor Who, BBC
- Lucifer, Fox
- Marvel’s Agents of Shield, ABC
- Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Sky1
- The Expanse, Syfy
- Westworld, HBO
- Wynonna Earp, Syfy
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie
- Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins
- Arrival directed by Denis Villeneuve
- Doctor Strange directed by Scott Derrickson
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 directed by James Gunn
- Logan directed by James Mangold
- Passengers directed by Morten Tyldum
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story directed by Gareth Edwards
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild by Nintendo
- Dishonored 2 by Arkane Studios
- Final Fantasy XV by Square Enix
- Mass Effect: Andromeda by Bioware
- NieR: Automata by PlatinumGames
- Titanfall 2 by Respawn Entertainment
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game
- Pokémon GO by Niantic
- Con Man: The Game by Monkey Strength Productions
- Fire Emblem Heroes by Nintendo
- Monument Valley 2 by Ustwogames
- Sky Dancer by Pine Entertainment
- Super Mario Run by Nintendo
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game
- Betrayal at House on the Hill: Widow’s Walk by Avalon Hill
- Gloomhaven by Cephalofair Games
- Hero Realms by White Wizard Games
- Mansions of Madness (Second Edition) by Fantasy Flight Games
- Scythe by Stonemaier Games
- Terraforming Mars by Stronghold Games
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game
- Magic the Gathering: Eldritch Moon by Wizards of the Coast
- A Shadow Across the Galaxy X-Wing Wave X by Fantasy Flight Games
- Bloodborne: The Card Game by CMON Limited
- Dark Souls: The Board Game by Steamforged Games
- Pulp Cthulhu by Chaosium
- Star Wars: Destiny by Fantasy Flight Games