2018 Dragon Awards Ballot


The 2018 Dragon Awards Ballot was released August 6.

A notable change is that most categories have six nominees (a few have seven, or five) in contrast to last year when they had seven or eight.

Also noteworthy is that no 2018 Best Novel Hugo finalist appears on the Dragon Awards ballot — but whether the explanation is that the authors declined, or the works didn’t receive enough votes, is unknown.

Voting registration closes on 8/31/18. Voting closes on 9/1/18.

Best Science Fiction Novel

  • It Takes Death to Reach a Star by Gareth Worthington and Stu Jones
  • Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey
  • The Mutineer’s Daughter by Chris Kennedy and Thomas A. Mays
  • Win by Vera Nazarian
  • Sins of Her Father by Mike Kupari
  • Artemis by Andy Weir

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)

  • Shoot the Messenger by Pippa DaCosta
  • War Hammer by Shayne Silvers
  • Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
  • The Land: Predators by Aleron Kong
  • The Traitor God by Cameron Johnston
  • A Tempered Warrior by Jon R. Osborne

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

  • Cold Bath Street by A.J. Hartley
  • A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
  • When Tinker Met Bell by Alethea Kontis
  • Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne
  • Warcross by Marie Lu
  • Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel

  • Communications Failure by Joe Zieja
  • Points of Impact by Marko Kloos
  • Ghost Marines: Integration by Jonathan P. Brazee
  • Price of Freedom by Craig Martelle and Michael Anderle
  • Legend by Christopher Woods
  • A Call to Vengeance by David Weber, Timothy Zahn, and Thomas Pope

Best Alternate History Novel

  • Dark State by Charles Stross
  • The Sea Peoples by S.M. Stirling
  • Witchy Winter by D.J. Butler
  • Uncharted by Kevin J. Anderson and Sarah A. Hoyt
  • Dream of the Iron Dragon by Robert Kroese
  • Minds of Men by Kacey Ezell

Best Media Tie-In Novel

  • Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray
  • Before the Storm by Christie Golden
  • Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson
  • Fear Itself by James Swallow
  • Legacy of Onyx by Matt Forbeck
  • Desperate Hours by David Mack

Best Horror Novel

  • Beneath the Lighthouse by Julieanne Lynch
  • Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
  • A Time to Run by Mark Wandrey
  • The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
  • Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King
  • Glimpse by Jonathan Maberry

Best Comic Book

  • Mighty Thor by Jason Aaron and James Harren, Marvel Comics
  • Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, DC Comics
  • Aliens: Dead Orbit by James Stokoe, Dark Horse Comics
  • Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, DC Comics
  • Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples, Image Comics
  • Star Wars: Darth Vader by Charles D. Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli, Marvel Comics

Best Graphic Novel

  • Chicago Typewriter: The Red Ribbon by Brandon Fiadino, Djibril Morissette-Phan, and James Greatorex, Dark Legion Comics
  • Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand Volume 1 by Brandon Sanderson, Rik Hoskin, and Julius M. Gopez, Dynamite Entertainment
  • Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
  • Monstress Vol. 2: The Blood by Marjorie M. Liu, Sana Takeda, Image Comics
  • Vision (The Vision) by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Marvel Comics
  • Paper Girls Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang, Image Comics

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series

  • The Expanse, Syfy
  • Game of Thrones, HBO
  • Lucifer, Fox
  • Supernatural, CW
  • Star Trek: Discovery, CBS All Access
  • Altered Carbon, Netflix
  • Stranger Things, Netflix

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

  • Incredibles 2 directed by Brad Bird
  • Thor: Ragnorok directed by Taika Waititi
  • Blade Runner 2049 directed by Denis Villeneuve
  • Avengers: Infinity War directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
  • Black Panther directed by Ryan Coogler
  • Ready Player One directed by Steven Spielberg
  • Deadpool 2 directed by Dave Leitch

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game

  • Fortnite by Epic Games
  • Cuphead by Studio MDHR
  • Middle-earth: Shadow of War by Monolith Productions
  • Destiny 2 by Bungie
  • Battletech by Harebrained Schemes
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus by MachineGames

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game

  • Planescape: Torment by Black Isle Studios
  • Nocked! by Andrew Schneider
  • Lineage 2: Revolution by Netmarble
  • Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition by Square Enix
  • Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery by Jam City

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game

  • Rising Sun by CMON Games
  • When I Dream by Asmodee
  • Mysterium: Secrets and Lies Expansion by Asmodee
  • Azul by Plan B Games
  • Red Dragon Inn 6: Villains by Slugfest Games
  • Photosynthesis by Blue Orange

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

  • Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition by Games Workshop
  • Force and Destiny Role-playing Game: Knights of Fate by Fantasy Flight Games
  • Bubblegumshoe – RPG by Evil Hat
  • Cooking with Dice: The Acid Test by Oddfish Games
  • D100 Dungeon by Martin Knight
  • Magic: The Gathering Unstable by Wizards of the Coast

56 thoughts on “2018 Dragon Awards Ballot

  1. @Cora @Contarius @JJ thank you for your congratulations. Stu and I are trying to get our name out there in the most ethical and honest way. We are stoked that Boilermaker have acquired the rights. We have been entering all kinds of competitions from the highest brow to the lesser known as we would like to expand our readership. I’m sure guys appreciate it’s not easy to stand out from the crowd. And though we know going up against Weir or Corey is futile, we’re happy to even be noticed. We’ll be at Dragon Con just for the atmosphere (I’m flying from Switzerland!).

  2. @Cora @Contrarius @JJ thank you for your congratulations. Stu and I are trying to get our name out there in the most ethical and honest way. We are stoked that Boilermaker have acquired the rights. We have been entering all kinds of competitions from the highest brow to the lesser known as we would like to expand our readership. I’m sure guys appreciate it’s not easy to stand out from the crowd. And though we know going up against Weir or Corey is futile, we’re happy to even be noticed. We’ll be at Dragon Con just for the atmosphere (I’m flying from Switzerland!).

  3. Pingback: The 2018 Dragon Award Nominees and the Rise of the Kindle Unlimited Writing Factories | Cora Buhlert

  4. @Gareth Worthington
    Interesting. So you have no clue how you got nominated then? You didn’t lobby for it and no one you know did either? (Unlike the Hugos, the Dragons are all about lobbying for nominations and votes, by the way; nothing to be ashamed of with saying you campaigned for this one.) But given that everyone else was lobbying for votes, it’s remarkable that someone who didn’t lobby (and wasn’t a best seller) managed to beat all the folks who were lobbying!

    Best of luck, and have a good time!

  5. We submitted, and mentioned to a few of our author friends. We released in May through Vesuvian Books and had run book tours and blog tours, and I had signed at BEA in NYC all prior to this.

    Stu and I have been building this book for more than 3 years and keeping people interested in the updates. We had a MARVEL artist and Hollywood artist do work for us – but everything has been organic. Honestly, IF I could campaign for Dragon votes i would be campaigning for reviews too haha! Stu is a law enforcement officer and I’m a scientist. We want any recognition to be earned.

    I can only put it down to three years of hard work just keeping folk in the loop and building an awesome website.

    We are super grateful that we have people who know our work, even if they aren’t reviewing necessarily.

    Of course NOW we are asking for people who have read our work and think it worthy to vote!

  6. Greg: it has happened with the Hugos that a dedicated fan base on a forum decided to try and get a favourite author on the ballot absent the author’s necessary knowledge or backing. (And I don’t mean slating. Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time was one example). I can see that happening even more easily with the Dragons.

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