Will voters become complacent after last year’s progress toward prying Puppy paws loose from the Dragon Awards?

In 2021 the seven novel categories on the ballot were loaded with books fans read and talked about. Wouldn’t it be great to keep it that way?

The nomination deadline is fast approaching — July 19, 2022. Make your nominations here (one per category.)

ELIGIBILITY. Nominees should be first released between 7/1/2021 and 6/30/2022. The eligibility period means, among other things, that you can’t just plug in Hugo finalists, because four of the six came out before July 1: A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine, Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir, A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark were Dragon Awards finalists last year, while The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, by Becky Chambers was also published during the 2021 eligibility period.

Only two of the 2022 Hugo finalists were published in the current eligibility period, Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki and She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan.

LAST YEAR’S BALLOT. As a reminder, here’s what made the Dragon Award ballot in 2021, with the winners in bold.

1. BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow
• Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
• The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Machine by Elizabeth Bear
• A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

2. BEST FANTASY NOVEL (INCLUDING PARANORMAL)

• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
• Dead Lies Dreaming by Charles Stross
• Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
• Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

3. BEST YOUNG ADULT / MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL

• Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
• The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke
• The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira by Lou Diamond Phillips
• A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer
• A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

4. BEST MILITARY SCIENCE FICTION OR FANTASY NOVEL

• Gun Runner by Larry Correia, John D. Brown
• Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio
• Fleet Elements by Walter Jon Williams
• Sentenced to War by J.N. Chaney, Jonathan Brazee
• Direct Fire by Rick Partlow
• Orders of Battle by Marko Kloos

5. BEST ALTERNATE HISTORY NOVEL

• The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
• Daggers in Darkness by S.M. Stirling
• Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis
• The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris
• A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
• 1637: No Peace Beyond The Line by Eric Flint, Charles Gannon
  
  6. BEST MEDIA TIE-IN NOVEL
• MacGyver: Meltdown by Eric Kelley, Lee Zlotoff
• Firefly: Generations by Tim Lebbon
• Shadows Rising World of Warcraft: Shadowlands by Madeleine Roux
• Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
• Penitent by Dan Abnett
• Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy by Timothy Zahn
  
  7. BEST HORROR NOVEL
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
• True Story: A Novel by Kate Reed Petty
• The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
• Synchronicity by Michaelbrent Collings
• The Taxidermist’s Lover by Polly Hall
• Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay