 First edition cover | |
| Author | Jo Walton |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Science fiction, fantasy |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
Publication date | 7 August 2018 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 576 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 978-0-7653-7908-5 |
An Informal History of the Hugos (subtitled A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953–2000) is a 2018 reference work on science fiction and fantasy written by Jo Walton. In it, she asks if the nominees for the Hugo Award for Best Novel were indeed the best five books of the year, using as reference shortlists from other awards in the genre. After looking at the first 48 years of the award and presenting essays on select nominees, Walton concludes that the Hugo has a 69% success rate. The book was well-received and was itself nominated for a Hugo Award in 2019.
The chapters of the book initially appeared as articles on the magazine Tor.com from 2010 to 2011. These were written a year before Walton herself won the Hugo Award for Best Novel (for Among Others, in 2012). The Tor.com posts drew frequent discussion, with comments from editors Gardner Dozois, David G. Hartwell and Rich Horton that responded to and sometimes disagreed with Walton's analyses. These were included as part of the book.