Here are the finalists for the 2026 Dragon Awards

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Dragon Awards, which kicked off in 2016 in the aftermath of a bitter fight between various factions of fandom over the nature of fandom, what works deserve to be honored as the "best" of the year, and how much of what's big and popular is driven by certain personalities/publishers verses what "real" fans want.

Handed out every year at DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia, the awards are designed to be driven by fans, and unlike the Hugo Awards, they are open to everyone, regardless of your membership status at the con. The results aren't the right-wing alternative that I think some within fandom had hoped: they've really been a wide-ranging and excellent roundup of notable works published in the last year (roughly Labor Day to Labor Day).

Voting is now open – you can register to do so here – until Friday, September 4th. Interestingly, it looks like they now have an option to be automatically renewed for upcoming years when you do so. Once registered, a prospective voter will get a confirmation link, with ballots being issued on "Thursdays and Mondays during the month of August."

Here are this year's nominees:

Best Science Fiction Novel

• The Faith of Beasts by James S.A. Corey
• Radiant Star by Ann Leckie
• Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman
• Slow Gods by Claire North
• The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi
• God’s Junk Drawer by Peter Clines

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)

• Red City by Marie Lu
• Queen Demon by Martha Wells
• Academy of Outcasts by Larry Correia
• Hell to Pay by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely
• Twelve Months by Jim Butcher

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

• Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Bayron
• The Executioners Three by Susan Dennard
• Hazelthorn by CG Drews
• Ride or Die by Delilah S. Dawson
• Sky on Fire by E.K. Johnston
• Queen of Faces by Petra Lord

Best Alternate History Novel

• Powerless by Harry Turtledove
• World War 3.2 by John Birmingham
• The Winds of Fate by S.M. Stirling
• The Unnecessary War by Brian C. Thompso
• A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan
• No Man’s Land by Richard K. Morgan

Best Horror Novel

• It Was Her House First by Cherie Priest
• Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
• Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner
• The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• King Sorrow by Joe Hill
• The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas

Best Illustrative Book Cover

• Brigands & Breadknives, by Carson Lowmiller
• The Ishtar Deception, by Dominic Harman
• The Sapphire Heart, by Jeff Brown
• Hemlock & Silver, by T. Kingfisher
• Pretenders to the Throne of God, by Joe Wilson
• The Second Death of Locke, by Anna Moshak

Best Comic Book / Graphic Novel

• Absolute Batman by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta
• Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman
• Something is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera
• Daredevil, by Stephanie Phillips, Lee Garbett
• X-Men: Elsewhen, by John Byrne
• Absolute Superman, by Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series, TV or Internet

• Strange New Worlds Season 3, Paramount+
• Foundation Season 3, Apple TV
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, HBO
• Alien: Earth, FX
• Fallout Season 2, Amazon
• Plur1bus, Apple TV
• The Boys Season 5, Amazon
• Widow’s Bay, Apple TV

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

• Superman, by James Gunn
• Project Hail Mary, by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
• Disclosure Day, by Steven Spielberg
• Predator: Badlands, by Dan Trachtenberg
• Frankenstein, by Guillermo del Toro
• Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, by Jon Favreau
• Toy Story 5, by Andrew Stanton
• The Sheep Detectives, by Kyle Balda

Best Digital Game

• Hades II, Supergiant Games
• Hollow Knight: Silksong, Team Cherry
• Silent Hill f, NeoBards Entertainment
• Ghost of Yōtei, Sucker Punch Productions
• Forza Horizon 6, Playground Games
• Battlefield 6, Battlefield Studios

Best Tabletop Game

• Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn, Wizards of the Coast
• ACKS II Revised Rulebook, Autarch
• Magic: the Gathering – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Wizards of the Coast
• 7 Wonders Dice, Repos Production
• Warhammer 40,000 The Maelstrom, Games Workshop
• Wingspan Americas Expansion, Stonemaier Games