Which novel won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2020?

The novel that won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2020 was Arkady Martine’s “A Memory Called Empire.”

Published in 2019, the novel follows Mahit Dzmare, an ambassador from the independent Lsel Station, who travels to the powerful Teixcalaanli Empire. She arrives carrying an implanted imago-machine containing the recorded personality of her predecessor, who has died under suspicious circumstances.

The book combines space opera, political thriller, and questions of cultural identity. Mahit must navigate imperial etiquette while investigating both her predecessor’s death and the political instability surrounding the succession to the imperial throne. Its central tension comes from the attraction and danger of a dominant culture that can absorb smaller societies.

The 2020 Hugo was awarded during a virtual World Science Fiction Convention. A common mix-up is “Network Effect,” which won the 2021 Hugo for Best Novel, while “Piranesi” won the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction.