Let's see how much I fail at this, shall we?
The Hugos rarely appeal to me; I typically place much more value to the World Fantasy Awards and that certainly shall be the case this year. What's funny is that I've found more stories of interest that could be labeled broadly as SFnal on the Booker Prize longlist than I found among the still-unread stories on the Hugo shortlist. Taking two novels and combining them into one for award purposes I consider to be pathetic and bush league. But I cannot summon up much vitriol because I've been moving on from this scene (well, it's never been my scene, but it's even less so in recent years than now). It's just a generic ballot these days and while I'm sure I could fork over $50 or so to cast ballots for deserving books/stories, it'd likely end up being footnotes in the also submitted spreadsheet pages.
Best to look at these as gauges of what a particular subset of 1,000 or so people value than as any real indicator of quality that will endure longer than the time it takes to remove the decorations from the banquet. Now to do more important matter, such as deciding whether to finish reading Mary Horlock's The Book of Lies first, or to continue alternating between Margaret Atwood's about-to-be-released In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination, Robert Irwin's The Arabian Nightmare, David Lodge's soon-to-be-released A Man of Parts (deals in fictional way with the life of H.G. Wells), or Anders Nilsen's humongous graphic novel, Big Questions. Some things I value more than analyzing awards; reading new works would be one of them.
- BEST NOVEL: Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)
- I can count to two. Apparently some others cannot.
- BEST NOVELLA: The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
- Apparently subpar Chiang wins on name recognition alone these days. Surprised? Not me.
- BEST NOVELETTE: "The Emperor of Mars" by Allen M. Steele (Asimov's, June 2010; also in audio)
- My emotions are flatlining at this point.
- BEST SHORT STORY: "For Want of a Nail" by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov's, September 2010)
- Didn't read; no comment on the story.
- BEST RELATED WORK: Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea (Mad Norwegian)
- I'm sure this title fits the stereotype of those who vote for these things.
- BEST GRAPHIC STORY: Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment
- BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM: Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)
- BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM: Doctor Who: "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang," written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
- BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM: Sheila Williams
Usual Suspect - BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM: Lou Anders
Same here - BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST: Shaun Tan
Good choice. - BEST SEMIPROZINE: Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker
Another good choice. - BEST FANZINE: The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon
Not my circle. - BEST FAN WRITER: Claire Brialey
Not my circle again. - BEST FAN ARTIST: Brad W. Foster
I'll never be in these circles. - JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER [Not a Hugo]: Lev Grossman
The Hugos rarely appeal to me; I typically place much more value to the World Fantasy Awards and that certainly shall be the case this year. What's funny is that I've found more stories of interest that could be labeled broadly as SFnal on the Booker Prize longlist than I found among the still-unread stories on the Hugo shortlist. Taking two novels and combining them into one for award purposes I consider to be pathetic and bush league. But I cannot summon up much vitriol because I've been moving on from this scene (well, it's never been my scene, but it's even less so in recent years than now). It's just a generic ballot these days and while I'm sure I could fork over $50 or so to cast ballots for deserving books/stories, it'd likely end up being footnotes in the also submitted spreadsheet pages.
Best to look at these as gauges of what a particular subset of 1,000 or so people value than as any real indicator of quality that will endure longer than the time it takes to remove the decorations from the banquet. Now to do more important matter, such as deciding whether to finish reading Mary Horlock's The Book of Lies first, or to continue alternating between Margaret Atwood's about-to-be-released In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination, Robert Irwin's The Arabian Nightmare, David Lodge's soon-to-be-released A Man of Parts (deals in fictional way with the life of H.G. Wells), or Anders Nilsen's humongous graphic novel, Big Questions. Some things I value more than analyzing awards; reading new works would be one of them.
Posts
