The 2009 Hugo Award Nominations were revealed yesterday. For a full list of categories and nominees, follow this link.The nominees for Best Novel are:
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)
- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK)
- Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
- Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)
- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK)
- Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
- Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)
Various discussions have been spawning all over the internet, and so far it seems that most SFF readers agree that this year's crop of selections for "Best Novel" is kind of weak and unremarkable. So much so that some voters are considering voting "No Award" in that particular category. . . For a sample of such talks, check out this Westeros thread.
So our new survey is quite simple: Which SFF novel do you feel "deserves" to win the Hugo Award???
14 commentaires:
I can't think of anything deserving this year - I'd go for No Award for sure.
i think you couldn't be further from the truth. All of those books, with the possible exception of Anathem, are well and exceedingly deserving of the honor.
I haven't read any of those and don't see myself doing so in the future. I take that back, maybe I'll get to Zoe's Tale if and when I read the other books in the series.
Zoe's tale is pretty good, though I'm not too much of a Scalzi fan. Anathem I found too self-indulgent and rambling at times. But anyone who denies the Graveyard book a vote just because they assume it's unsophisticated YA is stuck-up idiot. It's an incredible book.
Out of those choices - I don't really care.
In general, I think Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick should win.
As much of a Scalzi fan as I am, The Graveyard Book is one the best books I've read in years.
~Aidan
A Dribble of Ink
For Canadian fans, the Canadian counterpart to the Hugos, the Auroras have also been announced this week. WorldCon not only being in Montreal this year is the host of Canvention. The awards will be announced there and Canadian members of Anticipation get to vote for free. All other Canadian's can still vote but there is a small fee. Here's a link:
http://anticipationsf.ca/English/Canvention
From what I've read of it so far, Graveyard Book all the way. Little Brother doesn't deserve to be on the list unless 2008 was a far worse year for the genre than I remember. I haven't read the others, but Stephenson has good form and Anathem's fans are very passionate about it. I'll take the nominators' word that the barely-mentioned-on-any-SF-forum-anywhere new Stross and Scalzi (unlike Halting State and Old Man's War, which were massively acclaimed a few years back) are top of the range quality much better than Daniel Abraham's massively-lauded An Autumn War or Alastair Reynold's House of Suns or Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains, for example.
With thousands or tens of thousands of people invested in the genre readily communicating by online means (a factor not really acknowledged by the Hugos either), it strikes me that maybe we should really start looking at a wider, more inclusive awards system. The way the first Gemmell Awards this year have gotten off the ground has been quite impressive and shown there is an audience for such a move.
I'm going to vote for no award. I like Gaiman, I like Scalzi(OMW, at least), I like Stephenson, but these books are not their best work by a long shot.
As always with books the quality is subjective. People have different tastes and what for one is best ever for other is unreadable. Just look at comments here. I can't stop thinking that if any of those wasn't selected there'd be people complaining why it wasn't on the shortlist. It's just the nature of the internet fandom. Satisfied don't feel the need to voice their opinion - they are satisfied. Nothing to write about. Just like the news tend to be bad news the internet comments tend to be complaining.
Pretty weak list, no doubt about it.
Never cared much for Scalzi and Stross. The Graveyard Book was okay, but nowhere near Gaiman at his best. Haven't read Little Brother and Anathem is on my pile of books to read.
Stephenson would appear to be the favorite, but I wouldn't be surprised if the voters go for Neil Gaiman.
Not surprisingly, no one outside of a few genre message boards will care one way or the other...
"Not surprisingly, no one outside of a few genre message boards will care one way or the other..."
And no-one on them will care either, aside from the growing frustration that this conservative and disenfranchised award is purported to be the most important SF&F award in the world.
Neil Gaiman is a Scientologist and he funds Scientology. The Gaiman family are founding US "Patrons" of Scientology for 2004 & 2006 (go to Scientology Completions to see "The Gaiman Family USA listed). According to ex scientologist Jon Attack, Patrons (are) the highest ranking membership - of the International Association of Scientologists. Founding Patrons (those who became Patrons by the IAS 20th Anniversary (October/November 2004) have donated US $40,000. Patrons with Honor have donated US $100,000. Go to http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/ and search for Gaiman to find The Gaiman Family USA listed as Patrons. Gaiman donates BIG money to Scieno.
While I do SO love John Scalzi, I'm afraid Zoe's Tale is probably not Hugo Award material. The earlier novels were for SURE, and now that he is more famous this one may well ride up on a fan-based vote. Haven't even READ the others.
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