Thoughts on the Hugo shortlist
Jul. 5th, 2012 11:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
naathSo, I finally managed to finish chewing through almost all the Hugo-nominated works and now I'm going to bore you by writing about them.
Best Novel
Among Others by Jo Walton (Tor)
I read this some time ago now, it's a lovely semi-autobiographical novel about a girl who loves reading SF, with touches of magic in the world. It's not very like anything else I can think of; it's a wonderful tour of classic SF novels as well as a lovely novel in itself.
A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin (Bantam Spectra)
I do like aSoIaF as a series, but I'm not really convinced of the merits of DwD on its own (and as a stand-alone novel it is dreadful). Middle volumes of series are not generally the sort of thing I would expect to win awards.
Deadline by Mira Grant (Orbit)
I unexpectedly really really like this (and the other two in the trilogy); I'm not normally a zombie fan. It's more on the "enjoyable sillyness" end of the scale than "serious books about serious things" although it does tackle some serious topics about press freedom. Again it has the failing of being book 2 of 3, although at least in this case book 3 is actually available already.
Embassytown by China Miéville (Macmillan / Del Rey)
I did like this, although it is much harder reading than any of the other entries, I think there are some interesting thoughts in there as well as a good story.
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey (Orbit)
Noir detective novels, meet mundane SF. I did like this a lot, in a "hard to put it down" way; I've not seen "detectives in space" done much before but that doesn't mean this is actually new.
Best Novella
Countdown by Mira Grant (Orbit)
Moar Zombies. Zombies are popular this year, but I like the Novella at lot less than the novels; which is probably because of my overall preference for longer works.
“The Ice Owl” by Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2011)
I liked this one, but I find I don't really have anything to say about it. It's a nice piece of worldbuilding but I'm not sure it really works at this length.
“Kiss Me Twice” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov's, June 2011)
An exploration of stuff-about-AI dressed up as a detective story. It was enjoyable, but not very deeply-thinky.
“The Man Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij Johnson (Asimov's, September/October 2011)
I liked this one a whole lot and was very impressed that Johnson has fitted a story I found fully satisfying into the novella format (I like longer works...); the setting is clearly fantastical although the story doesn't really make much use of that aspect.
“The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” by Ken Liu (Panverse 3)
A very interesting format for a written work - presented as interviews and transcripts rather than as simple prose. Also presents a very interesting piece of technology and explores the ramifications of it; plus I feel educated about history as well.
Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld / WSFA)
I normally like Valente's work but I found this one very hard going. Thinky thoughts about the personhood of AI from the perspective of an AI. I think I find Valente's very flowery style more suited to fantasy, although this may be just what I'm used to.
Best Novelette
I find this category is my least-favourite length; too long to be short-and-snappy, too short to do much exploring.
“The Copenhagen Interpretation” by Paul Cornell (Asimov's, July 2011)
Ah, steampunkery :-) Well, ish. A nice world and even manages a nice story set in it.
"Fields of Gold” by Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse Four)
Set in an interesting version of the afterlife, the setting is interesting and well explored but I didn't much care for the plot.
“Ray of Light” by Brad R. Torgersen (Analog, December 2011)
I found this the best Novelette for getting all of an interesting story into the format :-) Beginning in an ocean-floor habitat with few other SF-nal shinies an interesting story unfolds.
“Six Months, Three Days” by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com)
A relationship between two people; one of who remembers the future as one certain outcome, the other as a branching set of options. I think the set up here is very interesting but that it isn't explored as much as I would like.
“What We Found” by Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September/October 2011)
I found this one rather confusingly laid out (it flips between flashbacks which aren't presented in chronological order), although perhaps the e-book formatting is in part responsible for this. I found the setting very interesting once I had figured it out, but the plot rather a let down.
Best Short Story
“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld, April 2011)
I really liked the idea of this, but found the writing style difficult (I can't really say why, I don't know enough about writing).
“The Homecoming” by Mike Resnick (Asimov's, April/May 2011)
The reaction of a parent to a child coming home much changed from visiting aliens. An interesting exploration of the effects of such changes, and much more sympathetic to the changed than Reynolds (which is nice!)
“Movement” by Nancy Fulda (Asimov's, March 2011)
An interesting exploration of autism from the inside. I struggled with the style, again... can't really say why.
“The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2011)
Oh, but I loved this. It fits perfectly in the length, delicate and poignant and lovely. My fondness for toy animals may be influencing my thoughts.
“Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue” by John Scalzi (Tor.com)
An April Fool's joke that is worth reading for the hilarious prose. I'm not sure it's worth *awards* though.
Best Related Work
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Third Edition edited by John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls, and Graham Sleight (Gollancz)
I didn't read it all, but I read bits. A worthy undertaking! I'll assume that they have collected True Facts and conclude that it is a very useful thing indeed.
Jar Jar Binks Must Die... and Other Observations about Science Fiction Movies by Daniel M. Kimmel (Fantastic Books)
Well, I don't really care for film as a medium... and I don't really care for media-criticism much generally... but I did enjoy these essays (even where I hadn't seen the films).
The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature by Jeff VanderMeer and S. J. Chambers (Abrams Image)
Sorry didn't get around to this one.
Wicked Girls by Seanan McGuire
Music! a nice change :-) A nice album, I particularly enjoyed the titular track. Very much plays to my prejudices ;-p
Writing Excuses, Season 6 by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Jordan Sanderson
I was surprised by how much I like this since a)I often find that Americans speak waaaaay too slowly (these ones don't) in podcasts/videos b)I know sod-all about writing and am not very interested in the process and c)I find podcasts hard to pay attention to. Anyway I listened to about 10 of them, and they did grip my attention enough that I felt I had absorbed what they were saying, which was mostly (as advertised!) advice for writers but I felt I learned some things about how books are put together. So that was nice.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
Captain America: The First Avenger, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephan McFeely, directed by Joe Johnston (Marvel)
The whole genre of "comic book films" bores me so much I haven't watched it.
Game of Thrones (Season 1), created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss; written by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, and George R. R. Martin; directed by Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan, Tim van Patten, and Alan Taylor (HBO)
I like that the whole series is nominated as one thing. I did enjoy watching it, some nice visuals and mostly in line with the novel. Gratuitous nudity was gratuitous though.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner Bros.)
Not watched.
Hugo, screenplay by John Logan; directed by Martin Scorsese (Paramount)
Not watched.
Source Code, screenplay by Ben Ripley; directed by Duncan Jones (Vendome Pictures)
Not watched.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)
“The Doctor's Wife” (Doctor Who), written by Neil Gaiman; directed by Richard Clark (BBC Wales)
Actually I hated this one. It was silly.
“The Drink Tank's Hugo Acceptance Speech,” Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon (Renovation)
This is a sign of HOW BAD TV SF IS. No, I'm not voting for you award speech :) Even if it was funny.
“The Girl Who Waited” (Doctor Who), written by Tom MacRae; directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
This was silly. AND ANNOYING. New Who is really going down the tubes.
“A Good Man Goes to War” (Doctor Who), written by Steven Moffat; directed by Peter Hoar (BBC Wales)
And this one was JUST ANNOYING.
“Remedial Chaos Theory” (Community), written by Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna; directed by Jeff Melman (NBC)
Not watched. But I might vote for it on the grounds that it can't be worse that ALL THE BAD DR WHO.
Best Novel
Among Others by Jo Walton (Tor)
I read this some time ago now, it's a lovely semi-autobiographical novel about a girl who loves reading SF, with touches of magic in the world. It's not very like anything else I can think of; it's a wonderful tour of classic SF novels as well as a lovely novel in itself.
A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin (Bantam Spectra)
I do like aSoIaF as a series, but I'm not really convinced of the merits of DwD on its own (and as a stand-alone novel it is dreadful). Middle volumes of series are not generally the sort of thing I would expect to win awards.
Deadline by Mira Grant (Orbit)
I unexpectedly really really like this (and the other two in the trilogy); I'm not normally a zombie fan. It's more on the "enjoyable sillyness" end of the scale than "serious books about serious things" although it does tackle some serious topics about press freedom. Again it has the failing of being book 2 of 3, although at least in this case book 3 is actually available already.
Embassytown by China Miéville (Macmillan / Del Rey)
I did like this, although it is much harder reading than any of the other entries, I think there are some interesting thoughts in there as well as a good story.
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey (Orbit)
Noir detective novels, meet mundane SF. I did like this a lot, in a "hard to put it down" way; I've not seen "detectives in space" done much before but that doesn't mean this is actually new.
Best Novella
Countdown by Mira Grant (Orbit)
Moar Zombies. Zombies are popular this year, but I like the Novella at lot less than the novels; which is probably because of my overall preference for longer works.
“The Ice Owl” by Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2011)
I liked this one, but I find I don't really have anything to say about it. It's a nice piece of worldbuilding but I'm not sure it really works at this length.
“Kiss Me Twice” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov's, June 2011)
An exploration of stuff-about-AI dressed up as a detective story. It was enjoyable, but not very deeply-thinky.
“The Man Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij Johnson (Asimov's, September/October 2011)
I liked this one a whole lot and was very impressed that Johnson has fitted a story I found fully satisfying into the novella format (I like longer works...); the setting is clearly fantastical although the story doesn't really make much use of that aspect.
“The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” by Ken Liu (Panverse 3)
A very interesting format for a written work - presented as interviews and transcripts rather than as simple prose. Also presents a very interesting piece of technology and explores the ramifications of it; plus I feel educated about history as well.
Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld / WSFA)
I normally like Valente's work but I found this one very hard going. Thinky thoughts about the personhood of AI from the perspective of an AI. I think I find Valente's very flowery style more suited to fantasy, although this may be just what I'm used to.
Best Novelette
I find this category is my least-favourite length; too long to be short-and-snappy, too short to do much exploring.
“The Copenhagen Interpretation” by Paul Cornell (Asimov's, July 2011)
Ah, steampunkery :-) Well, ish. A nice world and even manages a nice story set in it.
"Fields of Gold” by Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse Four)
Set in an interesting version of the afterlife, the setting is interesting and well explored but I didn't much care for the plot.
“Ray of Light” by Brad R. Torgersen (Analog, December 2011)
I found this the best Novelette for getting all of an interesting story into the format :-) Beginning in an ocean-floor habitat with few other SF-nal shinies an interesting story unfolds.
“Six Months, Three Days” by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com)
A relationship between two people; one of who remembers the future as one certain outcome, the other as a branching set of options. I think the set up here is very interesting but that it isn't explored as much as I would like.
“What We Found” by Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September/October 2011)
I found this one rather confusingly laid out (it flips between flashbacks which aren't presented in chronological order), although perhaps the e-book formatting is in part responsible for this. I found the setting very interesting once I had figured it out, but the plot rather a let down.
Best Short Story
“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld, April 2011)
I really liked the idea of this, but found the writing style difficult (I can't really say why, I don't know enough about writing).
“The Homecoming” by Mike Resnick (Asimov's, April/May 2011)
The reaction of a parent to a child coming home much changed from visiting aliens. An interesting exploration of the effects of such changes, and much more sympathetic to the changed than Reynolds (which is nice!)
“Movement” by Nancy Fulda (Asimov's, March 2011)
An interesting exploration of autism from the inside. I struggled with the style, again... can't really say why.
“The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2011)
Oh, but I loved this. It fits perfectly in the length, delicate and poignant and lovely. My fondness for toy animals may be influencing my thoughts.
“Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue” by John Scalzi (Tor.com)
An April Fool's joke that is worth reading for the hilarious prose. I'm not sure it's worth *awards* though.
Best Related Work
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Third Edition edited by John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls, and Graham Sleight (Gollancz)
I didn't read it all, but I read bits. A worthy undertaking! I'll assume that they have collected True Facts and conclude that it is a very useful thing indeed.
Jar Jar Binks Must Die... and Other Observations about Science Fiction Movies by Daniel M. Kimmel (Fantastic Books)
Well, I don't really care for film as a medium... and I don't really care for media-criticism much generally... but I did enjoy these essays (even where I hadn't seen the films).
The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature by Jeff VanderMeer and S. J. Chambers (Abrams Image)
Sorry didn't get around to this one.
Wicked Girls by Seanan McGuire
Music! a nice change :-) A nice album, I particularly enjoyed the titular track. Very much plays to my prejudices ;-p
Writing Excuses, Season 6 by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Jordan Sanderson
I was surprised by how much I like this since a)I often find that Americans speak waaaaay too slowly (these ones don't) in podcasts/videos b)I know sod-all about writing and am not very interested in the process and c)I find podcasts hard to pay attention to. Anyway I listened to about 10 of them, and they did grip my attention enough that I felt I had absorbed what they were saying, which was mostly (as advertised!) advice for writers but I felt I learned some things about how books are put together. So that was nice.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
Captain America: The First Avenger, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephan McFeely, directed by Joe Johnston (Marvel)
The whole genre of "comic book films" bores me so much I haven't watched it.
Game of Thrones (Season 1), created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss; written by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, and George R. R. Martin; directed by Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan, Tim van Patten, and Alan Taylor (HBO)
I like that the whole series is nominated as one thing. I did enjoy watching it, some nice visuals and mostly in line with the novel. Gratuitous nudity was gratuitous though.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner Bros.)
Not watched.
Hugo, screenplay by John Logan; directed by Martin Scorsese (Paramount)
Not watched.
Source Code, screenplay by Ben Ripley; directed by Duncan Jones (Vendome Pictures)
Not watched.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)
“The Doctor's Wife” (Doctor Who), written by Neil Gaiman; directed by Richard Clark (BBC Wales)
Actually I hated this one. It was silly.
“The Drink Tank's Hugo Acceptance Speech,” Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon (Renovation)
This is a sign of HOW BAD TV SF IS. No, I'm not voting for you award speech :) Even if it was funny.
“The Girl Who Waited” (Doctor Who), written by Tom MacRae; directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
This was silly. AND ANNOYING. New Who is really going down the tubes.
“A Good Man Goes to War” (Doctor Who), written by Steven Moffat; directed by Peter Hoar (BBC Wales)
And this one was JUST ANNOYING.
“Remedial Chaos Theory” (Community), written by Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna; directed by Jeff Melman (NBC)
Not watched. But I might vote for it on the grounds that it can't be worse that ALL THE BAD DR WHO.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-05 12:57 pm (UTC)I remember reviewing the Hugo nominees a few years ago and seeing the same recurring problem you mention about writing style. I feel like the F&SF community who votes on these things has fetishized postmodern narrative for several years now despite the fact that it often gets in the way of the storytelling. Maybe it, like the recurrent idea of the Singularity, is a reflection of the existential uncertainty we face in an alienating future-become-present; or maybe it's just pretentious people promoting pretentious people.