Hugo Award

Great Hugo Readthrough 1959: James Blish’s A Case of Conscience

First Readthrough/ Reread: First Readthrough
Acquired: Library

Other Nominees:
Poul Anderson: We Have Fed Our Sea (or The Enemy Stars)
Algis Budrys: Who?
Robert A. Heinlein: Have Space Suit — Will Travel
Robert Sheckley: Time Killer (or Immortality, Inc.)

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Orbit and the Hugo Voter’s Packet

So, Orbit, the publisher of Parasite, Neptune’s Brood, and Ancillary Justice (They’re really kicking ass at the Hugos this year, watch out, Orbit) has decided not to include the full ebooks of their nominated books in the Hugo voter packet this year. Mira Grant, Charles Stross, and Ann Leckie have issued a joint statement regarding the situation, and John Scalzi has some interesting thoughts on the matter.

What do I think? Well, the Wheel of Time was already the hulking gorilla in the room, and this does help its chances a little bit. I wouldn’t count the others down and out, though. Regardless, this year’s Hugo awards are a wee bit more dramatic than usual. As for Orbit’s decision… well, the Best Novel nominees are generally going to be much easier to find than the various short fiction awards, and they might honestly feel they’re losing a good bit of money, giving away their books, so I don’t know if I can blame them.

I’m still working on reading the others, by the way. I only have Warbound and Parasite left. I’ll do posts soon enough.

Great Hugo Readthrough 1958: Fritz Lieber’s The Big Time

First Readthrough/ Reread: First readthrough.
Acquired: Library

Other Nominees: This is the last year with no records of other nominees.

Background: Serialized in Galaxy Magazine in two parts.

Synopsis: There is a “Change War” being fought between the Spiders and the Snakes- unknowable alien intelligences manipulating humanity and other intelligent species in a war fought across the timeline. Soldiers, medics, and entertainers are housed between battles in various parts of history (Nazi Germany, WW1, the Siege of Troy, etc.) in bubbles outside spacetime containing housing facilities, etc. One group, containing several aliens, a Nazi, a flapper, a turn of the century English poet, a Roman Legionnaire, and several others, has their bubble “inverted”, or pushed even farther beyond normal spacetime, so that they can’t escape, and no one else can get in. With rebellious sentiments high and a nuclear bomb that had been meant for delivery in a battle ticking down, the characters have to figure out who inverted them and where the device is hidden.

Verdict: This is a tough one. When I first started reading it, I hated it. It genuinely has a terrible opening act, which does contain clues, but the only reason I kept going was due to this Readthrough. It got better later on, and the mystery did get fairly interesting. Short book, as well. The protagonist was a woman, and the book passed the Bechdel test, but I’m still pretty uneasy regarding gender roles in this book. The soldiers are all men, the doctor is a man, the entertainers are women, and they preserve semi-real copies of historical women for the men to have sex with. I’ve seen worse from the time period, though. The plot itself is a locked room mystery: all the action takes place inside that single bubble of spacetime. I’m not a fan of the genre, to be honest. I much prefer other schools of mysteries, but locked room mysteries are still better than little old lady detective mysteries, and this one is done very well. Overall, though, it’s pretty meh. There are much better SF/F mystery novels, even much better time travel war novels. It’s better than They’d Rather Be Right, at least, but I feel like there must have been something better published in 1958.

<1956: Robert Heinlein's Double Star
1959: James Blish’s A Case of Conscience>

My Hugo Shortlist 2015

So on top of all the Hugo Award related reading I’m doing, I’m reading a good bit of other fiction as well, and I think I’ve found a book I plan on voting for next year. (Can’t afford to vote this year, but considering that Worldcon is in Spokane, Washington next year, I definitely plan on going.

Valour and Vanity, the fourth book in the Glamourist Histories by the amazing Mary Robinette Kowal, is a fantasy Regency drama. With magic. And Oceans Eleven/ Lies of Locke Lamora style heists. It’s amazing. The first three books are fantastic, too, but you can read this one without them, if you really want. (You totally should read the others, though, they’re great too, though each book has its own distinct take on the Regency novel.)

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