Hugo Awards

[carrie80]

I know there are other Science Fiction and Fantasy readers on here - does anyone else follow the Hugo awards?
http://www.worldcon.fi/wsfs/hugo-finalists/

I've been thinking about it because I'm eligible to vote and have a lot of reading to do in the next couple of months! I'm pretty happy with this year's shortlist, at least as far as I'm familiar with the nominated works. The two categories where I'd guess other readers here are most likely to be familiar with some of the works are:

Best Novel
•All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Books / Titan Books)
•A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager US)
•Death’s End, by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu (Tor Books / Head of Zeus)
•Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris Books)
•The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit Books)
•Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)

Of the three that I've read, Ninefox Gambit is at the top of my list - an incredibly confusing but amazing military SF with political intrigue and a weird calendar based belief system. I also loved The Obelisk Gate, although not quite as much as the previous book The Fifth Season - an epic fantasy on a seismically active world that's falling apart. I've just finished the audiobook of Too Like the Lightning, and I'm not sure what I think of it - also confusing, set in the future with a radically changed world political set up, but told in a very consciously mannered 18th century enlightenment style. Until the last chapter I was almost sure I wouldn't read the next in the series, but now I'm interested in following up on the final revelations, so I'm not sure...

Best Series
•The Craft Sequence, by Max Gladstone (Tor Books)
•The Expanse, by James S.A. Corey (Orbit US / Orbit UK)
•The October Daye Books, by Seanan McGuire (DAW / Corsair)
•The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series, by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz / Del Rey / DAW / Subterranean)
•The Temeraire series, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Harper Voyager UK)
•The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)

Top of my list is The Vorkosigan Saga, a long running space opera series which is comfort reading for me - the first book was one of those that got me into reading SFF as an adult. I'm also really enjoying the October Daye series - I find McGuire's voice compelling and the series has a good balance of self contained stories, but with new developments or revelations about the world in every book. I liked the first Temeraire books (Patrick O'Brien with dragons!), but found the series started to drag in later books, and haven't read the last couple. I've read the first couple of Rivers of London books and loved the characters - especially the rivers - but haven't felt compelled to read the rest of the series. I bounced off the first Expanse book (hated one of the viewpoint characters), but I know lots of people love them, so I might try again. I haven't read the Craft Sequence, but again, have heard good things.

Has anyone else read any of the books & series above (or other nominated works)?

If anyone else is interested, you can can vote for the Hugos (and nominate for next year) if you get a supporting membership for Worldcon. It costs 35 Euros, but gives you access to the Hugo Voter packet, which contains e-book copies of many of the nominated works, including most of the novels and two of the series.
http://www.worldcon.fi/memberships/

[77ss]

I know there are other Science Fiction and Fantasy readers on here - does anyone else follow the Hugo awards?
http://www.worldcon.fi/wsfs/hugo-finalists/

I've been thinking about it because I'm eligible to vote and have a lot of reading to do in the next couple of months! I'm pretty happy with this year's shortlist, at least as far as I'm familiar with the nominated works. The two categories where I'd guess other readers here are most likely to be familiar with some of the works are:

Best Novel
•All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Books / Titan Books)
•A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager US)
•Death’s End, by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu (Tor Books / Head of Zeus)
•Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris Books)
•The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit Books)
•Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)

Of the three that I've read, Ninefox Gambit is at the top of my list - an incredibly confusing but amazing military SF with political intrigue and a weird calendar based belief system. I also loved The Obelisk Gate, although not quite as much as the previous book The Fifth Season - an epic fantasy on a seismically active world that's falling apart. I've just finished the audiobook of Too Like the Lightning, and I'm not sure what I think of it - also confusing, set in the future with a radically changed world political set up, but told in a very consciously mannered 18th century enlightenment style. Until the last chapter I was almost sure I wouldn't read the next in the series, but now I'm interested in following up on the final revelations, so I'm not sure...

Best Series
•The Craft Sequence, by Max Gladstone (Tor Books)
•The Expanse, by James S.A. Corey (Orbit US / Orbit UK)
•The October Daye Books, by Seanan McGuire (DAW / Corsair)
•The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series, by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz / Del Rey / DAW / Subterranean)
•The Temeraire series, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Harper Voyager UK)
•The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)

Top of my list is The Vorkosigan Saga, a long running space opera series which is comfort reading for me - the first book was one of those that got me into reading SFF as an adult. I'm also really enjoying the October Daye series - I find McGuire's voice compelling and the series has a good balance of self contained stories, but with new developments or revelations about the world in every book. I liked the first Temeraire books (Patrick O'Brien with dragons!), but found the series started to drag in later books, and haven't read the last couple. I've read the first couple of Rivers of London books and loved the characters - especially the rivers - but haven't felt compelled to read the rest of the series. I bounced off the first Expanse book (hated one of the viewpoint characters), but I know lots of people love them, so I might try again. I haven't read the Craft Sequence, but again, have heard good things.

Has anyone else read any of the books & series above (or other nominated works)?

If anyone else is interested, you can can vote for the Hugos (and nominate for next year) if you get a supporting membership for Worldcon. It costs 35 Euros, but gives you access to the Hugo Voter packet, which contains e-book copies of many of the nominated works, including most of the novels and two of the series.
http://www.worldcon.fi/memberships/

I do 'follow', but usually a number of years in arrears - although I did read the splendid Anne Leckie nominations (Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy, 2015 and 2016). I haven't read any of the nominated novels - so thanks for the tips.

Best series? Is this a new category? I can't say that I care for Bujold's Vorkosigan stuff - I find her fantasy writing incomparably superior (The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls - nomination and winner in 2002 and 2004). A matter of taste no doubt.

[77ss]

PS. If I could vote for a 'Best Series', then of the still ongoing ones I would unhesitatingly go for Lee and Miller's Liaden novels.

[deucetoace]

I've read Ninefox Gambit & The Obelisk Gate. I follow a number of authors and awards people on twitter and am getting a number of interesting recommendations for reading from there. I prefer The Obelisk Gate myself & am waiting for the 3rd book with interest. Ninefox Gambit is an interesting book with some subtle points to make which occur after reading rather than during reading for me anyhow. I think I may well enjoy it more the 2nd time around.

[carrie80]

Best series? Is this a new category?

For this year it's a one-off category, but it's likely to be passed as an ongoing new category at this year's Worldcon. I think this was mostly spurred by the entire Wheel of Time series being shortlisted for Best Novel a couple of years ago due to a quirk in the rules. The idea is that like with the various short fiction categories, a series is constructed differently to an individual novel and key novels in a series often don't stand alone and are therefore less likely to be recognized by novel awards. I have some sympathy with this viewpoint, although the fact that only one of this year's Best Novel finalists is stand alone and three are 2nd or 3rd books in a series undermines the argument somewhat. I like Best Series as a one off or occasional category, but I'm not sure how well it will work on an annual basis. I'm totally with you that Lee & Miller's Liaden series would be a great candidate.

I can't say that I care for Bujold's Vorkosigan stuff - I find her fantasy writing incomparably superior (The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls - nomination and winner in 2002 and 2004). A matter of taste no doubt.

I wouldn't go that far, but I'm also a fan of Bujold's fantasy - have you read the Penric novellas? They are set in the same world, self published over the last couple of years, and I particularly enjoyed the second.

[Slarti]

I read the first 3 of the Temeraire series, but got bored with them and even though my wife and son carried on, I didn't bother.

The characters seemed to turn to cardboard and failed to hold my interest.

Slarti

[deucetoace]

Following this thread I have bought & just finished the first of the Temeraire series which I enjoyed enough to buy the next two. I liked Hornblower etc.. so intelligent dragons in the same sort of era is good.

[Urbandreamer]

Top of my list is The Vorkosigan Saga, a long running space opera series

I too love the Vorkosigan Saga, but describing it as a space opera series may possibly give the wrong impression. "Falling Free" and "Ethan of Alphos" while brilliant don't exactly fit the "series" description, "A Civil Campaign" is more a comedy of manners/regency romance than space opera and as for "Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen"....

Well the latter is more "hard science" fiction than space opera especially given the titles nod to "The Red Queen hypothisis".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_hypothesis

Some, like "The Vor Game", though are pure space opera.

I like the PC Grant books, though the latter ones are a bit slow for me. The Rivers of London turned up on the R4 open book program in 2015. It was quite ammusing listening to people who would never have thought of reading it if they didn't have to do so for the program.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02v19zb
I'm not sure if I'd class it as SF though.

Thanks for reminding me of the Hugo's, yet more to read!

[Sorcery]

[quote="carrie80"]I know there are other Science Fiction and Fantasy readers on here - does anyone else follow the Hugo awards?
http://www.worldcon.fi/wsfs/hugo-finalists/

Well I have just finished re-reading Existence by David Brin who has won every award going. Didn't realise I had not read it before (cos it wasn't on my bookshelf). Have also read the uplift series twice and by him. Brin is quite talented I think, despite his predilection for believing in disasters of the green movement's fear kind.

I only finished "Existence" a few minutes ago, so may be still in its thrall. I was particularly interested in the idea of upload of human consciousness into a machine state that didn't manage to lose the humanity (in the upload). It's possible that I could help engineer this, have more money than I can sensibly spend, have an education in psychology, and just over 40 years experience with programming silicon. It seems like it could be done at some level even if it's just a personality thing where the aim is to guide your descendents (and/or others) to make better decisions if asked to be involved.

Right now upload seems real, the question is how? Any ideas out there?

Best, Sorcery