Hugo Awards 2022 - A few thoughts and a couple of rants

Yes, I have been reading the Hugo Awards finalists, trying to work my way through them at a decent pace. I have read a few of the nominations, but far from all of them. So here I go with some of what I've already read/watched/whatever.

First up, let's look at Best Novel. I finished The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, by Becky Chambers, first, then realized I probably should have saved it for last. Chambers books are thought-provoking and twist your mind, but in a gentle and friendly way that makes them a relief to read. As a palate cleanser, her books are the best by far. This one is no exception. A solid tale of a group of strangers meeting under strained circumstances and getting to know each other, it plays out both gently and powerfully. I genuinely liked all the characters and laughed along with them (the bit about cheese just had me howling). I could have sat and read just about each character for another few hundred pages, but Chambers sets up the situation then plunges the reader into a bit of stress which cements everything. Excellent and wonderful, and a book you can easily read without knowing much of her other works (I've only read a couple). I don't yet know how it'll hold up compared to other finalists, but it is definitely worthy of a Hugo Award.

The next one I read was A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine. I had not read the first novel, which this is a sequel to, so I was lost in places. But not so badly lost as I've been reading other sequels. I quickly got into the rhythm of this universe and enjoyed learning more about each character and how they interacted. By the end of the book I had a very good sense of what had happened in the first book. Overall, it was a good book, solid and worthy of a Hugo. It also managed to provoke some very strange dreams, so that was interesting.

I have not yet read the other four finalists. I'll try to post something when I get through those.

In other categories...

I read "The Sin of America", by Catherynne M. Valente, finalist for Best Short Story. This is one of those painful tales that I can see being required reading in a literature class. And while I don't think it's bad, it's a little too painful and on point for me to say I "enjoyed" it. Hugo worthy? Certainly. Will it be at the top of my ballot? Unlikely.

In the Best Series category, I've read enough of The World of the White Rat, by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) to say that I absolutely enjoy this universe and want to read more in it and I'm quite pleased to put it on my ballot at the top, unless I manage to read enough of one of the other series that is so fantastic to knock it off my pedestal. But yeah, this is a great series of books.

I have a request of all future people nominated in the best series category. Please Please Please Please PLEASE include in the packet a small text list of the works included in the nomination (every eligible work) in a suggested reading order. Nothing fancy. Nothing major. Just a freakin' list so we know what books to look for if we aren't certain and don't have to Google it and run through a dozen different variations of what books might be in that series and oh here are the ones that just got published but they aren't part of the nomination but here they are anyway and no, that's not a part of the series but someone listed it anyway and ... so much irritation could be removed by just listing the works.

In Best Graphic Story, I read Far Sector, written by N.K. Jemisin, art by Jamal Campbell, as it was coming out and yeah, it's worth a Hugo Award. An excellent series and that's coming from a comic book fan who doesn't much like intergalactic stories. It was just so well written, nicely layered and beautiful. Well worth the effort of reading. Right now it has the top spot on my ballot, but I haven't read the other books yet so that could potentially change.

I read “How Twitter can ruin a life”, by Emily St. James in the Best Related Work category and it still stings. The anger I feel at the mob who caused all that pain... and yet I understand completely. The essay lays it out very cleanly and clearly, and so I find it to be Hugo worthy. As with other categories, it's on the top of my list at the moment simply because I haven't read anything else in the category, but I certainly could see it staying there.

To my surprise, I've already seen three of the six finalists in Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form and four of the six in Short Form. I have a nit to pick with the Dramatic Presentation categories that I'll start with, though. There are two Dramatic Presentation categories: Short Form and Long Form. There needs to be a third. Serial. For example, in Long Form, we have WandaVision - a series. Up against a bunch of movies. In short form we have a bunch of single episode of series - five of which are NOT standalone episodes. At least as far as I know. The Arcane episode is the culmination of eight episodes of build-up and in no way could have the impact as a standalone that it would if the viewer had seen the rest of the series. Expanse is utterly incomprehensible if you haven't seen the rest of the series. For All Mankind? I've never seen a single episode. Will I understand the season two finale? The only standalone episode is Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is hilarious and wonderful and just freaking GREAT... but it's literally the only one on the list you could possibly understand easily without seeing other episodes. And I have issues with giving a Hugo Award to any work that cannot stand on its own. I'm clearly in the minority, but that's my opinion.

Okay, so now that's out of the way... Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form. I've seen Dune, Encanto, and WandaVision. All of them are good, although Dune left me a little cold (ironically enough). For sheer power, WandaVision has Encanto beat because of the length of WandaVision compared to Encanto. For sheer enjoyment, Encanto is the clear winner. I will attempt to view the other three finalists before I make a final decision, but it's going to be difficult because putting a movie up against an entire TV series is a lot like comparing apples to oranges. Yes, they are both fruit, but you enjoy them differently.

For Short Form, Arcane: The Monster You Created is going to be the top of my ballot. Yes, it suffers from the "can't stand alone" problem, but as long as the Hugos have these limitations on works, I'll pick the one I know is best. Likely second will be Star Trek: Lower Decks: wej Duj which was excellent on multiple levels and rip-roaring fun as well. Loki: The Nexus Event and The Wheel of Time: The Flame of Tar Valon are both good, but Arcane has them beat by miles, and Star Trek by a mile or so. I have not watched any Expanse since my first attempt failed. I just couldn't get into it. So I'll leave it off my ballot. My husband has been watching For All Mankind and plans to coach me through the nominated episode, so I'll figure out where it goes when I see it.

The only other category I'm willing to opine on at this time is the Lodestar Award, which has the excellent Chaos on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer. If the other finalists are even half as good as Kritzer's work, I'm going to really love reading these.

So, that's where I'm at right now. I hope to update again soon(ish) with more thoughts.

Hugo Awards 2021 - Update

I don't have a lot to report, since I've been busy "in real life" and haven't done as much reading/watching/playing as I wanted to do.

I've now read one of the novels and I'm working on a second. Along with the second novel, I also read some of the works in the Best Series category as well. In fact, I sat down yesterday and read four novellas in one day, then started the novel. I'm talking about the Murderbot series, which became a literal "can't put it down" for me. I was up until midnight last night reading Network Effect and haven't quite finished. I only stopped because my eyes refused to focus.

The other novel I read was The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin, which was exactly as great as I was expecting. There was at least one moment I saw telegraphed a little early, but it was still a nice twist when it happened. I can tell the final ordering of the finalists is going to be a difficult decision already.

In the Video Game Category, I've played a little more of the two games I got free copies of. Both of them are interesting and have decent gameplay, but judging this category is going to be tough. The games are apples and oranges - like putting a fantasy novel up against a hard sci-fi novel up against an alternate universe novel - they are all very different in goals and gameplay and the like, so it will be a subjective decision for those who vote in the category. But then, aren't they all?

I also skimmed the art categories to give myself a first impression, but none of them jumped out and grabbed me in the "I would use this as my computer wallpaper" way. All were good, but I didn't see any that spoke directly to my heart (which has happened with Hugo finalist art before for me). So I'll give it a few more days/weeks then look again.

I'll keep chipping away at the finalists over the next few months (voting closes Nov 19th). I'll update regularly with general thoughts and hopefully with more on each category as I finish.

Hugo Awards 2021 - Best Video Game category thoughts

This isn't a category I recall seeing in previous Hugo years. I think it's a first for this year, but it seems slightly overdue, as there have been some truly great stories being told in video games for a great many years.

The big problem for voters comes from having to figure out how to judge these games, many of which they haven't played and may not even be able to play. Of the six finalists - for example - I do not have the hardware to play three of them. So instead of first-hand experience with the games, which is by far the best way to judge, they will have to rely on promotion material or video playthroughs. And I'm guessing a lot of Hugo voters are going to be completely unfamiliar with video playthroughs. I know I am a relatively recent admirer of Twitch and YouTube video gamers, and some Hugo voters are certainly a little older or less techie than me.

For myself, I'll be playing three of the six. I requested Hugo copies of the two finalists that offered it, and one of the games is a browser-based game that is free to play online. To help other voters who may not be familiar enough with games, I'm going to list the six finalists with a link to their main website, if any, and a link to their category on Twitch:

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) - Twitch
• Blaseball (The Game Band) - Twitch
• Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix) - Twitch
• Hades (Supergiant Games) - Twitch
• The Last of Us: Part II (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog) - Twitch
• Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus) - Twitch

If you click on the Twitch link for each game, it will take you to a page of people currently playing the game online. There are some options, including a video tab, that allow you to look at past playthroughs or even clips of people playing the game. This isn't going to point you to the best playthroughs, but you ought to be able to get a sense of how the fans are reacting to the game and what they think of it by watching some clips or videos, or you can pop in on someone actually playing the game live and ask questions. Just don't be rude.

I have already received my codes for both Spiritfarer and Hades, and I have downloaded and installed each game. I'm debating whether or not to run a stream with each game, since I do stream on Twitch. If I do, I'll save the videos and link to them in a future blog post. Blaseball seems to be a little... odd... and perhaps not very streamable. I haven't dug far into it yet, but it appears to be a baseball simulator with additions. We'll just have to see how that one works.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons seems to be pretty well-known outside of gaming circles as anyone with a Nintendo Switch was playing it at the beginning of the pandemic, and many people used it as a substitute for their outside social life. People even held graduation ceremonies in it. I have seen parts of playthroughs already, but I'll be watching a bit more to try to get a better sense of the game.

Final Fantasy VII Remake seems to be nothing at all like the Final Fantasy MMO I was already trying out - but the franchise seems to be huge and the lore all over the place. So I'll have to learn a bit about the storyline and watch some folks play it to get an idea of what's going on there. I will note that I've always sort of avoided games where characters carry those ridiculously oversized swords because I feel like they are silly and wouldn't appeal to me - so I'm going to have to eat my prejudices here and judge the game on the game and not on the utterly unrealistic weapon choice of the designers.

The Last of Us has a special place in my heart. The original, not the one I'm voting on. When I was in the hospital being poked and prodded and going through a whole lot of pain, I used a playlist on my phone to keep me from going insane and to keep me calm when the pain got too much. Sometimes I just let one song play over and over. And when I couldn't play the music, that melody was my mantra and it went through my head constantly. Instead of the pain, I would concentrate on remembering how the sounds fit together and feel the next note instead of the needle in my arm. The song that got me through that tough time was the theme song to The Last of Us, by Gustavo Santaolalla. Another friend, a streamer, had played the original game on his stream and I'd caught just enough parts of his playthrough to hear the song, and liked it so much I bought a digital copy for my phone's playlist. And it was the song that got me through my time in the hospital.

I've never played the original game, though, nor have I watched a full playthrough. But I still feel a fondness for the game that might affect my voting. I don't know. I'll have to watch some videos and the various materials provided to make a decision. I will note, however, that any game that takes the time to put this scene into it deserves at least a closer look.

Hugo Awards 2021 - Some thoughts

A couple of random-ish thoughts now that I'm getting down and dirty into my Hugo finalist readings.

The Best Series category is going to be really difficult for me this year because I've never read ANY of the finalists. I found myself overwhelmed by the category and posted a request for help on Facebook. What I got wasn't terribly helpful. I wish each finalist had put together a single page file that gave the names of the works in the series, a suggested reading order and possibly suggested highlights - but at least a list of the works with the reading order. It would have been EXTREMELY useful for the category. I think I've figured out the first book in each series, but I'm not completely certain. Sometimes series start with a short story, sometimes people list the chronological order instead of a good reading order, sometimes the first book isn't the best place to start.

The Best Video Game category has me kind of excited, as I've been much more a gamer over the last couple of years than a reader. I have requested copies of the two games that are offering Hugo voters review copies, but I know the number of games are limited so I don't know if I'll get the copies. One of the other games is a free-to-play browser-based game, if I am reading the information correctly, and so I'll be able to play it as well. Two other games are big enough that I already know a lot about them - but they are both Playstation only, which means I can't play them, since I'm a PC gamer and have no PS system. However, I should be able to find playthrough videos for both the PS games that give me enough of an idea of how gameplay works. I'm not even sure how to deal with the last game, which is only available on Nintendo Switch, but I'll think of something.

I also glanced through some of the other works in the packet. In particular, I looked at the Best Graphic Story category to see if the files were readable. I don't mind watermarks, but one year the watermarks on some files were so bad I couldn't actually read the comics because the watermarks obscured too much of the text. It doesn't look like that will be a problem this year. I'm looking forward to reading the finalists, despite none of them being familiar to me.

I have started on the first of the novels in the Best Novel category, and I'm really enjoying it so far. But then, what else can you expect from N. K. Jemisin? The packet only had an excerpt, so I went to the library and got a digital check-out of the full book. That's why it's on the top of my reading list - I only have three weeks to finish it. I'll be done by tomorrow night at the pace I'm going.

I'll try to update as I continue my Hugo reading/watching/listening and this year, playing. So far I'm enjoying myself, and I'm definitely feeling more connected to fandom than I have in far too long.

Hugo Awards 2021 - Thoughts on Short Stories

I haven't done any reviewing of the Hugo Awards for awhile, mostly because I didn't vote in them for the last couple of years. Last year, of course, I was otherwise indisposed. Before that, we lacked the money for my supporting membership - or rather, I had higher priorities and decided to forego the pleasure of trying to read, review and rate all the wonderful works in the Hugo packet.

With my continuing recovery this year, I felt it was time again to dip into the Hugos and see what my fellow fans think are the best works over the past year or so.

I make no promises that I'll review everything, but I will read and watch and listen to as many of the selections as possible and vote for the ones I like the best. So here we go, starting with the short stories.

The finalists for Best Short Story are:

• "The Mermaid Astronaut" by Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
• "Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse" by Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2020)
• "Open House on Haunted Hill" by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots, 2020)
• "A Guide for Working Breeds" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris)
• "Little Free Library" by Naomi Kritzer (Tor.com)
• "Metal Like Blood in the Dark" by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)

So let's get to it... I will attempt to avoid spoilers, but I apparently suck at it so read on at your own peril.

First thoughts after reading all of them: Wow, they are all REALLY good. Not one stinker among them, although there are two I don't like as much. Understand, I'm not saying I don't like them - I'm saying I like the others better.

Starting with "The Mermaid Astronaut" - there's something here that doesn't quite click for me. The story is solid, the world-building makes me happy. There are callbacks to other stories with twists. But it never quite rises to the top of excellence for me. I guess it's just a good story and not one that is going to make me think about it for a long time after, despite some profound concepts it touches on. So this will actually probably be at the bottom of my ballot, although it's certainly deserving of its place as a finalist.

"Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse" - If only I wasn't getting tired of apocalyptic stories, this might have hit me better. I like the characters, I thought the world-building was good, but I also felt like there were enough gaps to leave me wanting more in that respect. The concept is good, but oh so disturbing. Life goes on, life continues - but I have a lot of questions after reading it. A good story, but not one that can get to the top of my ballot.

"Open House on Haunted Hill" - This one definitely hits me in all the right spots. Paranormal, skepticism, family and some awesome bits of humor. I want to live in that house. And I want to hear more about the adventures of that place after the events of this story. This had just the perfect amount of world-building, and characters that drew me in. Definitely a contender for the top spot on my ballot.

"A Guide for Working Breeds" - I started out disliking this one intensely, but after I got a few exchanges in I began to be amused, then to really like it, then to love it. In fact, once I finished it I went back and reread it more closely, giggling at the jokes and thinking about the online exchanges I've had that were... well, not similar but certainly had the same flavor. The whole "how to be mean to humans" bit had me rocking in my chair with laughter on the second read. As soon as I finished it, this one jumped to the top of my list.

"Little Free Library" - I first read this on the Tor website back when they first published it, and enjoyed it then. I enjoyed it on the reread, although I found I had misremembered the ending. I love this story - it's fun and quirky and ties into real life in nice ways. And it makes me want to build my own Little Free Library. Overall, it's high on my list, and frankly this makes the third really strong story that I really love. It is not going to be easy to rank these.

"Metal Like Blood in the Dark" - The second in the list that tells a story from the point of view of an artificial intelligence, but this one isn't nearly so light-hearted as "Breeds". In fact, this one draws me into a deep well of wonder then presents a difficult concept to chew on - one that might keep me up thinking about it at night. The feel of the story is epic, like a myth told through time and handed down over the ages. This is a story that will ride with me for a long time to come.

So... I have four stories in my top spot. How will I decide what the final order will be? I'm going to set them aside, leaving this blog post as my only commentary on them, and read some other Hugo material. Then at some point I'm going to come back and look at the list and hopefully I will have formed an idea on how to rank them. Hopefully. But they are all so good, I feel any one of the six deserves the title of Hugo Winner and all are worthy finalists. I'm just not sure which one I'll pick for the top spot yet.

Hugo Noms Opening Soon

The Hugo Award Nominations are opening in the next few days. If you do not have a membership, but have something you want me to consider nominating, please let me know in the comments here or on Facebook. Preferably quickly, so I have a chance to check it out for myself before the nominations are due (I won't be nominating anything I don't like).

Hugo Winners

I was going to liveblog while watching the livestream, but the livestream died. So I'm relying on other people's reporting at the moment. These are the unofficial results that I'm hearing from various spots around the web:

• Best Fan Artist - Elizabeth Leggett
• Best Fan Writer - Abigail Nussbaum
• Best Fancast - Tea & Jeopardy
• Best Fanzine - Lady Business
• Best Semiprozine - Uncanny Magazine
In Memoriam list as read during the Hugo Award Ceremony
• Big Heart Award - Carolina Gómez Lagerlöf
• First Fandom Hall of Fame Award - Les and Es Cole
• First Fandom Posthumous Hall of Fame Award - Jim Harmon
• First Fandom Sam Moskowitz Archive Award - Jon D Swartz
• Best Professional Artist - Julie Dillon
• Best Editor Short Form - Ellen Datlow
• Best Editor Long Form - Liz Gorinsky
• Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form - The Expanse: "Leviathan Wakes"
• Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form - Arrival
• Seiun Awards: Best Translated Long Story - United States of Japan, Peter Tieryas, translated by Naoya Nakahara
• Seiun Awards: Best Translated Short Story (tie) - "Backward, Turn Backward" James Tiptree, Jr., translated by Kazuko Onoda
• Seiun Awards: Best Translated Short Story (tie) - "Simulacrum" Ken Liu, translated by Yoshimichi Furusawa
• Atorox Awards: Best Science Fiction Short Story - Maiju Ihalainen (Itkevän Taivaan Temppeli "The Temple of Heavenly Tears")
• Best Graphic Story - Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening
• Best Related Work - Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016 by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Best Short Story - Seasons of Glass and Iron”, by Amal El-Mohtar
• Best Novelette - "The Tomato Thief" by Ursula Vernon
• Best Novella - Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire
• Best Series Award - The Vorkosigan Saga
• John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer - Ada Palmer
• Best Novel - The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin

#TheHugoAwards are "officially amazing"! Receiving the Guinness Book of World Records certificate. #Worldcon75 pic.twitter.com/L33rRsN7SR

— Worldcon 75 (@worldcon75) August 11, 2017

Best Fancast winner Tea & Jeopardy express thanks by channeling the chickens! #TheHugoAwards pic.twitter.com/3oon9Rj3AA

— Worldcon 75 (@worldcon75) August 11, 2017

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren is actually here in person to present this year! #TheHugoAwards #Worldcon75 pic.twitter.com/JiTe0ICgjf

— Worldcon 75 (@worldcon75) August 11, 2017

Best Novelette winner Ursula Vernon educates us about whale death and the zombie worm #TheHugoAwards #worldcon75 pic.twitter.com/N62Iwn38WG

— Worldcon 75 (@worldcon75) August 11, 2017

George RR Martin presents the new Hugo Award for Best Series #TheHugoAwards #Worldcon75 pic.twitter.com/QrA0E9g5R0

— Worldcon 75 (@worldcon75) August 11, 2017

Last Day for Hugo Voting

Ok... just logged in one last (?) time and made only two changes, so I think I'm pretty much done with it. There are so many good pieces this year (compared to my first two years of voting) so I'm likely going to be happy at most of the winners. I'm still a little upset I couldn't finish the Best Series category, but it's a bit much to expect anyone to read five series they'd never read before in two months along with everything else in the packet, so I guess I shouldn't be.

I'm going to be trying to read a lot more short fiction this year than last - keeping up on the pace I set for reading during the Hugo voting, I hope. I will be posting my little reviews as I go, although I don't promise to review everything I read. I would get even more bogged down.

I'm still debating whether or not to ROT13 stuff I feel is spoilery... if you have an opinion on it, please let me know (I have a bookmark that automatically deciphers ROT13 so I never think of it as a pain to read - but some people might find it more difficult).

If you have any recommendation for novels that I ought to read for next year's Hugos, please let me know. I read all the comments that aren't clearly spam, so I'll see your recommendation even if I don't reply. For short works I'm finally getting around to reading this year's Uncanny Magazine and using Rocket Stack Rank to find short works from other publishers.

Hugo Review Status Update - Final?

This is almost my final ballot.

I did not finish the "Best Series" category, and I realized a couple of days ago that I wasn't going to read enough to feel comfortable rating most of the works in the category. I don't like this result, but I'll be putting Vorkosigan first and leaving the rest of the ballot blank, and hoping that I can finish reading these series before they all next become eligible (I think it's three years?).

My ballot order changes every time I log in, and I plan to log in once a day until the final day of voting. So what is below is unlikely to be my final absolute complete ballot. As I've noted before, I won't be posting my final ballot - I'm just not going to bother. This is close enough for you to get an idea of how I'm voting.

While reading and voting was, at times, almost stressful, it did have the fortunate effect of knocking me out of a very long and painful depressive episode and getting me to read regularly again. I just hope this lasts. I've still got a LOT of comic books to read to catch up, and let's not even talk about how far behind I am on Fortean Times (I crave my weirdness and haven't read it in so long!).

After the fold, my current rankings with links to my reviews. A dash means I'm leaving it off my ballot. The items I didn't even consider due to being promoted by a slate are not on the ballot at all.

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley is a collection of essays, not all of them about feminism or geeks or revolution (but enough to matter).

I came into this expecting to be pounded over the head by some overly aggressive drivel, but was pleasantly surprised to find it's a great book about writing and being a writer and dealing with life while being a writer. Yes, there's a lot about feminism and why it matters, but it's more about just living and dealing with the realities of being a woman. I really enjoyed it, much more than I was expecting to.

The good: Hurley has a strong voice, and tells about her experiences in plain language. She doesn't shy away from the tough topics, which means I was uncomfortable while reading some of her pieces - but it was that discomfort that arises from knowing such topics aren't discussed enough, not from the discussion itself.

The bad: I don't find Hurley to be sympathetic in the earliest essays in the book, which slightly put me off finishing it (and is why it's literally the last thing I'm reading for the Hugos this year). That feeling went away eventually, but it did stop me from reading for awhile.

Conclusion: I'm not sure where this will go on my ballot. Third? Fourth? First? It's just as likely to change between now and the end of the week.

Best Related Work: I've read all the entries. Check them out in my Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists.

A Hugo Review: John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer - Malka Older

Malka Older's packet included four works, three short stories and one novel. I enjoyed the short stories, but the longer work... well...

The novel is called Infomocracy, and while the premise seemed ok, the fact that it's all about politics, which I don't feel like thinking about at all and that it's written in present tense made it a slog. I got about halfway through before setting it down and looking for greener pastures, and have only just managed to get through the rest. I cannot say I enjoyed it.

The Rupture is a short story set on a future earth which suffers from cataclysmic eruptions as it nears its death - but is still populated and accepts visitors from other planets, humans who have gone to live on other worlds. The story is set from the point of view of a visitor and was solid, if not brilliant. Looking at why anyone would choose to live on a world that is dying was an interesting exercise, and I felt it got the mood and emotions across.

The Black Box is a little more difficult to define. It covers the lifetime of one person who has a computer helper installed as a child and makes a choice about that helper as she grows older. I got mixed messages from this one - was she better off not being able to access it or was she at a disadvantage? What was the point of the whole thing? And the ending seemed to just turn off any potential for liking the tale. While it makes me think, I'm not sure what it was trying to say.

The last one, Tear Tracks is also a bit problematic for me... mostly because the two representatives of humanity are downright STUPID about what they are hearing and seeing. Flur should have figured it out much quicker. With the hints we were given, I had it worked out before they went for refreshments. The fact that trained diplomats couldn't figure it out was disturbing.

Conclusion: Older will be toward the bottom of my ballot. Some great stuff, but the novel failed to engage my interest and I had issues with all the short stories.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - Traveler of Worlds by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro

Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro is a wide-ranging book of transcribed conversations between the two authors about Silverberg's life and writings.

The good: Lots of great information about Silverberg in here, his opinions, his work - it may not be all-inclusive, but it's one heckuva way to get to know the guy. The back and forth between the two is natural, and I was amused by the inclusion of the cat's activities at one point. The conversations ranged all over the place, but Zinos-Amaro seems to have managed to keep Silverberg mostly on track and edited the book to keep similar conversations in the same chapters.

The bad: Because these are conversations are a particular point in his life, looking back, there is really only one point of view. After reading the Gaiman and Le Guin books, which seemed to dash all over the place and were both written over the course of years, this book felt a little like a one-trick pony. There were also a couple of spots where Silverberg expressed opinions I found... unlikable. That's his right, and even his duty, but I was surprised to find myself respecting him less after reading those conversations. I believe that is a fault in me, not him, but it did affect how I responded to the work.

Conclusion: This probably gets the third or fourth spot at the moment. I'm sure my entire ballot order will change at least three more times in the days I have to finish it.

Best Related Work: I've read The Women of Harry Potter, The Princess Diarist, The View From the Cheap Seats, Traveler of Worlds, and Words Are My Matter. I still need to read The Geek Feminist Revolution.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Series - The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

I'm of multiple minds how to handle this category, as there is no chance of me even getting close to finishing all the entries before voting ends. This is the only series I was very familiar with before the finalists were announced, and it's perhaps my all-time favorite series. There's no way I'm NOT going to put it at the top of my ballot.

But, that said, what do I do about the others? I've skimmed, read a bit of each, and I'm just not sure. With only a couple more days of reading time, I'm not certain yet what I'll do.

So I guess my best bet at the moment is to tell my handful of readers why I like Bujold's work so much.

This series is concerned with the events in a family, focusing mainly on two family members: Cordelia and her son, Miles. I started by reading some of the books completely out of order, then went back and read Shards of Honor and Barrayar, then the rest mostly in publication order after that. Shards of Honor and Barrayar are Cordelia's books, funny and poignant and filled with hope. Most of the other books are about Miles and his various adventures as a man fighting physical problems caused before he was born while trying to live up to his family name.

Over the course of the series, the reader becomes friends with a huge cast of fantastic and wonderful people, all of them filled out with problems and strengths, some liking the others and some not. The end result is that the series as a whole fills its own universe and by the end of CryoBurn - when a certain event happens - the whole universe seems to shatter.

And I guess that's what I love about this series. You are carried along in a bunch of crazy adventures that are each satisfying as a piece, but as a whole work even better.

My favorite "trio" within the series is Memory, Komarr and A Civil Campaign. As a person who struggles with depression, reading Memory takes me down a dark path as Miles suffers what he would consider the worst possible events of his life (keeping in mind that he DIED in a previous book). Through the book, he's at his lowest and yet still manages to pull himself up enough to solve a mystery. Then in Komarr we see him adjust to a new life - which I find heartening. Sometimes you want nothing more than to get back what you've lost, but in Komarr the main character goes in a completely different direction and finds joy and love there. The final of the trio is A Civil Campaign, which is an all-out romp and enjoyable because it's hilarious.

By rereading those three books, I can often pull myself out of a deep depression and face the world again with new eyes. And it's the way this series can help me think differently about my own life while reading about the lives of fictional characters that has turned it into my favorite reread.

Conclusion: I don't know how I'm going to treat the rest of the series finalists, but as a series that has probably saved my life, this one is on top of my ballot.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - Words Are My Matter by Ursula K. Le Guin

Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016 by Ursula K. Le Guin is a collection of essays, book reviews, book intros and other writings.

Like Neil Gaiman's book, this is one that was hard for me to put down. Unlike Gaiman, I think Le Guin left less of herself on the pages of this book, while still giving us far more than you'd expect. This is another large book with a lot in it, and I admit to wanting to savor it much more than I have time to. The result is another book that I recommend for reading in bursts - a great bedside book.

The good: Lots of different pieces in here, starting with a lot of bits and pieces and poetry, and moving into lovely introductions on various writers. I loved the bits and pieces, and was slightly less interested in the intros and reviews, although they were very well-written. There is a lot to digest in this book, and if I had a couple more months to go over it, I would find more treasures.

The bad: I have always felt a distance from Le Guin that I cannot explain, and I still feel it in this writing. I don't connect with her works like I do with my favorite writers, although I enjoy them. There are a lot of reviews and intros of books that I wouldn't call science fiction or fantasy in here as well - not a problem with the book itself, but problematic for me giving it a high spot in this Hugo category.

Conclusion: Probably the number two spot on my ballot at the moment.

Best Related Work: I've read The Women of Harry Potter, The Princess Diarist, The View From the Cheap Seats, and Words Are My Matter. I still need to read The Geek Feminist Revolution, and Traveler of Worlds.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer - Laurie Penny

The Hugo packet includes four stories by Penny: Blue Monday, Everything Belongs to the Future (excerpt), The Killing Jar and Your Orisons May Be Recorded.

I wish I'd read these earlier, because I cannot yet tell if they will have a lasting impact on me... but if they do Penny would go up in my estimation. Every one of these stories hit me hard in a different spot, and while none of them fit my idea of incredible, all of them were very good.

Blue Monday involves mass production of internet videos. It's a somewhat logical progression of the current situation to the extremes presented in the story, which is what good fiction does. It's also a nice exploration of emotion and love and memory, from the point of view of someone who is definitely trying to be unlikeable. As a cat lover, I enjoyed this more than I probably should have.

Everything Belongs to the Future was the hardest to read - I just had difficulty working through it and found myself rereading bits to try to understand how they fit. Once I made of couple of connections, the whole story snapped into focus. But it wasn't a pleasant read for me. The concept is solid - what if there's a way to stop aging, but it's only available to the rich? What happens when the rest of the population starts to try to fight back? I think the result was slightly unsatisfying, however. Unfortunately, I can't pinpoint what bothers me about the story. If only I had read these stories earlier, I might have figured it out.

Moving on, The Killing Jar is possibly the most perfect of the stories by Penny in the packet. I would hate to spoil it, so I will avoid any talk about the plot itself. I'll just say that by the end of it I was cheering while I made a face of utter horror and disgust. And I will say, like I do with many of these tales, that I'm glad I don't live in THAT society.

I will admit that I had to look up the word "orisons" to understand the exact meaning of the title, although the context makes it fairly clear. I really had no idea that was a word, but I'm delighted that she used it so perfectly to disguise what the story is about until the reader clues in from the story itself. That said, the story itself was competent, but nothing amazing. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I'm not sure I'll remember it a month from now.

I just wish I'd read these earlier.

Conclusion: I really have no idea where she'll be on my final ballot - first or second, I suspect.

Hugo Review Status Update

I now have roughly seven more days in which to vote. Of the 100 finalists I plan to review and vote on, I have reviewed 89, leaving 11 more to go. Unfortunately, six of those 11 are for the Best Series and I didn't get nearly as much reading done on them as I'd hoped to this past week, while I was on vacation away from home. Still, I'm optimistic I can get enough reading done to finish voting.

My ballot order keeps changing and I can no longer guarantee it's the same as listed below. I think everything changes pretty much every time I go through the ballot. Some categories change way more than others. Part of that is how stories continue to affect me days/weeks after reading them. If they still have a strong impact, they are likely to rise on my ballot.

By the way, there's a Hugo Review Round Up post at File 770 that included a few of my reviews, which surprised me, since I'm a lightweight in the field of reviews. I would suggest that for more in-depth thoughts and coverage of the finalists, go check out some of the other reviews linked in that post.

After the fold, my current rankings with links to my reviews. A dash means I'm leaving it off my ballot. No number means I haven't reviewed it yet. I also removed the puppy poop entirely and will be putting "No Award" at the bottom of each category that has poop in it. Rankings are all subject to change right up until July 15th, and I do NOT promise to post my final rankings.

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman

The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman is an anthology of essays, introductions and speeches given by Gaiman over the years.

This is actually a really long book and it took me longer to read than I expected. It's just got so much substance to it that I would get caught in an essay and read it to the end, then want to read the next. This is absolutely a perfect book for short readings - have it by your bedside and read an essay/intro/speech each night. It's definitely not as good to power through it, like I did, even when the subject matters were great.

The good: You can learn a lot about Gaiman and his life from this book - it's practically an autobiography if taken all together. You can also learn a lot about his philosophy of writing and get a great deal of hints and helps on how to write. He wrote many introductions to works - some I was familiar with and some I was not. The ones I was familiar with I found myself nodding along as I read or thinking about the work in a slightly different way. The ones I wasn't familiar with I found myself wanting to read. There is a LOT of material here, and that makes it a good collection to give to any fan of Gaiman or good writing.

The bad: If I have to nitpick, there is some duplication of stories. It's only natural, he's writing about the same types of subjects, so there will be some repetition of tales of how he grew up and got into reading certain types of books and such. But some might find it difficult, especially if trying to read straight through - which is why I recommend reading this book in bits and pieces, if you can.

Conclusion: Yes, the best of the three I've read so far. But there's still three more to go.

Best Related Work: I've read The Women of Harry Potter, The Princess Diarist, and The View From the Cheap Seats. I still need to read The Geek Feminist Revolution, Traveler of Worlds, and Words Are My Matter

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer - Kelly Robson

The packet includes three stories by Robson: The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill, Two-Year Man and Waters of Versailles.

I read them in that order, and the first two hit me fairly hard. The third was less of a shock to me for some reason. Perhaps because the death involved in it happens fairly off-camera to a person we haven't been introduced to yet. In any case, I was impressed that a person thought to capture a mythical creature in order to handle a very mundane job, but beyond the concept I didn't have much feeling for the story.

The first one, Jessica Churchill, was incredibly painful to read with horrible events throughout. The choice of the date was interesting, and made the rest feel more painful. I've read stories where this exact thing happens but the end result is happy - having one like this seemed much more logical. The ending was really a punch in the gut. I had a bit of trouble wrapping my head around the story on the first read-through, and had to read it again.

The Two-Year Man was a glimpse into a strange world. I very much liked the world-building and the implications of the world that were presented, even while I'd hate to live in that world. Mikkel thinks he isn't smart because of the way his society has raised him, but he's got what he needs to get by. This is a terrifyingly sad story, like the first, and also included some gut-punching.

Overall, nicely crafted stories, but not really my cuppa. I found them difficult to enjoy even while I admired the craft that went into them.

Conclusion: Right now, second spot on the ballot.

A Hugo Review: Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) - Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures is about three women making history.

Wow. Wow wow wow. This was really very good. We have some real history (a bit altered) and some real people telling a story that made me literally growl at some of the minor characters. I felt a great deal of joy from seeing those women succeed against the odds.

This movie brings attention to three women who ought not to be forgotten - Katherine Goble Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan. Working as "computers" at a time before our futuristic machines existed, these were women who contributed heavily to a field dominated by white guys in ties. The problems they faced and handled should not be forgotten. The math they did should inspire little girls everywhere of any ethnicity.

On the personal side, I once interviewed a woman who had worked a bit with John Glenn, and said he was the nicest guy she'd ever met. His portrayal in the movie certainly seems to back that up.

The good: Lovely acting by the three leads, who manage that perfect blend of endurance and strength that any female mathematician would have to have - and that they, in particular, would have to have in spades. The story was told at a relatively brisk pace, keeping most of the focus on Katherine, but not neglecting Mary and Dorothy too much. The drama surrounding Glenn's capsule was enough to make me hold my breath for a moment until I remembered that Glenn became a Senator and definitely survived the flight.

The bad: The movie tried to cover too much, and so gave us less on some interesting stories. I really wanted to see more on how Mary got along with her group and what she actually did with them. There were a lot of things happening in the world at the time, and while they are mentioned, at times I felt like there was too much of a disconnect. It was an ambitious movie, and I'm not entirely sure it succeeded in getting everything about those three women and that time across. This is a nitpick, by the way - please don't think I didn't enjoy it.

The other flaw involves where the story diverges from real history. I hope the movie inspires people to read the book it's based on and to look for the truth about what happened, because there were enough changes to make this fiction and not fact. I get the need to condense and dramatize, but NASA was considerably more integrated than this movie made it appear, and there were a lot more people involved that couldn't get screen time.

Conclusion: This isn't going to be an easy category for me to rank. I already changed my rankings twice since sitting down to write the review... I'm not at all sure where this movie will end up.

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form): I've watched all the entries. Check them out in my Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists.

A Hugo Review: Best Fan Writer - Abigail Nussbaum

Another writer I know almost nothing about, Abigail Nussbaum included six pieces in her packet (and a table of contents, yay!). All six were reviews, and of the six works reviewed, I was only familiar with one.

The issues she brings up in each review tend to be fascinating, and she presents her arguments nicely. It's almost like each review is an essay on a topic and the work she brings in just to support the topic. The review of Ex Machina discusses artificial intelligence and the gender of such constructs. Reviews of Luke Cage and The Underground Railroad both discuss race relations and how we view it from a mass media perspective.

She also doesn't shy away from comparing similar works or source material with the works she's reviewing. Her review of Russell T. Davies' adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream is compared with the BBC's The Hollow Crown. And her review of Arrival looks at the differences between it and "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang, which the movie was based on.

I find her website's name, "Asking the Wrong Questions" to be delightful when comparing her ability to see past the basics and get into a nice piece of meaty issues. She's got the writing chops along with the logical skills, and she's well worthy of a Hugo.

Conclusion: I have no idea how I'm going to end up voting in this category. The order on my ballot will likely change daily until the deadline.