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.