stormsewer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stormsewer) wrote2017-08-20 05:39 pm
stormsewer) wrote2017-08-20 05:39 pm
2017 Hugo epilogue
As a preface, here's what I voted for in the categories that weren't works of written fiction (and thus I care less about):
Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form- 6- Ghostbusters; 5- Deadpool; 4- Stranger Things; 3- Hidden Figures; 2- Rogue One; 1- Arrival.
A pretty strong set this year. I feel a little bad about putting Ghostbusters below Deadpool (the Puppy pick), but since it was the only one of the set that I couldn't be bothered to watch before voting, I felt like my hands were tied (I did try, but Amazon would only let me buy it). Other than that, I genuinely liked all these films, but Arrival has to be top choice, not least because it is adapted from one of the best stories of a strong contender for best living author of short-form science fiction.
Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form- 3- Battle of the Bastards 2- Door 1- San Junipero
In this category I only ranked the things I'd actually seen (I didn't watch anything specifically for the purpose of deciding how to rank it), and of course top billing needs to go to the one I actually nominated.
Campbell Award- 1- Ada Palmer
Again, I didn't go out of my way to read stuff by the people I wasn't already familiar with, especially since chances were miniscule I'd rank anyone above Palmer.
Okay, anyway, whatever, who won?
One answer is "very little that I actually wanted to win."
The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemison won Best Novel. I enjoyed the book, but this series does not deserve to win two years in a row. Perhaps it was inevitable. My top choice is apparently a divisive one, and my number two pick won the Nebula, which seems to hobble one's chances of winning the Hugo[1], and Jemison probably a got a boost from the "vote for whatever will piss of the Puppies most" crowd, so there we have it.
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire won Best Novella. This one pains me, because this piece pains me. And it contradicts my claim just now that Nebula winners rarely win the Hugo. I guess I'm sort of happy for her, since she's been nominated frequently but never yet won[2], and this is certainly the closest to being worthy she's ever gotten on the slate. Let's just say that if her future work develops the aspects of this story that I liked and moves away from the ones I see as her old bad habits, she could convert me into a fan.
"The Tomato Thief"by Ursula Vernon won Best Novelette. Well, okay. I did really like this one. But she won the Nebula for a similar story several years back, and I really really liked "Touring With the Alien". But I guess that doesn't stick it to the Puppies with the requisite glee.
"Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar won Best Short Story. It's hard not to see this as another Puppy Needler, but on that count I would have preferred Jemison to win here instead of for Best Novel. Oh well.
Arrival won Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. I considered this kind of a shoe-in, since it's based on a Hugo-nominated novella, but it's also the best choice.
"Leviathan Wakes" from The Expanse won Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. We might also suspect this as getting a boost for being based on a Hugo-nominated novel. I haven't seen it, but I've heard it's good. Maybe I'll check it out.
Ada Palmer won the Campbell Award. Yay!
And I don't really care about the rest, but it's all laid out here.
Till next year.
[1] Note to self: Do a statistical analysis to see if this is actually true.
[2] Though if you ask me, the perennial nominee who has been most criminally passed over is Catherynne Valente.
See also:
Epiprologue
Short stories
Novelettes
Novellas
Novels
Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form- 6- Ghostbusters; 5- Deadpool; 4- Stranger Things; 3- Hidden Figures; 2- Rogue One; 1- Arrival.
A pretty strong set this year. I feel a little bad about putting Ghostbusters below Deadpool (the Puppy pick), but since it was the only one of the set that I couldn't be bothered to watch before voting, I felt like my hands were tied (I did try, but Amazon would only let me buy it). Other than that, I genuinely liked all these films, but Arrival has to be top choice, not least because it is adapted from one of the best stories of a strong contender for best living author of short-form science fiction.
Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form- 3- Battle of the Bastards 2- Door 1- San Junipero
In this category I only ranked the things I'd actually seen (I didn't watch anything specifically for the purpose of deciding how to rank it), and of course top billing needs to go to the one I actually nominated.
Campbell Award- 1- Ada Palmer
Again, I didn't go out of my way to read stuff by the people I wasn't already familiar with, especially since chances were miniscule I'd rank anyone above Palmer.
Okay, anyway, whatever, who won?
One answer is "very little that I actually wanted to win."
The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemison won Best Novel. I enjoyed the book, but this series does not deserve to win two years in a row. Perhaps it was inevitable. My top choice is apparently a divisive one, and my number two pick won the Nebula, which seems to hobble one's chances of winning the Hugo[1], and Jemison probably a got a boost from the "vote for whatever will piss of the Puppies most" crowd, so there we have it.
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire won Best Novella. This one pains me, because this piece pains me. And it contradicts my claim just now that Nebula winners rarely win the Hugo. I guess I'm sort of happy for her, since she's been nominated frequently but never yet won[2], and this is certainly the closest to being worthy she's ever gotten on the slate. Let's just say that if her future work develops the aspects of this story that I liked and moves away from the ones I see as her old bad habits, she could convert me into a fan.
"The Tomato Thief"by Ursula Vernon won Best Novelette. Well, okay. I did really like this one. But she won the Nebula for a similar story several years back, and I really really liked "Touring With the Alien". But I guess that doesn't stick it to the Puppies with the requisite glee.
"Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar won Best Short Story. It's hard not to see this as another Puppy Needler, but on that count I would have preferred Jemison to win here instead of for Best Novel. Oh well.
Arrival won Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. I considered this kind of a shoe-in, since it's based on a Hugo-nominated novella, but it's also the best choice.
"Leviathan Wakes" from The Expanse won Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. We might also suspect this as getting a boost for being based on a Hugo-nominated novel. I haven't seen it, but I've heard it's good. Maybe I'll check it out.
Ada Palmer won the Campbell Award. Yay!
And I don't really care about the rest, but it's all laid out here.
Till next year.
[1] Note to self: Do a statistical analysis to see if this is actually true.
[2] Though if you ask me, the perennial nominee who has been most criminally passed over is Catherynne Valente.
See also:
Epiprologue
Short stories
Novelettes
Novellas
Novels