Thoughts on the Hugo Award Nominations
Jul. 15th, 2005 12:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormsewerEvery once in a while, I feel the need to remind you that I am a total geek. This is one such time. I have now read all the short fiction Hugo Award Nominees and I’m now going to tell you what I thought of each one.
Novellas (17,500 to 40,000 words), from favorite to least favorite:
1. Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton. This is one of the most moving stories I’ve ever read.
2. Elector by Charles Stross. Mind blowing Singularity SF- I’ve talked about it elsewhere. It was a strong contender for number one. Purely as fiction I like Sergeant Chip better. Elector is almost disappointing in that it has some potentially very interesting characters but very little is ever done with them. The focus isn’t on the people, their interactions, and their feelings, but on the gee-whiz universe they inhabit. Were I to judge the stories on their merits as Science Fiction, though, I think this one would get the top spot.
3. The Concrete Jungle by Charles Stross. The Lovecraftian horror/British spy caper, with a healthy dose of Hard SF. Great fun, also discussed elsewhere.
4. Time Ablaze by Michael A. Burstein. It was kind of sweet, but I don’t feel it adds anything at all to the time travel genre. I also found the love story utterly unconvincing.
5. Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold. First I’m annoyed that it’s the only nomination in any of the short fiction categories that you have to pay to read. Second I’m annoyed that it’s not really worth the two bucks I paid to read it. It was sweet, but it’s throwaway sci-fi that never would have been written if not for Star Wars and Star Trek. It wasn’t poorly written, but I found nothing unique or interesting in the characters, the plot, or the style. Apparently this is a spin-off story from one of the author’s book series.
The Novelettes (7500 to 17,500 words) (again, favorite to least favorite):
1. “Biographical Notes to ‘A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Air-Planes’ by Benjamin Rosenbaum” by Benjamin Rosenbaum. It was kind of a tough call picking the top contender here. Actually, I wasn’t awestruck by any of the novelettes. Anyway, I like this one because I love a multi-layered story like this, which is a straight-up action/adventure on one level and something a little more thoughtful on another. I thought the alternate history world depicted here was pretty interesting, and somehow I really like the idea of writing a story about a writer who is writing a story about you.
2. The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the style and I liked the idea. Actually, with a touch of inspiration and polish, I could see myself writing something like this. "Promise me you won't believe a word." What a lovely way to begin or end a fairy tale.
3. The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi. At first I was a bit turned off by this story, as it read a lot like Halo fan fiction in the beginning. But soon it showed that there’s a bit more going on here than that. I liked it.
4. The Voluntary State by Christopher Rowe. He’s created a fascinating little world here, and I like that you’re only given hints as to just what it is and how it came about. I think it would work really well as a comic book or an anime, actually, as I think you could come up with some pretty cool visualizations for a lot of the stuff described in there. As a story, though… Eh. I guess I just didn’t feel like I knew the characters and their histories and motivations well enough to sympathize overly much with them. Maybe if it was expanded into novel length you could get something more interesting out of it.
5. The Clapping Hands of God by Michael F. Flynn. The style annoyed me immediately. (And then I realized that the style I employ in some places in the novel isn’t so different. 反省！) The twist ending wasn’t at all a surprise to me; in fact I was constantly annoyed at the stupidity of the characters in the lead-up to it. Also, other than a few modern twists like Muslim protagonists and some current SF buzzwords, I felt like this story could have been written in the fifties. It feels like a Twilight Zone episode. Which isn’t necessarily bad, but… It just feels a bit tired.
Short Stories (7500 words or less) (you know the deal)
1. The Best Christmas Ever by James Patrick Kelly. Oh, I really liked this one. It really got me thinking about what it would be like to be in such a situation, and the author did a superb job of getting me to empathize with the AI characters. Well done!
2. A Princess of Earth by Mike Resnick. I love starry-eyed romance like this. I also like characters of questionable insanity. This is basically Edgar Rice Burroughs fan fiction, but it was very well done. I remember as a kid I got a whole ton of Burroughs books at a garage sale once, though I never actually read them. I liked looking at the covers, though. Actually, not too long ago I started actually reading the book that inspired this story, but I didn’t get too far into it, mostly because reading books online sucks. I’m inspired to give it another go now. I wonder who my princess is?
3. Travels With My Cats By the same guy who wrote “A Princess of Earth.” It has some similarities. Both are starry-eyed love stories with lonely old men as the protagonists and with a book as a central element in the story. Man, I just love shit like this. I love it. A book lover’s wet dream, you might say.
4. Shed Skin by Robert J. Sawyer. Actually, I’ve thought about this exact scenario a lot. If you upload your brain into a computer in order to attain immortality, what happens to the original meatspace copy? Is the new silicon you really you? It just made me realize once again how many ideas for stories must be floating around in my head that I just never stopped to realize were actually ideas for stories. I liked this story alright.
5. Decisions by Michael A. Burstein. This is another that feels like it was written after watching a Twilight Zone marathon and drinking a few too many beers. Really, this could easily have been written fifty years ago. Man, it’s been done! This is the same guy who wrote “Time Ablaze,” which I also didn’t care for. I guess Mr. Burstein is not destined to become one of my favorite authors.
So. A great many of these stories, even the ones I like (for instance, "The Best Christmas Ever"), feel either “classic” or “cliché,” depending on your perspective. (Charles Stross being the blazing exception.) It makes me wonder if SF as a whole has just failed to evolve much in fifty years or if there’s some kind of retro movement going on now… I just think about the cyberpunk stuff that captivated me so much in middle school and high school, and with the exception of Charles Stross, there just doesn't seem to be anything here with that same kind of immediacy, edge, and vibrant originality.
Some of the stories I really, really liked. Some of the stories I really didn’t care for. Which is fine until I realize that these are nominations for one of SF’s top honors. This is the best there is? Disappointing. My dad frequently cites a theory (I forget who first came up with it) that 95% of all science fiction is complete crap, but the 5% that’s good is absolutely sublime. (There’s an alternate version of the theory that raises the figure to 99%, and another alternate version that applies it to art in general.) I guess that’d be about right.
Actually, the crapitude of some of these stories kind of encourages me. Reading the work of my favorite authors can be kind of discouraging to my aspiring writer side. Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, Kurt Vonnegut, Orson Scott Card, Gene Wolfe, Ursula K. Le Guin, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Robert Heinlein, Anne Rice… I read their stuff sometimes and I get this sinking feeling like, “I could never write anything anywhere near as good as this.” [Well, some of those guys are a little hit and miss. Anne Rice and Orson Scott Card have been phoning it in for years, for instance, and I can’t help but notice that all of LeGuin’s stuff that I’ve read (and that is most highly praised) was written thirty years ago. But when they’re good they’re REALLY good.]
But some of these stories left me thinking, “If this is all that’s required to get a Hugo nomination… Hell, I’ve gotta be able to write something at least as good as that!” Seems like I should be able to get published at the very least.
So why I don’t I write something, already? Actually there’s a few things in the works, but I’ve been dragging my feet.
It'll be interesting to see which ones actually win.
Novellas (17,500 to 40,000 words), from favorite to least favorite:
1. Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton. This is one of the most moving stories I’ve ever read.
2. Elector by Charles Stross. Mind blowing Singularity SF- I’ve talked about it elsewhere. It was a strong contender for number one. Purely as fiction I like Sergeant Chip better. Elector is almost disappointing in that it has some potentially very interesting characters but very little is ever done with them. The focus isn’t on the people, their interactions, and their feelings, but on the gee-whiz universe they inhabit. Were I to judge the stories on their merits as Science Fiction, though, I think this one would get the top spot.
3. The Concrete Jungle by Charles Stross. The Lovecraftian horror/British spy caper, with a healthy dose of Hard SF. Great fun, also discussed elsewhere.
4. Time Ablaze by Michael A. Burstein. It was kind of sweet, but I don’t feel it adds anything at all to the time travel genre. I also found the love story utterly unconvincing.
5. Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold. First I’m annoyed that it’s the only nomination in any of the short fiction categories that you have to pay to read. Second I’m annoyed that it’s not really worth the two bucks I paid to read it. It was sweet, but it’s throwaway sci-fi that never would have been written if not for Star Wars and Star Trek. It wasn’t poorly written, but I found nothing unique or interesting in the characters, the plot, or the style. Apparently this is a spin-off story from one of the author’s book series.
The Novelettes (7500 to 17,500 words) (again, favorite to least favorite):
1. “Biographical Notes to ‘A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Air-Planes’ by Benjamin Rosenbaum” by Benjamin Rosenbaum. It was kind of a tough call picking the top contender here. Actually, I wasn’t awestruck by any of the novelettes. Anyway, I like this one because I love a multi-layered story like this, which is a straight-up action/adventure on one level and something a little more thoughtful on another. I thought the alternate history world depicted here was pretty interesting, and somehow I really like the idea of writing a story about a writer who is writing a story about you.
2. The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the style and I liked the idea. Actually, with a touch of inspiration and polish, I could see myself writing something like this. "Promise me you won't believe a word." What a lovely way to begin or end a fairy tale.
3. The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi. At first I was a bit turned off by this story, as it read a lot like Halo fan fiction in the beginning. But soon it showed that there’s a bit more going on here than that. I liked it.
4. The Voluntary State by Christopher Rowe. He’s created a fascinating little world here, and I like that you’re only given hints as to just what it is and how it came about. I think it would work really well as a comic book or an anime, actually, as I think you could come up with some pretty cool visualizations for a lot of the stuff described in there. As a story, though… Eh. I guess I just didn’t feel like I knew the characters and their histories and motivations well enough to sympathize overly much with them. Maybe if it was expanded into novel length you could get something more interesting out of it.
5. The Clapping Hands of God by Michael F. Flynn. The style annoyed me immediately. (And then I realized that the style I employ in some places in the novel isn’t so different. 反省！) The twist ending wasn’t at all a surprise to me; in fact I was constantly annoyed at the stupidity of the characters in the lead-up to it. Also, other than a few modern twists like Muslim protagonists and some current SF buzzwords, I felt like this story could have been written in the fifties. It feels like a Twilight Zone episode. Which isn’t necessarily bad, but… It just feels a bit tired.
Short Stories (7500 words or less) (you know the deal)
1. The Best Christmas Ever by James Patrick Kelly. Oh, I really liked this one. It really got me thinking about what it would be like to be in such a situation, and the author did a superb job of getting me to empathize with the AI characters. Well done!
2. A Princess of Earth by Mike Resnick. I love starry-eyed romance like this. I also like characters of questionable insanity. This is basically Edgar Rice Burroughs fan fiction, but it was very well done. I remember as a kid I got a whole ton of Burroughs books at a garage sale once, though I never actually read them. I liked looking at the covers, though. Actually, not too long ago I started actually reading the book that inspired this story, but I didn’t get too far into it, mostly because reading books online sucks. I’m inspired to give it another go now. I wonder who my princess is?
3. Travels With My Cats By the same guy who wrote “A Princess of Earth.” It has some similarities. Both are starry-eyed love stories with lonely old men as the protagonists and with a book as a central element in the story. Man, I just love shit like this. I love it. A book lover’s wet dream, you might say.
4. Shed Skin by Robert J. Sawyer. Actually, I’ve thought about this exact scenario a lot. If you upload your brain into a computer in order to attain immortality, what happens to the original meatspace copy? Is the new silicon you really you? It just made me realize once again how many ideas for stories must be floating around in my head that I just never stopped to realize were actually ideas for stories. I liked this story alright.
5. Decisions by Michael A. Burstein. This is another that feels like it was written after watching a Twilight Zone marathon and drinking a few too many beers. Really, this could easily have been written fifty years ago. Man, it’s been done! This is the same guy who wrote “Time Ablaze,” which I also didn’t care for. I guess Mr. Burstein is not destined to become one of my favorite authors.
So. A great many of these stories, even the ones I like (for instance, "The Best Christmas Ever"), feel either “classic” or “cliché,” depending on your perspective. (Charles Stross being the blazing exception.) It makes me wonder if SF as a whole has just failed to evolve much in fifty years or if there’s some kind of retro movement going on now… I just think about the cyberpunk stuff that captivated me so much in middle school and high school, and with the exception of Charles Stross, there just doesn't seem to be anything here with that same kind of immediacy, edge, and vibrant originality.
Some of the stories I really, really liked. Some of the stories I really didn’t care for. Which is fine until I realize that these are nominations for one of SF’s top honors. This is the best there is? Disappointing. My dad frequently cites a theory (I forget who first came up with it) that 95% of all science fiction is complete crap, but the 5% that’s good is absolutely sublime. (There’s an alternate version of the theory that raises the figure to 99%, and another alternate version that applies it to art in general.) I guess that’d be about right.
Actually, the crapitude of some of these stories kind of encourages me. Reading the work of my favorite authors can be kind of discouraging to my aspiring writer side. Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, Kurt Vonnegut, Orson Scott Card, Gene Wolfe, Ursula K. Le Guin, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Robert Heinlein, Anne Rice… I read their stuff sometimes and I get this sinking feeling like, “I could never write anything anywhere near as good as this.” [Well, some of those guys are a little hit and miss. Anne Rice and Orson Scott Card have been phoning it in for years, for instance, and I can’t help but notice that all of LeGuin’s stuff that I’ve read (and that is most highly praised) was written thirty years ago. But when they’re good they’re REALLY good.]
But some of these stories left me thinking, “If this is all that’s required to get a Hugo nomination… Hell, I’ve gotta be able to write something at least as good as that!” Seems like I should be able to get published at the very least.
So why I don’t I write something, already? Actually there’s a few things in the works, but I’ve been dragging my feet.
It'll be interesting to see which ones actually win.
