Hugo voting: part 4
I've become a voting and attending member of Anticipation SF, the 2009 Worldcon in Montreal. As part of my membership, I received an electronic packet of most of the nominated works, including all of the short fiction and all of the novels save one (which I happen to have also read). I am going to post about how I'm voting and why -- a little review of each fiction category. Today, novels.
Best Novel
* Anathem by Neal Stephenson
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
* Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
* Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross
* Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi
This Hugo list has three 'YA' books on it: good, solid works of fiction whose target audience is teenagers (or the teenager within) -- Gaiman, Doctorow, Scalzi. This is not a bad thing, especially since so much of classic science fiction can be read with enjoyment by bright adolescents. There are certain markers of a YA style that makes works very open and accessible (first person narration, clarity of writing ('transparent'), and so on). Still, considering how deep and interesting (and adult) the novella list is, in terms of style and themes, it was interesting that the novel list is so different.
So here's my take on the five novel nominees:
Gaiman: A solid book for children and the child in any adult. Very entertaining, tight, and full of creepy fun characters. It can be episodic and the characters are a bit less rounded than I would like, but it's exuberant and fun.
Doctorow: An excellent novel for teenagers and those who like their fiction polemic and easy-to-read; not so much fun for older folks who appreciate nuance. This book makes obvious points against the surveillance state and the illegality of torture, and has a fun time with what it's like to be a teen: dealing with sex, drugs, parties, school and so forth. Still, there are a whole lot of straw men making arguments. Good for bright 13-year-olds.
Stross: What a strange book. It's a pastiche/homage to Heinlein's "Friday" -- the protagonist is even named 'Freya' -- as well as Asimov's robot stories. Freya is an android and must obey any humans in a kind of happy horny imprinted slave trance -- however, there aren't any humans in the book's future solar system. The bizarre future robot society is well-depicted, as is the strange sadness and misery (Freya missing her True Love -- humans) at the heart of the tale. As well, every robot can be 'slave chipped' and forced to obey their (robot) owners. The story explores these slave/master relationships in some depth, especially in a sexual context (yes, the robots in the story do have sex)--and touches on what it would be like to be a sentient robot forced to be a slave. Stross always has a deft touch with technology and the feel of future societies, and it's an engrossing novel if a somewhat creepy one; still, it lacks the power of his more original works, being a fantasia on classic SF tropes.
Stephenson: I mostly enjoy Stephenson in his satirical/ironic mode (Snow Crash is my favorite book of his) so I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. It's a huge 'big ideas' novel -- a classic SF type -- and the character psychology and depth of description is all subordinate to that. The ideas (some very cool philosophical and mathematical concepts), setting (monastic life in an alternative Earth), and increasingly-cosmic reveals are sufficiently involving that it kept me interested even with the flat characters.
Scalzi: ... Okay, I cheated. I didn't read all of this novel, but I read the first 30 pages or so, and having read another Scalzi in the same universe, I didn't think there would be anything that would make me rank this on my Hugo list. And indeed there wasn't.
So overall... I had to go with the Stephenson. In spite of my qualms and criticisms about the book, it's an important book and full of complex sfnal ideas. In spite of how good Gaiman's book is, when they go head-to-head I'm finding the big book with the big ideas to be the richer experience. When I look at Stephenson vs. Stross... in spite of the detailed setting and impressive style, there's something about the Stross book that doesn't quite cohere for me, maybe because the Stephenson book has a more involving plot.
So we'll see how my voting actually jibes with the winners! This was fun to write anyway. :)
You can read almost all of the nominated short fiction and one of the novels for free... available at:
http://www.anticipationsf.ca/English/Hugos
Best Novel
* Anathem by Neal Stephenson
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
* Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
* Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross
* Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi
This Hugo list has three 'YA' books on it: good, solid works of fiction whose target audience is teenagers (or the teenager within) -- Gaiman, Doctorow, Scalzi. This is not a bad thing, especially since so much of classic science fiction can be read with enjoyment by bright adolescents. There are certain markers of a YA style that makes works very open and accessible (first person narration, clarity of writing ('transparent'), and so on). Still, considering how deep and interesting (and adult) the novella list is, in terms of style and themes, it was interesting that the novel list is so different.
So here's my take on the five novel nominees:
Gaiman: A solid book for children and the child in any adult. Very entertaining, tight, and full of creepy fun characters. It can be episodic and the characters are a bit less rounded than I would like, but it's exuberant and fun.
Doctorow: An excellent novel for teenagers and those who like their fiction polemic and easy-to-read; not so much fun for older folks who appreciate nuance. This book makes obvious points against the surveillance state and the illegality of torture, and has a fun time with what it's like to be a teen: dealing with sex, drugs, parties, school and so forth. Still, there are a whole lot of straw men making arguments. Good for bright 13-year-olds.
Stross: What a strange book. It's a pastiche/homage to Heinlein's "Friday" -- the protagonist is even named 'Freya' -- as well as Asimov's robot stories. Freya is an android and must obey any humans in a kind of happy horny imprinted slave trance -- however, there aren't any humans in the book's future solar system. The bizarre future robot society is well-depicted, as is the strange sadness and misery (Freya missing her True Love -- humans) at the heart of the tale. As well, every robot can be 'slave chipped' and forced to obey their (robot) owners. The story explores these slave/master relationships in some depth, especially in a sexual context (yes, the robots in the story do have sex)--and touches on what it would be like to be a sentient robot forced to be a slave. Stross always has a deft touch with technology and the feel of future societies, and it's an engrossing novel if a somewhat creepy one; still, it lacks the power of his more original works, being a fantasia on classic SF tropes.
Stephenson: I mostly enjoy Stephenson in his satirical/ironic mode (Snow Crash is my favorite book of his) so I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. It's a huge 'big ideas' novel -- a classic SF type -- and the character psychology and depth of description is all subordinate to that. The ideas (some very cool philosophical and mathematical concepts), setting (monastic life in an alternative Earth), and increasingly-cosmic reveals are sufficiently involving that it kept me interested even with the flat characters.
Scalzi: ... Okay, I cheated. I didn't read all of this novel, but I read the first 30 pages or so, and having read another Scalzi in the same universe, I didn't think there would be anything that would make me rank this on my Hugo list. And indeed there wasn't.
So overall... I had to go with the Stephenson. In spite of my qualms and criticisms about the book, it's an important book and full of complex sfnal ideas. In spite of how good Gaiman's book is, when they go head-to-head I'm finding the big book with the big ideas to be the richer experience. When I look at Stephenson vs. Stross... in spite of the detailed setting and impressive style, there's something about the Stross book that doesn't quite cohere for me, maybe because the Stephenson book has a more involving plot.
So we'll see how my voting actually jibes with the winners! This was fun to write anyway. :)
You can read almost all of the nominated short fiction and one of the novels for free... available at:
http://www.anticipationsf.ca/English/Hugos