The Good Kind of Hugo
The Hugo nomination ballots are out! I've been asked for recommendations, so here's a list of my picks. I could also use some advice on some of these categories -- Novella and Novelette, for example. I mean, there's The Life-Cycle of Software Objects, but it's hardly Ted Chiang's best work... anyway. My picks.
Novel:
Gaslight Dogs, by Karin Lowachee. I thought this one would be steampunk, but no. It's a really hard book to describe. Sort of... an alternate-world redo of the Indian Wars with a hyper-narrow focus centering on a battle of wills between three people, in which a young girl from the Arctic tribes is brought to a Victorian-style city and told to teach a young soldier how to use magic. Only it's more complicated than that. Beautifully written, it ends on a very strange note that I think will leave some people unsatisfied. I loved it.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N. K. Jemisin. Just go read all the other nice things people have said about this book. The bit about the spots still makes me laugh.
Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal. Regency romance with magic isn't my genre of book at all. Not even close. I'm just desperately jealous of her words -- how she always has exactly the right words. This might actually be too short for the novel category, though.
Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor. I didn't think I could read this one. It was intense. Dr. Okorafor assured me that it ended well, and... it did. Somehow. I wept for these characters. Aside from Dr. Okorafor's books, I haven't read anything set in this part of Africa and written from inside the cultures. This is also one of those books that mocks the line between science fiction and fantasy. I love it for that, too.
Habitation of the Blessed, by Catherynne M. Valente. If you only read one of these books, let it be this one. It's Cat Valente wondering what would happen if the legend of Prester John had been real -- if all the wondrous places and people in the medieval bestiaries were real -- and how do you rule a nation where everyone can drink from the Fountain of Youth? I wouldn't have stopped reading this book if I hadn't run out of pages.
Novella & Novelette...? No idea. I need to figure out what I've read that actually qualifies.
Short Story:
Seeing, by Genevieve Valentine. Hard science fiction written like poetry. This is the kind of story that demands that the rest of the genre live up to its standards.
Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain, by Yoon Ha Lee. A story about the most terrible weapon ever created, and the woman who wields it. Yoon Ha Lee doesn't get half the love she deserves. I don't think I've ever caught all the details of one of her stories on my first reading.
Futures in the Memories Market, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. An old question in science fiction is: what is a person if not the sum of their memories? In this case, add love and corporate greed... Rarely have I seen men written this well, in science fiction or out of it.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time, by Catherynne M. Valente. A deeply personal story with the sweep of legends and the scientific precision of the hardest SF. Also, gorgeous prose. It doesn't have a whelk's chance in a supernova, but I don't care.
Beach Blanket Spaceship, by Sandra McDonald. Included because it made me cry, like a really good Twilight Zone episode. This is my iffiest short story pick -- I might sub it out for Names of Water by Kij Johnson.
Best Related Work -- Adventures in SciFi Publishing? Geek's Guide to the Galaxy? Radio Free Skaro? I have no idea.
Best Graphic Story. Not sure about this one. I picked out the most recent volumes of Ooku: The Inner Chamber, Digger, and Girl Genius. I don't read much in the way of graphic stories.
Dramatic Presentations... I think the last movie I saw in the theater was Sherlock Holmes, and I don't really watch TV anymore. I certainly don't watch Films. ;)
Best Editor, Short Form.
So apparently Sheila Williams has never won a Hugo? We should fix that. The things she edits keep winning Hugos, after all. My other picks for this category at the moment are Catherynne M. Valente and Cat Rambo.
Best Pro Artist
Mark Evans, of course; he did the art for my story! ;) But also Ursula Vernon, whose appearance in Spectrum 17 I believe qualifies her for this category. She is brilliant.
Semiprozine
I actually care about this one, for all that I only have two nominees. First is Escape Pod, otherwise known as the podcast that got me back into short fiction. They play the best stuff, and have for years. They pay their authors pro rates, they have a PDF version with stories, reviews, and fact articles.
My other choice in this category is Clarkesworld. See how many of my favorite short stories are from Clarkesworld? That's why.
Fanzine
Who else? StarShipSofa. Because WE ARE ALL TONY C. SMITH!
... no, I'm not sleep deprived. Why? I wish we could give Kate Baker an award for her readings on the Clarkesworld podcast. Best Dramatic Presentation, maybe? Only it's not drama, it's a reading... I don't know. Your thoughts? Picks?
Novel:
Gaslight Dogs, by Karin Lowachee. I thought this one would be steampunk, but no. It's a really hard book to describe. Sort of... an alternate-world redo of the Indian Wars with a hyper-narrow focus centering on a battle of wills between three people, in which a young girl from the Arctic tribes is brought to a Victorian-style city and told to teach a young soldier how to use magic. Only it's more complicated than that. Beautifully written, it ends on a very strange note that I think will leave some people unsatisfied. I loved it.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N. K. Jemisin. Just go read all the other nice things people have said about this book. The bit about the spots still makes me laugh.
Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal. Regency romance with magic isn't my genre of book at all. Not even close. I'm just desperately jealous of her words -- how she always has exactly the right words. This might actually be too short for the novel category, though.
Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor. I didn't think I could read this one. It was intense. Dr. Okorafor assured me that it ended well, and... it did. Somehow. I wept for these characters. Aside from Dr. Okorafor's books, I haven't read anything set in this part of Africa and written from inside the cultures. This is also one of those books that mocks the line between science fiction and fantasy. I love it for that, too.
Habitation of the Blessed, by Catherynne M. Valente. If you only read one of these books, let it be this one. It's Cat Valente wondering what would happen if the legend of Prester John had been real -- if all the wondrous places and people in the medieval bestiaries were real -- and how do you rule a nation where everyone can drink from the Fountain of Youth? I wouldn't have stopped reading this book if I hadn't run out of pages.
Novella & Novelette...? No idea. I need to figure out what I've read that actually qualifies.
Short Story:
Seeing, by Genevieve Valentine. Hard science fiction written like poetry. This is the kind of story that demands that the rest of the genre live up to its standards.
Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain, by Yoon Ha Lee. A story about the most terrible weapon ever created, and the woman who wields it. Yoon Ha Lee doesn't get half the love she deserves. I don't think I've ever caught all the details of one of her stories on my first reading.
Futures in the Memories Market, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. An old question in science fiction is: what is a person if not the sum of their memories? In this case, add love and corporate greed... Rarely have I seen men written this well, in science fiction or out of it.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time, by Catherynne M. Valente. A deeply personal story with the sweep of legends and the scientific precision of the hardest SF. Also, gorgeous prose. It doesn't have a whelk's chance in a supernova, but I don't care.
Beach Blanket Spaceship, by Sandra McDonald. Included because it made me cry, like a really good Twilight Zone episode. This is my iffiest short story pick -- I might sub it out for Names of Water by Kij Johnson.
Best Related Work -- Adventures in SciFi Publishing? Geek's Guide to the Galaxy? Radio Free Skaro? I have no idea.
Best Graphic Story. Not sure about this one. I picked out the most recent volumes of Ooku: The Inner Chamber, Digger, and Girl Genius. I don't read much in the way of graphic stories.
Dramatic Presentations... I think the last movie I saw in the theater was Sherlock Holmes, and I don't really watch TV anymore. I certainly don't watch Films. ;)
Best Editor, Short Form.
So apparently Sheila Williams has never won a Hugo? We should fix that. The things she edits keep winning Hugos, after all. My other picks for this category at the moment are Catherynne M. Valente and Cat Rambo.
Best Pro Artist
Mark Evans, of course; he did the art for my story! ;) But also Ursula Vernon, whose appearance in Spectrum 17 I believe qualifies her for this category. She is brilliant.
Semiprozine
I actually care about this one, for all that I only have two nominees. First is Escape Pod, otherwise known as the podcast that got me back into short fiction. They play the best stuff, and have for years. They pay their authors pro rates, they have a PDF version with stories, reviews, and fact articles.
My other choice in this category is Clarkesworld. See how many of my favorite short stories are from Clarkesworld? That's why.
Fanzine
Who else? StarShipSofa. Because WE ARE ALL TONY C. SMITH!
... no, I'm not sleep deprived. Why? I wish we could give Kate Baker an award for her readings on the Clarkesworld podcast. Best Dramatic Presentation, maybe? Only it's not drama, it's a reading... I don't know. Your thoughts? Picks?