2013 Hugos: Best Novel
This year's Hugo nominations seem to have produced more than the usual grumbling (I am away from base, so won't link to any of it, and if you are interested you have probably seen it). I admit that I too found the Best Novel shortlist a bit uninspiring. I don't want to overstate this; I am used to there being a couple of entries on it that leave me cold, and this year I found points of redemption even in my least favourite nominee. Conversely, however, I do normally find that there is at least one nominee that does catch my enthusiasm and which I can then cheer for. That did not really happen this year. As ever, I found the BSFA list more to my taste, which I guess is not so very surprising, in that I have more in common with more of the selectorate.
Anyway, my ranking in this category is:
5) Redshirts, by John Scalzi - a two-joke book, executed in Scalzi's usual style, which a lot of people clearly like more than I do.
4) Blackout, by "Mira Grant" - more running around to avoid zombies, with characters unsuccessfully seeking closure.
3) 2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson - surprisingly tedious romp round the Solar System, wise people from off-Earth kindly decide to fix the planet.
2) Throne Of The Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed - sword and sorcery in richly imagined Arabian-style culture, not very surprising plot and characters.
1) Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, by Lois McMaster Bujold - fun, and nearly as good as some of the stuff she wrote twenty years ago.
See also: Best Novella | Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)