Hugo Awards 2009

This is the first Novel Ballot where I've read the majority of the nominees. Links on the novels, obviously, point to my reviews and for the shorter lengths, links point to the my review of the anthology in which I the story appeared. Locus gives a brief, and helpful analysis.

For all others, I've bolded the books I have, but haven't yet read, and italicized in orange in those I have read but not reviewed. Where I can, I've listed my selection under each category

Best Novel
(639 Ballots)


Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK)
Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)

Rob's Choice: I'm torn between The Graveyard Book and Little Brother even though I enjoyed the other two I read in this category. They happened to be 2 of the 3 of my best reads from 2008.

Best Novella
(337 Ballots)

“The Erdmann Nexus” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)
“The Political Prisoner” by Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF Aug 2008)
“The Tear” by Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)
“True Names” by Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2)
“Truth” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)

Best Novelette
(373 Ballots)

“Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Jan 2008)
“The Gambler” by Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2)
“Pride and Prometheus” by John Kessel (F&SF Jan 2008)
“The Ray-Gun: A Love Story” by James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s Feb 2008)
“Shoggoths in Bloom” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s Mar 2008)

Best Short Story
(448 Ballots)

“26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” by Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Jul 2008)
“Article of Faith” by Mike Resnick (Baen’s Universe Oct 2008)
“Evil Robot Monkey” by Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
“Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
“From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s Feb 2008)

Best Related Book
(263 Ballots)

Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Press)
Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art by Cathy & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)
The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold by Lillian Stewart Carl & John Helfers, eds. (Baen)
What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid (Beccon Publications)
Your Hate Mail Will be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)

Best Graphic Story
(212 Ballots)

The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle Written by Jim Butcher, art by Ardian Syaf (Del Rey/Dabel Brothers Publishing)
Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
Fables: War and Pieces Written by Bill Willingham, pencilled by Mark Buckingham, art by Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy, color by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein (DC/Vertigo Comics)
Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic Story and art by Howard Tayler (The Tayler Corporation)
Serenity: Better Days Written by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews, art by Will Conrad, color by Michelle Madsen, cover by Jo Chen (Dark Horse Comics)
Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores Written/created by Brian K. Vaughan, penciled/created by Pia Guerra, inked by Jose Marzan, Jr. (DC/Vertigo Comics)

Rob's Choice: Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores - The ending was terrific to one of the landmark pieces of comic book/graphic novel fiction of the decade. This series was consistent, smart, entertaining and really cemented Vaughan as a premier writer of comics. I'm sure it also helped him get the Lost gig, which in turn, has helped to make the show as terrific as has been over the past season or two.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
(436 Ballots)

The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer, story; Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, screenplay; based on characters created by Bob Kane; Christopher Nolan, director (Warner Brothers)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo del Toro & Mike Mignola, story; Guillermo del Toro, screenplay; based on the comic by Mike Mignola; Guillermo del Toro, director (Dark Horse, Universal)
Iron Man Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, screenplay; based on characters created by Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby; Jon Favreau, director (Paramount, Marvel Studios)
METAtropolis by John Scalzi, ed. Written by: Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell and Karl Schroeder (Audible Inc)
WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Rob's Choice: It'll go to either WALL-E or The Dark Knight, but my choice is with the Bat. I thought WALL-E was good, but nothing compares to The Dark Knight.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
(336 Ballots)

“The Constant” (Lost) Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof, writers; Jack Bender, director (Bad Robot, ABC studios)
Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen , writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)
“Revelations” (Battlestar Galactica) Bradley Thompson & David Weddle, writers; Michael Rymer, director (NBC Universal)
“Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” (Doctor Who) Steven Moffat, writer; Euros Lyn, director (BBC Wales)
“Turn Left” (Doctor Who) Russell T. Davies, writer; Graeme Harper, director (BBC Wales)

Rob's Choice: This might be toughest of all, but I'm going with "The Constant." Each episode/Webisode was good on the list was very good, but "The Constant" might have been the strongest episode of Lost on the season that really put the show back on track.

Best Editor, Short Form
(377 Ballots)

Ellen Datlow
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Gordon Van Gelder
Sheila Williams


Rob's Choice: I've read more Strahan-edited fiction last year than the others, so he's my choice.

Best Editor, Long Form
(273 Ballots)

Lou Anders
Ginjer Buchanan
David G. Hartwell
Beth Meacham
Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Rob's Choice: Without any other easy way to find out what books these fine folks edited/commissioned in the nomination year, this is a tough one, too. Patrick Nielsen Hayden edited two of the books on the novel short list and Pyr/Lou Anders published 4 of my favorite books of 2008. Ginjer Buchana, I think, was responsible for one of the better debut authors I read last year, Taylor Anderson, as well as Saturn’s Children on the short list. I think I’d lean towards Lou Anders, on this one but reserve the right to modify my choice in the future.

Best Professional Artist
(334 Ballots)

Daniel Dos Santos
Bob Eggleton
Donato Giancola
John Picacio
Shaun Tan

I'll go with Picacio, followed closely by Dos Santos.


Best Semiprozine
(283 Ballots)

Clarkesworld Magazine edited by Neil Clarke, Nick Mamatas & Sean Wallace
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, &; Liza Groen Trombi
The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kris Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney
Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer &; Stephen H. Segal

Rob's Choice: Clarkesworld gets my nod here.

Best Fanzine
(257 Ballots)

Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III
The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia
Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Best Fan Writer
(291 Ballots)

Chris Garcia
John Hertz
Dave Langford
Cheryl Morgan
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist
(187 Ballots)

Alan F. Beck
Brad W. Foster
Sue Mason
Taral Wayne
Frank Wu

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
(288 Ballots)

Aliette de Bodard*
David Anthony Durham*
Felix Gilman
Tony Pi*
Gord Sellar*

*(Second year of eligibility)

Rob's Choice: Only having read Gilman and Durham, my nod would definitely go to Durham.
A total of 799 nomination ballots were cast.

The Last Wish: Review at SFFWorld

I posted my review of Andrzej Sapkowski's The Last Wish yesterday. Reviews on this book were floating around last year when Gollancz published it in the UK. Here in the US, Orbit just released their edition of the book. This wasn't a novel, as I thought it would be, but rather a collection of stories chronicling Geralt the Witcher's encounters with various monsters and legends out of fair tales and folklore. I liked the stories quite a bit and look forward to following Geralt's adventures.

As reviews started appearing on the blogosphere, there was some heated discussion about the book with varying opinions by some of my blog-o-pals. Considering I really enjoyed the book, I obviously don't completely agree with some of them.

We also shook up the main page at SFFWorld again, bringing my review of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother up top, and also featuring Mark/Hobbit's review of Stephenie Meyer's The Host as well as his latest review Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan and my aforementioned review.

Review & Bookish Catching up

Up went my latest review, The Ancient by R.A. Salvatore, a book I enjoyed more than I expected. I haven't read any of his other DemonWars novels, so this was an introduction that may lead me to more of the books. It was a bit predictable, but I've seem many comments from fans of Salvatore that the earlier books in the series are much better than this one. Still, I enjoyed it and the pages moved pretty swiftly. I read this not too long after Empress, and although Salvatore's novel is cliched like Miller's book, I thought the cliched aspects of Salvatore's novel weren't as overpowering. Essentially, The Ancient was cliched comfort fantasy done pretty well.

Don't forget to go out and pick up or order Little Brother, the book is in stores now and is the best book I've read this year. It just might the most important book of the year, too. I've praised the book since I finished reading it, but I can't help but really urge people to take a look at it. Robert of the Fantasy Book Critic liked it just about as much as I did. 

It's been too long, but I find myself being drawn back into the Star Wars Expanded Universe of novels. I've had the final book, The Unifying Force for almost three or four years now, residing on my version of Aidan's Pile o' Shame.* I really enjoyed most of The New Jedi Order novels and what I've been reading/hearing (specificlly from Jay Tomio, whose reading tastes have similar ranges to mine) about the Legacy of the Force is really good, too. Coincidentally, the final book of the Legacy of the Force, Invicible arrived yesterday from Del Rey the publisher is offering a free dowloadable version of the first book, Betrayal. As much as I want to read that novel, I've got a lot of catching up to do before I get to that book. My brother-in-law has been reading most of the Star Wars Expanded Universe and said The Dark Nest trilogy was pretty good too. Then again, he thought The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno was good, whereas I thought it very, very lacking especially since I've enjoyed other SW novels by Luceno.

* what us** about Aidan is his us of o' for of, something we** try do here at the Blog o' Stuff. I should start posting my weekly recievables a la the Hornswaggler.

**...of course by us I mean me.

Little Brother Redux/Review

With one week before publication, I’ve posted my review of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. The quick and dirty is that Cory Doctorow may have written the quintessential Young Adult Science Novel of the early 21st Century. I loved the book and have been telling people who are willing to listen.


Here’s an excerpt from my review:

Doctorow’s novel is scary because it resonates so much with the real world; personal freedoms are sacrificed in order for our own “safety.” Doctorow evokes both Orwell and Philip K. Dick in the sense of paranoia, but Doctorow (obviously) brings a more modern sensibility to the fore. Doctorow has been at the forefront of electronic rights and in the science fiction genre for the past few years, so the culmination of his background and those two authors proves for a great combination. ..... I found it very difficult to put the book down. Entertaining, enlightening and eye-opening, Little Brother will only further reinforce Cory Doctorow’s presence as one of the visionaries of free speech advocacy and great storytelling in the 21st Century.

BSG was, again, pretty good although I have to admit to understanding the frustrations other characters are feeling towards Starbuck. I suppose that's part of the hook with her. I had a baaad feeling that one of the four "revealed" cylons would really go over to the Toaster side, but damn did Tory dive head first. Granted, Caly wasn't much of a screen presence in recent episodes (going back to last year) but her character and who she represents was pretty important. I know they can't cover the whole cast of characters each episode, but I don't think I'm the only one who thought Baltar's absence this past episode was a noticeable gap. All that aside, the show has me glued to the TV.

Little Brother

I just finished Cory Doctorow's newest/forthcoming novel, Little Brother, earlier tonight, and it just might be the best book I've read this year. Granted it is only April, but the book was fabulous and very thought-provoking. I'll be posting a review of this when the pub date gets closer, but this book should be on everybody's reading list for this year. It is that good and that thought provoking, one of those books that makes you look at the world around you and question that same world.

Also, BSG tomorrow at 10PM. I'm excited.