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Hugo Award Voting Open
FortKnox writes "This is from SciFi Storm:
It's time for the Hugo Award (Best in Science Fiction) nominations and voting for 2001. You can vote if you get at least a Supporting Membership in The Millennium Philcon or ConJosé (location of worldcon). I haven't read much current SciFi (still working on some Heinlein works), but some of the /. readers might be interested in putting in their opinions."
The Hugo Award is for published works of fiction. Posting your piece anonymously to Slashdot doesn't count.
- billn
komi
The ultimate goal of science is to unify all forces of nature to a single law that can be silk-screened onto a T-shirt.
I don't think it was the plot of famous sci-fi books that made them worth reading, but the analysis of technology on a social being (humanity). So, part of the allure of sci-fi is answering the question: "How are very powerful computers / space travel going to affect the human race?"
I think people, in general, feel that we live, at least to some degree, in those worlds already, thanks to overzealous advertising (advertising's true purpose, btw, is to portray a fantasy world in which you wish you could live, but thats another post) so there is less interest in the answer.
"Old man yells at systemd"
The book based on the Lord of the Rings movie is really good. If you haven't read it yet, you really should, there is a lot more stuff in it than the movie, and most of it is pretty exciting (except this dude called Tom Bombadil who is a real fruit, almost as annoying as Jar-Jar). Some guy named Tokin wrote it, and and I think it should be nominated, even though it's based on a movie.
Edith Keeler Must Die
Well, since WorldCon 2001 was in late August, and the winner of the Best Novel was "Harry Potter", and this isn't reflected on the Hugo website, I'm really getting disappointed with these awards.
The Seiun (Japanese Hugo) and the Nebula are still better representations of SF and Fantasy works, since their voting is done a little better and less of a clique setup. I mean, how does Harry Potter win over George R. R. Martin's A Storm of Swords and Robert J. Sawyer's Calculating God?
Human nature is the same everywhere; the modes only are different. -- Earl of Chesterfield
Dang, there's a p-o'd moderator out there today...this is about the n-th funny post I've seen modded down as "offtopic." Maybe the dude needs to get laid or something...sheesh.
Seriously, guys, lighten up!
But what does my opinion matter, I just vote here. It's not like I have any money or anything.
Hack Proofing Windows 2000 Server
It's fiction... and since it deals with computers I'm guessing it goes under Science.
Get your Unix fortune now!
Since originally reading here and here, the possibility of Douglas' last works coming to print, I've been checking periodically. On Jan. 9th a hit came up on Amazon for Salmon of Doubt - Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time. A quick check of Harmony Books seems to confirm it's due out in May, one year after the death of Douglas Noel Adams. There's at least cover artwork, as oppose to the last time, back in the mid-90's, or so, when I saw listing of this same book.
Speculation has been that Salmon and other bits have been harvested from DNA's computer hard drive. As much as Douglas, a tough critic of his own work, may not have wanted other eyes to see work he deemed unfit to publish, it's coming. I'll probably buy the book. Perhaps a pint of bitter, with a pleasantly nutty taste and some Dire Straits will help cope with the mixed feelings.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Of course, when one considers the time the great sci-fi novels of the past were written, there wasn't much in terms of plot then either. I'm currently reading Heinlein's _Stranger In a Strange Land_ and, aside from the mission to Mars, the majority of the book has to do with human social interaction. The greatest works of sci-fi have little to do with science and more to do with the human condition. The novels that concentrate on science and technology don't win awards.
__
LilDebbie
*croaky voice* Aye, in my day, books were infinitely better! Plots were so strong, they not only carried the story, but water from the well, too! Characters were so real they occasionally reached out from the very pages they were bound in and poked you in the eye! These so-called 'novels' now-a-days can't hold a home-made candle to the exciting books I read in my fortunate youth! All you young whippersnappers out there should be humbled by the greatness of books you'll never get to read!!! Muahahahahahahaha!
:)
Sheesh. Some people.
But what does my opinion matter, I just vote here. It's not like I have any money or anything.
I'd like to nominate Microsoft's Living Our Values page for short fiction.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
I would disagree. As an example, if you've ever read Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars / Green Mars / Blue Mars series, you would agree that there is a great deal of plot depth. When I read these sci-fi novels, I was captivated not by the technology, but by the characters. Each one was believable with motivations, hopes, and fears and it was their interactions in the plot that made the book, not the technology.
I would also recommend that you read anything from Larry Niven. Niven has an almost magical way of wrapping a great story around a fascinating bit of science. (What was that quote about science being so advanced to a primitive technology that it is indistinguishable from magic?
I look at it like this: I use the winners of Hugos and Nebulas as starting points for my book shopping list. Winners of these go on my list - I know that if they've won an award like a Hugo they are more than a scientific manual. I've been doing this for years and have yet to be disapointed.
Just my 2 cents
Hmmm...
That sounds like a bit of the classic 'science fictions isn't real literature' argument. My ap English teacher in high school, a huge 2001 fan, put it to me this way: It takes a certain skill to write what you see or what is known; It takes a whole different kind of intelligence to write about that which has not yet happened or that which will never happen.
As to plot depth, I must question how many science fiction books you've actually read. Many science fiction books press ideas and topics that more contemporary genres shy away from. Lem for example, in his book Solaris, examines the inner space we lock away while exploring the outerspace which is open to all. Of course what you get out of a science fiction book, like any other book, depends upon what you put into it. If you set to work reading and simply blow it off in your mind as spaceships and kid's shit -- well you won't notice the details which pull it together.
"You can vote if you get at least a Supporting Membership in The Millennium Philcon or ConJosé (location of worldcon)."
Presumably, if you are a member of one of these groups, you would receive notification from them that it's time to vote. So why waste the space on Slashdot alerting a bunch of people to vote on something they can't? I'll be more interested when the results of that voting has been published, but not until then.
This is analogous to posting a link to the AMPAS website when it's time to vote on the Oscars. With the exception of CleverNickname (Slashdot's token celebrity), none of us are likely to be voting for them, either.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
I wouldn't expect a Hugo for it, and it would probably be a sad irony for anyone to even nominate, for next year's awards, but stranger things happen.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I haven't laughed out loud while reading /. in quite some time...thank you!
The award should go to Hugo Weaving for his striking portrayal of Elrond in "The Fellowship of the Ring". That, and the fact that I can't even think of any other Hugos who might deserve an award.
Maybe Hurricane Hugo, but that was a while ago.
*whisper whisper* What? Oh.
Okay, then. How about a Harry Potter book? *hides*
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
If you look at the "all-time" list,
ten of the top twenty were sci-fi. Another five
were fantasies.
There just isn't the plot depth necessary to carry these 'novels' these days.
Please give us some examples of what you are talking about. I've read a number of science fiction books in the last couple years that would stand up against any classic SF for character, plot, and exploration of science contributed cultural changes.
Bear, Benford, Brin, Card, Gibson, Haldeman, Moran, Robinson, Sheffeild, Simmons, Stevenson, Vinge(both of them), Willis, and others I've forgotten have written books in the last ten years that really left me thinking after closing the cover.
There are certainly a large number of formulas these days and many authors who live inside them crafting very readable but unimpressive works to pay the bills. You can find these staples of the genre choking every supermarket bookstand. But equally, there are authors that don't publish nearly as often but produce works that after reading, you put the book on the shelf because this one is NOT going back to the bookstore.
slashdotters have to read Greg Egan.
(1) he is a programmer.
(2) he writes exciting but surreal multidimensional stories that actually explain quantum mechanical ideas (espc. "many worlds") more than they exploit/exagerate them.
I have no idea if he has written anything recently to actually win a Hugo.
btw, Stanislaw Lem is another must for ultra-logical or mathematical cream of the crop science fiction.
-pyrrho
I used to actually respect the Hugo awards. I learnt better. Especially after last year - best novel: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Even ignoring questions about how good it is (although I have strong opinions about that) the fact is that it simply isn't Science Fiction. And "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as best Science Fiction movie? (Great film, though). If the Hugos mean anything, they should at least be given to work in the correct genre.
:) Although there doesn't seem to be a lot of competition.
Off course, this year at least we know what the best movie will be - LotR. So the tradition of SF awards going to non-SF films will continue in all it's glory.
Because I don't, but I was considering buying one of his books today, choosing not to because in true Anglosaxon fashion, it refused to divulge information on what it was about (got A&R instead).
News and bla for computer musicians: http://lomechanik.net/
As a Worldcon 2002 member, I'm going to vote for Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter for Dramatic Presentation (you get to vote for five)...
And hey, Taco, take the time to Googlesearch for the Suggested Nominees and get the poll right, eh? Spelling too? Or is that too much to ask...
--
Shipping the Penguin in Bill's backyard...
That's not sci-fi!! That is HORROR ;)
Any technology distinguishable from magic, is insufficiently advanced.
Every generation plays this tune, but if it wasn't true this time, the "copyright hoarders" wouldn't be fighting so hard to keep what they've got. And these days anyone can be the judge, even kids, who are spending more time in the library with dusty old book club editions than good citizens without eye patches and peg legs should.
-Legion
Locus Magazine Best Novels of 2001
Barnes and Noble Best SF of 2001
January Magazine Best of 2001 (go down to the bottom for SF)
Borders Best SF of 2001
Amazon Best Science Fiction of 2001
Amazon Best Fantasy of 2001
Some guy's Best SF of 2001 list
An Amazon Listmania Best SF of 2001 list
It's a tiny sample, but it looks like these are clear favorites:
1. The Wooden Sea, Jonathan Carroll
2. Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
3. American Gods, Neil Gaiman
And all these do well, showing up on several lists and/or ranking high where they're mentioned:
Cosmonaut Keep, Ken MacLeod
Nekropolis, Maureen McHugh
The Chronoliths, Robert Charles Wilson
Thief of Time, Terry Pratchett
Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey
Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds
Personally, I haven't read enough 2001 novels to make a decent list.
Nobody has suggested anything new in SF. Is it that bad? Today I left the SF section in Borders feeling disgusted. Almost everything is either fantasy or military. (And most of the military stuff is crap. Name one real war won by a single hero.)
Ursula K. Le Guin's two 2001 releases, The Other Wind and Tales From Earthsea, were some of the most amazing books I've ever read.
I've learned more from reading Ursula Le Guin than I can even express. If you haven't read this author yet you are missing out!
On an article which has absolutely nothing to do with computers in any way, people STILL manage to turn it into a "Microsoft sux, Linux rools"-fest.
Christ on a bike!
"Information wants to be paid"