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This Year's Hugo Nominees Chosen

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the who-will-be-the-one dept.

wrinkledshirt writes "They've announced this year's nominees for the Hugo Awards. Wonder who the next Asimov, Brin, Gibson or [shudder] Rowling is going to be? Find out at Conjose."

17 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. ouch by Vlad_the_Inhaler · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is very worrying - I recognise just two names on those lists. Ursula LeGuin and Vernor Vinge.
    The ones I knew are dying off (Zelazny, Herbert, Asimov, Heinlein . . .)

    --
    Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
  2. Please don't know Rowling... by irony+nazi · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The Rowling novels are great. I enjoyed escaping away to Hogwarts for the duration that it took for me to read each one. Besides, the Hugo awards have to maintain our British heritage and what better way then to award the Hugo to a British author?

    Anyways, Harry Potter is very entertaining, despite its main-stream nature. One can hardly argue that the books are for childeren due to the use of Magic and Witchcraft. These are clearly meant for adults, although i would let, and I understand why childeren love them so much.

    --

    Bringing irony to the Slash-masses
    1. Re:Please don't know Rowling... by irony+nazi · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I was so busy trying to get first post that I didn't even notice a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode on the list!!

      Screw everything I said about Rowling, GO BUFFY!!

      Sarah Michelle Gellar deserves an emmy or a Hugo, or my hugo... if you know what I mean.

      --

      Bringing irony to the Slash-masses
    2. Re:Please don't know Rowling... by geekoid · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "One can hardly argue that the books are for childeren due to the use of Magic and Witchcraft"
      why not? The Hobbit was written for children(child actually ;))
      they are clearly written for children. that doesn't mean adults can't like them. I have read a great deal in my life, and I enjoyed them. Granted I read one a night, but they were still fun.
      Before rowling when was the last time you saw so many kids, so excited about reading? for that alone she deserves a prize.

      the fact that author said the HP books where geared to kids Harry's age should have probably clued you in. ;)

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:Please don't know Rowling... by JabberWokky · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I agree. Buffy has probably been the best TV show of recent history. They are entertaining episodes, and if you watch the series in full, they lock tightly together into a plot that is a stellar example of some of the best writing ever.

      That said - up until five months ago, I thought it was a cheesy, stupid Xena/90210 show, while having never really watched it. I despise Xena (love Rami though, go figure). I had friends telling me it was great, and I finally got around to watching it. Seriously - if you like good classic literature, bite the bullet and watch four or five episodes. The dialogue is often up there with Dumas, the plot twists are those of Bradbury... it is really an incredible show.

      That said, it's up against Fellowship and Shrek. Harry Potter was pretty thin on screen (well, so was the book), and Monsters, Inc was fun, but not great. Shrek almost hit Princess' Bride level of simple fairy tale told well - but only almost, in my opinion. Fellowship could lose some points by over-anal Tolkein fans pissed about certain cuts. That would be a shame, imo, as it really is a fantastic movie in it's own right.

      --
      Evan

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
    4. Re:Please don't know Rowling... by ckd · · Score: 3, Insightful
      But personally, I think that an award like this should given to something truly exceptional -- and that, HP was not (except perhaps in popularity).

      The Hugos are a fan-voted award. So they are, in fact, only based on popularity. Always have been, too.

      (The canonical "bad example" is They'd Rather Be Right, generally considered the most forgettable Hugo winning novel.)

  3. Whats wrong with rowling? by geekoid · · Score: 5, Interesting

    She's a good author. An experience reader can easily see that, hell her coninuing plots are better then any ST episode. I figure
    A)wrinkled shirt never read any and is trying to be cool, or
    B)Did read it, but is in such need of attention that going againse popular things is his equivelant of waving his arms in the air and going "look at me".

    Jusat because you don't like a book, doesn't mean its not a good book, and just because a book is geared to someone young, doesn't mean its not a good book.
    You may not like them, but they are technically sound. by that I mean structure, continuity, plot.

    The Hobbit was written for children.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:Whats wrong with rowling? by JabberWokky · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Rowling's books, despite being good, are waaaay overrated.

      Rowling's books are, I believe, so popular because they are both accessable and marketed to relative non readers. Books are nifty, and Rowling is a capable writer, and when these people who normally don't read all that much get into them, they think it's the greatest thing ever... and never pick up another book.

      I read four to six novels a week across the board in genres. Maybe my criteria for a "great novel" is higher because of that, but when you're judging works, shouldn't you be intimate with the field? I recognize almost every name on that list - hell, I've sat at a table and eaten with some of them.

      That said, you'll note that Rowling isn't up for *anything*. Only the movie based on one of her works is, and she didn't write the screenplay. Reread the list - her name is nowhere to be found.

      --
      Evan

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
    2. Re:Whats wrong with rowling? by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 3, Insightful

      She won because she was flavour of the month. Awards such as this would be far better if they were judged and awarded five years after the fact; then it might actually be based on the works themselves.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  4. Douglas Adams by doubtless · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Anyway we can put him in? Definately one of the best . What an unfortunate departure.. our hearts will always be with Adams.

    --
    geek page at KY speaks
  5. Hmm... by bravehamster · · Score: 5, Funny
    BEST NOVEL
    ...
    Cosmonaut Keep by Ken MacLeod (Orbit (UK)(2000); Tor)


    Curiously enough, Slashdot is actually mentioned in this book. Has a nice scene with a bunch of old-time linux hacks sitting in a bar talking 'bout the good ol days. If you can handle non-linear storytelling, pop-culture references, and Scottish pessimistic pride in your sci-fi, I highly recommend Ken MacLeod. Plus, the cover art is usually pretty cool.

    --
    ---- El diablo esta en mis pantalones! Mire, mire!
    1. Re:Hmm... by charlie · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Spoiler time:


      The bar in question is "The Guildford Arms" in Edinburgh, yours trully features in that sequence under his own name ... and weirdly, I'm on the Hugo list too (under "best novelette").


      The reason for this mess is that the SF writing field in Scotland is very small, and the number of Scottish SF writers who have an interest in weird politics and extropianism is even smaller.

  6. Excellent, extra reading material by EvilBastard · · Score: 5, Interesting

    * New website didn't know about

    * A bunch of writers that other people like that I haven't been exposed to yet

    Time to head down to the speciality SF bookshop tommorow and check them out (Galaxy, in Sydney Aus)

    The biggest problem of Fantasy / Science Fiction at the moment is that people find one writer / style and refuse to read outside it. At it's worst these leads to Bookracks of Star Wars, Star Trek and other licensed works, while new authors cannot get into the 30-foot space that's reserved for "authors that perform"

    Don't complain that you don't know the authors, just think of them as favorite authors you don't know about yet.

  7. Re:Curse of Chalion by ckd · · Score: 3, Informative
    Now to wait until Diplomatic Immunity comes out in May.

    This is Slashdot! Why are you waiting for the dead tree edition? The no-evil-DMCA-protections WebScription edition is already fully available (and loaded into my Palm V...).

  8. Re:I don't believe.. by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 3, Informative

    Neuromancer won pretty much all of them; Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick award. I vaugely remember hearing that it's the only book to do so, but I could be wrong on that point.

    --
    Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  9. Re:Hmm... Cover art by vandemar · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Plus, the cover art is usually pretty cool

    One thing that bothers me about science fiction and fantasy books is the cover art. Very often, it is a picture of the main character holding a weapon or something similarly tacky. Covers like these are one of the reasons why many people do not take speculative fiction seriously. They take one look at the cover and go, "Come on, that's supposed to have insight on the human condition? Riiiight."

    For example, Hyperion by Dan Simmons was a fantastic read. John Keats, Chaucer, William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, etc. it's all in there. But what do we get on the cover? A picture of a monster covered with metal spikes.

    There are exceptions, and lately it seems publishers are getting the right idea in this area. Neil Gaiman's American Gods has a wonderful cover, in which you don't actually see any gods. It's just a picture of a dark, lonely road, with lightning in the sky. It conveys the right feeling. Another example is Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon-- all black with a sort of cryptic symbol. Imagine if the publishers decided to put a picture of US marines shooting at enemy planes.

  10. Re:21 votes gets you on the ballot by Elysdir · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not just short fiction. Note that it took only 44 votes to get on the ballot in the novel category, and only 486 people nominated novels. Only 626 people cast nominating ballots in any category, and that's an unusually high number of nominators; for the past few years, it's been more like 500 nominators total.

    A supporting membership in ConJose currently costs $35 (it was cheaper a few months ago), and entitles you to vote on the final Hugo ballot (but you don't get to go to the con). Usually about 2 to 3 times as many people vote on the final ballot as nominate, but that still means only about a thousand people decide which works get Hugos.

    So if anyone here thinks the Hugo ballot doesn't represent what they'd like to see winning awards, consider buying a supporting membership in ConJose and voting in this year's Hugos. Even better, consider buying a supporting membership in next year's WorldCon (TorCon), so that you can nominate next year.

    The more people participate in the process, the more accurate the results.