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Hugo Nominations Announced
Embedded Geek writes "With the 2004 Nebula Awards being awarded this weekend, the Hugo nominations have been announced. As usual, the field is packed with lots of deserving entries, although I'm sure everyone has a favorite that was missed. I was particularly interested in the Short Form Drama, though, with Joss Wheadon getting three nominations for canceled shows (two Firefly, one Buffy) and Gollum's Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards getting a nod. Also of interest are the Retro Hugos, an effort to look back and recognize SF published before anyone thought to hand out awards for it. Retro nominees include such greats as Childhood's End, Fahrenheit 451, and Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 th Century (no, really!). You have until 31 July, 2004 to join Noreascon Four and vote for your favorites!"
I really hope that firefly gets the awards it has been nominated for! I am so ticked off at Fox for cancelling such a great show. I want them to win not only to validate the work that the cast and crew of the show did, but also to give a little kick in the butt to the fox execs who stole Firefly from us.
Catch-22 is one of my favorite modern novels. I read it at least N times (where N is a pretty large number) before I found out it had been made into a movie. One afternoon I was channel surfing, and happened to catch the opening credits. I was happy about this for a minute, then reconsidered - and turned the TV off.
I realized that through reading the book I had formed my own mental images of Pianosa, Yossarian, Hungry Joe, et al, and I did not want the director's interpretation to intrude on my own. I suspect at least a few of us on
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
Check out the nominees for best novel - 1953 was one hell of a year for SF.
Oh, and for the current year, Lois McMaster Bujold got a Hugo AND Nebula nominee for novel - for two different books!
Maybe it's time to consider a "Writer of the Year" for people who may not necessarily take a top prize for novel, short story, etc., but whose collected work for the year makes them worthy of recognition. (I'm not suggesting anything about McMaster-Bujold's books, since I haven't read either of them).
Best Dramatic Presentation -- Short Form (212 ballots) ...
* "Rosetta" -- Smallville (Tollin/Robbins Productions/Warner Brothers). Directed by James Marshall; written by Al Gough & Miles Millar.
OK, I understand things have been tight for decent Sci-Fi of late, seeing as all the good shows keep getting killed off, but Smallville????
Smallville????
What, because Christopher Reeve was in that one?????
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
Novel - Childhood's End
Hard to believe this was written in 1953. I give this one the nod for excellent writing as well as political content that is still current. Fahrenheit 451 is a close second; also relevant today. Of the other three, Mission of Gravity is my favorite. Excellent hard-sf writing from a guy who really knows his physics combined with memorable characters. Gotta love those Mesklinites.
Novelette - The Wall Around the World
Well written with a mathematical twist.
Short Story - The Nine Billion Names of God
Another strong category like the novel. My choice here is one of my all time favorite short stories, with the added benefit of the computer consultant factor.
Dramatic Presentation - It Came From Outer Space
Good early SF movie and runs counter to the xenophobia of the 50's.
The nice thing is that anything still being considered fifty years later is pretty good stuff. You can't go wrong reading any of these.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.