2004 Hugo Awards Presented at Noreascon

DragonMagic writes "The Hugo Awards for 2003 have been handed out at the WorldCon at Noreascon in Boston." The winners are below.

Best Novel: Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Novella: The Cookie Monster, Vernor Vinge
Novellette: Legions in Time, Michael Swanwick
Short Story: A Study in Emerald, Neil Gaiman
Related Book: The Chesley Awards for Science
Fiction and Fantasy Art: A Retrospective, John Grant, Elizabeth L. Humphrey, and Pamela D. Scoville
Professional Editor: Gardner Dozois
Professional Artist: Bob Eggleton and Pamela D. Scoville
Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Gollum's Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards
Semiprozine: Locus
Fanzine: Emerald City
Fan Writer: Dave Langford
Fan Artist: Frank Wu
Campbell Award: Jay Lake
Special Noreascon Four Committee Award: Erwin Strauss, aka Filthy Pierre

Comments

Re:Hu?

[Raul654]

Would it be so hard to explain in one little sentence what those award are about?

One little sentence :)

Re:Question

[mediabunny]

The 1953 Retrospective Hugo Award Winners
Best Novel - Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Best Novella - "A Case of Conscience" by James Blish
Best Novelette - "Earthman, Come Home" by James Blish
Best Short Story - "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke
Best Related Book - Conquest of the Moon by Wernher von Braun, Fred L. Whipple & Willy Ley
Best Professional Editor - John W. Campbell, Jr.
Best Professional Artist - Chesley Bonestell
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form - The War of the Worlds
Best Fanzine - Slant, Walter Willis, ed.; James White, art editor
Best Fan Writer - Bob Tucker

Re:Typo - not

[cool_st_elizabeth]

No, these would be awards for books and stories published during calendar 2003. Then you have nominations, then voting and vote-counting, so it's September of the next year before the winners are announced.

Just found link for vernors story:

[imsabbel]

http://www.analogsf.com/0406/cookiemonster.shtml

Yeah. Finally a topic where my sig fits :)

Bujold wasting her time on fantasy

[Animats]

Lois Bujold's best work is the Lord Vorkosigan series. She won a Hugo for one of those in 1992. But she has to pay the rent, so she cranks out those fantasy novels. The Vorkosigan series is too complex and unsettling for many readers.

Re:Bujold wasting her time on fantasy

[RickHunter]

Actually, from what she's said on her official mailing list, she can get more money from doing another Vorkosigan book. Yes, folks, not all fantasy writers are shills in it for the money. However, she can't see any direction to take it in that she wants to write, Miles and kids novels being very much out. She thinks Miles' story came to a natural end in Diplomatic Immunity, with the birth of his children, which is good. Then she got some ideas for the Five Gods universe and it wound up capturing her interest more.

A Study in Emerald

[Bagels]

Neil Gaiman's winning short story is up on his site, if anyone cares to read it. It's quite good, particularly if you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Cthulu mythology, or both.

Some thoughts on 3 of the awards...

[CJ Hooknose]

3 of the stories mentioned were in a book called "The Best of Science Fiction 2003". I read that, so here are my tiny capsule reviews:

The Cookie Monster, Vernor Vinge: This is an interesting and technically complex story. It's plausible and well-told, but it really lacks character development IMHO. Guess the competition was thin in the "novella" category or the tech talk swayed the fans.

"Legions in Time", Michael Swanwick: This one rocked. The main characters were believable, the time travel was done well, the bad guys were really evil, and the resolution was... interesting. Only real faults are that the ending feels a bit too much like a Deus Ex Machina, and Nadine was never really explained. Read this one if you can.

"A Study in Emerald", Neil Gaiman: Hmm. Gaiman's a good storyteller, but he bit off more than he could chew here. It's difficult to write a good Sherlock Holmes pastiche, it's difficult to write a good H.P. Lovecraft pastiche, and it's even more difficult to write a story that combines elements of both. Plus, if you haven't read much Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or H.P. Lovecraft, you won't get all the references. Gaiman almost made it work.