Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

Allan wrote: "Dammit! I found a copy of Butcher's The Aeronaut's Windlass at HPB and got sucked into it! Such are the trials of the adult ADD reader!"

So it is really good? I'm yet to taste Butcher's novels

Hmm . . . yes, Z, you are right, it's only for preorder on Amazon. Sorry! :-) .

I believed you, Allen, when you said it was released at Christmas. :-)

Is this series still an ongoing TV show? Is it worth watching?

It's my first pass at Butcher too, which is one reason it struck my fancy. So far it's been pretty good. Seems more like fantasy than steampunk but not the usual "chosen one" fare, at least not yet. The story moves along well, quick easy reading, already 100 pages in.

They've been in a pretty reliable one year schedule with the other Expanse books. Hardback near Christmas, paperback a year later along with a new hardback. This one must've been delayed a little. I think it's the final book and they're starting a new series. I enjoyed the TV series but last I heard it was cancelled after the 3rd season.

Allan wrote: "It's my first pass at Butcher too, which is one reason it struck my fancy. "

I am curious about his writing especially since his Dresden series often comes recommended. I was surprised to see that the books are pretty thick, but as long as they are as easy to read as everyone says they are, it's hardly going to be a problem.

I have started the Dresden series several times and have ot made it past the beginning of the third book. But I hear that where it really picks up and gets really good is after the fourth book, I swear, one day I am going to chug through them, really

Started working on getting through The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, a very curious work of nonfiction. Slightly over a quarter in and learned a whole bunch of interesting facts.

The Aeronaut's Windlass is pretty engaging, read a couple of chapters last night.

I began "The City and The Stars" by Arthur C. Clarke a couple days ago. So far it's interesting. It is set a billion years from now, and was written in 1956, so Clarke's ideas are interesting. Some seem slightly dated, but less than you would think. I'm enjoying it so far...

Reading "The stone sky" at the moment - 72 pages in. So far it seems every bit as good as the previous 2.

Also bird box and the 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn hardcastle

I started Speaker of the Dead. It's really good so far.

Atlanta wrote: "Also bird box and the 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn hardcastle"

I finished Bird Box earlier this month. You HAVE to let me know when you finish it so I can have someone to talk about it with!! I have theories...but not one gets it because they've only seen the movie.

I really loved Speaker for the Dead, and Bird Box is on my list. I'll bump it up and read it sooner.

You guys are killing me! Here I was a month or 2 ago thinking, "I don't know if there's that much more good Science Fiction to read that I haven't already read", and now every single time I log on I add 2 or 3 great new books to my 'want to read' selection. This is fantastic. I feel like a an overgrown hungry kid in a candy store...
Thank you all.

Just finished Double Star, the Hugo-winning Heinlein classic, on audio. I'd never read it before. Definitely one of his better efforts, I thought.

Having come off reading Ender's Game, I expected something completely different from Speaker for the Dead. But it blew me away, possibly my favorite of the series.

Allan wrote: "Having come off reading Ender's Game, I expected something completely different from Speaker for the Dead. But it blew me away, possibly my favorite of the series."

I was impressed when I read in over a decade ago, I plan to re-read it one day. I was surprised that the author is hated by many here on GR for his position. While I think he is wrong, he is definitely talented and in his works [ones I've read] his position isn't on the foreground

Agreed Olksandr. I enjoy many author's works, that I don't agree with morally or politically. I feel like the people railing against someone about personal beliefs really limits those persons possible experiences and possibly even seeing things from all angles. I certainly don't want to get into any debates or discussions. That's just my 2 cents. I loved Orson Scott Card's Ender series overall regardless of his personal beliefs.

Speaker of the Dead is Card's masterwork, IMO. And regarding Card, I have always judged art on it's own merits, not according to the writer's likeability, politics &c. I think this is actually the most popular stance, although not the most vocal.

I just finished Anders Ericsson's Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise. It was extremely good. Ericsson is a expert on... expertise. You may have heard of a "10 000 hour rule"; that comes from (misunderstanding of) Ericsson's research. He tells what kind of practice works if you want to really develop your skills and how practice matters far FAR more than any "innate talent" or suchlike. Great stuff.

Started today on Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. So far,so good. I loved Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, and while thus book is clearly very different, his writing style is still very enjoyable.

@bryan ok it’s a library book and it’s due in 2 days so if I don’t finish I have to request it again.

Antti wrote: "Speaker of the Dead is Card's masterwork, IMO. And regarding Card, I have always judged art on it's own merits, not according to the writer's likeability, politics &c...."

Agree on both counts.

However whenever I see someone reading part 973 of the endless Ender series, it is a hint to me that we may not see eye-to-eye on much.

On Monday I accidentally stumbled upon the last title in the Odyssey series, 3001: The Final Odyssey. It was a fun ride, but the last two books didn't work for me not because they were particularly bad, it's just that there's whole lot of nothing much going on. Still it was quite a ride.

Started reading a paperback a friend of mine gave me, a Japanese novel titled Shipwrecks. I hardy ever read book synopses, so I did not see the revelation of the "sinister" side of the villagers coming.

Going for a record this month, hoping to get through ten titles by the end of January. With Mote and Shipwrecks it brings me up to 9/10 so it's either going to be a potential Hugo/Nebula nominee, Windlass or Gather, Darkness!. Choices, Choices!

Go Art go! Windlass is 751 pages but it goes fast!

I just recently finished Parable of the Talents (Nebula winner) and started Medusa Uploaded, long-listed for Hugo 2019 - so far it is rather weak and I have suspicions that the author created too many 'hidden truths' to line them up at the end.

Started Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation, 2014 Nebula winner, on audio. It's fairly short and dives right in without a lot of pretext. I'm not far in but so far it reminds me of Roadside Picnic & Deepsix.

Let's see. I read Komarr, A Civil Campaign, Winterfair Gifts, and Captain Vorpatril's Alliance. Again.

I just read After the Night, a mystery/romance by Linda Howard. Because Howard sometimes writes fantasies, I got sucked into it because the beginning made it look like the little kid, who grows up to be the protagonist, had some sort of magical power, but she didn't. A waste of a good concept. The book is probably not for anyone here, and some of the factual basis was unbelievable. Also I figured out who did it right away. I don't feel that it was a waste, though.

Then I read Earth's Last Citadel for the retro 1943 Hugo. Bleah. Should not win, IMHO. Boring and disconnected, no depth at all to the characters, interesting concepts and world building but not all of them explained satisfactorily. But it got better and the end was somewhat satisfying. So far, Conjure WifeConjure Wife is the best of those (I'm at 71%).The Book of Ptath is eh . . . seems like too much trouble to bother to figure out what Ptath's deal is, but I am at 30%, and Last Citadel got better, so I will hope it does, too.

Re the current Hugos, I am counting Summerland as read, but I do not choose it as a nominee. I thought the worldlbuilding was great, but I felt that the author did not let us see the worldbuilding in an enjoyable way, and I didn't like any of the characters. I did skip some of the middle. I really think that I might try reading it again sometime, the worldbuilding was so great. It surprises me that it wasn't on the Nebula list because it strikes me as the kind of book the writers would love--but maybe it's different criteria.

I'm also reading other stuff I started but must tell more later

Allan wrote: "Started Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation, "

It ha a great start, draws you into the story, but I highly disliked that by the end of trilogy [not much of a spoiler] (view spoiler)[there is no definite answer what was it (hide spoiler)]

Kateblue wrote: " Summerland ... wasn't on the Nebula list "

I guess it is because the English version is a translation

Well, I really loved Summerland's worldbuilding, I just wish it had had better explanations. I usually hate those big blocks of exposition explaining why things are the way they are, but this could have used one or two.

Maybe, because the Nebula's are SFWA, they nominate American books? I mean, they are an American group of writers . . .

Oleksandr: English version of Summerland is the original; Rajaniemi writes in English and his books are actually translated into Finnish by someone other than the author.

Actually I did read that he now lives here and that he writes in English. I see that even the hardbound is published by Tor Books on June 26, 2018. Why not Nebula listed? I wonder, but I don't really care . . . I mean I think it was better than Six Wakes, which we read last year and definitely much better than that Greg Bear book. But I shall never know . . .

@allan I loved annihilation, don’t know the other two

Thanks! Turns out it is a trilogy but for now I'll just get through the first one. BTW, this morning, I was looking at Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel series on Worlds Without End, and there was a link to the first novelette, "Fire Watch", so I knocked that out. I want to get to Dog and Blackout this year, just not there yet.

Antti wrote: "Oleksandr: English version of Summerland is the original; Rajaniemi writes in English and his books are actually translated into Finnish by someone other than the author."

Thanks, I stand corrected

Well, I have abandoned for nowThe 5th Wave (finding it boring anyway, why do so many people like it so much?) and These Broken Stars (not boring yet, but may become so) to read madly for our deadline for Hugo choices in Feb.

Right now, I'm reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in preparation for reading Record of a Spaceborn Few next--it's a possible.

Then, in no particular order . . . some other possibles I'm planning to read (or at least try, if I hate them I will quit) in the immediate future:
Red Moon
A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe
Spinning Silver
Space Opera
Witchmark (because I own a copy and it is on Z's nebula possibles list here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...)

I'd like to read The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, but that will probably be impossible because I would have to read the first one, Sparrow Hill Road, first and the library lines are too long

Ditto Circe which seems to be quite popular and I should have bought it cheap when it was offered one day recently, but oh, well . . .

Remember, we all get input coming up in a month as to who the group votes for. So please read some! Has anybody else read any great 2018 books lately? I would like suggestions of what else to read if anyone has ideas. Discuss? :-)

Oh and I forgot --
The Calculating Stars and the 2d book in the group, The Fated Sky, both of which came out last year.

I started yesterday On a Red Station, Drifting, a novella which was nominated for Hugo and Nebula a few years back. So fare - interesting but not breath-taking, galactic empire based not on Roman/British, as many others, but on China. Among other stuff this gives 'cult of ancestors' a new twist - implants with deceased family members memories/personality - so you really get advice from your dead ancestors.

I plan to continue with The Tea Master and the Detective, set in the same universe, which can end-up in novella list for H/N. I also plan to go thru several more novellas published in 2018 during February.

Finished Medusa Uploaded (eligible novel for Hugo) and I'm angry at the way it was written - the author started great, added many enigmas, but solutions were lame if any. Grrr!

Kateblue wrote: "Then, in no particular order . . . some other possibles I'm planning to read (or at least try, if I hate them I will quit) in the immediate future:

Space Opera..."

it is full of allusions o Eurovison [music contest], e.g. all chapters are named after real songs - so this is either warning or encouragement to read :)

Oleksandr wrote: "it is full of allusions o Eurovison"

Suddenly I'm intrigued. Eurovision Song Contest in space? I'm a big fan of ESC, I can name all the winners from the last ten years without even blinking, I watch both semifinals every year (the final goes without saying), etc.

I mean, the book is probably kinda bad, but then again... EUROVISION SONG CONTEST IN SPACE?!?

Antti wrote: "Oleksandr wrote: "it is full of allusions o Eurovison"

Suddenly I'm intrigued. Eurovision Song Contest in space? I'm a big fan of ESC,..."

I'm a big fan of Catherine Valente. Space Opera sounded fabulous and is, as far as I can remember, the only book I've ever pre-ordered on Amazon. I made it about 1/3 through and just couldn't stay interested.

I've never seen Eurovision, but I watched a lot of American Idol which can't be much different.

I can't explain why Space Opera didn't work for me. There were some funny bits. Maybe I'll like it better if I read it later with lower expectations.

Yes, Ed, I have done the "if I had had lower expectations" thing too many times, Vicious being the most recent example. I will try to keep an open mind about Space Opera, and even if I don't like it, I will try Valente again. Which do you like?

But I am thinking maybe I don't need to read this one by February. It sounds like you guys don't think it is really Hugo-worthy, and I can take your word for it.

Just to give you a taste, the first chapter is named after this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ew43...

Kateblue, the Valente that I like includes The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and Six-Gun Snow White, as well as some short stories.

Thanks for the info Z and Ed. Z, how long did that show run???? and Ed, I am sure to read some of them eventually. I put them on my list

Ed wrote: "I've never seen Eurovision, but I watched a lot of American Idol which can't be much different."

On a surface level they may not be so different, but there is a very large cultural difference. ESC is one of the weirdest rituals Western civilization has produced and is a cultural juggernaut of sorts.

The songs have evolved towards a genre of their own; in Finnish we actually have a specific word ("euroviisu") for ESC songs or songs that sound like them.

There is a level of irony required to enjoy ESC, but even more you need a deeper level of sincere love for the contest. The songs are trite and cliché, but in a specific, almost ritualistic way.

I"m not sure if I can really explain the difference to anyone who hasn't grown up watching the ESC every year, but believe me, there is a difference.

And Kateblue: Eurovision Song Contest has been on air every year since 1956.

A few more facts about ESC and its difference from other contests like American Idol
1. from the very start it was quite LGBTQ+ friendly and thus has a reciprocal support of the community
2. votes are by phone, but each country votes for others, so if you're in country A you rank other counties, but not country A - this leads to interesting alliances
3. after the iron curtain fell, ESC was joined by Eastern Europe and ex-USSR and several new countries (incl. Ukraine. Twice) won the contest.
4. maybe the most world famous ESC winner is ABBA

Should be done with Gather, Darkness! soon and will post my musings in the Retro Hugo 1944 thread. At the same time I am finishing up Shipwrecks which turned out to be less exciting than what I imagined it would be, but hey it was a gift after all!

Been eyeing the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson for some time now and I am tempted giving that a go at some point in February. That is if I will manage to get through novels eligible for Hugo 2019. Got a bunch of them lined up for me, may start with Circe and then work my way through.

I started "Space Opera" and I was laughing, but after a few pages I got tired of the style.

Is it like that the whole way through?

Art wrote: "Been eyeing the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson for some time"

It is awesome if you like hard SF, e.g. several pages on how adjust lichens for survival on Mars. This is almost like a textbook 'how to make Mars habitable' - the first book. However, the 'social/story' part is IMHO a bit weaker

The Mars Trilogy is rooted in enough hard science that they make it believable that it could plausibly happen sometime in the future (terraforming Mars). I enjoyed these books quite a bit.

Finished off Annihilation. A little disappointed in the ending; it's been done before. Then I finally finished Delany's Nova. I'm not a huge fan of Delany, he's too oblique for me, and this one had its boring, rambling, endless philosophical conversations, but it ended well with a lot of action, so I wound up liking it better than anything else of his that I've read. I can't imagine reading the 800 pages of Dhalgren though. I'm about 2/3 through The Aeronaut's Windlass and am enjoying it a lot. I started in on Tea with the Black Dragon today and got about 1/4 through; I like it so far. Finally, I started Autonomous on audio yesterday. under 10% but it seems pretty good too.

Having finished the Odyssey series in its entirety I might have just worked up the courage to tackle the vast universe of Robot and Foundation series. Since the actual winners are so scant it will be hard doing it as a group in any forseeable future, therefore I will try tackling it as my personal challenge of 2019 and maybe in doing so I will be able to shed some more light on what related reads can be skipped.

I will put Mars Trilogy on hold, because I want to read it with the group, since the discussion might get rather interesting.

As for the current reads, I am a couple of dozen pages away from finishing The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, a wonderful trip through the fascinating insights about everything relating to languages, from physiology and its evolution all the way to dubious celebrity statuses of "grammar mavens". Learned a whole bunch of things reading this book, like different words and stuff! I bet it shows too!

My high hopes for Gather, Darkness! to land a spot in Retro 1944 nominations ended up being unfounded, which is a bummer. Still, Fritz Leiber continues to interest me and I am glad of having discovered his works.

It's already February in a couple of days so I ought to avoid the mistake I did with dragging out the Moties and just knock off the Monthly Reads asap.