Hugo ballot

[stdesjardins]

I just cast my Hugo ballot. For novel:

1. The Scar
2. The Years of Rice and Salt
3. Bones of the Earth
4. No Award

The Scar was on my nominating ballot. I decided, about a third of the way through another Hugo-nominated Robert J. Sawyer novel, that I didn't ever want to read a Sawyer novel again, and I haven't. (I did read one short story he got nominated, and it was utter shit. Politically correct shit, to boot, where the political party in question is Nazi libertarians. I perhaps exaggerate slightly, as the only real point of commonality with the Nazis was the perversion of fundamental scientific principles into unrecognizability in pursuit of a warped political agenda.) David Brin isn't as bad, and the comments of seen indicate that Kiln People is better than his other recent work, but I asked myself how much I wanted not to read his book, and it was enough to overcome my conscience.

For novella:

1. Coraline
2. A Year in the Linear City
3. "The Political Officer"
4. "Breathmoss"
5. "Bronté's Egg"
6. No Award

I admit I read only a few paragraphs of the Analog story, then quickly skimmed it. Apparently didactic, less clever than it thinks, and badly written. None of the other stories were completely satisfactory, but they were at least good.

I went with Coraline because it was both very entertaining and extremely well-written. The others were either a little bit entertaining, or else only moderately well-written.

For novelette:

1. "Halo"
2. "Presence"
3. "Madonna of the Maquiladora"
4. "Wild Girls"
5. "Slow Life"

The first category where none of the stories suck. "Halo" and "Presence" were both excellent in very different ways, and either could easily have been my top choice. None of the other stories were especially ground-breaking, and they were very close in quality, so I gave third position to the fellow who (I'm pretty sure) doesn't already have a Hugo.

Short story:

1. "Creation"
2. "Lambing Season"
3. No Award
4. "The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport"

None of the five stories were bad, but three were just, well, slight. A Hugo winner should have a certain amount of heft to it, and so, without disrespect to the authors, I felt compelled to rank No Award fairly high. Of the two remaining stories, I thought "Creation" was far superior, and the only one in this category that I feel really is deserving of the award.

Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:

1. Spirited Away
2. The Two Towers
3. No Award

After Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers proved to be a tremendous disappointment, neither faithful to the book nor a compelling piece of storytelling. Spirited Away, by contrast, was a fully successful work of art.

Dramatic Presentation, Short Form:

1. Firefly
2. Buffy
3. Angel
4. No Award

Fan Writer:

1. Bob Devney
2. Dave Langford
3. Mike Glyer
4. Steven Silver
5. No Award

After buying his way onto the ballot, John Flynn deserves a humiliating defeat, and it's up to each and every one of us to give it to him.

Comments

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

Your ballot looks a lot like mine, but I liked "Bronte's Egg" more than you did. I do think it's a well-crafted story, but I admit that mostly my dedication to it is emotional--I just adore the sensibility.

I feel as though there's some fire, or some brilliance, or *something* missing from this year's Hugo ballot. I can't quite pin it down. It might be the works, or it might be the kind of works that make the ballot, or it might be me.

[stevendj.livejournal.com]

You might be right about "Bronte's Egg". I thought all the novellas were very good stories (the one I explicitly denounced aside), and it may be that I gave more weight to the ones I read recently instead of a year ago, or the ones that were more 'literary'. One of the qualities I consider when filling out the Hugo ballot is how well a story will stick with me. Something I'm not going to fondly remember five years from now doesn't belong on the ballot. I suspect "Breathmoss" may not do so well by that measure, and maybe A Year in the Linear City may do poorly too. Unfortunately I put off reading most of the stories until the last minute, and may have made some hasty judgments. (I confess I didn't even check to see which episodes of Angel and Firefly I was voting for. I just voted based on my impression of the overall quality of the series.)

flynn

[owlrigh.livejournal.com]

I wonder if John Flynn is famous all over fandom for his antics when it comes to the Hugos. I cannot for the life of me believe he manages to get people to nominate him. Can't believe he has enough family and friends to do so years in a row! Faugh.