2014 Hugo Nominees: Novels
Jun. 24th, 2014 11:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psocopteraMostly spoiler-free.
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. I have already said I want and expect it to win, so I'm not going to repeat all that, except that I still highly recommend it.
Neptune’s Brood, Charles Stross. I can still remember (or have constructed a memory which I believe I remember) being completely blown away by hisshort story novelette "Lobsters", by the density and breathless pacing of it. Also it was hilarious. Thinking about Neptune's Brood in the light of "Lobsters" leads me to the sad conclusion that Stross is succumbing to the dreaded mid-career bloat, in which, hey, a book is going to earn more than a novelette, he's a big name, let's make this idea a book! (I don't just blame Stross for this, presumably everybody at Orbit wants to keep the company in business.) Which is to say, I thought there were some neat ideas, and they might have made a strong shorter work, but there wasn't enough here to support an entire novel.
Parasite, Mira Grant. Hooked me early, lost me late. I was interested in what would happen once she did the thing, and then I kept reading and we started to waste time on typical Mira Grant secondary characters and it was like, argh, where is the thing, and then finally on like the *last page* there is the thing. So I guess all the parts of this story I actually wanted to read might be taking place in the next book but my feeling about that is more like "well then fuck it" than "oh boy I can't wait". Probably someone will want fic of this for Yuletide and I will read it and it will be more relevant to my interests than the actual book.
Warbound, Book III of the Grimnoir Chronicles, Larry Correia. I made it as far as chapter four before concluding I just didn't like or care about any of these people. Then I read the end to see if it was secretly awesome and I should go back and read the whole thing. It wasn't. I didn't.
The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. NOT A NOVEL.
(I am actually so disappointed by this lackluster ballot that I've been working my way through the Nebula nominees to console myself. Ancillary Justice, which won, I had already read of course, as well as Ocean at the End of the Lane, Stranger in Olondria, and The Golem and the Jinni. Expect a post about We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves coming shortly, and I have Hild out of the library right now. Does anyone have any opinions about the remaining two, Fire with Fire by Charles Gannon or The Red: First Light by Linda Nagata? Yes, I know I should be reading Campbell nominees.)
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. I have already said I want and expect it to win, so I'm not going to repeat all that, except that I still highly recommend it.
Neptune’s Brood, Charles Stross. I can still remember (or have constructed a memory which I believe I remember) being completely blown away by his
Parasite, Mira Grant. Hooked me early, lost me late. I was interested in what would happen once she did the thing, and then I kept reading and we started to waste time on typical Mira Grant secondary characters and it was like, argh, where is the thing, and then finally on like the *last page* there is the thing. So I guess all the parts of this story I actually wanted to read might be taking place in the next book but my feeling about that is more like "well then fuck it" than "oh boy I can't wait". Probably someone will want fic of this for Yuletide and I will read it and it will be more relevant to my interests than the actual book.
Warbound, Book III of the Grimnoir Chronicles, Larry Correia. I made it as far as chapter four before concluding I just didn't like or care about any of these people. Then I read the end to see if it was secretly awesome and I should go back and read the whole thing. It wasn't. I didn't.
The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. NOT A NOVEL.
(I am actually so disappointed by this lackluster ballot that I've been working my way through the Nebula nominees to console myself. Ancillary Justice, which won, I had already read of course, as well as Ocean at the End of the Lane, Stranger in Olondria, and The Golem and the Jinni. Expect a post about We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves coming shortly, and I have Hild out of the library right now. Does anyone have any opinions about the remaining two, Fire with Fire by Charles Gannon or The Red: First Light by Linda Nagata? Yes, I know I should be reading Campbell nominees.)
