I’ve posted this on my web-site as it’s very long; but if you’d like to see it in livejournal format,

The 2004 Hugo Nominees (fiction)

A mega-meta-review

Repeating last year’s successful effort, I have read all the Hugo fiction nominees. (And finished a week earlier than last year, as well.) This is a mega-meta-review, a set of links to other people’s reviews with my own comments interspersed. Feedback is most welcome.

Best Novel

See also Richard Horton’s rasfw survey of the nominees in this category. Summary: two near-future stories of sort-of First Contact with non-humans on a parallel world; one classic fantasy; one cyberpunkish space opera; and one far future science fiction-meets-classical-mythology hybrid.

5) Humans by Robert J. Sawyer. This is the sequel to last year’s winner, Hominids, which I personally thought was the weakest of the nominees. Sawyer has repeated the performance. The book takes forward the story of contact between our world and a parallel universe where Neanderthals rather than homo sapiens survived and became civilised. The Neanderthal civilisation, which has become hi-tech without industrialisation, is completely implausible both technologically and socially. Sawyer’s comments on sex, politics and religion are below the level of an earnest undergraduate. The prose is wooden and clunking. Presumably local advantage will not be as much in Sawyer’s favour as it was at last year’s Toronto-based WorldCon (though Boston is worryingly close to Canada…)

My view is a minority one. Velvet Delorey in the Made in Canada Newsletter, John C. Snider in scifdimensions and Joe Murphy on the Dragon Page loved it. Asta Sinusas in SFRevu, Jonathan Cowie, Jerry Wright in Bewildering Stories, Timeshredder of Bureau 42, Wesley Williamson of BookLoons and Terry Baker at the Alien Online liked it. Steven Silver gives it a fair write-up and doesn’t say if he liked it or not. Only Max of SF Reviews, and to a lesser extent J.B. Peck of SciFi.com and Christian Sauve, share my reservations.

4) Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson. I liked this book. It’s about a community of research scientists in the very near future who have been able (for reasons they don’t fully understand) to observe remotely a community of aliens on a planet far far away. Their research facility is suddenly isolated from the outside world, with no communication possible, and the human relationships between the researchers churn out of control. I thought it was much more successful in this regard than Chronoliths, by the same author, nominated last year. However, as with Chronoliths, I felt the ending was a bit weak and left too little explained. I’ve been trying to think of books that managed the trick of leaving you with the sensawunda without explaining What Was really Going On, and really only Solaris by Stanislaw Lem and Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky come close; and of course 2001. But I thought the central human story was very well told, the aliens were very good too, and the failure of imagination of the human scientists studying them all too plausible. I think there are three better books on this year’s list but it would not be a travesty if Blind Lake won.

John Clute in the Toronto Globe and Mail loved it. Paul Giguere at SFRevu, James Schellenberg, Elisabeth Carey, Jerry Wright, Jonathan Cowie, David Brown at Rebecca’s Reads, Tom Easton in Analog and Cheryl Morgan in a (very perceptive) review in Emerald City really liked it. Richard Horton and John at sfsignal.com have similar reservations to mine.

3) Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold. I’m a fervent Bujoldian, and really like this book; I just happen to think the other two are slightly better. Bujold’s third fantasy novel, and her second in the world of The Curse of Chalion, the action is set in a much smaller scale than the continent-spanning action of its predecessor; the characters are beautifully drawn, in a world where theology is an applied science; and it’s nice to have an adventure and romance story whose character is actually middle-aged.

Tina Morgan in Fiction Factor, Sherwood Smith on the SF Site, Hilary Williamson at BookLoons, Harriet Klausner, Ernest Lilley on SFRevu, Blaise Selby on SciFi.com, Nora Charles on Slash Novel Review and Jo Rogers at MyShelf.com loved it (as did truepenny in a spoilerish but perceptive analysis). Dave Roy in Curled Up With a Good Book, Matthew Scott Winslow at Green Man Review, Richard Horton, KC Heath at Yet Another Book Review, Martin Sutherland, Jerry Wright, Simeon Shoul in infinity plus, Christopher Allen on RPG.net, Cindy Lynn Speer in Fantastica Daily, Nigel Quinlan in The Alien Online, Megan Powell in SDO Fantasy, David Brukman and Kate Nepveu liked it. Preeti at Romantic Science Fiction and Fantasy thought it a bit unexciting but recommends it on balance. Sondra Eklund thought (as did several others) that it started very slowly but ended up liking it. Evelyn Leeper was so unmoved that she couldn’t finish it.

2) Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross. I thought this was a very good book, the only real space opera on the list. As well as reflecting and refracting the very different future universes described by his friends Iain Banks and Ken MacLeod, there are all kinds of other influences in there, including slightly subversive genuflections towards both Bujoldian space opera and Boris Pasternak. Apart from its complex literary heritage, there is a core political message about freedom of information defeating repressive political regimes, obviously of relevance in today’s world, and a rather good love story. Slightly let down by incomprehensible battle scenes, but I understood the sense of tension if not the military jargon. As Richard Kleffel puts it, “Even if you don’t understand precisely what Stross is talking about, it’s hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm.”

Ernest Lilley at SFRevu, Alma A. Hromic at the SF Site, Mark L. Olson and Jerry Wright loved it. Curtis D Frye in Technology and Society Book Reviews, Elisabeth Carey, Cheryl Morgan, T.M. Wagner at SF Reviews and Gavin J. Grant at BookPage liked it. Richard Horton, Niall Harrison and Corinna Underwood for Curled Up With a Good Book think Stross can do better. Byron Merritt and John at sfsignal.com didn’t like it.

1) Ilium, by Dan Simmons. Fourteen years ago Simmons’ first novel, Hyperion, an extraordinary tale of pilgrims en route to a mysterious shrine, won the Hugo award. I think there’s a pretty good chance of his repeating it this year. Three plot threads are intertwined: the twentieth century scholar Thomas Hockenberry, resurrected in the far future as a commentator on a grand full-scale re-enactment of the Trojan War; two cyborgs, Mahnmut and Orphu, who travel from the moons of Jupiter to Mars on a mission to find out what is going on around Olympus Mons; and a primitivised yet high-tech human society on Earth. The three strands are deftly woven together, and my biggest complaint is that we will have to wait until later this year for the second half of the story to find out What Is really Going On. But the Hugo voters have a track record of voting for the first book in a promising series, and sometimes for the second as well. It is striking how few negative reviews I could find of the book, and how many of those who really liked it are people who write hardly any sf reviews (ie this was one of very few books they felt motivated to write about). I know I have a poor record in calling the winner correctly, but I think Ilium is the one to watch this year.

Greg West at Mostly Fiction, Sue Bursztinski in the January Magazine, Adam Roberts in Infinity Plus, Stuart Carter (also in infinity plus), Debbie Moon in The Zone, Bruce Cordell, Ernest Lilley at SFRevu.com, John C. Snider, Tony Chester at Concatenation, Steven Wu, Michael Pusateri, Ken Lux on BookLoons, Greg Hamel, Cindy Lynn Speer on Fantastica Daily, Michael Berry in SFGate, BooksForABuck, Lalith Vipulananthan in The Alien Online, Harriet Klausner, Ian Walker-Smith and Keith Martin loved it. Rob Bedford in sffworld.com, David Kennedy, Richard Horton, Elisabeth Carey, Ian Caplan, Tama Leaver on Blogcritics, William Thompson on the SF Site, Pauline Morgan at SF Crowsnest, dragonsworn, News From The Outside, Gavin J. Grant in BookPage, John Clute, Karri Watson on Curled Up With A Good Book, Lorna Robinson at Imperial College, Chris Wyatt in CineScape and Ian Kaplan liked it, their main complaint being that the story is not finished. The only negative review was by Justina Robson in the Guardian who felt there were too many loose ends and plot holes; she may not have been aware, since the British edition does not make it clear, that this is only part one of two. We’ll see if she’s more satisfied when the sequel comes out.

Best Novella

In this section, Tom Veal agrees with me about the first and third placed stories, but we differ otherwise (indeed, we differ on many subjects, though we agree on who wrote the works of Shakespeare). In a sort of symmetry, Richard Horton agrees with me about the second, fourth and fifth, but puts Walter Jon Williams first and Kage Baker third. If the voters do the same I won’t complain too much.

5) “Just Like the Ones We Used to Know”, by Connie Willis. Suddenly, for no very good reason except that the author thought it was a cool idea, it starts snowing. everywhere in the northern hemisphere. Hilarity ensues. Or not, depending on your taste. Ingrid Blythe loved it, but comments, “It won’t win, though. Too sentimental, too many people cynical about Christmas, and too many people grounded in the now.” Bluejack rather damns it with faint praise.

4) “Walk in Silence” by Catherine Asaro. I’m sorry, I’m not a fan of Asaro’s writing, and still regard the Nebula award for The Quantum Rose as much more embarrassing than any recent Hugo (yes, even Hominids). Clunky story of yet another woman central character who falls in love with a man from whom society would part her, and far too many internal implausibilities. Mark Watson compares it to “a creaky Star Trek episode”, and Bluejack is pretty scathing too. But Phil Friel in Tangent On-Line loved it, and Jemima Pereira enjoyed it despite “weak characterization and a side of wholly unconvincing romance”. It won the Analog readers’ award for best novella, which is stunning given that at least one better Hugo nominee was also published in Analog. Obviously I’m just missing something about Asaro.

3) Now it gets a bit more difficult. If any of the other three stories wins I won’t be too dismayed. With some reluctance, I have put “The Green Leopard Plague”, by Walter Jon Williams third. It’s a complex story melding two time-lines, one in the far future related to his excellent 1997 story “Lethe”, the other near future including various parts of the world in which I take a professional interest (in particular, the little known, unrecognised, and thoroughly corrupt rogue statelet that I spell Transdniestria but he spells Transnistria, portrayed perfectly accurately here), with the linkage being historical research which is a topic I usually really like reading about. In the end I mark it down because the two story-lines didn’t quite mesh sufficiently for me. It worked better for Mark Watson and Bluejack, and Richard Horton puts it top of his list.

2) “The Cookie Monster”, by Vernor Vinge. It will probably win, as Vinge tends to win Hugo awards these days. Seems at first to be a normal story a la Microserfs. But then it turns out to be much much closer to numerous classic sf stories, mentioning any one of which will give away the main point of the plot. I don’t normally go for Vinge but I thought this was pretty good (though Frederik Pohl did it better, as James Nicoll said). Bluejack and Presenjeet Dutta also liked it. Claude Lalumière thinks it is embarrassingly fannish and pandering“. Mark Watson thought it was “ahead of the average Analog story“. Included in the Haber/Strahan Best of 2003 anthology.

1) “The Empress of Mars”, by Kage Baker. Now this is the sort of story that would satisfy Damon Knight’s definition of sf for anyone. On a corrupt corporate semi-terraformed Mars of the near future, the Celtic hewers of wood and drawers of water mount a successful challenge to their Anglo-Saxon overlords, led by Mary Griffiths, mother of three, landlady of the eponymous tavern. I thought it was great fun; a story that didn’t try to be any deeper than necessary. David Roy on Curled Up With A Good Book shares my assessment. Chris Markwyn on Tangent Online, Mervius of Fantastica Daily and bluejack liked it too. Interesting that it was published in the same issue of Asimov’s as two other nominees, “Hexagons” and “Robots Don’t Cry”.

Best Novelette

Here again Richard Horton has given his views via usenet. I must say I think this is a very strong category; all of these stories are very good. After much reflection, I’ve settled on this order (similar to Richard’s but I swap his first and second, and his fifth and sixth):

6) “Bernardo’s House”, by James Patrick Kelly. Central character is the incarnation of the computer program which controls Bernardo’s house. Bernardo himself has disappeared, but one day a girl called Fly appears on the doorstep. It seems there has been a large catastrophe outside… My only reason for marking it down is that I didn’t find the ending completely satisfactory, but I really enjoyed it, as did Bluejack and Mark Watson. In the Strahan/Haber Best of 2003 anthology, and shortlisted for the Sturgeon award.

5) “Legions in Time”, by Michael Swanwick  I find Swanwick’s sense of humour sometimes a bit wearing, but this one worked for me. Woman in 1930s New York has a job where she Must Not Open The Door. She opens the door. Time-travelling and saving the world ensue. Good fun; Mark Watson thought so too; Bluejack a little more reserved in his judgement.. In the Strahan/Haber Best of 2003 anthology; published in same issue of Asimov’s as “Nightfall” by Charles Stross.

4) “Nightfall”, by Charles Stross. I’ve sometimes found the sheer density of ideas and writing in Stross’ fiction difficult to cope with, but found this story very much to my taste, the first one I’ve really felt I properly grasped in the “Accelerando” series. Two of the previous characters find themselves incarnated as artificial personalities in a far-off galaxy – or are they?  Bluejack loved it; Richard Horton was dubious because he found the density of ideas less than other stories in this series. Published in same issue of Asimov’s as “Legions in Time” by Michael Swanwick.

3) “Into the Gardens of Sweet Night”, by Jay Lake. Originally published in L. Ron Hubbard’s 19th Writers of the Future collection, which will no doubt put some people off, but I thought it was a real gem. A boy called Elroy and a talking dog  called Wiggles go on a mysterious quest across (and ultimately off) a post-disaster Earth. Unexpected ending. Really good.

2) “The Empire of Ice Cream”, by Jeffrey Ford. At first it seems to be just another story about synaesthesia, but when the narrator starts seeing a mysterious girl whenever he tastes coffee, it’s clear that it’s something more; and the ending was (for me) quite unexpected. Apparently there’s a literary background to it drawing on the characters of the poets Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams; lost on me, but I enjoyed it anyway. Not to everyone’s taste: Jamie Poitra was not completely convinced; Sharon Turner and Prasenjeet Dutta loved it; positive marks from Yoon Ha Lee. Has already won the Nebula award. In the Strahan/Haber Best of 2003 anthology.

1) “Hexagons”, by Robert Reed. I love alternate history, strategy games, elections, and stories told from the point of view of a child where the reader has to work out some of what is going on. This story has all of those elements so for me it is the winner in this category (though as I said above all the stories are good). The only other thing I’ve read by Reed is Marrow (both short story and novel expansion) and I enjoyed that also; must look out for more. Chris Markwyn on Tangent Online, Jonathan Strahan, and Bluejack all liked it too. Published in the same Asimov’s as “The Empress of Mars” and “Robots Don’t Cry”.

Best Short Story

Once again, a good discussion by Richard Horton on rasfw and another by “communicator” on livejournal. If you read Bulgarian, Anima has also written about them.

5) “Robots Don’t Cry”, by Mike Resnick. I really hate cute robot stories in the Asimov tradition (see my comments on “The Bicentennial Man”) and this is no exception. The heartless materialist narrator finds compassion as a result of a robot’s selfless love. Some good lines but awful plot. Bluejack was less negative than me. Chris Markwyn in Tangent thinks it’s thin but “well-crafted”. From the same issue of Asimov’s as “The Empress of Mars” and “Hexagons”.

4) “Four Short Novels”, by Joe Haldeman. Reflections on the concept of immortality, as it might work out in four different ways. Nice ideas but didn’t really grab me. Bluejack liked it; Richard Horton puts it top of his list.

3) “The Tale of the Golden Eagle”, by David D. Levine. Space opera, cyborgs, glamorous robots, love across the man-machine interface. Standard stuff, but well told, with a convincing portrayal of the various societies. Several reviewers (conveniently indexed by Levine) point to parallels with the Golden Age author Cordwainer Smith, but it is certainly possible to appreciate the story without knowing his work, as I can testify. Most reviews were very positive (also Prasenjeet Dutta
2) “Paying It Forward”, by Michael A. Burstein. Nice story about help for a young science fiction writer apparently coming from a recently deceased fellow writer. I usually find Burstein’s sentimentality too sugary but this was much more acceptable. (However the best story about writers getting unexpected information via their computers is still the “Virtual Library” chapter of Zoran Zivkovic’s The Library.)  As Phil Friel points out in Tangent, the fact that it’s an Analog story gives you a fair idea of the ending.

1) “A Study in Emerald”, by Neil Gaiman. This is the lead story from the collection Shadows over Baker Street, a collection of stories melding the worlds of Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft. It is also by far the best in the collection, as the narrator takes us through his unspeakable experiences in Afghanistan, his eccentric Baker Street flatmate, and encounters with a royal family whose habits are rather unlike the home life of our own dear queen, and a final confrontation with his version of England’s subversive mastermind. I think Gaiman’s writing is a bit more uneven than most people like to admit, but he’s caught the voice of Conan Doyle perfectly here, and interspersed the narrative with slyly allusive small ads from the alternative London he has envisaged. I’ll be sorry to see any other story win (which would give Gaiman three Hugos in different categories in consecutive years, a feat only previously managed by Ursula Le Guin in 1973-75; Orson Scott Card and Lois McMaster Bujold have won Hugos in three consecutive years, though not all in different categories, in 1987-89 and 1990-92 respectively, and Connie Willis won three in two years in 1993-4).

It’s had lots of positive reviews (and as with Ilium a lot of them are from people who haven’t otherwise written a lot of reviews). See for instance Giacomo Lacava, Anita Rowland, James Hsiao, Prasenjeet Dutta, A.M. Kuchling, Philip Jones, Gabe Chouinard and Tim Pratt, but also Cindy Lynn Speer in Fantastica Daily, Kelly Sedinger in Green Man Review and Dave Goldfeder in sfrevu.com. Also available in the Strahan / Haber Best of 2003 collection.