We are now one week out from the deadline for Hugo Nominations. I’m eligible to nominate this year, and while a couple of past requests for recommendations have failed to generate anything, I thought I’d throw up a preliminary look at my ballot in hopes of bringing in a few recommendations:
Best Novel
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson. I don’t like his take on Many-Worlds, but it’s a terrific book all the same.
- Sly Mongoose by Tobias Buckell. A fantastic setting, a great fast-moving plot, and some nice revelations about the universe.
- Pirate Sun by Karl Schroeder. Cut-and-paste the comments from the previous book down here.
- Nation by Terry Pratchett. Aside from the epilogue, a great non-Discworld Pratchett YA.
- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. A book that richly deserves its inevitable banning from school libraries.
Best Novella/ Novelette/ Short Story
I got nothin’. I don’t read much short fiction. Recommendations are welcome, though, especially if they are available online.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
- The Dark Knight. Duh.
- Hellboy II. Not the most coherent plot in the world, but it sure looked pretty.
- Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr. was great fun to watch, even if the plot wasn’t the best.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Ummm…. A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All?
The John W. Campbell Not-a-Hugo-But-Awarded-at-the-Hugos
I only recognize a few names on the list of eligible writers. Of those, the one I’d be most likely to vote for is Brian Francis Slattery.
And that’s pretty much everything. I realize I’m leaving a lot of categories blank– if you have a strong opinion about any of them, please, leave a comment telling me who I ought to nominate. I’m also willing to entertain suggestions for other novels that ought to be nominated– at least two of the five above are “Oh, what the hell” choices, thrown in to use all five slots. If you feel strongly that one of them does not deserve a nomination, or that some other book does deserve one, by all means, let me know.