Hodgepodge

A different day at the con, no panels, but saw two episodes of The Starlost - the short-lived SF series that was broadcast in the early 70's. It was created by Harlan Ellison based on an Ursala LaGuin story. There is quite a story behind the struggles Harlan had that are detailed in a foreword to the novelization. In the end Harlan would not let the producers put his name on it so the credits say it was created by Cordwainer Bird.

The effects were a little hokey but the stories were good. jgaleckas was a big fan of it when it was on the first time but I had never seen an episode before. The second episode we say had Walter Koenig in it - fresh from his Ensign Chekov days on Star Trek.

I sat in on the Tor books panel but they didn't have a microphone in the room and a couple of panels members were whining about the audience asking them to speak louder. It turned me off completely, so I got and left the room. Besides, none of the publishers do a show like Baen. They would be wise to see why Toni packs 'em in for her wonderful presentations.

After the morning video we went up to the art show so I could see the two Peri Charlefiu pieces. One was a fountain with a cool ceramic ball at the top, and the other was a soup server with 5 bowls. I liked them so encouraged Janice to bid.

I then wandered around the dealer room a bit and then went to the van to get the laptop after the aborted Tor fiasco. I sucked it up and paid for an hour of internet at the convention center so I could get caught up. I ran into Janice and we talked about dinner and such before the Hugo's. She found out the Peri pieces were going to auction at 4:30. We wanted to clear up 5:30 to go to Trivia for Chocolate so I walked over to Taco Bell and got food to bring back. We ate in the auction audience (I saw some envious stares as the aroma of the food wafter around the room) and soon the second piece came up for bid. Fortunately the bidding was light and we got both pieces for under $100 each.

After that we headed for the 5:30 panel but it was moved to earlier that day because most of the participants were involved in the Hugo awards. Bummer. That's why we saw the second Starlost. We got to the theater around 7PM and got a good seat.

The award ceremony was typical, Wil McCarthy was very funny and seemed to be on his game. He used the water shtick form the Masquerade effectively. I won't say much about the winners since that is all over the net by now and the results are available on the Denvention site if you want to know. Fellow blogger John Scalzi won for best fan writer but lost by only 9 votes to Michael Chabon for best novel. That was a surprise since Chabon's novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union was a heavy favorite having already won the Nebula and the Sideways awards. The other thing that irritated me was that several winners were not present to receive their awards. I understand a few not showing for health or obligatory reasons but at least 6 or 7 were missing - bad form indeed.

After the Hugo's we schlepped to the Sheraton and the consuite where they had a nice spread of munchies including cold shrimp - yummy!

One day to go.

The five choices for The 2008 Hugo award in the short story category are:

Who's Afraid of Wolf 359 by Ken MacLeod - A rather uninspiring tale that is satirical and banal with only a few interesting moments. Not worthy of a Hugo.

A Small Room in Koboldtown by Michael Swanwick - A cute little cop drama in the land of kobolds and other fantasy world creatures. The story is well written and the ending is clever but not a story I could vote for as a Hugo.

Distant Replay by Mike Resnick - Possibly the best story here, but it's not sci/fi fantasy. It's a story of a dying man's chance meeting and what he does at the end. Poignant and moving but just because he's a known sci/fi writer and the story is in a sci/fi magazine doesn't make it Hugo material.

Tideline by Elizabeth Bear - This is a boy and his dog story with a sentient machine as the dog and the boy a survivor in a post apocalyptic time. The plot is minimal but interesting and the two characters well written. I almost decided to vote for this but re-read the next story and liked it a bit more.

Last Contact by Stephen Baxter - A wonderful story about a mother and daughter who are waiting for the end of the world. The daughter is an astrophysicist who's project may have brought on the catastrophe and is suffering from a major guilt trip. The difference in how both spend their last hours is really the strength of the story. I thought the ending could've been stronger but out the choices here, I liked it best.

I just finished the last of the five novels and here are my comments:

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon - A well written, often funny novel that is basically a murder mystery with a slight alternate history twist. To me, the alternate history angle is not strong enough to qualify it Hugo worthy. I know that alt history is a sub genre of sci-fi/fantasy but not all should be.

For example, Eric Flint has written two excellent alternate history novels: 1812 - the Rivers of War and 1824 - The Arkansas War. In this series he took one event, Sam Houston doesn't die in the War of 1812, and he uses it to paint a different picture of the scope of America's relations with the Native American Indians. Both are terrific stories and I recommend them highly (my review of 1824 is here). But there is no scifi or fantasy element at all to them and as such I would never nominate or vote for them as Hugo novels. On the other hand consider the 1632 series, also by Eric Flint (with various collaborators). In those books the alternate history is in your face - a chunk of W. Virgina is sliced out by unknown forces and plopped down in the middle of Germany during the Thirty Years war. That is definitely scifi/fantasy and would be worthy of Hugo consideration.

This is unfortunately (IMHO) why the small base of people nominating and voting on Hugo's has become an issue.

Brasyl by Ian MacDonald - I could not get into this story at all. It is filled with cultural references and hip language and tech, but the plot was razor thin and the characters were uninteresting. I guess I am a classicist when it comes to novels; I like a good plot with developed characters and good pacing. This story failed in all three IMHO. I could not even finish it which for me is rare.

Halting State by Charles Stross - Very similar to Brasyl in that the story, characters and pacing were not there. Again, lots of tech talk and web 2.0 references but not much story for me. Another unfinishable book. It was another Accelerando and while that won a Hugo I hated it.

Rollback by Robert Sawyer - Excellent story of a man who is able to undergo rejuvenation and carry on his wife's work and the issues that surround such a profound change. This is classic Bob Sawyer; taut story, excellent characters and well paced. He has a flair for this kind of story-telling and I hope he keeps writing these kinds of books for a long time.

The Last Colony by John Scalzi - The third book in the Old Man's War universe, and in many ways wraps up the story from the first book. I enjoyed the first two and this did not let me down. Humor, action, good characters and fast paced. A solid author and deserving of a Hugo.

Who am I voting for? I have narrowed it down to Rollback and The Last Colony but still can't decide. The favorite from what I can tell is Yiddish but hopefully Rollback or Last Colony can take the prize.

The review for Yiddish is here. Rollback and Last Colony I read before I started doing reviews, and I didn't think it was fair to do a review on the other two since I did not finish them.

Feel free to sound off.

The nominations are in and the choices are difficult in many categories. I will have a lot of reading to do before casting my ballot. It is certainly easier these days since most of the nominees do end up on the internet to read for free. The major magazines typically put their nominees up and often the authors will put up a copy of the best novel, so time is the only reason to not have read as many of the choices as possible.

My faves:

Novel
The Last Colony by scalzi
Rollback by Robert Sawyer

Feature Long Form
Enchanted

Artist
Phil Foglio

Fanzine
Argentus

Fan Writer
scalzii
shsilver

The other categories will require reading and some review. The one item I was unhappy about is the Heroes nomination as long form for a whole season. I would have no problem with an individual episode being nominated in short from ( that is one of the reasons I like the two categories), but a whole season doesn't seem right to me.

I just submitted my nominations online.

If you haven't done so you still have until midnight Friday to get them in. At this late stage obviously online is the way to do it.

If you are not sure who to nominate, the site has two links that have some suggestions. It may help jog your memory.

How many of you are planning to attend the Worldcon this year?