Hugos: Me vs. the world

[nolly]

Best Novel
My highest ranked: Perdido Street Station, China Miéville
Winner (my ranking): American Gods, Neil Gaiman (4)
American Gods was OK, but not earth-shattering, IMO. But Gaiman already has a rep, so lots of people read it. Perdido Street Station was incredibly good, but not as widely read. This is the category where I'm most disappointed in the outcome. (Not surprised, but disappointed.)


Best Novella
Mine: "Fast Times at Fairmont High", Vernor Vinge
Winner: "Fast Times at Fairmont High", Vernor Vinge


Best Novelette
Mine: "Hell is the Absence of God", Ted Chiang
Winner: "Hell is the Absence of God", Ted Chiang


Best Short Story
Mine: "Spaceships", Michael Burstein
Winner: "The Dog Said Bow-Wow", Michael Swanwick (3)
The winner wasn't a bad story, but I liked "Spaceships" better. The winner is the same general sort of story as the Stainless Steel Rat and the Drake Maijstral stuff, which are fun, but nothing groundbreaking. The conflict in "Spaceships" strikes close to my heart.


Best Dramatic:
Mine: Monsters, Inc.
Winner: LOTR: FOTR (3)
I had the hardest time ranking this category -- all the nominees were good, in very different ways. I ranked Monsters, Inc. and Shrek ahead of LOTR because an animated film has never won a Hugo, and I couldn't come up with any other useful criteria.


Best Editor:
Mine: Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Winner: Ellen Datlow (2)
This is the other category that disappointed me. The Starlight anthologies are the best I've read in years. Some really amazing stories in there. On the other hand, the stories on SCIFICTION were keeping me from going insane at my last job, so I can't be too upset.


Best Web Site
Mine: SF Site
Winner: Locus (2)
Raked them by how much I've used them.

I didn't vote in the other categories.

Comments

hugos

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i'm with you on american gods and perdido street station both. i did, in fact, put AG down for a while and only restarted it later, it kept my attention that little.

i'm also with you on PNH and starlight -- that's just a wonderful set of anthologies.

i wanted jo to win so badly, and she did, so most is well in my hugo (and john w. campbell award) world. :)

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Bleh. I agree with you on American Gods... I have picked it up four times, taken it on two-week trips, and it has still failed to hold my interest past the first 40 pages. Haven't seen Perdido Street.