kate_nepveu: Rec me Hugo nominees

Kate (

kate_nepveu) wrote,
@ 2008-02-03 10:47:00

Entry tags:

books, recommendations, sff

Rec me Hugo nominees

Suddenly it's February, I have less than a month to get my Hugo nomination ballot in order, and so far my ballot consists solely of Shaun Tan's The Arrival (ETA: booklog entry) for Best Related Book. Eek!

Things I've already read: 2007 weblog posts, none of which I intend to nominate except maybe Empire of Ivory (it does some awesome things but also has some weak spots).

Things I plan to read because they sound like the kind of thing that if I like, I might nominate (in this order):

Catherynne M. Valente, The Orphan's Tales
David Anthony Durham, Acacia
Ekaterina Sedia, The Secret History of Moscow

Things I might read if I have time (hah!):

Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, A Companion to Wolves
Richard Morgan, Black Man (a.k.a. Thirteen)
Susan Palwick, Shelter (though both these last sound kinda dark for my present mood)
ETA: Tobias Buckell, Ragamuffin

Things I want to read eventually but won't be able to now:

Kage Baker, The Sons of Heaven (I'd have to read the entire Company series to date, minus the first two, first)
Ian McDonald, Brasyl (it's long, and probably I should read River of Gods first to get a better feel whether I like what he's doing)
Robert Charles Wilson, Axis (I, uh, still haven't read Spin . . . )
ETA: Jo Walton, Ha'Penny (I'm waiting for the third to come out so I don't end up too depressed to ever read again)

What else? I did a very quick search for 2007 lists and tagged them on delicious, if you're looking for reminders. Recommend me novels: but, it should be accompanied with specific reasons that I, personally, would like it, and as much or more than I might like the three things I plan to read. I will either ignore or mock anyone who fails to follow directions.

(Post a new comment)

	shsilver 2008-02-03 03:54 pm UTC (link)
	I have Michael Chabon's book on my list for consideration. You can read my review of it to see what I thought its strengths and weaknesses were. I'm also leaning toward Jo Walton's Ha'penny (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 03:59 pm UTC (link)
	I forgot _Ha'Penny_ on my list! It's on the last, a.k.a. "I can't read this until the third comes out, otherwise I will be too depressed for words." Thanks for the link. (Reply to this)(Parent)

montoya
2008-02-03 04:01 pm UTC (link)

What did you think of other RC Wilson that you've read (assuming you've read The Chronoliths, at least)?

Anyway, I'm looking at the Locus recommended list, and the ones that stick out at me are:

1. Walton's Ha'Penny, which I'm sure you've read, but doesn't appear on your booklog list.

2. Hughes' The Spiral Labyrinth. I think Hughes' Henghis Hapthorn books are great and very under-recognized. Stylistically, he's sort of Vance-ian, in the same way that Baker's Anvil of the World (which YOU PERSONALLY LIKED) is. Subject-wise, it's a private investigator in a far-future Earth when the universe is at the cusp between technology and magic, and he's caught up in that transition. This is a second novel in a series, and you really want to read the first one (and a bunch of short stories that are collected in The Gist Hunters, which are not optional in my book).

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	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 04:04 pm UTC (link)
	I liked _Blind Lake_ reasonably well: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2004/07/wilson_robert_c.php See above comment for _Ha'Penny_. I did PERSONALLY LIKE _Anvil_, and will put Hughes on my eventually-read list. Thanks. (Reply to this)(Parent)

papersky
2008-02-03 04:31 pm UTC (link)

I'd be happy to email you a copy of Half a Crown but you know, even with the end they're not cheerful reads and probably not at all what you want.

Shelter is grim but positive and hopeful overall. It's got great characters and is just brilliant and you would like it because you are you. The Yiddish Policeman's Union has a marvellous voice, and I thought it was great. But while it's sometimes funny, it's also very dark, at least as dark as Farthing I thought.

Brasyl is a standalone novel, and shorter than RoG. I'd just read it. You'd either like it or not, it doesn't need context.

Axis is not as good as Spin. Spin is wonderful, way better than anything else Wilson has written and you should definitely read it, but not necessarily this month.

I liked The Execution Channel but it's so not your thing.

I have heard good things about Halting State but not read it yet.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 04:35 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks for the useful comments. In no particular order: I've decided that Stross's books are just not for me. I'd gotten that impression about _Axis_, too. And I'll bump _Shelter_ up on the list--the library has it, so maybe I'll throw it on the pile with the Valente & Durham books. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

tool_of_satan
2008-02-03 05:15 pm UTC (link)

As another data point, while I liked Axis, I bounced very hard off Accelerando, which is the one Stross I tried.

Looking back at your comments on Blind Lake, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't like Spin and Axis, as they have the good features of that book but are both better than it, in my opinion. In particular, the characters are all plausible and the myffic is toned down.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 05:30 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 04:39 pm UTC (link)
	Oh yeah--Chad is likely to nominate the Chabon, so I feel that it will get at least some Hugo recognition from Chateau Steelypips. (Reply to this)(Parent)

prince_corwin
2008-02-03 05:27 pm UTC (link)

Half a Crown: I still need to read Ha'Penny, but I have no objection to downbeat stories, any more than I have an objection to Shakespearean tragedy. Wouldn't want to live on nothing but, but I do enjoy them.

Brasyl: How does it stack up to River of Gods, which I found unengaging enough to eventually put to the side? (My complaint about RoG is mainly that he changed too much of the world going in, then added weird stuff on top of it, and by book's middle wasn't really explaining any of it. I found it extremely hard to get any traction on the political situation in India, for instance, which seemed extremely important, which was frustrating.)

Wilson: I actually think The Chronoliths was better than Spin, but they are both extremely similar in tone, in that they both do excellent jobs of showing something huge and incomprehensible happening to the world while people muddle through. I'm not at all sure how that sense could be maintained in Axis-- perhaps he didn't bother to try.

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tool_of_satan
2008-02-03 04:36 pm UTC (link)

I am currently reading The Orphan's Tales and am liking it. I suspect you will also, so it's a good choice. Can it be nominated as a single work, or can only the second volume be nominated? (I think the first volume was published in 2006.)

I highly recommend Shelter, but it does get a bit dark. It isn't ultimately depressing, I wouldn't say - if I had to give an excessively brief summary of it I'd say it's about compassion - but you may want to avoid it for now.

I'd also recommend reading Spin and Axis. I think Spin is Wilson's best book (having now read all of them except the fantasy collaboration thing), and while Axis is not quite up to that it's still very good.

I second the recommendation for Hughes (I blather on about his work here). I'm not sure I find it all that similar to Anvil (which I read based on your recommendation), but it's well worth reading, and fun.

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	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 04:38 pm UTC (link)
	_Orphan's Tales_: Just the second, but I haven't read the first. Thanks for the meaty discussion of Hughes. And, err, did you like _Anvil_? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

tool_of_satan
2008-02-03 05:10 pm UTC (link)

Oh yes, I thought Anvil was great fun. I guess I forgot to mention that at the time, sorry. It made me want to read Baker's Company series - I understand the tone is very different, but I'm fond of time-travel stories - but I was waiting for the series to be done. (And now that it is - at least I think it is - I have to see if the parts of it which are limited-edition books can be obtained from local libraries.)

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	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 05:11 pm UTC (link)
	No problem! I'm really glad you liked it. Yes, it's done. I'd been waiting too since I doubted she'd actually finish it well, just because it's such a big problem she set for herself, but reviews have been good. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sartorias 2008-02-03 05:42 pm UTC (link)
	Ha'Penny and Shelter, definitely. I can't seem to get into Stross, and Wllson's Spin started out great for me but ended on a shrug, also he did Stupid Character cheat to make the protag look good, which I hate. I ended up meh about it. Haven't read the second, since most reviews prefer the first. Edited at 2008-02-03 05:43 pm UTC (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 08:29 pm UTC (link)
	Got _Shelter_ from the library today. We'll see if I get to it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

kgbooklog
2008-02-03 05:51 pm UTC (link)

2007 had a lot of books I liked, but most were middle series volumes (and stuff not likely to get Hugo nominations).

Probably the best stand alone book is Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible, narrated in alternating first POVs from Dr. Impossible:

I am not a criminal. I didn't steal a car. I didn't sell heroin, or steal an old lady's purse. I built a quantum fusion reactor in 1978, and an orbital plasma gun in 1979, and a giant laser-eyed robot in 1984. I tried to conquer the world and almost succeeded, twelve times and counting.

and:

Four years ago, I decided to to start calling myself Fatale. It's my superhero name. I chose it from a list they supplied me in the clinic, and at the time it seemed like the perfect symbol for my dangerous, sexy new self, a cybernetic woman of mystery. Admittedly, I was on a lot of painkillers.

Oh, did you forget Bull's Territory and Monette's Mirador?

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kate_nepveu
2008-02-03 05:57 pm UTC (link)

I did not. I need to re-read _Territory_ before I can come to a final conclusion on it (since I booklogged it, someone pointed out a problematic aspect of the plot when it come to racial minorities). But it and _The Mirador_ are also first halves of duologies and I'm not comfortable with nominating them as a result.

_Soon I Will Be Invincible_ is so much more Chad's kind of thing than mine.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

coffeeandink
2008-02-03 07:44 pm UTC (link)

I echo the comments about Shelter: it deals with some dark material but is ultimately hopeful. I think you'd like it.

I wouldn't recommend reading the second Orphan's Tales book without reading the first: they are really one book split in two. (Or four books collated into two, but--they build.) I am not sure how you feel about elaborate prose but I think you would like the structure and subject matter a lot.

A Companion of Wolves is also not ultimately dark but has scenes of sexual violence you may find disturbing.

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	kate_nepveu 2008-02-03 08:28 pm UTC (link)
	I got both volumes of _The Orphan's Tales_ out of the library today, also _Shelter_, _Acacia_, and (at Chad's request) _The New Space Opera_. Looking at that stack sitting on the nearby coffee table, I think I needn't worry about _Wolves_ just now. => (Reply to this)(Parent)

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