2008 Hugo Award Winners

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Doctor Who was always a cult item over here, as was things like Blake's Seven. Cheesy production values were part of the appeal. The current production has better production values, good acting, and intelligent scripting (if you can swallow the underlying premise.) The current Doctor's somewhat bug-eyed manic intensity can get a little wearing...

I'm a little surprised you find our SF more slick and interesting (unless you are specifically referring to the film and TV variety). I tend to think of British SF as higher general quality than ours, at least on the literary end.
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Dennis

There has been excellent American SF. "Babylon 5" was, I think, superb, to name but one example.

I went to Stratford-on-Avon last week and saw David Tennant playing the lead role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of "Hamlet" (in which Patrick Stewart also appears). David was equally "bug-eyed" in that - a wonderful performance.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Then doesn't it have to be referred to as Dr. Who 2005 season 4 and if not, then you mean the original season 4. Looks like time for someone to go back and edit a post to fix a boo-boo.

I'm afraid this is something you're going to fight in vain against, Jon . Like it or not, the current DW is universally referred to as "Season X", starting with the revival of the show in 2005. It's generally obvious whether one is referring to the new or the old series.

[acidzebra]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm afraid this is something you're going to fight in vain against, Jon . Like it or not, the current DW is universally referred to as "Season X", starting with the revival of the show in 2005. It's generally obvious whether one is referring to the new or the old series.

Call me obstreperous but as far as I am concerned we've just closed season 30 with Doctor nr. 10

[HarryT]

Fine, but don't go to Amazon and look for a "Season 30 Box Set" - you won't find one .

[DixieGal]

I recently read Connie Willis' All Seated on the Ground, and am very happy that it won. There aren't many scifi Christmas stories out there.

[dugbug]

While this is mostly kindle-store related, the spreadsheet is a database of all hugo, nebula, and fantasy award winners (novel category only). Sometimes its nice to sort by a favorite author or search on a book title.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24766

I have the 2008 nominations, but have not updated it with the winner yet.

-d

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

When a book isn't available in an electronic edition, I normally point the finger of blame at the publisher first. I don't recall hearing Chabon had an opinion one way of the other.

I agree. Sometimes it's about the author but usually not. I've really been wanting to read Yiddish Policemen's Union. It was the first thing I flagged when Amazon introduced their new little feature to let the publisher know you want the title for the Kindle. Sadly a lot of publishers are slow to get on this bandwagon. I'm glad to have an easy way to tell them. He does have some of the McSweeney's stuff on Amazon but they're by a different publisher. YPU is "Harper Perennial". Not sure how that relates to HarperCollins who I thought was getting fairly enthusiastic about electronic publishing. Still, if we want it, we need to keep pestering. Folks could go write them or go hit that button on Amazon. Even if you don't own a Kindle, it seems to me publishers often release a title on multiple formats once they've bothered to do it at all.

[JSWolf]

Don't always point a finger at the publisher. It's quite possible the author doesn't want eBooks.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There has been excellent American SF. "Babylon 5" was, I think, superb, to name but one example.

I was speaking specifically of British written SF as being generally superior to the American variety. I concur on Babylon 5 - I consider it one of the best TV series, period, and it's one of the very few shows I actively wanted to watch every week and was unhappy if I missed an episode.

I went to Stratford-on-Avon last week and saw David Tennant playing the lead role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of "Hamlet" (in which Patrick Stewart also appears). David was equally "bug-eyed" in that - a wonderful performance.

Stewart has gotten rave reviews for his performance in Hamlet over here, too. I'm not a particularly big Star Trek fan, but Stewart's performances in Next Gen went a long way toward making it watchable.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Don't always point a finger at the publisher. It's quite possible the author doesn't want eBooks.

Indeed, witness JK Rowling. But in general, the publisher is the likely culprit.

In this case, all I know is that Chabon's work isn't available in electronic form.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Alisa

I agree. Sometimes it's about the author but usually not. I've really been wanting to read Yiddish Policemen's Union. It was the first thing I flagged when Amazon introduced their new little feature to let the publisher know you want the title for the Kindle. Sadly a lot of publishers are slow to get on this bandwagon. I'm glad to have an easy way to tell them. He does have some of the McSweeney's stuff on Amazon but they're by a different publisher. YPU is "Harper Perennial". Not sure how that relates to HarperCollins who I thought was getting fairly enthusiastic about electronic publishing. Still, if we want it, we need to keep pestering. Folks could go write them or go hit that button on Amazon. Even if you don't own a Kindle, it seems to me publishers often release a title on multiple formats once they've bothered to do it at all.

Harper Perrenial is an imprint of HarperCollins. HarperCollins was formed when News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch's company) bought Harper and Row, and merged it with British publisher William Collins. Other HarperCollins imprints include PB house Avon, William Morrow, and Zondervan, the Christian imprint. Harper's specifically SF line is Eos Books.

I suspect how enthusiastic Harper Collins is about ebooks depends upon just which imprint you are talking about.
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Dennis

[Gideon]

Chabon is pretty tech savy, and most the authors who are anti-ebook are the.. giant pop-fiction writers. I can't imagine Chabon is anti-ebook himself.

But here's hoping... Man, I want that book on my Kindle. I have the real thing but.. real books just don't get read around here!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Stewart has gotten rave reviews for his performance in Hamlet over here, too. I'm not a particularly big Star Trek fan, but Stewart's performances in Next Gen went a long way toward making it watchable.
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Dennis

I saw him also a couple of years ago when he was taking the lead role in the RSC's production of "Antony and Cleopatra". He was excellent in that, too. He was, of course, a Shakespearean actor for many years before becoming publically "famous" for his role in ST:TNG!

[llasram]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I suspect how enthusiastic Harper Collins is about ebooks depends upon just which imprint you are talking about.

Ahhhh, that would explain that. I wasn't considering it consciously, but Eos seems to be pretty gung-ho about e-books, which I think is where I got the idea that publishers in general might active in producing e-book editions of their SF works. The whole semi-autonomous-imprint thing makes it all make sense.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I saw him also a couple of years ago when he was taking the lead role in the RSC's production of "Antony and Cleopatra". He was excellent in that, too. He was, of course, a Shakespearean actor for many years before becoming publically "famous" for his role in ST:TNG!

Many of the folks I'm impressed by seem to have been classically trained and done time in legit theater aside from movie and TV appearances, so I'm not surprised.
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Dennis