Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
The year it was nominated, Worldcon was in San Francisco, and a free copy was given out at the door with every membership package. (So were a couple of others; possibly Barnes & Niven's Achilles' Choice.)
Giving away free copies wouldn't make it win if it were crap. I liked it fine; I can't remember if I voted for it or didn't vote on the grounds that I'd never heard of most of the nominees. Having a free copy made it *noticeable,* stand out from the list in a way that most nominees don't. Any kind of presentation at Worldcon has a chance of getting that nominee the Hugo--a reading from the book or of the short story, freebies, themed t-shirts, whatever.
The Hugo's a popularity contest. It's not a bad one; it can't be outright bought, and lots of at-con promos don't guarantee a win. But it's not a measure of literary quality; it's a measure of "what readers this year liked." And "liked" doesn't always mean "liked to read it."
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It also got very good reviews and it was a book people talked about. Connie Willis is also an old fan and very popular and very funny in panels. I liked The Doomsday Book but some other Connie Willis books are better.