Announcing the 2017 Hugo Award Winners

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm seriously out of touch with the modern SF scene.

You're lucky. I'm seriously out of touch with everything written before 1970 and after 2000, apart from the following:

- Some of the classics
- Lord of the Rings
- Series that started in the 70's or 80's and are still running.

[Katsunami]

PS: Haven't the Hugo Awards been criticized with (or even accused of) rigging the ballot to get a particular author to win, the last couple of years?

[maddz]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

PS: Haven't the Hugo Awards been criticized with (or even accused of) rigging the ballot to get a particular author to win, the last couple of years?

Yeah, Puppydom. Google Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies, and if you can stomach it, also look at Vox Day. Personally I keep well away from all that; even if I am eligible to vote, I don't bother. Not because I don't like the books or what's on the ballot, it's because I prefer my reading to be untainted by consideration of awards.

[DrNefario]

I've read all of the Hugo Best Novel winners, except for this latest one. Which would have been true no matter what had won, unusually. I really liked The Fifth Season, so I'm perfectly happy to continue with the series.

I don't see that the quality has particularly declined in recent years.

There were an unusual number of debuts on the list, but those were the books that were getting the buzz, as far as I could see. I think it was just a year where the big names didn't have much out.

If you hanker for old-school Asimov/Clarke type stuff you should probably check out the Cixin Liu trilogy whose first book won a couple of years ago, and whose third was on the shortlist this year. I liked the first one, but not really enough that I wanted to carry on with the series.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

That's hardly an excuse to stop writing.

It certainly hasn't stopped some writers. Michael Crichton came out with a new book back in May and he died 9 years ago.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

It certainly hasn't stopped some writers. Michael Crichton came out with a new book back in May and he died 9 years ago.

But sometimes they find books not yet published after death and it gets published.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

You're lucky. I'm seriously out of touch with everything written before 1970 and after 2000, apart from the following:

- Some of the classics
- Lord of the Rings
- Series that started in the 70's or 80's and are still running.

I generally keep up and manage to find new authors every year. Heck, I even read Ready, Player One when it came out, read and liked Red Shirt before it won.

I'm really not into dark dystopia for the most part. Occasionally, I run into one that I find interesting, but more times than not, I get a couple of chapters in, then move on to the next book in my to be read stack.

I generally do check out books in the Hugo list with the idea to trying them out, but if the plot summery doesn't appeal to me and the reviews high light things that I don't find very interesting, then I look for other books to read.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But sometimes they find books not yet published after death and it gets published.

There is this odd concept called humor. I think that most here understand that people don't keep writing after they die.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

There is this odd concept called humor. I think that most here understand that people don't keep writing after they die.

Why do we have "ghost writers", in that case?

[darryl]

Wasn't there an old western song about that? Ghost Writers in the Sky?

[darryl]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I generally keep up and manage to find new authors every year. Heck, I even read Ready, Player One when it came out, read and liked Red Shirt before it won.

I'm really not into dark dystopia for the most part. Occasionally, I run into one that I find interesting, but more times than not, I get a couple of chapters in, then move on to the next book in my to be read stack.

I generally do check out books in the Hugo list with the idea to trying them out, but if the plot summery doesn't appeal to me and the reviews high light things that I don't find very interesting, then I look for other books to read.

I loved Ready Player One but unfortunately did not read it for some time after it was published. I didn't like Red Shirts. I still love Science Fiction but like others here can tend to live in the past to some extent, though I too find some new authors every year. I went through a dystopian phase years ago but now tend to shy away from it, though there are exceptions. "The Girl with all the Gifts" and the recently released "The Boy on the Bridge" come to mind as examples. I sometimes look at the award lists simply to find new Authors to try, though am often disappointed.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why do we have "ghost writers", in that case?

good point.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I generally keep up...

I'm not even trying.

I bought a Cybook Gen3 reader in 2007, sold it a few months later in 2008, and then went back to paper for three years because nothing I wanted to read was available; and Calibre was still in its infancy.

Then the 2010 e-book boom happened, making almost everything I wanted available, e-readers became usable with a full touch screen, DRM was cracked for both Amazon and ADE, Calibre had matured a great deal, and Sigil had appeared so e-books (epubs) could be edited and fixed if needed.

That was the point where I jumped into e-reading again.

At that time, between 2011 and 2014, I bought hundreds and hundreds of books: Using Kobo coupons, I bought everything I wanted to read, probably wanted to read and possibly wanted to read, bought close to 60 Delphi Classics, downloaded the FeedBooks public domain books (all of them... thanks for using a very clear pattern of storing them, allowing me to write a script to get them, guys), and scrounged up every single Baen Free Library DVD.

Since 2014, I add some books and series here and there on recommendations, but I'm sure I have everything I ever wanted to read... and more.

I'm trying to read all the 70's and 80's fantasy I was too young to read, and I missed half of the 90's because of oblilgatory reading lists in high school. I've had years in which I had to read 80 books a year (separated between Dutch, English, French and German) a year on top of my homework.

So yeah, I just pick up whatever I want, and I don't really care if it was written in 1971 or 2017. In all likelyhood, it'll be older than newer, especially if it's a long-running series.

(And then, I'm even leaving out "The Sword of Truth" and "The Wheel of Time", because I've been reading in the reviews that they're not worth it after the first few books.)

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

(And then, I'm even leaving out "The Sword of Truth" and "The Wheel of Time", because I've been reading in the reviews that they're not worth it after the first few books.)

You may be reading the wrong reviews.

To be clear ... I don't really disagree with your assessment of those two authors/series (perhaps even going as far as to say the "first few books" weren't worth it for me). They both, however, have legions of fans who would beg to differ.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You may be reading the wrong reviews.

To be clear ... I don't really disagree with your assessment of those two authors/series (perhaps even going as far as to say the "first few books" weren't worth it for me). They both, however, have legions of fans who would beg to differ.

Personally, I would read the first of the Wheel of Time books, it was an exceptional book and IMPO can be read as a stand alone without too much issue. Yes, there are unanswered questions, but if you like it you can always get the next book.