# 2020 Hugo Awards (SF Award) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310 "2020-04-07T22:03:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310/41 "2020-08-17T18:53:33Z")
I did manage to read all the fiction nominees and some of the nonfiction. On the whole the novel and novella ballots were very strong - I had a hard time choosing among them. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310/42 "2020-08-17T18:59:24Z")
Awesome! What was your favorite? Having read _Ten Thousand Doors_, I’m still sticking with _Gideon the Ninth_, but only by a hair: _Ten Thousand_ was very, very good. But it didn’t stick with me quite as much. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310/43 "2020-08-17T19:09:23Z")
Middlegame and A Memory Called Empire were top picks, but I also liked Ten Thousand Doors and Gideon. I was a bit meh on the other two, but may go back and reread them to see if there was something I missed in the rush to read everything before the vote. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310/44 "2020-08-18T00:50:40Z")
I have a question about _A Memory Called Empire_ (which seems to have won the Hugo this year): is the narrative style similar to that in Banks’ Culture novels or Rajaniemi’s Flambeur novels? I prefer a show-don’t-tell style narrative. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310/45 "2020-08-18T01:30:39Z")
I wouldn’t say _A Memory Called Empire_ was much like either of those - but definitely closer to Banks. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310/46 "2020-08-18T01:34:13Z")
[Here’s an excerpt of _A Memory Called Empire_](https://www.torforgeblog.com/2020/02/26/excerpt-a-memory-called-empire-by-arkady-martine/). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310/47 "2020-08-18T01:52:55Z")
Thanks; difficult to tell much from such a brief snippet but I’ll see if I can find it at my library and give it a proper go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-hugo-awards-sf-award/851310.md?page=2)