Harrow the Ninth is very confusing, because the protagonist is very confused. I just went with, and didn’t worry about it. The reader knows something is wrong, just like the protagonist knows something is wrong, but neither of us are sure what it is. I enjoyed it, and if anything it’s a bit more bonkers than the first book. Unfortunately the third book won’t be out until 2022.
I really liked the effect that Ancillary Justice had on the reader; just like @Babale’s comment about 2312. None of the gender stuff really matters to the story, but it is incredibly important to the book.
How do you as a reader picture a character when you do not know the character’s gender. The character is referred to as “she”, but that doesn’t reveal anything. Worse, the main character, for reasons, has trouble telling the genders apart, so isn’t even a reliable witness in the few times where it does come up.
Note: 2312 didn’t win the Hugo (it did win the Nebula). The Hugo that year was won by a much less controversial book - a gentle parody of an enormously popular SF television series.
Oh, my bad, I knew it won the Nebula but got confused about which award the Sad Puppies were on about.
Also, I’m thinking I may need to give 2312 a reread. Aside from being much less open minded then, I also had not yet played Kerbal Space Program , and knew a lot less about physics, biology, etc. in general. I think rereading it as a much more of a scientifically literate adult than a dumb college kid would be great.
Funny you should say that, I stopped reading it about three chapters in and switched to another book. I may go back to it, but the change in POV didn’t grab me so much…
Ancillary Justice was way too cold and austere for me to get into. My husband really liked it, though. I can respect what the author was trying to do. But I did not make it far.
Here is why the DPs have a point- here are the best selling SF books-
About 50/50 male vs female writers. Many are older stuff, but some are recent.
Here are the Hugo Winners- all female
Best Novel
A Memory Called Empire , by Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)= #57 & 120 in sales
Middlegame , by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)= #1430 & 2032 in sales
Gideon the Ninth , by Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing) =#2 in [LGBT Science Fiction
The Light Brigade , by Kameron Hurley (Saga; Angry Robot UK) #850 or 1903
The City in the Middle of the Night , by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan) =#1251
The Ten Thousand Doors of January , by Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK)= #306
Only one came close to being a best seller, and that was in a niche market.
Now yes, best selling does not necessarily = good. Absolutely.
But the winner in 1960 was Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.
I recognize, read and enjoyed all the Hugo winners thru 2009, and after that only Redshirts (2013)
So, around then the Hugos tooks a turn. Just like the Oscars did. Stuff that was widely enjoyed and people spent $ on stopped being winners. Instead stuff that the judges liked- or maybe wanted others to think they liked- won. In some cases, it has seemed as if popular stuff gets deliberately scorned.
Now I have no doubt that A Memory Called Empire is a good book, well written, etc. But it wasnt that popular. And a couple of those sold rather poorly.
So I see what they mean, but I dont know how to solve it. Because some best sellers, like Corriea’s later stuff- are pretty much a hack series, going on and on as fan service… of a different kind than TV Tropes means.
Maybe the Hugos and Oscars need a category “Best Popular…”
There’s no reason to give out awards to something for being the most popular. It’s already won the award of more people paying for it. And, since it’s popular, people already know about it.
You need awards to reward quality over quantity, and to let people know about quality works they may have missed.
(Obviously, all IMHO. But I’m pretty strong with that O.)
The Hugos have no judges. They are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention, and you can buy a supporting membership fairly cheaply. It is a popularity contest among fans.
The issue is that fandom has evolved and has become less uniform. That’s why the SPs don’t understand. They are used to fandom as it was in the 50s and 60s and can’t accept that the fans have different tastes these days.
Popularity and quality are independent variables. There are bad things that are very popular (Twilight and its sequels were massively popular. Does that mean they should have won Hugos?). And voters for any award are looking for something more that just good entertainment.
Gideon the Ninth is #18 of “Space Opera Science Fiction” - and at least 8 of the ones above it are from years other than 2019 - so they wouldn’t qualify for the 2020 Hugo. So at least one book in the Hugo shortlist is a top ten seller - still - in “Science Fiction Space Opera.” (for its year of eligibility). That doesn’t sound like a bias against popularity.
That’s exactly what the Dragons were supposed to be. Open voting, with no fee, it was supposed to be a contest judged by “the real fans”. The first year, when there was little awareness of them even among actual Dragon*Con attendees, the Sad Puppies preferred slate did well. As awareness in broader SF fandom of the Dragons increased, a funny thing happened. The winners list started looking a lot more like the Hugos and Nebulas.
Awards like this are always only going to be based on the preferences of a subset of fans, whether it’s dues paying members of the World Science Fiction Convention, or just fans who are engaged enough with the community to vote for awards like the Dragons. It’s never going to be a perfect reflection of sci-fi fandom as a whole. But when three distinct awards, with three overlapping but separate pools of fans at large, converge on the same small group of winners, that’s a pretty good indication that those are the actual writers that a broad swath of engaged fans actually like.
China Miéville is actually probably better known in Britain, but he’s a giant name in the field, and a major name in the mainstream, certainly a bestseller, and wins every award there is, not just the Hugo.
Paolo Bacigalupi’s first novel made him a star, and he’s won all sorts of awards since. Probably not a bestseller, though.
Connie Willis has more nominations for Hugos and Nebulas than any other writer, I believe. Hotcakes sell like her books.
Jo Walton is another Brit who’s nowhere near as well known in America. Probably not a bestseller. But she’s won multiple other awards.
John Scalzi may be the worst writer on this list, but may be the best seller. Hmmm.
Ann Leckie. Let’s see. Anceillary Justice won the Hugo. And the Nebula Award. And the British SF Association Award, and the British Fantasy Award’s Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award.The book also was shortlisted for the James Tiptree Jr Memorial Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and the Philip K. DIck Award. Her trilogy sold by the truckload.
Cixin Liu is Chinese, the first Chinese sf author to break through. The Three-Body Problem is the hardest of hard science fiction. I doubt it sold in huge numbers when it came out but now that Netflix is making it into a series, it certainly will. It’s already #9, 10, and 39 on Amazon’s Top 100 Hard Science Fiction Books for various editions.
N. K. Jemisin may be the most acclaimed science fiction writer active today. Her trilogy won everything, made her a mainstream star, and sold more books than all the Puppies put together. She’s up there in the handful of people in the utter tippity top level of joint critical acclaim and sales.
Mary Robinette Kowal has three other Hugos besides the one for The Calculating Stars, which also won the Nebula and the Sidewise and the Locus Awards, three very different audiences. Not yet a superstar but getting close.
Arkady Martine won or got nominated for a million awards for this, her first novel. A space opera of all things. But who buys those?
So, to be wronger you’d have to be Trump talking about winning the election. I’d say we were in a Golden Age of mega-popular books winning awards, but to be honest, the Hugos have consistently gone to popular books by big names throughout most of their existence. A Harry Potter book won one. Case closed.
This is the eye-rolliest of eye-rolling responses. Dude took a proton, unfolded it into a giant sheet, etched circuity on it, and turned it into a magic computer.
Hmm, now that you mention it, I do recognize Connie Willis, my wife likes her stuff.
I had to review one of China Miéville’s books, and I personally thought it was horrible, like he was on some very serious drugs- and not sharing either.
And the list of awards does nothing but prove my point. Popular books stopped getting awards.
, and knew a lot less about physics, biology, etc. in general. I think rereading it as a much more of a scientifically literate adult than a dumb college kid would be great.
