# Neil Gaiman wins the Hugo Award!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2002, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011 "2002-09-04T19:04:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/1 "2002-09-04T19:04:29Z")
For **American Gods**! Good for him! Of the choices this year (a pretty good, if not stellar crop), **American Gods** for all it’s flaws (the mystery God was never explained, the ending felt like it dribbled off) was excellent! The nominees were: **The Curse of Chalion** – Lois McMaster Bujold **American Gods** – Neil Gaiman **Perdido Street Station** – China Miéville **Cosmonaut Keep** – Ken MacLeod **Passage** – Connie Willis **The Chronoliths** – Robert Charles Wilson Of the ones I’ve read or tried to read, **The Chronoliths** had a cool premise and strangely so-so execution (plus another weak dribbly ending), **The Curse of Chalion** just didn’t excite me at all, despite it’s quality, **Cosmonaut Keep** looked good from the back cover, but I haven’t gotten aorund to it yet (other Ken MacLeod books have been great) and trying to read **Perditio Street Station** was like banging my head into a very pretty brick wall: it looked nice, but I really didn’t get anywhere. I got about 4 chapters in and gave up. Three times. With **American Gods** winning this year and **Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire** winning last year, it looks like SF/F fans have finally taken to heart section 3.2.1 of the Worldcon Constitution “Unless otherwise specified, Hugo Awards are given for work in the field of science fiction **or fantasy** appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year.”. Up until recently, only a very few Hugo winners could be considered “fantasy” and none of 'em were erm…uh…“real” fantasy (with dragons/elves, etc) Some that were on that fuzzy borderland were **A Case of Conscience** , **To Your Scattered Bodies Go** , maybe **Stranger in a Strange Land** …all of 'em at least play with fantasy elements, but until last year, no “pure” fantasy won. Anyway, thoughts? Opinions? Anyone read any of the other nominees? Fenris ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/2 "2002-09-04T20:04:27Z")
Well, I tried to search the SDMB a couple of times, but couldn’t find my thread on this - I was _really_ disappointed with _American Gods_ - other than the idea that formed the main concept of the book - that gods from various religions were brought to American by their peoples and now had to fight with the new technological gods that today’s society really worships - I thought the book was utter crap. And I wish I had the thread (I searched, I really did!), because most posters agreed, IIRC. Gaiman may deserve the award in more of a “lifetime achievement” sort of way, but for that book? Either it was a popularity contest or the quality of the work out there was piss poor. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/3 "2002-09-04T20:41:46Z")
Your thread may have been during the Winter of our Missed Content: if you posted it between early Dec. and, say April? of this year, it’s gone. Anyway, I liked the idea, I liked much of the prose and I liked a lot of the characters, despite some flaws. Of the ones I’ve read, had I voted I’d have probably gone for **American Gods**. As to it being a popularity contest, to some degree it is. The Hugos have the distinction of being the only major award where the _customers_ decide the winner, not some detatched elite group. (The Oscars vs The Golden Globe award for example, the Oscars are by far the more prestigous award. With the Hugos (voted on by fans) and the Nebulas (voted on by authors), the Hugos are the bigger, more prestigous award). Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/4 "2002-09-04T23:50:20Z")
I really liked **American Gods** , and am glad to see Gaiman score this honor. I’ll admit that it does have its flaws, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Narile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@Narile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Narile)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/5 "2002-09-05T00:57:11Z")
I was kind of disappointed that Perditio Street Station didn’t get it this year. But American Gods is a good book, and it is nice to see Gaiman get the Hugo. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/6 "2002-09-05T01:24:54Z")
Anyone know if there was a retro-Hugo awarded this year? I’d swear there was, but I can’t find any reference to it anywhere, including on Worldcon’s site. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/7 "2002-09-05T01:25:59Z")
_American Gods_ is Gaiman’s best novel-length work, in my opinion, so the award isn’t unjustified. I was quite pleased with it overall. However, I would have to say that Connie Willis’ _Passage_ was a better book overall, though it seems that nobody but me and a couple friends read it. Oh well, it’s still a great book. Highly recommended. As to the notion of “pure” fantasy, I think it’s bollocks to limit that assessment to ‘swords and sorcery’ books. Fantasy literature for me is anything that establishes a fantasy world without really trying to explain it away. This makes it a broad category, which is as it _should be_. To my mind, fantasy can include the “Tolkienian” variety of fantasy (swords and sorcery), but also include dark fantasy such as Clive Barker’s _Imajica_ (_American Gods_ falls into this category too), as well as world-building works like King’s Dark Tower series. Much as I love the work of Tad Williams or Melanie Rawn, I would certainly not limit the definition of “true” fantasy literature to that narrow a spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/8 "2002-09-05T01:49:02Z")
I just read _ **American Gods** _ this weekend, and I must say I was duely impressed. Solid writing and a somewhat original plot. I really enjoyed it. It is good that Sci-Fi Fantasy is getting it’s 15 mins of fame. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/9 "2002-09-05T02:08:10Z")
Me neither **Avalonian** , but until last year, the only books that could nominally be counted as fantasy were science-fiction “flavored” books that had spiritual/supernatural elements ( **Stranger** and **A Case of Conscience** for example) But I was having trouble defining the what I meant by fantasy. Certainly fantasy’s wider than Rawn or Williams. All I was trying to say was that since the charter has (as far as I know) _always_ included fantasy, it’s nice to see it actually winning for a change. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/10 "2002-09-05T03:49:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > **All I was trying to say was that since the charter has (as far as I know) _always_ included fantasy, it’s nice to see it actually winning for a change.** Ah! Gotcha, **Fenris** … sorry, I guess I missed the point the first time round. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/11 "2002-09-05T04:24:26Z")
Neil Gaiman wrote about winning the Hugo in his [blog](http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/journal.asp). He also answers email on his there, and talks about his writing. It’s pretty interesting stuff. Sheri ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/12 "2002-09-05T05:35:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\*Anyone know if there was a retro-Hugo awarded this year? I’d swear there was, but I can’t find any reference to it anywhere, including on Worldcon’s site. > > Fenris \*\* Nope, my Hugo ballot did not have any retro-Hugos this year. They were awarded last year in Philly. This was only the 2nd time in 10 years I have missed the ceremony. ☹ Well, there is always Toronto next year. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/13 "2002-09-05T17:01:02Z")
Perdido Street Station did delve pretty deeply into the weird and abstract, but you had to look for patterns and hold on to them as subsets. Once I got the mental image of bug-headed people who sculpt their own spit, giant moths that suck the life out of people through dreams, and half solid/half water froglike beings, I was able to get a good frame of reference going. Also reading the author’s bio and finding that he grew up in inner city London furnished me the busy, stark perspective of the story enviroment. Rather than explore fantasy sterotypes that the typical reader would already be familiar with, Mieville invented new ones. So I really dug the book. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/14 "2002-09-05T18:38:59Z")
Actually, **Avalonian** , I read **Passage** as well and liked it quite a bit. I’ve only read that and **American Gods** from the list of nominees and I myself would have to give my nod to Gaiman. Both were good but I didn’t feel **Passage** was up to Willis’ best (IMO - **To Say Nothing of the Dog** ) and, frankly, could have been shorter. **American Gods** I liked from start to finish despite a few (IMO minor) flaws. Both worth a read though. Besides, what does Connie Willis need with another award? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/15 "2002-09-05T19:14:15Z")
Good for him! I think it was a marvelous book – I read it in one day. Fenris, what God do you mean? The buffalo guy? I thought that was explained. As for the ending, I didn’t think it was that bad. I guess it’s just the kind of thing you love or hate. I didn’t really understand the whole Sam thing, though. It seemed kinda pointless; maybe I’m missing something? I think the thing I liked most about **American Gods** was how it dealt with these themes differently than other books I’ve read. It’s curious how Norse mythology seems to have inspired such writing, especially in all my favorite authors. Both Douglas Adams and Diana Wynne Jones dealt with the Norse gods in modern life in some way, and then of course Terry Pratchett dealt with the topic of belief in **Small Gods**. It was definitely interesting seeing how they all compared. Tanaqui ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/16 "2002-09-05T20:07:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tanaqui \* > **Fenris, what God do you mean? The buffalo guy? I thought that was explained.** I think he means the “mystery god” who was never named, and who nobody, including you 😉 , could remember. I believe he was the one they had a meeting with in Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/17 "2002-09-05T20:43:32Z")
Wow, I’ve read three of those. Too bad _Passage_ was passed over—Connie Willis just keeps getting better. I would bet that the final vote went to _American Gods_ in part because it was so massively popular. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/18 "2002-09-05T21:08:43Z")
I very much enjoyed American Gods. I was a bit disappointed with the ending but despite that, I think this award is well-deserved. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-wins-the-hugo-award/127011/19 "2002-09-05T22:35:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KKBattousai \* > \*\* > > I think he means the “mystery god” who was never named, and who nobody, including you 😉 , could remember. > > I believe he was the one they had a meeting with in Vegas. \*\* That’s exactly the one I meant! 🙂 **Booklover** : Hugos are all about popularity. (And overall they hold up better than the Nebulas which are about “art”.) The Hugo is the book that the customers (aka the Fans) like best (except for 1955, which was apparently done as a joke) where as the Nebula is where only writers are allowed to vote. The voting went [like this:](http://www.conjose.org/wsfs/hugo_breakdown.htm) ```auto first place: American Gods 197 197 210 231 287 402 Passage 140 140 150 177 234 299 Perdido Street Station 153 154 162 182 201 The Curse of Chalion 148 148 158 171 The Chronoliths 90 90 102 Cosmonaut Keep 55 55 No Award 11 ``` For an explaination of how the Hugo voting system works, see [here](http://www.emcit.com/hugo_rules.shtml). What’s funny/sad is that most of the Hugo winners are still in print and selling strong and looked on as classics in the genre (not all of 'em of course). The Nebulas on the other hand…\< cough \> Put it this way: 1967: Nebulas **The Einstein Intersection** Delany vs Hugo **The Moon is a Harsh Misteress** Heinlein. Or 1971/2 (cause the two awards have different elegiblity dates) Nebulas: **A Time of Changes** /Silverberg (a real classic that’s still making waves today :rolleyes) vs Hugos: **To Your Scattered Bodies Go** /Farmer (which is **allegedly** getting a mini-series made of it. 30 years later…according to a rumor I read on rec.arts.sf.written ) Fenris