Who is going to WorldCon/MidAmeriCon II?

[HookerChemical]

LHOD, I frequently find myself in sync with your sci-fi opinions.

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

N. K. Jemisin The Fifth Season. Pretty good, but not amazing. I like Jemisin a lot, but nothing she’s written has ever shaken my world. She’s one of those authors whose new books I’ll yoink from the library shelves, but I won’t expect to have my mind blown.

I see what you did there.
I more or less agree about Fifth Season, which is the only Jemisin novel I’ve read. It struck me as good world building but not great. Still, I finished wanting to read the sequel, which I’ll start next week.

Cixin Liu The Three-Body Problem. Boring characters, dense prose. AbsofuckingLUTEly incredible mindfuckery science scenes. It’s got like three or four crazy science ideas any one of which would be enough to elevate yer normal hard SF to a classic. Read this! The history is pretty interesting too.

I agree with your opinions, though maybe not as emphatically (either the positives or negatives) as you come across. I’m looking forward to part 3 next month.

Ann Leckie Ancillary Justice. God I loved this one! The gender stuff that made the puppies so sad was exactly the sort of thing I like seeing in science fiction: it was constantly unsettling, in the best possible way. And the central character was among the most interesting SF characters I’ve read in many years.

This is my favorite read in a very long time. I would have preferred Ancillary Mercy for the Hugo this year.

John Scalzi Redshirts. I think Scalzi is a stand-up guy. Old Man’s War was a lot of fun. All his books are a lot of fun. The main character is always a wisecracking guy (or rarely girl) who comes up with clever and tricky solutions to problems. I’ve kind of burnt out on Scalzi’s schtick, but I like him as a person.

This one was fun. It’s not what I typically think of in a Hugo winner, but I devoured it in a weekend. If a Scalzi book was going to win a Hugo, I’d first guess Old Man’s War or Lock In. Redshorts was a loving run read, but lighter than I expect for a Hugo.

Paolo Bacigalupi The Windup Girl. I remember enjoying this. I remember very little else about it.

As somebody who works in the environmental world, I particularly enjoyed the worldbuilding. I enjoy Bacigalupi. Read Pump Six if you haven’t. It has a couple short stories that became Windup Girl, plus several other good shorts.

China Miéville The City & the City. I’m generally a Mieville fan, despite his unevenness. This is one of his best. It’s goddamn amazing. Saying anything about it will ruin it, but it’s amazing. Read it!

I red City and the City back to back with Embassytown. Note to self: get back to reading Mieville. TC&tC was the more interesting of the two and explored some very interesting concepts.

Neil Gaiman The Graveyard Book. Gaiman’s another one like Scalzi, who other folks like a lot more than I do. I think he’s a cool dude, but his fiction is only good.

I thought this one was good, but not that good. I like Gaiman probably more than you, LHOD, but I don’t think this was his strongest. Looking at the nominees for Hugo that year, it looks like a weak year. Zoe’s Tale is the worst from the Old Man universe, and I haven’t read the rest.

Neil Gaiman American Gods. See above re: Gaiman.

IMO, this was Gaiman firing on all cylinders. It’s probably my favorite outside of Sandman and Neverwhere.

J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I wish I liked Rowling more than I do. Fine, but there is a shitload of children’s fantasy that’s better than hers IMO.

Was this another weak year? I haven’t read any of the other nominees. If a Harry Potter novel was going to win, I’m okay with Goblet of Fire. I’ve read the series, and I enjoyed it well enough.

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

I’m too sleepy to do much response, but it’s a pleasure to talk about SF books with other readers :). The one thing I’ll say about American Gods is that I liked a lot of it very much, but was disappointed by the ending. (I read it when it came out, so my memory is fuzzy). Gaiman doesn’t do great endings. Few folks do. Except Sandman, which was far and away my favorite Gaiman work, and whose ending was freakin amazing.