Hugo Prize Reviews

• Doomsday Book, Connie Willis. (1993 tie)
  This one took me a while to get through, but mostly due to time constraints - I knew that whenever I would pick it up, it would be hard to put down, so I tried to be good about when I'd start reading. :) Close future, a historian from Oxford is sent back in time to observe life in the 1400's. Unfortunately, epidemics break out in both times and her handlers "lose" her. Her trials and tribulations were well sketched out, I could feel her desperation and fatigue and love for her new contemporaries. Mar 10/09
• A fire upon the deep, Vernor Vinge. (1993 tie)
  The story starts off with an artificial intelligence blooming out of control, released from an archive by experimenting humans. The foreshadowing was heavy handed, I could see some revelations coming as soon as they were hinted about. But the pervasive atmosphere of trying to outrace death, sudden death, treachery at every turn, plotting and double dealing was an overwhelmingly cohesive one, if grim. I like how the action switches between technologically advanced societies and medieval ones, and uses the conceit that faster than light travel and communication and computing is only possible at a remove from the galactic plane, and as you descend, everything slows down. This is tied into giving primitive cultures advanced knowledge, and how a primitive can fool a galactic citizen. Overall, I really liked this one. Mar 3/09
• Barrayar, Lois McMaster Bujold. (1992)
  This jumps back in time a bit from the last Vorkosigan book I read, covering Miles' mother's pregnancy and the births of Miles and his friends. Some good emotional story telling, I enjoyed this one quite a bit, especially due to Cordelia reacting with outrage or bemusement to the antiquated Barrayan attitudes toward women. Feb 25/09.
• The Vor Game, Lois McMaster Bujold. (1991)
  Miles gets sent to an arctic posting, he's almost killed during a hazing prank, then has more problems with insubordination. :) To try and keep him out of trouble, they send him on a fact finding mission, and things quickly go pear shaped due to an emperor on the run, a new enemy, and someone almost as twisty as Miles. Very enjoyable, but it didn't feel as substantial as Hyperion. Jan 30/09
• Hyperion, Dan Simmons. (1990)
  I keep thinking that I must have read this before, but the story seems all new to me. I'm really enjoying it, getting sucked in every time I pick it up. It's making me wish that I'd read the Canterbury Tales, though, as it seems to be inhabiting a very similar framework (each pilgrim telling their story as they journey to and across Hyperion). The ending wasn't as conclusive as I'd have liked, it's set up for the next book, I'm guessing. Jan 24/09