Hugo Prize Reviews
My New Year's resolution in 2009 was to read the Hugo
Award list back to 1990. I'd read the nominees's list for 2005, so I'll add in that year's old review here of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell if
I can find it. Tagged LJ
posts from which this is culled.
- 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