2005 Hugo Prize Nominee Reviews
My New Year's resolution in 2005 was to read the Hugo Award
2005 long nominee list. It took me more than a year to get to the
last book, and I couldn't find a couple of things. I also can't find most
of my reviews yet, because I wasn't tagging my blog posts in 2005...
Blind Lake, Robert Charles Wilson
A powerful new observing
device
lets the
scientists follow an alien through his daily routine. The routine
breaks and
the scientists get locked down on their base, and the story is told by
a
broken family (a pretty broken dad, a worried mom, and a kid who may or
may
not have Asperger's or be going crazy) and a reporter locked in with
them.
The lockdown lasted for months, I didn't really get the sense of
claustrophobia that I kind of wanted, and the early death wasn't as
meaningful despite an attempt to get me empathising with the marked
character. It wrapped up pretty neatly, but something was missing from
the
story overall. I'd give it 2.5/5.
Illium by Dan Simmons
A mix of a post apocalyptic (and post
literate)
society shocked by a maverick left over from the past, with a retelling
of
the Trojan war with interference from post humans playing god with nano
tech, and a thread of two robots woven through it as they try to carry
out
their mission despite not quite understanding what they're supposed to
do.
When the book ended, I was frustrated that I didn't get more in this
first
half of a duology. The robots were my favourites as they debated the
merits
of Shakespeare versus Proust, often trying to find appropriate quotes
for
hopeless situations. The humans in the story were less sympathetic, the
author tried to get me caring about the first spoiled brat who was
supposed
to grow up as he learned more about what made his world tick, but it
wasn't
quite successful. The Trojan women were intriguing but underutilised.
The
nano tech explanations of how the gods interfered with the Trojan war
were
kind of interesting, but overall the humans got a bit lost in the plot.
Still very enjoyable, and I'd love to sit down with someone who's read
it as
well and debate some of the finer points of society and individualism
that
were raised by the story. 3.5/5 and it's only that low because the
robots
couldn't carry the whole tome on their shoulders.
Into the Gardens of Sweet Night, by Jay Lake
This one is a novella in the collection "Writers of the Future XIX". It's
the last story in the book, and
I couldn't resist dipping into the essays by L. Ron Hubbard and Will
Eisner
that punctuated the book. When I got to the actual story, it felt like
Mr.
Lake had read Mr. Hubbard's essay on suspense and used it to plot his
confrontations. The flow felt a bit forced, a story about a man who
takes
service with an Animal (a speaking pug named Wriggles) he meets on the
road
home from a monastic retreat (you seem like a trustworthy fellow...).
Texas
is a rainforest that they trek through, and they find an underground
maglev
station and a zepplin and a space station. It felt like the story would
have
done a bit better in novel format, with more time to explore the
settings
that they raced through. It raised some neat points to ponder about
what
proves sentience, and the things one gives up for power, but, overall,
enh.
The illustration was done by someone who won the right to draw to the
story
via the same contest that picked the novella, but there was a figure in
the
image that didn't appear at all in the story, though the pug falling
through
the air was amusing. :) 2.5/5 as well, worth reading for the ideas.
I've got the last two novels sitting at home, and then it'll be time to
track down tons of issues of Asimov's to collect the short stories.
Iron Council, by China Mieville
It's a bit hard to pick up the threads of
Bas Lag after not reading "Perdido Street Station" recently.
River of Gods, by Ian McDonald
This was the last novel I had to read from the Hugo award nominees list last
year (review is from July/06). It took a while to get published in the US, and when it finally
appeared in the library data base I reserved a copy. It took a few days of
dipping into it to get into, but I finished it last night.
It's set mostly in India, in 2047, as a drought drags on and a water war is
brewing. There's also a war against rogue AIs, with rumours of generation
3's operating in the background, moving people about like pawns in the
complex plans that spring from their unimaginable "minds". The political
situation is complex as well, India's split into five (I think) separate
nations, one's dammed the Ganga and is starving the nations down river. The
prime minister's first advisor is torn by his desire for a nute (surgically
and chemically altered to be free of gendered responses), and hunter-killer robots stalk the cities while avatars of Hindu gods stalk the electronic
ether.
It's a huge book, there are whole sub plots that I didn't even mention, all
woven together in an intricate tapestry. McDonald does a great job of it
though, all the characters come to life, even if they only get a few
chapters. The crossing of plot lines is mostly well done (there's a couple
of street scenes that feel too manufactured), and the complexity of a real
city is reflected in the stories. The future tech is believable, though I'd
have pushed it out another 50 years. :) The tech doesn't overshadow the
relationships, though, it's just there to set the scene and in some cases
provide a frisson of danger.