Hugo Nominations 2015
I’m eligible to nominate for the Hugo this year, but I don’t think I’m going to nominate much. Although I read every issue of Analog, Asimov’s, and F&SF with a 2015 cover date, various issues of Galaxy’s Edge, Apex, and other magazines, many stories online, and at least one anthology, only two stories have stuck with me.
The first is “Toward the Back” by Jake Teen. In a publishing genre filled with grimdark epic fantasy, this story stands out as the single funniest thing I’ve read all year. It probably isn’t eligible because the Abbreviated Epics anthology it was published in is semipro, but what the hell, I’ll nominate it anyway and let the judges sort it out.
The second is “Only the End of the World Again†by Neil Gaiman, which was the lead story in Lovecraft’s Monsters. This is an almost perfect story: a compelling plot, compelling characters, and funny to boot. The prose is clear and direct, absolutely unaffected, almost Hemingway-like despite the subject matter. It was originally a comic book over a decade ago, but I think this is its first publication as prose. Update: looks like it was originally published in a limited press run book in 1994 so it’s not eligible. :-(
I’m sure there were some great novels this year, and I hope other people’s nominations will point them out to me. The odds on favorite seems to be The Martian by Andy Weir. Other possibilities include The Goblin King by Katherine Addison, Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs, Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, Lock In by John Scalzi, and Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, absolutely none of which I’ve read. However I haven’t gotten around to reading many novels published in 2014. I only just finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane from the 2013 list.
For drama long form, I wasn’t a huge fan of anything I saw this year. I suppose Captain America: The Winter Soldier wasn’t bad. Mockingjay was OK, probably better than the weak source material. As usual, drama long form is a pretty weak category overall though.
For short form, I’m having trouble thinking of anything. Doctor Who has simply fallen apart over the last few seasons, and is not worthy of even a single nomination IMHO. Orphan Black’s second season was much weaker than its first. They’re stretching the story out way too long, and it’s falling victim to the X-Files effect where the show runners keep piling up one absurdity on top of the next without a clear plot in mind. Penny Dreadful was, well, dreadful. And there’s a whole list of shows I could barely stomach more than an episode of. I think I’ll vote No Award for this.
January 25th, 2015 at 5:41 AM
I’m not voting for much this year either, since I’m behind in my reading and don’t feel it’s fair for me to nominate when I don’t actually know what the ‘best’ is in any category. I hope you might be willing to take a glance at the artwork of Stephan Martiniere from 2014, though, as it was spectacular and I’m hoping he will be recognized for it. The best examples are his covers for Shield and Crocus and The Immortality Game. I put up nice clean copies on my website link so it will only take a few seconds to take a peek, if you are at all interested. Thank you.