Hugo Novel Ballot

Let's get this out of the way quickly: The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu is almost everything a science fiction novel can and should be. Rigorous in both its physics and its sociology, attentive to the obscure moments in which everything can change. Both emotionally shattering and intellectually exciting, often on the same page.

In contrast, three of the remaining items on the ballot, I found unreadable--the Addison, the Anderson, and the Butcher. If I had to rank them, the Anderson would come out marginally ahead, in that it was the only one of the three in which I could push myself past the first page. But not far beyond.

The presence of Addison on this list shows that the divergence between science fiction fandom and literary taste is a problem not solely canine in origin or nature.

That left me with the decision of what to do about Ancillary Justice. As I blogged before, I found it readable, but not much more than that, and problematic in many respects. Ultimately, I decided that awards should be about more than not committing flagrant crimes against the English language.

1. The Three Body Problem
2. NO AWARD