This year I splurged a bit (though really you more than get the value back with the lovely Hugo packet you get that contains all of the works it's possible for them to get so you can vote!) and bought a supporting membership for the World Science Fiction convention (Chicon 7 (meaning it's taking place in Chicago) this year). This means that I basically get to vote on the Hugos/Jack Campbell Award for Best New Writer and nominate for the Hugo's next year as well as the lovely free books/music/stories/etc.
I'm going to put the Nominations below a spoiler tag but I'd love to discuss this with you guys even if you aren't able to vote! Who are you/would you be voting for? What have you read/watched/listened to?
Here's a link to a guy's post that links all of the works you can read for free online.
I've already printed it off and started going through it. I saw it mentioned somewhere about refraining from voting on something if you haven't read/watched it but damnit I like voting and I can vote however I like so don't always expect amazing explanations from me or sometimes anything more than: I LIKE THIS PERSON.
You can also order them 1 - 5 which I do on my little sheet just because I can but really only 1 and maybe 2 count in the end. You put the second one for when votes tie or get really close or something. Without further adieu, my thoughts:Best Novel: I've read 2 of these books (one of which I still need to read). Among Others was really good imo, while Embassytown was a harder read for me and I put it down at some point and need to pick it back up and finish it. I'm not going to read ADWD until I reread the entire series because I've forgotten almost everything that's happened except what I've seen in Game of Thrones. I've yet to read the Mira Grant Feed series so unless I can fit that in and then read Deadline, I won't be able to read it before voting ends. Leviathan Wakes is definitely a story I have been wanting to read so it's bumping up on my list. My tentative vote is for Deadline (reasoning: I want Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant to win) with my #2 spot going to Among Others (it's a great book but it didn't make me passionate).
Best Novella and Best Novelette: Will be reading when I get the packet and then voting since, if I can, I like to compare the stories together at the same time (what they mean to me, how interested I was, etc) in order to figure out my vote.
Best Short Story: I read all of these stories back to back. My favorite and my vote is for The Paper Menagerie, it made me tear up at the end and has a subtle magic. It's also not typical. My number 2 vote goes to Movement. I felt like the main character and their disability was done really well and I related to the story's theme, it also pulls at the heartstrings and is rather open-ended at the end. I didn't much personally care for The Homecoming because I felt like I was being beat over the head with the message. Scazi's story was funny but lacked the emotional resonance I got from my #1 and #2 votes. The Cartographer Wasps is a quirky and well-written story but also lacked any kind of emotional resonance and I felt rather removed from it.
Best Related Work: Well now I want to read all the books mentioned! However my top two votes are still undecided as to which will win out. I've long been a big fan of Writing Excuses and it's tentatively my #1 at the moment and likely will be on my ballot but I'm really interested in hearing Seanan McGuire's Wicked Girls filk cd as I've heard people rave about it. I've never much listened to filk so it's also an introduction to the genre for me.
Best Graphic Story: Again, I haven't read any of these except for one bit of Locke & Key and a bit of Schlock Mercenary. I'm voting #1 for Schlock because I'd like to see Howard win (fan of his from Writing Excuses!). My #2 vote is going to The Unwritten because I've heard fabulous things. These votes may change depending on if any of them are in the voter's packet.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form): GAME OF THRONES. I love the show and I want it to go on and on until the end! Thus it is absolutely getting my #1 vote. #2 goes to Harry Potter a franchise I've loved for ages and I loved the movie! This was a no-brainer for me. I did really enjoy Captain America but not nearly as much as these other two. I haven't seen Hugo or Source Code.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form): Doctor Who like whoa! My #1 spot goes to The Doctor's Wife because I absolutely adored that episode. My #2 votes goes to Remedial Chaos Theory (Community). I haven't seen the show but reviewers I trust loved the episode and I'm a fan of voting for something other than Doctor Who too. I've yet to see the Acceptance Speech so maybe that will change.
Best Editor (Short Form): #1 spot goes t John Joseph Adams and all his anthologies. My #2 vote goes to Jonathan Strahan who works/worked? for Locus, has never won and has a lovely podcast. I had to look up information on all of the editors and those are the reasons that won out.
Best Editor (Long Form): #1 goes to Liz Gorinsky who's never won, works at Tor and edits Cat Valente. #2 goes to Betsy Wollheim who runs DAW. Again, I had to look up what they all did and used my own reasons.
Best Professional Artist: Dan dos Santos, hands down. I love his covers and I'd cover my house in prints of them if I could. The rest I didn't know off hand so I looked 'em up on Google Image. #2 goes to Michael Komarck who also has amazing covers. The other artists weren't really to my taste though Stephan Martiniere does lovely colors and has a very specific style.
Best Semiprozine: Of these I only read Locus which I actually made my #2 vote. My #1 vote goes to Apex Magazine edited by Cat Valente that I've been meaning to dive into.
Best Fanzine: SF Signal gets my vote, it's a fabulous website (and a fabulous podcast!). The rest I haven't read at all so I'm open to suggestions, currently my #2 vote is going to Banana Wings simply because it's the only one that has a woman connected with it.
Best Fan Writer: I know almost none of these, Jim Hines gets my vote because he has wonderful blog posts. I don't even have a #2 because I just have no idea. In the end I will probably go for Claire Brialey because she's a woman unless I can see what these people actually do somewhere.
Best Fan Artist: Again I googled. I didn't like a lot of what I saw and didn't even bother numbering all 5. My #1 vote goes to Randall Munroe who does xkcd (so that's a no brainer!). #2 goes to Spring Schoenhuth who makes lovely jewelry from space objects. HOW COOL IS THAT.
Best Fancast: No googling needed here, I've heard 'em all! #1 went to SF Squeecast though their first few episodes had some bad sound quality and they only come out every month or so. Regardless they always give me an amazing list of books to read and really interesting and informative things about writing with great guests. It's a new favorite that I only started listening to recently. I've been thinking we should just take our book club suggestions from the books they rave about! My #2 goes to the SF Signal podcast which I briefly mentioned above. Lots of author interviews and awesome author roundtables on genres, speculative fiction news, etc etc etc.
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer ~ Authors are eligible for the 2 years following their first professional sale. Thus this year authors are elibible as writers of works published in 2010 or 2011. My #1 vote goes to Karen Lord, I'm already anticipating enjoying her book and it's her last year of eligibility. My #2 vote goes to Mur Lafferty who is in her first year of eligibility but who I like, who's podcast I like and who I want to support. However these are only preliminary feelings and I plan on reading one book from each of the nominees before I vote to make an educated one. Also, remember my vote for Fan Writer? Jim Hines interviews the five Campbell Award Nominees check it!
For those interested, the history of the voting packet behind the spoiler:
(Obviously I've at least heard of many more than that.)
