Rabid Puppies 2016: Best Novel
The preliminary recommendations for the Best Novel category.
Other 2016 Hugo categories
- Seveneves: A Novel, Neal Stephenson
- Golden Son, Pierce Brown
- Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwithering Realm, John C. Wright
- The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut's Windlass, Jim Butcher
- Agent of the Imperium, Marc Miller
Other 2016 Hugo categories
- Best Novella
- Best Novelette
- Best Short Story
- Best Related Work
- Best Graphic Story
- Best Editor, Short Form
- Best Editor, Long Form
- Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
- Best Semiprozine
- Best Fanzine
- Best Fancast
- Best Fan Writer
- Best Fan Artist
- Best New Writer
Labels: Hugo Award, Puppies
34 Comments:
...after making a few eligibility checks...
Am I the only one hoping that Space Raptor Butt Invasion qualifies for more than one category?
Somewhither FTW! Not only because it's Hugo-worthy, but to make SJW's heads explode!
I've really enjoyed the Red Rising series and hoped 'Golden Son' was going to be a nominee. I'm looking forward to getting my copy of 'Morning Star'.
'Seveneves' was good especially part one but typical of Stephenson it was a massive memory dump from one of his thought projects. I did enjoy his caricatures of HRC and Neil Degrasse Tyson. Part two felt rushed and would have benefited from being a separate book.
I became a shameless John C. Wright fanboy after reading AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND.
If I had more time on my hands he'd have to get a restraining order against me, because I'd hide in his rhododendrons and leap out when he passed by, doffing my cap and exclaiming:
"BARD! MAESTRO! PRAY TELL ME WHEN YOUR NEXT NOVEL IS OUT! FOR ALTHOUGH I AM A PULING WRETCH AND UNWORTHY OF THE WORDS THAT DRIP FROM YOUR PEN, I MUST READ THEM!"
And I'd be dressed as a penguin in a butler suit, which would probably alarm him.
SOMEWHITHER is brilliant. It starts off a little bit rockily as many novels set in an entirely new fantasy universe do, but quickly reels you in to Wright's splendid imagination and there's a surprisingly awesome amount of blood and guts and action in the story.
Seveneves is absolutely terrible. Just boring.
Somewhither is a ton of fun but Wright does this weird thing where he has the characters pause and do infodumps to Ilya when they should be running away before the minions of the Dark Tower can find them. Then after the infodump is completed, they of course get attacked by the minions of the Dark Tower.
Aeronaut's windlass is pretty good but some of the scenes and dialog between the airship captain and its crew make it obvious that Butcher has never been in a military setting. Also the talking cat companions are eyeroll-worthy. What is this, a Mercedes Lackey novel from the 80s?
if there is a flaw in Wright's writing it is the propensity for telling... rather than showing.
but that is a small nit... in fact one of my tactics in the old days when I would purchase diamonds was to look for a specific flaw so I would be able to identify the diamond later if someone attempted to switch it with an inferior one.
When I see the CHORFS bitching about Wright... I cannot help but note they make up all sorts of things to complain about... but never actually hit on his one weakness. Which is proof enough to me that they haven't actually read his work.
My only complaint about Seveneves is that the Hillary Clinton/Sarah Palin mashup character had no redeeming features. I suppose that the failure to airlock her shows the other character's flaws. Other than that I agree with its nomination for the reason, "Troll Level: Grandmaster".
Somewhither is obviously the winner; though I won't dress up as a penguin in a butler suit to find out if I caught all the clues about Ilya's mother.
"I will post the final list of Rabid Puppy recommendations this week..."
Then... Butthurttageddon!
I hope it is not to be seen as too off-topic, but I have a modest proposal for the Hugo - best editor long form. Maybe vox should resign his place on the rabid puppy slate and give it to PNH: He deserves a Hugo for giving his star author (John S.) a bit more time to overcome his writer's block and finish another masterpiece. This is especially courageous, since Tor must be under a lot of pressure to have new, profitable books..
It will be fun to watch the reaction of PNH, his wife and the social justice crowd? Will PNH resign, and give up a Hugo because he is put forward by raid puppies? Will he maintain his candidacy, but ask rabid puppies not to vote for him? Nicely? It might be a lot of fun and confusion on the other side - which the Dark Lord might find more amusing than having his name on the ballot..
@4
I first read "One Bright Star to Guide Them," and was impressed. Then I read "The Book of Feasts and Seasons" and proclaimed, "We have a Chesterton!"
@10
To save the Dark Lord from repeating himself, "You never reward an award whore by granting him an award."
@10,
We've already seen them do mental gymnastics when we support things they like. Typically, our support goes down the memory hole. Also, why would we support the blight on the genre that is PNH?
a_peraspera wrote:Seveneves is absolutely terrible. Just boring.
seveneves is a troubled novel, but worthy of nomination, because it is great science fiction. I didn't care about any of the characters other than the men who bravely died to save all the women fighting over who got to hold the Idiot Ball. But otherwise, the first part was a masterful and realistic exploration of what we could achieve with present technology and the absolute imperative to colonize space. The second part presented in lightly-dressed fictional form a variety of fascinating ideas for use of advanced technology.
Eh, I liked the cats in reasonable doses. The middle of the book dragged a but but all in all I found it enjoyable.
Somewhither will get my vote for first place though.
@10 The de Vil puppy snatcher family at Tor has no shame. They will gladly accept an award if nominated by any of the puppy slates.
'Seveneves' did have Checkov's Nuclear Sub.
I loved Awake in the Night land but to this day the ending leaves me with dread horror. I feel that his most recent works are left wanting compared to his masterpieces Nightland, City Beyond Time, and The Golden Age.
"When I see the CHORFS bitching about Wright... I cannot help but note they make up all sorts of things to complain about... but never actually hit on his one weakness. Which is proof enough to me that they haven't actually read his work."
I have noticed the same thing. They never criticize my real flaws (which do exist) but only imaginary flaws (which do not) invented to fit their narrative that not honest, honorable, or talent person can possibly disagree with this week's goodthink.
Yeah... putting Butcher on last year's ballot worked so well.
@19 If you honestly think that "SJWs" have not criticized your inability to use one word when seven suffice, or your overuse of expository text...
That's almost as bad as thinking you were going to be welcomed with open arms at WorldCon.
@Steve
We don't have any rhododendrons, but you ever get the free time to purchase that penguin butler suit and come by, I will plant some.
:)
Thank you, gracious lady.
Vox,
Haven't really been paying attention until now that I read the list... Had a good hard laugh.
Truly you are an evil genius.
Aeronaut's Windlass was a good read, as all Jim Butcher books tend to be, but I couldn't stand the cookie-cutter "sassy action girl who knows better than all the boys" character, especially when she called a barful of marines cowards to get them to fight, let them all die, and then got credit for killing the big crawling monster.
The Red Rising series is great. Probably my favorite new series of the last 5 years. I'd probably vote Golden Son off this list.
Somewhither deserves a win - great novel.
I actually thought Jonathan Moeller's cloak games would be a good nomination for SJW head exploding reasons, but his Frostborn: World Gate was his best in that series to date. At only 100,000 words maybe in the Novella category.
"penguin butler suit..."
Isn't that redundant?
Anathem burned me out on long books by Neal Stephenson, but at least Seveneyes is science fiction. Unlike the rest of the list. I'll vote for Stephenson if Sandford's Saturn Run doesn't make the ballot. Which it should- tightly written hard SF with the best SF spaceship in years; the only one I've seen that deals with the cooling problem.
"If you honestly think that "SJWs" have not criticized your inability to use one word when seven suffice, or your overuse of expository text...
That's almost as bad as thinking you were going to be welcomed with open arms at WorldCon."
See? Case in point. As well criticize Milton for being Miltonic.
Actually, two cases. Instead of criticizing me for bring unenthused and indifferent to World Con, which was the case and would have been a legitimate criticism, the Morlock here invents the idea out of nothing that I expected a warm welcome from the hags and termagants who have been sedulously ruining science fiction for twenty years, and that I was foolish for having such foolish expectations.
Actually, I was treated quite warmly by the people I met there, the fans and other professionals. It was only David Gerrold and Patrick Hayden who were rude.
So, this is a case in point of a Morlock inventing flaws to criticize, and not believable or likely inventions either.
"Actually, I was treated quite warmly by the people I met there, the fans and other professionals."
So, just for the record, you were made welcome at the Worldcon. Except for two instances.
So, just for the record, you were made welcome at the Worldcon. Except for two instances.
Man, you guys never stop for a moment, do you.
For the record, Mike, THAT is precisely why the VFM and I will never, ever, let up.
Of the bunch, and I think I have looked at all of them, Miller.
What - no love for Torchship?
Seveneves: A Novel, Neal Stephenson - Agreed on "Troll level grand master". He even got the pupinette to read it for the audiobook. Even as you have the strong, independent women, the heroic ones know they aren't so much as the men, and model their behavior after their heroes. Then you get the cluster-B narcissists and crazies.
Seriously - even with the grrrllll power thing going on the surface so much of the story undercut that that it was funny reading and listening to it to hear our favorite SJW puppet mistress read it.
Ending is rushed. The "should have been a separate book" contingent has a point.
Golden Son, Pierce Brown - Haven't read it, I'll need to add it to my list
Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwithering Realm, John C. Wright Loved it, though it wasn't quite the high water mark of the Metachronopolis stories or the NIght Lands.
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut's Windlass, Jim Butcher Really liked it. Sure, Butcher's lack of experience shows, and the sassy girl was a bit much sometimes but generally not outshining the guys just because sassy girl. Not my favorite on teh list, but worth a read.
Agent of the Imperium, Marc Miller - Guess I need to read this too
Pro-tip for finalized nomination list.
Using Pale Moon, after filling out the first ballot, subsequent ballots are just a couple clicks to autocomplete each field. A big time saver.
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