They handed out the Hugo Awards this weekend for science-fiction and fantasy. The awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, who was the original publisher of "Amazing Stories" and who had a lot of big ideas, including the "teledoctor."



The big news from this year's awards is that Michael Chabon won the novel prize for "The Yiddish Policemen's Union," and this puts him in grand, bold company, since he also won the Nebula Award for it earlier this year. If you get a book out there that wins both prizes, you aren't just faking it anymore, they say. Here's who's done it:

* 1966/1965 Novel: Dune by Frank Herbert
* 1970/1969 Novel: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
* 1971/1970 Novel: Ringworld by Larry Niven
* 1973/1972 Novel: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
* 1974/1973 Novel: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
* 1975/1974 Novel: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
* 1976/1975 Novel: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
* 1978/1977 Novel: Gateway by Frederik Pohl
* 1979/1978 Novel: Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre
* 1980/1979 Novel: The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
* 1984/1983 Novel: Startide Rising by David Brin
* 1985/1984 Novel: Neuromancer by William Ford Gibson
* 1986/1985 Novel: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
* 1987/1986 Novel: Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
* 1993/1992 Novel: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
* 1998 Novel: Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman
* 2002 Novel: American Gods by Neil Gaiman
* 2004 Novel: Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
* 2008/2007 Novel: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Cheers to Chabon, even though I didn't like this book very much. I do like his other books, so bust out the champagne. I'm glad he's getting more readers.

Looking at this list, it's strange how many of these books are thinly-veiled religious tracts, as opposed to hard SF, satire, or space opera. Neat!

You can read the rest of the winners for free at the proud magazines that published the initial entries.

BEST SHORT STORY: "Tideline," by Elizabeth Bear

This is a story about a robot that teaches a little boy how to have reverence for dead soldiers on a beach after the apocalypse. The writing is crisp and good, and makes me really wish I had my own spider-crab warrior-robot to tell me stories and destroy my enemies. Maybe if I stop touching myself, my prayers will become more potent, and this will happen.

BEST NOVELLA: "All Seated on the Ground," by Connie Willis

A long, wry story about aliens that reads like a blog post. It is probably more fun to read if you don't get out very much.

BEST NOVELETTE: "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," by Ted Chiang

This is a time-travel story told in the elevated, affected prose of Richard Burton. It also won the Nebula, and the reason why is that it is a pretty damn good story. You will like it.

Comment!

Posted by miracle on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:53:33 -0400 -- permanent link