Which book wins the Hugo this year?

[sanclemente99]

I haven't had (made) a chance to read all of them yet, but which of these books gets the nod this year and why?

Sky Road
Storm Of Swords
Calculating God
Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire
Midnight Robber

[Rob B]

I've only read
Goblet of Fire and A Storm of Swords out of those two, much as I liked them both, A Storm of Swords would get my vote.

Oh, you asked "Who will win?"
(forgive the cynicism, it's been a strange couple of weeks)

Well "Fantasies" rarely win these awards, unless the book is above and beyond, as is A Storm of Swords . But again, the majority of the winners are "Science Fiction"

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is for kids, isn't it? (not my opinion, mind you).

Sawyer has been nominated multiple times for both Hugo and Nebula, won the Nebula once or twice, don't think he'll get the Hugo this time. He and Jack McDevitt seem to be the "always-the-bride's-maid-never-the-bride" of these things.

I think either Sky Road or Midnight Robber will get the award. Macleod seems to be one of the new 'golden boys' of science fiction (haven't read him myself yet, but that's the impression I get from many SpecFic Web sites), this would cement that reputation.

Nalo Hopkinson is on somewhat of a roll, Midnight Robber was critically praised, Brown Girl in the Ring won a couple of awards.

So, FWIW **I think** either Midnight Robber or Sky Road.

[lemming]

Ouch. So, based on these posts I went and checked out both Midnight Robber and The Sky Road from my friendly local library. You've gotta be kidding... these are both up for the Hugo? Sigh.

I already posted a review of Midnight Robber to Amazon, but I'll summarize by saying that the Creole patois lends a lot to the book (makes it worth reading, in fact) and the book doesn't flinch from difficult and human issues such as the sexual abuse the main character receives from her father. However, it does leave tons of threads hanging and involves some serious suspension of disbelief toward the very end. It also is interrupted by long, boring folk-tale type asides that lend nothing to the story until the final page and left me completely cold. All in all, I'd like to see sequels if they tie up some of those loose ends, but Hugo? Naaah.

I'm still in the process of reading The Sky Road and still trying pretty hard to get into it. Failing so far.

Oh well, I always did agree better with the Nebula folks anyway. Does anybody know the specific difference between the two, who votes on which awards?

[Rob B]

I think one is voted on by members of SFWA and the other is voted on people like us. Forget which is which, though.

[Xayn]

The Nebula is the SFWA's. The Hugo is everybody's. The really interesting question however is how the finalists' ballot is come up with.

[sanclemente99]

To vote for the Nebulas you have to be a member of SFWA. In practice, only 200 - 400 people vote each year.

To vote for the Hugos you have to have been a member of the previous year's or this year's World convention. There are all grades of membership, but the gist is that only folks involved in the World Con (where the award is given) can vote. Lots more votes for these, numbering in the thousands. The whole process, from nominees to the winner, is by the fans. They go through a nominating ballot, where the fans nominate works. Then they take the top nominees and do a preliminary ballot. The whole process culminates with the final ballot -- where we currently are in this year's voting -- of 5 or 6 works in each category.

Put another way, the Nebulas are the Acadamy Awards, and the Hugos are the People's Choice Awards.