Now, I read a lot of contemporary comic books and non-fiction, but not much contemporary fiction -- and I've never been an authority on science fiction. I like what I like, but I don't have an expert's view on the genre.
In preparing to vote, I read a lot of material I would have never otherwise sampled. My first surprise was to find a lot of what's nominated in the Hugo Awards isn't for science fiction works - there's an awful lot of fantasy literature - stories of elves, magic schools and what have you. I'm even less qualified to judge the fantasy genre.
The second surprise was how much of the material that is science fiction isn't concerned so much with plot as it is character - not, "here's a science fiction concept," as it is, "here's how the protagonist feels about living amidst science fiction."
I won't discuss all my picks, but for Best Novel I chose Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, a Nigerian science fiction author. The book's about a Nigerian science fiction author (write what you know) whose life changes when new technology helps her get out of her wheelchair.
For Best Novella, I chose Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, a story about robots who exploit bureaucratic loopholes so they can run their own noodle shop. It was charming.
For Best Novelette, I chose The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For by Cameron Reed, which covers transgenderism, cloning and wallcrawling in a very tight package.
For Best Short Story, I chose Laser Eyes Ain't Everything by Effie Seiberg, about a super-hero union and a villain who has a legitimate complaint about accessibility.
For Best Series, I broke my rule on picking science fiction titles and chose The Chronicles of Osreth by Katherine Addison. I read her book The Goblin Emperor years ago and didn't realize she'd added several more books to the series - I like the series a lot, so I was very happy to discover there was more.
For Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, I chose Andor, which was a very hard call - I'd really enjoyed Sinners (if it were horror awards, I'd have picked it) and Superman; I watched Mickey 17 before sending my vote and found it very strong too. Andor, though, had a 2nd season that excelled beyond what I already had considered to be a very strong first season; it's the best Star Wars of this century.
And, of course, I chose An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog for Best Fanzine.
This was fun - I don't know whether I'll vote in the Hugos again, but I've added a number of books to my reading list, so it was worth doing at least once.
