Yes dear, it's a Hugo

It's interesting to scroll down through the list of what is nominated for and doesn't win Hugo awards.

If you didn't know the Hugo awards for Best Novel is given each year for a story that is published in English or translated into English that displays excellence in Science Fiction writing. 

The first year it was given was back in 1953 by the World Science Fiction Society. It is presented at the World Science Fiction Convention that has been held each year since its inception back in 1939. 

I had the privilege of being at the convention back in 1985, in Melbourne. It was held from the 22 - 26 August.  It was called Aussiecon Two. What a blast. With Gene Wolf as the guest. I remember meeting David Brin, Robert Silverberg, who was very different from how I imagined him, and the big surprise Frank Herbert, who did a signing of Dune. None of us fans were aware that he was going to be there let alone sit and do a signing. He was elderly and not very well. But what an amazing and gracious man. He asked my name, signed my book, wished me well. He passed away 6th months later on 11 Feb 1986. I don't think meeting me contributed in any way to his demise. At least I hope it didn't. 

I haven't been to another World Con. I cherish the memories I have of the one I went to. I spent some time talking to David Brin about comets and amateur astronomy. He seemed pleased and excited that here was a fan who wanted to talk about something else other than his books. Yes, he was happy to have a chat and sign, which he did, somewhere around the place I have signed copy of the Practice Effect, which at the time was one of my favourite novels. He was hot off a Hugo for Startide Rising, and here was little old me who wanted to talk to him about telescopes! Hey, what was I going to say about the book that hadn't already been said? I enjoyed the book, but I wanted to know about other stuff that interested him, like comets. 

It was the fans who were the ones who made it fun, though. They were there doing Cos Play before Cos Play was a thing. There were some interesting people wandering the halls, I can tell you. 

The year I was at the convention William Gibson won the Hugo for Neuromancer. I wasn't a fan. For me David R. Palmer's Emergence was a much better novel. (I wonder if I were to read these novels again if I would feel the same way?) There was some pretty stiff competition that year. Vernor Vinge was up for the Peace War, Robert Heinlen had been nominated for Job: A Comedy of Justice, and Larry Niven took a nod for The Integral Trees. All of them amazing and notable novels. I think Gibson won because his novel was different. It had sky that was the colour of television tuned to a dead channel. Hey, that's all I remember about the book. 

I find the voting system confusing. It seems that each member of the governing body has five votes and casts a vote in any one of five categories. You can vote for the same thing five times, but apparently this counts as one vote. I dunno either. But that's how it goes. 

My beef with these award things coincides with my beef with things like Best 100 lists. It's totally subjective and driven by the person who compiled the list, or for that matter the corum who voted on the novels that were short listed. Take 1975 as an example. How do you decide between the Mote in God's Eye and Inverted World? Both excellent but very different novels. I love both books. These two awesome novels were pitted against Fire Time by Fred Pohl and Flow my tears the policeman said by Philip K Dick. The winner though was Ursula K. Le Guin with the Dispossessed. 

Wow. Heady company indeed. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with awards like this, as such, however, it strikes me that the Hugo's started going off the rails a bit at the start of the 2000s. either that or we have a singular lack of super high-quality SF being writen. Maybe the whole idea of teen driven dystopias has turned everyone off not just SF but their lunches. 

Why do I say this? Well, in 2001 J.K. Rowling won the gong for Harry Potter and the goblet of fire. correct me if I'm wrong, but much as I enjoyed the Harry Potter series, they aren't SF. I know they put the caveat on it that they include fantasy, but honestly, Harry Potter doesn't cling strictly to the fantasy genre either. Was it a good novel? Hey, it was a good read. Did it deserve a Hugo? I'm not so sure. 

I guess, though, at the end of the day, with things like best of lists and awards there will always be controversy, and there will always be those books that are left out in the cold, regardless of how good they might be. Generally, cream rises to the top, and we can all be glad of that.