by Doctor Science (sorry for stepping on your post, lj, but I wanted to get this up before voting closes.)
Due to an ongoing family medical crisis, I just barely finished voting for the Hugo Awards. I’ve been rushing to finish what reading/viewing I can before the deadline (2am Eastern Sunday morning). Here’s what I’ve decided.
Best Series. You can tell my household includes Typical Hugo Voters, because of the six series nominated we have complete runs of *four*, mostly in hardcover. I had very little reading to do for this category. My ballot, in reverse order:
7. Seanan McGuire, October Daye: I read the first one and it didn’t work for me. Nor do I find it on a level with the other nominees.
6. No Award.
5. Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London. An excellent urban fantasy, but doesn’t quite open up the world for me the way the other nominees do (it’s a tough field!)
4. James S.A. Corey, The Expanse. Another excellent series, only knocked down so low because
3. Naomi Novik, Temeraire is by a friend. Also dragons+Age of Sail, perfect together! I suspect it reads better to me than it might to other people because I know Naomi’s writing well enough to know what she means even when she doesn’t actually say it.
2. Max Gladstone, The Craft Sequence. Not merely an excellent series, it’s actually doing something new: an alternate magical history with capitalist gods. I just wish there was a map!
1. Lois Bujold, Vorkosigan. By far the longest & most varied of the nominees. It’s the one that has been growing with me for decades, parts of which I’ve re-read many times, so it’s hard to separate my love of the series from my life. Just as important for my decision is that it has periods of lightness, humor, and grace: fantasy of manners. Complexity and darkness are all very well, but comedy is REALLY hard. And in these difficult, Interesting Times, it’s more necessary than ever to have something that can give a feeling of light-hearted joy – while reminding us to honor “Persons before principles.”
Cut for length.