24 thoughts on “FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #490: AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF THE HUGOS: A PERSONAL LOOK BACK AT THE HUGO AWARDS, 1953-2000 By Jo Walton”

1. Steve Oerkfitz August 17, 2018 at 2:10 am

   I bought a copy online but haven’t received it yet. Read a lot of these at Tor.com. She usually is right on , but has a few prejudices. She doesn’t like Philip K. Dick for one and is very fond of C.J. Cherryh and Lois Bujold. The later two writers I have always found unreadable. I envy the fact she can read 3 books in an afternoon. I usually only average 3 a week.

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   1. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 7:34 am

      Steve, I’m with you on Cherryh and Lois McMaster Bujold. I’ve found Philip K. Dick to be a very uneven writer. PKD wrote the amazing MARTIAN TIME-SLIP and the perplexing THE ZAP GUN. Hard to believe the same writer wrote two wildly different books!

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2. Jeff Meyerson August 17, 2018 at 6:53 am

   This has been on my radar since I first heard about it. I loved her WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO GREAT (and like Steve, I envy how fast she reads), and I’ve enjoyed several of her other books, including her Alternate History/Small Change trilogy: Farthing, Ha’penny, and Half a Crown.

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   1. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 7:36 am

      Jeff, I like Jo Walton’s novels, too. Walton did an astonishing amount of research to produce AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF THE HUGOS!

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      1. Jeff Meyerson August 17, 2018 at 8:12 am

         Jeff Smith likes Bujold. Walton sure praises her books a lot in WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO GREAT, but they don’t appeal to me.
      2. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 9:12 am

         Jeff, same here. I’ve read a couple Bujold SF novels and came away wondering what all the fuss was about.
3. wolf August 17, 2018 at 9:09 am

   I miss P JFarmer – he won two Hugos during this time.

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   1. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 9:14 am

      Wolf, I remember reading Philip Jose Farmer’s To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971–the first Riverworld novel–and being completely blown away!

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      1. wolf August 17, 2018 at 3:07 pm

         Me too!
         Incredible!
         And “World of Tiers” like Dayworld also were unbelievable – out of the ordinary …
         He really was special – and his sexy novels … 🙂
      2. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 4:29 pm

         Wolf, Philip Jose Farmer is a very underrated writer. I may post a review of his work in an upcoming FFB.
4. Rick Robinson August 17, 2018 at 10:35 am

   I’m reading it now, in ebook. I just started 1994.

   You failed to mention that the Nebula, Campbell, Locus and other awards are also discussed for each year they were given, and compared to the Hugo lists. Also, there are significant comments by both Gardner Dozois and Rich Horton, both very knowledgable about the field and the awards, on the novel, novelette and novella awards and lists as well as the short story awards and what may have been missed by the nomination committees. It’s these discussions that keep this book from just being a book of lists.

   Walton certainly does have her prejudices, or preferences, if you prefer. In almost every case she tells us the work she’d vote for is by a woman. She won’t read a nominee if she didn’t like a previous book by that author. So this is a very subjective look at the nominations and awards given. All that said, I have put holds on a few things at the library after reading (mostly Horton’s) the comments.

   Overall, interesting as much of it is, I’d give this a B.

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   1. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 10:56 am

      Rick, you make good points about the comments of Gardner Dozois and Rich Horton in AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF THE HUGOS. Jo Walton provides a very subjective assessment of the stories. You’re right about there being plenty to disagree with in her personal opinions. But all in all, this an important book that will generate controversy and debate about some great stories.

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      1. Rick Robinson August 17, 2018 at 11:14 am

         Oh, and it WAS going to be my FFB for next week. You beat me to it.
      2. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 11:40 am

         Rick, I for one would love to read your review of AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF THE HUGOS either as an FFB or otherwise. There’s no rule that only one person can review a specific title.
5. Jerry House August 17, 2018 at 11:28 am

   I haven’t read a Hugo (or Nebula) winning novel in years. I know that has made miss a lot of great books, but I suspect it also made me miss quite a few turkeys. Awards…hah!

   And get off my lawn!

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   1. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 11:44 am

      Jerry, back in the 1960s and 1970s I read all the Hugo Award winners. Later, I read the Nebula Award winners, too. But sometime around the 1990s, I stopped because many of the Award winners disappointed me. Like you, I’ve become more skeptical about Award winners.

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6. Rick Robinson August 17, 2018 at 1:53 pm

   It was clear to me when I read this (finished an hour ago) when it was that I started reading a lot less SFF and a lot more mystery fiction. Suddenly I didn’t recognize as many of the authors. I still think it’s worth trying the shortlisted Hugo and Nebula books, but U always ready to bail out if I’m not enjoying them. The book makes it clear the shorter works, Novelettes and Novellas, are where a lot of the quality lies, and those are harder to go back and find.

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   1. wolf August 17, 2018 at 3:12 pm

      Totally agree with you re the higher quality of shorter works!

      Often I had the feeling that publishers and editors kind of forced authors to expand a novella/novelette into a novel – and that often meant a lot of filling …

      PS and rather OT:
      I found the terms novella/novelette when I started to read SF – they weren’t used in German … 🙂
      we just said “short story”.

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      1. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 4:30 pm

         Wolf, I think the term “novella” began to be applied to SF stories in the 1960s.
   2. george Post authorAugust 17, 2018 at 4:28 pm

      Rick, like you I read more mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels and fewer SF novels from the 1990s to date.

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7. tracybham August 18, 2018 at 12:32 pm

   Even though ( read much less fantasy or science fiction than mystery novels, I read all of WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO GREAT, so I am sure I will enjoy this one too. I have read the books in the Small Change trilogy and I read Among Others. I am wondering if I should try her dragon series.

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8. George Kelley August 18, 2018 at 1:11 pm

   Tracy, you can’t go wrong with Jo Walton!

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9. Jim Harris August 19, 2018 at 8:03 pm

   Another book for my pile. I’m off to buy the ebook.

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   1. george Post authorAugust 20, 2018 at 6:58 am

      Jim, you will find Jo Walton’s book a goldmine of information!

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