Elitist Book Reviews

This year's nominations are all very different and good in their own way, but only one really stood out to me and will get my vote (read them yourself and decide which one is worth your vote!). We'll cover the others first:

"The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling" by Ted Chiang (Subterranean, Fall 2013) at first threw me off because it reads like an essay--which is essentially what it is, but it's merely another way to tell the PoV character's story. Technology has made perfect memory available to every human being via a product called Remem that not only records one's life, but you can instantly search for events and replay them. Had an argument with your wife and she swears you're wrong? Simply run a search and find out. In parallel, Chiang tells the story of Jijingi, a young man from a simple village who learns writing from a missionary. Chiang's prose is easy to read, the tone conversational. We follow the thought process as the PoV character works through the issues involved in instant memory and insists that sometimes it's better to forget, otherwise forgiveness is difficult. But then he learns an important lesson about himself as a result of instant memory...and for most readers it's that revelation that made this story nominatable, but to me it felt disingenuous and preachy. I finished it without the satisfaction I usually expect at the end of short works.

"Opera Vita Aeterna" by Vox Day (THE LAST WITCHKING, Marcher Lord Hinterlands) is a fantasy about magician-elf Bessarias who travels to an abbey to discover how men of faith obtain power to perform their miracles. He asks to stay and learn, but the abbot makes him promise not to use his magic while there. An unlikely friendship is formed as they discuss theology and other topics, and Bessarias discovers a love of illuminating sacred texts. But his stay there is interrupted once a year as his demon familiar attempts to convince his elf master to return home. Here the prose isn't as clean as the other authors', Day tends to wander in his story and wording, giving "Opera" a fairy-tale feel. While it was interesting, I didn't find the story as compelling as it could have been, mostly as a result of a lack of attachment to the characters.

"The Waiting Stars" by Aliette de Bodard (THE OTHER HALF OF THE SKY, Candlemark & Gleam) was hard to follow at first, the plot not telegraphed early on--which threw me off since it's a short work. Fortunately, the author is able to say a lot in few words, and the story begins to blossom when we meet Catherine, who is stuck in an institution, the circumstances unclear as to why she's there or why she yearns to travel out into space. At the same time Lan and her cousin Cuc work to rescue their family spaceship from the Outsiders, who've captured the ships and the Minds that power them. De Bodard weaves a compelling story as we attempt to understand the mystery of Catherine's situation and also the interesting culture of Lan and Cuc. I finished the story feeling like there's so much potential in the world-building--the shortness of "The Waiting Stars" was a disappointment because there was still so much to learn about these fascinating people (not necessarily a bad thing!).

"The Exchange Officers" by Brad Torgersen (Analog, Jan-Feb 2013) is about an American space station where the "astronauts" are avatar-like proxies that are controlled by military "Operators" from a safe distance on Earth. The Chinese have decided to try to take over the incomplete space station, and Chopper (Warrant Officer Dan Jaraczuk) and Chesty (Warrant Officer Mavy Stoddard) are the only Operators able to fight back after the initial EMP. Torgersen jumps from action to flashback--where they meet and begin training with the proxies. He has complete control of the story, it never lags, but still gives you the information you need to begin liking these characters and understand the delicacy of their situation. It's a fun story with an unexpected ending--my second favorite of the nominations.

"The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal (maryrobinettekowal.com/Tor.com, 09-2013) tells us that humans have been settling Mars since the 1950s, all thanks to the lady astronaut Elma. Now Elma is in her 60s, long past the age for any more space missions, no matter how badly she wants to go. But even if there were to be a mission, her beloved husband Nathanial only has a little while longer to live. Then she's approached by the director of the Bradbury Space Center on Mars for a solo mission from which she might not come back. Now she must make a painful decision: leave Nathanial before his death and feel guilt over it for the rest of her life, or turn down the mission and regret her one last chance to be in space again. Kowal is a beautiful writer, full of emotion, even if it's not the grand epic variety--I think it's the closer-to-home stories that touch us best. Here Kowal moves us to Mars where one would think that life would be different, but then shows us that no matter where we go the human experience remains the same. I teared up because the story so lovely.

So maybe I'm a sap for a sweet love story, even if it's for a couple of geriatric astronauts, but "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" gets my vote for the 2014 Hugo.

So I've been getting a lot of questions about the Hugo Award nominations this year. I've been thinking about it all since I was notified of the nomination, and I honestly still don't know how to feel. Mostly. Kinda.

Let's start with the basics. Here are Elitist Book Reviews, we are nominated for our second straight Hugo Award for Best Fanzine! This is completely awesome, and not something I ever thought possible. When I started EBR with a good friend, I just wanted to write reviews for novels. I wanted to recommend the books I loved to everyone. EBR was my outlet for that love of fiction in all forms.

So I want to thank everyone who nominated us. All of us here at EBR put in a tremendous amount of work to make sure this little review blog stays active. Each reviewer here has stepped up when things have gotten rough for the others. That's who we are. Again, thank you, each and every one of you who nominated Elitist Book Reviews. The nomination is something that gives us great pride in our work, yet also amazes us and humbles us.

So what's the competition like? What are our chances? Well, as to the first question, the competition is fabulous. Just look at this list:

The Book Smugglers
A Dribble of Ink
Journey Planet
Pornokitsch

Seriously, just go look at their sites. They each do different things, and they are each terrific. The great thing is that these are some of the sites that I've enjoyed visiting over the past several years, and I love the...newness, I suppose?...of the Fanzine category. I love that there will be a completely new winner. I imagine that winner will be The Book Smugglers or Pornokitsch in some sort of crushing victory that will leave our jaws on the floor. That said, anyone in the category would be just fine by me. They are all top-rate people based on my limited experiences with them.

As for the rest of the nominations? I'd say they are certainly varied, and some come with a measure of drama. I hadn't heard of Vox Day before hand, and I'm not thrilled (to put it mildly) by some of his antics and views. However, I was pleased to see many of my nominations pass through. Here are some of my favorites:

Speculative Fiction 2012: The Best Online Reviews, Essays and Commentary, by Justin Landon & Jared Shurin (Jurassic London) in Best Related Work.

The Best Professional Artist category is just killer this year. Seriously, look it up. Good grief. It's stunning work.

The Butcher of Khardov by Dan Wells. I love Dan's writing. He's one of my favorite Horror authors. But his story for Privateer Press is something different. Much like how I though Brandon Sanderson's novella last year was the finest piece of fiction he'd produced, I kinda feel the same about this bit from Dan Wells. I haven't personally reviewed it because I'm under contract with the same company. Conflict of interests on a professional level, but I can still say it's freaking amazing.

Fan writer has some awesome people in it. Kameron Hurley is terrific (both in fiction and non, as this award is for the latter), and Mark Oshiro is awesome (had a panel with him in San Antonio, and he has tremendous insight and such a different viewpoint on life).

Both Long- and Short-Form Editors have several of my nominations on them.

The John W. Campbell Award has me very excited. While I'm sad Brian McClellan isn't on there, seeing both Max Gladstone (high-five, man!) and Wesley Chu on there made be want to fist-pump in the air.

If I didn't mention a person by name, it doesn't mean I hate that person or anything. Life tends to get a bit busy if you are the Finance Manager for a Department of Defense Contractor, so I admit to not knowing everything or everyone this year. This does, however, lead me into my next bit of commentary.

Do you want to know how I determine who I vote for? It's a super-involved process. Highly secret. Spies try to get it from me on a regular basis. Serious business, and all that. Here it is:

I read it all. I look at it all. Listen to it all. Whatever the case may be. Then, whichever thing I like the best gets my vote. There has been all sorts of controversy lately with voting and people's politics and who they know and who nominated them and blah blah blah.

I care about the work.

This isn't just about the Hugos, but in general, if your work bores me, I say I don't like it. If I had fun while reading it, or felt edified, or thought it was the best thing since a root beer float with cookies n' creme ice cream, then I say I like it. Doesn't really matter much to me whether I like you as a person or not. Or whether I agree with you or not. I can read and love China Miéville, Joe Lansdale, Larry Correia, Sarah Pinborough, Dan Wells, Steven Erikson, Mark Lawrence, Marie Brennan, Brandon Sanderson and Robert McCammon. I can also dislike anything those same people write that just doesn't do it for me. Why?

I care about the work.

Seriously, look though EBR's archive of reviews. Do I look like I give a crap about anything other than a good read? Look at the reviews by my amazing reviewers. Last I checked, they want to be entertained. Doesn't matter how authors and artists go about it. Have you seen me on panels at conventions? I'm mostly there trying not to sound like an idiot when I'm along side  awesome folks like Joe Haldeman or Joshua Bilmes or L.E. Modesitt. I'm there to share my love of what I do.

So you know what? I'm gonna read the nominated works in all the categories. Then I'll decide for my own personal ballot. And I'll prolly post it here on EBR. Because why not?

Remember, EBR was made as an outlet for this ex-bookstore guy to channel his love for books. I brought on reviewers who held that same excitement. The excitement for the works these wonderful and varied artists produce.

So, excuse me while I go about geeking out about the nomination, and the terrific company EBR is in on the ballot.

I've got some books to read.