Hugo Best Novel

by

📚1/2021: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1969 Hugo Best Novel

This was excellent, and rather remarkably topical for being 50+ years old. Addressing gender and politics personal and national, and though many points are quite dark, with definite hope.

by

📚 forty-three of 2020: The Nemesis from Terra (originally Shadow Over Mars) by Leigh Brackett ⭐️⭐️ 1945 Retro Hugo Best Novel

Rather amazing to think that this is just a year before Asimov’s Foundation win. If this was the best of ‘45, that was a bad year for SF.

by

📚 thirty-nine of 2020: Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1969 Hugo Best Novel

While it was good, it was so tough right now to read a cynical dystopian novel about overpopulation, eugenics, and colonialism, featuring endemic racism and sexism, that it was a real slog.

by

📚 twenty-three of 2020: Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1968 Hugo Best Novel

A neat blending of western SF sensibilities with the Indian pantheon of gods; enjoyed this one more than I expected given that I didn’t much like Zelazny’s prior Hugo winner.

by

📚 nineteen of 2020: The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1967 Hugo Best Novel

Once again, Heinlein has strong and interesting SF (the moon declaring independence) coupled with politics I don’t entirely go for and serious issues with women and sexism.

by

📚 sixteen of 2020: This Immortal by Roger Zelazny ⭐️⭐️ 1966 Hugo Best Novel

Meh. Maybe it’s a combination of mid-60s SF and the current pandemic stress, and I might have been more receptive at another time, but this was a slog.

by

📚 three of 2020: Dune, by Frank Herbert ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1966 Hugo Best Novel

This one (mostly) holds up well; still an excellent book, with its mix of SF adventure, ecological messages, political maneuvering, and religious themes. Well worth the re-read after many years.

by

📚 sixty of 2019: The Wanderer, by Fritz Leiber. ⭐️⭐️ 1965 Hugo Best Novel

Veers wildly between interesting concepts (a planet the size of Earth appears in Earth’s orbit, affecting tectonics, tides, etc.), and incredibly dated plots that do not age well.

by

📚 fifty-seven of 2019: Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1964 Hugo Best Novel

Excellent book, mostly quiet and contemplative, as one man struggles with both his and humanity’s place in the galaxy. An introspective and ultimately hopeful piece.

by

📚 fifty-five of 2019: The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1963 Hugo Best Novel

Fascinating partly for the primary alt history, but also for other alternatives and the ruminations on those, an author’s intent, and the characters’ realizations.