2007 Hugo Nominations

I am not a member of the WSFS and therefore not eligible to vote or nominate for the Hugo. This doesn’t bother me much, but I've decided to share what I would nominate if I could. I don’t feel I’m qualified to speak for nominations in categories other than best novel, so my comments are limited to best novel only.

It is very important to note that there is a very good rule change this year according to Kevin Standlee. I’m quoting this from comments he gave at William Lexner’s Hugo post.

…the Business Meeting may (and in 2006 did) pass a eligibility-extension resolution providing that works originally published outside the United States of America and first published in the United States of America in 2006 shall also be eligible for Hugo Awards given in the following year. Therefore, those works published previously in the UK and Australia are eligible for the 2007 Hugo Awards if their first US publication was in 2006.

If a book that was released outside of the US previously got a Hugo nomination (such as River of Gods by Ian McDonald) it is not eligible for a second nomination (which makes sense).

The following are books that I would nominate (or consider nominating) for best novel.

Vellum by Hal Duncan. With the rule change this is eligible, and would get my vote to win, no matter what it’s up against. It’s an amazing work. (review)

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik. A very fun and new approach to dragons – definitely a recommended read and deserves a nomination, but not the win. (review)

The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker. This is the best fantasy series to come around in years. Bakker deserves the nomination for this conclusion to his excellent trilogy, and I certainly wouldn’t complain too loudly if he won (though I don’t think he has a chance in hell of even getting nominated – too bad). (review)

Infoquake by David Louis Edelman. A new twist on sci-fi as the corporate board room of the future takes center stage. This is an excellent debut novel and should appeal to usual Hugo-voting crowd. (review)

Mappa Mundi by Justina Robson. A great hard sci-fi thriller that will make you think. It’s another book that should appeal to the Hugo crowd, and has earned the right to be nominated. (review)

The Crooked Letter by Sean Williams. This is dark fantasy as I’ve not seen it before. Another work deserving of nomination. (review)

So, those are the books that I’ve read that I feel deserve nomination. There are a few that I haven’t read yet, that I trust do indeed deserve nomination. These include:

• The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
• Blindsight by Peter Watts
• Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy

So, nominate books if you can, and vote when the finalists come out. If you're like me and can't, know that the above books are probably worth reading.

EDIT: For those that are members of the WSFS and are going to nominate for the Hugo awards, you should read this post by Patrick Nielsen Hayden which points out some important errors in the nominating form.