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A review by christinecc
An Informal History of the Hugos by Jo Walton
5.0
This was such a great idea! I'm not very well-read in fantasy and sci-fi, although for the life of me I couldn't tell you why because those were my main genres for ages. I guess when I made an effort to read other things, the pendulum swung too far the other way.
Jo Walton's a great writer and she has such varied interests that I figured her advice and insights must be trustworthy. And sure enough, she has lots of fascinating recommendations here. This book didn't just teach me what the awards were going for and what kinds of sci-fi and fantasy was receiving praise and attention for the last few decades. It also added a gazillion authors to my TBR list (like Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, Poul Anderson, George Effinger, Alexei Panshin, Roger Zelazny, and C.J. Cherryh, to name a few).
So if you've had a taste of sci-fi and want to know what's out there (and maybe take some advice from someone who's read a LOT of these), why not start with some history?
(Great, now I'm torn between this and the Hobbit Duology for this year's "Best Related Work" award. The book doesn't give advice on how to vote, WHAT NOW??)
Jo Walton's a great writer and she has such varied interests that I figured her advice and insights must be trustworthy. And sure enough, she has lots of fascinating recommendations here. This book didn't just teach me what the awards were going for and what kinds of sci-fi and fantasy was receiving praise and attention for the last few decades. It also added a gazillion authors to my TBR list (like Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, Poul Anderson, George Effinger, Alexei Panshin, Roger Zelazny, and C.J. Cherryh, to name a few).
So if you've had a taste of sci-fi and want to know what's out there (and maybe take some advice from someone who's read a LOT of these), why not start with some history?
(Great, now I'm torn between this and the Hobbit Duology for this year's "Best Related Work" award. The book doesn't give advice on how to vote, WHAT NOW??)