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mission accomplished
Jul. 29th, 2002 02:24 pmI have accomplished my goal of reading all six Hugo-nominated novels! Yay! Now all I have to do is figure out in the next two days which one to vote for. Groan!
Non-spoilery summaries of my opinion on each:
Lois McMaster Bujold, Curse of Chalion -- Great world-building and plotting, interesting if sometimes two-dimensional characters, fairly satisfying ending.
Neil Gaiman, American Gods -- Interesting but not very original concept, good writing, nice ending twist, but ultimately just an okay story. I didn't care as much about the characters as I would have liked to.
Ken MacLeod, Cosmonaut Keep -- Decent concept, interesting world-building, only moderately interesting characters, lots of plot holes and poorly resolved/constructed plot-threads. (I wrote a more complete review, with spoilers, here.)
China Mieville, Perdido Street Station -- Fabulous writing, very intriguing plot, very horror-movie-esque. But with a very unsatisfying ending.
Connie Willis, Passage -- Extremely interesting concept, great writing and pacing, typical interesting/amusing/sympathetic Willis characters. But I'm deeply ambivalent about the ending.
Robert Charles Wilson, The Chronoliths -- Interesting concept, decent writing, poor pacing, and an ending that made me want to yell, "But wait, you didn't RESOLVE anything!!!"
I pretty much have it narrowed down to the Mieville, the Willis, or the Bujold. I may end up flipping a coin or something. It's a hard decision!!
I'd love to discuss any of these books. If I have time, maybe I'll do some spoilery posts later on, in case anyone reading this is interested in discussing.
Non-spoilery summaries of my opinion on each:
Lois McMaster Bujold, Curse of Chalion -- Great world-building and plotting, interesting if sometimes two-dimensional characters, fairly satisfying ending.
Neil Gaiman, American Gods -- Interesting but not very original concept, good writing, nice ending twist, but ultimately just an okay story. I didn't care as much about the characters as I would have liked to.
Ken MacLeod, Cosmonaut Keep -- Decent concept, interesting world-building, only moderately interesting characters, lots of plot holes and poorly resolved/constructed plot-threads. (I wrote a more complete review, with spoilers, here.)
China Mieville, Perdido Street Station -- Fabulous writing, very intriguing plot, very horror-movie-esque. But with a very unsatisfying ending.
Connie Willis, Passage -- Extremely interesting concept, great writing and pacing, typical interesting/amusing/sympathetic Willis characters. But I'm deeply ambivalent about the ending.
Robert Charles Wilson, The Chronoliths -- Interesting concept, decent writing, poor pacing, and an ending that made me want to yell, "But wait, you didn't RESOLVE anything!!!"
I pretty much have it narrowed down to the Mieville, the Willis, or the Bujold. I may end up flipping a coin or something. It's a hard decision!!
I'd love to discuss any of these books. If I have time, maybe I'll do some spoilery posts later on, in case anyone reading this is interested in discussing.
