Wow, that battle for best novel of 1953 is rough. Which do you pick? To me its a two book race between Fahrenheit 451 and Childhood's End. I'd probably vote for F 451, but I wouldn't argue with CE.

The only recent novel for the Hugo that I've read is Singularity Sky. I'd say I'd vote for Illium over it, even though I haven't read Illium yet. Not that SS was bad (it wasn't) but I don't think it warrents a Hugo.

Posted by jp on Friday April 09, 2004 at 11:28 PM at 11:28 PM

I would choose Blind Lake over Singularity Sky (the only two I've read from the novel category), but I know that Sky is the favorite.

Posted by John on Saturday April 10, 2004 at 12:18 AM at 12:18 AM

Retro Hugo: My vote goes to Caves of Steel. Maybe it's because I've read the other two (Childhood's End and F451) so many times they don't feel as "fresh".

Posted by FredKiesche on Saturday April 10, 2004 at 6:40 AM at 6:40 AM

I've read all nominees for the retro novel category.

• The Caves of Steel ? Isaac Asimov - This first robot novel is his best robot novel. A finely crafted detective story. The society Asimov sets up (spacers, robots, etc.) is creative and the story moves quickly. How can you hate the book that introduces R. Daneel Olivaw?
  
• Fahrenheit 451 ? Ray Bradbury - The intriguiing concept of outlawed books marks this classic. The only compliant I had was that Bradbury's lyrical writing style started to get annoying after a while. I rated it a 4 out of 5.
  
• Childhood's End ? Arthur C. Clarke - An engrossing tale about the transcendance of mankind. As usual, Clarke's writing style shines through in his clear descriptions, immersive plots and cool SF ideas.
  
• Mission of Gravity ? Hal Clement - A hard SF classic. Clement's starightforward story is enhanced by the cool physics of the M&M shaped world of Mesklin where gravity uncreases as you approach the poles. Cool concept. The worst thing I could say about MOG is that the writing style was a bit dry. So I rated it a 4 out of 5.
  
• More than Human ? Theodore Sturgeon - Of all authors, nominted or otherwise, Sturgeon's style is the best. Every sentence is a finely crafted work of art and it shows. I found myself many times just smiling at the simplest of sentences. Sturgeon proves the power of the written word again and again. More Than Human is a collection ("fixup") of 3 excellent novelettes that, taken together, tell the story of five people who make up a single gestalt entity.
  

Posted by John on Saturday April 10, 2004 at 11:38 AM at 11:38 AM

Uncreases? Thanks for lowering our Lix score...

Posted by jp on Saturday April 10, 2004 at 1:56 PM at 1:56 PM

Update:

Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions" has replaced Judith Merril's "Daughters of Earth" as a nominee in the novella category, due to prior (1952) publication of Merril's story

Posted by John on Friday April 16, 2004 at 1:09 PM at 1:09 PM