Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

Greetings Brian!

A couple of weeks ago I have finally finished compiling both Hugo and Nebula lists with the same exact goal at heart that you have written about in the group description. So imagine my surprise finding a like-minded reader on my very first attempt at finding a group suited for me.

With that being said, I however must also confess that I am not really an active social media buff so I cannot promise being a proactive member of the group.

In any case, the best of luck with grinding through some of the most amazing literature ever written. *attempts a clumsy virtual fist bump*

If you get a chance, share your thought as you progress through the list. I still have three other books to finish before I start reading Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky, the book which is an honorary Hugo recipient and the first on my list

Welcome Art! I'm also very glad to find others with the same goal!

I was thinking about doing a list for the Nebula winners too. But when I finished the Hugo list...I started to release just how much of a challenge I sent for myself.

Right now, I've finished about 35 books on the list. All of them were unintentional. It was reading those books and enjoying them such that I had to look up what was this Hugo Award. I made a list in good reads, but there doesn't seem to be a way to move my personal list over to the group. I'll probably transfer them all over on Monday.

Anyway, currently I'm finishing up the 4th book from Destiny's Crucible. Then I'll start on one from the list.

Hey there Brian. Just finished another one of Zelazny's books (as a satisfying experience as ever), so I'm down to two more paperbacks to go through before getting started with THE list.

I was wondering however if it was possible to compile a list using Group's bookshelf, could even compile separate two, one for the winners and the other for the nominees. This way everyone interested can have quick access to the reference list.

I think that is a great idea. I'll work on that. Would you be willing to add a list for the Nebula winners? Might as well get everything!

I suppose I could do that, this is what I used for reference: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebul...

Not sure if I have the permissions needed in order to add shelves and titles to Group's bookshelf. Maybe I missed something, so I will give it a look later just to be sure.

I've made you a moderator. That should give you the ability to make lists.

Art wrote: "I suppose I could do that, this is what I used for reference: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebul...

Not sure if I have the permissions needed in order to add shelves and titl..."

I just added the Nebula Winners and Runner Ups to my Hugo Award Winners and Runner Ups spread sheet. If you want to add the winners to that list you made, I'll start working on the runner ups.

I'm going to have to change the name of the group, lol.

I had a go at it earlier, seemed to work just fine. I will complete Nebula winners' list even though it might take a few days, just bear with me!

Exceptional job on Hugos by the way.

Thank you! No rush on the list making. I've just had some free time to work on the lists.

Hi, thanks for the invitation Art, I've been looking for a sci-fi group to take part in for a while now. I looked at the hugo list and I don't have many books from it, but I do have books by some of the same authors like Cherryh and Heinlein. Would it be acceptable if I chose one of these books to read for the group?

Notable books I own, but haven't read would be; The Star Beast, Xenocide, Perelandra, Downbelow Station, Doomsday book, and Grass. If possible I'd like to do a Sheri Tepper book.

Welcome Opalears! Glad to see you here and that you seem to have some of the books from our 'to read' list. Apart from Hugos, feel free to check out the Nebula lists as well, both of them contain some of the finest works of fiction ever written.

As for a book nomination, feel free to suggest a title in the Monthly read thread, I also happen to have some of the titles you listed and would be more than happy to second a nomination for a book that all of us have.

Welcome once more!

It's great to see new members pouring in, can hardly wait to see what other nominations we are getting for March.

Welcome everyone!

Hi
I hope this would be a great discussion group! I've read SF&F voraciously as a teenager but then education and work made me almost abandon all fiction. A few years ago I decided to renew my SF&F reading and in order to get the best (there are too many potentially good books!) I started checking Hugo and Nebula shortlists and read them. I also plan to read all the old ones since the awards have been introduced.

Welcome everyone! I'm so excited to find more people interested in this goal of reading the awarded best books!

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything this weekend. It has been a very busy weekend for me.

I see we keep getting new members, welcome everyone it's fantastic to see the group grow! These upcoming months there will be more features revolving around book nominations and more polls introduced, keep an eye out for those since we value your feedback.

Feel free to write a word or two about yourself in this thread.

Welcome Dean and thanks for accepting my invitation. There's still a day or two for you to vote for our monthly reads if you feel like it!

Hello one and all! It is nice to see some new faces! If you like, you can tell us a bit about yourself or what drew you to our group? Feel free to jump in on any of our conversations or if you would like to start up a new one!

Hello all. I'm a writer living in London and I am a regular reviewer - currently for the British Fantasy Society. There are some truly great books on the list(s) of award-winners here! Le Guin, Delany, Zelazny ... and many more.

Ritchie wrote: "Hello all. I'm a writer living in London and I am a regular reviewer - currently for the British Fantasy Society. There are some truly great books on the list(s) of award-winners here! Le Guin, Del..."

Welcome Ritchie! I look forward to reading your comments on our monthly books.

Ritchie wrote: "Hello all. I'm a writer living in London and I am a regular reviewer - currently for the British Fantasy Society. There are some truly great books on the list(s) of award-winners here! Le Guin, Del..."

Greetings Ritchie, welcome aboard. We can surely use an expert on fantasy here! Hope our first challenge as a group will satisfy the cravings of fantasy lovers (yes Kate, I'm looking at you).

Hello,
A couple of years I started noticing the Hugo award/ Nebula award labels on some of the sf/fantasy books I was reading. Never looked these awards up until I read George Martin 's blog entries on something that was called "Puppygate" and which concerned the Hugo. Now I know there are a lot of interesting books on both the Hugo and the Nebula award list and I 'd like to read a few more of them. Not sure about all, but one can always try. :-)

Hi, LuthienDillon
Welcome abroad! It is true that not every awarded book is to everyone's tastes, but nevertheless these two awards aim to find "the best of the year" thus if you want to find new authors/books they are better than a random choice :)

Thank you! What I mean is, I'm not sure if it is possible to read all the awarded books on one single lifetime. ;-)

LuthienDillon wrote: "Thank you! What I mean is, I'm not sure if it is possible to read all the awarded books on one single lifetime. ;-)"

It gives you the reason to live long enough :D

I absolutely agree that there's not enough time in our lifetimes to read all these book, but we should all aim high!

LuthienDillon wrote: "Hello,
A couple of years I started noticing the Hugo award/ Nebula award labels on some of the sf/fantasy books I was reading. Never looked these awards up until I read George Martin 's blog entri..."

Glad to have you join us, Luthien. One thing for certain is that this group has enriched the experience of enjoying the award-winning books, if anything. I am not one for social media, but Goodreads and everyone in this group's helped me organise the books I've always wanted to read.

Members nominating titles they are interested in is one of the aspects that make the group so appealing. Bryan always brings something interesting to the table, you can always rely on Oleksandr to nominate something classy and Kate's an inexhaustible fount of information on fantasy and various series.

Even if some of the titles I've read here as group reads didn't entirely thrill me, I still enjoyed having the opportunity to read those books.

Can't wait to see what other exciting reads people will nominate, especially since I am dead against reading synopses so every second read is a pleasant surprise to me.

Welcome LuthienDillon! It always makes me smile to see a new member! Feel free to jump in!

I started reading sci-fi and fantasy as a teenager and noticed that I really enjoyed books that had the label Nebula or Hugo Award Winner. Those were the books that I started consciously looking for in used book stores before the days of easily accessible award winner lists. In 2000 I decided that I needed to read all of the winners. It took me 13 years to read all the Nebulas and I have 1 book left of the Hugos, The Forever Machine (They'd Rather Be Right).
I'm excited to join the discussions on these books! I look forward to the new winners and nominees every year that keeps me on my toes!

Robin wrote: " It took me 13 years to read all the Nebulas and I have 1 book left of the Hugos, The Forever Machine (They'd Rather Be Right). "

Wow, that is impressive and inspiring to our group. I look forward to reading your input on the various books.

Robin wrote: "I started reading sci-fi and fantasy as a teenager and noticed that I really enjoyed books that had the label Nebula or Hugo Award Winner. Those were the books that I started consciously looking fo..."

You are indeed very welcome here, I bet it was a rather fun journey for you during those 13 years. I have barely scratched the surface of the treasure trove that is Hugo (and Nebula) and some of those books already found themselves on my "all-time favorites" bookshelf.

Bryan wrote: "Robin wrote: " It took me 13 years to read all the Nebulas and I have 1 book left of the Hugos, The Forever Machine (They'd Rather Be Right). "

Wow, that is impressive and inspiring to our group. ..."

I think that what has surprised me the most about my goal is all of the books that I really dreaded to read, or took a while to get into, turned into books that really resonated with me. Cyteen, Stand on Zanzibar, and Red Mars are examples of that. Even novels that I felt weren't quite my favorites were still worth the read as a "history of sci-fi" lesson for me. I love the new concepts in the 60's that are just givens in today's writing.

Art wrote: "Robin wrote: "I started reading sci-fi and fantasy as a teenager and noticed that I really enjoyed books that had the label Nebula or Hugo Award Winner. Those were the books that I started consciou..."

There are so many good books to read. These awards really pared down the overwhelming options of novels to read and introduced me to so many of my favorite writers.

I'm glad there is a group that's so like-minded. I turned 61 this year and resolved to read a lot more this year. I'm not getting any younger, so I figured why not read the best? It was always kind of a "someday I want to read that" goal, but the added focus has made in into "read it asap." I'd already read many of the winners, but there are many I haven't and I've never really tracked the nominees (though I do now in WWE). Just started on Ancillary Justice (double winner) after finding a copy in the used bookstore today. I've been prowling the stores frequently looking for the ones I don't have on my shelf, and finding a few other gems along the way!

Allan wrote: "I'm glad there is a group that's so like-minded. I turned 61 this year and resolved to read a lot more this year. I'm not getting any younger, so I figured why not read the best?"

Personally I've been trying to read all the classics of Sci-Fi for many years, but I kept getting sidetracked by so many other literary (and other, mostly unrelated) distractions. This group's really put focus on my goal, so even if I am busy or working my way through another title or two, I still try to finish my monthly reads and prepare for the upcoming ones.

I suppose that the tipping point for me was the vast availability of titles in digital format, I have lived and worked on three continents in my twenties and moving my library was never an option. It is not as satisfying as reading a proper book, what with its familiar texture under your fingers and the aroma of the print. Still, with all the sales and offers available online it is so easy to get the titles you are interested in.

There are also features on Goodreads that make the process of going through the list more entertaining, different members nominating surprisingly interesting titles and Bookshelves allow us to keep track of various genres.

I agree completely, Art! I've done exactly the same thing - work on the list generally but with many side excursions. The difference now is that I'm deliberately attacking the list. One thing that's helped is that I started listening to audio books. My ride to work is short but I tend to read in small chunks anyway. Shorter books with more action work well for me this way. But for me the thrill of the hunt for a hard copy adds fun and gratification. I love browsing through used bookstores and coming upon titles from the list I've never seen. I've found many of the slim 60's novels on $1 clearance racks. As a result, my bookshelf at home is loaded with Hugo/Nebula winners and other classics haven't read yet. I do have a Kindle app on my phone for places like the dentist's office. I buy the cheap old classics like Stapledon, Verne and work on those occasionally. But my main medium is paper.

Welcome Allan! It is great to find another sci-fi fan. I'll be very interested in hearing your input on the monthly reads, especially with your knowledge of the classics!

My journey into this list is a bit different you and Art's, but a lot like Robin's. I would be listening to books and found that my favorite ones always seemed to be a Hugo and/or Nebula nominations or winners. So I did some research on the Hugos and made a list. Then I met Art, who was interested in the Nebulas, so our list doubled! It has been a lot of fun meeting everyone and I've made a few good friends since we started this challenge.

I really do look forward to hearing your input on all the books we read. Kate is really good at find great deals online for everyone, so keep an eye out for her posts on that.

It's true there are lot of great books, and ... wait a minute, it's already been said ... 'art is long, and life is short'.
The best of SF and fantasy is worth some of our time, though!

Ritchie wrote: "It's true there are lot of great books, and ... wait a minute, it's already been said ... 'art is long, and life is short'.
The best of SF and fantasy is worth some of our time, though!"

lol. So true though!

Hello!
Glad to be here. I look forward to making new discoveries as well as visiting old favourites with the group. Thank you for having me!

Lilly wrote: "Hello!
Glad to be here. I look forward to making new discoveries as well as visiting old favourites with the group. Thank you for having me!"

Welcome Lilly! We are happy to have you and look forward to hearing your ideas about the books we read.

Steve said "Are they really that good?" Well, it depends upon what you like. Some I thought were "that good" and and others I didn't. So friendly disagreements. Right, Oleksander? It's fun discussing, though, and I like to think that we start to learn what others like so we can recommend books to them.

I love the ones that the group is reading now, but then Bujold is one of my faves.

Steve wrote: "Great idea for a group! The theme is exactly why I started reading again a little over a year ago. Most of my one bookshelf is filled with books that have been nominated or won for both or either t..."

Great to have you here with us, another curious mind to join the ranks of sci-fi and fantasy lovers. These award-winning books are well worth reading even though I can't say I enjoyed every single one of those I've read so far. Some of them don't age well, ringing too much of the times they were written in, but there are plenty of timeless pieces that just must be read by a fan of the two genres.

Another crucial advantage of this group (for me) have been the discussions, different points of view help you get the broader picture along with an odd eye-opening fact or two about a book or its contents.

In any case, welcome once more and thanks for participating in our Earthsea Challenge.

Appears that we've caught ourselves another author, welcome to the group Arisawe. Just as welcome are the rest of the newcomers. Keep an eye out for our upcoming polls, we will be determining our September reads soon.

Make sure you check out our sales section, Kateblue is providing links to amazing deals almost daily.

Glad to have you all aboard.

I wasn't sure where to post this, so I'll post it as a personality / preference thing here.

My wife and I are heavy readers but read vastly different stuff. Every once in awhile, we'll recommend something to the other but we are snobs for our genres, so there's little overlap.

So one time she recommended a book and I asked her, "How does it end?" She rolled her eyes and said, "I can't tell you that!" I said, "Don't worry, I'll still read it if it's good, but I hate uplifting stories." So she came back with, "There's a big explosion and everybody dies." This, of course, has now become a running joke. But the funny thing is, you start to notice how many books and movies end that way! Now it's clear how cliche it is and I shy away from endings like that!

Hello Art, and group,
I'm glad to get connected with like-minded readers and thank you Art for starting this group. What a great idea!

I hate to admit it but I think the only HUGO/Nebula award book I ever read was Ender's Game (which I enjoyed but wasn't overwhelmed by). Though I have read a hefty amount of sci-fi and fantasy.

At any rate, I've joined this group to keep up with the "good stuff" and I DO plan to read many more in the future, but I'm currently working on a fantasy novel so I've been staying away from that genre and mostly reading some Sci-Fi and other fiction.

When it comes to being an active "social" member I will do my best but I'm truly kinda abysmal at this stuff. My point is that even if I'm not engaged (at the moment) I'm still around! I've been enjoying the discussion, polls, etc, so far.

Thank you all and I and look forward to the conversation.

I am happy to see all the new people here, welcome to you all. As to the question whether Hugo/Nebula are the best I think there are many great books and the idea of awards to accolade novel and challenging books so that some novels are more likely to be awarded even if they are not the best this year

J.W. wrote: "Hello Art, and group,
I'm glad to get connected with like-minded readers and thank you Art for starting this group. What a great idea!
"

The original "Hugo Awards - Best Novels" was Bryan's baby, I just joined him right after he launched the group and complicated everything by throwing Nebula into the mix.

Though for some of us going through all of the books ever nominated is the actual goal, I believe that "getting there" is incomparably more important than the final goal itself. My hope is that through discussions and other threads, our experiences will motivate members to read the best of the reads on the list.

As for being active, that should be the least of anyone's worries. Just enjoy reading, feel free to drop in any time to check out what's hot and what e-book sales are available and just enjoy yourself. I have never held an account with any single social media website (besides the one I needed for work) and though Goodreads has stained my impeccable record of being an antisocial introvert, I'm glad that I joined up. It is somewhat difficult to reach out to this many book lovers "offline", I guess we are all too busy walking around with our heads buried in a book.

The most important thing I wanted to say is that I wish you all the luck with your novel, keep it up!

Hello everyone. My name is Laura and I love to read! 🤗
My favourite autors are Janny Wurts, Lois McMaster Bujold, Jacqueline Carey, Anne Bishop, N.K. Jemisin, Robin Hobb and quite a few others.
I just saw this group and you guys have so many great reads listed here!! I'd love to join on BRs and chat about all those awesome books with you all.

Laura, glad to meet you.

Because one of your fave's is Lois McMaster Bujold, I am now going to look up all the others that you have mentioned. I have read Robin Hobb in the past, but it has been a long time, and the others I have only heard of or haven't even heard of.

Thanks for being here. I'm sure we will have fun discussing the Chalion books with all the Bujold newbies that are reading the first two books right now.

Nice to meet you too Kateblue! :)

If you love Bujold I think you're gonna love Wurts and Carol Berg. And even a few of Guy Kay. (I forgot to mention him on my list - he's a brilliant writer).

Carey is a bit different. But I love her writing just the same. I don't think her writing and stories can compare with anyone elses. They're one of a kind.
And Anne Bishop is far lighter and darker at the same time. I've read her Black Jewels and Ephemera and loved them both. The Others are on my TBR for this year.

Are the Bujold books being read now? I've read the first 2 and am looking forward to the 3rd. But I'll grab them for a re-read and hop in for a chat if people are reading them now. :)