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I am having a dilemma with the Hugos.
It's not the Sad Puppies thing -- I'm starting from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
catsittingstill's position on that. I intend to read and vote fairly.
I ask and expect that of everyone, and I demand it of myself. This is what leads to my problem.
By fairly, I mean, "Read or Watch or Listen to ALL of the entries in any category for which you will cast a vote. Then, vote for the one you consider the best."
I've not voted on Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form in years, if at all. I've not usually watched everything in that category.
Bouncing off something, now that's a tricky call. Last year, I decided I had no business voting on the Hugos as I bounced off George R. R. Martin's book. I had no trouble following the couple of chapters I did read -- I'd read the first in the series years ago, and Martin's certainly a good enough writer that I could pick up with the latest with no problem.
It was just that I did not want to read past the first or second chapter. I had the time, but not the will. And, if anyone else was in my position and went on to vote, I understand, and that's totally cool.
But, I didn't feel comfortable voting in that category, so I didn't.
This year, all of the Wheel of Time series is up for a Hugo.
The publisher, Tor Books, is providing the entire series in the Hugo Pack, so I will not need to track it down.
I have never read anything by Robert Jordan, so I have no informed opinion on his writing. Such opinion as I have on him as a human being is positive.
I have read a couple of things by Brandon Sanderson, and I've seen him on panels. I like him. I very much liked his post on the Hugos and the Wheel of Time series.
And I do not have time to read all the novels in this series by the time the voting happens.
This is my problem. I am very uncomfortable about voting on the novel category without having read all of all the items in the category. It makes me go all squirmy.
I've been told, "Read the first and the last and some random selection from the middle." I'm not sure if that's good advice. I gather that a lot of the middle is slow. I have also heard someone say that he was told, "Well, the first book is slow,"
I know that I'm being perhaps a bit extreme. This is normal -- the year "Exhalation", by Ted Chiang, was up for a Hugo, I found myself reading it aloud. (I've reread it a few times since then. One of these days, I'm going to stop pretending I'm not crying when I reach the end.)
But, I didn't want to give the work an unfair advantage, so that year, I read everything in the category aloud. Fortunately for me, this was the Best Short Story category.
I also know something of my biases after a few years of actually voting on something other than Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form). For the written fiction, I skew towards science fiction and away from fantasy, despite reading more fantasy by choice. (I skew differently for the Mythopoeic Awards, but that's a very different award.) For the graphic novels, I find that I skew towards funny.
I know that my bias is against works like the Wheel of Time series. I'm not sure how to compensate without over-compensating, given a 14-book series.
My current plan is to read all the shorter fiction and the rest of the novels, read what I can of the Wheel of Time series, read what I haven't read of the graphic novels, watch Catching Fire, watch Gravity in 3-D despite my bias (I don't tend to like disaster movies -- this is not the movie's fault), see what I can fit in of the other categories, and think a lot. I don't have an answer beyond that, but I don't feel comfortable voting for Best Novel without having read ALL of ALL the works.
It's not the Sad Puppies thing -- I'm starting from
catsittingstill's position on that. I intend to read and vote fairly.I ask and expect that of everyone, and I demand it of myself. This is what leads to my problem.
By fairly, I mean, "Read or Watch or Listen to ALL of the entries in any category for which you will cast a vote. Then, vote for the one you consider the best."
I've not voted on Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form in years, if at all. I've not usually watched everything in that category.
Bouncing off something, now that's a tricky call. Last year, I decided I had no business voting on the Hugos as I bounced off George R. R. Martin's book. I had no trouble following the couple of chapters I did read -- I'd read the first in the series years ago, and Martin's certainly a good enough writer that I could pick up with the latest with no problem.
It was just that I did not want to read past the first or second chapter. I had the time, but not the will. And, if anyone else was in my position and went on to vote, I understand, and that's totally cool.
But, I didn't feel comfortable voting in that category, so I didn't.
This year, all of the Wheel of Time series is up for a Hugo.
The publisher, Tor Books, is providing the entire series in the Hugo Pack, so I will not need to track it down.
I have never read anything by Robert Jordan, so I have no informed opinion on his writing. Such opinion as I have on him as a human being is positive.
I have read a couple of things by Brandon Sanderson, and I've seen him on panels. I like him. I very much liked his post on the Hugos and the Wheel of Time series.
And I do not have time to read all the novels in this series by the time the voting happens.
This is my problem. I am very uncomfortable about voting on the novel category without having read all of all the items in the category. It makes me go all squirmy.
I've been told, "Read the first and the last and some random selection from the middle." I'm not sure if that's good advice. I gather that a lot of the middle is slow. I have also heard someone say that he was told, "Well, the first book is slow,"
I know that I'm being perhaps a bit extreme. This is normal -- the year "Exhalation", by Ted Chiang, was up for a Hugo, I found myself reading it aloud. (I've reread it a few times since then. One of these days, I'm going to stop pretending I'm not crying when I reach the end.)
But, I didn't want to give the work an unfair advantage, so that year, I read everything in the category aloud. Fortunately for me, this was the Best Short Story category.
I also know something of my biases after a few years of actually voting on something other than Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form). For the written fiction, I skew towards science fiction and away from fantasy, despite reading more fantasy by choice. (I skew differently for the Mythopoeic Awards, but that's a very different award.) For the graphic novels, I find that I skew towards funny.
I know that my bias is against works like the Wheel of Time series. I'm not sure how to compensate without over-compensating, given a 14-book series.
My current plan is to read all the shorter fiction and the rest of the novels, read what I can of the Wheel of Time series, read what I haven't read of the graphic novels, watch Catching Fire, watch Gravity in 3-D despite my bias (I don't tend to like disaster movies -- this is not the movie's fault), see what I can fit in of the other categories, and think a lot. I don't have an answer beyond that, but I don't feel comfortable voting for Best Novel without having read ALL of ALL the works.