new book

[psychomusician]

it seems like every few months i come before you guys, asking for your sage advice as to what book i should read next. but this time, i have one stipulation, it needs to be off of this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel) list. you see, me and my dad are going to read through the hugo winner list, i've already read ender's game, speaker for the dead, goblet of fire, dune, and Fahrenheit 451. so, what does the oracle of the internet say?

[Terez]

If A Game of Thrones was on there, I'd tell you to start that series, but only books 2-4 got a Hugo, apparently. Book 1 was more worthy than book 4, by FAR...

So, since that's not an option, my vote is for Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I'm sure Tana will be along to second soon...

[Rune420]

I second A Game of Thrones, like she said, books 2-4 is on that list, so it's at least justifiable.

Other than that, I've only read Dune, Harry Potter, and the OSC books, on that list, that I see at least.

But there's quite a few that look interesting.

[JSUCamel]

American Gods is good.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is good as well.

Any and all of Niven's Ringworld books are good (Ringworld is a winner on the list).

Starship Troopers (forget everything you know about the... "movie"...)

Are we just picking from winners, or runners-up as well?

If so, my runners-up suggestions are:

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
The rest of the Dune books
Seventh Son (and all of the Alvin Maker series) by Orson Scott Card

[irerancincpkc]

Yeah, if you haven't read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, that's a nice quick read.

[psychomusician]

oh...i dont remember seeing that on the list, but i've read the narnia series repeatedly.

[Weird Harold]

2000 (Runner up) A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold*
1997 (runner up) Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold*
1997 (Third Place) Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon 1995 Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold*
1992 Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold*
1991 The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold*
1988 The Uplift War by David Brin #
1986 (Third Place) The Postman by David Brin (ignore the movie)
1984 Startide Rising by David Brin #
1978 Gateway by Frederik Pohl
1978 (Third Place) Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
1976 The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
1967 The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
1967 (runner-up) Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
1964 (runner-up) Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein
1962 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
1959 A Case of Conscience by James Blish

* These are part of a larger series that has recently been re-released in "omnibus editions" which are simply two or three novels in one book and no new material. Look up the "Vorkosigan Saga" for a lost of the novels in the Vor/Miles Vorkosigan universe. They need to be read in sequence from The Warriors Apprentice onward as if they were a single huge novel.

# David Brin wrote several "Uplift Novels" -- all of them need to be read to make real sense of the two Hugo Winners.

PS: Several of Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels were nominated but none won. That, too, is a series best all together and as closely to in sequence as you can manage -- there's lot of overlap between individual trilogies and single books.

[psychomusician]

i've read all the pern novels, unless i missed the last todd mccaffery one, but i cant recall.

[Weird Harold]

i've read all the pern novels, unless i missed the last todd mccaffery one, but i cant recall.
Dragon's Blood or Dragon Harper are the newest two and I'm not sure which was the last.

I've got everything except those two in paperback, including The Littlest Dragon Rider which is in a totally unrelated short story collection (and a half dozen reading textbooks!)

[psychomusician]

i think i've read one of the two, but i'm having a hard time separating them out in my mind

[Weird Harold]

i think i've read one of the two, but i'm having a hard time separating them out in my mind
Dragon Harper is another "mysterious plague nearly wipes out Pern but traveling between time saves everyone" book.

Dragon's Blood is about a plague affecting Dragons and being saved by firelizards going between times.

[caladanbrood]

Looking purely at the winner's list, I would go for...

Starship Troopers or Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A Heinlein
Heinlein is possibly the greatest sci-fi author of all time, and these two in particular are must-reads.

Forever War - Joe Haldeman
The ultimate war novel, really - written during Vietnam, and you can tell it, but another seriously good book.

Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Well, Snow Crash is the better book, but that one didn't win, and Stephenson is the defining cyber-punk author.

American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Gaiman's work skirts very close to genius at times, and this is his best full-length novel by quite a distance. The ideas he comes up with are just mind-blowingly cool.


Also, I'm fairly certain Brasyl is gonna win this year, so read that too - another great book.

[GonzoTheGreat]

I would advise:
Ringworld by Niven
A Canticle For Leibowitz by Miller
The High Crusade by Anderson*
The Witches Of Karres by Schmitz
Lord Of Light by Zelazny (and anything else of him you can find)
The Mote In God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle

Edited to add:
Not all of them are winners, but that's only because the year is too long. And sometimes because the judges have abysmal taste.

* Partially on sentimental grounds. It is a nice book. It is also the first real book I read in English, after two "Run, Spot, Run" type of SF books. I had had about a month of English lessons when I started The High Crusade, and I think it took me almost a month to finish it. Having to fetch a dictionary every second sentence sure slows you down.

[Terez]

Not all of them are winners, but that's only because the year is too long. And sometimes because the judges have abysmal taste.
If you've read GRRM's blog ever, you might have noticed that the Hugos are sort of a popularity contest (there are no "judges" - Hugos are voted on by lots of people). Most people vote to honor the author, even if the book by that author that has been nominated isn't one of their best, but the Hugo authors are usually all good ones. Hence, GRRM's A Feast For Crows got a Hugo, when it was undeniably a disappointing book.

[Sei'taer]

Starship Troopers - Robert A Heinlein

Forever War - Joe Haldeman

Old Man's War - John Scalzi (it was a nominee, not a winner, but it's sorta on the list.

I love these three books. I would say read them in succession...doesn't matter what order, just read them together. All three are great books.

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress- Robert A. Heinlein. Another good Heinlein book...and it is a hugo winner

[DeiwosTheSkyGod]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is one of my favorite books of all time.

[tanaww]

I am a huge Gaiman Fan - I didn't look at what else was on the list but American Gods is a truly great read. AND you get to learn a bit about my neck of the woods since I'm about an hour and a half north of The House On The Rock.

[John Snow]

I mean you can't go wrong with Dan Simmons, Kim Stanley Robinson, Sherry Tepper, or David Brin, but "Tea with the Black Dragon" is such a spacey little book - you'll like it.

[Spidy]

Snow-mobile-

If you did read it, what did you think of Kings Blood Four?

[Ozymandias]

To be honest, I'm not sure I can agree with any list that includes Asimov's work and yet excludes Foundation.

I read Foundation's Edge, and if its the one I remember, was actually bad. I thought it ended the Foundation series in a totally unacceptable manner, and totally contradicted the entire point of the 3 book series, which was one of the great science fiction works of all time.

[John Snow]

Kings Blood Four? Doesn't ring a bell....so if I did read it either it didn't make much of an impression or my olde phartley memory has deleted it.

[Weird Harold]

Kings Blood Four? Doesn't ring a bell....so if I did read it either it didn't make much of an impression or my olde phartley memory has deleted it.

King's Blood Four +
Necromancer Nine +
Wizard's Eleven
==
TheTrue Game Trilogy by Sheri S.Tepper; individually not memorable but together one very good novel. (the three books in papaerback total under 600 pages)

[Gilshalos Sedai]

I've read that series, and only vaguely remember it. I think I own it somewhere.

[John Snow]

Huh! Ok, totally never heard of it - I just noticed Tepper's "Grass" on the list, and can recommend that highly.

[Marie Curie 7]

To be honest, I'm not sure I can agree with any list that includes Asimov's work and yet excludes Foundation.

I agree, the Foundation series is great. Dunno how the Hugos were done earlier, but at least Foundation and Empire was listed as receiving a "retro" Hugo. I expect the first Foundation book just isn't listed because it was published prior to the implementation of the Hugos.