Gray Lensman, Best Novel 1941, Part 1 of 5

Here is the first of the five Best Novel 1941 Finalists. We will be presenting them in alphabetical order during this week.

Gray Lensman by E.E. “Doc” Smith

What are your thoughts on this novel? Likes and dislikes? Does it deserve the Hugo?

Best Novella, 1941 & 2016

And here are the Best Novella finalists!

Next week, we will slow it back down and have a thread for each of the Best Novel finalists (a 1941 and a 2016 pick) each day.

Until then, let’s discuss the short fiction finalists (and semiprozine) in the various threads that just appeared!

BEST NOVELLA 1941

  • “Coventry” by Robert A. Heinlein
  • “If This Goes On…” by Robert A. Heinlein
  • “Magic, Inc.” by Robert A. Heinlein
  • “The Mathematics of Magic” by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
  • “The Roaring Trumpet” by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt

BEST NOVELLA 2016

  • Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
  • The Builders by Daniel Polansky
  • Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold
  • Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson
  • Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds

So, who is at the top of your list and why?

As always, keep in mind the Comment Rules, and let’s discuss the Hugo finalists!

Best Semiprozine 2016

BEST SEMIPROZINE 2016

  • Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
  • Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
  • Sci Phi Journal edited by Jason Rennie
  • Strange Horizons edited by Catherine Krahe, Julia Rios, A. J. Odasso, Vanessa Rose Phin,Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons staff
  • Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

So, who is at the top of your list and why?

As always, keep in mind the Comment Rules, and let’s discuss the Hugo finalists!

Best Novelettes, 1941 & 2016

BEST NOVELETTE 1941

  • “Blowups Happen” by Robert A. Heinlein
  • “Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates
  • “It!” by Theodore Sturgeon
  • “The Roads Must Roll” by Robert A. Heinlein
  • “Vault of the Beast” by A. E. Van Vogt

BEST NOVELETTE 2016

  • “And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead” by Brooke Bolander
  • “Flashpoint: Titan” by CHEAH Kai Wai
  • “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu
  • “Obits” by Stephen King
  • “What Price Humanity?” by David VanDyke

So, who is at the top of your list and why?

As always, keep in mind the Comment Rules, and let’s discuss the Hugo finalists!

Best Short Stories, 1941 & 2016

Here are the Best Short Story finalists.

BEST SHORT STORY 1941

  • “Martian Quest” by Leigh Brackett
  • “Requiem” by Robert A. Heinlein
  • “Robbie” by Isaac Asimov
  • “The Stellar Legion” by Leigh Brackett
  • “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges

BEST SHORT STORY 2016

  • “Asymmetrical Warfare” by S. R. Algernon
  • “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer
  • “If You Were an Award, My Love” by Juan Tabo and S. Harris
  • “Seven Kill Tiger” by Charles Shao
  • Space Raptor Butt Invasion by Chuck Tingle

So, who is at the top of your list and why?

As always, keep in mind the Comment Rules, and let’s discuss the Hugo finalists!

Best Fanzines and Fancast

And today is hopefully the worst of the combining with 3 categories to discuss today. Thoughts, opinions?

1941 Best Fanzine

  • Futuria Fantasia by Ray Bradbury
  • Le Zombie by Bob Tucker
  • Novacious by Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo
  • Spaceways by Harry Warner, Jr.
  • Voice of the Imagi‐Nation by Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo

2016 Best Fanzine

  • Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson
  • File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
  • Lady Business edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan
  • Superversive SF edited by Jason Rennie
  • Tangent Online edited by Dave Truesdale

2016 Best Fancast

  • 8-4 Play, Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Hiroko Minamoto, and Justin Epperson
  • Cane and Rinse, Cane and Rinse
  • HelloGreedo, HelloGreedo
  • The Rageaholic, RazörFist
  • Tales to Terrify, Stephen Kilpatrick

So, who is at the top of your list and why?

As always, keep in mind the Comment Rules, and let’s discuss the Hugo finalists!

Best Fan Writer, 1941 & 2016

Unfortunately, given the compressed time frame, we need to have multiple a day. So today is Best Fan Writer for both 1941 and 2016.

1941 Best Fan Writer

  • Forrest J Ackerman
  • Ray Bradbury
  • H. P. Lovecraft
  • Bob Tucker
  • Harry Warner

2016 Best Fan Writer

  • Douglas Ernst
  • Mike Glyer
  • Morgan Holmes
  • Jeffro Johnson
  • Shamus Young

So, who is at the top of your list and why?

As always, keep in mind the Comment Rules, and let’s discuss the Hugo finalists!

1941 Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

Some very interesting finalists in the Retro side of this category:

The Adventures of Superman: “The Baby from Krypton”
The Invisible Man Returns
Looney Tunes: “You Ought to Be in Pictures”
Merrie Melodies: “A Wild Hare”
Pinocchio

So, who is at the top of your list and why?

As always, keep in mind the Comment Rules, and let’s discuss the Hugo finalists!

2016 Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

Ok, back to business! Still a few weeks left in voting, so here are the finalists for basically Best TV Episode (keep hoping to see some short films on there someday, but TV shows are just too widely popular).

Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent”
Grimm: “Headache”
Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile”
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2
Supernatural: “Just My Imagination”

So, who is at the top of your list and why?

As always, keep in mind the Comment Rules, and let’s discuss the Hugo finalists!

Discussion will resume next week

My apologies for the silence. There was an unexpected death in my family. But life is settling back into some sense of normalcy, so next week I do want to get this rolling again in what time we have left. Obviously there will be some compression and I am certainly behind in my reading. But any of you who want to chime in and discuss these works, I wanted to give you warning that we will get things moving again in a few days, but it will be moving quite quickly.

Thank you.