Hugo Winner Book Review: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

This won the Hugo for best Science Fiction novel in 1976.

It is about a long running war that is far away, fought by conscripted soldiers who don't want to be there, and ultimately turns out to be pointless and unnecessary. While definitely science fiction, it has many parallels with the Vietnam war that the author served in.

Not a humorous or particularly pleasant novel, it is highly imaginative and makes one think about war and even the future of mankind. The Earth depicted in the early 21st century has many disturbing parallels to the world of today and where it might be headed.

In summary, a fascinating read that was well deserving of the Hugo, particularly as the author went through 18 publishers before he found one willing to publish it.

Hugo Winner Book Review: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

This was the Hugo award winner for best novel of 1974. It also won the other major science fiction award, the Nebula.

This is one of Clarke's best novels in my opinion, and has all the hallmarks of his work: incredible imagination, a sense of wonder, and a theme found in almost every one of his novels: contact with intelligent aliens. It also has what some find annoying: he doesn't explain everything, leaving many questions unanswered and up to the reader to ponder.

The novel spawned three sequels, which were written by author Gentry Lee (with some input from Clarke).

Hugo Winner Book Review: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

This novel won the Hugo award for 1973.

I had read it before, but it is one of Asimov's best novels and as it had been some years since reading it, I decided to read it again.

I remember reading in Asimov's autobiography that the genesis of this novel was a criticism that his stories didn't feature non-human aliens or sex, so he was determined to write a novel with very alien aliens and (alien) sex.

The novel is in three distinct parts: the first takes place on Earth, the second in a different (parallel) universe, and the third takes place on a future colonized moon.

It is a standalone novel that doesn't fit into his robot or Foundation series, and in my opinion was Asimov in his prime. There were some similarities in his depiction of lunar colonies with books by Robert A. Heinlein, but I think this just reflected the general thinking of most science fiction authors of that era about where future colonization of the moon could go.

He also put in some political intrigue among scientists, vying for fame and backstabbing each other, that is likely based on some of his experiences as a scientist and academic.

Hugo Winner Book Review: To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer

Another thoroughly enjoyable novel, this won the 1972 Hugo award for best novel.

It was an easy read that I completed in just a few sittings. The style reminds me somewhat of older authors like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, perhaps because the hero was a man from the late 19th century. In fact the main character is a man of so many abilities, like speaking dozens of languages, that I would have said it was a flaw in the book that made him unbelievable if it were not for the fact that Richard Francis Burton was an actual historical character.

The book has a novel premise, interesting characters, gripping plot, and ended up becoming a series of five novels and several short stories.

Hugo Winner Book Review: Ringworld by Larry Niven

This was the Hugo award winner for best novel in 1971.

Considered a classic, the Ringworld is a mysterious alien megastructure millions of miles in size. This first novel spawned a number of sequels and prequels.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, particularly the concept of the Ringworld, but also the plot and characters.

The first edition had a number of technical errors in it, most notably the idea of travelling eastward around the Earth in order to extend the date of a  birthday, when in fact one would need to travel west to do this. Regarding this, Niven wrote, "If you own a first paperback edition of Ringworld, it's the one with the mistakes in it. It's worth money." Sure enough, my copy (pictured above) is indeed a first edition paperback.

Hugo Winner Book Review: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

This was the winner of the Hugo Award for best novel of 1970, and the first Hugo won by a woman author. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel - it is highly imaginative and original with a gripping plot and well-developed characters. The author describes an entire planet in great detail, with a detailed culture and even describing their calendar and time system. The people of the novel are androgynous, and it raises many interesting questions about the concept of gender, something that is very timely today.

This was the first Le Guin novel I recall reading, and I look forward to reading her 1975 Hugo winning novel in the future.

Hugo Winner Book Review: Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

I really want to like this book, but at 72 pages in I had to set it aside.

It reads more like a series of short scenes, rather than a novel, with little connection between them. While the author makes some rather interesting and accurate predictions about life in the future, I couldn't really find a plot or characters that I cared about.

At a little over 10% of the way through the novel's 650 pages, I called it quits for now, the first time I've done this for any Hugo award-winning novel. I will make another attempt to complete it at a later date.

Setting it aside, I picked up a copy of Heinlein's The Puppet Masters, was hooked within the first few pages, and finished it in a few days. Not a Hugo award winner, it is one of his better novels, avoiding most of the preaching or attempt to shock of some of his books.

Next up, I am reading Small Fry, a memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs, daughter of Steve Jobs. It is an easy and enjoyable read and provides insight into Steve Jobs from a slightly different perspective than some other books written about him.