How I would vote now: 1972 Hugo Award (Best Novel)

The Nominees To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny The Actual Results How I Would Have Voted Explanation Cover art was so terrible in the 70s. Those… Continue reading How I would vote now: 1972 Hugo Award (Best Novel)

Chat GPT Writes Fantasy in Various Authors’ Styles

Generic (no author style specified): Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a brave knight named Sir William. He was renowned throughout the kingdom for his valor, loyalty, and unwavering sense of justice. One day, a dreadful dragon named Gorthor, known to terrorize the kingdom, descended upon the land, spreading… Continue reading Chat GPT Writes Fantasy in Various Authors’ Styles

Reading Resolution Update: After Action Report

My 2022 reading resolution: Read or DNF every novel that has won a Hugo or a Nebula award, and acquire all the good ones. Earlier this month, I finished my last Hugo/Nebula book and ordered the last two ones that I hadn’t yet acquired. The first of those (Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin) arrived… Continue reading Reading Resolution Update: After Action Report

Reading Resolution Update: June

My 2022 reading resolution: Read or DNF every novel that has won a Hugo or a Nebula award, and acquire all the good ones. This is the last one of these resolution updates that I’m going to post here on this blog. I’ve only got three books left now: Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold… Continue reading Reading Resolution Update: June

Reading Resolution Update: May

My 2022 reading resolution: Read or DNF every novel that has won a Hugo or a Nebula award, and acquire all the good ones. When I first got the idea for this new year’s resolution six months ago, I was reading maybe 30-60 pages every other day, with no real goal or direction. My wife… Continue reading Reading Resolution Update: May

“The god Luck is deaf in one ear…”

The god Luck is deaf in one ear, they say, the ear we pray to; he can’t hear our prayers. What he hears, what he listens to, nobody knows. Denios the poet said he hears the wheels of the stars’ great chariots turning on the roads of heaven. Ursula K. Le Guin, Powers

An interesting personal discovery

I just made a very interesting personal discovery, gleaned from the data on my reading of the Hugo and Nebula winning books. Of the 110 novels that have won either award, I have now read all but 16 of them, which is enough data to get some reprentative results. One of the best predictors that… Continue reading An interesting personal discovery

Reading Resolution Update: April

My 2022 reading resolution: Read or DNF every novel that has won a Hugo or a Nebula award, and acquire all the good ones. In 2007, when I was a sophomore in college, I went up to Salt Lake City with some friends and was browsing the awesome (and fairly run down, even at the… Continue reading Reading Resolution Update: April

Reading Resolution Update: Before 2022

My 2022 Reading Resolution: Read or DNF every novel that has won a Hugo or a Nebula award, and acquire all the good ones. I was going to keep track of my reading resolution this year by mentioning each book and what I liked or didn’t like about it, why I DNFed it if I… Continue reading Reading Resolution Update: Before 2022