I too, was sucked into Anathem immediately and loved it. I had loved  
Stephenson's books up until the Baroque Cycle and just couldn't get  
into them. Anathem was one of the titles I nominated in its category.  
Little Brother is also wonderful and an important book. We need books  
that make us examine our world. It truly is the 1984 of our time and  
"feels" like a classic in the very best sense of the word. I liked  
Zoe's Tale and would recommend it to readers but it didn't strike me  
as a book I would still be talking about in ten years like Anathem and  
Little Brother did. I was disappointed that some of the excellent  
fantasy that came out in 2008 did not make the final ballot. Graceling  
by Kristin Cashore and Impossible by Nancy Werlin were both  
exceptional novels.

For last year, Rollback got my vote but so it goes. I liked The  
Yiddish Policeman's Union but I didn't full out love it. I'll admit  
that I am a real Sawyer fan. I haven't been able to stop telling  
people about WWW: Wake since I read it. So far it is high on my list  
for next year's Hugos.

Happy reading,
Diana Tixier Herald
http://www.genrefluent.com
http://twitter.com/genrelibrarian
Rosenberg's First Law - "Never apologize for your reading tastes."




On Apr 9, 2009, at 7:02 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> I'm really surprised about that reaction to Anathem.  I got sucked  
> in immediately and loved every bit of it.
>
> ---- Dan Hicks <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> "Doug Baker" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> That's a pretty sad lot.? Stephenson has started to over write.  
>>> Saturn's
>>> Children is awful.? Zoe's Tale is probably the one I'll vote for but
>>> Stephenson will probably win.
>>>
>>
>> There are some gems there. As good as Scalzi's "Zoe's Tale" is, I  
>> think Cory
>> Doctorow's "Little Brother" is the best of the pack.
>>
>> I know what you mean about the Stephenson book. I have started it a  
>> few
>> time, but not gotten into it. That was the way I felt about Chabon's
>> "Yiddish Policemen's Union" last year. Oh, I liked it well enough,  
>> but I did
>> not think it should have won over Sawyer's "Rollback." I am  
>> surprised to not
>> find Stephanie Meyer's "The Host" on this list. Not that I liked  
>> the book
>> much at all, but it has been in the top ten or fifteen of the NY  
>> Times
>> Bestseller list for many months. I thought that would get it a  
>> nomination.
>>
>> I am still sad that Stephen Baxter's "Last Contact" did not win  
>> best short
>> story last year. I blew me away when I read it, and I know a few  
>> people who
>> said they were voting for it maybe just to stop me from talking  
>> about it)
>> and my wife and I voted for it. I was happy to meet Stephen Baxter at
>> Denvention 2 tell him just how much I appreciated "Last Contact."
>>
>> Dan J. Hicks
>>
>> "If you are going to walk on thin ice,
>> you might as well dance."
>>                        - Inuit Proverb
>