monkeys and ponies

This is probably the last of the Hugo Award entries, since incredibly, I have finished reading all the nominees for the novel, novella, novelette, and short story awards, as well as several of the graphic story nominees. Well, technically I haven't finished everything, since there were a few cases where I hated what I was reading so much I couldn't finish, but that's close enough.

Sadly, only one of the graphic story nominees, a collection of Schlock Mercenary strips, was available as a free download, and I can't say I thought it was all that great. The artwork was average, the jokes not punchy enough, and Phil Foglio covered this same ground much better in his Buck Godot books. I've read two of the other nominees before (Serenity: Better Days and the final volume of Y: the Last Man), and while the Serenity book was better than I remembered it being (the dialogue in particular is excellent, though I don't care for the way Will Conrad draws Mal and Wash), it's Y: the Last Man that sticks in my head. After the way volume 9 ended, I was starting to think Vaughan had lost his touch, but I don't think there's any other comic book I've read that made me cry at the death of a character.

iainpj, I know you were waiting to hear what I thought about these nominees, and I can go into more detail if you want. But what I'd really like to know is if you've read the other three I haven't, and what you think of those.

Novellas: done! Just novelettes, short stories, and graphic novels to go.
( My notes on the five stories, including my nominee for the Bad Sex Scene Award, after the cut. )

• Smokra: best martini accompaniment since habanero garlic scapes. (The garlic scapes still win by a nose.) 

• Have finished Anathem and am slowly working my way through Charlie Stross' Saturn's Children, which is okay but is so far the kind of SF novel that throws futuristic terminology at you in an attempt to show how clever it is. Anathem takes a similar approach, but has the benefit of using an Earth-like setting to ground things, and frankly, is better-written, even if the last couple hundred pages go off the rails a bit. Once I finish Saturn's Children, I'll just have Little Brother to go through to finish the novel category, but it's going to have to be damned good to take away my #1 vote for Anathem. (In case you're curious, The Graveyard Book is currently in the #2 slot.)

• Five and a half more knitted octopus tentacles to go! Jesus, what was I thinking when I decided to knit a stuffed octopus toy for the nephew-to-be? At least I have until mid-August to finish things.

• I can't even talk about Dr. George Tiller. Everything that comes out of my mouth about this is an expletive directed at the pro-life movement, so simply take it as read that I am incredibly upset and angry about this.

• Still not cot_after_dark, in case you were wondering.