Well, everyone seems to be doing the ‘which award winning novels have you read’ thing at the moment, so here’s my go at it. So far I’ve read forty-six of the fifty-three novels (87%) to win the Hugo Award. Rather than go through book by book, I’ll just say I’ve not read:
- Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
- Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer
- Dreamsnake, Vonda N. McIntyre
- Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
- Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
- (tie) “…And Call Me Conrad” (This Immortal), Roger Zelazny
- They’d Rather Be Right (The Forever Machine), Mark Clifton & Frank Riley
Of these, I’ve meant to read the Brunner for a long time, and the Zelazny is actually in my to-read stack at the moment. I didn’t do quite so well with the Nebulas (we parted ways in recent years). Of the forty-one novels to win, I’ve read just thirty-two (78%). I’ve not read:
- Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
- The Quantum Rose, Catherine Asaro
- The Moon and the Sun, Vonda N. McIntyre
- The Terminal Experiment, Robert J. Sawyer
- The Healer’s War, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
- No Enemy But Time, Michael Bishop
- Dreamsnake, Vonda N. McIntyre
- The Einstein Intersection, Samuel R. Delany
Of the thirty-five novels to win the World Fantasy Award, I’ve read twenty-eight (80%). While I really mean to read the Walton, which sounds great, I’ve not got to:
- Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton
- The Antelope Wife, Louise Erdrich
- Godmother Night, Rachel Pollack
- Lyonesse: Madouc, Jack Vance
- Perfume, Patrick Süskind
- Doctor Rat, William Kotzwinkle
- Bid Time Return, Richard Matheson
Of the thirty-four novels to win the John W Campbell Award, I’ve read just twenty-four (71%, my worst of all of the major awards). I’ve not read:
- Market Forces, Richard K. Morgan
- Omega, Jack McDevitt
- (tie) Terraforming Earth, Jack Williamson
- Genesis, Poul Anderson
- Brute Orbits, George Zebrowski
- Brother to Dragons, Charles Sheffield
- A Door Into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski
- The Alteration, Kingsley Amis
- Malevil, Robert Merle
- Beyond Apollo, Barry N. Malzberg
Looking at the list, in all likelihood this won’t change. And, as a quick follow-on, I’ve not read 12 of the Philip K. Dick Award winners or six of the Arthur C. Clarke Award winners.
Finally, Locus has presented the Locus Awards to novels in five categories. Of the hundred books to win in those categories (SF/Fantasy/Horror/YA/First), I’ve read eight-six, which seems a pretty good record. The ones I’ve not read actually overlap the above list a bit. I probably should read the Dreamsnake, huh?
Ah Glenda, you vile fiend. Now I’m rumbled. If I can be forgiven for conflating all of the Aurealis-award winning novels into one group, to date forty-one novels have received an Aurealis Award of one kind or another. Of those, I’ve read just nineteen, or 46% of the winners. I pretty much poop out around 2000, after Aussiecon. Before that, I read pretty much all of the OZ SF/F that was published. These are the ones I’ve missed:
1. Deucalion, Brian Caswell
2. Dragonkeeper, Carole Wilkinson
3. Eye t oEye, Catherine Jinks
4. Fire Angels, Jane Routley
5. Mirror, Mirror, Hillary Bell
6. The Broken Wheel, Kerry Greenwood
7. Greylands, Isobelle Carmody
8. Aramaya, Jane Routley
9. Foreign Devils, Christine Harris
10. Son of the Shadows, Juliet Marillier
11. The Miocene Arrow, Sean McMullen
12. The Resurrectionists, Kim Wilkins
13. Thursday’s Child, Sonya Hartnett
14. Angel of Ruin, Kim Wilkins
15. The Other Face of Janus, Louise Katz
16. The Hand of Glory, Sophie Masson
17. The White Body of Evening, A.L. McCann
18. Transcension, Damien Broderick
19. Born of theSea, Victor Kelleher
20. Fallen Gods, Jonathan Blum & Kate Orman
21. Less Than Human, Maxine McArthur
22. The Black Crusade, Richard Harland
Actually, you should read The Alteration! (An excellent novel by one of my all-time favorite novels.) And both Zelazny novels. And Tooth and Claw, which is quite wonderful. And The Einstein Intersection, which is very strange and quite short. And of course Madouc, I am sure, but (gasp) I haven’t got to that yet either!
Then I’d read Dreamsnake, which is not bad, but not nearly as good as those I’ve mentioned.
I shall compose my list of award-winning novels I haven’t read yet — but first I owe you a review!
—
Rich
I meant to say that The Alteration is by one of may all-time favorite WRITERS, of course!
Fallen Gods was brilliant.
Checking, it seems that I’ve read all the Hugo winners except The Wanderer, To Your Scattered Bodies Go, The Diamond Age, and Forever Peace. 92.5% read.
I started The Wanderer once and got bored. I’m not much of a P. J. Farmer fan, but I know I should read at least To Your Scattered Bodies Go. I’m not terribly interested in Forever Peace, though I like Haldeman generally. And I definitely mean to read The Diamond Age, any day now. Really!
Of the Nebulas, I’ve missed The Falling Woman, Moving Mars, The Healer’s War, Slow River, and Parable of the Talents. This last is the one I feel guilty about — I have a copy and mean to read it, for sure. 88% read.
I’ve done much less well on the World Fantasy Award: there are 19 novels I haven’t read. Which means I’ve only read 46% of the winners.
—
Rich
I highly recommend Perfume by Patrick Süskind and Doctor Rat by William Kotzwinkle.
I think I lost a post in here somewhere. I’ll definitely check the Amis novel out, Rich. As to the Dr Who – I just can’t… It’s an irrational prejudice, yes. But, Dr Who novels. No.
Rich – Of the Hugo winners you’ve read I’d recommend The Diamond Age the most. I loved it. For the Nebulas, the Nicola Griffith is great. I loved it.
Ellen – I’ll definitely check those two out.
UGH! Skip the Brunner – Zanzibar is nearly unreadable.
Tie-in fiction is generally not worth the time, money or effort, and current Doctor Who fiction isn’t either, but it did have two high points – the Virgin Publishing DW novels of the 1990s (where most of the current TV Who writers cut their teeth) and David Howe’s novella range where Fallen Gods was published.