The 2011 Hugo Awards...

...have been announced.

Connie Willis, WOO!

Comments

[Maureen E]

YAY! I just re-read those yesterday and oh, there were so many tears.

[Bookreviewsandenglishnews.blogspot.com]

I love Connie Willis! Yea for her!

[Jenn]

I agree, Maureen -- I cried like a baby through most of All Clear. Connie Willis did a brilliant job with those books.

[Emily]

I think "Vincent and the Doctor" should have won over "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang."
I've only read one Connie Willis novel which was The Doomsday Book and it made me cry. Is Blackout/All Clear worth the emotional anguish? One of my friends read the first book and came running in the library and said to me "there's a sequel! Please order it" so I know it is engaging, but I'm pregnant and trying to avoid sob fests.

[Jenn]

I'm with you on Vincent and the Doctor -- it's by far my favorite episode with the eleventh Doctor.

I think Blackout/All Clear is a beautiful story and tribute to the unsung heroes of World War II and is well worth the emotional anguish (I might have exaggerated how much I cried). However, if you want a Connie Willis book guaranteed not to make you cry, do check out To Say Nothing of the Dog. It's hilarious.

[Emily]

Thanks! I will give To Say Nothing of the Dog a try. The Doomsday Book was just brutal though and I have been a bit gun shy of her work since then.
Vincent and the Doctor was such a beautiful episode, and the actor who played Vincent looked so much like the pictures of Van Gogh it was uncanny. I mean, I know they can do things with hair dye and make-up, but goodness it was great casting.

[Bookreviewsandenglishnews.blogspot.com]

To Emily and Jenn --
Yes! To Say Nothing Of The Dog is hilarious! PLUS, it's the sequel to Doomsday and comes before the Blackout/All Clear pair.
But, don't make the mistake I made and read Willis' book without first reading Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Dog!). Jerome's book is hilarious as well, and Willis's To Say Nothing Of The Dog is meant for those familiar with his story. Her story keeps intersecting with and referring to the older work, and has tons of parallels with it. You will miss half the fun if you haven't read Jerome's work first. When I finally read Jerome's story, then went BACK and re-read Willis', the latter made so much more sense!!

[Genevieve]

Bellwether is another funny Connie Willis book. I read Blackout a while back, but as someone who is also trying to avoid sobfests, I think I'll hold off on All Clear.

And I adored Vincent and the Doctor. But the clever plotting of Pandorica/Big Bang might be what gave it the edge.

[Leila]

I was a big fan of Inside Job, myself.