Hugo & Nebula Group 2018: Questionnaire.

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Looking back at the list of all the books I've read this year I've realised that over half of them were this group's Monthly Reads and Challenges. With everyone putting forward a whole range of nominations I was exposed to many amazing novels, resulting in discovery of fantastic authors and characters.

All this made me very curious what my fellow members thought of the Hugo & Nebula group reads, so with help of other moderators we've compiled a short questionnaire for everyone to take.

Whether you choose to be succinct or provide extra information on what led you to each decision is up to you. Let's relive our favourite moments by remembering and sharing them with each other.

I've created a list of what we've read as a group, which can be used as a reference, you can reach it using this link: Group Reads 2018 . To answer, all you have to do is copy everything in bold and post it into your reply, then add your answers as you see fit.

*notes* if you don't remember the name of a character, description would suffice.

Of all Monthly Reads of 2018, as a member of the Hugo & Nebula: Best Novel group, name:

1) The novel you enjoyed the most:
2) The book that made you think the most:
3) The weirdest group read of the year:
4) The author you'd discovered and plan to read in future:
5) Favourite Sci-Fi and Fantasy of the year (name both):
6) The book that exceeded your expectations:
7) Your favourite protagonist and villain (name both):
8) The novel you would like to re-read in future:
9) The most difficult read:
10) The novel that did not live up to the hype:

Thank you all and happy holidays.

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Of all Monthly Reads of 2018, as a member of the Hugo & Nebula: Best Novel group, name:

1) The novel you enjoyed the most:
plenty of candidates, but I must say I enjoyed The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer the most. Honorable mention: Earthsea and Chalion books.
2) The book that made you think the most:
probably 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey Two, these two books touch upon astrophysics, space exploration and AI, subjects that in my opinion will shape a large chunk of our future.
3) The weirdest group read of the year:
in good sense - The Love We Share Without Knowing. This novel touched me on many levels, though it might not be for everybody as it deals with difficult subjects such as suicide and also having a smidge of Japanese cultural background takes the narrative a long way.
4) The author you'd discovered and plan to read in future:
Lois McMaster Bujold probably takes the cake, in some ways she reminds me of Zelany, but with her distinct style which is really easy to follow (unless she starts dragging or rehashing something out)
5) Favourite Sci-Fi and Fantasy of the year (name both):
Kallocain - an instant classic for me. A Wizard of Earthsea - what else!
6) The book that exceeded your expectations:
The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer - I thought it would be good, but I never expected it to be this good.
7) Your favourite protagonist and villain (name both):
Ista of Paladin of Souls (honorable mention: Ged & Tenar). Villain would probably be HAL, however unlikely a choice that is.
8) The novel you would like to re-read in future:
The Difference Engine because I feel like I wasn't entirely fair to it and The Love We Share Without Knowing just to refresh my memory.
9) The most difficult read:
The Sheep Look Up - was just meh, page after page.
10) The novel that did not live up to the hype:
Rendezvous with Rama - was looking forward to reading this one for ages and it didn't do it for me.

Never imagined that answering these questions would take more time than coming up with them in the first place! Can't wait to see what other members have to say about this year's reads.

*EDIT* Messed up a few answers, particularly 8 & 9. Got two novels confused.

[Cordelia]

Of all Monthly Reads of 2018, as a member of the Hugo & Nebula: Best Novel group, name:

1) The novel you enjoyed the most: 2001. I saw the film eons ago and now I understood what it was all about.
2) The book that made you think the most: Man in the High Castle. Studied it last year at university and loved it. My teacher called Dick the Shakespeare of Science Fiction.
3) The weirdest group read of the year: The Sheep looked up. I really had trouble with that one.
4) The author you'd discovered and plan to read in future: Need to read more of David Mitchell
5) Favourite Sci-Fi and Fantasy of the year (name both): SciFi Childhood's End. Dont really read Fantasy
6) The book that exceeded your expectations: Rendezvous with Rama
7) Your favourite protagonist and villain (name both): Not sure
8) The novel you would like to re-read in future: The Diamond Age. Just got it out of the library
9) The most difficult read: The Einstein Intersection. But that is just the way Delany writes. I really do love him
10) The novel that did not live up to the hype: The Collapsing Empire.

Extra question.

Most disliked: Feed etc. I remembered that I really do not like zombie books.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

1) The novel you enjoyed the most: The Tombs of Atuan
2) The book that made you think the most: Kallocain
3) The weirdest group read of the year:The Einstein Intersection
4) The author you'd discovered and plan to read in future:Mur Lafferty Although I wasn't that nuts about Six Wakes, I liked her style and will try her again
5) Favourite Sci-Fi and Fantasy of the year (name both): 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Earthsea Trilogy (the first three, the older books in our challenge, were my favorites
6) The book that exceeded your expectations: Camouflage After I had read Joe Haldeman's The Forever War and Forever Peace, I tried some others of his but was not impressed. (Not sure which ones they were as it was long ago.) But anyway, I was therefore pleasantly surprised by Camouflage.
7) Your favourite protagonist and villain (name both): Protagonist, Sparrowhawk, and Villain I guess the bad guys (ever changing) in the Feed trilogy. Many of the books this year didn't really HAVE bad guys.
8) The novel you would like to re-read in future:The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls. I did not read them with the group because I had just read them in Nov 2017, but I will be reading them again for sure
9) The most difficult read: The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, but probably because I was so busy that I was reading in little snippets, and it's not a good book for that. I made it to 38%. I expect to try it again someday
10) The novel that did not live up to the hype: I agree with Cordelia, The Collapsing Empire. The science ideas were cool though.

Extra question.

Most disliked: Darwin's Radio, though The Difference Engine ran a close second. Darwin's radio had too much extraneous information and description in it, and the Diff engine, well, I just found it confusing and dreary. I don't like historical fiction generally, though. So that contributed.

[Antti]

I joined the group in midsummer, and I didn't read all the monthly nominations. Therefore I only read six books; there were six others I had read previously, but I don't include those.

1) The novel you enjoyed the most: Curse of Chalion. Diamond Age was a close second, but McMaster Bujold is a better writer than Stephenson and the plot is much more solid.

2) The book that made you think the most: Diamond Age. The idea that in the nanotech era people will want to join societies that restrict their freedom was intriguing.

3) The weirdest group read of the year: Einstein Intersection. It was quite a ride.

4) The author you'd discovered and plan to read in future: Samuel R. Delaney. I mean, weird is not bad.

5) Favourite Sci-Fi and Fantasy of the year (name both): Diamond Age / CoC, obviously.

6) The book that exceeded your expectations: CoC. I don't usually read fantasy, but CoC was delightfully low-fantasy, high-intrigue and high-theology.

7) Your favourite protagonist and villain (name both): I think Ista, from Paladin of Souls She was unconventional hero: there are quite few older women protagonists in SF/F. And although he wasn't villain per se, how could I not nominate antagonist called "Dr. X"?

8) The novel you would like to re-read in future: Kallocain. I missed some subleties of the book (see below), so thus would be worth a re-read.

9) The most difficult read: Kallocain, since I decided to read it in original Swedish, and my Swedish wasn't 100% up to the task.

10) The novel that did not live up to the hype: Feed. Oh man was I disappointed with this one.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

1) The novel you enjoyed the most: a lot of them, but if I have to choose one then The Curse of Chalion. Honorable mentions to Camouflage, The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer and The Postman, all of which I've read before joining the group.
2) The book that made you think the most: definitely The Dispossessed, I'm interested in social studies and history and this is a book I like to argue with.
3) The weirdest group read of the year: as for many others, The Einstein Intersection, but with The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer closely second
4) The author you'd discovered and plan to read in future: Lois McMaster Bujold
5) Favourite Sci-Fi and Fantasy of the year (name both): Paladin of Souls for fantasy and something by Arthur C. Clarke as SF, either Rendezvous with Rama or Childhood's End
6) The book that exceeded your expectations: Paladin of Souls, for usually 2nd volumes start to go downhill
7) Your favourite protagonist and villain (name both): protagonist: Nell ( Diamond Age), Ged (Earthsea) and Cazaril (Curse of Chalion). Villian: Dr. X, and the guy, who promoted survivalists in Postman
8) The novel you would like to re-read in future: The Curse of Chalion
9) The most difficult read: The Sheep Look Up
10) The novel that did not live up to the hype: Cloud Atlas

[Bryan, Village Idiot]

1) The novel you enjoyed the most: I finished every other question before this on...I'm struggling. I think I will have to say Tau Zero.
2) The book that made you think the most: Rendezvous with Rama
3) The weirdest group read of the year: The Diamond Age
4) The author you'd discovered and plan to read in future: Robert A. Heinlein
5) Favourite Sci-Fi and Fantasy of the year (name both): Tau Zero and The Earthsea Cycle
6) The book that exceeded your expectations: The Curse of Chalion
7) Your favourite protagonist and villain (name both): Cazaril and The Moon Quake
8) The novel you would like to re-read in future: Tau Zero...I guess...I'm not a big re-reader
9) The most difficult read: Feed/Deadline
10) The novel that did not live up to the hype: Cloud Atlas and The Man in the High Castle

[Allan]

I'll come back with my answers in a bit but I want to thank the group members for helping me focus this year, and increase my reading threefold. You helped me set and meet goals, and turned me on to a lot of great stuff I wouldn't have read on my own. My 2018 final stats: 103 books read, 48 from the H/N list, to bring my read pct up over 19%. Pages read over 30,000. I'm not bragging here, I'm just very happy and thankful to have accomplished that much. If you'd told me a year ago that I'd read that much, I wouldn't have believed it. Here's to a fruitful & entertaining 2019!

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Yay! Allan, I wish I had read that much. Life just intervenes. Also, television.

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

Allan wrote: "I'll come back with my answers in a bit but I want to thank the group members for helping me focus this year, and increase my reading threefold. You helped me set and meet goals, and turned me on t..."

Allan take your time, I for one am looking forward to what your choices are. As for the stats, you are an inspiration to everyone in this group, 30k pages and 48 Hugo and Nebula titles knocked off the group is impressive, I've only managed to get through half of that amount and it's my personal best in years.

I will post some stats tomorrow, outlining what we've done as a group, which with a tinge of pride I must say are rather impressive!

Happy New Year everyone, looking forward to 2019 as a member of Hugo & Nebula group.

[Allan]

Well, thank you, glad I could be a good example. As I said, I'm not bragging, it's more that I'm enthusiastic and incredulous myself that I could do that much. Enthusiastic - I'm a listmaker and a completist (I can feel you all nodding your heads) and I've always wanted to read the Hugo-winning books. So this group gave me focus, goals and a spreadsheet to mess with to boot!

A recommendation I'd give people is to look at how much you read on average. Do a page count for a month as a baseline, average it out and set goals around that. 30k pages is about 80 per day. The average book we read is around 300 pages. If you can do half of that, 40 per day (doesn't sound like much, does it?) you'll read somewhere close to 50 books.

[Art, Stay home, stay safe.]

I tried upping the ante for 2019, the goal that I set myself is 59, just 7 books more than the last year. I will probably use audiobooks more often from now on, I'm getting used to those and some of the narrators are a hoot really, making each reading a unique experience.

Your math is spot on by the way, with my 15.8k of pages read I am averaging about 303 pages per novel. Which is why, a few months back, I explained how I don't like adding every single short story to my read list, it messes with my average.