Reviews for The Hugo winners

The average rating for The Hugo winners based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-06-29 00:00:00 Seb Brown Six years of material judged the best SF of its time, so it's pretty awesome. But, also, it is sixty years out-of-date. However, the introductions by Isaac Asimov add some spice to the broth. So let's give you the run-down: 1955 novelette, "The Darfsteller", by Walter M. Miller, Jr.: A sweet, sad tale of an actor, long out of work due to mechanical theatre troupes, taking a last, dangerous stand for his connection to his art. 1955 short story, "Allamagoosa", by Eric Frank Russell: Gloriously funny tale of the Terran Exploration Ship Bustler's effort to cover up a missing item in order to survive an administrative inspection. 1956 novelette, "Exploration Team", by Murray Leinster: A colonel in the Colonial Survey is accidentally paired with an illegal settler and his unusual exploration team to search for a doomed colony among mysterious and lethal predators. 1956 short story, "The Star", by Arthur C. Clarke: 3000 light years from Earth, a Jesuit explorer's faith is tested among the remains of a destroyed alien civilization. 1958 short story, "Or All the Seas with Oysters", by Avram Davidson: Personally, I had a hard time seeing this as a major piece of SF, but it is a spooky-fun little of tale love, and bicycles. and why there are always extra coat hangers in the closet. 1959 novelette, "The Big Front Yard", by Clifford D. Simak: I have found over the years that Mr. Simak is a writer that defies description; here, his tale of a rural junk-dealer's unusual discovery defies description as well. 1959 short story, "The Hell-Bound Train", by Robert Block: More a merger of horror and fantasy, a hobo cuts a deal with the Conductor of the titular Hell-Bound Train. 1960 novelette, "Flowers for Algernon", by Daniel Keyes: Yep, that one. As good as it was when I read it in middle school, only I understand its power soooooo much better, forty years later. Until now, I never realized that it had won a Hugo. 1961 novelette, "The Longest Voyage", by Poul Anderson: The opening sentences of the story are the best synopsis: "When first we heard of the Sky Ship, we were on an island whose name, as nearly as Montalirian tongues can wrap themselves about so barbarous a noise, was Yarzik. That was almost a year after the Golden Leaper sailed from Lavre Town, and we judged we had come halfway round the world."

Review # 2 was written on 2015-06-01 00:00:00 Antonio Ortiz Nine pieces of short fiction, historical to science fiction as an institution. Editor Asimov is charming as usual. Contents: Miller's 'Darfsteller' (luddite actor annoyed by automata thespians'very subtle & sophisticated) Russell's "Allamagoosa" (satire of military precision'I have it on good authority that this is bona fide) Leinster's "Exploration Team" (kickass pet bears kick ass'captures perfectly the same sentiment found with Martin's dire wolves) Clarke's "The Star" (snide anti-christianism) Davidson's "Or All the Seas with Oysters" (inanimate objects be fucking, yo) Simak's "The Big Front Yard" (aliens build transit system in redneck's house) Bloch's "The Hell-Bound Train" (dude's clever attempt to subvert deal with devil is cleverly subverted by devil) Keyes "Flowers for Algernon" (very impressive anti-cognitionist narrative) Anderson's "The Longest Voyage" (weird'shares the same imaginary as The Broken Sword but has spaceships, galactic empires, and so on). Good stuff, overall.