05 May 2012

The Decision


The Supreme Arbiter - Large and In-Charge
 (Photo Courtesy Emmeline Frantz)

People, this is important so listen to me.  Interwebs, you listen up too (I’m looking at you Wikipedia).  I’m about to change history for all time.

I am about to dispel the myth that in 1966 two authors were awarded Hugo Awards for Best Novel.  Well, I’m not going to do that so much as have the final say as to which was really deserving of the prize. 

It really kills me to have so much responsibility and I loved both, so believe me, I don’t relish having this power right now (yes I do), but here were my decisions.

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Round 1 – Draw
Both books were insanely fun to read and the quotes I demonstrated were great for very different reasons.  Apples to Oranges.  I call it a draw.

Round 2 – Dune
This Immortal basically rolled over but the fan art and a band with a Dune namesake would have make it difficult to win anyway. 

Round 3 – This Immortal
All I have to say is “my hellhound had arrived.”

Round 4 – Dune
I do like me some nebulous fear and danger, but honestly how can you top the Baron?

Round 5 – Dune
This Immortal put on a damn good show but as creepy as Earth was, Arrakis was more complete, compelling and WORMS!


For the original discussions:
Rounds 1 & 2Round 3Rounds 4 & 5

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Okay, I’ll admit it.  Knowing how great Dune is, I was really pulling for This Immortal.  I wanted to find a way for Zelazny to take this one.  Alas, I could not make it happen.  The facts were just too overwhelming.

World!  You are changed forever.  Though This Immortal was fantastic, it must hereafter always be considered a close 2nd to DUNE, The OFFICIAL WINNER of this, our first Deathmatch and OFFICIAL HEP WINNER of the 1966 Hugo Award.  Try to deny it.

5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Haha! You did and I will admit that was part of the reason I was pulling so hard for Zelazny :)

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    2. Seriously, Immortal is a great novel, but the scope and magnitude of Dune far surpasses it. It's no surprise that Dune is mostly rated as the "better" novel. I've enjoyed Lord of Light a lot more than Immortal and it's still one of my all-time favorites.

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    3. Only a little way into that one now (should be reading right now actually) and it is just starting to get good so if it's that much better than Immortal, than I'm really looking forward to it.

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    4. Oh, and it does make me curious as to the history of this year's award. How was it that this tie occurred?

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