June 18, 2011 -- 4:28 p.m.
I haven't actually read any of the previous books by this year's Hugo nominees, so it's exciting and kind of disorienting for those books that plop me down mid-series. From discussion boards, Ian McDonald seems to be the inside favorite, but Connie Willis won the Nebula, so I wouldn't count her out yet.
Though seeing a WWII travel book made me feel like writing a story where a history professor comments: "You know, why do time travelers never seem to end up in Africa? Isn't that a little weird?" And then having it turn out there's some sort of time-nexus that will automatically draw all time travelers to WWII where they will be given the opportunity to kill Hitler only to a) have something go terribly wrong or b) alter their own futures in a horrible way. And the time travel nexus was created by aliens who wanted to mock us.
Well, what else could explain how the time travelers ALWAYS end up there, except when they're going to assist with the assassination of J.F.K. instead...
As a postscript, apparently China banned shows about Time Travel. Odd.
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Blackout/All Clear were kind of a surreal experience for me. Willis is the grand master of taking For. Ever. to get to the point...then you discover the journey WAS the point. I felt like I'd lived WWII in England. In real (sometimes excruciating) time. And in a life-changing way.
If this is your first encounter with Bujold, go read _Shards of Honor_ or _The Warrior's Apprentice_ instead.
Got 12 pages into _Dervish House_ and did not throw it across the room. But only because it was a library book. Pretentious, authorly, ANNOYING.
Huh. Maybe I ought to buy me a supporting membership...