Goodreads announced the winners of the Goodreads Choice Awards, an annual book award decided by actual real-life human readers. This year’s winner for the Science Fiction category is Recursion by Blake Crouch.
I haven’t read Recursion, but I plan on rectifying that fact very soon. I ordered a copy yesterday on Amazon. I’ve read Mr. Crouch’s work at least one time before with Dark Matter. It was a few years ago, but I enjoyed it.
I put a lot of stock into the Goodreads award. I used to respect the Hugo Awards when it came to excellence in science fiction, but with each passing year, that respect seems to become smaller and smaller. The Hugo Awards now seem to be an award for how intersectionality woke the author is.
I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
One of my biggest problems with the Hugo Awards is how The Martian by Andy Weir was never even nominated. To say the book was great is an understatement. I literally could not put the book down. I love that book. Goodreads’ voters awarded it the 2014 Science Fiction Book of the Year. I read it because one of my Goodreads friends recommended it.
I’m a huge Andy Weir fan. I not only will pre-order anything he writes, but I will also read anything he endorses. Have you read his second novel, Artemis? You really should. I recommend the audiobook version. It’s narrated by actress Rosario Dawson. I’ve listened to it twice.
I just trust the Goodreads Choice Awards more than I trust the Hugo Awards. They’re more in tune with my own opinions and sensibilities than the Hugo Awards are. Then again, I am a Goodreads Choice Awards voter. I am not a Hugo Award voter. Maybe that has something to do with it.
The Hugo Awards just aren’t something I can use to determine what I should be reading or not. I don’t care about the things the Hugo Awards seem to put great importance in when determining what’s great or not.
I just want to read or experience great science fiction. Is that asking too much? I don’t think so.