Decision-making by DW Poll

[dira]

So, one of the ways in which I am a ginormous nerd is that in the last couple of years, since I started keeping track of what I read, I have started assigning myself goals for the books I read--not just a number of books, but within that a number of non-fiction books, a number of books of poetry, a number of books published in the current year, and so on.

One of my assignments for this year is to read five past award-winning SF/F books, and to keep myself from getting totally overwhelmed I decided to target books from years ending in 1. The first four books I read for the assignment were the Hugo winners I hadn't read before (1981 - Joan D Vinge's The Snow Queen, 1971 - Larry Niven's Ringworld, 1961 - Walter Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz, and the 1951 Retro Hugo - Robert A. Heinlein's A Farmer in the Sky) and that leaves me without an obvious choice for my fifth book.

So, obviously time for a poll! My selections are taken mostly from truepenny's list of SF/F/H award-winners, 1953-2009, plus the Wikipedia entries for the winners of the Lambda Literary Award and the Gaylactic Spectrum Award, minus books I've read before, already know I don't want to read, or can't get through my local library system. That still leaves thirteen books I know very little about except that they've won some sort of award in a year ending in 1, so feel free to give your opinions in the comments if your feelings are not sufficiently expressed by clicking a radio button!

Poll #7840 Help me pick a book to read!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 48

View Respondents

Which of these books should I read first?

View Answers

A Woman of the Iron People, by Eleanor Arnason
10 (20.8%)

Timescape, by Gregory Benford
5 (10.4%)

Jumping off the Planet, by David Gerrold
1 (2.1%)

The Gilda Stories: a novel, by Jewelle Gomez
3 (6.2%)

White Queen, by Gwyneth Jones
0 (0.0%)

Thomas, the Rhymer, by Ellen Kushner
10 (20.8%)

Only Begotten Daughter, by James Morrow
5 (10.4%)

Declare, by Tim Powers
3 (6.2%)

The Dark Beyond the Stars, by Frank M. Robinson
1 (2.1%)

Ship of Fools, Richard Paul Russo
0 (0.0%)

Point of Dreams, by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett
6 (12.5%)

Galveston, by Sean Stewart
4 (8.3%)

Stations of the Tide, by Michael Swanwick
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[kindkit]

You know, I've heard people say that before and I really don't see it. Has Scott said so herself?

I like Pros and I love PoH/PoD, I just don't see the resemblance; actually there's another of Scott's novels with a much stronger Pros resemblance.

[arduinna]

(eta: wow, sorry, I hadn't realized this was so gigantic!)

I don't remember if Scott has said it, but I think it's definitely there. I missed it entirely my first time through PoH, but when I reread before PoD, I spotted a lot more. They're not AU versions of B&D, so fans looking for a Pros AU will be disappointed, but I can see the origins in the avatars, right down to Cowley.

Rathe (whose physical description matches Doyle's, down to the "starred" scar/mark on his cheek to match Doyle's battered cheekbone) is a rare honest pointsman in a generally corrupt system, refusing to cater to that corruption, whose honesty and dedication are nearly politically ruinous for his career but also bring him to the notice of the surintendant, who uses him for special jobs (sort of like an A-squad *g*).

Eslingen again matches Bodie's physical description, and a lot of Bodie's (at least fanonical) vanity and desire to dress as fashionably as possible on a restricted budget. His background and thinking/mindset is military, not police/points, but his skills mesh really well with Rathe's; they make a good team. (Not a *great* team, yet, but they barely know each other.)

Surintendent Fourie is the Cowley avatar, the commoner who rose to the ranks of the powerful on his own merits and brilliancy. I found the post I made to the Pros-Lit list a few years back about this, and I quoted a paragraph there because it read so much to me like Doyle standing in front of Cowley ready to be briefed:

"Rathe did as he was told, his eyes on the surintendent. Rainart Fourie was a merchant's son from the docks of Point of Sighs, had begun by buying his place as an adjunct point, but had risen to chief on his own merit, as even the most grudging critics were forced to admit. His appointment was still something of a novelty -- until him, the surintendancey had generally been held by gentry, the sons of landames and the like whom the queen owed favors -- and he was sometimes more aware of the politics of his situation than Rathe felt was good for either him or his people. At the moment, Fourie was dressed very correctly, the sober tailored black of the judicial nobles, his haircut as close as a Sofian renunciate's. Though that, Rathe added silently, probably had less to do with devotion or politics than with the fact that his mouse brown hair was thinning rapidly, and the fashionable long wigs would look ridiculous on his long, sharp-boned, and melancholy face. Fourie lifted an eyebrow, as though he'd guessed the thought, and Rathe schooled himself for whatever was to come."

Fourie is a wily, sharp triple-thinker, like Cowley, and both fond of Rathe (and through him, Eslingen) and ruthlessly willing to use him/them to do what's needed.

Aha, okay, going back to pros-lit to find the writeup I did of this, I found someone else who said she "emailed the authors and recieved a response. It not escapes me as to which author responded, but she confirmed that yes, Eslingen & Nico Rathe are based on Bodie & Doyle respectively."

It really is subtle, though; Nico and Philip are absolutely their own characters, in their own world.

[kindkit]

Thanks for the response. I can see where you're coming from, but I don't find the resemblances as strong as you do (their personalities, especially, are very different from Bodie and Doyle's in my opinion) and I think it's just coincidence.

[terrio]

Ooh, which one?

[kindkit]

The Shape of Their Hearts, which has a couple of police partners who are kinda sorta in love with each other, but don't dare to pursue a relationship because same-sex relationships are against the rules.