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Sisters Alice and Ann have read all of the novels that won either a Hugo award, a Nebula award, or both in the 1960s. In this episode, they look back on the experience and discuss how they think their readership is progressing.  Want to skip to a specific topic? Here are some time stamps to help guide you: 01:10  Lost Episodes - Starship Troopers, Canticle for Lebowitz and Case for Conscience  04:00  We rank our favorites 10:18  Impactful vs. Enjoyable books 12:16  History Lessons 13:16  Myths and Legends 15:19  Women in the 60s 18:10  Aliens in the 60s 19:25  How are we doing with our manifesto and goals? 22:50  New Ideas, new friends 29:24  Looking forward to the 70s

Welcome to the Hugo and Nebula readership podcast where two sisters are reading their way through all - all, I say - the books in chronological order. This episode covers Rite of passage by Alexei Panshin which won the Hugo in 1969. This book is a great example of how two persons never read the same book.  Here are some time markers to guide you through the episode  01:02 Book jacket read 02:29 History Lesson 04:39 A Heinlein moment  06:44 Open discussion: another Heinlein moment  10:38 Mia: protagonist, flawed and likable  17:00 Jimmy the boyfriend  20:09 Stories within stories 22:33 The writing and we go back and do a plot summary  26:26 Predetermined endings  29:16 More characters  35:25 The trial 39:59 Four questions  43:31 Side trip: male writers of female characters and visa versa

We're not quite hip enough for hip crime vocab, are you? On this episode of the Hugo and Nebula Readership podcast, the two sisters are reading the groundbreaking dystopia Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner - it won the Hugo for 1969.   Give us a listen. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:51 Book’s Blurb which has no plot synopsis... 02:48 so we attempt one ourselves 05:40 History Lesson  12:26 General discussion and big theme  17:28 Dystopias and all that 23:50 Donald and/or Norman? 28:02 Chad C. Mulligan and the HipCrime Vocab 29:32 The Shiggies  31:57 … and we circle back to Chad C. Mulligan 34:40 John Brunner and the future 37:50 The Begi stories 41:20 Five Questions   Music by Carl Miles

This is the podcast where two sisters are reading their way through the Hugo and Nebula awarding novels in order.  La, Lo or Le? In this episode, we discuss The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany. The Einstein Intersection won the Nebula for 1968. This tale of aliens and tangled human mythology was a challenging read for the two sisters who ultimately found the main character, Lobey,  to be the best part.    Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:55 Book Jacket Read 05:45 History Lesson 09:01 Big Themes: Deep thinking about otherness  12:00 La, Lo or Le: what does it all mean - a summary of sorts 19:43 Kage: fancy pronunciation rules 23:53 Chapter intros: Why, why, why 28:53 Kid Death and the battle at the end  35:33 Opulent parties (and the Dove) 37:54 Ambiguous ending 40:32 Four Questions   Music by Carl Miles

Who is Sam? This is the podcast where two sisters are reading their way through the Hugo and Nebula awarding novels in order. In this episode, they discuss The Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny which won the Hugo award for 1968. The general theme for the discussion will be us questioning everything we think we read in the book.    Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:44 Book’s Blurb  04:03 History Lesson  08:47 Big Questions: so many questions 12:54 The Characters: who has what name when  19:00 General confusion: which last a while 25:13 The battles: loops and reincarnations  28:52 Feminist Rant  34:52 Religion: Mix and match parables and accelerationism 42:50 Hellwell 44:00 The Ending: more confusion and potty jokes and murder mysteries 54:24 Four questions    Music by Carl Miles

Would you choose to be supersmart? This podcast episode is all about the seminal Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. If you are of a certain age you undoubtedly had it as required reading.  The two sisters cast their minds back and struggle to remember when they actually read the book but are fairly certain they had previously read it in some form or other.  The book tied with Babel-17 by Delany for the 1967 Nebula. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:45 History Lesson  04:15 Okay, did we or didn’t we?  06:14 General Discussion, starting off with the usual - what’s the big theme 10:06 Would you choose to be supersmart? 15:33 We continue our ongoing discussion of the presentation of women characters in  Science Fiction in the late 20th century. (We do cover other characters too, to be fair) 23:00 Algernon the foreshadowing mouse 30:07 More character discussion, just to make sure we cover everyone. We’ll get there.    40:55 Four Questions and what did you love about reading this book?  Music by Carl Miles

This episode of the podcast covers Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17. A new author for both sisters, Delany’s 1967 Nebula winner was a record-breaker in many ways, have a listen to learn more. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 02:04 Book’s blurb  03:13 History lesson  07:47 General discussion of themes working through the plot 31:29 More major themes discussion  38:07 Transport world and Dan 43:24 Our first female protagonist  48:12 Lit Crit hats on 52:44 Space operas 55:52 Could it be a movie?  59:36 Four questions and the best part Music by Carl Miles

In this episode of the podcast, the two sisters discuss the Moon is a Harsh Mistress, the final Hugo Award for Science Fiction Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein.  Written in 1966, this is probably one of his more well-known novels for adults, but how did it compare in our opinion? Have a listen. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:29 Book jacket read 03:16 History lesson  06:45 General discussion: big ideas, main ideas, all that jazz 12:28 Worldbuilding 15:28 We love Mike 23:48 The wise old man 29:31 Wyoh and the Heinleinein archetype 37:25 Line marriages 46:10 Mort the Wart and the second part of the book 53:29 Four Questions and a happy ending Music by Carl Miles

This episode finds the sisters reading ..And Call Me Conrad (also known as This Immortal) by Roger Zelazny. It tied with Dune for the 1966 Hugo.  A SF/Mystery/Spy/Classical Mythology story packed with (un)forgettable characters that we have a great time discussing. But did we like the book? Have a listen and find out. Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:50 Book’s Blurb - Actually the inside of the front cover, if you’d like to be technical 04:45 History Lesson  08:27 General Discussion: We tackle the big theme first and give it up quickly 16:00 The “New Wave” writers 20:45 The Character breakdown  39:20 Four Questions  45:35 What’s our favorite thing    Music by Carl Miles

In this episode, the two sisters discuss the iconic Dune by Frank Herbert.  It won both the Hugo and the Nebula in 1966. Yes, it is the First Nebula award ever given out and both of us agree with the awards committees on this one; Dune is a damn fine book.  Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode: 01:53 Book Blurb, but not really from the book 03:03 History Lesson   05:43 General Discussion: We start with the big themes 11:27 Worldbuilding 18:32 Side discussion: World religions 19:45 The Ecology of Dune 23:25 Female Power  29:27 The mix of technology and fantasy elements  34:42 Character Breakdown 40:03 Four Questions  - our new format   Music by Carl Miles

In this rather short episode, the two sisters discuss The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber.  Not only did technical problems bring us to an early finish, neither of us could honestly say we liked the book very much.  Take a listen to find out why.     Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:12 Book Jacket 03:06 History Lesson 05:36 General Discussion: How many story lines can you handle? 10:48 Ann attempts to explain the character breakdown and outline the book  18:13 The Ending - such as it is 20:50 Five Questions 24:45 Background of the upcoming Nebula Awards   Music by Carl Miles

This episode the two sisters, Alice and Ann, read Waystation AKA Here Gather the Stars by Clifford D. Simak.  The book won the Hugo in 1964 and even though Simak was a new author to both sisters he was a hit. Listen to here about why both sisters enjoyed the read.   Want to skip a bit or jump to your favorite part?  Here are the time markers for this episode:   01:49 We tweak the podcast format and read the book’s blurb   04:00 The History Lesson 09:27 General Discussion  15:07 The Way Station method of space travel 18:06 Aliens, so many aliens!  20:50 Simak predicts the future  23:38 Simak as a writer and his characters  35:08 Religious discourse and the sisters are a bit confused  43:06 The most confusing characters of the book (lots of confusion here) 49:37 Five Questions   Music by Carl Miles