Aussiecon Four is Sept 2-6 in Melbourne.  Here's the final ballot for 2010 Hugo award for best novel:

• Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor)
• The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
• Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)
• Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)
• Wake, Robert J. Sawyer (Ace; Penguin; Gollancz; Analog)
• The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)

How many have you read?  Which would you vote for and why?

Haven't read any of them yet, but I'm planning on reading Palimpsest this month and The City & The City someday soon. I'm not at all interested in any of the other nominees. . .

I'm quite fond of Robert J Sawyer so I think i'll wind up reading that one

Well, the Hugos are pretty much a popularity contest - but they do come late in the annual award cycle, and it looks like some of them have already won other awards.  There could be some awards I didn't find in a quick web search, but here's what I know of.

Boneshaker - Locus SF Award

The City & The City - BSFA Award, Arthur Clarke Award, Locus Fantasy Award

Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America

Palimpsest

Wake - Aurora Award

The Windup Girl - Nebula Award, Locus First Novel Award, Campbell Award

For my part, I had previously read Boneshaker, The City & The City, and The Windup Girl - and I had Julian Comstock on my TBR shelf, and just finished it.  I expect I will read Palimpsest and Wake at some point, but probably not before the actual Hugo winner is announced.  Not a bad book on the list, I think.

My vote goes to The City & The City, though.  I think Meiville took some risks blending genres, but the result worked well.

WWW:Wake would get my vote -uplifting and positive, characters were engaging and real - Sawyer has always been good about getting the characters to come to life.  The story was interesting (how do we define self-awareness in AI and ape and how might it evolve) - interesting backstory.  I brought the series from Analog with me on an Alaskan cruise and spent a lot of time in the reading room instead of watching the mountain scenery.  (My Hubby was rather annoyed.)  I think this book/series is one of Sawyers' best so far.  I have WWW: Watch on my TBR pile, been saving it for the right time. 

I have NOT read Palimpsest (book blurb doesn't appeal that much) and I started RC Wilson's Comstock book, but put it down when it got boring and never got back to it.  I've read the other Hugo nominees and Wake was my favorite.

Good book, recommended. 

• Best Novel (Tie for first place)

The City & The City by China Miéville

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

• Best Novella

"Palimpsest" by Charles Stross

• Best Novelette

"The Island" by Peter Watts

• Best Short Story

"Bridesicle" by Will McIntosh

• Best Related Work

This is Me, Jack Vance! (Or, More Properly, This is "I") by Jack Vance

• Best Graphic Story

Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm, Written by Kaja and Phil Foglio; Art by Phil Foglio; Colors by Cheyenne Wright

• Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form

Moon Screenplay by Nathan Parker; Story by Duncan Jones; Directed by Duncan Jones

• Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form

Doctor Who: "The Waters of Mars," Written by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford; Directed by Graeme Harper

• Best Editor, Long Form

Patrick Nielsen Hayden

• Best Editor, Short Form

Ellen Datlow

• Best Professional Artist

Shaun Tan

• Best Semiprozine

Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace and Cheryl Morgan

• Best Fan Writer

Frederik Pohl

• Best Fanzine

StarShipSofa edited by Tony C. Smith

• Best Fan Artist

Brad W. Foster

• The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Seanan McGuire

My money had been on the third place finisher for best novel, Boneshaker.  The City & The City and The Windup Girl are both overrated imho.  Wilson's Julian Comstock was good but I never could shake the notion that it was just Spin-lite.  I wanted to like Valente's Palimpsest (not to be confused with Stross' "Palimpsest") but I never did finish it.  I really need to give Sawyer a try.

Moon totally deserves the win for best dramatic presentation long form.  Compare its budget and box office sales with Avatar, which came in last, and it is even more impressive.

It is pretty impressive that Girl Genius was picked over a graphic novel written by Gaiman, given how popular he is within the Hugo voting population.  My pick of the year, I Kill Giants, didn't even make the cut-off for the nomination longlist, so I didn't have a pony in this race.

I was pulling for Gail Carriger to take home the Campbell, but there is always next year.

Wilson's Julian Comstock was good but I never could shake the notion that it was just Spin-lite.

I don't think I understand what you mean.   I've read almost all of RCW; Julian Comstock and Spin seem completely different to me.

-Tom Hl.

The have the same structure: a fellow chronicling the life of his famous best friend through events in a future where excessive technological advancement lead to global environmental crisis.

You're right about the famous best friend point of view.

But Spin is not about excessive technological advancement leading to global environmental crisis, it's about an alien machine intelligence intervening in human affairs.

An alien machine intelligence intervening in human affairs because of a global environmental crisis.

Well, thanks for letting me know what you meant by "Spin-lite".  To me, that seems like a pretty thin stretch.

This talk has gotten me considering a re-read of Spin and maybe Axis too.  Anybody know how RCW is doing on volume 3, which I've heard will be called Vortex?

-Tom Hl.

Here is what RCW had to say about Vortex on his website:

I've also had a whole bunch of email questions about a release date for Vortex.  I appreciate the eagerness, and I'll post details as soon as I have them, but please understand that publishing is an industry with a lag time and schedules by which you could clock the advance and retreat of the glaciers.  "Sometime in 2011" is my best guess.  Watch this space. 

UPDATE, Sept. 9: According to Locus, Vortex is scheduled for a May 2011 release.  Subject to change,  of course.

Have read The City and the City and Boneshaker - enjoyed both.  Have another book by China Mieville on my shelf now, too, Perdido Street.

So I've now read Palimpsest and The City & the City, and I liked them both but absolutely adored neither. I was actually kind of tickled by the way they were similar to each other, both being high concept explorations of speculative cities. . . if I had to choose one over the other I think I slightly preferred Palimpsest's emotional core to the higher cool-factor of The City & the City, and I know I was impressed with Valente's prose (overwrought though it was) while I was underwhelmed by Mieville's. . . but I get the fuss over both books, and would give them both 4 1/2 stars, so I would be happy to see either of them win.