1) Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
I voted for this for the BSFA Award without any hesitation, and I'll do the same for the Hugos.
2) Neptune's Brood, by Charles Stross
Excellent stuff, but wears the economic theory perhaps a little too heavily for it to get my top vote.
3) No Award
The highest I've put this for some time. Let me explain...
4) The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Back in the very brief period of my life when my wife and I were living in a priest's spare bedroom, some well-meaning worshipper had lent him the entire series as it then was, and I gave it a serious try. But I got fed up with it by volume 4 or 5, when I realised that nothing had actually happened in the entire vast book, and soundings taken from other sources indicated that this wouldn't change any time soon if I persevered, so I let them remain undisturbed on the parochial bookshelves. Much more recently, Adam Roberts convinced me that I need not go further (though as far as I know he has not read the Brandon Sanderson volumes). I'd be embarrassed for the Hugos if it wins, so it goes below No Award for me; but at the same I respect the enthusiasm of its fans, and I entirely understand their desire to honour a series that has brought a lot of people a lot of pleasure. It will get a lot of votes, but mine won't be one of them.
5) Parasite, by Mira Grant
I could take (just about) the coincidences regarding the parents of the narrator and her boyfriend, and more or less swallow the US military not quite realising what was going on under their noses. But the twist at the end insults the reader's intelligence.
6) Warbound by Larry Correia
There are those who say that one should not judge books on their authors' politics, but solely on literary merit. Frankly, on that basis alone this would be pretty near the bottom of my list. But I am not going to ignore the wider context, which is that this book got its Hugo nomination as the result of a political stunt - a political stunt which quite intentionally delivered collateral benefits to another author who has called a black writer a "half-savage" and who has defended throwing acid into the faces of feminists. I obviously disagree with those who nominated the Wheel of Time, but I respect them because they did so out of love. No such noble reason is behind the nomination of Warbound, and I feel under no obligation at all to consider its scanty literary merits outside the political context in which it was nominated. I write here only for myself, and you can vote how you like; I'm putting it last.
You can vote in this year's Hugos, and the 1939 Retro Hugos, by joining Loncon 3 at http://www.loncon3.org/memberships .
2014: Best Novel | Best Novella | Best Novelette | Best Short Story | Best Related Work | Best Graphic Story | Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) | Best Professional Artist | Best Fan Artist
1939: Best Novel | Best Novella | Best Novelette | Best Short Story | Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) | Best Professional Artist