What I'm Planning to Nominate for the Hugos

We are now one week out from the deadline for Hugo Nominations. I'm eligible to nominate this year, and while a couple of past requests for recommendations have failed to generate anything, I thought I'd throw up a preliminary look at my ballot in hopes of bringing in a few recommendations:

Best Novel

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson. I don't like his take on Many-Worlds, but it's a terrific book all the same.
• Sly Mongoose by Tobias Buckell. A fantastic setting, a great fast-moving plot, and some nice revelations about the universe.
• Pirate Sun by Karl Schroeder. Cut-and-paste the comments from the previous book down here.
• Nation by Terry Pratchett. Aside from the epilogue, a great non-Discworld Pratchett YA.
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. A book that richly deserves its inevitable banning from school libraries.

Best Novella/ Novelette/ Short Story

I got nothin'. I don't read much short fiction. Recommendations are welcome, though, especially if they are available online.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• The Dark Knight. Duh.
• Hellboy II. Not the most coherent plot in the world, but it sure looked pretty.
• Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr. was great fun to watch, even if the plot wasn't the best.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Ummm.... A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All?

The John W. Campbell Not-a-Hugo-But-Awarded-at-the-Hugos

I only recognize a few names on the list of eligible writers. Of those, the one I'd be most likely to vote for is Brian Francis Slattery.

And that's pretty much everything. I realize I'm leaving a lot of categories blank-- if you have a strong opinion about any of them, please, leave a comment telling me who I ought to nominate. I'm also willing to entertain suggestions for other novels that ought to be nominated-- at least two of the five above are "Oh, what the hell" choices, thrown in to use all five slots. If you feel strongly that one of them does not deserve a nomination, or that some other book does deserve one, by all means, let me know.