As ever, I've run this week's announcements through Goodreads and LibraryThing to count the number of owners and record the average ratings.
2016 Hugo finalists
Goodreads
LibraryThing
owners
av rating
owners
av rating
Uprooted, by Naomi Novik
111,631
4.17
933
4.24
Seveneves, by Neil Stephenson
86,903
3.97
1,021
3.88
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s
Windlass, by Jim Butcher
44,102
4.20
356
4.02
The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin
37,162
4.32
388
4.28
Ancillary Mercy, by Ann Leckie
18,393
4.23
536
4.24
Two of these have clearly done much better than the other three in terms of market impact. Notable, however, that the multitudes who have read Seveneves are not all that enthusiastic about it.
1941 Retro Hugo finalists
Goodreads
LibraryThing
owners
av rating
owners
av rating
The Ill‐Made Knight, by T.H. White
(numbers for The Once And Future King)
139,375
4.07
10,838
4.10
Slan, by A.E. van Vogt
4,200
3.73
1,136
3.50
Kallocain, by Karin Boye
4,071
3.80
422
3.79
Gray Lensman, by E.E. "Doc" Smith
3,426
3.96
950
3.59
The Reign of Wizardry, by Jack Williamson
63
2.96
77
3.50
A clear leader here on all counts, and it will be a bit surprising if it doesn't win. The other three were well ahead of the field in my
earlier survey. After them, I had thought that Kuttner or Wellman might get the last spot, but the Williamson book is
not bad (though bottom of the table in both ownership rankings and reader ratings).
Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist
Goodreads
LibraryThing
owners
av rating
owners
av rating
The Long Way to a Small Angry
Planet, by Becky Chambers
16,536
4.20
205
4.08
Arcadia, by Iain Pears
4,512
3.95
145
3.84
The Book of Phoenix, by Nnedi Okorafor
3,358
3.92
77
4.00
Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
3,014
4.28
41
4.00
Way Down Dark, by James Smythe
1,882
3.79
17
3.75
Europe at Midnight, by Dave Hutchinson
662
4.17
46
4.19
The leader in terms of ownership is also second highest rated on both GR and LT. But I'm also cheered by the enthusiasm of the smaller band of Hutchinson fans.
This has been a rather imperfect predictor of success in the past, but it does give some robust statistics of relative popularity in terms of books sold and logged in readers' online catalogues.