Hugo 2017: Best Novel Thoughts

This year, I’ve made a solid effort to read as much eligible work as possible for the Hugo nominations period. I read short fiction on a monthly basis, and you can see all the stories I most enjoyed by clicking “short fiction” in my word cloud.  Novels, I started reading feverishly at the beginning of 2017, guiding my reading by my own interests and by which novels seem to be recommended most commonly on best-of-2016 lists.  

I’m going to put up a few posts this month, to point out some work that I think deserves consideration in the fiction and dramatic presentation categories.  Today, I will talk about novels.  Out of the 2016 novels I have read, there are a number that I would consider award-worthy.  There are also certainly many award-worthy novels that I haven’t had time to read. The following is not a slate, but just a reminder of some excellent novels from 2016.

Favorite 2016 novels that I have read (but not yet reviewed here)

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin: Jemisin won the Hugo Award for Best Novel last year with the first book of this series, and the second is really just as amazing.  I think this is a strong contender for the award, and may be hurt only by the fact that it is the second in a series.

The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu: This is also the second book in a series, following The Grace of Kings.  I liked the first novel, but the series seems to be getting even better as it goes along.

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders: This one is a debut novel, and an excellent one.  The story follows the friendship between a witch and a scientist, as the world falls apart around them.

Good books I’m still reading now  

I’m currently reading Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit and Mishell Baker’s Borderline.  Both are entertaining so far, and Lee’s novel in particular is impressively weird.  So far, I would recommend these, but I haven’t quite finished them yet.

2016 Hugos: Written Fiction

Today, I’ll point out some of my favorite of last year’s written fiction—both the short fiction categories and award for best novel. The Hugo Award short fiction categories are comprised of Short Story (< 7.5k words), Novelette (7.5-17.5k words) and Novella (17.5-40k words).  These categories have been challenging for me to nominate in the past.  This is partially because I hadn’t been reading much short fiction and partially because there’s just so much out there that it’s difficult to navigate the ocean. Rocket Stack Rank has helped me to get a handle on the second problem.

It became clear how few people nominate short fiction in last year’s Hugo ballot, which means that the ballot can be determined by a relatively small number of votes.  This really makes the point that every nomination counts, especially in short fiction. I have undoubtedly missed some really nice short stories, novelettes, and novellas, and I’m still trying to see how much more I can read before the nomination deadline.  Since I have mostly read free fiction from 2015, I have also included links to the available works.

For novels, I’m afraid I haven’t read all that many novels published in 2015.  I hope for refocus on this more for the coming year, once I have a more stable reading diet of short fiction.  For now, I’ll just list all of the eligible novels I’ve read along with my thoughts.

Short Stories

In Blue Lily’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard (Meeting Infinity): This short story takes place in de Bodard’s Xuya Universe, but is I think it’s accessible to those not familiar with the setting.  In any case, I’ve only read two other Xuya stories so far, and I didn’t have any issues.  It is a beautiful tale of grief, guilt and healing, in a story involving a mind-altering plague that posed a very serious threat to a spacefaring civilization.

Cassandra by Ken Liu (Clarkesworld, March 2015):  A modern-day Cassandra unexpectedly finds herself becoming a villain to Superman’s hero, as they both try to make the world a better place.  I think it speaks a lot to modern cynicism about the simple morality of Superman, and shows how confusing moral decisions can become when you start to look through to the impact of your actions on the future.

The Way Home by Linda Nagata (Operation Arcana, Lightspeed March 2015): This did not really sound like my kind of story, as I am not particularly a fan of milSF—a military team is stuck in an alternate dimension and must defeat demons in order to open a portal to return home.  Things are a little more complicated than that, but it is essentially a short story about group dynamics under mortal pressure. I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed the story and Nagata’s writing style.

Cat Pictures, Please by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, July 2015): Kritzer is my first favorite new-to-me author I discovered with this new delving into short fiction.  She has a very friendly, conversational style of writing, and her writing involves very familiar present-day technologies.  In this case, the main character is a self-aware search engine that is trying to use all her ‘powers’ (targeted ads, manipulation of search results, etc.) to improve people’s lives.  She desires only adorable pictures of cats in exchange.

Novelettes

Ether by Zhang Ran (Clarkesworld, January 2015): This Chinese novelette was translated by Ken Liu and Carmen Yiling Yan. The prose did not feel like a translation to me, but it is noticeable that some things in the story make more sense if you consider it to be set in China.   The story is set in a near future where insidious censors can turn even the words we speak into meaningless babble, and how the desire for free speech and meaningful communication can still find a way to be heard. 

So Much Cooking by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, November 2015): Here’s another excellent and emotional story by Naomi Kritzer.  This one is told through a middle-aged housewife’s cooking blog, as a deadly flu epidemic sweeps through the nation.  The character had a really distinctive voice, and I loved how the story was slowly revealed alongside increasingly desperate recipes.

Looking for Gordo by Robert J. Sawyer (Future Visions):  After receiving information from an alien species, the danger of a search for further extraterrestrial life is on trial.  I thought the alien database was really neat, and it was an interesting look at how to make sense of such a massive amount of information.  Also, it was fun to see such a positive story of first contact.

Hello, Hello by Seanan McGuire (Future Visions): This is another story with an interesting technological centerpiece.  In this case, it is translation software for sign language to speech, and ideas of how far that kind of software might be stretched.

Novellas

The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn by Usman Malik (Tor.com): An unusual story about a man chasing after the truth of the stories his grandfather used to tell about a poor princess and Jinn in Pakistan.  It was a really complicated and creative story that all tied together really well at the end.

Waters of Versailles by Kelly Robson (Tor.com): I would not have expected to be so enthralled by a story about magical plumbing at the Court of Versailles!  It’s a very useful setting to explore the value of living with integrity as opposed to gaining social respect.  I didn’t much like the main character in the beginning, but he won me over by the end.

Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum Literary Agency, Inc.): This one is set in the same world as the Chalion series, but I don’t think you’d have to have read them to appreciate it.  I don’t think there’s any character or plot overlap with the novels of the series.  It’s a rather adorable story about a well-intentioned young man who accidentally acquires a lady demon, and how the two of them get on with one another.  Demons are dangerous in this world, but also a source of magical power.  There are those who don’t think Penric should be so lucky.

Novels

Where available, I will link my review for more information.

Last First Snow by Max Gladstone: I loved this book, and I think it is Gladstone’s best novel so far.  It is a book in a series, and I think it is easier to enjoy if you’ve read the previous three novels.  It takes place in his Craft universe, where faith-based and starlight-based magic collide.

Empire Ascendant by Kameron Hurley: I am enjoying the Worldbreaker Saga, which takes places in a very creative, but brutally violent and unforgiving world.  However, this is a middle book—the reader really has to have read the first to understand what’s going on, and the final conclusion of the story will have to wait until the final volume is published in 2017.

Persona by Genevieve Valentine: I’m not sure what it says about the world that I find the idea of turning politics into a reality show realistic, but I am skeptical about the destruction of free press.  Anyhow, this is a short, tense, thriller about the attempted assassination of a minor political figurehead and the illegal cameraman who helps her.

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor: This is a very weird, chaotic science fantasy about aliens landing offshore of Lagos, Nigeria.  I just finished it recently, and am still trying to settle on what I think of it.  It has an interesting focus on Lagos society and mythology, people with superpowers, and extremely powerful aliens.

Now, I want to mention books I haven’t managed to finish before the deadline.  I love both of these so far, but am not sure it is ethical to nominate a book I haven’t fully finished reading.  Regardless, I'd still like to discuss them here.

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson: I pretty much love with this book, but it is just too long for me to finish before the end of March.  Robinson, with his usual attention to detail, takes on the idea of a generation ship.  To be honest, if you love KSR’s style, you’ll like this, otherwise probably not.  I do think that it has more of a focus on characterization and narrative than some of his dryer works. 

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: I’ve enjoyed Liu’s writing in short fiction and translation, so I figured I was probably going to like his first novel.  The world is painstakingly detailed and unlike any other epic fantasy I have recently read.  I like this direction this one is going.

Altogether, those are my favorite works of fiction published in 2015.  What are yours?

2016 Hugos: Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

As a result of my March vanishing, I’m running a little late with my anticipated Hugo Nomination posts.  They’ll be coming with more density than usual this week, since I want to at least record my thoughts before the nominations close.  Today’s topic is Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (a.k.a. Best TV Episode).  We currently seem to be in a SFF TV Golden Age, so I have plenty of shows to choose from for this category.  I’m trying to decide whether to vote The Man in the High Castle for long form or short form this year, so my ‘nominees’ below are currently going to exceed the ballot.  Another show to mention is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which is only not present below because I intend to nominate it for long form.  Now, to my favorite shows:

12 Monkeys, “Arms of Mine”: This was my favorite new show of 2015, and it’s one that really deserves a wider audience.   It shares a premise with the Terry Gilliam film, but I think it’s best to consider the show a completely separate entity.  As you’ll see in this list, I’m a big fan of time travel shows. For a quick summary, human society in 12 Monkeys has been essentially destroyed by an engineered biological weapon.  One scientist who is still alive in this future has developed a method of time travel, and is trying to prevent the outbreak. 

One of the things I most loved about 12 Monkeys is it’s emphasis on character development and its engagement with the moral and philosophical problems of time travel. For instance, do the ends justify the means if the ends erase the means?  If you believe this, then time travel will allow you to justify anything, since your actions carry no moral weight. There’s no guarantee that the future can be changed, though, so you may be chasing an absolution that will never be realized.  It was fascinating to see how the facts of time travel and apocalypse impacted each of the major characters, and to see which of their principles would buckle or hold under such pressure.  I loved this show, and I really hope season two lives up to my expectations. 

I’m nominating the finale, because I thought it tied together the first season extremely well.  It carried a number of revelations that would spoil the first season, though, so I don’t want to say more here!  I also considered nominating the episode “Atari”, since it featured a delightfully twisty and complete time travel story in a

Continuum, “Power Hour”:  This nomination is a goodbye to another time travel show, but one that has ended before its time.  In 2015, Syfy aired the final 6-episode season, which was tasked with the challenge of wrapping up all the story lines.  It was a little rushed, but overall I think the writers gave the show a fitting conclusion.

The show featured a dystopian future governed by corporations, and a terrorist group that was sent back to modern-day Vancouver in order to ensure that future never came to pass.  Along with the terrorist came a loyal corporate cop, Kiera, who is willing to sacrifice anyone and anything to get back to her son in the future.  Things become more complicated when the time travelers meet future CEO and genius inventor Alec Sadler, as well as a future iconic figure for the resistance against the corporations.  The show was sometimes a little muddled thematically, and I still don’t understand why everyone hated Matthew Kellogg, but I loved its thoroughly engrossing and progressively more complicated story.  I think Continuum deserves some recognition.  I picked “Power Hour” as my favorite of this final season, mostly because it addresses Julian’s struggle with accepting the ideology his own manifesto, given his knowledge of what people may one day do in its name.

The Walking Dead, “He’s Not Here”: The Walking Dead has been a show of ups and downs in writing quality, with this previous week’s episode as an example of a down.  However, when it’s good it can be really good.  This particular episode features Morgan’s story, after he lost his family and left his home.  Episodes that focus on him seem to generally be both self-contained and especially emotionally-affecting (such as “Clear” in season 3). This one shows the origin of the ideology Morgan has adopted in order to cope with this post-apocalyptic world. 

 

Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent”: I know I should probably not nominate Doctor Who, since it has dominated this award for many years.  All the same, I feel like this episode is exactly what a short form award should recognize.  It’s an excellent self-contained story in one television episode, full of horror, mystery and emotion.  I don’t know whether I’m in the majority on this, but I thought “Heaven Sent” was the strongest episode of this season.

Orphan Black, “Certain Agony of the Battlefield”: Orphan Black is the reigning champion from last year, and for good reason.  It’s a highly entertaining show, and Tatiana Maslany does an amazing job playing so many different major characters.  I figured this one was going to be the Hugo contender for this year as soon as I finished watching it.  It was a very powerful episode.

The Man in the High Castle, “Three Monkeys”: I’m trying to decide whether to go for short or long form for this series.  I’ve already given most of my thoughts in the long form post and in a TV Musings review.  I chose this episode because it contained some of the more dramatic developments and unexpected betrayals.

Honorable Mentions:

I’ve liked The Expanse so far, but I think my favorite episodes fall into the part of the first season that aired in 2016. Thus, I’ll probably nominate something from this series next year. In other new shows, Syfy’s Killjoys and Dark Matter got off to a shaky start, but they both improved over the course of the season.  I don’t think they’re Hugo-worthy yet, but they may be for next year if the trend continues in their second seasons.  For AMC, Fear the Walking Dead and Into the Badlands might be contenders for the future, depending on how their second seasons progress.  Agent Carter could also be a contender for a nomination, since I think it’s one of the best of Marvel’s small-screen ventures.  There really are a ton of quality science fiction and fantasy shows airing these days, and even more are premiering in 2016.  I don’t think we’ll run out of nominees for this category anytime soon, and I’m hoping we’ll see a different show take home the prize each year from here on out!

What do you think?  Did I miss your favorite show? If so, let me know!

2016 Hugos: Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)

Hugo Award Nominations are open until March 31st, and I’m in the process of organizing my thoughts about which works to nominate.  I’m going to write a series of posts talking about each of the fiction categories, and what makes my best-list of the year.  If I’ve missed your favorite, please let me know in the comments.  There’s still time before the end of the month to enjoy more science fiction and fantasy!

Today, I’m going to start with the category of Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form).  This is usually “Best Film”, but it can also be given to a season of a television show.  This past year has been incredibly rich in science fiction television, so a few of them ended up on my long form list.  As of the moment, my Hugo Nomination Ballot is going to include:

1) Predestination:  This is the most interesting science fiction films I’ve seen in a long time, and it has had its eligibility extended to this year.  It stretches the limits of what kind of story you can tell with a time travel premise, and it also features some excellent performances by Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook.

2) The Martian:  It’s a shame that previous self-publication kept The Martian novel out of eligibility last year.  Luckily, we get another chance to recognize the story through last year’s movie.  I have this on my list both to recognize an excellent novel by Andy Weir and all those who worked on the faithful and entertaining movie adaptation.

3) Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Okay, so maybe the plot echoed the original trilogy a little too hard, but there’s no way I could leave Star Wars off this list.  It was a truly fun movie, and I am on board for following Rey and Finn into more adventures.  I hope they don’t make this trilogy about redeeming Kylo Ren, though.

4) Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: The first fantasy to make my list, and a Regency era fantasy at that. If you’re unfamiliar with it, this is the story of two magicians in an alternate history 19th-century UK.  I loved the novel, and was excited to share the story with my husband through this television adaptation.  I feel like the show stumbled a bit at the end, but it did so much more right along the way.  Even my husband, not at all a fan of the Regency era style, agrees that the miniseries deserves its place on this list.

5) The Man in the High Castle:  A science fiction drama from Amazon Prime, I was curious to see what the series would make of the novel.  It has diverged quite far from the source material so far, but I think it’s tonally consistent.  This was an engrossing and disturbing show about living in an occupied country and the level of atrocities that can become accepted as the new normal.

Honorable Mentions: There are many other shows and movies that I would also agree deserve a Hugo nod.  In movies, I’m sure Ex Machina will be on many lists.  I thought it was an interesting film, but a little slow for my tastes.  Mad Max was unique, but it has been a polarizing film in my household (I think it’s neat, my husband is less tolerant of extended car chases). In television, Jessica Jones season one nearly made the list, and it was the conflict between Jessica and the mind-controlling Kilgrave that sold the show for me.  ‘Kilgrave’ has even become a verb that I use in describing other shows. I have been surprised to realize how common Kilgraving people is in speculative fiction.

What do you think?  Did I miss anything amazing? If so, do tell!

News: Loncon 3

I’m back from attending my first WorldCon, Loncon 3, and it was as amazing as I expected it would be!  I was only there for Sunday, and that made for one incredibly full day. In the future, I hope I can make it for the whole convention, because there is so much to experience.

In the morning, I went by the art show and bid on a few pieces—I ended up winning a nice poster by Fred Gambino (of this piece). The book stands were also a major draw for me, as a long-time addict of buying books. They’ll all be showing up in my reviews soon enough.

After lunch, I had the opportunity to meet Kim Stanley Robinson, Alastair Reynolds, and Stephen Baxter, who were signing books. It meant so much to me to meet a few of the authors I’ve loved since I was a little young adult, and to find that they seem to be really friendly people! 

Alastair Reynolds gave an interesting talk about interstellar travel in science fiction.  Among other interesting ideas, people have long been telling stories of the rapid development of technology–that a generation ship may be made obsolete before it reaches its destination. Afterward, Reynolds, Baxter, and several others discussed interstellar travel in science and fiction.  Most of the panelists agreed that manned interstellar travel was still lifetimes in the future, but the general consensus seemed to be that unmanned could well happen this century.

My time at WorldCon concluded with the Hugo Awards Ceremony.  I couldn’t be happier with the results, even though they did not all match up perfectly with my picks. Here’s a quick rundown of the Hugo winners:

Best Novel – Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Orbit)

As I’m sure is obvious from my previous post, I was thrilled to see Ancillary Justice take home the Hugo Award!  This must be an exciting year for Leckie, with all the awards ceremonies she must be attending!

Best Novella – “Equoid” by Charles Stross

This was one of my favorites of this year’s novella nominees, and easily the most disturbing Lovecraftian unicorn story I’ve ever read!

Best Novelette – “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” by Mary Robinette Kowal

I really enjoyed this story, and Kowal wore a beautiful dress (which I heard her say she’d sewn herself) to accept her award.  In her acceptance speech, she said she’d believed that this Hugo was probably going to Aliette or Ted. I think any of the three would have been a great choice, so lots of congratulations go to Kowal!

Best Short Story – “The Water that Falls on You from Nowhere” by John Chu

John Chu had a really touching acceptance speech.  He said that he’d always been told that no one would want to read the kinds of stories he wrote.  It seems like winning a Hugo Award is an excellent way to prove them wrong.

Best Related Work – “We Have Always Fought” by Kameron Hurley

Best Fan Writer – Kameron Hurley

Best Fanzine – A Dribble of Ink, by Aiden Moher

Kameron Hurley had a lot of success at this year’s Hugo Awards, and Aiden Moher even attributed half of his rocket to having hosted Hurley’s award-winning “We Have Always Fought” blog post. 

Best Graphic Story – “Time” by Randall Munroe (XKCD)

I used to read XKCD regularly, but I missed this somehow.  It seems like a really cool idea, and I’m a little sad I missed experiencing it while it was happening.  Here is the description.

Best Dramatic Presentation – Gravity

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short  Form) – Game of Thrones “The Rains of Castamere”

Gravity was a really entertaining movie, and "Rains of Castamere" was definitely a very memorable and effective episode.  At the awards ceremony, they played a clip near the end, right up to the point where Catelyn Stark realized what was happening at the wedding.  After the clip ended, there was some relieved laughter as people realized they weren’t going to show the rest.

Best Editor – Short Form – Ellen Datlow

Best Editor – Long Form – Ginjer Buchanan

Congratulations to the editors! Buchanan's award comes at the conclusion of 30 successful years as an editor, and in the year of her retirement.

Best Professional Artist – Julie Dillon

I’ve seen a lot of her art around lately, and she has a very distinctive style. You can check her out on Deviant Art.

Best Fan Artist – Sarah Webb

Webb is a stunningly talented young artist. Her compositions are positively gorgeous, and I hope I can buy some of her prints soon! You can also find her on Deviant Art.

Best Semiprozine – Lightspeed Magazine

Best  Fancast – SF Signal Podcast

Congratulations to SF Signal Podcast and Lightspeed Magazine, which are clearly things I should really be listening to and reading :).

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (Not A Hugo) – Sofia Samatar

I’ve now finished A Stranger in Olondria, and I think this is a well-deserved award.  Samatar was actually not far off in nominations for getting on the Hugo ballot.  Really, I think all of the nominees for the Best New Writer Award show that there’s a lot to look forward to in genre fiction!

What are your thoughts on the outcome of the Hugos this year?

2014 Hugo Awards: Best Novel and Best New Writer

Tomorrow is the Hugo Awards Ceremony, so I have just about run out of time for putting up thoughts on the novel nominees!  Here’s a quick rundown of my opinions on the nominees for both the Hugo and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.  I’ll have an update congratulating the winners after Loncon3 is over!

Hugo Award

For the Hugo Award, my first choice for the winner would be Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice. As you’ll see in my next review, I really loved this novel. It may not have brought all that much new to space opera, but it served up a story with all of my favorite ingredients.  I also really liked some of the themes—loyalty, anti-classism, and responsibility people have to act on their convictions.  Of course, I have to mention the default-female language quirk, where everyone in the story referred to as “she”, regardless of their gender.  It highlighted how irrelevant gender was to the story, and I found the complete lack of gender roles and gender-based characterization refreshing.   

I would also be happy to see Charles Stross win the Hugo Award for Neptune’s Brood. I read this one without reading the first book of the series, Saturn’s Children, but I get the impression that the book stands well on its own.  Neptune’s Brood is an intelligent, far-future heist story, but one that was also delightfully humorous.  I was not a fan of the long future-economics infodumps, but I’m not sure how well the heist would have come across without them.

The other three contenders also have their strong and weak points.  I’ve read roughly 80% of the Wheel of Time series, mostly back when I was in high school.  I remember enjoying the adventures, but I also remember thinking that the characterization was a bit weak.  Mira Grant’s Parasite was a neat (if gross!) idea, but I noticed a lot of similarities to the Newsflesh books.  Larry Correia’s Warbound reminded me a bit of X-Men, and it was a lot of fun in a supernatural action-movie way.  

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

I was really excited by this year’s nominees for the John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award, because I have heard good things about all of them. My first choice for the Best New Writer award would be Max Gladstone, who now has three novels in his Craft series (Three Parts Dead, Two Serpents Rise, and Full Fathom Five).  I have currently only read his first novel, but the rest are on my (very long) to-read list.  My review of his debut novel, Three Parts Dead, can be found here.

As for the other entries, I have to give the disclaimer that I have not quite finished A Stranger in Olondria and The Lives of Tao, though I am over halfway through reading both of them. 

Ramez Naam’s Nexus is a fast-paced near-future techno-thriller. I have some philosophical disagreements with the main character, but I really enjoyed the exploration of the consequences of the existence of mind-altering/linking technology. Sofia Samatar’s A Stranger in Olondria has some lovely writing, though the story moves at a very slow pace.  I’m not sure I yet understand the reasoning behind some of the decisions of the main character.  Wesley Chu’s The Lives of Tao is a funny and exciting secret-society/spy story so far, though I’m not a huge fan of the whole ‘everything important that happened in human history was because of aliens’ idea. Benjanun Sriduangkaew is also nominated for her unusual short fiction, of which a lot is available for free online.  I was most interested by “The Bees Her Heart, the Hive Her Belly” (which can be read here).