Worldcon

I expect to go to Worldcon this year because, I mean, it’s in Chicago. All else aside, that’s hard to resist since (a) the drive is not insane, and (b) I can stay with my brother, which is a significant bonus right there.

I don’t know yet whether I’ll be voting on the Hugo, though. Here’s the list of nominees in the fiction categories. I will just note that I have read almost nothing that has been nominated. Only the Kingfisher series novels; that’s it.

Will I have time to read anything? Who knows? Almost certainly not all, or even most, of the novels. I will be pleased to vote for Navah Wolfe for Editor, Long Form. She was my editor for The Mountain of Kept Memory and she did an amazing job with it. Lots of work for me, but it wound up substantially better. She was also my editor for Winter of Ice and Iron, but Mountain stands out as the one book of mine where the editor did the most work and caused me to revise most heavily and to best effect.

I expect I’ll read the short stories because they’re short. The rest of these, middling to highly unlikely. I do like the title A Desolation Called Peace. Sounds really grim, but it’s still a great title. I’ve always liked that line from Tacitus. To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace. Such a great speech!

Maybe I’ll read that one by Weir, since I loved The Martian. But I won’t feel comfortable voting on a category unless I’ve at least read part of each entry in the category.

If any of you have read anything here and give it an enthusiastic thumbs up, I’ll try hard to read that. Oh, and if you’ve read anything here and give it a disappointed shake of your head, you might mention that as well.

Best Novel

A Desolation Called Peace , by Arkady Martine The Galaxy, and the Ground Within , by Becky Chambers Light From Uncommon Stars , by Ryka Aoki A Master of Djinn , by P. Djèlí Clark Project Hail Mary , by Andy Weir She Who Became the Sun , by Shelley Parker-Chan

Best Novella

Across the Green Grass Fields , by Seanan McGuire Elder Race , by Adrian Tchaikovsky Fireheart Tiger , by Aliette de Bodard The Past Is Red , by Catherynne M. Valente A Psalm for the Wild-Built , by Becky Chambers A Spindle Splintered , by Alix E. Harrow

Best Novelette

“Bots of the Lost Ark”, by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, Jun 2021)“Colors of the Immortal Palette”, by Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021) L’Esprit de L’Escalier , by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)“O2 Arena”, by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge, Nov 2021)“That Story Isn’t the Story”, by John Wiswell (Uncanny Magazine, Nov/Dec 2021)“Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.”, by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)

Best Short Story

“Mr. Death” , by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, Feb 2021)“Proof by Induction”, by José Pablo Iriarte
(Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)“The Sin of America”, by Catherynne M. Valente
(Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)“Tangles”, by Seanan McGuire
(Magicthegathering.com: Magic Story, Sep 2021)“Unknown Number”, by Blue Neustifter (Twitter, Jul 2021)“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, by Sarah Pinsker
(Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)

Best Series

The Green Bone Saga , by Fonda Lee The Kingston Cycle , by C. L. Polk Merchant Princes , by Charles Stross Terra Ignota , by Ada Palmer Wayward Children , by Seanan McGuire The World of the White Rat , by T. Kingfisher

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

Chaos on CatNet , by Naomi Kritzer Iron Widow , by Xiran Jay Zhao The Last Graduate , by Naomi Novik Redemptor , by Jordan Ifueko A Snake Falls to Earth , by Darcie Little Badger Victories Greater Than Death , by Charlie Jane Anders

Astounding Award for Best New Writer

Tracy Deonn Micaiah Johnson A.K. Larkwood  Everina Maxwell Shelley Parker-Chan Xiran Jay Zhao Please Feel Free to Share:

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