Task #17: Read a sci-fi/fantasy novella (under 120 pages)

[Juliet]

It wont be out until February but I will likely use Meat Cute: The Hedgehog Incident by Gail Carriger since I have read all of the series it s prequel to

[L.h.]

When I saw this prompt I immediately knew I was going to read the third Murderbot Diaries novella, Rogue Protocol, then I saw it was over 120 pages, then I decided I didn't care, it was definitely a novella, and I was going to count it anyway. Glad I'm in good company!

[Book Riot]

Hi everyone! Our rec post for this task is up now. https://bookriot.com/2020/01/03/sci-f...

[Chrissy]

From that list, I’m interested in Acadie, The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn, and The Black God's Drums maybe.

[Emily]

I read Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal. It was great!

[Stephen]

For those looking for a classic, I was just reminded that The Little Prince would count. It was just awards the Retro Hugo for Novella for 1944 last year.

[Mya]

Sarah wrote: "Amber wrote: "Yes to Chiang! Also Becky Chambers has a novella out, “To be taught, if fortunate”"

I love Becky Chambers but the novella is 160 pages. :-("

Sarah, no one is sure why Book Riot used page count to define “novella.” The distinctions between novels, novelettes, novellas, and short stories are defined by word count. The publisher’s description for To Be Taught, If Fortunate is that it’s a novella. I think it’s safe to trust the people who put it into print. :)

[Sheri]

I'm going with Down Among the Sticks and Bones, it's over 120 pages but considering that it won two different awards for best novella, I think it counts.

[LdyGray]

Tamara wrote: "For the sci-fi/fantasy fans: Is there an Ursula Le Guin novella that fits into this category? I see some lost novellas have been printed in one collection, but is there a way to just read one?"

Le Guin has a few novellas, although I don't think any are under 120 pages if you're being strict about page count. My favorite is The Word for World is Forest (160 pages), and Rocannon's World (144 pages) or The Lathe of Heaven (176 pages) are also great. And A Wizard of Earthsea is only 183 pages!

[Alli]

Sci-fi is one of my least favorite genres but I found a book for the challenge called The Test. As someone who disliked sci-fi, I can stand to read a book just over 100 pages.

[Salwade]

I thinking about using 'Interview with a Robot' by Lee Bacon. It is an Audible members freebie this month. I can't find a page count, but it is 3 hours and 42 minutes long, so I think would be considered a novella.

[Salwade]

Christine wrote: "I really loved Mem by Bethany C. Morrow"

One of my friends read this and loved it, so it is on my TBR list also!

[KC]

I just finished Final Girls by Mira Grant for this prompt - it clocked in at 110 pages, just under the limit! I love everything she writes, so I was going to read it anyway, and glad it fit into a prompt.

Read my review here.

[Rebekah]

I read Outside the Gates by Molly Gloss only 97 pages . It’s an older book the copyright said 1986

[Kristen]

Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key was my favorite book growing up. This challenge gives me a good excuse to dig it out again.

[Liz]

I love Lois McMaster Bujold’s fantasy novella series about a young sorcerer apprentice, Penric. The first in the series is Penric’s Demon and the audio book read by Grover Gardner is a delight.

[Allison]

I read "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick for this prompt and enjoyed it

[Cheryl]

I read All Systems Red, first in the Murderbot Diaries. It's a little over the limit, but I read and loved it. I'm going to read the rest of the series.

[Ness]

Man, Tor must be pumped about this being a category!

As others have said, Binti and any of the myriad Murderbot novellas are absolutely lovely.

I just picked up Sisters of the Vast Black, about a spacefaring convent of nuns who uncover some sort of conspiracy, I'm excited to dive into that one. I read Perihelion Summer last year, which is also a Climate Change book, it was interesting but had kind-of a 'so what?' ending. For those of us willing to fudge the page count a little, The Deep clocks in at 166 but it's really worth a read.

[LdyGray]

This category has been so much fun to explore. I read a few longer novellas but am using The Jewel and Her Lapidary for the challenge. It clocks in at 96 pages and had some delightful world building.

[Lisa]

I'm going to try this one for this prompt. My first Haruki Murakami although a few others have been on my TBR for awhile.

The Strange Library

[Ashley]

Stephen King has several novellas that would fit this category. You'd have to check the page count, but off the top of my head: The Mist, The Langoliers, The Library Policeman, Fair Extension, The Sun Dog, Everything's Eventual. Same with Joe Hill - Dark Carousel, Twittering from the Circus of the Dead. I'd love to include Jackalope Wives, because it's one of my favorite stories, you can listen to it on LeVar Burton reads, and you can read it for free here: https://www.apex-magazine.com/jackalo... but I don't know if you can count it as a "novella" over a "short story."

[Sherri]

I read All Systems Red. The Murderbot Diaries. By Martha Wells. It has 122 pages but this is as close as I could get to the prompt.

[Tracy]

I ignored the page limit here and finished off books 2 and 3 of the Binti series ( which I didn't really enjoy, although I think I liked the first book well enough). The Night Masquerade just wasn't my favorite book ever. I was hoping I would enjoy this series, but I guess space is not my thing and honestly I found it a little bit confusing.

[Stephanie]

I recommend the Forward series of novellas. They are available on Kindle Unlimited and if you have Unlimited you can listen to them on audible for free: they are authored by really writers such as NK Jemisin,
https://www.amazon.com/Forward-collec...

[Nikki]

Stephanie wrote: "I recommend the Forward series of novellas. They are available on Kindle Unlimited and if you have Unlimited you can listen to them on audible for free: they are authored by really writers such as ..."

Thank you for that recommendation!! I have been wanting to read that series and this is the *perfect* task for any of them!

Also of note: it's free to read+listen for anyone with a Prime account, too, not just Kindle Unlimited.

[Sandy]

I read All Systems Red by Martha Wells. It was fun, I want to read more in this series and I recommend it.

[Emerging]

I went with The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. It lagged for me a bit in the middle, but overall I enjoyed the story and the philosophizing on the nature of humanity in the future.

[Judith]

Lisa wrote: "I'm going to try this one for this prompt. My first Haruki Murakami although a few others have been on my TBR for awhile.

The Strange Library"

Oh, thank you for that! I love Haruki Murakami and haven't read this one. I thought I was going to struggle with this prompt.

[Chris]

Read The Churn but also have Binti on my TBR

[Miriam]

I absolutely have to reccomend The Test by Sylvain Neuvel. It clocks in at 108 pages. He's the guy who wrote The Themis Files trilogy. I loved it.

[Miriam]

I want to respond to Sherri's comment about All Systems Red. I'm in the process of reading The Murderbot Diaries and loving it. I think All Systems Red should count because the page count includes the Acknowledgment and the about the author, which aren't really in the story. Also I read it as a library book so I can't check, but did the story start on page 1? A lot of books don't. So, if you want to be strict about it ASR should still counts.

[Octavia]

I have finally been able to liberate a copy of Binti by Nnedi Okorafor from the depths of the library hold system (LOTS of people want to read it here, clearly) and it was pretty great.

[[deleted user]]

I read The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow by Cory Doctorow, and really enjoyed it. A futuristic adventure with a lot of depth, it deals with ethics, morality, "progress," and what it means to be human. The print edition also includes an essay and interview, which accounts for the higher page count listed, but the story itself is under 120 pages.

[Westiegirl]

I, like many others apparently, read Exhalation: Stories. I strongly recommend it! It was very good.

[Shelley]

I went with Sweep with Me. It's a novella for the Clean Sweep series. Very cute fantasy series

[Miriam]

Seems like I read a lot of short sci-fi. I've read more than a few of these. Maybe this thread is a good place to ask this question, did anyone who's read This Is how You Lose The Time War and didn't like it? Asking for a friend. I'm that friend.

[︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ Steph ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿]

The Veldt was the book I read for this! It was short, but interesting! I love Bradbury's style.

[Virginia]

I read The Metamorphosis for this prompt.
The Metamorphosis

I thought this would be difficult but I also read the Forward series early this year, and the Tor set of novellas In Our Own Worlds #2. I loved Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire!

[Karen]

A new publication, Vis Major by Edward Hochsmann, fulfills this challenge and it was very good. Very exciting!

[Rebekah]

Why oh why did I think The Sleeper Awakes was a novella? I'm disappointed that I wasted my time pushing through this novel, which I didn't even like!

[Elizabeth]

So to be clear, I interpreted the parentheses to mean that it was providing an example of the approximate length of a novella rather than as a limitation for the challenge. Anyway, I did the audio version of The Deep for this challenge, and I loved it. I'm also about halfway through This Is How You Lose the Time War, which I've been working through slowly on my phone, and it's also pretty great so far.