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2020 Locus, Nebula, and Hugo lists
The Nebula Award Finalists were announced:https://nebulas.sfwa.org/2019-nebula-...
Nebula Award Nominations for Best Novel
Marque of Caine, Charles E. Gannon
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
🏆 A Song for a New Day, Sarah Pinsker
The Hugo Award nominations were announced: http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-his...
Hugo Award Nominations for Best Novel
The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
The Light Brigade, Kameron Hurley
🏆 A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine
Middlegame, Seanan McGuire
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow
The Locus Award finalists were announced: https://locusmag.com/2020/05/2020-loc...Science Fiction Novel
🏆 The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders
The Testaments, Margaret Atwood
Ancestral Night, Elizabeth Bear
Empress of Forever, Max Gladstone
The Light Brigade, Kameron Hurley
Luna: Moon Rising, Ian McDonald
The Future of Another Timeline, Annalee Newitz
Fleet of Knives, Gareth L. Powell
The Rosewater Insurrection/The Rosewater Redemption, Tade Thompson
Wanderers, Chuck Wendig
Fantasy Novel
Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo
A Brightness Long Ago, Guy Gavriel Kay
The Raven Tower, Ann Leckie
Jade War, Fonda Lee
🏆 Middlegame, Seanan McGuire
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern
Storm of Locusts, Rebecca Roanhorse
The Iron Dragon’s Mother, Michael Swanwick
Dead Astronauts, Jeff VanderMeer
First Novel
The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine
Infinite Detail, Tim Maughan
🏆 Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
Finder, Suzanne Palmer
A Song for a New Day, Sarah Pinsker
Waste Tide, Chen Qiufan
The Luminous Dead, Caitlin Starling
I was struck, reading the Locus Recommended Reading lists, by how many of the books that I really enjoyed last year were in the "First Novels" list. I'm loving this influx of new voices.
There are so many wonderful debut novels just as there have been for the last couple of years. I am in awe of the new talent coming into sci-fi and fantasy. I was just thinking the other day about how many books I have read by young women lately. Strong, brilliant, imaginative books. And they’re so active on social media showing the world their strengths and their flaws and their fears and just being amazing role models. And churning out amazing work that I’m sure will be classics.
Anyhoo....I’m going to have to get reading and catch up on some more of these nominees.
Cheryl wrote: "Are these all 2019 titles?"Yes, I believe so. Awards given in 2020 are for books published in 2019. Hugo has an exception for works translated into English (i.e., the translation had to be published in 2019); maybe other awards do too.
Of the Nebula novel nominees, I’ve only read Gods of Jade and Shadow so far, and I found it...fine. A bit surprised by its inclusion here. I know A Memory Called Empire had a bit of a mixed reaction around these parts, and that most folks here seem to have enjoyed Gideon the Ninth and Ten Thousand Doors. Has *anyone* even heard of Marque of Caine???
Anthony wrote: "...Has *anyone* even heard of Marque of Caine???"We have now; which is part of why these awards exist ;)
Lots of names I've never heard of. Few familiar ones, couple even on my TBR list. Curious, too, for A Memory Called Empire. Gideon I dnf'd, and Ten Thousand Doors is 'in process'.
Edit: Gah! Just saw The Luminous Dead on the list. That sure was a disappointment. Nice to see Atlas Alone there, though.
Marque of Caine is the fifth in a series. #1, #2, and #3 got Nebula nominations in past years so I was vaguely familiar with Charles Gannon's name. I haven't even started the series so I won't get to #5 any time soon.
Looked at all the Nebula ones and was rather appalled by them all. For different reasons.I think I'm too old for modern SF. Not a fantasy fan really either.
**shrug**
...However, I did like seeing Rudy Rucker's name in the Locus list of recommended reading. He's a very eccentric writer by today's standard. His early cyberpunk stuff was fairly transgressive and out there. More lately his works have adopted sort of an old-school flavor more reminiscent of quirky writers like Stanislaw Lem or Robert Sheckley. Writers who didn't conform to popular conventions, who often wrote with soft humor and whimsy.
Mod
@Micah, I feel you! For 3 of the nebula noms I was so happy that I got them on audible and could give them back, because each cent spent on them would have hurt.And when I compare the finalists to the BSFA finalists with Emma Newman, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Tade Thompson I get tears in my eyes … yup, I'm definitely too old for the Nebula taste.
Of the Nebula finalists I read A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine and I am reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow. I liked/am enjoying both books, but I'm not yet in a hurry to read the rest of the list since there were so many mixed reviews. So let's see who wins, I guess.
The Caine books are TRASH! I hope that A MEMORY OF EMPIRE wins. I was surprised at how much I liked it, but not as much as I liked VELOCITY WEAPON.
MadProfessah wrote: "The Caine books are TRASH! ."The first book (also Nebula nominated) was ok, but the series quickly went downward
Was surprised that neither Newitz nor Anders made it to the list, and I have never heard of that Caine book or its series. Then again, the Nebulas are never my fave award for novel category.A helpful one for the short fiction list, though.
I adore Sarah Pinsker’s short fiction and really enjoyed her debut novel, A Song for a New Day. I also liked Gods of Jade and Shadow. I know Gideon the Ninth received lots of praise but I personally felt like I was trudging through it. Will have to check out A Memory Called Empire, I have a feeling it will be right up my alley.I have stronger feelings about the novella nominees: The Deep especially was outstanding (Rivers Solomon is my hero!) and also This is How You Lose the Time War.
Don’t usually read a lot of YA or middle grade fiction but I did happen to check out Yoon Ha Lee’s Dragon Pearl and it was captivating and beautifully written!
Rebecca wrote: "I did happen to check out Yoon Ha Lee’s Dragon Pearl and it was captivating and beautifully written!"Good to know, I guess it's time to read it. Let's see if someone will take my BR invite.
I suppose the list is...fine? I'm happy that "Gideon the Ninth" made the list, because it was one my favourite books from last year. It's a bit controversial, though, since it's a hate-it-or-love-it kind of book. "Gods of Jade and Shadow" was good, but I wouldn't say it was Nebula-good. I'm halfway through "The Ten Thousand Doors of January" and I'm really enjoying it so far, even if it's a slow read.
I've never even heard of Gannon. Unfortunately, a quick look at the reviews of the first book in the series reveals that it's way too old school for me. There were some opinions that it's 1960s level misogynistic, so it's a hard pass from me. But they must be really desperate to push this author, if his books were nominated already a few times, as some fellow group members in this thread mentioned.
"A Memory Called Empire" sounds interesting, but I haven't read it yet. And I won't be reading "A Song for a New Day", because there's not a single copy in my country's library system, in any form...
Gannon wrote some good short stories for the Man-Kzin Wars collections that I enjoyed, but he was playing in Niven’s Known Space playground, so it’s hard to judge creativity in that situation.This might be one of those cases where he’s nominated for an award just because he’s been around for a while and his colleagues like him. Kind of like an actor getting an Oscar not for their best work but because they should’ve gotten one years ago and this is a chance to fix that.
Despite all the sci-fi/fantasy I’ve read last/this year, I’ve only read two of the Nebula nominees for best novel and one of the nominees for novella. I seem to spend all my time in any given year reading books published the year before (or older) so rarely seem to be reading anything published in same year. I’m always at least a year behind what’s up for awards. ;)
Trike wrote: "he’s nominated for an award just because he’s been around for a while and his colleagues like him. ."I guess it can be the case. Also, just like the previous year, where out of the blue in novella there was Fire Ant and in novelette “Messenger” by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne and R.R. Virdi - both more mil-SF than 'literary' fiction, it is possible that a group of members try to make the nominations more diverse not only in gender & race but in what would be considered a pulp
Mod
Unsurprisingly, I haven't read any of the novellas lol though I've heard of most of them at least. Not excited to have to read a romance-heavy novella, I gotta say...
Yeah, with the novellas it is often the problem that they are quite pricey, so I shy away from investing into them.I've read "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom", cause I read the whole story collection - and this one is by far my favourite.
I've read "The Deep", because Rivers Solomon
and I've started and gave up on "This is how you lose the time war" … but I will pick this one up again.
And simply because I fell in love with the title, I have to read "Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water" … what a beautiful title!
@Allison, of the 4 you’ve read, which would get your vote?
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But since that decision is already made, of those that I've read on this list, it'd likely be 10k Doors. I thought Gideon was great fun, but it's a popcorn read, and I tend to think Nebulas are bit more "upmarket" as they say. 10,000 Doors is the book equivalent to Academy Award fodder--soaring prose, a touching bit of nostalgia and love for the art form, and plenty of interesting social intersections to appeal to modern readers.
I don't mean that to be snarky, I found it highly enjoyable, but it does have the feel of something aimed at awards like this one.
Huh, I've read three of the best novel nominees: The Ten Thousand Doors of January, A Memory Called Empire, and Gideon the Ninth. Hanging out on my tbr list is Gods of Jade and Shadow. The blurb just really didn't catch my attention on A Song for a New Day. And Marque of Caine just really doesn't seem like my kind of thing. I've also read two (and a half-ish) of the novellas! Loved This Is How You Lose the Time War, was just kind of okay with Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water.
Allison wrote: "Hmmmm... none, to be honest. I think better books were written last year."Agreed.
Yeah, I'm finding it hard to get excited about the novel nominations. The novellas, on the other hand...
Gabi wrote: "Yeah, with the novellas it is often the problem that they are quite pricey, so I shy away from investing into them.I've read "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom", cause I read the whole story co..."
I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite from that book, but “Anxiety” is brilliant and a worthy choice.
My review, with breakouts of the individual stories: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Trike wrote: "I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite from that book, but “Anxiety” is brilliant and a worthy choice..."
It's the only novella first published in 2019 in the collection, so in this case it is easy to choose. :)
Hugo nominees will be announced today at 4pm EST
A whole bunch of authors who happen to be women in the lists. Well done Hugos!
I was happy to see my two favorite group reads from the last year, A Memory Called Empire and The Ten Thousand Doors of January, nominated for best novel.I recently started Nnedi Okorafor's LaGuardia and can totally see why it ended up with a graphic story/comic nomination.
Hmmm … from the novel nominations the only one that stood out to me was The City in the Middle of the Night, but still would not have been on my favourite list. (simply can not take a list seriously that ignores Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin … my two cent)I have to read The Light Brigade yet.
Novellas a big YES for "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom".
And … surprise, I have read nearly all of the nominated novelettes and short stories! Here as well Ted Chiang is my fav by a margin. and "As the Last I May Know" as short story.
For series I loved three of the nominées: Planetfall, Wormwood and Winternight Trilogy. My heart, of course, is all Emma Newman here.
Just like with the Nebulas, I've read a lot of the nominated shorter fiction and been very impressed with most of it, but I'm pretty meh about most of the novel picks. With the exception of The Light Brigade, which I loved. I'm also thrilled to see that Wormwood was nominated for best series.
Luna is in there for best series! I’m not sure it has a chance but I’m excited to see it.
I very much agree that Children of Ruin should be on the list. It was *better* than Children of Time and really worked for me in every way possible.
Lowell wrote: "I very much agree that Children of Ruin should be on the list. It was *better* than Children of Time and really worked for me in every way possible."Not only that, it also is better than any of the nominated books if you go for excellence in SF. ... But well... Tchaikovsky has been ignored for years ...
I've been surprised by my inconsistent reaction to Tchaikovsky's work. I quite liked Children of Time, was at best indifferent to Children of Ruin, and will probably DNF Spiderlight. Usually if I like an author it runs through their books but not in this case.
Raucous wrote: "I've been surprised by my inconsistent reaction to Tchaikovsky's work. I quite liked Children of Time, was at best indifferent to Children of Ruin, and will probably..."Spiderlight is absolutely nothing like those other two books. The only thing in common is spiders. I quite enjoyed Spiderlight
I didn't love Children of Ruin as much as Children of Time, but I'd still put it above most of the other books nominated this year. And Gabi, I very much agree that Tchaikovsky deserves far more attention during award season. Made Things was on my list of best novellas, as well.
@Raucous I had that exact reaction to those three Adrian Tchaikovsky works. CoT was a 5 star read, one of the best I'd read in a long time CoR didn't do much for me and Spiderlight I liked at the beginning, but then grew tired of and basically flipped to the ending to see what happened and put it down.Overall I'm a bit underwhelmed by the Hugo nominees, many are books that I'd either started and put down or didn't have a ton of interest in to begin with. That said, I loved Ted Chiang's recent collection so it's cool to see two of those stories nominated. I liked the Sarah Pinsker story. I'm currently reading Catnet and I enjoyed the Reindeer book we read recently enough to try Minor Mage. I also gave 5 stars to the first of the Atlas books and never went on to read any more, so I might try that. Rosewood trilogy and Arden trilogy both might be worth giving a shot (read half of Rosewood and the first in the Arden). I liked the first Incryptid book so I could give those a go too although not sure how same-y they are?
I'm also disappointed that Tchaikovsky once again missed the nomination. Last year he was in long list for best novella (long list is top-20, from which top-6 are nominees)
The Locus Award finalists were announced: https://locusmag.com/2020/05/2020-loc...I copied the lists for Science Fiction Novel, Fantasy Novel, and First Novel to message 3 above.
I'm still amazed at all of the great choices on the Locus First Novel list this year. It's really a shame that only one of them can win.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday (other topics)The Dragon Republic (other topics)
A Memory Called Empire (other topics)
The Old Drift (other topics)
New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Adrian Tchaikovsky (other topics)Ted Chiang (other topics)
Sarah Pinsker (other topics)
Nnedi Okorafor (other topics)
Emma Newman (other topics)
First up are the Locus Recommended Reading lists:
https://locusmag.com/2020/02/2019-loc...
I am putting only the most relevant novel lists here, but the link also has lists for horror, short fiction, and the other award categories.
Science Fiction Novels
The Silver Wind, Nina Allan
The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders
The Testaments, Margaret Atwood
Ancestral Night, Elizabeth Bear
Gamechanger, L.X. Beckett
Rule of Capture, Christopher Brown
Escaping Exodus, Nicky Drayden
Perihelion Summer, Greg Egan
The Book of Flora, Meg Elison
Empress of Forever, Max Gladstone
The Light Brigade, Kameron Hurley
Luna: Moon Rising, Ian McDonald
The Future of Another Timeline, Annalee Newitz
Atlas Alone, Emma Newman
The Book of Flora, by Meg Elison
The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa
The Need, Helen Phillips
Fleet of Knives, Gareth L. Powell
The Forbidden Stars, Tim Pratt
Million Mile Road Trip, Rudy Rucker
Stealing Worlds, Karl Schroeder
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell, Neal Stephenson
The Rosewater Insurrection/The Rosewater Redemption, Tade Thompson
Wanderers, Chuck Wendig
Golden State, Ben H. Winters
Frankissstein, Jeanette Winterson
Fantasy Novels
A Little Hatred, Joe Abercrombie
The Dollmaker, Nina Allan
The Warrior Moon, K Arsenault Rivera
The Hod King, Josiah Bancroft
Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo
The Red-Stained Wings, Elizabeth Bear
The True Queen, Zen Cho
The House of Sundering Flames, Aliette de Bodard
Ivory Apples, Lisa Goldstein
The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl, Theodora Goss
A Brightness Long Ago, Guy Gavriel Kay
The Raven Tower, Ann Leckie
Jade War, Fonda Lee
Unraveling, Karen Lord
Air Logic, Laurie J. Marks
Middlegame, Seanan McGuire
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern
Gingerbread, Helen Oyeyemi
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, K.J. Parker
Lanny, Max Porter
Storm of Locusts, Rebecca Roanhorse
The Iron Dragon’s Mother, Michael Swanwick
Dead Astronauts, Jeff VanderMeer
Lent, Jo Walton
The Bird King, G. Willow Wilson
First Novels
The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow
The Outside, Ada Hoffmann
The Migration, Helen Marshall
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine
Infinite Detail, Tim Maughan
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
The Merciful Crow, Margaret Owen
Finder, Suzanne Palmer
A Song for a New Day, Sarah Pinsker
Wilder Girls, Rory Power
Waste Tide, Chen Qiufan
Opposite of Always, Justin A. Reynolds
The Old Drift, Namwali Serpell
The Luminous Dead, Caitlin Starling
The Lesson, Cadwell Turnbull