Quite a good
batch this year!
I already
read half of the finalists before nominations closed. Normally I like to read
all the finalists back-to-back, even if it means re-reading some, so I can
compare them while they’re all fresh in my mind. This year, though, I read all
the new-to-me finalists, and decided I was done with this category part way through the first finalist I’d already
read. I’ve always been one to enjoy
re-reading books, many many times for my favorites, but right now I can almost
physically feel the HUGE number of good stories out there. So many, and I will
never have the time to read them all, and it’s like a physical weight pressing
down on me. So, onward! Here we go!
The Best Novel Hugo Award is awarded for a science fiction or fantasy story of forty
thousand (40,000) words or more.
Although I
might make some slight adjustments before voting closes, my ballot for this
category currently looks like this:
I had a lot
of trouble ordering the finalists this year. They’re all very good, and they’re
all very different from one another. It was like comparing apples to oranges to
trampolines to alpacas to flugelhorns.
Some
thoughts on each, vague and only mildly spoilery:
All the Birds in the Sky got my top spot because, more than any
others of the group, it left me really wanting more when I finished reading. I
had to sit with the feel of the world and think about the ideas for awhile
before I could pick up anything else. Really interesting mix of science fiction
and fantasy, technology and nature magic. Even though it’s near future, and some
horrible things happen, the tale left me feeling hopeful about the future of
humanity. I was very satisfied with the ending. I only had one major problem
with the book, but the author addressed it in a separate short story.
A Closed and Common Orbit was the only other finalist I found hard
to put down. A lot of interesting things to think about, and I loved the
parallel paths of the orbits. The universe is an interesting place I’d love to
see. I’m definitely going to pick up the first book in this series, and will
keep an eye out for anything else Becky Chambers puts out there. We definitely
need more optimistic science fiction. This book perfectly exemplifies the
reason I love participating in the Hugo Award process. I love finding something
new to love.
The Obelisk Gate continues the story begun in The Fifth Season, and picks up right
where we left our characters in this very brutal world. Very well told, and very
interesting things to think about, but so very brutal. What this story has to
say is so important. Sit with what this protagonist is feeling, what she’s
experienced and endured her whole life. Sit with the way she, and others like
her, are considered less-than-human because of how they were born. Sit with her
very real fear for herself, for everyone she cares about, and especially for
her children. Then look at what’s going on in our country. What’s been going on
in our country for a very long time. Think about where humanity would be without orogenes in this
world – extinct! And think about where we could be today, if only we could respect
and value the inherent worth and dignity of every person on this earth. I’m
only voting the more optimistic stories higher because reading these Jemisin
novels is incredibly painful, and I’m not seeing any hint of a better world at
the end of this story.
Too Like the Lightning was really complex and interesting and
weird, and that’s why I nominated Ada Palmer for the John W. Campbell Award for
Best New Writer. It would have ranked higher on my Best Novel list if there
hadn’t been some slow spots, and if it had focused more on the parts of the
story I found most interesting. I’m hopeful that the sequel will get deeper
into the stuff that interested me the most! This first novel certainly hinted
that it might.
Death’s End had the most interesting ideas and the
most ‘fun with physics’ out of the whole group. It would have topped my list if
the ‘fun with physics’ hadn’t resulted in such complete and utter horror in too
many cases. Much like the second book, this third in the trilogy had some very
slow spots, and I was very unsatisfied with the ending to the trilogy. The
trilogy as a whole is simply epic. This novel, by itself, has a lot of
interesting things to think about, but overall it is depressing af, and hence
the bottom of my list.
Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris Books) is also
a finalist, and is the only one I did not read. I saw that it was getting a lot
of buzz, and I tried to read it before the nomination period closed. It started
out with excessive, pointless violence. I spoiled myself enough to get the
impression that the whole book would continue in that vein, and I returned the
audiobook.
As good as
this year’s finalists were, I’m really hungry for some really good hard science
fiction, preferably not horribly depressing! Let me know in the comments if you
know of any such coming out in 2017!
I've read all but the last half of Obelisk Gate (which I should finish soon enough), and I largely agree that this is a decent list. Ninefox Gambit is my favorite, but I'm pretty inured to violence, and it's surface violence, not misery porn, and there's plenty of cool ideas there. Totally understand noping out of it though. The Obelisk Gate feels more like wallowing in misery for its own sake, which keeps me at an arms length (same with the previous book, will be near the bottom of my ballot). Death's End has some depressing takes, but following certain ideas to their logical conclusion will take you there and he does so in interesting ways (#2 or #3 on my ballot). Closed and Common Orbit, while not shying away from conflict, is totally refreshing in its positive take (#2 or #3 on my ballot). All the Birds in the Sky didn't totally connect for me, but had some great ideas and was an entertaining read (#4 right now). Not quite sure what to make of Too Like the Lightning, but something about the framing device and lack of focus on plot kept it down for me, but that ending revelation was pretty cool (will still probably be towards the bottom of my ballot). Still, a pretty good ballot, and I'm glad I read them...
ReplyDeleteI obviously haven't read it yet, but Andy Weir's new book, Artemis comes out later this year. I loved The Martian, and Weir seems into hard sf that is not horribly depressing, so there's that!