Xray the Enforcer Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 So, my novel category is currently: The Obelisk Gate -- NK Jemisin Crooked Kingdom -- Leigh Bardugo The Raven King -- Maggie Stiefvater The Devourers -- Indra Das The Spider's War -- Daniel Abraham I have at least one more novel to go before the nomination period closes -- if anything is going to get knocked off the list, it'll be The Raven King. Mostly, I'm surprised by a real lack of down-the-middle SF on my list, but I really didn't think any of the SF novels I read this year were superior. Even the most original and interesting -- Ninefox Gambit -- I felt was too uneven in quality to displace anything I have on my current novel list. Yoon Ha Lee is eligible for the Campbell, I believe, so I'm going to list her him there. Also -- weirdly SFWA has The Raven and the Reindeer down as a novel. That's....odd. I thought for sure it qualified under novella. And what the hell, they have Dead Djinn in Cairo as novelette, while other lists have it as a short story. Does anyone know which categorization the Hugo committee uses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maia Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 7 hours ago, unJon said: Do you mean "Last Witness"? Or is there a Parker Novella I haven't read? *goes to look* Sorry, yes. I really loved it, too. 4 hours ago, Bastard of Godsgrace said: I also have nominated Finnegan's Field, buti it doesn' seem to have been very popular for some reason. Seanan McGuire's novella started very strong, but the ending was rather blah, IMHO. I still hesitate between this and K.J. Parker novella, but probably will go with the latter. But wasn't "The Devil You Know"'s ending even more blah? And all the rest not that strong? De gustibus, I guess. Well, I have now read "Lazy Dog Out" by Suzanne Palmer from Asimov's Readers Award finalist list and it was, unfortunately, meh. The plot was somewhere between cliched and an incoherent mess. I sorta liked the main character and the setting, but they were hardly original or particularly grippingly written. A novella of this type really needed a strong plot, and it just wasn't there. But I liked quite a few of the last year's finalists, so I will persevere. Hopefully, it was a one-off. Oh, and the list of the finalists for Analog's Reader's Award, i.e. AnLab is also out and the pieces are available to read on-line: http://www.analogsf.com/about-analog/anlab-readers-awards-finalists/ Too bad that all this stuff is becoming available so late... or that Hugo dead-line is coming so early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 I also seem to recall someone mentioned "Penric's Mission" is too long to be eligible by Hugo rules. I am not sure it is so, but I went with "Penric and the Shaman" just to be on the safe side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 *pus on political correct hat* Yoon Ha Lee prefers to be refereed to as "he" *takes off hat* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maia Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 3 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said: Yoon Ha Lee is eligible for the Campbell, I believe, so I'm going to list her there. No, there are stories from this author dating to at least as early as 2011 published in Clarkesworld Magazine. This was just the first novel. BTW, if you were interested in "Ninefox Gambit", there is this story from the PoV of Jedao: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lee_10_12/ I liked it a lot - listened to the audio version. Something for after the Hugos, perhaps, since it is old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 3 hours ago, Darth Richard II said: *pus on political correct hat* Yoon Ha Lee prefers to be refereed to as "he" *takes off hat* thank you. I hadn't looked into anything about the author as a person, and for some reason assumed "she." No idea why. Mea culpa. Will edit upthread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 That's why I'm here! That and I don't want to do work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 For those curious, here's a list of writers eligible for the Campbell. http://www.writertopia.com/awards/campbell Right now my only nomination in that category is Laurie Penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Also, I am trying really, really hard to like Winged Histories. The writing is beautiful, but I just DGAF about any of the characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 4 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said: Also, I am trying really, really hard to like Winged Histories. The writing is beautiful, but I just DGAF about any of the characters. I had that problem with The House of Shattered Wings. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarius+ Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 17 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said: I have at least one more novel to go before the nomination period closes For heaven's sake, read Too Like the Lightning! I guess my current novel list is: 1. Too Like the Lightning 2. Ninefox Gambit 3. Underground Airlines 4. The Devourers 5. TBA Here's my complete list of 2016 stories (novels and novellas) read so far, so you can see the collection I'm choosing from: Anders, Charlie Jane All the Birds in the Sky Baker, Mishell Borderline Bennett, Robert Jackson City of Blades Bujold, Lois McMaster Penric and the Shaman Bujold, Lois McMaster Penric's Mission Chambers, Becky A Closed and Common Orbit Das, Indra The Devourers Jemisin, NK the Obelisk Gate Kay, Guy Gavriel Children of Earth and Sky Lawrence, Mark The Wheel of Osheim Lee, Yoon Ha Ninefox Gambit Lewis, Beth The Wolf Road Liu, Ken The Wall of Storms McGuire, Seanan Every Heart a Doorway Palmer, Ada Too Like the Lightning Sullivan, Michael J The Age of Myth Whitehead, Colson The Underground Railroad Winters, Ben Underground Airlines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarius+ Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 10 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said: For those curious, here's a list of writers eligible for the Campbell. http://www.writertopia.com/awards/campbell Right now my only nomination in that category is Laurie Penny. Ada Palmer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 3 hours ago, Contrarius+ said: Ada Palmer! Yeah, Ada Palmer is eligible for Campbell, and I nominated her twice. 14 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said: Also, I am trying really, really hard to like Winged Histories. The writing is beautiful, but I just DGAF about any of the characters. Well, de gustibus, I suppose. I liked The Winged Histories characters a lot, I did have this problem with All the Birds in the Sky though. It is perhaps strange, since both main characters are supposed to be archetypical nerds and I should to be able to care for them. I just didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maia Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I am still making my way through Asimov's and Analog's readers' awards finalist novellas. They are fairly short and go down quickly. Also, enjoyable, on the whole. Analog: The Coward’s Option — Adam-Troy Castro - March 2016. A misantropic attorney working for the human diplomatic corps must investigate a peculiar wrinkle of an unpleasant alien culture's judicial system. I really liked this one. Wyatt Earp 2.0 — Wil McCarthy - January/February 2016. Administration of a Martian mining town can't maintain civil order in their settlement and decides to produce a copy of Wyatt Earp based on historical records, but with slightly amended attitudes, to get a handle on their problems. Now, their sore need of Wyatt's old-fashioned manliness and 19th-century-based wisdom didn't seem convincing to me, but his existential struggles and ruminations on the nature of identity and reality were more compelling. It was alright. Asimov's: Where There Is Nothing, There Is God – David Erik Nelson - December 2016. Time-trader with a twist. Swindling 18th century New Englanders is a serious business! Entertaining and darkly funny in places, but rather slight. What We Hold Onto – Jay O’Connell - June 2016 A near-future SF featuring a world ravaged by climate change, but where civilization in general and US culture in particular perseveres, but with some interesting worldbuilding making it all possible. A woman must decide what to do with her comatose mother and what she generally wants to do with her life. Much more interesting than this summary suggests, with plausible futuristic extrapolations. I really liked this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarius+ Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 1 hour ago, Maia said: I am still making my way through Asimov's and Analog's readers' awards finalist novellas. They are fairly short and go down quickly. Also, enjoyable, on the whole. I've got several of those I'm going to try to get to. Yesterday and today I went through: The Ballad of Black Tom -- Victor LaValle -- good depiction of how continual exposure to the frustrations of racism can push someone over the edge, and the horrible results society may be headed toward if it doesn't "open its eyes" (refer to the climactic scene for a gory metaphor to this). It failed to really grab me, though, except for that well-done and pretty horrific climax. The Devil You Know -- KJ Parker -- a fun read, not particularly deep, about a deal with the devil. Sort of a palate cleanser. A Taste of Honey -- Kai Ashante Wilson -- beautiful writing, beautiful ideas about choices, the road not taken, and stuff like that. I'm a big fan of Wilson's prose; unfortunately, his plotting in this vella and Sorcerer of the Wildeeps sometimes leaves something to be desired. Still a very good read. Tomorrow I'll try to read Cold-Forged Flame by Marie Brennan, and then The Dream-Quest of Velitt Boe by Kij Johnson. I've never read anything by either one of them, so it'll be educational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 16 hours ago, Maia said: I am still making my way through Asimov's and Analog's readers' awards finalist novellas. They are fairly short and go down quickly. Also, enjoyable, on the whole. Analog: The Coward’s Option — Adam-Troy Castro - March 2016. A misantropic attorney working for the human diplomatic corps must investigate a peculiar wrinkle of an unpleasant alien culture's judicial system. I really liked this one. I really liked it as well. Thanks for the link, since I missed it before. It made my list, completing the novella category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Going to have to update my novel list. Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad just bumped Raven King. Still trying to finish a couple more books before Friday to see if any other nudge their way onto the list.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Also, John Picacio posted about some of his favorite works eligible for Professional Artist. Some really great options here: http://johnpicacio.com/onthefront/2017/02/14/2017-best-professional-artist-hugo-thoughts/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 I've now filled in the ballot provisionally (since there are a couple of days left to change it). Novel Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay The Call by Peadar O’ Guilin Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett The Spider’s War by Daniel Abraham Series (this hasn't been mentioned in the thread so far but it's a one-off category for this year) The Expanse by James S.A. Corey The Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham The Divine Cities by Robert Jackson Bennett Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch The Dregs by Leigh Bardugo Although I read a fair amount of short fiction, very little of it was published in 2016, I haven't even read enough to fill any of the categories, but have written in: Novella (a.k.a the three novellas that would qualify that I've read) The Lost Child of Lychford by Paul Cornell Penric’s Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold (although I know there's a question about its length, but it's not as if I'm displacing something else) Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarius+ Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 4 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said: Going to have to update my novel list. Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad just bumped Raven King. Still trying to finish a couple more books before Friday to see if any other nudge their way onto the list.... I actually didn't like that much. I never did really connect with it. OTOH, I liked Underground Airlines quite a lot. Today I read Cold-Forged Flame, to which I say ehh. I also listened to Penric's Mission, which I had previously read, to see if I liked it better in audio format. I still much prefer Penric and the Shaman, but it's always fun to listen to LMB's writing. Didn't get to Vellitt Boe today. Maybe tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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