I posted a link to the Verge Article announcing the 2018 Nebula Nominees about a month ago so felt I should also get you the link to the Verge’s Hugo Nominees as well. Thanks again to NG for getting it to me.
The Hugos are the annual awards with the strongest name recognition – winners chosen by fans – but the Nebulas – chosen by The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) – is generally considered to be a more prestigious award.
I haven’t done too badly this year when it comes to the nominated novels – having read 2 of 6 – “The Collapsing Empire” by John Scalzi – link to review below:
and “Raven Stratagem” by Yoon Ha Lee. I’ll get back to this one shortly as I read it before I started writing these posts.
I’ve also read and reviewed “All Systems Red” from the Novella category by Martha Wells – link to review below:
http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-all-systems-red-1-16-2018/
I thought that both “The Collapsing Empire” and “All Systems Red” were good books but I don’t know that I would have ever thought of either as Hugo worthy. I found them to be kind of inconsequential.
“Raven Strategem” – as well as the first novel in this two book series – “Nine Fox Gambit” was a horse of a completely different color. I found both of these to be spectacular books – so different – completely unique – truly like nothing I’ve ever read before. It’s easy to trick yourself into believing, after reading extensively in this genre for about 45 years, that you’ll never run into anything new – that all of the really great stories have already been told or all of the really revolutionary concepts have been explored. Then…along comes someone like Lee with his “Machineries of Empire” books and pretty much blows me away. Ann Leckie did the same with her “Imperial Radch” series.
This isn’t meant to be a review of the book – just my call-out for a nominee that I feel is truly unique and very worthy. Give these two a try – you won’t be sorry.
As for the other nominees, I have Ann Leckie’s Provenance but haven’t had the chance to read it yet. Given how much I enjoyed her “Imperial Radch” series, it’s only a matter of time. I haven’t purchased Mur Lafferty’s “Six Wakes” yet but it looks intriguing and I do plan to get to that one as well. I’m probably not going to get around to Robinson’s “New York 2140” – given the policies being pursued by the current Administration, I kind of feel like I’ll have the opportunity to live the prologue to that novel. That just leaves N.K. Jemison’s “The Stone Sky” and it’s already a source of frustration for me.
I just missed this one – “The Broken Earth” trilogy – when the first book – “The Fifth Season” was released in 2015. All three books in this trilogy – “The Stone Sky” being the third and final – have been extremely popular and very highly reviewed. I hate that feeling of missing the boat – of not picking up a good series when it first comes out and letting it get ahead of you. I know I’ll eventually read this book but I’m going to have to back track and read “The Fifth Season” and “The Obelisk Gate” first – and with my current backlog – I may be reviewing that one from assisted living.
All six – maybe five of six – look like really compelling reads. I hope you’ve had the chance – or will take the opportunity – to give them a read. I know I will.