STET by Sarah Gailey
Started: 7/28/19
Finished: 7/28/19
Super short, and very moving, but it’s mostly in the footnotes and the editing comments, so it takes a little maneuvering to get at it.
Hugo packet
A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow
Started: 7/28/19
Finished: 7/28/19
I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH. I am not ashamed to admit I cried at the end. I was reading it out loud to Jack and he wasn’t sure what to do with me.
The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djèlí Clark
Started: 7/28/19
Finished: 7/28/19
The style of this short story was interesting – like encyclopedia entries – and I appreciate how each of the “donors” affected George Washington, but this was both a little too weird for me (I’m shuddering at the whole teeth thing) and a little not enough.
When We Were Starless by Simone Heller
Started: 7/27/19
Finished: 7/28/19
For a novelette, it took too long to reel me in. I considered not finishing it, and come on, it’s a novelette. I did finish it, and it did get good, but there’s too much left to the imagination after the end. And I’m not sure I care enough to imagine it.
The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer
Started: 7/27/19
Finished: 7/27/19
LOVED this novelette – the style, the voice, the story. It’s about a woman who has just returned to her academic research after losing her mother (who she took care of for years). It rocketed to the top of my voting list for novelette this year.
The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by Ursula Vernon
Started: 7/27/19
Finished: 7/27/19
SHORT short story, with a cute twist on the sly faerie folk genre.
Nine Last Days On Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory
Started: 7/26/19
Finished: 7/27/19
In contrast to the previous novelette, I felt like this one needed more. As a family story, I think it had enough (and it was really good). As a science fiction story, it felt a little empty.
The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly
Started: 7/26/19
Finished: 7/26/19
Oh, how I liked this novelette. A bad leader, a long-term revenge, pain and suffering. Really good stuff in a very small package. And food! Delicious food!
The Court Magician by Sarah Pinsker
Started: 7/25/19
Finished: 7/25/19
An eerie short story by the author of that portal fantasy with clones from last year that I liked so much. This one was pretty good. Learn the rules before you use magic!
The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander
Started: 7/24/19
Finished: 7/25/19
I loved the voice of the narrator in this short story. Same author as the sad elephant novella, but I would never have guessed that. I feel like the plot is given away in the title, and I’m okay with that.
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Started: 7/18/19
Finished: 7/24/19
This is the second novella in the Murderbot Diaries series, and it’s so great! Poor Murderbot.
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
Started: 6/22/19
Finished: 7/1/19
Book 3 in the Wayfarers series. This was a NICE story, but I had a hard time getting into it at first. I enjoyed it, and I wholeheartedly recommend it (the whole series), but I don’t think it’s Hugo-worthy (this book is nominated, as is the series).
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Started: 6/15/19
Finished: 6/22/19
Book 2 in the Wayfarers series. Instead of an episodic adventure story like the first one, this book follows two characters as they struggle with their identities. Universal in a very science-fictional way. It’s also a found-family story. I’m a sucker for found-family stories.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Started: 6/7/19
Finished: 6/15/19
This one keeps popping up in my recommendations, usually described as being like Firefly, and I finally got a copy in this year’s Hugo voter’s packet (the 3rd book and the series have been nominated). I can say that yes, it IS like Firefly (not as much shooting), and I enjoyed it very much. It’s light and fun, much lighter than what I’ve been reading lately, so that was a pleasant surprise. It’s not heavy on plot – there’s an episodic feel to it which probably also led to the Firefly comparisons, but it’s nice.
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Started: 6/1/19
Finished: 6/7/19
I’ve been meaning to read this one for a year, and then it got nominated for a Hugo and I got it in the voter’s packet, so yay for me! It’s a story about monsters and monsterslayers in a post-apocalyptic US, set on a Navajo reservation, and it’s pretty great.