2020 Hugo picks: Novels
Jul. 4th, 2020 09:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormsewerI've been reading at least the beginning (and, in the last few years, the entirety) of all the Hugo nominated novels for the last eleven years, and this is the strongest set I've seen overall.
6. The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
A young person in a corporate dystopian future joins the military as a big war starts up.
The first 25% read like a "what Heinlein SHOULD have written" version of Starship Troopers. It got more interesting after that, but also a bit hard to follow. The ending was disorienting in a wait-how-is-that-suddenly-possible kind of way, but there were some things I liked about it. All in all it was absorbing, but military fiction is usually a tough sell with me.
5. Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Two adopted children living on opposite sides of the country find they have a deep psychic connection.
Overall I liked it. Having a connection like that to someone was one of my childhood fantasies, and I thought the relationship was well developed. I adored the main characters and was rooting for them (even though sometimes they seemed to do dumb things). Once we got past the beginning, it kept me engaged throughout. There were some things that bugged me about it. Number one is probably the bad guys. In my personal notes on this book I went on and on about them, but here I'll summarize by saying they are one-dimensionally evil, their motivations are never explored, and I think the book would have been better if the chapters from their viewpoint were cut entirely. It also leaned a bit heavily on stereotypes of what "gifted" kids and people in competitive graduate programs are like. There were things that bugged me about the ending, as well [1]. I found this a good book that fell frustratingly short of great.
4. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
A young swordmaster is unwillingly roped into helping her master and necromancer compete for immortality in a haunted palace.
It was a fun read, and I'm kind of shocked I ended up ranking it fourth given how many of my boxes it seems to check. Whenever something weird comes out like this, it's always fun to talk about its influences. I'd say this is some unholy combination of Gormenghast, Army of Darkness, Dune, and Hunger Games [2]. With lesbians, of course [3]. It has great characters, and a fascinating setting, and an intriguing plot. I tend to agree with those who find the central relationship a little icky, though, so for me it was entertaining, and I'll probably read the sequels, but I don't think it's going down as a classic. However, given that the author is from New Zealand and WorldCon is being held in New Zealand this year, I think it's a strong favorite to win.
3. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Lsel Station receives an urgent call for a new ambassador from the neighboring interstellar Teixcalaan Empire, with no indication of what happened to the old one, and Mahit is chosen to go.
You'd be forgiven for seeing this as simply a mashup of Imperial Radch and Xuya, which it felt like to me at first. But there's a master craftsmanship to the worldbuilding here that I think goes beyond either of those. And though I'm doubtful it was actually an influence on the author [5], it did remind me rather much of what it might be like if the ancient culture I'm most familiar with, namely Heian-Period Japan, was transformed into an expansionist star-faring empire, and that made me well-disposed to it. I liked it for it's evocation of what it's like to be a foreigner in a culture you admire, never able to fit in but now no longer really like the people back home, either. But I loved it for how it shows what it might be like to be on the receiving end of cultural imperialism (as well as the more conventional form), loving the culture while simultaneously resenting what it's done to your own, as well as the utter obliviousness of most of the imperialists themselves as to what it is they're doing.
2. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
At the turn of the twentieth century, a girl of uncertain origins finds she can write Doors to other worlds into existence.
Of all the Hugo-nominated novels this year, this one has the strongest voice. By which I mean a distinctive style that comes off as belonging to a real and vivid person. It has a strong emotional core, beautifully written. I love the book-within-a-book(-within-a-book?) trick, and it does a good job bringing the very early 20th century to life. It's very quotable, which I always appreciate [5]. I struggled in ranking between this one and the Martine, but I ended up going with this one because of the strength of the voice and the feels it brought on.
1. The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
On a tidally locked planet, a girl goes into the night, not expecting to return, but finds unexpected friendship there.
Uh, okay, where to start with this. This is my favorite book I have read in a long time. And by about 30 pages in (the end of Part 1), I strongly suspected it would be, so that's impressive. It calls to mind Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, my second favorite movie [6], and one of the few stories of my own I've managed to get published. And Part 6 reminded me a bit of a story of mine I have out for submission right now. All of which is to say it's right up my narrow temperate zone between extreme night and day. It resonates with me so much I'm worried my chest will break apart. Sophie will go down as one of my all-time favorite characters in literature, and the Gelet are among the best and most interesting aliens ever conceived. It's one of the most spectacular examples of worldbuilding I've encountered. It's so weird and different from anything I've ever heard of, and yet most of it also makes perfect sense in the context of how humans might try to manage in an environment like that. It brought tears to my eyes multiple times. Like the Harrow, it also has great quotes [7]. She is so good at this. A year ago I said my two favorite living authors were Ted Chiang and Catherynne Valente, but it looks like I'll need to make it a trinity now.
[1] #TeamErin
[2] Maybe with a little Final Fantasy VIII thrown in?
[3] Lesbians: so hot right now. Seriously, though, of all the nominated fiction works featuring romantic relationships this year, I count ten that feature F-F relationships, four that feature F-M relationships, and one that has a M-M relationship (which is between supporting characters and not important to the plot). No love for the gay man?
[4] She is a Byzantinist, after all.
[5] For example, 'The will to be polite, to maintain civility and normalcy, is fearfully strong. I wonder sometimes how much evil is permitted to run unchecked simply because it would be rude to interrupt it.'
[6] After 1980's Popeye, of course.
[7] For example, 'To join with others to shape the future is the holiest act. This is hard work, and it never stops being hard, but this collective dreaming/designing is the only way we get to keep surviving, and this practice defines us as a community.' Which might as well be my personal mission statement.
See also:
Short stories
Novelettes
Novellas
Best Dramatic Presentations, etc.
6. The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
A young person in a corporate dystopian future joins the military as a big war starts up.
The first 25% read like a "what Heinlein SHOULD have written" version of Starship Troopers. It got more interesting after that, but also a bit hard to follow. The ending was disorienting in a wait-how-is-that-suddenly-possible kind of way, but there were some things I liked about it. All in all it was absorbing, but military fiction is usually a tough sell with me.
5. Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Two adopted children living on opposite sides of the country find they have a deep psychic connection.
Overall I liked it. Having a connection like that to someone was one of my childhood fantasies, and I thought the relationship was well developed. I adored the main characters and was rooting for them (even though sometimes they seemed to do dumb things). Once we got past the beginning, it kept me engaged throughout. There were some things that bugged me about it. Number one is probably the bad guys. In my personal notes on this book I went on and on about them, but here I'll summarize by saying they are one-dimensionally evil, their motivations are never explored, and I think the book would have been better if the chapters from their viewpoint were cut entirely. It also leaned a bit heavily on stereotypes of what "gifted" kids and people in competitive graduate programs are like. There were things that bugged me about the ending, as well [1]. I found this a good book that fell frustratingly short of great.
4. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
A young swordmaster is unwillingly roped into helping her master and necromancer compete for immortality in a haunted palace.
It was a fun read, and I'm kind of shocked I ended up ranking it fourth given how many of my boxes it seems to check. Whenever something weird comes out like this, it's always fun to talk about its influences. I'd say this is some unholy combination of Gormenghast, Army of Darkness, Dune, and Hunger Games [2]. With lesbians, of course [3]. It has great characters, and a fascinating setting, and an intriguing plot. I tend to agree with those who find the central relationship a little icky, though, so for me it was entertaining, and I'll probably read the sequels, but I don't think it's going down as a classic. However, given that the author is from New Zealand and WorldCon is being held in New Zealand this year, I think it's a strong favorite to win.
3. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Lsel Station receives an urgent call for a new ambassador from the neighboring interstellar Teixcalaan Empire, with no indication of what happened to the old one, and Mahit is chosen to go.
You'd be forgiven for seeing this as simply a mashup of Imperial Radch and Xuya, which it felt like to me at first. But there's a master craftsmanship to the worldbuilding here that I think goes beyond either of those. And though I'm doubtful it was actually an influence on the author [5], it did remind me rather much of what it might be like if the ancient culture I'm most familiar with, namely Heian-Period Japan, was transformed into an expansionist star-faring empire, and that made me well-disposed to it. I liked it for it's evocation of what it's like to be a foreigner in a culture you admire, never able to fit in but now no longer really like the people back home, either. But I loved it for how it shows what it might be like to be on the receiving end of cultural imperialism (as well as the more conventional form), loving the culture while simultaneously resenting what it's done to your own, as well as the utter obliviousness of most of the imperialists themselves as to what it is they're doing.
2. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
At the turn of the twentieth century, a girl of uncertain origins finds she can write Doors to other worlds into existence.
Of all the Hugo-nominated novels this year, this one has the strongest voice. By which I mean a distinctive style that comes off as belonging to a real and vivid person. It has a strong emotional core, beautifully written. I love the book-within-a-book(-within-a-book?) trick, and it does a good job bringing the very early 20th century to life. It's very quotable, which I always appreciate [5]. I struggled in ranking between this one and the Martine, but I ended up going with this one because of the strength of the voice and the feels it brought on.
1. The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
On a tidally locked planet, a girl goes into the night, not expecting to return, but finds unexpected friendship there.
Uh, okay, where to start with this. This is my favorite book I have read in a long time. And by about 30 pages in (the end of Part 1), I strongly suspected it would be, so that's impressive. It calls to mind Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, my second favorite movie [6], and one of the few stories of my own I've managed to get published. And Part 6 reminded me a bit of a story of mine I have out for submission right now. All of which is to say it's right up my narrow temperate zone between extreme night and day. It resonates with me so much I'm worried my chest will break apart. Sophie will go down as one of my all-time favorite characters in literature, and the Gelet are among the best and most interesting aliens ever conceived. It's one of the most spectacular examples of worldbuilding I've encountered. It's so weird and different from anything I've ever heard of, and yet most of it also makes perfect sense in the context of how humans might try to manage in an environment like that. It brought tears to my eyes multiple times. Like the Harrow, it also has great quotes [7]. She is so good at this. A year ago I said my two favorite living authors were Ted Chiang and Catherynne Valente, but it looks like I'll need to make it a trinity now.
[1] #TeamErin
[2] Maybe with a little Final Fantasy VIII thrown in?
[3] Lesbians: so hot right now. Seriously, though, of all the nominated fiction works featuring romantic relationships this year, I count ten that feature F-F relationships, four that feature F-M relationships, and one that has a M-M relationship (which is between supporting characters and not important to the plot). No love for the gay man?
[4] She is a Byzantinist, after all.
[5] For example, 'The will to be polite, to maintain civility and normalcy, is fearfully strong. I wonder sometimes how much evil is permitted to run unchecked simply because it would be rude to interrupt it.'
[6] After 1980's Popeye, of course.
[7] For example, 'To join with others to shape the future is the holiest act. This is hard work, and it never stops being hard, but this collective dreaming/designing is the only way we get to keep surviving, and this practice defines us as a community.' Which might as well be my personal mission statement.
See also:
Short stories
Novelettes
Novellas
Best Dramatic Presentations, etc.
