I am reading against a deadline! I've got the Hugo packet and I intend to at least touch on everything in there before voting. I won't be able to finish everything, but this way I can make some sort of informed decision. And I'll finish what I havent after Worldcon.
Below, find my notes on the nominees sorted by category.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager UK)
Incomplete impressions: the story of a 12th century woman pirate in the Indian ocean, as told through in interview with the woman herself. Absolutely delightful character voice, keeps making me grin. So hard to put down!
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
Incomplete impressions: very intriguing, love the concept of a character trained from birth as a religious assassin who then just... doesn't. It does read a little... drudgery-y.
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Tordotcom, Orbit UK)
Started reading this one outside of my Hugos sprint. I've put it aside for a moment to get a glimpse of everything else in the packet first but I've really been enjoying it.
Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Tor, Tor UK)
Invomplete impressions: I say this as someone who has loved some of Scalzi's previous work but woof. It takes a solid quarter of the book for the sentient cats and the supervillainy to show up and I did NOT enjoy that quarter.
Translation State by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK)
Read outside the Hugo sprint.
Ann Leckie is one of my favourite authors. I really enjoyed this book, especially the family issues and exploration of one's own identity in absence of others, or conversely in explicit context with others.
Witch King by Martha Wells (Tordotcom)
Read outside the Hugo sprint.
Martha Wells is another of my favourite authors. I loved this book, the narrow perspective on a very large world, the drama and trauma spanning such a long time, the bits of worldbuilding casually tossed in and left unexplained.
“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)
Incomplete impressions: translation is somewhat better than most. Did not quite grab me. Very mysterious.
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
Incomplete impressthes: have read other Nghi Vo novellas before and frankly loved them, loved this world and the character off Chih. Also, the mammoths are adorable/terrifying.
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (Tordotcom)
Incomplete impressions: very cool worldbuilding, sort of steampunk society on a gas planet (Jupiter?). Murder mystery of sorts.
Rose/House by Arkady Martine (Subterranean)
Incomplete impressions: another great author. Somewhere between murder mystery and horror. Verh ominous.
“Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)
Incomplete impressions: another failure of translated Chinese. Very stilted. The plot did not grab me. Maybe some things simply don't translate well.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK)
Imcomplete impressions: I always enjoy Kingfisher's prose and this looks to be another good, crunchy fairy tale retelling.
I AM AI by Ai Jiang (Shortwave)
Absolutely grim view on technology and AI (and a.i.) with a hopeful ending. A good (though bleak) read, really captures the pressure and desperation.
“Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适 translated by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld, February 2023)
Written with the conceit of being an introduction to an academic work and boy, does it capture the tone. Could not finish it, honestly very boring and hard to get through.
“Ivy, Angelica, Bay” by C.L. Polk (Tor.com 8 December 2023)
Packs a lot of emotional punch for a story this short. Loved the bees.
“On the Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo (Tor.com 31 October 2023)
I liked this one. Somewhat bittersweet, themes of discovering who you are and what you can do and being different (in more ways than one).
“One Man’s Treasure” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, JanuaryFebruary 2023)
Nice little tale of revenge against the rich. I liked the worldbuilding well enough.
“The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023)
Apocalyptic hopefulness. themes of local communities, small local actions and hope against the odds.
"Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)
I'll be honest, this one did nothing to me. Maybe it was the translation but it felt quite clunky and the actual narrative didn't seem to go anywhere in particular.
“Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023)
Not badly written but I'm confused as to what this is trying to say.
“How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” by P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023)
Amusing, not too deep, didn't leave a huge impression.
“The Mausoleum’s Children” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, May-June 2023)
This one is unsettling. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but whatever it is makes my skin crawl.
“The Sound of Children Screaming” by Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare Magazine, October 2023)
Quite brutal. Combination of a portal fantasy and a revenge fantasy on the backdrop of US school shootings. I enjoyed the framing and the fairytale-like unforgiving tone.
美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), 宝树 / Baoshu (银河边缘013：黑域密室 / Galaxy’s Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain)
Enjoyable anthology-style snippets about the drawbacks of new technology in capitalism. Unfortunately suffers from the translation/editing, there were quite a lot of errors.
The Final Architecture by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom, Orbit UK)
Incomplete impressions: fairly hard sci fi, pretty interesting worldbuilding but didn't really grab me. I gave it 40ish pages and might come back to it later.
Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK)
Read outside the Hugo sprint.
Well, this is my favourite series by one of my favourite authors.
The Last Binding by Freya Marske (Tordotcom, Tor UK)
2/3 read outside the Hugo sprint.
Delightful, fresh magic system. Lovely lively characters. Believeable romance.
The Laundry Files by Charles Stross (Tordotcom, Orbit UK)
Incomplete impressions: ehhhhhhhhhhh. Tryhard USian secret agent/military/nourish urban fantasy. Can't stand the pov character.
October Daye by Seanan McGuire (DAW)
Most of them read outside the Hugo sprint
Very enjoyable popcorn read with surprisingly hood throughline plot throughout.
The Universe of Xuya by Aliette de Bodard (Gollancz; JABberwocky Literary Agency; Subterranean Press; Uncanny Magazine; et al.)
Abeni’s Song by P. Djèlí Clark (Starscape)
Liberty’s Daughter by Naomi Kritzer (Fairwood Press)
Promises Stronger than Darkness by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen)
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix (Katherine Tegen Books, Gollancz and Allen & Unwin)
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (Del Rey)
Unraveller by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Children’s Books; eligible due to 2023 U.S. publication by Amulet)
Moniquill Blackgoose (1st year of eligibility)
Sunyi Dean (2nd year of eligibility)
Ai Jiang (2nd year of eligibility)
Hannah Kaner (1st year of eligibility)
Em X. Liu (1st year of eligibility)
1/2 read outside the Hugo sprint.
I enjoyed If Found, Return to Hell. Could have used more space to expand on the characters and world.
Xiran Jay Zhao (eligibility extended at request of Dell Magazines)
Read outside the Hugo sprint.
Lovely, unforgiving writing. Little bit chaotic.