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The Crane Husband is decidedly dark, but not only dark, if that makes sense. I liked the writing, characters, and world building a lot, more so than the story itself. 🌌
Ai Jiang, nice! Met her at Word on the Street here in Toronto, and got the book signed! Really cool author!
Ooh so many books Id never heard of. I'm tempted to pick up The Water Outlaw soon, as I think that might work for me, but Im unsure.
You never fail to get me excited about awards that I really have zero reason for becoming excited about hahaha. The Water Outlaws has been on my radar for a while, it sounds promising. And The Terraformers really was a miss for me, but I can see why other people appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the works you pick up!!
the water outlaws is a really fun wuxia romp! it's very different to burning roses imo (which i also didn't like), so don't let that put you off
ohh you MUST watch princess mononoke if you haven't already, i feel like it is very much up your alley thematically
i'm a little annoyed at to shape a dragon's breath being in the YA category because as far as i know, it's sold in the adult sections (and is priced as such) here, and for it to be one of only four nominees is a bit sad
Is dragon's breath the del rey one I was side eyeing?? And good to know about Water Outlaws!
@@LiteratureScienceAlliance yes!!
I’d agree the boy and the heron probably wouldn’t be the Miyazaki movie to start with. It plays around with a lot of the same themes that he keeps coming back to, but I think even if you just watch two to refresh yourself, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke I think would be good primers! Kiki’s Delivery Service is my personal fave though
Princess Mononoke is one I feel like I really need to watch, feels like a glaring omission for me to have haha
I'm trying to watch the full Ghibli catalogue before getting to that movie. It's going slowly tho I'm terrible at watching movies even tough I do enjoy them
Love this discussion; thank you! I used to feel so in the know in awards and now I feel like I’ve never read anything nominated. 😂
I was excited to see Shidigi and Bright Doors on the shortlist. Just a week before the Nebula shortlist was announced, Saint of Bright Doors won the Crawford Award (won last year by The Spear Cuts Through Water), and Shigidi was named as a runner-up. I spoke to a juror at the conference where the award was given and he said he felt all of the shortlist titles were worthy, so I’m glad to see them getting exposure beyond the Crawford, which is sometimes (not always) a bit niche.
Was just looking through the Crawford Award and it gave one to Karen Lord so already a fan haha 🤣
@@LiteratureScienceAlliance I need to read that one (and many other Crawford winners) still. Sofia Samatar won it in 2014, which is good enough for me :)
Terraformers is definitely character driven, but sort of for the purpose of exploring ideas rather than moving along a plot. So, I think you could like it because I think you tend to go for ideas based SF. A lot of people I think either needed a more cohesive plot or went in thinking hopeful meant cozy SF, and it has moment, but is definitely not cozy over all. Mammoths at the Gates is soooo good! Vo i think just had a new fantasy novel announced for later this year that excites me more than any ot the existing work too, I love seeing Vo getting the recognition for being so consistently quality.
I just finished The Mimicking of Known Successes last night. I really really liked it.
Personally Saint of Bright Doors was in my top 10 of 2023, however I did just watch some people rant about quite a lot. I think its so polarizing because it's quite quite abstract and you just have to surrender to that. I think I might have struggle more if I had read it, but as an audiobook it works perfectly
Good to know, I am going to try to have audiobooks on hand for most of these. Also seems like Saint of Bright Doors is either a favorite or a miss, going to hope is a fave for me like it was for you
I had also only read Ancillary Justice when I picked up Translation State (although I think I enjoyed it more than you did), and while there are maybe some references I missed and elements of the worldbuilding I would have picked up on quicker if I had read the rest of the trilogy first, I didn't have trouble understanding it at all. I mean, there are some things you aren't supposed to understand at first, but if you trust the process they do eventually become clear.
I loved Terraformers and would be very curious to know how you feel about it. It has some memorable characters and partnerships that have stuck with me. The world building is interesting but has some dark implications.
I feel similarly about the novel list not really aligning with my tastes; I did however enjoy Huang's first book (Burning Roses) so I've had Water Outlaws on my TBR! My partner also liked Translation State, but he loved Leckie's trilogy so that's not really surprising. omg the switch from paperback to hardback for the Singing Hills Cycle will irritate me to no end, but I HAD to start collecting them. Totally agree on the hope for a bind-up or some kind of reprint of the set though because I will absolutely buy that as well. The novella list is much more competitive to me because Vo, Older, and Lee all had such excellent entries. I was surprised to see To Shape A Dragon's Breath in the MG/YA category, because at my local Barnes & Noble it was shelved in the general SFF area and not YA. I'm still currently reading it, and I guess in one sense it can fit into YA; I just hadn't thought of it that way. Finally: I remember watching that episode of The Last of Us and thinking: "this is it, I've seen the best episode of TV for the whole year and it's only January." And now I can confidently say I was right, because nothing else I saw last year matched that one episode of storytelling. I desperately hope it wins.
But if they change to hardcover, they can charge more. This was an interesting list and I am curious to know your thoughts on the books you read. The haunted house short story sounded the most interesting to me.
Thanks for doing this! I was unfamiliar with all of the novels, which surprised me. I didn’t even know that Leckie had written more Radch novels, so I picked up Provenance, but haven’t read it yet. Then I’ll read the one that got nominated.
I was really surprised by how many I hadn't read yet so hopefully this means I am in for a treat!
Love the ring! I have a similar one. 💍☺️ Interesting commentary on what goes into award nominations. 🌌
🌌🌌🌌 Hmm...very interested in Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon & The Saint of Bright Doors. I am always here to try out weird speculative/SFF works. I hope you really enjoy The Saint of Bright Doors. Mammoths at the Gates was such a win for me last year. Also, it is true, that installment became a new favorite. Nghi Vo gets better and better with each installment. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these books whenever you get a chance to read them.
Interesting list! Looking forward to the Hugos 🌌🌌🌌
The dnd movie was so fun. I want more.
oooh, i really wanna hear your opinions on these books! a lot of interesting stuff. (your hair is looking so beautiful btw so shiny!!)
When Sarah Pinsker's Song for a New Day won Best Novel, she got another award for being helpful to other authors inside the organization in the same ceremony. But I've heard that's a good book too, so... OK, here's my thing for best novel. Martha Wells is a darling. Ann Leckie is a darling. Annalee Newitz is a darling. Which is going to split the darling vote, and give a good chance for the other two to pull an upset. Especially since I've heard they are quite good. I've heard that Shigidi is funny, or at least I have the impression that it's funny after hearing an interview with the author who is funny.
Lovely reminder that I need to read more Sarah Pinsker haha but yea if the darling vote gets split it could be interesting to see who comes out on top.
🌌 The Saint of Bright Doors is the only work I have any interest in, and already had plans to read it.
Oh dang. I’ve only read the first two Nghi Vo novellas because I was waiting for the paperback versions to come out. Good to know they won’t be.
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Of all the ones mentioned that I have read, I really enjoyed The Water Outlaws the most (and the singing hills series).
Hoping Water Outlaws will be an engaging good time for me as well!
Interesting to see what's on the shortlist. Definitely there tend to be authors popular in a voting space that sometimes I am just like why. Mammoths at the Gates really was fantastic! 😂 I'm such a fan of that series.
One day I will catch up on that novella series 🤣
You gotta watch Nimona! It’s so good! So unapologetically queer and su heart wrenching.
Thanks for the rec!
I liked Terraformers and I think you might like it. It's hard to explain the plot because it covers such a long period of time and multiple characters. Water Outlaws is also pretty good and I didn't like that novella either. It's a little long, but good on audio. I didn't get on great with Saint of Bright Doors but I could see you maybe liking it.
Most of these feel like they will come down to writing style and if my brain flows with whatever the author is doing. Hoping I find some hidden gems for myself 🤞🏽
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🌌I'm terrible about keeping up with book awards in general, but weirdly I have read most of the novellas and Untethered Sky is the only one that really stuck with me in a positive way. But I'm mostly just excited about the movie writing this year😅Like, Nimona and Dungeons & Dragons were my favorite movies last year by a mile, even though I hadn't seen any of the source material in years, and now I just want to go rewatch them, lol
Dungeons and Dragons was delightful!!
Given the poor reception of The Witch King (I also DNF'd at chapter 2) and The Terraformers was my first or second worst book of 2023, this list doesn't inspire me to try any of these books. I'll probably get to the Singing Hills Cycle books eventually, though. I read the first one this year, and I liked it. I know books are subjective, but are these books really five star, award winning books? Are the 2023 choices that meager?
I feel like 2023 is where we are really seeing the issues in publishing post pandemic in terms of acquiring titles and having strong editing teams, since I know a lot of people left around 2020-2021 due to working conditions. It was all so fine and so many times I was like "this could have been great!"
Unimpressed by this list. As you explained (more or less, i am applying some liberties here), the type of author and his/her network seem to matter more than the actual written stories. That is how i perceive it anyway.
I do always find it interesting what other authors think is worth highlighting each year. Even if it encapsulates more grey space and less true "objectivity" which honesty I don't think any award has.
Fingers crossed whatever you try from this list works for you!! 👾👾🌃🌉
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