BooktubeSFF Awards discussion

Nice. This list makes me happy. A Darker Shade of Magic, Uprooted and The Fifth Season? Looking forward to reading them.

What do you all think of the shortlist? It's about what I was expecting... but then I was able to watch the votes as they came in, so my expectations might have been skewed. Some of my favorite new releases from 2015 made the list (like The Fifth Season, Carry On, and Nimona.) There are still a few works I haven't read yet, and I'm excited to get to all of them. I think the readalongs should be a lot of fun :)

I do wish more sci-fi had been nominated, but I'm not surprised it wasn't. Sci-fi had a couple of high profile disappointments for a lot of people this year (Armada and The Dark Forest jump to mind.) I hesitate to say Seveneves was a flop, but I feel like the marketing of that book was really off, and I know some people felt let down by it. A couple books that do well on Booktube had issues with nominators not being sure about their eligibility (I.e. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and Golden Son which was had a lot of total nominations, but split it's vote about equally between YA and adult novel.) What do you all think about this year's nominees having a fantasy skew?

I can understand why more SF isn't on the list. Seveneves having a higher page count and leaning towards hard SF isn't the bread and butter of BookTube. It's nothing to be sore about as all the nominated novels received a lot of traction previously. It's a strong list. At first I thought the list was all women but skipped over Sanderson and Kristoff. That would have been a neat distinction.

I agree. I think this is a strong list. Between eligibility and some of the meh releases in SF last year I'm not surprised. Brock, you make a good point about Seveneves. I liked it, but it and Aurora, and even really the rest of the SF releases from the year that would have been big, it's easy to see that they didn't hit the market with the same kind of bang.

There are a couple of choices I'm surprised by. Firstly, Carry On which I had no idea was sf/f! Rainbow Rowell really isn't to my taste, so I hadn't read up on that title. Secondly, I'm surprised by Nimona (though perhaps I shouldn't be) because of my own experience with that one. I hated the artwork so much I couldn't even finish it! :( It'll be interesting to hear what you all think about it though, since it seems like I'm in a minority here.

As for why there isn't more SF on the list, I think that is just natural fluctuations in the fandom. Some years fantasy will dominate, and some years SF will dominate. :)

I like Rainbow Rowell normally as a fluffy read, knowing it isn't my normal. But, I actually really liked Carry On as a book that pokes a bit of fun at the normal Fantasy YA story tropes.

I'm a bit disappointed by the domination of fantasy on the best novel list, and even then I think the books chosen are a bit disappointing too. I've read all of the four best novel nominations and the only one I rate highly is The Fifth Season. I'm not particularly interested in the YA titles, although I have already read (and I nominated!) Carry On. For the short fiction I'm glad to see Binti, again I nominated that one. I've read the Sanderson novella too, though it was okay but not outstanding. I'll read the other nomination. I'm not going to read the graphic works, that's not my thing. Overall I'm just a bit disappointed and realising more than ever how much of a disconnect I have from the majority of the booktube community.

I'll make a video discussing my thoughts but I think that it is a decent list. There are a lot of the booktube staples on this list but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It would have been nice if there was a more pure SF book on the list but I think with pure SF last year there were a lot of strong books that split votes. A lot of books I either bought, and never read, or books I wanted to give a try. Uprooted, ADSOM, and Shadows of Self are books I have pushed back in favor of other things but it is nice that there is a strong reason to read them now. I'm pretty happy Descender got nominated because I've put that in my shopping cart like 5 times in the past 2 months and now have a reason to buy it.

A little heavy on fantasy, I'm haven't been in the mood for magic recently. And disappointed A Long Way To Small Angry Planet didn't make it.
Only Fifth Season appeals to me in novels, so I'll give that a go.
Pleased Binti made it and am interested in reading the Kowal story, I read the Woman Astronaut one recently and it was very good.
I'm not the YA 'type' but I have read Illuminae and liked it, with some reservations.
Interested to see how the 'Graphic' section plays out.
I liked Nimona partly because it had the whole story, no waiting for volume 2, but its roots as a web-comic did show in the art.
Descender was for me better art but undecided between those two who should win.
(knowing my connection with the zeitgeist neither will win) :)

I'm the most psyched about the best graphic novel and short work nominees, seems like a good mix of stuff! The stuff I've already read from those categories were good, so I have high hopes for the rest.

I'm also perhaps too delighted by Elizabeth's "St. Martian's Press" typo.

I would have like to see at least a SF book in the shortlist but, oh well...
I have mixed feeling on the shortlist, on the best novel category, I've read two books, The Fifth Season which I loved and Uprooted that I did not really like. I am really going to try to participate to the readalongs for Shadows of Self and A Darker Shade of Magic.
For the best YA, I liked Carry On but I have not read Illuminae and Six of Crows, I have a copy of Six of Crows so I will try to participate to the discussion.
I won't read the graphic novels but I would try to get to the short fiction, I am especially looking forward to Binti.

Out of the shortlist, I have only read Shadows of Self. I'm going to try and read as many of the shortlist as I can. Especially looking forward to A Darker Shade of Magic, Carry On and Nimona.

Is Winter in the YA shortlist category? I'm super confused because I just watched The Reading Outlaw's babbles video about her shortlist progress so far and she was talking about reading Winter like it was a nominee for the YA SFF Booktube awards.

I hope this is ok, but I have a question about Perfect State/ Brandon Sanderson. Is Perfect State an ok place to start if I've never read anything by Sanderson before? I've been meaning to read some of his work, I've been thinking short fiction might be a good place to start (so I can get a taste of his writing without committing to a full length novel) and I'd love to be able to join in on the discussion. Thanks.

Joss wrote: "I hope this is ok, but I have a question about Perfect State/ Brandon Sanderson. Is Perfect State an ok place to start if I've never read anything by Sanderson before? I've been meaning to read som..."

I have not read Perfect State yet, but my understanding is that it is a stand alone novella outside of Sanderson's cosmere universe, so it should be safe to read as your first Sanderson. Whether or not it's the best place to start is a question I'll leave to the hardcore Sanderson fans.

Christina wrote: "Is Winter in the YA shortlist category? I'm super confused because I just watched The Reading Outlaw's babbles video about her shortlist progress so far and she was talking about reading Winter lik..."

It is not. The three YA nominees are Carry On, Illuminae, and Six of Crows.

I've read 6 of the 14 nominees! Overall this year's nominees interest me far more than last year's especially in the Graphic Work category (personally rooting for Nimona or Wicked + Divine).

A reminder to all, the popular vote is now open and you can vote here.