BooktubeSFF Awards discussion

Best Science Fiction Novel
Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

Best Fantasy Novel
The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Best Debut Novel
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

Best YA
Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Windwitch by Susan Dennard
Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

Best Middle Grade
Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi
Magnus Chase and the Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Best Graphic Work
Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
Everyone's a aliebn when your a aliebn too by Jomny Sun
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris
Paper Girls, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matthew Wilson

Best Short Work
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor

Thank you to all who nominated, and congratulations to the nominees! Final voting will open in June.

Readalong Schedule & Hosts

March
Borne (Thomas)
The Bear and the Nightingale (Rachel)
Strange The Dreamer (Kaitlin)
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Frankie)
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding (Elena)
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Connor)
Everyone's a aliebn when your a aliebn too (Chelsea)
All Systems Red (Rachel)

April
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel (Chelsea)
The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (Frankie)
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence (Sam's Nonsense)
Kings of the Wyld (Thomas)
Windwitch (Elena)
Magnus Chase and the Ship of the Dead (Connor)
Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood (Chelsea)
Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Kaitlin)

May
Raven Stratagem (Rachel)
The Collapsing Empire (Kaitlin)
A Conjuring of Light (Connor)
The City of Brass(Sam's Nonsense)
Our Dark Duet (Frankie)
Whichwood (Elena)
Paper Girls, Vol. 3 (Chelsea)
Binti: Home (Thomas)

This is a really amazing list. A lot of greatly anticipated reads. Looks like the revisions to the categories have brought up a lot of gems.

Really excited to dive into a lot of these! The Bear and the Nightingale in particular! :)

Such great picks! I'm so excited! 💖

I can’t wait to read Kings Of The Wyld! I have a feeling it’s gonna be a 5 Star read for me!

Some excellent nominations and the changes have definitely ensured a far more diverse selection of titles and authors. Excited for the science fiction nominees.

I'm going to have to read sooo much :D
But excited about the books anyway. Love the variety.

I'll skip a few of them, but I'm seeing some very anticipated reads on here, so that's exciting!

There are a couple I won't be reading (third books in trilogies I haven't started). But I'm going to attempt to read the rest! Though I'll probably focus on fantasy, YA, graphic, and short work. :) And just read what I have time for from science fiction, debut, and middle grade.

I think that the changes from last year have allowed for an excellent list!

This looks like a brilliant list. Hoping to join you on one or two of the readalongs, and looking forward to seeing who the winners are later in the year.

Definitely going to join in this year as I've got a few books on my TBR that cross over with this list! Really excited.

There isn't a single Sanderson on the shortlist! I didn't think this day would ever come. Did the judges decide on the new rules with this in mind? :D

The graphic novels category might be a problem. I can't get two of them from the library, one because they don't have it, and the other because the holds queue is so long.

I'm going to need to do some thinking before I decide which ones I'll read. So many first in series, I'd prefer not to start some of them yet.

edit: Turns out Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too IS available in my library, yay! The title seems to be different from the one listed in the shortlist. Only two holds before me so that means I should be able to read it in time. That only leaves Favorite Thing with 25 holds, there's no way I'll get it before June.

The shortlist this year looks amazing! Have just put a ton of hold requests in at my library. :) I'm hoping that I'll make it to the front of the queue in time for the readalongs!

Linked for your clicking pleasure:

Best Science Fiction Novel
Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

Best Fantasy Novel
The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Best Debut Novel
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

Best YA
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Windwitch by Susan Dennard
Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

Best Middle Grade
Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi
The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan
The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Best Graphic Work
Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1 by Emil Ferris
Paper Girls, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matthew Wilson

Best Short Work
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor

Really excellent short list. I am excited for this year.

Can someone please tell me what the cliffhanger situations are for these:

The Collapsing Empire
Red Sister
The City of Brass
Strange the Dreamer
Windwitch

I don't want to start several new series to be left hanging for years.

Excellent - hoping to read them all before the hugos nomination ends and voting begins here for booktube awards. Thanks Rachel and thanks anna for the links.

Anna wrote: "Can someone please tell me what the cliffhanger situations are for these:

The Collapsing Empire
Red Sister
The City of Brass
[book:Strange the Dream..."

^The only one of the above I've read is Strange the Dreamer, which DOES end on a serious cliffhanger. It's only supposed to be a duology, and I think Taylor has finished the second book, but I don't think it has a release date yet.


Overall, some surprises here, and also LOTS that I haven't read yet! I'll have to be selective in choosing which readalongs to participate in, because I won't be able to read them all!

So many of these books are sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read, I’ll try and get as many read as possible

Anna wrote: "Can someone please tell me what the cliffhanger situations are for these:

The Collapsing Empire
Red Sister
The City of Brass
[book:Strange the Dream..."

The second book to The Collapsing Empire is out in October (according to Scalzi's twitter) it is due to be a trilogy, but so was Old man's war and we ended up with 3 books, a YA companion novel and a serialized novel and a short story collections. So you never know with Scalzi. His works tend to 'soft cliffhanger', where there is illusion left for a second/third book but the stories are still complete enough to enjoy them on their own.

Strangely enough, I just started nevermoor. Looks interesting. Will be really interested to see what you think of it; especially, you Harry Potter fans

Red Sister is going to be a trilogy (the whole trilogy is already written and the second coming out in april) but can be read on it’s own. The story of that specific book is wrapped up nicely and I didn’t really experience any ‘cliffhanger’ dread.

I'm overall quite excited for the shortlist. Like others have said, I think the rule changes made for a much more interesting group of books. I'm hoping to read some of the books in most of the categories (except YA & middle grade).

I love science fiction getting it's own category, because we finally have some space opera represented.

I was very surprised that My Favorite Thing Is Monsters made the shortlist. I didn't expect it to be eligible because it's mostly marketed a horror/mystery. I will be very curious to see how the SFF community reacts to it.

I am really looking forward to reading some of these with the readalongs . Busy Season in work but I will do my best.

Kelsey wrote: "Strange the Dreamer, which DOES end on a serious cliffhanger. It's only supposed to be a duology"

Great, I didn't know it's only a duology, I was defaulting to a trilogy at least. That means I can maybe read this one, since the next one is out fairly soon.


Fiona wrote: "His works tend to 'soft cliffhanger', where there is illusion left for a second/third book but the stories are still complete enough to enjoy them on their own. "

Hmm, OK that sounds doable. I've only read standalones by Scalzi, so I didn't know that.


Sinéad wrote: "Red Sister is going to be a trilogy (the whole trilogy is already written and the second coming out in april) but can be read on it’s own. The story of that specific book is wrappedup nicely and I didn’t really experience any ‘cliffhanger’ dread."

I knew it's written, but that doesn't help when the pub date is far away. Anyway, this one also sounds like I can maybe read it, although I honestly can't imagine how it could it better than The Stone Sky.


I'm not sure I want to read the YA category, so I'm not too worried about Windwitch, but I'd still like to know what the deal is with The City of Brass? I've been wanting to read it for a while, so please someone tell me it stands on its own?

City of Brass ends on a cliffhanger. It's less of a plot cliffhanger than a character one. I have complicated feelings about the main characters, and I don't think you're really supposed to know how you feel about them at this point.

Princess wrote: "City of Brass ends on a cliffhanger. It's less of a plot cliffhanger than a character one."

Thanks! I'm going to have to think about whether I want to suffer for the awards :D But maybe I can handle one cliffhangery series starter.

Looks like I'm in a minority here, but I'm really disappointed with the nominees for graphic novels. I still don't understand the hype for Monstress, though I guess I'm fairly fine with it being on here. Haven't read Paper Girls, so no comment there. But I googled the artwork for Everyone's an aliebn... and that is 100% not what I want to read ever. Like I actually feel physically uncomfortable looking at it. But it was the same thing with Nimona, when that was nominated a few years back. People obviously have different definition than me, on what constitutes good artwork. I'm not into the artwork in My Favorite Thing is Monsters either, but at least the description has me somewhat intrigued ("filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography" sounds right up my alley). I might borrow this from the library, but I also might not. The artwork is a turn-off for me, so I'll have to consider it some more. Not paying any money for it though.

Otherwise, I think the nominations are fine. I especially liked how the categories turned out for sci-fi and fantasy novels. It was a really good rule change, to split that into two categories.

Great list - 3 of these have been on my TBR so excited to tuck into them with y'all...

(Sorry if I sounded like an annoying party pooper. There are just some things I get very passionate about. Ugly artwork is one of them. Tomatoes is another. I haaaate tomatoes. And coffee. I haaaate coffe, almost as much as I hate tomatoes and ugly artwork.)

It's been a couple days now, and I had a thought.

I know we're all praising the rule changes for the more interesting shortlist, but y'know... Oathbringer and ACOWAR could have totally been on there even with the new rules, and they're not.

Perchance we all just scared those fans away last year??

UK based readers, just an FYI but if you haven't read The Stone Sky by N.K. Jamison, the paper back is on sale for just £2 on Amazon. The Obelisk gate is also only £2 for the paper back. So if you havent managed this series yet but want to you can pick yourself up a bargain

Anna wrote: "There isn't a single Sanderson on the shortlist! I didn't think this day would ever come. Did the judges decide on the new rules with this in mind? :D

The graphic novels category might be a proble..."

Yes that was one of the points. Having to many books by one author was a big issue. Maas was another author they didn't want to have on too many sections.

I was just making a joke :) I somehow thought Oathbringer was #4, but like Kelsey pointed out, it could've been on the shortlist.

Chris wrote: "Anna wrote: "There isn't a single Sanderson on the shortlist! I didn't think this day would ever come. Did the judges decide on the new rules with this in mind? :D

The graphic novels category migh..."

The point was they didn't want an author to try to not have an author get multiple selections so there would be more variety. Two authors who started this are Sanderson and Maas.

Chris wrote: "Two authors who started this are Sanderson and Maas."

I seem to remember that Sanderson and Riordan are who've had several things in a single category, as well as Saga. Anyway, I'm well aware what the point was, and my point was to try to be funny, which obviously failed since I'm having to explain it twice.

Anna wrote: "Chris wrote: "Two authors who started this are Sanderson and Maas."

I seem to remember that Sanderson and Riordan are who've had several things in a single category, as well as Saga. Anyway, I'm w..."

I found it funny, I was just adding on the reason for the change for anyone who was wondering.

Kelsey wrote: "It's been a couple days now, and I had a thought.

I know we're all praising the rule changes for the more interesting shortlist, but y'know... Oathbringer and ACOWAR could have totally been on the..."

It was definitely possible for these ones to make it, it was close all the way through to the end and one of them very nearly did get on the shortlist.

Audiobook listeners: are any of the works on the shortlist particularly good in audiobook format? I have some Audible credits I could theoretically use on some of these and would love some suggestions.

Joss wrote: "Are any of the works on the shortlist particularly good in audiobook format?"

The Stone Sky, Robin Miles is amazing. She also reads Binti: Home, which just came out in audio. The narration wasn't quite as good as Binti, but still good.

Joss wrote: "Audiobook listeners: are any of the works on the shortlist particularly good in audiobook format? I have some Audible credits I could theoretically use on some of these and would love some suggesti..."

Strange the Dreamer is also good on audio :)

Excited to see some of my faves!

Thank you, Anna and Kaitlin! I recently started the second book in The Broken Earth series on audio and I agree - Robin Miles is marvelous. I will have to look into Strange the Dreamer.

If you have access to Hoopla through your library, they have quite a few of the nominees available on either audio or ebook. I know that the Binti books and City of Brass are on there on audio and Magnus Chase and Monstress are there for ebook. I bet there are more but those are the ones I remember seeing for sure. Plus it’s free!

I haven't participated in these awards before as I've just recently gotten into Science-Fiction & Fantasy the past few years. I've already read 4 of the books on the list (Monstress Vol. 2, Paper Girls Vol. 3, Binti: Home, & Down Among the Sticks & Bones). I plan on reading the ones that I own (i.e. The City of Brass, The Bear & the Nightingale, & Borne). At this point I'm planning on reading 12 in total (no sequels for me as I won't have time to read the first books in the series)!

Just a heads up for the graphic novel category. The Humble Bundle currently has an Image Comics Bundle which includes both volume 1 and 2 of Monstress at the $20 mark.

I'm tempted to get this since there are loads of comics included in the bundle, although I haven't really read digital comics before so not sure how the experience translates. (Plus I already ordered a physical copy of Monstress Vol 2)