Norwescon discussion

Have you read this nominee? What did you think?

This was the first one I read of this year's nominees- I really enjoyed it although I have some thoughts to share about how it ended- I won't in order to avoid spoilers-
But so far I've started several of the other nominees and I just can't seem to get into them

This was my least favorite of the nominees. I suspect some of that has to do with not enjoying steam punk type novels. While this wasn't really steam punk, it retained a Victorian/Edwardian sensibility.

Spoiler Alert!!! I can be easily bored by some Victorian novels but not this one. It was very clever to re-envision the Lizzie Borden murders as a deeper horrifying story where Lizzie and her sister save the world. The author kept the chilling pace up throughout the telling. Great job. But who is "Inspector" Wolf? A question for the next book?

My review: Wow, what a fun book! I went into this with a bit of trepidation, it looked at first glance like a paranormal romance/mystery, which is not something I seek out. But it was nominated for the Philip K Dick award for 2014, and trying to complete the six by the award ceremonies, I forged on.

Did I mention, what a fun book? Lizbeth Bordon, scientist, living with her sister Emma, also a scientist, are indeed hiding the truth of what happened that night with the axe, but it's far more than anyone suspects.

Told through diaries and letters from a number of voices, this is the story of just what prompted Lizzie's famous attack and what is happening to the town around them.

The female characters are strong and unapologetic and fierce, but still human, with foibles, weaknesses and shortsightedness to those closest to them. It reminded me a lot of Marie Brennan's writing in "A Natural History of Dragons," a learned woman hungry for answers in a time when society is only just noticing that women can resolve the questions.

The three main woman, Lizbeth, her sister and her lover, are the main heart of the story. But what stood above anything else was the sister bond. It was messy and complex and real. I also liked that while the women were strong and opinionated, so were the men, they were not weak and helpless in comparison.

A book full of strong characters, realistic relationships, aquatic ambiguities and so many bonus points for all the Lovecraftian touches.

This one was a lot of fun, with a really neat blend of American history and Lovecraftian horror. Very pleasantly creepy throughout. My only reservation with its nomination for the PK Dick award is that I'd definitely put this one in the horror genre rather than science fiction (though there are often blends between the two genres, if I'd picked this up on my own, I definitely wouldn't have classified it as SF).

Good point, Michael, it was definitely horror.

I was wondering about that point. I mean, Nebula and Hugo it would have fit fine in my opinion, but I was really surprised to see it nominated for a science fiction award. It doesn't seem to fit.