Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

Here's a link to the announcement page:
https://nebulas.sfwa.org/8528-2/

Nebula Award for Novel
Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory, Yaroslav Barsukov (Caezik SF & Fantasy)
Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
Asunder, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom)
A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
The Book of Love, Kelly Link (Random House; Ad Astra UK)
Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia UK)

Nebula Award for Novella
The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom)
The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler (Tordotcom)
Lost Ark Dreaming, Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Tordotcom)
Countess, Suzan Palumbo (ECW)
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain, Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom)
The Dragonfly Gambit, A.D. Sui (Neon Hemlock)

Nebula Award for Novelette
The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video, Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 5/24)
Katya Vasilievna and the Second Drowning of Baba Rechka, Christine Hanolsy (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 4/18/24)
Another Girl Under the Iron Bell, Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/24)
What Any Dead Thing Wants, Aimee Ogden (Psychopomp 2/24)
Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being, A.W. Prihandita (Clarkesworld 11/24)
Joanna’s Bodies, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Psychopomp 7/1/24)
Loneliness Universe, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 5-6/24)

Nebula Award for Short Story
The Witch Trap, Jennifer Hudak (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet 9/24)
Five Views of the Planet Tartarus, Rachael K. Jones (Lightspeed 1/24)
Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole, Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 2/24)
Evan: A Remainder, Jordan Kurella (Reactor 1/31/24)
The V*mpire, PH Lee (Reactor 10/23/24)
We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read, Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 5/24)

Never even heard of 4 of the 6 novel nominees. However, my library has 4 of them on audio & I was able to grab them all before others jump in. Guess I know what I'll be listening to for the next few weeks.

Allan wrote: "Never even heard of 4 of the 6 novel nominees. However, my library has 4 of them on audio & I was able to grab them all before others jump in. Guess I know what I'll be listening to for the next fe..."

Huh, I guess I've been keeping up better with new releases this year, but I already own 5 of the 6, the only other one being Barsukov's which only came out in November. But I'd heard about it a few weeks ago and was interested because it's apparently an expansion of his well-received novella. It'll be harder to come by, though, because Caezik is a small press.

I just read Asunder last week, I'd been wanting to for months, and loved it. It's got pretty big Gideon the Ninth vibes so I don't expect many members of this group to be into it. The other novels are all still on my TBR shelf.

CJ wrote: "
I've read all of the novellas nominated except Lost Ark Dreaming, which I hope to read next month. Of those I've read, I feel The Dragonfly Gambit is the weakest. It could have used more polish, in my opinion. I really enjoyed Countess, especially as a fan of The Count of Monte Cristo, but other readers felt it was too short and rushed.

I gave both The Tusks of Extinction and The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain 5 stars, and I think I gave The Butcher of the Forest 4 stars."

Same, LAD is my only remaining novella, I'm hoping to get to it before April 5 (the Aurora nominating deadline). Amazingly, 5 of the 6 novellas are by Canadians this year - a very strong showing for us!

I basically think Butcher is a *perfect* novella, perfectly adapted to its length, great story, great atmosphere. It's my 5-star. But Tusks and Practice are both excellent too. Countess, like you said, was super rushed -- it baffles me to attempt a retelling of Count of Monte Cristo - a notoriously long and epic classic - in less than 200 pages. The story beats were all rapid-fire with very little breathing room or feeling to any of the scenes, especially after the prison.

I feel the same about Dragonfly Gambit. Promising, different, but ultimately a little too rough around the edges.

I guess this is a record for me - before the list was out I've read 3 novellas, 1 novelette and 2 short stories

CJ wrote: "Kalin wrote: "I can't speak for other members here, but Gideon was big DNF for me. I liked the premise, but Muir's writing was too off-putting and heavy handed for me. But I'll try not to hold that against Asunder. "

I'd say the actual sentence-level prose is where they are least like each other. It's more the vibes thing. The worldbuilding in Asunder was awesome, but Hall's prose isn't like Muir's, which is pretty baroque; Hall's is much more straightforward.

I've added the six Nebula finalists to the bookshelves.

thanks again, Allan. For updating stuff and all.

Havent read any of the finalists. I am so behind.

Same!!

Working through the novel nominees. Today I finished A Sorceress Comes to Call, after finishing Rakesfall last week. I liked the former far more. Now I've started right in on Someone You Can Build a Nest In.

Allan wrote: "Working through the novel nominees. .."

You're fast!

Oleksandr wrote: "You're fast!"

These three are fairly short audio reads. I was luckily able to grab four of the books on audio from the library as soon as they were announced. Between being ill and cooped up in an office, I've had lots of listening time lately. My library has the other two books, but only on paper at this point, so they'll take a bit longer.

TBH, I am a bit wary of new Nebula nominees, so not rushing to read them. Sometimes literary sophistication and/or emotionally strong texts aren't what I need at the moment

Oleksandr wrote: "TBH, I am a bit wary of new Nebula nominees, so not rushing to read them. Sometimes literary sophistication and/or emotionally strong texts aren't what I need at the moment"

Totally understand. I may need to break for some hard SF or space opera before I finish these out. On paper, I'm reading What Happened to the Corbetts, which is apocalyptic but not really SF.

Finished Someone You Can Build a Nest In, the third of the three relatively short audio reads. I would rank them:
A Sorceress Comes to Call
Someone You Can Build a Nest In
Rakesfall

I've got Asunder from the library and will start it soon, but it's longer.

Started Asunder, about 25% in. So far, I like it better than any of the others. In a few of the nominees, there seems to be a common thread of bonding/possession in different permutations.

Last year, the Hugo finalists were announced on March 29. This year, voting closed on March 14, so I'm thinking that they'll be announced any day now.

I have a copy of Rakesfall that i’ll try to get to shortly, and a library copy of the Kelly Link novel that I’d also like to read. Time management isn’t always my strong suit and I have several things on the go at the moment. Hopefully I’ll get them both read soon.

CJ wrote: "Rakesfall is the only book on this list I've read so far that I've actually liked and feel belongs on the list, but it's a challenging read, in a good way in my opinion, that really goes against the boundaries of genre fiction."

We are currently reading it in SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group. I'm 3/4 through and while I agree on its literary qualities I cannot say I'm enjoying it.

I started Rakesfall, and I thought the first little description was fun and thought I would like it, but then I got confused. This whole problem was acerbated by the fact I was trying to read myself to sleep during a power failure. I needed something easy and soothing and affirmatively good, which Rakesfall I believe, is not, judging by its dismal goodreads ranking of 3.39.

After searching the Kindle for Lois McMaster Bujold books and not finding any, I switched to Paladin's Faith the 4th book in the Saint of Steel series, which has been languishing on the same kindle Rakesfall was on, thank goodness. Even though I have forgotten much of Saint of Steel 1-3, T. Kingfisher's skillful writing hinted enough about what had happened to be satisfying and let me fall asleep.

Will I try Rakesfall again? Probably, but not looking forward to it. At least the ongoing thunderstorms are to stop tomorrow

Finished Asunder, 4th of the 6. Started off well, dragged a bit in the middle, finished ok. I’d say 75-100 pages too long. My real beef is that Asunder, Sorceress & Nest are very nearly the same story, just versions by different authors. Sorceress is the best of the three, and all are better than Rakesfall, in my view.

Rakesfall is certainly unconventional. I’m about a quarter of the way through, and liking it. It has a New Wave-y literary/experimental flavour and the religion and particularly the history of the author’s homeland are central.

Working through the nominated novellas that my library has. Lost Ark Dreaming was ok but not great. The Dragonfly Gambit was much more engrossing.

Just reading the description of these... they all sound like Romance novels in a fantasy setting.... meh, Now I feel I should go yell at some kids to get off my lawn.

Joe wrote: "Just reading the description of these... they all sound like Romance novels in a fantasy setting.... meh, Now I feel I should go yell at some kids to get off my lawn."

Both our Nebula reads at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group this month weren't romances. But I agree that the flood of Romantasy is for much younger readership than me

Oleksandr wrote: "But I agree that the flood of Romantasy is for much younger readership than me"..."

It's certainly prevalent in modern award nominees. Some handle it really well, other times it seems out of place and not integral to the main plot. Reading a lot of it lately, it can seem repetitive. Back to Anathem - I'm determined to finish it this month.