The Hugo Awards Discussion Group discussion

Just finished this book and thought I would start its own thread otherwise reviews would just get lost in the 2012 Nominee folder. I might go back and start one for Leviathan…

This did with the 2011 Nebula Award in the Novel category.

I really enjoyed this selection. It had wit, it was charming, it was engrossing, I enjoyed the 'memoir style (and I'm *not* a dairy type person). The main character wasn't perfect - she was full of doubt, she struggled with "maths", and she could be arrogant and conceited, but yet, stood firm in her beliefs. It didn’t feel like a ‘coming of age’ book, this young gal ‘came of age’ before the book even began, but adding in the teen angst of not fitting in, I think those of us who read sf&f growing up know the feeling and could better relate to her character.

Science fiction, no. Fantasy, more so. But the reference to all those early science fiction books was nicely done. I did question more than once her ability to read that much, but I have to recall that when I was a teenager, that was all I did and I could read three, four books a week (this was when the 500pg tomes were starting to hit the shelves).

Not going to say more lest I start getting into spoliers.

So, Among Others is the opposite end of the sf&f spectrum - not sure it’s fair or possible to compare to Leviathan Wakes.

Thoughts on Jo Walton's book?

I like the book and found it enjoyable to read. Since reading that book I have walked out of a library with a larger stack of books than I would normally, ~7 books at a time. Plus some of the sci-fy books she reads can really be put down quickly. If you read what she reads it is a great survey of sci-fy.

(view spoiler)[What do you think, are there really faeries? What about her mother, is she really a witch? Walton really kept it ambiguous through out and she even had the character point out that it was ambiguous. (hide spoiler)]

That is one advantage of the earlier works is that they tend to be shorter and are often rather quick reads!

(view spoiler)[I think for the purposes of the book that yes, there are really faries. And it is interesting that they are specifically NOT the faries and elves glamorized ala Disney, but rather along the lines of Grimm. Also interesting was the whole Welsh fairy business, that the fairies in England wouldn't speak to her. The mother being a witch raises some interesting questions and speculation. On one hand Mori see's faries. On the other hand, is she trying to escape a bad situation at home? (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed this book. Wish I had made a list of the books she mentioned. Some of them would be a revisit but others I missed reading. It was a fun read if you started reading Sci-Fi about that time. I also have a chronic pain problem, moved and changed schools often and had a problematic mother so I could relate to the character. It was a comfortable read.

glitrbug wrote: "I really enjoyed this book. Wish I had made a list of the books she mentioned. Some ..."

You can find a list here