That seems fast. I guess nominations did close about two weeks ago. Anyway, here’s the full list over at tor.com.
I’m quite disappointed not to see Cherryh’s Foreigner series make the list. It’s all series that started much more recently, I think. Let me see:
The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone
The Expanse by James S.A. Corey
The October Daye Books by Seanan McGuire
The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
Of course I did add the Vorkosigan series to my nominating ballot, so I’m not likely to complain about that one.
I thought the Temeraire series started off very! strong! But I was not as impressed with some of the later books and kind of stopped following the series. Maybe I should finish it sometime.
I can see the Corey one. I only read the first book, but it was an impressive big-idea kind of story.
I’ve heard lots of good things about the Craft sequence. Eventually I need to try that one.
Now, let’s see what’s on the list for novels:
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Death’s End by Cixin Liu
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer
… Okay, I’ve only read the one by Chambers. I liked it a lot, but not as much as the first book. Of the others here … let’s see. I have a sample of Palmer’s book. I have heard a lot about Ninefox Gambit and want to try that one some time. The others, I’m not sure they necessarily sound like my kind of thing.
The shorter work, looks offhand like Vox Day got fewer of his picks on the list, except for that exceptionally stupid looking novelette. I’ve heard of some of the shorter works, but the only one I’ve read myself is Bujold’s novella. Maybe I’ll check out some of the others just to see how I’d vote, if I were voting. Which I’m not.
If you are, though, and you have no idea about Editor, Long Form, may I suggest Navah Wolfe? She did a ton of work on The Mountain of Kept Memory and I can tell you for sure, she’s a very good editor.
Please Feel Free to Share:
Agreed re: the Temeraire series. I really enjoyed the first one, but then it got kinda grim, what with the ongoing war and human/dragon rights. There were some really fun plot elements / alternate history throughout the series though.
I really enjoyed The Dream Quest of Vellit Boe!
I’m also disappointed Cherryh’s series didn’t get on, although as neither nominator nor voter I certainly didn’t help. I did start Temeraire and stopped fairly quickly somewhere around book 2. It just wasn’t interesting enough. And that’s my take on the others, too, as I’ve sampled all except the Vorkosigan. As the Bujold is the only one I’ve actually read , well, that’s the one for me.
I was a bit surprised that I’ve read 5 of the 6 series nominations, and I’ve at least heard of the 6th. Nice change from the last couple of years. Even better, I think they’re all decent series, although I also think some are clearly stronger than others. A lot of it goes to taste, though.
I’m looking forward to trying several of the novel nominations, although I’m skipping the Jemisin. I’m confident it’s well written, but I’ve established that I really don’t like her writing style.
Well, I’ll have to check out “The Dream Quest” then, and thanks for the recommendation, Maureen!
It’s interesting to me that paranormal / urban fantasy works are basically never nominated … except now in the series award. Seanan McGuire’s fan club is obviously very capable of voting in lockstep for her work; we’ve seen that before. But aren’t the Rivers of London series and the Craft series also UF? I haven’t tried either, but that’s the impression I have. So we never see paranormal / UF titles nominated, ever ever ever … and then here in the series category it’s suddenly very powerful. That’s just interesting.
Of those, two I haven’t tried, and one I bounced from: October Faye.
I liked Temeraire very much, though there were two or three novels that fell short. Vorkosigan is of course excellent, and Expanse is ambitious and large scale–excellent old school SF. Of the newer series, though, Craft Sequence is my favorite. Very funny allegory, where the lawyers are *real* life-sucking necromancers.
Well, I must say that having lawyers be life-sucking necromancers immediately makes me want to read the first book! Hah! (Even though I know some perfectly nice lawyers.)