Worldcon

The only things I’ve read on the list are PROJECT HAIL MARY, which I liked quite a bit, and the first two books in MERCHANT PRINCES, which taught me that Stross isn’t going to be to my taste even when he’s writing what should be an easy sell for me.

I liked both Becky Chambers entries. “The Galaxy and the Ground Within” is especially engaging. Also liked “Chaos on Catnet” by Naomi Kritzer. This is the second novel in her catnet series. I dnf’d the first book in the Naomi Novik series so never got around to this one. Haven’t read the others. Hope that helps.

Hanneke, I also read the Kingston trilogy by Polk and felt exactly the same.

I have read surprisingly few of these, given that 2021 was not nearly the wasteland of reading for me that 2020 was. I’ve loved Seanan McGuire’s writing since before she was published, so I’m not unbiased, but Across the Green Grass Fields was an excellent entry in the Wayward Children series (a bit sad, which is unavoidable given the premise, but it’s fundamentally a kind story. And I particularly loved that the audiobook was narrated by a reader who, like the character, was intersex) and I would LOVE to see the series win as series. (Seanan is on the ballot a lot for fiction, but has actually only won once, and I think her natural writing mode is series, so I wish one of them would finally win!)

I love the setting of Master of Djinn, probably enough to vote for it, although I found the plot a touch uneven – the earlier works in that world are shorter. I was looking forward enormously to She Who Became the Sun and it didn’t live up to my expectations. I’m not sure how much of that was a me problem or a book problem. I definitely don’t think you’d enjoy it much – it’s a tough, painful read, though certainly not bad! Aliette de Bodard is one of my favorite writers, but Fireheart Tiger was enjoyable but not remarkable for me. In the Astounding list, A.K. Larkwood’s The Unspoken Name is very good and very original, and had a (very astutely and accurately rendered) character who annoyed me so much that it slightly soured the book for me. I enjoyed Everina Maxwell’s Winter’s Orbit so much that I read it twice in a month last winter, which is saying something for me (the next time I did that was almost a year later, and was, um, Tuyo,) although I slightly preferred the earlier, original fic version on Ao3 which had less outside plot cluttering the relationship arc.

(I have not read ANY of the Loadstar nominees, how is that possible? Several are on my active TBR, but still.

I’m surprised by how many of those (excluding shorts and novelettes) I actually either read, or already own and have waiting to read.

Mostly I agree with what others have already written here, so a few that weren’t mentioned, or I have further notes on:

The Merchants Princes series is good, but I think the worst of Stross’ work. Beyond just being uneven between books, it’s the most uninteresting/unique/surprising take on a relatively uncommon theme. The books are interesting for what happens to the characters in each, but I should really care about the multiple worlds are relations and ties between them, and I… just don’t. I generally like Stross’ books, but possibly the worst thing of his to nominate.

In comparison on the same basic concept, sticking to this list, Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds is, while extremely bleak and depressing, much much better, and I can certainly see why they’re on the list.

I haven’t yet read The Last Graduate, but thought A Deadly Education was very good. That said, I do generally like the weird/murder school genre (when it’s not done too badly), and Novik is generally a good writer, so no surprise there. It’s interesting, fun, kind of tropey though with some nice small twists. But a heck of a lot of murder, so YMMV.

Related, again, I thought Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn was quite good, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much.Everything was done well, and the takes on the common themes it was using (school/university student protag discovers magic is real, also they are/have magic, also secret magic society, also protecting from magical monsters/invasion…) were not entirely bog-standard, but still felt just a little too much more-of-the same. Again, still very good, recommended to anyone who likes the genre, I’m definitely getting the sequel once I see it at a reasonable price, but…

Haven’t gotten to Chaos on CatNet too, but Catfishing on CatNet was fantastic. Great job going between the tension and anxiety (moving around all the time, possible stalker) humor, and friendship and support. And it certainly managed to take some swerves I wasn’t expecting (or at least wasn’t expecting to be so big) and handle them well.

A Spindle Splintered is, well, exactly what you’d expect if you have read any of Harrow’s other books. Rich, feeling just slightly fairytale-ish/off-normal, and oozing character. This one maybe a bit “faster” than her previous books, but keeps the quality.

I’m conflicted on Wayward Children. All the individual books are fantastic, but they’re a lot more standalone-ish. The books are also somewhat weirder and harder to read than her others. So it’s a great series, but maybe not as great as a series?

Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota 1) was very interesting, until the point it became too meandering for my taste. To be fair, I’m not entirely sure it was the book’s fault rather than my mood at the time, which is why I placed it in my (very small) list of books to go back to at some point to try again, rather than just DNF and go on. So I could be wrong here. But the overall feeling I was left with was that it’s probably a good book that isn’t for me.

Victories Greater Than Death I liked. I like Charlie Jane generally. But while it was pretty good (and also one I’ll get the sequel at some point, and I do own their other books), it wasn’t great. The characters are interesting, and the universe/world-building have a lot of interesting elements, but too many cases (for my taste) of things happening because the plot needs them to, or because they’ll be cool, rather then because that’s what you’d expect would happen in this world with these characters. Worth reading, bonus points for very diverse cast and how they’re handled, good book but not “best”.

Strangely enough I’ve read all of the novels and most of the novellas and most of the young adult books. She Who Became the Sun, The Past is Red, and Iron Widow were all exceedingly grim, although, boy, Catherynne Valente can WRITE. I loved A Master of Djinn (queer Indiana Jones style action adventure), The Galaxy and the Ground Within (thoughtful and gentle story about multiple aliens temporarily trapped together – sort of reminds me of Canterbury Tales), Light from Uncommon Stars (tale about aliens coming to earth, falling in love in various ways, and dealing with faustian bargains), and The Last Graduate (our sarcastic heroine with a good heart, El, and her friends, survive another year in the Scholomance which is a lot more deadly than Hogwarts). I also enjoyed Project Hail Mary (not as good as The Martian but still fun), A Spindle Splintered (a fractured fairy-tale), and Psalm for the Wild-Built (a far future meditation on many things, fueled by many cups of tea). In terms of best new writer, Everina Maxwell wrote Winter’s Orbit (involving an arranged marriage between two men, set in an empire spanning the stars) which I also quite appreciated. Tracy Deonn wrote Legendborn which was an interestingly diverse twist on the Camelot tale but just didn’t grab me enough for me to want to continue. Seanan McGuire is another author who can flat out write but the Wayward Children series (including Across the Green Grass Fields) has too many sharp edges to be a relaxing read for me; I do read these books because they’re too good not to, but I never re-read. I notice that most, if not all, of the entries that I gravitate to are on the positive end of the spectrum which is perfect for covid escapism. I think The Last Graduate is my favorite. But if you didn’t enjoy the first book, and I seem to recall you said you didn’t???, then you won’t enjoy this one either.

Re Novik, this series is very much *not* Temeraire, or her folktale novel, in terms of style, if you read those before. It’s lighter and a lot more “fun”. I mean, again, excessive body count, sure, but while the drama and character beats are pretty solid, the death and violence and gore and violence are much more… cartoonish? It doesn’t really feel like her other books.