psocoptera

Online here.

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I watched the first half of the ceremony while online *on an airplane*, which is probably old hat for people who fly a lot, but was novel and exciting and science-fictional for me. And then I was busy being home, but I have finally managed to watch the second half! The ceremony is available here on Youtube, and the full results and longlist are in this pdf here.

My comments after the cut. ( Read more... )

Space Sweepers. Always exciting to get to watch a sci-fi movie that's not part of some giant franchise and doesn't suck! This was a little bit Firefly, a little bit Blade Runner, a little bit Star Wars (sorry, now I'm describing it by franchises, but it's a useful shorthand). I had trouble focusing in the first half, but that could just be the kind of brain day I was having; I liked the cast and their characters (attractive leads, an adorable child, an excellent robot), the worldbuilding around language and translation was really neat and nicely done, and while basically all of the plot and action were of the "just accept that it works like that and don't think about it" variety, I recommend it if you would also like to watch a live-action spaceship cartoon.

And now I get to rank Dramatic Longs! ( Read more... )

I feel like a Locus should be a cross between a lotus and a ficus. Which would look sort of like a magnolia? Anyways. here, or behind the cut. ( Read more... )

Some packet details, which I am mostly making notes about for my own book-reserving reference.

In the Graphics, nothing for Far Sector or Strange Adventures, and just an excerpt for Lore Olympus.

In the Serieses, we got book one for Palmer, Swordheart for Kingfisher, the same novella for McGuire as is on the novellas, Jade City for Lee but only as a PDF, Soulstar for Polk which is book *three*, and Empire Games and Family Trade for Stross, which are, respectively, the first of a new sequel trilogy and the first of the original six-book series. I still don't know what/which I'm going to try to read there.

In the Relateds, we only got an excerpt of Sjunneson's book, which is the one I most want to read, and a Netgalley for the Stan Lee book, which I always have trouble getting to work.

Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki. The last of the Hugo Novel nominees. I mostly enjoyed this - it's a bold move to ( Read more... ), and I appreciate Aoki going for it - but I found the writing a bit clunky and repetitive. Content note for one of the main characters (a trans woman) experiencing a lot of really ugly real-world-realistic transphobia (and sexual assault) (and survival sex work).

I guess I get to rank novels now! ( Read more... )

It looks like last year I didn't post all my Hugo voting thoughts but the year before I did. I wonder if last year I decided it was a bad idea for some reason. I have now forgotten that reason, so here's my ranking of a couple of categories! If I remember again I guess I can take this down.

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Full list here without my commentary.

Nebula Award for Novel

The Unbroken, C.L. Clark (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)
Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
Plague Birds, Jason Sanford (Apex)

Well, this has zero overlap with my Hugo nominations, that's interesting. Two that I did really like (I strongly considered nominating Desolation Called Peace and would have if Martine hadn't won last year), one that I read and was not so into, two I haven't read and know very little about.

Nebula Award for Novella

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters, Aimee Ogden (Tordotcom)
Flowers for the Sea, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)
The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
“The Giants of the Violet Sea”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9–10/21)

I was very curious to see what would be on here since I haven't read a lot of novellas this year that I was excited about. Three I hadn't even heard of! Interesting.

Nebula Award for Novelette

“O2 Arena”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge 11/21)
“Just Enough Rain”, PH Lee (Giganotosaurus 5/21)
“(emet)”, Lauren Ring (F&SF 7–8/21)
“That Story Isn’t the Story”, John Wiswell (Uncanny 11–12/21)
“Colors of the Immortal Palette”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny 3–4/21)

It will be interesting to see how much overlap there is with the Hugo list. (And possible influence, I suppose, if anyone rushes to read these and adds them to their ballot in this final week of nominating...) (ETA: I liked "Just Enough Rain".)

Nebula Award for Short Story

“Mr. Death”, Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/21)
“Proof by Induction”, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5–6/21)
“Let All the Children Boogie”, Sam J. Miller (Tor.com 1/6/21)
“Laughter Among the Trees”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 2/21)
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3–4/21)
“For Lack of a Bed”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 4/21)

Likewise. (But I think I have in fact *read* all of these! And recommended... half?)

Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

Victories Greater Than Death, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen; Titan)
Thornwood, Leah Cypess (Delacorte)
Redemptor, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet; Hot Key)
A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
Root Magic, Eden Royce (Walden Pond)
Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen; Rock the Boat)

I regret not having gotten around to Victories Greater Than Death yet.

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Encanto, Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse, Lin-Manuel Miranda (Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures)
The Green Knight, David Lowery (Sailor Bear, BRON Studios, A24)
Loki: Season 1, Bisha K. Ali, Elissa Karasik, Eric Martin, Michael Waldron, Tom Kauffman, Jess Dweck (Marvel Studios)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham (Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios)
Space Sweepers, Jo Sung-hee 조성희 (Bidangil Pictures)
WandaVision: Season 1, Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer, Cameron Squires, Gretchen Enders, Chuck Hayward (Marvel Studios)
What We Do in the Shadows: Season 3, Jake Bender, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Sam Johnson, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Stefani Robinson, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Lauren Wells (FX Productions, Two Canoes Pictures, 343 Incorporated, FX Network)

I am excited about Space Sweepers, a standalone film not part of some giant franchise that I hadn't heard of! Totally watching that as soon as I get the chance.

Nebula Award for Game Writing

Coyote & Crow, Connor Alexander, William McKay, Weyodi Oldbear, Derek Pounds, Nico Albert, Riana Elliott, Diogo Nogueira, William Thompson (Coyote & Crow, LLC.)
Granma’s Hand, Balogun Ojetade (Balogun Ojetade, Roaring Lion Productions)
Thirsty Sword Lesbians, April Kit Walsh, Whitney Delagio, Dominique Dickey, Jonaya Kemper, Alexis Sara, Rae Nedjadi (Evil Hat Games)
Wanderhome, Jay Dragon (Possum Creek Games)
Wildermyth, Nate Austin, Anne Austin, Douglas Austin (Worldwalker Games, LLC)

Sure!

"Author Martha Wells graciously declined her nomination as a novella finalist this year for Fugitive Telemetry: Murderbot Diaries, Book 6, published by Tordotcom. Wells felt that the Murderbot Diaries series has already received incredible praise from her industry peers and wanted to open the floor to highlight other works within the community."

I appreciate Wells doing this - Murderbot has racked up a lot of award wins at this point, and while I'm sure there's a temptation to want to keep climbing the numbers leaderboard, I generally think awards are more interesting when they recognize a wider range of works and voices.

As with the novelettes, I am still reading, but I wanted to go ahead and post some favorites/likely nominees. I will edit this post as I find more.

Twenty Thousand Last Meals on an Exploding Station, Ann LeBlanc, Mermaids Monthly. An original and compelling take on time loops.

All Us Ghosts, B. Pladek, Strange Horizons. The Truman Show meets helicopter parenting meets the labor market? Layered and bleak and really good.

A Stranger Goes Ashore, Adam R. Shannon, Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Hoooly shit. This is like half an argument about climate collapse and space exploration and half Junji Ito.

Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self, Isabel J. Kim, Clarkesworld. Emigration and the divided self. An intriguing magical-realism premise well-executed.

All Worlds Left Behind, Iona Datt Sharma, khōréō. Wow, I loved this. My favorite portal fantasy I've read in awhile.

ETA:
Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias, Elly Bangs, Lightspeed. Utopia and escapism and change. This is a feelgood story but, you know what, I did feel good, and I liked it, and it's very nicely written. F/F.

The Locus list doesn't list graphic novels, so I forgot to talk about them! Shaenon Garrity and Christopher Baldwin's Dire Days of Willowweep Manor! Also, the Lady Business fanwriters made some recommendations (here), and they've got Shing Yin Khor's Legend of Auntie Po for graphic. I loved that book, but I did not think at the time that it had enough of a speculative element to count for the Hugos. But, enh, I think lots of things; I didn't initially think AO3 was a legit related work, either. The ladies of Lady Business clearly know their business and probably have non-trivial reach in terms of building enthusiasm for nominees, so, hey, let's try it. It's a great book and it would be so exciting to have something like that on the ballot along with the inevitable Monstress/DIE/etc. (And I've heard Saga just started up again, but that's a next-year problem...)

Lady Business also points out that Fonda Lee's Green Bone Saga is going to be eligible in the Serieses - I've been meaning to read those for years (Exo and Cross Fire were so good) and I don't think I have time to do so in time to nominate them, but might want to start while waiting for the ballot to be announced. I don't think I have any series nominations in mind? Clark's Cairoverse probably isn't up to enough words yet. Becky Chambers already won it. Hmmm.