Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
📚 7/2021: Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee 1/6
A satisfying end to the Revenger trilogy. Not all questions answered, but those most central to the main adventure are. If the “high seas adventure in space” conceit works for you, it’s a good series.
All of this year’s Philip K. Dick Award nominees have arrived! Two months to get through them all (plus two more that are predecessors of books in this stack). Will I make it? 📚
📚 thirteen of 2020: Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee
Good grand scope space opera, with neat questions on consciousness and the psychology of AI as used in ships of war. Figured out many of the reveals quickly, but still quite good.
📚 twelve of 2020: Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee
Really enjoyed this collection. Hopeful themes, and music winds its way through nearly every story in neat ways.
📚 eleven of 2020: The Little Animals by Sarah Tolmie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee
Unlike most or all of the other nominees, this was more historical fiction with a thread of magical realism—not a bad thing, though, as it’s a neat work that I very much enjoyed.
📚 ten of 2020: All Worlds are Real, by Susan Palwick ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee
Good collection of bittersweet and thoughtful short stories. Particular favorites are “Cucumber Gravy”, “Lucite”, “Homecoming”, “Remote Presence”, and “Recoveries”.
📚 nine of 2020: The Outside, by Ada Hoffman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee
Humankind is out in space, limited to mid-20th century tech while super advanced AI gods control advanced tech, FTL flight and comms…oh, and Lovecraftian energies are destroying people. Fun!
📚 eight of 2020: The Rosewater Redemption by Tade Thompson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee
An excellent conclusion to a fascinating trilogy. Wrapped everything up nicely, satisfactory ends for all the characters, and a very interesting take on alien invasion.
It’s this year’s Philip K. Dick Award nominees (plus two, as one nominee was the third book in a trilogy)! 📚
Ada Hoffman, The Outside
Megan E. O’Keefe, Velocity Weapon
Susan Palwick, All Worlds Are Real
Sarah Pinsker, Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea
Tade Thompson, The Rosewater Redemption
Sarah Tolmie, The Little Animals
As I’ve done for the past few years, I’ve read all of the nominated works for this year’s Philip K. Dick Award. Following is my ranking, from least favorite to my favorite and pick for the award (which, if history is any guide, means that it won’t be the winner, so my apologies in advance…), along with my brief comments.
Much like the first in this series, there are a lot of interesting ideas, in this case about stories, narratives, and our relationships with them…yet it simply didn’t resonate with me at all.
Some of these are funny, many of them are disquieting and leave the reader a little uneasy. I didn’t dislike it, though I’m not sure I can really say that I liked it, either.
Set in a distressingly plausible near-future dystopic Britain, the unrelenting dreariness was difficult for me. As with post-apocalyptic fiction, I’m not a big fan; I prefer more hope in my futurism.
Neat near-future exploration of interpersonal connections and intimacy, through the lens of research into the sexual habits of bonobo apes.
A short, sweet tale of soldiers in love, time travel, the unraveling of their story, and the love of books. I very much enjoyed this one.
One of the best collections I’ve read in a long time. Fascinating, sometimes haunting stories, not a dud in the bunch, and a definite pleasure throughout.
Good luck to all the authors! I look forward to seeing as many as can attend at the award ceremony at Norwescon 42 in just a couple months!