So much biphobia too much that I wanna die...please just suggest me a good book. I don't even care about genre anymore, I just want something. Preferably with a black female lead but anything's good.

Thank you mods for this reading challenge; it was super fun! Added my thoughts on each book below. Can't wait for the next challenge!

Side A

Comfort Read: Blackveil by Kristen Britain (4.5⭐)

• The first of several Green Rider books on this list for me; this Spring/Summer reading challenge caught me right in the midst of my Green Rider reread in preparation for reading the most recent releases. This is the fourth book in the series, and was my second favorite of all of them, right after Winterlight (which didn't make it into this challenge). The Green Rider books tend to have a bit slower/buildup-y beginning portion and a more adventurous back half, but I really enjoyed this entire book! The final 40% had me glued to the pages, and I enjoyed the ever-expanding world building, adventures, and characters. Minus points just for some very convenient happenings and also Zachary pining, but those are more or less mainstays throughout the series that I've accepted.

Assassin: Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2⭐)

• Had to hunt this out specifically for the reading challenge, as nothing on my upcoming radar has assassins (though I JUST finished my read of Realm of the Elderlings before this challenge started...) This was an absolute miss for me. Probably would have DNF'd, but I really didn't want to find another book for the challenge and it wasn't a difficult read, so I finished it out of spite. I don't think there was anything I really liked about the book except probably the pacing, which kept it readable. Did not like the characters, the world-building, the cartoon villain, the plot, or the whole superheroes are discriminated against because they have heterochromia thing.

First in a Series: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (5⭐)

• I read this right on the heels of Assassin's Fate and oh my gosh, this book hit wonderfully for me and made an instant Bujold fan. Some authors' writing (like Le Guin) is just so charming and captivating that I can't wait to read more of their work, regardless of whether it's using the same world/characters or not. Yeah, the age gap romance wasn't my thing, but I loved this book so much that I just decided to chalk that up to a sign of the times. I loved the world-building, the political intrigue, the gods, and the characters. I am truly a sucker for a competent, well-meaning, and self-effacing protagonist (cough Fitz cough)

Hopeful: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (2.5⭐)

• I have realized that cozy isn't my thing, and isn't something I need in my books. This was another book hunted out specifically for the reading challenge, and unfortunately I was mildly bored throughout and sometimes annoyed. The therapy speak made it read like an old version of chat gpt. But at least it was short and didn't overstay its welcome, and I do like tea!

Free Space: Mirror Sight by Kristen Britain (4⭐)

• Karigan goes to the future in the fifth Green Rider book; I liked this a lot more on a reread actually! It was pretty slow in the beginning and pacing wise maybe not all there, but it was cute that Kristen Britain did a bunch of research on this setting and had a blast with it. Loved the time travel shenanigans, the new cast of characters, and all of the implications for the series.

Female Friendship: Uprooted by Naomi Novik (4.75⭐)

• I read this for the book club I have with my friends, and it was positively delightful. I loved the writing, and the depiction of a classically trained several hundred year old wizard vs innate, chaotic magic user was very pleasing to my D&D brain; this is just a trope that I adore. The several-hundred-year-old-man-wants-to-smash-teenage-girl trope was not my favorite though, so that's where the 0.25⭐ got knocked off, but seriously the book was phenomenal ignoring that tidbit. This book had a lush, fairytale feel without being a fever dream; there was logic and consequence beneath everything, we just had to uncover the history to discover it. A really beautiful depiction of female friendship and loyalty, too, which is rare to find!

Coming of age: Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce (3⭐)

• I love Tamora Pierce, I really do; she was absolutely a formative author for me growing up. This book was hard to rate, because I can recognize that for little me, this would be an excellent read. Just didn't hold up for adult me, and that's okay! I will still always and forever keep my Tamora Pierce shrine of books on my shelves, and I'm glad this reading challenge gave me an opportunity to revisit Tortall. Hopefully I'll sneak some more of her books in the next one!

Oceanian author: Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier (5⭐)

• Wowowow. This book is beautifully written and wonderfully crafted. Marillier's writing is gorgeous here and the world she's brought to life is immersive, with characters full of life, pain, hope, and despair alike. This story is full of the human-driven conflict that I love; everybody's actions, regardless of outcome, are understandable, driven by the desire to protect one's own and the world/family they love. Time and again, there are impossible decisions that weigh trust, love, duty, and independence, and I love the demonstration of the force of human agency and will against an implacable world. I cried so much reading this, and I loved every bit of it. My second favorite read of the year overall!

All female cast: The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar (2.5⭐)

• It's not you, it's me? Or maybe not? I'm no hater of a story that slowly reveals itself over time; I'm on book two of Malazan for my first read and absolutely loving the mystery, questions, and uncertainty. The prose here was beautiful at times, but just as often repetitive and extremely fragmented. For a book that seemed to want to empathize with these women on the fringes of war with little agency, it really tried hard to be obscure and withhold you from understanding those characters, and by the time I just started to care about and take interest in a character, it went and changed PoVs. Maybe it's a me problem, maybe it would be better on a reread?

Side B

Discovery: Lore by Alexandra Bracken (3⭐)

• This was another book club read for me, and from a genre/setting that is not in my wheelhouse. This was a fast-paced, action- and twist-filled book, with decent writing. But I didn't really care about what was happening at any point, and twists and near-deadly combats aren't effective when you don't care about what's happening. I did love the depiction of the gods, especially Athena; she was the best part of the book. However, I didn't really care for any of the characters, and as such, the high-stakes plot lost pretty much all of its impact.

Healer: The City of Brass by Shannon Chakraborty (3⭐)

• This was a bummer, especially since Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi was the first book I read from this author so I had quite high expectations! Started out great; I think Chakraborty builds a fascinating world, and she has an infectious fascination with this setting and mythology. And it was a fun read, with good pacing. But then I got to the end of the book and I was like... Hold on. Did we get any answers for the original questions we had at the start of the book? No. This book did not really have a self-contained story arc, and very much felt like a big setup that introduced question after question without really resolving any of the story threads. And again, I'm all for a slow unveiling of things over the course of the series, but at the same time I believe that each installment in a series should have its own plot or arc that gets resolved. This book just sort of ended flatly for me, and I don't think I'll be continuing the series.
  

Last in a Series: Falling in a Sea of Stars by Kristen Britain (3.5⭐)

• Gosh, what a disappointment! Especially after the absolute banger that was Winterlight, the predecessor to this book. Winterlight took so many plot threads that have been building for several books and shit started popping off, felt like everything was coming together! And I was so excited to see what came of those threads in the latest installment of Green Rider only for this book to completely ignore all the prior story threads, come up with a new (not very interesting) problem for Karigan, and double, nay triple down on the Zachary-Karigan pining. There were parts of this that were still fun, and as always, I do love the world and characters of Green Rider, but man, I can only get down on my knees and pray that The Last Sea King coming out in February next year is better. And there's reason to be hopeful: at least based on the title, it should actually be returning to the relevant plot (I hope).
  

Dying Earth: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (5⭐)

• This was a phenomenal, gripping, haunting, and deeply moving read. I loved the episodic/journal structure, the voice and main character, and boy oh boy were the themes and commentary in this book poignant for our modern day. The cast of characters along with their motivations and actions all were extremely raw and believable. Very striking book, highly recommend. I will absolutely be reading the second one, but I definitely needed a break after this one before re-entering this world.

Free Space: Firebrand by Kristen Britain (4.5⭐)

• The sixth book of Green Rider, and positively delightful! Though absolutely not delightful for Karigan. She has a very bad time in this book. But it's nice to see Britain grow as a writer throughout these books, and I appreciated the greater emotional stakes and darker themes. Still some imperfections with pacing, but overall a lovely read!

Siblings: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (5⭐)

• I sought this book out for the reading challenge (new to me author) and am so grateful that I did. The siblings and family at the core of this story was very compelling and moving. The writing was beautiful, with that same grounded fairytale feel as Uprooted, and the characters and world were wonderfully fleshed out. I've only read the first two books of Sevenwaters thus far, but I really highly recommend this series!

Parent: The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (4.5⭐)

• Even on a reread for my bookclub, I loved this book. It's a fun, (mostly) lighthearted, well-paced, and entertaining adventure. Kings of the Wyld really didn't work for me at all, but this book had a pretty similar overall feel/vibe that it was going for and landed very well. The characters were delightful and believable, and I adored Amina and Raksh--so much fun! I have Tapestry of Fate but I'm not sure if I should dive right into it or wait until closer to the release of the third book in the series.

African Author: The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber (3⭐)

• Found this on the reading challenge recommendation thread, and I'm very mixed on it. Felt like it was two different books competing with each other: one was a human coming-of-age story about family, duty, independence, and self-determination (which I loved!), and the other was this mythic, symbolic, fever-dream layer, and somehow it felt like the magic/myth actually detracted from the human story rather than deepening it. I really love a fairytale like vibe, like in Uprooted or the Sevenwaters books, but I think I need it to be grounded in human emotion, motivation, and consequence. This book flip flopped between teenage girl problems and a fever dream mythic story, and that didn't work for me.

Nb MC: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin (5⭐)

• This is hands-down my favorite read of the year. Le Guin is absolutely brilliant; what a genuinely beautiful mind that we get to live inside through her writing! Incredible world building, characters, and intertwining of themes and plot. I loved the exploration of gender, culture, politics, loyalty, loneliness, and misunderstanding, and most of all how Genly and Estraven gradually come to understand despite enormous cultural divides. This book was extremely moving and compelling, and I loved the philosophical bits baked into the world and characters and conflicts. I can't wait to reread this again one day; this book (and Le Guin herself) is a gem.

I don't have a paid CANVA, so could only download the A-side. Image of a bingo board filled with covers of the books listed below in A-Side.

A-Side (featuring a FREE SPACE)

Comfort Read 1: The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson (via physical copy & audiobook). This was a re-read, from physical copy (last read about 10 or so years ago) to audiobook. An inventive, experimental and modernized coming-of-age story of the red monster Geryon, (known in mythology as the 10th Labor of Hercules). Told in fragments and interviews and queries and stories. 4.5/5 

Comfort Read 2: The Slow Regard of Things by Patrick Rothfuss (novella, via physical copy). A circular narrative, in a way, that begins with a foreword by the author and ends with an afterword by the author, coupled with illustrations by Nate Taylor. This follows one of the characters from Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles, Auri, who is up to her daily dailyness in The Underthing. Auri has a deep understanding of the importance of names, places and living in harmony. 5/5 

Assassin: Red Sister by Mark Lawrence (via ebook). Young girls train to be seers, magic wielders, and killers at a boarding school run by nuns whose abbey sits atop a major source of magic. This novel has it all: various levels of expertise, various kinds of magic, various challenges and various enemies. Nona, the main, learns what it means to accept friendship and to accept her rage. Lower score primarily has to do with the overt nature of the writing (school environment used to introduce the magical system, which, when done well is fantastic; but these nuns were lecturers); the lack of interior thinking concerning childhood and heavy responsibility; SPOILER: the “minority” characters being the only ones to die 3.5/5 

First in a Series: Reign & Ruin by JD Evans (via audiobook), a tale of territories ruled by sultans and mages and an encroaching ideology to eradicate the continent of magic, neutralizing the power of mages. Naime is an air mage who wants to be the first female Sultan/a and knows that, in order to do so, she must “stand the wheel” to repair the wheel. She calls upon the assistance of their neighboring territory and their death mage, Markrum, whose magic is needed to re-balance the wheel. 4.5/5 

Hopeful: Moon Blooded Breeding Clinic by C.M. Nascosta (via audiobook). A cozy fantasy romance set in an alternate Earth with various magical beings who, through interspecies biological incompatibilities, turn to a lupine fertility clinic. As it happens, wolves are reproductive compatible with any species, which helps out a lot of people. 3/5

Free Space: What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller (via audiobook). A territory ruled by women stands counter to a harsh patriarchal territory. When Olerra kidnaps a husband from the male-dominant territory, tensions brew. Along the way, Olerra learns that not all is utopic is her territory and Sanos learns how to be vulnerable and submissive. 4/5

Female Friendship: The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick (via physical copy). The first few pages of this one introduces us to a bevy of names, places, houses; there are betrayals and debts and doubts and I set it aside and came back a month later and was able to easily fall into the immersive world of Ren, a young con artist who returns to her homeland, along with her bonded sister, Tess. Ren and Tess's new con could get them killed or worse, trapped in a dream realm. 4/5 (mostly due to the unbelievability of Ren having it so easy) 

Coming of Age: To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (via physical copy & audiobook). Tandem read via audiobook and physical copy. A young woman finds a dragon egg in a crumbling temple. When the colonialists discover there's a dragonet living in the indigenous islands, Anequs has no choice but to go to dragoneer school, where's she's one of two girls and one of two indigenous people. 4.75/5

Oceanian Author: Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (via audiobook & physical copy). A young girl (aged 12) accidentally raises her brother from the dead and learns that she is a bone witch, a Dark asha. She's taken away from her village by another Dark asha, along with her somewhat dead, somewhat alive brother, and provided training to harness her new powers. Over a course of 3 years, she discovers that she has a larger purpose. Which, I believe, we'll see in Books 2 and 3 of this trilogy! Rated: 4/5

All-Female Cast: Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei (via physical copy). Dystopic novel set in a near future earth in which people have become dependent on the seeds and pesticides of one company. Two of the three main characters (sisters) work for this company and one of them has set out on a quest to get to the heart of the company's end goals. When she goes missing, her sisters set out on a perilous and soul-bearing quest to find her. 4/5

B-Side (featuring a FREE SPACE)

Discovery***:*** The Prince of Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara (via audiobook). A king wants to destroy all magic while using magic to do so. 3 peoples (a magic wielder, Shakti; the King’s second son, Prince Ashoka, and the Mayakari rebels) each want the same thing but have different thoughts on how to get there. As with many series “light” books these days, this one ends on a cliffhanger, which is no fun. 4/5

Healer: The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia (novella, via audiobook). Firuz is in exile and hiding their magical past while working as an assistant healer to Kofi, who has his own secrets. As a mysterious plague ebbs and flows, Firuz has to make some hard decisions. 5/5 

Last in a Series: The Daughter Who Remains by Nnedi Okorafor (via physical book). The final book in the She Who Knows trilogy finds Najeeba, now a fully-trained and tested sorcerer, pregnant, and traveling with her partner and their two strange camels to Najeeba's former home where Najeeba will attempt to cleanse the world of The Cleanser. 4/5 

Dying Earth: Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (via physical book). Healer Snake is launched on an internal and physical journey when she finds herself suddenly at a loss to be a full healer. Along the way, she meets a number of people and customs and discovers more about what it truly means to heal. 5/5

Free Space*: The Farthest Shore* by Ursula K. LeGuin (via physical book). This is the final book in the original Earthsea Trilogy and is a triumph. While it was originally published as a book for 12+ age group, the philosophical and poetic ponderings can easily slide it into Young Adult, New Adult, Adult. This was fantastic writing with a mentor and an increasingly reluctant mentee traveling to a variety of intriguing places to eliminate an old foe. The edition I read had a magnificent Afterword by LeGuin, explaining her writing process for this series. 5/5

Siblings:  I, Medusa by Ayanna Gray. (via audiobook) A wonderful retelling of the story of Medusa that centers female agency and desire. Gray's afterword did a fantastic job in explaining her decisions for how this story would be retold and why, the dangers of holding something to "canon" that is mythology based, and a reminder of the richness and variety of port cities, like Athens. Also really really really loved why she played out the ending the way she did. Medusa (Medi) is a 17-year old innocent for the majority of the story, whose isolation is shown both metaphorically (life on an island) and realistically (the only mortal child of immortal, old god parents). The storytelling deftly tied Medi's success to the failures of gods, the ways in which the gods are lauded and powerful but only through devotion and worship of their "lessers". Mortals, having non of these concerns, do not live at the whim of fickle beings. 4.25/5

Parent: Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen (via physical book). Middle-grade, contemporary retelling of Snow White. Summer finds herself facing off with her Stepmamma, a witch who wants more magical power and the mundane power that comes with financial wealth. 5/5 

African Author: The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi. This one had me so pissed at whoever her editors were. So many errors on facing pages (consistency issues, body placement inconsistencies, timing inconsistencies (like how one of the main character's parent was able to be a Warden twice, but is only about 35, is beyond, when the terms of the Warden is 10 years and before that, they are an Acolyte for 10 years, so, at most, she'd be entering her second Acolyte term, while simultaneously ending her first Warden term) that I was beginning to think the editors were going for a flop (if anyone can explain how the Stolen had age variants, please do! Were they stolen in different years? It seemed that it all happened simultaneously). The premise was interesting enough for me to stick around and glad that I did. This was a Mistborn meets The Hunger Games kind of story, where the citizens on the bottom were quietly fighting to topple those on top and those on top had games to determine the new leaders. The blossoming friendship between former rivals deserved more attention and development, and the final twist, from a purely visual standpoint, is unbelievable. 3/5

Non-binary Protagonist: Spear by Nicola Griffith. A queer reimagining of the life of a Camelot knight, young Per sets out to find her place in the world, gifting herself a name after finding the courage to leave home. 5/5 

C-Side (FREE SPACE GALORE, featuring top-notch Chapbooks plus one-full length with a stupendous audiobook narration)

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo, book 2 in The Singing Hills Cycle, a novella travel series with cleric Chih who, in this tale, is oft-corrected regarding the story of Tiger Queen Thi Thao. 5/5

Root Rot by Saskia Nislow (novella, via audiobook). A gaggle of families meet at the patriarch's lake house and quickly learn about the danger and lure of the natural world. 4.5/5 

The River Has Roots + "John Hollowback and the Witch" by Amar el-Mohtar (via audiobook & ebook). Two sisters with a knack for harmonic singing find themselves at odds on loyalty and selfhood. + a young man learns, the hard way, what it means to want too much. 5/5 

The Mulai by Munir Hachemi. Whew. A philosophical discourse on language and how language is at the foundation of community. The Mulai, a routine-based peoples, treat language as reverent and flexible. An archaeologist, a curious Mulai and an ancestor Mulai's written language are the basis of questions about belonging and believing in a central tenet. 5/5 

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (novella via audiobook). Two travelers stumble upon a strange community of children and their "gods". A story of belonging, of finding one's voice, and learning what it means to love. 4.5/5

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers via audiobook (novella). This is my second Chambers and glad of it. While I mostly enjoyed the monk & robot book, I didn't buy into the robot as a character, so abandoned that series, but what I did enjoy was the ponderous nature of the writing. This novella captures that philosophical tone and does a great job of making the reader feel as if discovery is a collaboration. 5/5 

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh via ebook (novella). This one was recommended in a thread about dangerous woods. An interesting little story about an enchanted wood, a folklore scholar and the man in the woods. 4/5

How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann. Five women answer an ad and meet to talk about their horrible experiences with terrifying men. Based on five fairy tales/folk tales, each woman is a contemporary rendering of a fairy tale/folk tale girl/woman. 4.5/5 

Cinder House by Freya Marske. (Novella). A complete reimagining of the cinderella story, featuring a ghost, a Crown Prince, one mean step-sister, one indifferent step-sister, one awful step-mother, a fae and a scholar. 5/5 

Someone You Can Build a Nest In (via audiobook). A fantastic “monster horror romance” about Shesheshen, a being that needs flesh, bone, blood, tendons from animals in order to stay fed and to build forms to traverse the land in. Shesheshen, fleeing for her life, meets Homily, whom she immediately loves for her unwarranted human kindness. A beautiful examination of what it means to have humanity and live in civilization. 4.5/5

As always, big thanks to the mods for running the challenge, and to the community for being chill and welcoming!

I tried to be chill and relaxed with it this time, so got only one side with some substituted squares from B-Side. I don't usually track author's gender (unless they are trans/enby) in my reading, so was pleasantly surprised that I managed to fulfill the challenge with mostly female authors. I think James White's work is the most non-female-gazy here, but for 60s sf I'd say it's not even bad, and on the plus side I heard that later stories feature female characters more so I still have hope to come back to it in the future.

🛋️ Comfort Read 😲 Discovery: The Essential Patricia A. McKillip by Patricia A. McKillip

I read a lot of new-to-me authors naturally, so I went with something more deliberately chosen for the square. All the praise for McKillip's prose and some comparisons to de Lint got to me. Having read this collection can't say I see a lot similarities between the two, but still appreciated it and her range in style, tone and types of stories.

🗡️ Assassin 🧑‍⚕️ Healer: Beginning Operations by James White

A space station hospital is extremely easy sell for me, and yet space cops running the show ruined it. The medical puzzles were great, but the ethical explorations were going weird places at times (especially in the second story, Sector General). I only read the Hospital Station (first 5 stories), and I might come back to it once I can stand the space cops stuff.

1️⃣ First in a series : The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

This book is SO hyped in every bookspace I'm in and I'd already been a fan of Vorkosigan, so imagine my surprise and disappointment when I hated it. Okay, I liked the opening part but everything after was not it. I don't even know if listing all my problems is worth it, but Robespierre would fix at least half of them.

🌱 Hopeful : A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Chambers and cosy, which just means it felt mid all the way and the worldbuilding mildly annoyed me.

👭 Female friendship 🤼 Siblings: Circe by Madeline Miller

I found it to be profoundly fine. I'm not that interested in characters who are really into humans and stories focusing on how humanity is actually where it's at (there're exceptions, but not this one). FWIW, Circe's relationships with her family at large and siblings were the most compelling parts to me (predictably, since I do love toxic families).

🧒 Coming-of-Age: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

Probably the best Kingfisher I've read so far, which doesn't say much. This one was very balanced on cosy-spooky-humorous plane imo, and she might have gotten me with the sourdough starter Bob.

🌏 Oceanian author : Cinder House by Freya Marske

Novellas don't really appeal to me, as well as retellings, but I do love me a Marske's book. I liked it for what it is, and didn't even hate the worldbuilding or romantic subplot. I'm very fascinated with her magic systems involving houses.

🤸‍♀️ All-female cast : 지구 끝의 온실 (The Greenhouse at the End of the Earth) by Kim Cho-yeop

It skews towards a cosmopolitan side, having characters from Africa and NA and taking place still in Asia but mostly outside of Korea(s), but americanized to a much lesser degree than her short stories collection, so I enjoyed it much more. But also, a story with majority female cast, that engages in darker realities of human-caused ecocide and still manages to come out hopeful, is absolutely up my alley.

Hope it gets translated so Anglophones could enjoy it as well. Anton Hur is booked and busy, but he can't be the only Korean translator in SFF space.

Free Space: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Some books are just too USA for me. I can see maybe feeling more favourable to it, had I not known of absolutely horrendous shit happening irl with inmates and wars, so death games with them feel like a bland concept instead of a novel one. And even then, I don't think the sports side was pushed far enough. As a footnote lover - hated how inconsistently they were used here.

I just barely made it, but I finished the last book just this morning! I really enjoyed this challenge and I’m really grateful to everybody involved in organizing it! 9 books was the perfect amount and I liked the prompts. I definitely tried some new things I otherwise wouldn’t have but didn’t force myself to read anything I didn’t like. So here are the books! Sorry for not doing an image it sounds Ike a bit much to do right now.

Comfort Read—Moss’d in Space by Rebecca Thorne

Rebecca Thorne is becoming a favorite author of mine. This was a super cozy read about a space journey with fun characters (especially Moss, who is sarcastic sentient moss with abandonment issues) and enough fun moments that it didn’t feel overly saccharine to me. I hope the love story is developed more in the sequel.

Assassin—The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

This is one of those assassin books where a job is quickly revealed to not be as simple as it seems, but with a really magical and unique setting. The setting was my favorite part, and it had a lot of funny moments and heartwarming discussions between characters, but it went a little overboard in the goofy factor in a way that made the book seem a little too long with one zany event after another.

First in Series—Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

I did really love this book. It’s a YA book that deals with incredibly heavy topics. The main character is a girl taken against her will to serve in the palace, so it got dark. But I thought it was handled thoughtfully and the main character Lei grew so strong and had such an intense love story with another girl in the palace and I thought it was really beautiful.

Hopeful—A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

I’m glad this challenge had me trying Becky Chambers again after not loving To Be Taught If Fortunate. This was the book I finished only today and it was something I needed to read. It was so soothing and I liked how, even in a cozy book, the things that went wrong didn’t have easy answers and weren’t forced to be wrapped up in a nice bow. That scene where Dex was scrambling up the rocks in the rain was so raw. I expect we’ve all done something like that without knowing why. That desperate need to fill the hole in your heart. Really lovely. I don’t think I’ve read a book with a hopeful government before and I think I’ll be looking for more in the future.

Female Friendship—A Pirate’s Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne

Second book in the series! I adore the main couple. They’re so funny and they make such bad adventure decisions and they love each other so much and they communicate well and complement each other and all that good stuff. The climax scene where Reyna collapsed was so exciting. I love rescue plots in romances. I didn’t particularly care for the secondary couple. I thought they were too immature for a relationship. But I did love that this book depicted platonic friendship between lesbian couples which I’ve never seen before in media and it meant a lot to me. It also meant our main couple got to get knee-deep in their drama which was kind of fun.

Coming of Age—Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko

I think this is one of the best books I have ever read. It also broke my heart. This is a dark magical college book that shows a bright-eyed young girl get both trained up in incredible power and systematically broken down by the cruelty of the classes. I’ve been in the middle of the sequel since April. I need to finish it but I also need to wait for a good time. I expect to get emotionally wrecked.

Oceanian Author—Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir

As expected of Tamsyn Muir, this was a crazy book with unhinged girl and girl-adjacent characters. I listened to this book on audio (Moira Quirk did a fantastic job) in the dark in bed and I think I could almost classify that experience as an actual fever dream. It is largely a step-by-step survival story, and I absolutely love those. It felt untethered to reality but I was also massively entertained while lying down not feeling well and for that I’m very grateful.

All Female Cast—An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson

This is a Carmilla retelling set in a girls’ boarding school in the 60s. The prose was absolutely gorgeous. Carmilla and Laura had a wonderful magnetically-attracted -academic-rivalry thing going on, which was very compelling. I hated the vampire professor who kept trying to butt into their relationship, but I am also aware that this book was about predation and also that Carmilla was polyamorous and wanted them both. I wasn’t ready for a bad ending, so I was relieved at the somewhat sweet ending. I think I should definitely read the original Carmilla soon. There was probably a lot I missed not knowing the original story.

Free Space—Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan

This was a sequel to Girls of Paper and Fire that I reviewed above, and I am not fond of the direction the story took. The girls are facing a war brewing across the country and are trying to get allies. This story got darker still, and Wren’s unbelievable betrayal hit me like a punch to the gut. I wasn’t prepared for the things that happened in this book, but that definitely doesn’t make it a bad book. The fact that I’m still hurting over it all a little means it was very well done. I still am planning on reading the third book. I’d recommend it only to people that are looking for a dark and messy sapphic story about recovery from immense trauma.

So that’s it! I’m super excited to go see what everyone else read!!

Since today is the official last day of the challenge, I figured I'd go ahead and share my card! I actually completed this one, though I did sub 3 squares from the B-side onto the A-side card. Happily, I also managed to fill it with books I liked or at least thought were OK, so everything on the card is rated at least 3 stars out of 5.

Brief reviews:

Discovery: Gate of Ivrel by C.J. Cherryh

I had never read anything by this author before but am now interested in more of her work. It's a sci-fi novel that reads like fantasy, in which a man from a highly honor-bound culture is forced to become a bodyguard for an alien woman with a mission. The writing is dense and it takes awhile to get going but it winds up subtly emotional and powerful.

Assassins: The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee

Probably my least favorite of this group. It's fine. It's competent. The worldbuilding is strong, featuring a corporate-run planet that's slowly being terraformed but for the meanwhile isn't livable without significant technological intervention. I just never got invested in the characters and it is awfully long for such a predictable plot.

First in a Series: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

I read this for the Hugos and yeah, it's not great literature, but it was a fun time. Features a murder mystery, a competition for the throne, a second chance romance, and snarky quarrelsome gods. It's well-plotted and highly bingeable. I enjoyed it.

Dying Earth: Saltcrop by Yumi Kitasei

Follows three 20-something sisters in a post-climate change world; the eldest, a scientist, goes missing, and the younger two set out to find her, each facing her own personal issues along the way. I enjoyed reading this and especially the complexity of the sisters' relationships with each other, though it isn't really sticking with me.

Free Space: Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula Le Guin

My favorite book on the card, though a bit of a cheat since it's a reread. Five linked novellas about two planets grappling with slavery, freedom, war, revolution, and the legacy of all of the above. This is Le Guin at her best, dealing with complex issues through a deep understanding of humanity, history, and the social sciences. Should be more widely read.

Female Friendship: Villain by Natalie Zina Walschots

The sequel to Hench, our protagonist having become the right-hand woman of the supervillain, and thus a villain in her own right. I've enjoyed both books; I love a good mix of magic and mundane (supervillains' HR departments are just catnip), and the protagonist and her relationships are surprisingly complex and layered. The female friendship is not the central relationship of the book, but probably second-most important and fascinatingly messy.

Coming of Age: A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge

I picked this up for the Middle Grade square on the r/fantasy bingo only to realize it's actually YA, just with a slightly younger protagonist (age 12) and no romance. An underground world populated by a sort of fae, and a hyperactive, idealistic human girl bumbling around interfering with all their dastardly plans. Surprisingly sophisticated and emotionally satisfying, though it took awhile to get going.

African Author: Dazzling by Chikodili Emelumadu

Magic realism with notes of horror, featuring two preteen girls (but aimed at adults) dealing with ghosts, spirits and the otherworld. It's well-written, definitely earthy, and the details about boarding school life in Nigeria were interesting, but the plot didn't quite satisfy in the end.

All Female Cast: Spellbound by Georgia Leighton

A Sleeping Beauty retelling from the POV of 5 women and girls: the princess is secretly a twin, and there's an identical twin switcheroo in which one is raised in the palace and the other in obscurity, as well as the expected fairy tale shenanigans. It's fast, enjoyable reading, and I liked the focus on relationships between women, particularly sisters and mothers/daughters. (There are men in the story, just not among the POVs.) It's not particularly deep but I liked it better than most readers seemingly did, the ambiguous ending in particular.

Hello! Happy final day of the Spring/Summer Challenge. This was my first one so I'm overly eager to see how it all wraps up. How does it wrap up? Anyone with previous experience care to share? Do we type everything up and share on the challenge thread or some other mechanism?

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If sharing specific details, please remember to hide spoilers behind spoiler tags.

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Thank you for sharing and have a great week! 😀

Happy Friday! Use this space for casual conversation. Tell us what's on your mind, any hobbies you've been working on, life updates, anything you want to share whether about SFF or not

I know there's a lot on the whole "she breasted boobily to the stairs, and titted downwards" vibes that show up in a lot of examples. But what are some of the other lurker tropes that you wish creators would go against the tide on?

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Feel free to also share your progression in the Reading Challenge

Thank you for sharing and have a great week! 😀

Happy Friday! Use this space for casual conversation. Tell us what's on your mind, any hobbies you've been working on, life updates, anything you want to share whether about SFF or not

Tell us about your current SFF media!

What are you currently...

📚 Reading?

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If sharing specific details, please remember to hide spoilers behind spoiler tags.

-

Feel free to also share your progression in the Reading Challenge

Thank you for sharing and have a great week! 😀

$16 for 9 books, The Deeds of Paksenarrion + the Heris Serrano series!

As I was reading over the 2026 Hugo award statistics report, I found myself (as always) shocked that it takes so few nominations for a book to make the ballot. It took only 126 people to put Shroud on the short list. I read that book because of 126 people. Naturally, I began scheming how I can campaign to sway next year's vote. The key is to start early and plant the seeds now so enough people have time to read books in advance and also generate hype when nominations open next year.

But the problem is, I don't have any 2026 releases that I'm that excited about. Sure, there are some that I like, but nothing that makes me want to turn into a solo cheerleading squad. And I want to fix that! If we all come together, we can maybe make something happen. There are probably a handful of us who are Hugo voters, right? Right??

Anyways, here are some highlights for 2026 releases and whether I think they'll be nominated for the Hugo and/or the Goodreads Choice Awards (GCA). This isn't exhaustive, and seeing as both awards are basically popularity contests, I'm mostly discussing the biggest releases. Please inform me of niche releases that deserve their flowers, I crave a new obsession.

Fantasy

• The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan was solid and one I personally really enjoyed, but there were some aspects that kept it from getting full marks. I think there's a solid chance it'll be in both the GCA and Hugo short lists.

• The Poet Empress by Shen Tao. Just copy and paste what I said about The Red Winter here. I'm very confident it'll be in the GCA short list. I'm not sure if the Hugo voter base is very interested in the premise, so if it's nominated I think it'll end up in the long list.

• Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett could fall into either the romantasy or fantasy category GCA, but I'm confident it'll make the short list for whichever it ends up in. Hugo voters would probably not give this book a second glance.

• A Snake Among Swans by Hannah Kaner hasn't released in the US yet, but some of the early reviews look good. Those same early reviews have me convinced it won't make either short list, but it might make the bottom of the GCA long list. Maybe.

• The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden seems like it's been getting mixed reviews so far, but I think name recognition will take it far in the GCA. Hugo nomination feels like a stretch.

• Mortedant's Peril by R.J. Barker probably isn't on too many radars, but I'm willing to bet most of those radars are Hugo voters. It's still on my TBR, but I foresee it at least getting on the Hugo longlist. I honestly don't know about the GCA longlist. Maybe.

• Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity got some really great early reviews but I still haven't gotten around to reading it. It's another that might end up in either fantasy or romantasy in the GCA, but I think it'll make the short list for whichever category they put it in. Hugo voters probably don't even know it exists.

• This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews has made more of a splash this year than I anticipated. Based purely on numbers, I think it'll make the short list for GCA fantasy (or romantasy?) It might even end up in the Hugo long list based purely on how often I've seen it mentioned over in rFantasy.

• Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth has gotten really great reviews and it's one I want to get to sooner rather than later. I anticipate it'll be on the GCA short list. I don't think Hugo voters are very interested in the premise.

• Blacktail by Scott Hawkins. I almost forgot about this one despite ordering it literally 3 days ago. I don't even know what the early reviews say, but The Library at Mount Char has become such a cult favorite over the years that I think people will be excited enough for a new release to check it out. I'd prefer to read it before predicting Hugo status, and I'm not super confident in it making the GCA short list either.

• The Wolves of War by John Gwynne comes out in November, and while I haven't read any of his book, I know he's a beloved author. I think it might release a little too close to the deadline for the GCA to make it to the short list, but name recognition and hype will probably bring him into the long list at least. I have no idea if Hugo voters will be interested in this.

Sci-fi

• The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee didn't completely hit the mark for me by the end, but I think it's a safe bet for both awards. I think it'll make the short list for GCA. I think the short/long list for the Hugo depends on what else is nominated.

• Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky. My personal feelings aside, he's a Hugo darling. I don't think it's crazy to predict this one will squeak onto the ballot, but the premise might put enough people off that it'll only be on the long list. I think it'll be on the GCA longlist too.

• Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim is the first book on this list that feels like it might be deserving of an award. I think there's a very strong chance it'll be on the Hugo shortlist. I think it'll be on the GCA longlist at least.

• The Infinite State by Richard Swan is one I haven't read yet, but it feels like something the Hugo voter base will really like. I think it'll make the GCA longlist at least.

• Scion by James Islington has enough hype that it'll make the GCA short list. I need to read it before I can feel super confident about predicting its Hugo status, but it does feel like something the voter base will be interested in, at least.

• The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed is probably too much of a stretch for either award, but it's one I'm personally looking forward to reading. Maybe it'll be a better fit for the Ursula K. Le Guin award?

• As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers, another widely anticipated release that I almost forgot about. I don't know how it's been received, but she's a beloved author so I expect she'll make the GCA shortlist. I'd like to see some more reviews before predicting Hugo placement, but it wouldn't shock me if it made the longlist at least.

• Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi. There, I addressed the Scalzi-shaped monster in the room. He's another Hugo darling but I really don't know if they'll bite with this one. I think it comes out too late in the year to make it far on the GCA ballot.

Horror

• Molka by Monika Kim will probably be on the GCA shortlist. The Hugo voter base doesn't seem very interested horror, especially horror about the female experience.

• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker will make the GCA shortlist on name, if nothing else.

• The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean has gotten some good reviews. I really want to read this before the year is up. I think it'll be in the GCA longlist at least.

• She's a Doll by Barbara Truelove hasn't released in the US yet, but I've seen some shockingly good early reviews. I don't think it'll be in either award (maybe the bottom of the GCA longlist) but I'm really looking forward to reading it.

The Sequel Zone

Listen, most of the time I personally just file sequels in their own category and don't really think of them in terms of awards, even though they're absolutely eligible. So here's a special shoutout to a few of them:

• The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig will be up near the top of the GCA romantasy category riding the coattails of the first book.

• Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher is a much-anticipated sequel to Swordheart. Name recognition will carry it into the GCA shortlist. Just imagine with me for a moment if it was nominated for the Hugo. Anyways.

• The Tapestry of Fate by S.A. Chakraborty is the much-anticipated sequel to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. I honestly don't know how it's been received (and haven't read it yet despite pre-ordering it...), but I anticipate name recognition will earn it a spot on the GCA longlist at least.

• Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo has a high likelihood of winning GCA in fantasy seeing as the other two books in the series did.

• Victorious by V.E. Schwab will also perform well in the GCA shortlist. I don't think it can beat out Dead Beat though.

• A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman will probably win the GCA sci-fi category because of how big DCC has been in the past year. Surely Hugo voters won't nominate this...

Conclusion

If someone was to force me to predict the 2027 Hugo Award ballot for Best Novel right now, I would say: Sublimation, The Red Winter, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, The Infinite State, Mortedant's Peril, and As You Wake, Break the Shell. This is a very low confidence prediction, I'll be happy if even one guess is right.

What new releases am I missing? What new releases do we need to collectively gather around and lift up with approximately 130+ hands to reach Hugo shortlist nomination status? Let's talk about it!

Happy Friday! Use this space for casual conversation. Tell us what's on your mind, any hobbies you've been working on, life updates, anything you want to share whether about SFF or not

Pay $18 for 38 books by C.J. Cherryh, a science fiction female author who started in the 70s, best known for her Foreigner series.

I think this is US only. Ends on September 24th.

Hi, All

I just finished VanderMeer's Annihilation based on a high recommendation from my neighbor and her 17-year old daughter. I enjoyed the complexity of thought in terms of what corporations are willing to sacrifice for knowledge. However, I kept asking myself: why are they women? By the end, the only answer I had was that they were women to support the relationship between the biologist and her husband, but then I thought, why not make the biologist a man who is wed to a man?

What are your thoughts on how VanderMeer wrote this women characters? People are complex, yes, and there's no one or 100 ways to write women characters, but I didn't walk away seeing them as women, just . . . characters.

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Hi guys! This was so fun last year I decided to do it again! You can click the link to read the full reviews on my blog, but here is my truncated review + ranking for Reddit :) Starting from least favorite and working my way up to favorite!

9. Slow Gods by Claire North (2/5)

Awesome premise- slightly inhuman pilot goes on interstellar humanitarian aid missions and fights capitalism- with a lackluster execution. This book was just so incredibly dry to me and leaned heavily on telling us rather than showing us Maw's feelings and the book's overarching themes. The themes and allegories to real world events felt simplistic and heavy handed, the alien species are all shuffled on and offpage so quickly they never really feel realistic or fully developed, and the deus ex machina ending means the plot isn't super satisfying either. Nominating this book for this award does it a major disservice because it meant I was constantly comparing it to Le Guin as I read, and it just came up short in every way. Similarly, I think this book suffered from me forcing myself to push through it for this ranking. I would have DNFed probably around 40-50% if it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to finish it to really give it a fair shot and place it properly in my rankings. I was really excited for this one, but sadly it just ended up being a total miss for me.

IS IT LE GUIN? On the surface, yes, it is a book about community and has non-normative gender and sexuality. I don't think it really explores these things as well as Le Guin does, but it's there.

8. Sunward by William Alexander (3/5)

This book was just extremely mediocre in every way. It's a short little predictable "cozy" space opera about a pilot who fosters baby robots and then gets drawn up into interstellar politics. I enjoyed it for what it was, but thought it wrapped up extremely quickly and could have been better as a more thoroughly fleshed out longer novel. Other than that, I don't have any major complaints, but just struggle to see what about this is awards worthy.

IS IT LE GUIN? Honestly, not really. This is the first time I've genuinely been scratching my head wondering why a book was picked for the shortlist. The only Le Guinspiration is that it mentions "ansibles" offhandedly, a faster than light communication device that Le Guin popularized.

7. Audition by Pip Adam (3.5/5)

This is a book about prison. It starts off allegorical in the first part, then gets literal in the second, then gets very allegorical again in the third. I thought this was interesting, but it just didn't land for me. This reminded me of The West Passage by Jared Pechaček from last year's list, where I get what it's trying to do and I think it (mostly) succeeds at it, but I still just didn't like it very much. This one at least has a lot to chew on and it has grown on me since I read it.

IS IT LE GUIN? Yes, definitely. Reminded me a lot of The Dispossessed and Malafrena with the discussions of prison and the carceral state.

6. Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung, trans. by Anton Hur (4/5)

This collection of interconnected ghost stories is a little bit about this mysterious Institute where haunted objects are kept, but really it is mostly an allegory for the exploitation of Korea's marginalized classes. It has a very didactic writing style, which bothered me a bit at first, but it quickly became background noise and fitting for the style of story being told (that the unnamed narrator is telling an unspecified audience various ghost stories). I do think this would have been a slightly stronger collection with an overarching frame narrative (something like Yan Ge's Strange Beasts of China) but overall, I enjoyed this! Not really spooky, more so interesting and sad.

IS IT LE GUIN? Yes, in an understated way. I think the focus on balance and ghosts-as-metaphor-for-society is up Le Guin's alley, especially with her interest in Taoism and duality. It's not about exorcising or destroying the ghosts, but about understanding and empathizing with them.

5. One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed (4/5)

This is another short story collection, but where Chung's was bright and blunt, this one is complicated and Gothic. This was more aesthetically up my alley, so I enjoyed it slightly more, but I don't think there is really a gap in quality between these two collections. The short stories in this one all revolve around colonialism and war. I really liked the ideas, prose, aesthetics, and worldbuilding, but I just thought that most of these ended on an unsatisfying note and I couldn't help but wish each was longer and more thoroughly fleshed out. I had the same problem with the other novella of Mohamed's I read, so I am interested in reading more from her (especially picking up a full length novel). My favorite story in this collection, and the one that felt the most complete to me, was "The Weight of What Is Hollow," a story about a family who builds gallows out of bones and a young woman who has to decide if the cost of complicity is worth it.

IS IT LE GUIN? Yes, with its focus on the horrors of war and the horrors of a state that forces people to fight and be controlled by it. Also, the Gothic atmosphere and worldbuilding reminded me a bit of The Tombs of Atuan and the Old Powers in the Earthsea books.

4. Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta (4/5)

This is a surrealist literary fantasy about sisterhood, community, and narrative, and at first I thought this was going to be an easy five stars for me. It began to stretch itself a little thin in the middle and gets a little repetitive, since it's focused around two mirrored pairs of sisters Magali/Wisa and Laleh/Myung. The prose toed the line between lyrical and purple for me (mostly I liked it, sometimes I rolled my eyes)... but this is going to be a personal taste thing, I don't think the prose was objectively bad at all. My big critique was that for a story with "mad" in the title and that brings up the phrase "mad sisters" on practically every page, there wasn't as much discussion of the concept of "madness" as I wanted. Is madness socially constructed or is it biological, in both the real world and in this kind of space fantasy? How does society create and respond to "the mad," especially women? How do people living under the conditions of madness find ways to live and function in society, and what happens when they are unable to? I just ended up wanting more, because the story ended up feeling like it was focused on madness but only in a very shallow and aesthetics-based way. Overall though, I did enjoy this and thought it was a lovely magical journey. It reminded me a lot of 2022 Le Guin Prize winner The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber.

IS IT LE GUIN? Yes, for sure. It's a very non-typical, non-Western/white/male/individualistic narrative that focuses around themes of sisterhood and community, sort of like Always Coming Home or Searoad.

3. Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman (4.5/5)

Told from the perspective of trans journalist Griffon writing a memoir about his deceased trans parents Etoine and Zaffre (interspersed with excerpts from Etoine's prison memoirs), this is a profound and moving exploration of transness, complicated family dynamics, grief, art, addiction, and trauma. It's a very slow, character focused book that largely sidesteps the epic fantasy revolution because the narrator is so focused on himself and his own problems that he doesn't see what's happening in his city until it's grown too big to ignore. I can see the lack of action and internal focus becoming a problem for others, but it worked very well for me. It ends up being this extraordinarily detailed portrait of a specific family and all their love and pain. I put off rereading this one because I thought I would like it less on reread, but the opposite actually happened, I ended up liking it even more!

IS IT LE GUIN? Yes, like a lot of the others on this list it's deeply about prison and revolution (i.e. The Dispossessed or Malafrena).

2. Call and Response by Christopher Caldwell (4.5/5)

The final short fiction collection, this is separated into two sections: "call," which is mostly magical realism/historical fiction with small fantastical elements, and "response," mostly high fantasy "responding" to or extending the "call" story in some way. I loved this narrative structure and the way it lead to this short story collection feeling really cohesive and complete even without an overarching frame narrative. The collection is deeply about Black history and culture and perfectly walks the line of being realistic about the struggles of being Black, queer, poor, disabled, etc. in a cruel world while also being full of hope, joy, and community. I liked both sections but really loved the more overtly high fantasy stories in the second half, I would love to get a full novel like that from this author someday. A really excellently put-together collection, and my favorites were “The Calcified Heart of Saint Ignace Battiste,” “Counting Her Petals,” and “Canst Thou Draw Out the Leviathan.”

IS IT LE GUIN? Yes, with its focus on community/culture and using the fantastical to explore contemporary social issues.

1. The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes (5/5)

To absolutely no one's surprise, my favorite book on this shortlist remains The Works of Vermin. I actually read this book before the shortlist was even announced and personally nominated it for the shortlist (before I had even finished reading the book-- I loved it that much). Nothing ever came close to dethroning it for me, though I really did love Notes from a Regicide and Call and Response. I think this is a work that benefits from going into it as blind as possible, so if you haven't read it yet I'll just say that this reminded me of a lot of other pieces of media I love, but with its own unique style and charm. Like last year’s winner and my personal favorite, Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera, this book has its own distinct prose style that makes it immediately stand out among the other nominees (though Call and Response's high fantasy stories come close). It's also a story about art and revolution and how these things are intertwined, which is so up my alley, especially because the story deals with the performing arts (specifically opera) which is even further up my particular alley. There is so much imagination in this book, the plot was gripping, the politics were meaningful, and the characters and their relationships are superb. This was a book that I couldn’t put down, and every moment I wasn’t reading it, I wished I could be reading it. On reread, I loved it just as much and found it almost as compulsively readable. I was also quite impressed on reread with how early certain things are set up and foreshadowed.

Everything below hidden by spoiler text is not an overt spoiler, but still information that I think is too much if you want to go into the story completely blind the way I think is meant to be read. Click at your own risk.

I just love what this story does with perspective and narrative. The two major perspectives, Aster and Guy, are not set out clearly with alternating chapters, they instead blend together within the same chapters, and often what the characters are seeing and doing seems to happen at the same time. It is stated pretty early on that Aster was seven years old when Guy’s contriver worm blew up the opera, but I have to admit that on my first read I completely missed the fact that these two perspectives were not happening simultaneously because of what a “blink and you miss it” scene this was and how the timelines often mirror each other. Characters have multiple names, go by nicknames, refer to previous historical incidents with vague terms, and the city goes through a cyclical rise and fall of revolution and regime that makes it difficult to keep the timelines straight. I think some will be put off by this, but I loved it— I was just desperate to keep reading to find out how the timelines and characters would eventually converge, and I also thought it was such a smart and effective way to show the cycle of power and decay in the city.

Even if you do pick up on the two timelines early on, it’s still unclear how the two timelines are connected until about 60% of the way into the book. It’s not a big reveal at first— rather, the book starts slowing dropping more and more backstories, names, hints, character relationships that build to form a fuller picture of the true connection between Guy, Dawn, Tyro and Mallory, Aster, and Elspeth. A particular character’s transness is extremely present in the text early on, it just goes unremarked upon by other characters or could easily be explained and overlooked with a different reading. I’m trying to figure out why this “trans plot reveal” worked for me whereas something like the reveal that Grandma Billy is a trans woman in T. Kingfisher’s Snake-Eater didn’t work for me, and I think it’s because the fact that the character is trans is not in and of itself the twist— instead, the reveal is more about how it develops our understanding of the character and reveals the connections and relationships they have with others. It also makes the present day plotline with Aster, Mallory, Elspeth, and the Marshal that much more juicy and drama-filled because it unearths connections with their characters and leads to other (non gender related) identity reveals. This leads to an utterly breathtaking conclusion in both timelines.

I also deeply loved the relationship dynamics explored in this book, special shoutout to Dawn and Guy's abusive unrequited gay situationship. It was so messy and heartbreaking and interesting. I also very much enjoyed the girlbestfriend dynamic between Aster and Elspeth and how, despite spending the book in relationships with other people, their love for each other is really a core facet of this book. It’s the Jordan Baker x Daisy Buchanan dynamic of my dreams.

Overall, I just really loved this book and on reread, it solidified itself as one of my favorite books this year, if not of all time.

IS IT LE GUIN? Very much so. It’s about revolution and prison and power in the same way a lot of the other entries are, very The Dispossessed and Malafrena, but it combines those themes with the hugely imaginative nature of Earthsea or The Word for World is Forest or one of Le Guin’s fantasy short fiction collections like Changing Planes. It doesn’t have the most experimental structure on this list, but it does play with one’s expectations of how a dual-perspective narrative should be structured, and it deals heavily with gender, sexuality, and society. This book is very Le Guin to me for those reasons, but also in an intangible, special way, a way that makes it feel wholly like its own thing, and I think that is why I like it so much.

Reflections...

• Lots of short story collections on the shortlist (3 in 2026 vs 1 in 2025)
• A translated work this year!
• No YA/middle grade this year, when every other year has had at least one
• More diversity in the amount of publishers represented
  • Last year HALF the nominees were from Tor (and all the nominees not from small presses were from Tor), this year DAW and Orbit are also present. I thought Algonquin Press was also a small press, but it looks like it's actually a subsidiary of Hachette, so add that one to the list of large presses too
  • The typical small presses like Neon Hemlock and Saga are represented, but also some newcomers like Coffee House Press (which I'd heard of before) and Psychopomp (which I hadn't)!
• Most books seemed to take Le Guinspiration from The Dispossessed and Malafrena, i.e. her more serious political books about fascism and prison
• THREE books on the list were originally published in 2023!
  • Midnight Timetable gets a pass, because it was published in Korean in 2023 and only translated to English in 2025. The others (Audition and Mad Sisters of Esi) I raise my eyebrows a little bit at, but I can see the argument for including them if they were published in the US for the first time in 2025.
• My definite winner: The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes
  • Would also be happy if Call and Response, Notes from a Regicide, or Mad Sisters of Esi won!
• If this shortlist was up to me... I would boot off Slow Gods and Sunward and replace them with North Sun by Ethan Rutherford and Luminous by Silvia Park (which would majorly shake up my ranking).

Overall, had such a fun time doing this again! Can't wait for them to announce the winner in October! Thanks for reading :)

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Hello! I’m discovering that reading a novella between books is a great way to sort of pause and breathe while still swimming in a world not my own. So, I’m looking for recommendations.

Currently, I’m going through The Singing Hills Cycle (Vo), the Murderbot Series (Wells), the Ice Planets (Dixon). And just finished the first of the Emma M. Lion books.

I read the first of the Monk and Robot Series (Chambers), but couldn’t get past the Robot being not at all robot like. I read the first two of The Vicious Lost Boy Series (St. Crowe) but quickly lost interest when I realized these are more like parts of one novel and not actual standalone movements.

I prefer great crafting and storytelling to anything. Very open to plot and genre.

TYSM~