Book Reviews: By Award
Below you’ll find short reviews of the books I’ve read, grouped by the awards they’ve received.
Major Awards
Hugo Award
All Systems Red, by , is the first book in the The Murderbot Diaries. It introduces us to Murderbot as it saves a team of scientists.
A Desolation Called Peace, by , is the second book in the Teixcalaan series. It tells the story of Mahit and Three Seagrass trying to stop the war between the Teixcalaanli Empire and a mysterious alien race.
A Fire Upon The Deep is a sci-fi novel by . It tells the story of the Blight—a galactic-scale, transcendent evil—and the humans racing to stop it.
Flowers for Algernon is a Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel about Charlie Gordon, a man with intellectual disabilities who undergoes surgery to enhance his cognitive abilities. While it is a beautifully crafted narrative, it failed to hold my attention.
Hyperion is ’s masterpiece. It is the first book in his Hyperion Cantos. It follows seven pilgrims as they travel to the Time Tombs on Hyperion to petition the Shrike. Along the way, each tells their own story, weaving together history, myth, and prophecy to tell of the impending downfall of man.
The Left Hand of Darkness, by , is her Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel about the planet of Winter. It follows Genly Ai, an envoy from the Ekumen, as he attempts to bring this androgynous world into galactic civilization.
A Memory Called Empire, by , is the first book in the Teixcalaan series. It follows Mahit Dzmare, an ambassador from the space station Lsel, as she tries to save her home from being annexed by the Teixcalaanli empire.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by , is a Hugo Award-winning classic of libertarian science fiction. It chronicles the revolt of a lunar penal colony against its terrestrial rulers, a revolution orchestrated by a small group of rebels and their self-aware computer.
Stand on Zanzibar, by , is a Hugo-winning, New Wave science fiction novel that explores overpopulation, corporate power, and societal collapse.
The Tainted Cup is a fantasy detective novel set in a world where humanity is on the brink of destruction from giant Kaiju. It follows investigators Dinios Kol and Ana Dolabra as they try to solve the murder of an engineer and uncover a conspiracy that runs far deeper.
The Three-Body Problem was recommended as a exciting, hard-scifi book full of new ideas. I was eager to read it, having just gotten back into fiction. I bought it for my flight from Melbourne to San Francisco and I threw it in the airport trash as I got off the plane.
Locus Award
All Systems Red, by , is the first book in the The Murderbot Diaries. It introduces us to Murderbot as it saves a team of scientists.
The Claw of the Conciliator is the second book in ’s The Book of the New Sun tetralogy. It picks up right where The Shadow of the Torturer leaves off, following Severian as he makes his way towards Thrax.
A Desolation Called Peace, by , is the second book in the Teixcalaan series. It tells the story of Mahit and Three Seagrass trying to stop the war between the Teixcalaanli Empire and a mysterious alien race.
Dragon’s Egg is a hard sci-fi novel by . It is the story of first contact between humans and the Cheela: beings who live on a neutron star.
The Fall of Hyperion is a sequel that outshines its predecessor. It is everything I was expecting from Hyperion and more! A true masterpiece.
Gun, with Occasional Music is a sci-fi, hardboiled detective novel set in near-future Oakland, California. It follows Conrad Metcalf, a private inquisitor, as he tries to solve the murder of Maynard Stanhunt.
Hyperion is ’s masterpiece. It is the first book in his Hyperion Cantos. It follows seven pilgrims as they travel to the Time Tombs on Hyperion to petition the Shrike. Along the way, each tells their own story, weaving together history, myth, and prophecy to tell of the impending downfall of man.
The Sword of the Lictor is the third book in ’s The Book of the New Sun tetralogy. It follows Severian after he reaches Thrax and is exiled for a second time.
Nebula Award
All Systems Red, by , is the first book in the The Murderbot Diaries. It introduces us to Murderbot as it saves a team of scientists.
The Claw of the Conciliator is the second book in ’s The Book of the New Sun tetralogy. It picks up right where The Shadow of the Torturer leaves off, following Severian as he makes his way towards Thrax.
Flowers for Algernon is a Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel about Charlie Gordon, a man with intellectual disabilities who undergoes surgery to enhance his cognitive abilities. While it is a beautifully crafted narrative, it failed to hold my attention.
The Left Hand of Darkness, by , is her Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel about the planet of Winter. It follows Genly Ai, an envoy from the Ekumen, as he attempts to bring this androgynous world into galactic civilization.
Prometheus Hall Of Fame Award
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by , is a Hugo Award-winning classic of libertarian science fiction. It chronicles the revolt of a lunar penal colony against its terrestrial rulers, a revolution orchestrated by a small group of rebels and their self-aware computer.
My Favorite Books Lists
My Favorite Books of 2024
Childhood’s End is a classic sci-fi novel by . It is about first contact between humans and the mysterious Overlords, and the end of the human race.
Dragon’s Egg is a hard sci-fi novel by . It is the story of first contact between humans and the Cheela: beings who live on a neutron star.
Echopraxia is the second book in ’s Firefall series, unfolding at roughly the same time as Blindsight. It follows parasitologist Daniel Brüks, who gets unwillingly dragged into a conflict between multiple transhuman factions, travels to the Icarus station orbiting the sun, and eventually back to Earth.
A Fire Upon The Deep is a sci-fi novel by . It tells the story of the Blight—a galactic-scale, transcendent evil—and the humans racing to stop it.
Inversions, by , is the sixth Culture book, but it is very different from typical Culture novels: there are no spaceships and almost no advanced technology. Instead, it follows Culture citizens DeWar and Vosill as they manipulate a medieval society.
Look to Windward, by , is the seventh Culture book. It explores the aftermath of the Idiran–Culture War and Chelgrian civil war.
The Player of Games is the second novel in ’s Culture series. It tells the story of Jernau Morat Gurgeh, a master game player who is recruited to play Azad, an incredibly complex game that serves as the basis for the Empire of Azad’s entire government.
Starquake is the second book in the Cheela series by . It follows the Cheela as they rescue the humans and rebuild after a devastating starquake.
Surface Detail, by , is the ninth Culture book. It follows Lededje Y’breq as she seeks revenge for her own murder, set against the backdrop of a galactic conflict over virtual hells.
My Favorite Books of 2023
The Abyss Beyond Dreams starts off The Chronicle of the Fallers, another series in ’s Commonwealth universe. Though billed as space opera, it often reads more as urban fantasy since most of the story occurs on the planet Bienvenido inside the Void where steam engines are their most advanced technology.
Blindsight is a hard sci-fi novel about first contact with aliens in the near future. A crew of four transhumans and a vampire are sent on a spaceship to investigate an anomaly in the solar system after a swarm of alien probes scan Earth.
The Fall of Hyperion is a sequel that outshines its predecessor. It is everything I was expecting from Hyperion and more! A true masterpiece.
The sequel to Pandora’s Star, Judas Unchained continues right where the last one left off, but with the action ramped up to 11. The various storylines and loose threads come together one by one until it’s the good guys racing against the bad guys for the fate of the universe.
Night Without Stars is the second book in the The Chronicle of the Fallers. It is action packed, with great pacing, and complex characters. It is my new favorite book.
I couldn’t put Pandora’s Star down! It is a sci-fi book that reads more like a thriller. There were always new mysteries that just a few more pages promised the answers to.
Serpent Valley, the third book in the War Horses series, is another quick, action-packed read—but without the flaws holding back its predecessors. Easily my favorite of the series so far!