Book Reviews: By Award
Below you’ll find short reviews of the books I’ve read, grouped by the awards they’ve received.
Hugo Award
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 was not at all the book I expected. To give you an idea of how much I misjudged it, about a third of the way through I would have rated it two stars and almost put it down, about two-thirds of the way through I was solidly at three stars, and by the end I was up to four. It was not the all-time great I was promised, but it was very good.
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.
Stand on Zanzibar, by , is a Hugo-winning, New Wave science fiction novel that explores overpopulation, corporate power, and societal collapse.
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
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.
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 was not at all the book I expected. To give you an idea of how much I misjudged it, about a third of the way through I would have rated it two stars and almost put it down, about two-thirds of the way through I was solidly at three stars, and by the end I was up to four. It was not the all-time great I was promised, but it was very good.
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
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.