The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler

 

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

Started: April 5, 2025
Completed: April 7, 2025
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nebula Award Committee

Review:

This book is both a conservation work as well as a Science Fiction work.  That is a tough combination.  I have been sort of wrapped up in the concept of "uploading" one's intellect into a computer and this book examines that possibility while also looking at the possibility of recreating extinct creatures (not really Jurassic Park) while at the same time examining how those creatures would impact the environment and still be subject to the very conditions that brought them to extinction.  This is well done for the most part and the shifting perspectives are useful.  The book is brief, however, so it feels like the characters are truncated and only one of the characters undergoes meaningful change or development.

the Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo

 

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo is one of the Hugo award finalists.  It is the first book in the Singing Hills Cycle.

Started: 10/3/2021
Completed: 10/3/2021
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

This story is told through a series of found objects.  The narrator seems to be a collector of stories and the subject is at the end of life telling the stories of her life.  It helps that these stories, literally, define a kingdom.  I did not find the stories themselves particularly compelling.  I did, however, really enjoy the ending.

Network Effect, Martha Wells

 

Network Effect by Martha Wells is in the Murderbot Diaries series, but I read it without the rest of the series due to the Hugo Award nomination.

Started: 9/30/2021

Completed: 10/3/2021

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

I like the way that this story is told.  Trying to see the point of view of a "construct" (more machine then human, so cyborg doesn't seem right).  I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.  Having multiple copies of the "construct" made things odd and throwing in the addition of an alien life form brought a lot of complexity.  I probably would have done better with this book if I had read the beginning of the series so that the numerous "new" things wouldn't have seemed so new.

Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey

 

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey is a novel that was nominated for the Hugo Awards.

Started: 9/29/2021
Completed: 9/30/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

At base, this is a puppy love story.  The story opens, however, with a hanging of the protagonist's girlfriend.  The hanging leads to the protagonist running off to be a librarian (that part was funny and clever) in a dystopian future that looks kind of like the 1830s.  Beyond that, the hanging largely loses its significance and the protagonist falls in love with the next lesbian (non-gender binary, so, I don't pretend to know the correct term, but I went with lesbian to indicate that "they" are a "she" when in town) she meets.  I just didn't buy it and found it hard to be caught by any of the characters.  I think it would have been a stronger book as an 1830s Western with an odd group of all female cowboys/vigilantes.  Aside from the initial laugh, I'm not sure that the whole librarian concept brought much to the game (of course, the librarians are hugely subversive under a façade of "uprightness").

Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi

 

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi is one of the Hugo Award books.

Started: 09/28/2021
Completed: 9/29/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

I just did not understand where this story was going.  It felt hard to get to know the characters as the story switched perspectives a lot for a short story.  It kind of felt to me like Onyebuchi had a story that was written and then he was told to make one of the characters a witch and then he switched around what had been flashbacks from yet another character perspective into readings by the witch.  I dunno, didn't catch me the right way.  The start was really good...probably would have been a better story if the story had developed more directly from there.

Finna, Nino Cipri

 

Finna by Nino Cipri is a book nominated for a Hugo, so I want to read it before voting.

Started: 9/17/2021
Completed: 9/17/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

This was a good and well written story.  The use of they/them pronouns threw me several times as I thought on some occasions that the reference was to a plurality and not and individual.  When I took the position that the author was going to have to make it clear to me when it was a plurality ("they both" or "they all" or something like that), I had a much easier time.  The way that the metaverses work was coherent and sensible.  It was worth the read.

Piranesi, Susanna Clarke

 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a book I picked up so that I would be ready to vote on the Hugo awards this year.  I had a hard time with Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell before I finally gave up.  I was not planning to read this book, but I decided to attend DisCon III virtually and a benefit of attending the conference is that I can vote on the Hugo awards, so I thought I should read the nominees.

Started: 8/13/2021
Completed: 8/20/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

I dislike being lost and I was still lost half way through the book (arguably until the appearance of The Prophet).  Even at the end, I was still lost.  I disliked this book although the world was vivid and the characters were complex, I couldn't bring myself to like any of the characters in any way.

Uprooted, Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik has been on my list for quite a few years (ever since reading His Majesty's Dragon).  It seems likely that a television series based on this book and its sequel are in the works.

Started:  8/5/2019
Completed: 8/11/2019
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

What a wonderful read!  Really enjoyed it.  I enjoyed the approach to magic which viewed it as enhancing that which already exists.  The story was good and it was fun.  It was also great to hear a story that has Baba Yaga as a positive influence--the witch you kind of like.