Books 30-33: More Hugo Reading
30. Feed by Mira Grant
31. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
32-33. Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
These were the other novels (besides Cryoburn that I read for the Hugo ballot this year. I also started Dervish House by Ian McDonald, but set it down because it didn't engage me very well and I wanted to get on with the rest of the category, but when I have more patience for a slow start I'll go back to it. (Apparently the book really picks up about a third of the way through it; I abandoned it after about a sixth. We'll see.)
My final ballot had Feed at the top, followed by Kingdoms, then Blackout/All Clear, Cryoburn, and Dervish House. Feed was a fantastic, exciting story with a well-developed world, and it made me care about the characters quite a bit. It wasn't the deepest book, but it was more fun than any of the others. Kingdoms was highly imaginative fantasy where the gods were nearly as interesting characters as the mortals, and the slow reveal of one of the major plot points of the book was very nicely done. Blackout/All Clear was in dire need of editing for length, and I really didn't like the direction that it took the series' conception of the time continuum, but it was an entertaining story regardless; I still prefer her other novels in that universe, though. Cryoburn, as I mentioned, was decent enough but really felt like it wasn't living up to the awesomeness of the rest of the series.
I'm now working on a reread of A Song of Ice and Fire; I'm very close to beginning A Dance with Dragons, but I'll write those up as a separate entry.
31. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
32-33. Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
These were the other novels (besides Cryoburn that I read for the Hugo ballot this year. I also started Dervish House by Ian McDonald, but set it down because it didn't engage me very well and I wanted to get on with the rest of the category, but when I have more patience for a slow start I'll go back to it. (Apparently the book really picks up about a third of the way through it; I abandoned it after about a sixth. We'll see.)
My final ballot had Feed at the top, followed by Kingdoms, then Blackout/All Clear, Cryoburn, and Dervish House. Feed was a fantastic, exciting story with a well-developed world, and it made me care about the characters quite a bit. It wasn't the deepest book, but it was more fun than any of the others. Kingdoms was highly imaginative fantasy where the gods were nearly as interesting characters as the mortals, and the slow reveal of one of the major plot points of the book was very nicely done. Blackout/All Clear was in dire need of editing for length, and I really didn't like the direction that it took the series' conception of the time continuum, but it was an entertaining story regardless; I still prefer her other novels in that universe, though. Cryoburn, as I mentioned, was decent enough but really felt like it wasn't living up to the awesomeness of the rest of the series.
I'm now working on a reread of A Song of Ice and Fire; I'm very close to beginning A Dance with Dragons, but I'll write those up as a separate entry.