Monday, January 31, 2022

2022 Nerds of a Feather Hugo Awards Recommended Reading, Part 1: Fiction Categories

Several years ago our founding editor The G asked the flock here at Nerds of a Feather if we would come together to put out a longlist of works we would recommend for Hugo consideration. Flock Together we did.

The rules for inclusion were simple--just: (a) meet the eligibility criteria; and (b) be "award worthy" (i.e. good). Given the subjectivity of the latter, it should come as no surprise that the selections on our longlist reflect the spectrum of tastes, tendencies and predilections found among our group of writers. You'll find selections ranging from the obscure and literary to the unabashedly popular and commercial, and from all corners and subdivisions of the genresphere.

That said, this is not - nor does it intend to be - a comprehensive survey of the field. Some books that are undoubtedly "award worthy," for example, are absent for the simple reason that we haven't read them yet. Thus we encourage you to think of this as a list of candidates to consider--alongside others. Also, while we've done what we can to ensure the recommendations are eligible in their respective categories, it's possible we've made a couple of errors. If you spot something on the list that isn't eligible, please let us know and we'll correct it.

Given the vast number of Hugo categories, we've also made the decision to split the longlist up into multiple posts. Today we look at the fiction categories (Novel, Novella, Novelette and Short Story, Series, and the Not a Hugo Lodestar Award for YA Book). For fiction that is available free of charge, we've embedded a direct link to the story. 

In the interest of being transparent, it is worth noting that several of our writers have published fiction in 2021. Because it would be a conflict of interest, we are not including them on our longlist, but would still invite anyone interested to take a look at their work.

Nerds of a Feather 2022 Recommendation List Series:

Best Novel


Addison, Katherine. Witness for the Dead [Tor (US)/Solaris (UK)]
Aoki, Ryka. Light From Uncommon Stars [Tor]
Bangs, Elly. Unity [Tachyon]
Brissett, Jennifer Marie. Destroyer of Light [Tor]
Byrne, Monica. The Actual Star [Harper Voyager]
Carrick, M.A. The Mask of Mirrors [Orbit]
Chambers, Becky. The Galaxy and the Ground Within [Harper Voyager (US)/Hodder & Staughton (UK)]
Cho, Zen. Black Water Sister [Ace (US)/ Macmillan (UK)]
Clark, C.L. The Unbroken [Orbit]
Clark, P. Djéli. Master of Djinn [Tor (US)/Orbit (UK)]
Dahlan, Sarina. Reset [Blackstone]
Doerr, Anthony. Cloud Cuckoo Land [Scribner]
Goodwater, Walter. The Liar of Red Valley [Solaris]
Kalsulke, Calvin. Several People Are Typing [Doubleday]
Khanani, Intisar. The Theft of Sunlight [Harperteen (US)/Hot Key Books (UK)]
Kingfisher, T. Paladin's Strength [Red Wombat Studios]
Kingston, Alex. Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse [BBC Books]
Lee, Fonda. Jade Legacy [Orbit]
Marillier, Juliet. A Song of Flight [Random House]
Marske, Freya. A Marvellous Light [Tordotcom]
Martine, Arkady. A Desolation Called Peace [Tor]
Novik, Naomi. The Last Graduate [Del Rey]
Parker-Chan, Shelley. She Who Became the Sun [Tor]
Scott, Melissa. Water Horse [Candlemark & Gleam]
Solomon, Rivers. Sorrowland [MCD (US)/Merky Books (UK)]
Suri, Tasha. The Jasmine Throne [Orbit]
Tchaikovsky, Adrian. Shards of Earth [Orbit]
Wade, Juliette. Transgressions of Power [DAW]
Wigmore, Rem. Foxhunt [Queen of Swords Press]
Wilson, Lorraine. This is Our Undoing [Luna Press Publishing]


Best Novella



Chambers, Becky. A Psalm for the Wild-Built [Tordotcom]
Cipri, Nino. Defekt [Tordotcom]
Corrance, Joanna. John's Eyes [Luna Press Publishing]
de Bodard, Aliette. Fireheart Tiger [Tordotcom]
Dila, Dilman. The Future God of Love [Luna Press Publishing]
Forrest, Francesca. Lagoonfire [Annorlunda]
Grimwood, Terry. Skin for Skin [Luna Press Publishing]
Hamilton, Peter F., and Gareth L. Powell. Light Chaser [Tordotcom]
Kagunda, Shingai Njeri. & This is How to Stay Alive [Neon Hemlock]
Lu, S. Qiouyi. In The Watchful City [Tordotcom]
Mohamed, Premee. And What Can We Offer You Tonight [Neon Hemlock]
Mohamed, Premee. The Annual Migration of Clouds [ECW Press] 
Mohamed, Premee. These Lifeless Things [Solaris Satellites]
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia. The Return of the Sorceress [Subterranean Press]
Ogden, Aimee. Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters [Tordotcom]
Rocklyn, Zin E. Flowers for the Sea [Tordotcom]
Tchaikovsky, Adrian. Elder Race [Tordotcom]
Triantafyllou, Eugenia. "The Giants of the Violet Sea" [Uncanny Magazine]
Valente, Catherynne M. Comfort Me With Apples [Tordotcom]
Waldroon, Thomas S. "A Theater" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
Willrich, Chris. "A Manslaughter of Crows" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]


Best Novelette

Brett, Evey. "What the Wind Saw" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
De Bodard, Aliette. "Mulberry and Owl" [Uncanny]
Decker, A.E. "Traces" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
DiGirolamo, Cara Masten. "Concerto for Winds and Resistance" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
Dykstal, Andrew. "Quintessence" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald. "O2 Arena" [Galaxy's Edge]
Kowal, Mary Robinette. "Ina's Spark" [Uncanny]
Lee, P.H. "Just Enough Rain" [Giganotosaurus]
Lewis, Clark. "The Devil Hunters of Fawn Street" [The Future Fire]
Libicki, Naomi. "Kuemo of the Masks" [Giganotosaurus]
Ning, Lam. "k.a. (birthright)" [The Future Fire]
Perry, Aaron. "The Witness Brûska Lai" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
Rambo, Cat. "Every Breath a Question, Every Heartbeat an Answer" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
Redick, Robert VS. "Vanishing Point" [Clarkesworld]
Vaughn, Carrie. "The Burning Girl" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
Wilde, Fran. "Unseelie Brothers, Ltd" [Uncanny]
Yoachim, Caroline M. "Colors of the Immortal Palette" [Uncanny]
Zeller, Mathilda. "The Incident at Veniaminov" [Mermaids Monthly]


Best Short Story

Aikman, Barton. "Black Box of the Terraworms" [Apex Magazine]
Anthropy, Anna. "Heat from Fire" [Strange Horizons]
Bailey, Marika. "The White Road, or How a Crow Carried Death Over a River" [FIYAH]
Brooks-Flemister. "The Chicken Line" [Constelacion]
Cade, Octavia. "Radioactivity" [Uncanny Magazine]
Cahill, Martin. "The Fifth Horseman" [Fireside]
Caldwell, Christopher. "Femme and Sundance" [Uncanny]
Carrasco-Acosta, Emily. "Purgatory is High, Low and Inside Me" [Augur]
Chan, L. "It Takes a Village" [Augur]
Chapela, Andrea. "Now You Feel It" [Lightspeed]
Clark, C.L. "The Captain and the Quartermaster" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
Coleman, Kel. "Before, After and the Space Between" [Unfettered Hexes]
Coleman, Kel. "Cirque Mécanique" [Anathema]
Coleman, Kel. "Delete your First Memory for Free" [FIYAH]
Cooney, C.S.E., and Carlos Hernandez. "A Minnow, or Perhaps a Colossal Squid" [Mermaids Monthly]
Dorie, Sarina. "Teaching to the Test" [Giganotosaurus]
Drnovšek Zorko, Filip Hajdar. "The Last Days of Summer in the City of Olives" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
Drnovšek Zorko, Filip Hajdar. "Red is Our Country" [Lightspeed Magazine]
Drnovšek Zorko, Filip Hajdar. "When Your Being Here is Gentler than Your Absence Hard" (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Duncan, R.K. "Hassan the Executioner walks out of Jawasar for the Last Time" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
García-Rosas, Nelly Geraldine. "Install new_sun" [Constelacion]
Gidney, Craig L. "Antelope Brothers" [Unfettered Hexes]
Gomez, Cynthia. "Thread Count" [Strange Horizons]
Harrow, Alix E. "Mr Death" [Apex]
Husky, Azure. "Unknown Number" [Twitter]
Kader, Farah. "To New Jerusalem" [FIYAH]
Kirby, Marianne. "Effects of Altitude on the Blood Elevations of Love" [Unfettered Hexes]
Kinney, Benjamin C. "I Would" [Fantasy Magazine]
LaPointe, Sasha. "Mouth" [Strange Horizons]
Lingen, Marissa. "Shrapnel from My Cousin's Kaiju Battle: $229 Plus Shipping" [Monstrous Bonds]
Lore, Danny. "The Passing of Sinclair Manor, or, the House of Magical Negros" [Unfettered Hexes]
Loyer, Jessie. "Marked by Bears" [Apex]
Nigro, Mel. "Some things that happen when you have the strength of ten men" [Augur]
Nnadi, Ada. "Dearest" [Anathema]
Pinsker, Sarah. "Where Oaken Hearts do Gather" [Uncanny]
Raines II, Aurelius. "Throw Rug" [Apex]
Ring, Lauren. "One Hundred Seconds to Midnight" [Escape Pod]
Scholfield, Yah Yah. "Meditations on Sun-Ra’s Bassim" [FIYAH]
Seidel, Alexandra. "The City, My Love" [The Future Fire]
Singer, Alexandra. "A Home for the Hungry Tide" [Apparition]
Sjunneson, Elsa. "Ocean's 6" [Mermaids Monthly]
Taqvi, Fatima. "Secrets of the Kath" [Strange Horizons]
Tavares, Nathan. "Missed Calls" [Giganotosaurus]
Thakrar, Shveta. "Heart Shine" [Uncanny]
Wasserstein, Izzy. "Dead at the Feet of a God" [Beneath Ceaseless Skies]
White, Andrew Joseph. "The Constellations are Unrecognisable Here" [Strange Horizons]
Young, Eris. "Deal". [Escape Pod]



Best Series



Barker, R.J. Tide Child (The Bone Ship's Wake)
Chokshi. Roshani. Gilded Wolves (The Bronzed Beasts)
Cogman, Genevieve. Invisible Library (The Untold Story)
Ford, R.S. War of the Archons (The Spear of Malice)
Frohock, T. Los Nefilim (A Song With Teeth)
Jones, Howard Andrew. Ring Sworn (When the Goddess Wakes)
Kingfisher, T. The Paladin Series (Paladin's Hope)
Lee, Fonda. The Green Bone Saga (Jade Legacy)
Liu, Ken. The Dandelion Dynasty (The Veiled Throne)
Marillier, Juliet. Warrior Bards (A Song of Flight)
Mbalia, Kwame. Tristan Strong (Tristan Strong Keeps Punching)
McGuire, Seanan. The Ghost Roads (Angel of the Overpass)
McGuire, Seanan. Incryptid (Calculated Risks)
McGuire, Seanan. Wayward Children (Across the Green Grass Fields)
Palmer, Ada. Terra Ignota (Perhaps the Stars)
Polk, C.L. The Kingston Cycle (Soulstar)
Stross, Charles. Merchant Princes (Invisible Sun)
Wagers, K.B. Farian War Trilogy (Out Past the Stars)



Lodestar Award for Best YA Book


(Note: Although they are not YA, we think there are Middle Grade books that fit best in the Lodestar's wheelhouse. We've included these on this list with an asterisk *, for nominators to come to their own decisions about eligibility.)

Anders, Charlie Jane. Victories Greater Than Death [Tor Teen (US)/Titan (UK)]
*Chadda, Sarwat. City of the Plague God [Rick Riordan Presents]
Forna, Namina. The Gilded Ones [Delacorte (US)/Usborne (UK)]
He, Joan. The Ones We're Meant to Find [Roaring Brook Press]
Hernandez, Alex, Matthew David Goodman, and Sarah Rafael García (eds). Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology [Mad Creek Books]
Ifueko, Jordan. Redemptor [Amulet (US)/Hot Key (UK)]
Khanani, Intisar. The Theft of Sunlight [Harperteen (US)/Hot Key Books (UK)]
Kritzer, Naomi. Chaos on CatNet [Tor Teen]
Lim, Elizabeth. Six Crimson Cranes [Knopf (US)/Hodder & Staughton (UK)]
*Mbalia, Kwame. Tristan Strong Keeps Punching [Rick Riordan Presents]
*Mbalia, Kwame, and Prince Joel Makonnen. Last Gate of the Emperor [Scholastic]
McLemore, Anna-Marie. The Mirror Season [Feiwel & Friends] 
Mikuta, Zoe Hana. Gearbreakers [Feiwel & Friends]
Morrow, Bethany C. A Chorus Rises [Tor]
Pacat, C.S. Dark Rise [Quill Tree Books]
Zhao, Xiran Jae. Iron Widow [Penguin Teen (US)/Rock the Boat (UK)]