Out of curiosity I looked up the Nebula award nominees. I don't get to vote there, since only professional SF&F writers may vote for that award.

To my surprise this year the nominees are almost the same. There usually is some overlap but this is more than I expected.

Here is the list.

NOVEL

Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury US; Bloomsbury UK)

The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US & UK)

Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Jo Fletcher)

The Midnight Bargain, C.L. Polk (Erewhon)

Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga; Solaris)

Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

Thanks for posting these lists Rosefolly!

I also loved Piranesi. I have read Storm of Locusts and Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse, and have Black Sun on my wish list. Please let us know what you think of it when you read it. I also have N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy sitting in my TBR pile. She's an author I've been meaning to get to forever. I've also been intrigued by the murderbot series, and since you like them, I will definitely give them a try.

I don't know much about science-fiction, but I notice most of the novels have women writers. Is this usual nowadays? I suppose I'm still thinking of sci-fi when men writers dominated the genre.

I have a copy of the Nebula nominee, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, which is described as Jane Eyre meets H. P. Lovecraft in Latin America. I used to love old-time Gothics so I'm usually willing to try anything with Gothic tropes, even if things get weird. Rosefolly and Sheri, have you read it?

Friedag, I have not read it, but I've seen a lot of good reviews. Gothics are not usually my cuppa tea, but it does look interesting.

The only ones I have read so far are Network Effect and Piranesi. I've just started The City We Became. I'm not far enough into it yet to have an opinion. I look forward to hearing what others think of the various books. I'll probably read the Nebula nominees since there are only two more to read that I'm already going to read for the Hugos.

As for women writers, there have been women SF writers since at least the 1940's, though in those days they tended to use male pseudonyms. Growing up in the 1960's I was the only girl I knew who read SF. These days it seems to be pretty evenly divided with both writers and readers.. The Hugos used to be a white male bastion (with a few exceptions) but there has been pushback. In fact, the politically correct pushback has almost been too much. I can understand and even sympathize why this is so, but look forward to a time when balance eventually emerges. It certainly was unbalanced in the other direction for many years.

Rosefolly, my mother (b. 1922) and her mother (b. 1896) enjoyed science fiction tremendously. Many of the books they loved in widely different genres caught my attention early and became my own favorites, but not so many SF. I think the genre didn't rub off onto me because it confused me. I associated it with surrealism after trying to read G. K. Chesterton (The Man Who Was Thursday), H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, Franz Kafka, Andre Breton, Edgar Allan Poe, etc. -- all of which many readers lump into science fiction.

I saved the following excerpt from Nancy Pearl in Book Lust:

. . . science fiction, fantasy, and horror [are] on a continuum, one genre leading into the other. Science fiction deals with the world of the possible, if not the probable; fantasy deals with another world, one that doesn't conform to the natural laws of the world in which we live, and horror fiction (often referred to as dark fantasy) depicts a world of unnatural terrors.

Rosefolly, do you agree with Pearl's general summary? It makes sense to me, in a boiled-down form, but I don't have enough experience reading any of the three to know where, say, magical realism, mythologies, folk tales, speculative fiction, and the various hybrid forms slot in. It seems to be a real source of contention between those who want to lump and those who want to refine into niches.

My mother once gently informed me that my favorite Daphne du Maurier novel, The House on the Strand, is sci-fi/fantasy. She was right, I suppose. What about The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel that some readers call science fiction?

I'm always looking for an opening up into a genre with its subgenres that I don't understand very well. I realize many of the classic allusions we sprinkle into our everyday speech arose from those sources. I suppose what I'm looking for are accessible tropes. How accessible do you think the current Hugo and Nebula nominees are for the nonexpert or are suitable for the only occasionally immersed reader of those categories? As you read the books, I hope you (anyone) can consider them from that angle, please, and let me know. Thank you!

Sounds about right, Frieda. Lumpers and separators can be found in many other areas of human thought as well. Just look at biological classification! It's a constant pull and tug there. I guess one reason to separate in fiction would be liking one sort and not another, and wanting to clarify why that is so. Personally I like SF and much fantasy, but usually not either magical realism or horror though exceptions do occur. I tend to dislike horror because it scares me for real, not for fun. I do not enjoy being scared. I hate roller coasters for much the same reason. I dislike magical realism because it seems to me that it breaks the contract of a world with consistent internal rules that exists between the reader and the writer. I find it to be a cheat if you establish a realistic word and suddenly it isn't a realistic world anymore, often with no justification. But as I wrote above, exceptions do happen. For example, I simply loved Peace Like a River by Lief Enger, a clear example of magical realism. So go figure.

As for good entry level books into SF&F I do find them from time to time. Years ago I used to recommend Frank Herbert's Dune (and not any of its sequels which all were quite dreadful). I still love it, but it may feel dated now - it's 50 years old and the part of the world it was based on (the Middle East) has changed a great deal in that time. A couple of decades ago I would recommend Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card or Connie Willis's Doomsday Book. Be aware that a lot of people are seriously put off by Card's personal beliefs, though those are not expressed in this particular book. I can't think of a reason not to like Doomsday Book. I still love it. It is one of my all time favorite novels.

As for the recent Hugos, there are definitely some good writers there. Not sure they would all be easy entry into an unfamiliar genre. I'm thinking in particular about N.K. Jemisin. She is a highly skilled writer but her landscapes can feel obscure. I enjoy her work but would not start there. If you find you do enjoy science fiction you will want to read her books eventually.

Sometimes humor can be the gateway. For me it has to be clever humor, and wry is even better, never slapstick which I despise. That is probably why I like the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. There is one on the latest Hugo list, but don't start with that one. You really do need to read them in order since they tell a continuous, if episodic, story. The first one is called All Systems Red. It is a very short book, really a novella, though the books get longer after a while. The main character is a security robot (a "murderbot") whose controlling governor stops working, but she is clever enough that she pretends she still has to obey. She regards humanity with a jaundiced eye, but finds herself slowly developing something like affection for certain humans, much to her dismay. I simply adore them.

Another writer I am enjoying these days is T. Kingfisher. She is a fantasy writer while the Murderbot series is straight up science fiction, but the same intelligent humor is present. Her heroines tend to be women of a certain age, not lovely young things trembling with dew, and I like that, too. She first presented the world she developed with a duology, the Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine. You could read them together as a single story or just skip to the next books Swordheart, Paladin's Grace, and Paladin's Strength. I like them all. She has also written couple of horror novels which I found creepy rather than outright scary (and that's okay by me). She also writes children's and young adult books, but the ones I listed are intended for adults.

If you decide to try them, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Rosefolly, thank you so much for bringing Martha Wells and the Murderbot Diaries to my attention, they're wonderful! I've read the first four books this week and have just started Network Effect. Thank you!

Sheri, it makes me happy that you are enjoying the Murderbot series. It is always satisfying when a book (or books) that we recommend are enjoyed by others.

I have now read four of the six Best Novel nominees. So far I must admit that they are all pretty good, the best slate I've seen since I started voting several years ago. I'm still planning to vote for Piranesi - my favorite book of 2020 in any genre - but if any of the four I've read so far win the award, I can't really complain. I liked Rebecca Roanhorse's Black Sun better than I liked her earlier books. And much to my surprise, I enjoyed Mary Robinette Kowal's The Relentless Moon much more than I liked anything else of hers I've read, even the first book in this series. I'm even going to buy a copy to keep, since I read a library copy. Now back to The City We Became, which I had set aside.

By good fortune, my public library had all six of the nominated novellas, so I'll be starting them in a few days.

Rosefolly, what category do you think "The Hunger Games" would fall into? I really enjoyed that trilogy. Same question for C. Mcarthy's "The Road."

Woodnymph, both are science fiction, not fantasy at all. However neither The Hunger Games trilogy nor The Road was marketed as science fiction. I'm sure it was a financial decision, not based on content, not wanting to scare off potential readers who avoid genre fiction.

I thought both were very well written.

The Hunger Games was marketed for the YA audience but I found it to be a very satisfying reading experience for adults as well. It was not nominated for any SF YA awards, and in my opinion that was an oversight.

The Road was the book that triggered a months-long depression for me, far too realistic and very dark. So I would say that yes, it was exquisitely well written, but too intense for me.

Hi Rosefolly - a bit late to comment on here, but I just wanted to say that I also thought Piranesi was utterly brilliant. It's one of the few books I've ever read where I went back to page one and started all over again immediately. I've read it four times this year - it's going to be one of my comfort-read go-to books in the future, I can tell.

Strange it wasn't even long-listed for the Booker, neither last year or this year. But this might have something to do with when it was published - it came out in late September last year, and by then, the Booker was already whittled down to the short list. It's possible that it wasn't even put forward, due to the awkward timing.

Oh well.

Might you be interested in leading one of our old-fashioned discussions on Piranesi?

Martin

Thank you, Martin! I did not get that reaction from my book club. We each select one book, and that was mine for 2020. No one other than me really liked it, and several actively disliked it.

I would invite you to lead a discussion if you like. I will be happy to pitch in, but having been burnt once, I am not eager to lead a disussion again.

Hot off the press, or in this case, off the video screen. I just watched the tail end of the Hugo awards for 2021. I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

Best Novel is Network Effect by Martha Well, a part of the Murderbot series, and it was my second choice. I really wanted Piranesi, but that is an odd novel, and despite its excellence, I knew it was a long shot. I am content.

The Murderbot Diaries also by Martha Wells won for Best Series. This was my vote, and I thought it was the likely choice.

Best Novella (short novel) was Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo. This was my selection as well.

Best Novelette (long short story) was "Too Many Truths and a Lie" by Sarah Pinkser. I actually don't remember this one, and I definitely voted for something else.

Best Short Story was "Metal Like Blood in the Dark" by T. Kingfisher. I voted for something else, but I remembr struggling to choose as I actually liked ALL the short stories.

Finally the Lodestar Award (a YA award given along with the Hugos) was A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, who happens to be a favorite writer of mine these days. It's the one I voted for as well.

All in all, I could not have asked for better. Except, you know, Piranesi, my absolute favorite book of any genre that I read in 2020.