Ranking and reviewing this year's Hugo nominees for best novel! We summarize the beginning of each book, review them (with no spoilers), and talk about what kind of reader is likely to love (and hate) each one.
Ranking and reviewing the best speculative fiction books of 2021! Here's the extremely abridged version of the list, with a one sentence summary of each:
6. Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark - A murder mystery set in a steampunk version of Cairo with lots of genies.
5. The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers - A bunch of aliens are stuck at an interstellar truck stop, hanging out with a cute kangaroo.
4. She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - Mulan, but Mulan acts more like Walter White from Breaking Bad.
3. A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine - Translator needed to talk with scary aliens, but everyone has an ulterior motive.
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - A high school science teacher is alone in space trying to save the world - no pressure.
1. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki - A young trans woman meets a violin teacher who owes the devil seven souls - oh and the donut lady down the block is a starship captain too.
If you're excited about this year's Hugo, you can vote if you want to! You can either attend the annual convention, or buy a supporting membership for $50 to be able to vote. If you want to vote or attend, you can get your membership here: https://registration.chicon.org/memberships
And if you are going to the convention, please drop us a line and let us know! We'll be there running a red carpet and interviewing authors, and we'd love to meet all the rest of the Hugonauts from around the world too! Shoot us a DM on twitter or instagram, or send us an email to hugonautspodcast@gmail.com to let us know you'll be in Chicago.
Happy reading y'all!