lizbee | Hugo reading update: novels

The real challenge for the novels will be finding anything I love as much as A Memory Called Empire. Which I loved, a lot.

I've been an Aurealis judge twice since the last time I was a Hugo voter, which means I have a System for reading: I start everything, but I don't even think twice about not finishing something that's not working for me. So.

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

We have established that McGuire's writing is super not for me. I tried the first page. It was fine. I went on. The prose took on a distinct lavender tinge. I noped out before it went full purple.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I expected this to be the big rival to A Memory Called Empire in my heart. Instead ... friends, I hated it. I described it on Twitter as "not so much a novel as a Tumblr post that got out of hand". And while I stand by that, it also reminds me of a Hot Topic I visited in Detroit early this year: a disorganised mish-mash of goth-lite and pop culture, occupied by sullen teens.

It was compelling, in that there was a certain car crash quality to the prose, but as my hatereading and book-sporking days are behind me (and nothing of value was lost), I stopped reading.

Mostly, when I DNF a Hugo shortlistee, I decide that it's just Not For Me and leave it out of my vote. Gideon the Ninth gets an actual No Award from me (and honestly, based on the quality of the Tor works I've read lately, I'm starting to have serious questions about them as a publisher).

(But seriously, if Gideon has spent her entire life on Planet Home Brand Gormenghast, how does she know about mints on pillows? It was around that line in the very first chapter that I started to think the writing might be a bit ... bad.)

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

Just as I was starting to wonder if my ability to enjoy fiction was completely broken, I moved onto this -- and now I'm 40% through and liking it a lot. It's not the sort of thing I'd normally pick up, and the "soldier goes to war, finds out it's not all it's cracked up to be" calls for that Devil Wears Prada "groundbreaking" gif. But there's also time travel, and an interesting puzzle at the heart of it, and I enjoy how Hurley doesn't use seventeen words where one or two will do.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

nonelvis

I actually finished Gideon the Ninth despite hating virtually every character, simply because somewhere about 30% of the way through the book, it took on a plot trope I like a whole lot. I mean, not enough for me to genuinely enjoy what I was reading, which desperately needed a competent editor, but at least enough to keep me skimming.

Anyway, you already know my feelings on the rest of the field. I'm very curious to know what you think of The City in the Middle of the Night, though!

From:

sugar_fey

Heh, I love Gideon the Ninth much for the same reasons that you hated it. ;P I also love Time War and Becky Chambers' works, so I think we have very different reading tastes (which is okay, obviously).

I really enjoyed Light Brigade. Hurley knows how to balance horror and sci fi well.

Speaking of Tor, I read reviews for 'Docile,' which is one of their much hyped 2020 releases, and oh boy. Assuming the reviews are an accurate representation of the text, that one definitely deserves a What Were They Thinking award.

From:

lizbee

I think we have very different reading tastes (which is okay, obviously).

I'll allow it, I GUESS.

Speaking of Tor, I read reviews for 'Docile,' which is one of their much hyped 2020 releases, and oh boy. Assuming the reviews are an accurate representation of the text, that one definitely deserves a What Were They Thinking award.

Clearly I had to go google reviews, and, um, oh no.

From:

nonelvis

Oh. Oh, wow. I've liked the one or two short stories of Szpara's I've read, but this book sounds like a hard fuckin' nope.

From:

lizbee

My favourite review so far is the on on GR that starts out, "Do they use commas differently in this dystopian future?"

From:

conuly

Welp, I haven't read the book, but now I want to say something about punctuation and orthography. I don't know what, but it's something.

From:

tree_and_leaf

I read one of the free excerpts on the Tor blog, and..... eesh. And it's not even well-written!

From:

sugar_fey

Clearly I had to go google reviews, and, um, oh no.

Yeeeeeeeeah. I've seen several reviews on Goodreads describing it as a published slave!fic with delusions of grandeur which manages to be completely tone deaf on the history of, y'know, actual slavery in the US.

From:

lizbee

"Do they use commas differently in this dystopian future?"

GR reviewer asking the big questions! Thank you for bringing this book to my attention! I haven't had this much fun reading one-star reviews since Mark Oshiro's Anger Is A Gift -- which, come to think of it, is also from Tor.

From:

sugar_fey

This is my favourite review so far:

It’s good that we’ve collectively arrived at the age in publishing when you can write all sorts of gay stuff -- including, apparently, generic slavefic that can be published as screaming hot takes on capitalism, but it’s TERRIBLE GENERIC SLAVEFIC first and foremost, with all the cliches that come with it, including possessive buttplugs shoved up your recently deflowered ass.

From:

lizbee

The reviewers' preoccupation with the fingerprint-locked buttplug has really improved my day.

From:

alisx

... and that cover. Given the historic (and topically current!) association with that pose in particular it just seems... not a... great choice? For this specific story? o_O

From:

lizbee

I didn't even think of that! And I can cut Tor some slack here -- they couldn't have known this moment in history was coming. (I side-eye Kameron Hurley more for using the initials BLM for her amoral corporate police force.)

From:

alisx

I mean... they couldn't have known about the current protests but it's not like the taking-a-knee thing hasn't been, like, all over the US media for the last four years? It just feels very... yeah. :\

(And honestly I've been side-eyeing Hurley since her whole "tougher than thou" ~French Resistance~ Cool Girl shtick a few years back... >_>)

From:

sugar_fey

I'll allow it, I GUESS.

Good to know. ;) By the way, one author whose work we do agree on is Seanan Maguire. I find her writing incredibly mediocre and for the life of me I can't understand why she is so popular.

From:

starlady

I do think the decision to set it in Baltimore is a huge WTF and a huge editorial fail. The history angle makes it a huge fucking yikes; if they'd cut that aspect it would be…not wholly without merits.

From:

lizbee

I feel like, if it had been marketed as "queer SF 50 Shades of Gray", there'd be less pushback, but claiming to have something Profound to say about capitalism and consent raises the bar.

From:

tellitslant

I keep getting stuck in the middle of A Memory Called Empire, not because it's not great (IT'S SO GREAT), but because I want to give it more attention than I have had the brainpower for. I am very excited to read the first half for the third time and finish the whole thing... eventually.

I'm interested in Hurley, reading your comments here. I read a big series by Django Wexler last year that was fantasy war fiction, which is not a genre I usually pick up but which compelled me through several Large volumes, so I know I can like that if it's good!

I finished Gideon the Ninth and I think I'll read the sequel, but... not because I enjoyed it? I am kind of compelled to find out what happens, but I did not enjoy that process through the first book. And yet!

From:

lizbee

I keep getting stuck in the middle of A Memory Called Empire, not because it's not great (IT'S SO GREAT), but because I want to give it more attention than I have had the brainpower for. I am very excited to read the first half for the third time and finish the whole thing... eventually.

It's really not a novel you can skim. Which is part of why I loved it, but it does take work.

I am kind of compelled to find out what happens, but I did not enjoy that process through the first book. And yet!

Isn't this what Wikipedia summaries are for?

From:

starlady

I loved every word of Gideon; it reminded me of Gene Wolfe mixed with Gormenghast mixed with actual human female characters. And the way she just threw meme jokes in struck me as very punk rock.

I'm gearing up to give the Hurley the old college try. I hated The Mirror Empire and her nonfiction collection, but I hear that she has abandoned grimdark since the 2016 election so…we'll see I guess.

I really liked both A Memory Called Empire and Middlegame. One of them will probably be my top vote but I'm not sure which yet.

From:

alisx

and honestly, based on the quality of the Tor works I've read lately, I'm starting to have serious questions about them as a publisher

I sadly brought myself to this conclusion at last years' Hugos. Like, Tor almost has a kind of (ugh)... house style? And I Do Not Like It. :\

From:

rivendellrose

I described it on Twitter as "not so much a novel as a Tumblr post that got out of hand". And while I stand by that, it also reminds me of a Hot Topic I visited in Detroit early this year: a disorganised mish-mash of goth-lite and pop culture, occupied by sullen teens.

...Lol, I just got on the wait-list at my local library for this, and between the above and the fact that another book I'd found on the same rec list of F/F novels is absurdly dull, now I am doubting my decision. Haven't read any of the others mentioned, though, so it's hard to tell if we agree on style, but that... does not sound at all appealing.

From:

lizbee

Look, many, many people I follow, whose taste I frequently share, really loved it. It's very possible that I simply have lower-than-usual tolerance for purple prose right now!

From:

fred_mouse

I agree with you on Gideon the Ninth, I've stalled on A Memory Called Empire, and I just about read Middlegame through in one sitting.

I'd really appreciate a sentence or two about why picking up A Memory Called Empire is worth it, given that at the moment I'm having similar reactions to it as Gideon the Ninth.

And like you, I have a process of reading what grabs, and DNFing the rest when judging. I finish things if I then have time, but I prioritise the ones that grab me.

From:

lizbee

I'd really appreciate a sentence or two about why picking up A Memory Called Empire is worth it, given that at the moment I'm having similar reactions to it as Gideon the Ninth.

I found the first couple of chapters a bit frustrating -- I feel like "the story opens with a conclave of people we don't know, talking about serious issues we don't understand" is a bit of a rookie error in writing. I spent a couple of chapters sort of passively reading and trying not to think too hard about what was happening and whether I liked it. Then it clicked, and I fell in love.

From:

fred_mouse

Thank you. It sounds like I'm still in the middle of those frustrating few chapters and finding it v. confusing. I'll put time aside this weekend to power through a bit more and see whether I engage.

From:

aristofranes

I liked Gideon, but... should it even be nominated for the same award as A Memory Called Empire? Absolutely not. (I have a horrible feeling it will win, though, its advertising campaign was mighty and it has a huge following...)

I noped out of the Light Brigade really early on, but perhaps I should give it another whirl? I tried reading it last year, maybe it was a case of it just not being the right book for me at that time...

From:

lizbee

(I have a horrible feeling it will win, though, its advertising campaign was mighty and it has a huge following...)

I have the same horrible feeling. But oh well! All I can do is vote!

I noped out of the Light Brigade really early on, but perhaps I should give it another whirl?

Maybe? I was put off by all the gore and shit and general grossness of the opening chapters, but it was such a relief to read some basic, competent prose that I kept going. I didn't really start to enjoy it until Dietz got out of basic training and the actual plot began -- and once it did, it was complex enough that I was just so, so grateful that Hurley kept the narrative voice simple.

From:

tree_and_leaf

Even though "A Memory Called Empire" is superb, I've got a horrible feeling that Tor is turning into Progressive Baen, and will publish any old rubbish as long as it's got the right politics and fits the house style.

(I do like Kowal, deep reservations about the sex scenes apart, and I sometimes like Scalzi's books, but after all Baen has Bujold, so their list's not entirely dreck. either).

Edited Date: 2020-06-19 01:45 pm (UTC)

From:

lizbee

I've got a horrible feeling that Tor is turning into Progressive Baen, and will publish any old rubbish as long as it's got the right politics and fits the house style.

I have the same suspicion, but worse, I don't think their editorial staff is putting in the work to improve stories which are solid but not yet ready for publication. (And the copy-editing, even in books I really love like Network Effect, is sloppy.)

And I'm really sad about that! Tor publishes books and authors I love, including friends! And I'd much rather read a shitty Tor novel than a good Baen one. Luckily it's not a binary choice, and there are still other publishers out there -- ones whose parent companies don't embargo library purchases for ebooks.

From:

tree_and_leaf

I don't think their editorial staff is putting in the work to improve stories which are solid but not yet ready for publication

Which is pretty unforgivable in a publishing house - especially as these days self-publication is so easy, the main value they're adding should come in the form of good editing.