2020 Novellapalooza

stack of books ©canstockphoto / olegd

[Editor’s note: be sure to read the comments on this post for more novellas and more Filer reviews.]

By JJ:

TL;DR: Here’s what I thought of the 2020 Novellas. What did you think?

I’m a huge reader of novels, but not that big on short fiction. But the last few years, I’ve done a personal project to read and review as many Novellas as I could (presuming that the story Synopsis had some appeal for me). I ended up reading:

  • 31 of the novellas published in 2015,
  • 35 of the novellas published in 2016,
  • 50 of the novellas published in 2017,
  • 38 of the novellas published in 2018,
  • 57 of the 2019 novellas,
  • and this year I was waiting for access to a few novellas from my library, so I was reading others, and thus my final total crept up to 59!

The result of these reading sprees were

I really felt as though this enabled me to do Hugo nominations for the Novella category in an informed way, and a lot of Filers got involved with their own comments. So I’m doing it again this year.

It is not at all uncommon for me to choose to read a book despite not feeling that the jacket copy makes the book sound as though it is something I would like – and to discover that I really like or love the work anyway. On the other hand, It is not at all uncommon for me to choose to read a book which sounds as though it will be up my alley and to discover that, actually, the book doesn’t really do much for me.

Thus, my opinions on the following novellas vary wildly: stories I thought I would love but didn’t, stories I didn’t expect to love but did, and stories which aligned with my expectations – whether high or low.

Bear in mind that while I enjoy both, I tend to prefer Science Fiction over Fantasy – and that while I enjoy suspense and thrillers, I have very little appreciation for Horror (and to be honest, I think Lovecraft is way overrated). What’s more, I apparently had a defective childhood, and I do not share a lot of peoples’ appreciation for fairytale retellings and portal fantasies. My personal assessments are therefore not intended to be the final word on these stories, but merely a jumping-off point for Filer discussion.

Novellas are listed in two sections below. The first section, those with cover art, are the ones I have read, and they include mini-reviews by me. These are in approximate order from most-favorite to least-favorite (but bear in mind that after around the first dozen listed, there was not a large degree of difference in preference among most of the remainder, with the exception of a handful at the bottom). The second section is those novellas I haven’t read, in alphabetical order by title.

I’ve included plot summaries, and where I could find them, links to either excerpts or the full stories which can be read online for free. Some short novels which fall between 40,000 and 48,000 words (within the Hugo Novella category tolerance) have been included, and in a couple of cases, novelettes which were long enough to be in the Hugo Novella tolerance were also included.

Please feel free to post comments about 2020 novellas which you’ve read, as well. And if I’ve missed your File 770 comment about a novella, or an excerpt for a novella, please point me to it!

If you see something that looks like gibberish, it is text that has been ROT-13’ed to avoid spoilers. (Please be sure to rot-13 any spoilers.)

(fair notice: all Amazon links are referrer URLs which benefit non-profit SFF fan website Worlds Without End)
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“An Astounding 90 Years of Analog Science Fiction and Fact” Symposium Videos Online

Over 100 scholars, writers, editors, fans, and City Tech students and faculty participated in the Fourth Annual City Tech Science Fiction Symposium on “An Astounding 90 Years of Analog Science Fiction and Fact” held December 12.

The New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn hosted a combination of scholarly presentations, an editors’ roundtable, writers events, and a keynote address by SF writer Mike Flynn. And they invite you to view the day’s proceedings in this collection of “Videos from the Fourth Annual City Tech Science Fiction Symposium, An Astounding 90 Years of Analog Science Fiction and Fact”.

Keynote Address by Mike Flynn

  • Introduction:   Trevor Quachri

Opening Remarks

  • Justin Vazquez-Poritz, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, New York City College of Technology
  • Jason W. Ellis, Assistant Professor of English, New York City College of Technology

Editors Panel

  • Moderator: Frank Wu.
  • Panelists: Stanley Schmidt, Trevor Quachri, Emily Hockaday

Marginalized Voices and Feminist Futures

  • Moderator: Lisa Yaszek
  • Marleen Barr, “Rachel Rodman’s “The Evolutionary Alice” As Fractured Feminist Fantasy”
  • Adam McLain, “Visualizing Gendered Voice in Ninety Years of Astounding and Analog
  • Marie Vibbert, “Visible Women in Astounding and Analog

Writers Panel

  • Moderator: Emily Hockaday
  • Panelists: Phoebe Barton, Leah Cypess, Jay Werkheiser, Alison Wilgus, Frank Wu

Critical Issues in Analog SF

  • Moderator: Lavelle A. Porter
  • Sharon Packer, “Simian Cinema, Darwinian Debates, and Early Analog SF Stories”
  • Stanley Schmidt, “Humor in Analog
  • Edward Wysocki, Jr., “Just the Facts: Articles in Campbell’s Astounding and Analog

Teaching with SF Collections

  • Moderator: Lucas Kwong
  • Jason W. Ellis, “Introduction to the City Tech Science Fiction Collection”
  • Zachary Lloyd, “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching with Science Fiction”

Celebrate Analog’s 90th Anniversary

“An Astounding 90 Years of Analog Science Fiction and Fact: The Fourth Annual City Tech Science Fiction Symposium,” takes place on Thursday, December 12. Held in conjunction with City Tech College in Brooklyn, this daylong symposium is free and open to the public. It convenes at 285 Jay Street, Room A105 and runs from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

The event will feature papers from distinguished academics, readings from Phoebe Barton, Leah Cypess, Alison Wilgus, Frank Wu, Jay Werkheiser, and a keynote speech from Michael Flynn. Stanley Schmidt, Trevor Quachri, and Emily Hockaday will also participate on an editorial panel. Copies of the official 90th anniversary issue will be given away. The full program for the day can be found here.

City Tech will provide breakfast and lunch, so they ask interested parties to please RSVP (even tentatively) for headcount. RSVP here.

2018 Novellapalooza

[Editor’s note: be sure to read the comments on this post for more novellas and more Filer reviews.]

By JJ: I’m a huge reader of novels, but not that big on short fiction. But the last few years, I’ve done a personal project to read and review as many Novellas as I could (presuming that the story synopsis had some appeal for me). I ended up reading 31 of the novellas published in 2015, 35 of the novellas published in 2016, and 46 of the novellas published in 2017 (though a few of those were after Hugo nominations closed).

The result of this was the 2016 Novellapalooza and the 2017 Novellapalooza. I really felt as though I was able to do Hugo nominations for the novella category in an informed way, and a lot of Filers got involved with their own comments. So I’m doing it again this year.

The success and popularity of novellas in the last 4 years seems to have sparked a Golden Age for SFF novellas, with Tor.com, Subterranean Press, NewCon Press, PS Publishing, Book Smugglers, Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Tachyon bringing out a multitude of works, along with the traditional magazines Asimov’s, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Analog – so there are a lot more novellas to cover this year. By necessity, I’ve gotten to the point of being more selective about which ones I read, based on the synopsis being of interest to me.

It is not at all uncommon for me to choose to read a book despite not feeling that the jacket copy makes the book sound as though it is something I would like – and to discover that I really like or love the work anyway. On the other hand, It is not at all uncommon for me to choose to read a book which sounds as though it will be up my alley and to discover that, actually, the book doesn’t really do much for me.

Thus, my opinions on the following novellas vary wildly: stories I thought I would love but didn’t, stories I didn’t expect to love but did, and stories which aligned with my expectations – whether high or low. Bear in mind that while I enjoy both, I tend to prefer Science Fiction over Fantasy – and that while I enjoy suspense and thrillers, I have very little appreciation for Horror (and to be honest, I think Lovecraft is way overrated). My personal assessments are therefore not intended to be the final word on these stories, but merely a jumping-off point for Filer discussion.

I thought it would be helpful to have a thread where all the Filers’ thoughts on novellas are collected in one place, as a resource when Hugo nomination time rolls around. Which of these novellas have you read? And what did you think of them?

I’ve included plot summaries, and where I could find them, links to either excerpts or the full stories which can be read online for free. Short novels which fall between 40,000 and 48,000 words (within the Hugo Novella category tolerance) have been included.

Please feel free to post comments about any other 2018 novellas which you’ve read, as well.

(Please be sure to rot-13 any spoilers.)

(fair notice: all Amazon links are referrer URLs which benefit non-profit SFF fan website Worlds Without End)

Read more…

The Versatile Leah Cypess

By Carl Slaughter: Leah Cypess’ debut fantasy novel, Mistwood, was greeted with rave reviews by library journals and peer authors. She followed this with three more novels, all from Greenwillow/HarperCollins. Her July short story, “Filtered,” was her sixth science fiction story in Asimov’s. “Cupid’s Compass” appeared in the September/October issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine.

Her fantasy stories have classic settings: Sorceresses, assassins, shapeshifters, ghosts, royals, castles, forests. Her science fiction stories are science based, character-oriented: how people are affected by and respond to technology in a deeply personal way. Her original career was law. She now writes full time.

MISTWOOD (2010)

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NIGHTSPELL (2011)

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DEATH SWORN (2014)

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DEATH MARKED (2015)

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SHORT FICTION

  • “Cupid’s Compass,” (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Sept/Oct 2016.)
  • “Filtered,” (Asimov’s Science Fiction, July 2016.)
  • “Forgiveness,” (Asimov’s Science Fiction, February 2015.)
  • “What We Ourselves Are Not,” (Asimov’s Science Fiction, September 2013.)
  • “Distant Like the Stars,” (Asimov’s Science Fiction, April/May 2013.)
  • “Nanny’s Day,” (Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 2012.)
  • “Twelvers,” (Asimov’s Science Fiction, July 2011.)

MORE ABOUT MISTWOOD

Everyone tells Isabel that she is the Shifter – the ancient shape-shifting creature who has protected the kings of Samorna for centuries. They need her to be the Shifter. Prince Rokan risked everything when he rode into the Mistwood to summon her to his side; Ven, the magician’s apprentice, has devoted his life to studying her legend; and even Princess Clarisse, who fears and hates her, depends on Isabel’s powers to further her own plans.

But Isabel doesn’t feel like the Shifter. She feels like a lonely human girl, beset by flashes of memory that do more to confuse than to help her. If she is the Shifter, why can’t she change her shape? Why doesn’t she remember what made her flee the castle so many years ago? As she is drawn deeper into a web of magic and assassination, Isabel will have no choice but to look for answers. But her search will lead her to the one question the Shifter hasn’t faced in a thousand years: where does she come from, and what does she really want?

PRAISE FOR MISTWOOD

  • A traditional premise is transformed into a graceful meditation on the ramifications of loyalty, duty and purpose… Astonishing and inspiring.” – Kirkus (starred review)
  • “Fans of Megan Whalen Turner’s ‘Attolia’ books will be drawn to similar hidden political currents within the court, and fans of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling will wholeheartedly embrace Isabel as a reluctant warrior heroine treading in unfamiliar waters of the heart.” – School Library Journal
  • “An unusual, suspenseful fantasy that is propelled by well-placed clues.” – ALA Booklist
  • “Edge-of-the-chair reading, with enemies and betrayal at every turn!” – Tamora Pierce, author of New York Times bestseller Bloodhound
  • “Cypess’s spare but evocative language built a world that stayed with me long after I finished her story.” – Megan Whalen Turner, author of New York Times bestseller A Conspiracy of Kings
  • Mistwood is the stuff of true fairytale: mysterious, unsettling, romantic, surprising. An elegantly executed novel with enough twists to satisfy and a love story of some subtlety. I look forward to more by this author.” – Juliet Marillier
  • Mistwood charms and fascinates and sometimes leaves you breathless as it spins a story about a supernatural heroine, a mysterious forest, a court intrigue, and a desperate set of secrets. Leah Cypess’s debut novel explores the limits of magic, the price of love, and the cost of being human. My kind of book.” – Sharon Shinn, national bestselling author of Archangel

Sample chapters for Mistwood

Video for Mistwood: