Best Series Hugo:
Eligible Series from 2020

SJW Credential Reading SFF Book (c) Can Stock Photo / vitalytitov

By JJ: To assist Hugo nominators, listed below are the series believed to be eligible as of this writing for the 2021 Best Series Hugo next year *†.

Each series name is followed by the main author name(s) and the 2020-published work(s).

Feel free to add missing series and the name of the 2020-eligible work in the comments, and I will get them included in the main post.

I just ask that suggesters (1) first do a Find on author surname on this page, to check whether the series is already on the list, and (2) then make an effort to verify that a series does indeed have 3 volumes, that it has a 2020-published work, and that it has likely met the 240,000 word threshold. Self-published works may or may not be added to the list at my discretion.

Note that previous Hugo Administrators ruled that nominations for a series and one of its subseries will not be combined. Therefore, when nominating a subseries work, think carefully under which series name it should be nominated. If the subseries does not yet meet the 3-volume, 240,000 word count threshold, then the main series name should be nominated. If the subseries does meet that threshold, then the subseries name should probably be nominated. This will ensure that another subseries in the same universe, or the main series itself, would still be eligible next year if this subseries is a finalist this year.

* ineligible series are preceded by an asterisk

  • Alchemy Wars by Ian Tregillis, Come the Revolution (novella)
  • Alex Verus by Benedict Jacka, Forged
  • Anita Blake by Laurell K. Hamilton, Sucker Punch
  • Argenau by Lynsay Sands, Immortal Angel
  • Ars Numina by Ann Aguirre, The War Priest
  • Australia by J.P. Smythe, Dark Made Dawn
  • Avalon by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steve Barnes, Starborn & Godsons
  • Ben Walker by Christopher Golden, Red Hands
  • Beyond the Mirror by A.J. Hartley, The Mirrors Shattered
  • Black Chamber by S.M. Stirling, Shadows of Annihilation
  • Black Jewels by Anne Bishop, The Queen’s Bargain
  • Bobiverse by Denis E. Taylor, Heaven’s River
  • Carpathian / Dark by Christine Feehan, Dark Song
  • Cas Russell / Russell’s Attic by SL Huang, Critical Point
  • Cass Neary by Elizabeth Hand, The Book of Lamps and Banners
  • Cassie Palmer by Karen Chance, Shatter the Earth
  • Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons, The Memory of Souls
  • Chronicles of Alice by Christina Henry, Looking Glass
  • Chronicles of Elantra by Michelle Sagara, Cast in Wisdom
  • Chronicles of Elantra: Wolves of Elantra by Michelle Sagara, The Emperor’s Wolves (must be nominated under the main series due to insufficient volumes)
  • Chronicles of Ghadid by K. A. Doore, The Unconquered City
  • Chronicles of St. Mary’s by Jodi Taylor, Plan for the Worst
  • Chronicles of St. Mary’s: Time Police by Jodi Taylor, Hard Time (must be nominated under the main series due to insufficient volumes)
  • City of Devils by Justin Robinson, A Stitch in Crime
  • Commonweal by Graydon Saunders, A Mist of Grit and Splinters
  • Consortium Rebellion by Jessie Mihalik, Chaos Reigning
  • Crown of Shards by Jennifer Estep, Crush the King
  • Cry Pilot by Joel Dane, Burn Cycle and Kill Orbit
  • Cultivation Chat Group by Legend of The Paladin (webnovel)
  • Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty, The Empire of Gold
  • Dark Arts by David Mack, The Shadow Commission
  • Deathless by Peter Newman, The Boundless
  • Demon Wars: The Coven by R.A. Salvatore, Song of the Risen God
  • DFZ (Detroit Free Zone) by Rachel Aaron, Night Shift Dragons
  • Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson, Winds of Wrath
  • Diabolist’s Library by Molly Tanzer, Creatures of Charm and Hunger
  • Diviners by Libba Bray, The King of Crows
  • Diving Universe by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Squishy’s Teams and Maelstrom (novella)
  • Doctor Who by Sophie Aldred, At Childhood’s End
  • Dominion of the Fallen by Aliette de Bodard, Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders (novella)
  • Dorina Basarab by Karen Chance, Queen’s Gambit
  • Dr. Siri Paiboun by Colin Cotterill, The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot
  • Dragaera by Steven Brust, The Baron of Magister Valley
  • Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Peace Talks and Battle Ground
  • Eirlandia by Stephen R. Lawhead, In the Kingdom of All Tomorrows
  • Elemental Masters by Mercedes Lackey, Jolene
  • Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell, Light of Impossible Stars
  • Endarian Prophecy by Richard Phillips, The Time Seer
  • Eric Carter by Stephen Blackmoore, Ghost Money
  • Firefly by James Lovegrove, The Ghost Machine
  • Firekeeper by Jane Lindskold, Wolf’s Soul
  • First Law by Joe Abercrombie, The Trouble with Peace
  • Folk of the Air by Holly Black, How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories
  • Fool by Christopher Moore, Shakespeare for Squirrels
  • Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh, Resurgence and Divergence
  • Gaunt and Bone by Chris Willrich, Eyetooth
  • Ghostwalkers by Christine Feehan, Lethal Game
  • Grand Tour by Ben Bova, Uranus
  • Green Man by Juliet McKenna, The Green Man’s Silence
  • Guild Hunters by Nalini Singh, Archangel’s Son
  • Harp and Ring Sequence by Ilana C. Myer, The Poet King
  • Hell Divers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Warriors
  • Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn, Haunted Heroine
  • Hidden Legacy by Ilona Andrews, Emerald Blaze
  • Hollow Gods by Rebecca Levene, The Sun’s Devices
  • Hollows by Kim Harrison, American Demon
  • Honor by Ann Aguirre and Rachel Caine, Honor Lost
  • Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
  • In Death by J.D. Robb, Golden in Death and Shadows in Death
  • In Love and War by Cora Buhlert, Ballroom Blitz (novella) and “Neutral Ground” (novelette)
  • *InCryptid by Seanan McGuire, Imaginary Numbers and Follow the Lady (novella) (ineligible due to being a finalist in 2020 and having insufficient new word count and/or volumes to requalify)
  • Initiation Trilogy by Chris Babu, The Insurrection
  • Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews, Sweep With Me (novella)
  • Interdependency by John Scalzi, The Last Emperox
  • Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, The Dark Archive
  • Khaavren Romances by Steven Brust, The Baron of Magister Valley
  • Khorasan Archives by Ausma Zehanat Khan, The Bladebone
  • Kingdom of Grit by Tyler Whitesides, The Last Lies of Ardor Benn
  • Kitty Norville by Carrie Vaughn, The Immortal Conquistador and Kitty’s Mix Tape (collection)
  • Lady Astronaut by Mary Robinette Kowal, The Relentless Moon
  • Last Oracle by Melissa McShane, The Book of Destiny
  • *Laundry Files by Charles Stross, Dead Lies Dreaming (ineligible due to being a finalist in 2019 and having insufficient new word count and/or volumes to requalify)
  • Legends of the Lost Causes by Brad McLelland and Louis Sylvester, The Key of Skeleton Peak
  • Leopard by Christine Feehan, Leopard’s Rage
  • Liaden Universe by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Trader’s Leap
  • LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff, TRUEL1F3
  • Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, Attack Surface
  • Los Nefilim by T. Frohock, Carved From Stone and Dream
  • Machine Dynasties by Madeline Ashby, ReV
  • Malazan Empire by Ian Cameron Esslemont, The Jhistal
  • Map of Unknown Things by Rod Duncan, The Fugitive and the Vanishing Man
  • Maradaine: Maradaine Elite by Marshall Ryan Maresca, The People of the City
  • Maradaine: Streets of Maradaine by Marshall Ryan Maresca, The Fenmere Job
  • Masquerade by Seth Dickinson, The Tyrant Baru Coromant
  • Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs, Smoke Bitten
  • Millennium’s Rule by Trudi Canavan, Maker’s Curse
  • Murderbot by Martha Wells, Network Effect
  • Noumenon by Marina Lostetter, Noumenon Ultra
  • Nyquist Mysteries by Jeff Noon, Creeping Jenny
  • October Daye by Seanan McGuire, A Killing Frost and Shine in Pearl (novella)
  • Of Blood and Bone by John Gwynne, A Time of Courage
  • Otherworld: Kate & Logan by Kelley Armstrong, Wolf’s Curse (must be nominated under the main series due to insufficient volumes)
  • Palace of Dreams by J. Kathleen Cheney, Dreams from the Grave
  • Parasol Protectorate: Delightfully Deadly by Gail Carriger, Defy or Defend (must be nominated under the main series due to insufficient volumes)
  • Peter Grant / Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, False Value and Tales from the Folly (collection)
  • Planetside by Michael Mammay, Colonyside
  • Polity: Rise of the Jain by Neal Asher, The Human
  • Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, The Burning God
  • Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, Magic Lessons
  • Praxis / Dread Empire’s Fall by Walter Jon Williams, Fleet Elements
  • Psy-Changeling: Trinity by Nalini Singh, Alpha Night
  • PsyCop by Jordan Castillo Price, Bitter Pill
  • Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken, House of Styx
  • Queen’s Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Return of the Thief
  • Revenger by Alastair Reynolds, Bone Silence
  • Risen Kingdoms by Curtis Craddock, The Last Uncharted Sky
  • Rogue Queen by Jessie Mihalik, Queen’s Triumph
  • Salvagers by Alex White, The Worst of All Possible Worlds
  • Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton, The Saints of Salvation
  • Sea Haven: Torpedo Ink by Christine Feehan, Vendetta Road and Desolation Road
  • Second Species by Jane O’Reilly, Blue Planet
  • SERRAted Edge by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin, Breaking Silence
  • Shadow by Christine Feehan, Shadow Flight
  • Shadowshaper Cypher by Daniel José Older, Shadowshaper Legacy
  • Shannara: The Fall of Shannara by Terry Brooks, The Last Druid
  • Shieldrunner Pirates by R.E. Stearns, Gravity of a Distant Sun
  • Sibyl’s War by Timothy Zahn, Queen
  • Simon Kovalic: Galactic Cold War by Dan Moren, The Aleph Extraction and “Showdown” (short story) (must be nominated under the main series due to insufficient volumes)
  • Skolian War Saga: Major Bhaajan by Catherine Asaro, The Vanished Seas
  • Smoke Thieves by Sally Green, The Burning Kingdoms
  • Song of Shattered Sands by Bradley P. Beaulieu, When Jackals Storm the Walls and The Flight of the Whisper King (novella)
  • Soulwood by Faith Hunter, Spells for the Dead
  • Star Carrier by Ian Douglas, Stargods
  • Star Trek by Christopher L. Bennett, The Higher Frontier, by Dayton Ward, Agents of Influence, by Greg Cox, A Contest of Principles
  • Star Trek: Abramsverse by Alan Dean Foster, The Unsettling Stars, by David Mack, More Beautiful Than Death
  • Star Trek: Discovery by John Jackson Miller, Die Standing
  • Star Trek: Picard by Una McCormack, The Last Best Hope, by James Swallow, The Dark Veil, (must be nominated under the main series due to insufficient volumes)
  • Star Trek: Voyager by Kirsten Beyer, To Lose the Earth
  • Star Wars by E.K. Johnston, Queen’s Peril, by Rae Carson, The Rise of Skywalker
  • Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed, Shadow Fall
  • Star Wars: Clone Wars by Lou Anders, Stories of Light and Dark (anthology)
  • Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker by Alex Segura, Poe Dameron: Free Fall
  • Star Wars: Shakespeare by Ian Doescher, The Merry Rise of Skywalker
  • Star Wars: Thrawn: Ascendancy by Timothy Zahn, Chaos Rising (must be nominated under the Thrawn series due to insufficient volumes)
  • Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, Rhythm of War and Dawnshard (novella)
  • Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio, Devil in White
  • Taine McKenna Adventures by Lee Murray, Into the Ashes
  • Tales of Pell by Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson, The Princess Beard
  • This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada, This Vicious Cure
  • Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Midnight Sun
  • United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas, Cyber Shogun Revolution
  • Universe After by Drew Williams, The Firmament of Flame
  • Unravelled Kingdom by Rowenna Miller, Rule
  • Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey, Passages (anthology)
  • Valdemar: Family Spies by Mercedes Lackey, Spy, Spy, Again
  • Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow
  • *Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire, Come Tumbling Down (ineligible due to insufficient word count)
  • Wild Cards by George R.R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass, Three Kings (mosaic novel), “The Visitor: Kill or Cure” by Mark Lawrence (novelette), “Berlin Is Never Berlin” by Mark Kloos (novelette), “Hammer and Tongs and a Rusty Nail” by Ian Tregillis (novelette)
  • Worldshapers by Edward Willett, The Moonlit World
  • *World of the Five Gods: Penric by Lois McMaster Bujold, The Physicians of Vilnoc, Masquerade in Lodi (previous winner, not eligible)
  • Worldbreaker Saga by Kameron Hurley, The Broken Heavens
  • *Xuya by Aliette de Bodard, Seven of Infinities (novella) (ineligible due to being a finalist in 2019 and having insufficient new word count and/or volumes to requalify)
  • Young Wizards by Diane Duane, Owl Be Home For Christmas (novella)

* no warranties are made about series eligibility (or lack thereof) based on word count
† no warranties are made about the presumed quality (or lack thereof) of listed series

61 thoughts on “Best Series Hugo:
Eligible Series from 2020

  1. I believe Denis E. Taylor’s Bobiverse novels might be eligible. The fourth one comes out in October I think.

    Also the third Quantum Magician novel “House of Styx” by Derek Künsken comes out on August 20. Those are quite good (the second one is up for the Aurora award next weekend.)

  2. Commonweal by Graydon Saunders – A Mist of Grit and Splinters

    Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio – Devil in White

    First Law World by Joe Abercrombie – The Trouble with Peace

    Avalon by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steve Barnes – Starborn and Godsons

    Malazan Empire by Ian Cameron Esslemont – The Jhistal

  3. Cultivation Chat Group by Legend of The Paladin, continuing Webnovel with more than 1300 translated chapters

  4. Just theoretically and in no sense because I think it a good idea: it’s fairly plain that there are dozens of not hundreds contributing to the wider Cthulhu Mythos. Does the retro Hugo win preclude nomination for a regular Hugo?

  5. The Salvation Sequence by Peter F. Hamilton, The Saints of Salvation, third in the series (out in October)

    Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, The Dark Archive (out in November)

  6. Masquerade by Seth Dickinson- The Tyrant Barry Coromant is out in November

    Cas Russell series by SL Huang. Critical Point released this year

  7. For the Queen’s thief series: publication of The return of the thief was delayed until this year, so it’s not eligible – though otherwise a favourite of mine!

  8. While I enjoy Murderbot, does it actually hit the 240,000 word requirement that is also needed for Best Series?

  9. I believe Murderbot should make it, but I make no guarantees to my accuracy. I have an approximate word count of 246,000 total for the 4 novellas and 1 novel. (I believe there was also another short story out too.)

  10. @Laura: There was a Muderbot short story published in “Wired” in 2019 (i think that’s the right year)

  11. @Andrew
    I remember hearing there was one sent out by Tor as a pre-order perk for the hardcover of Network Effect too. So that should give the series a little more breathing room above 240,000.

  12. The Green Man Series by Juliet McKenna The Green Man’s Silence (third in the series) out in September

  13. Here are a few more:

    In Death by J.D. Robb (Golden in Death, Shadows in Death)
    Second Species Trilogy by Jane O’Reilly (Blue Planet)
    Consortium Rebellion by Jessie Mihalik (Chaos Reigning)
    Rogue Queen by Jessie Mihalik (Queen’s Triumph)
    Shieldrunner Pirates by R.E. Stearns (Gravity of the Distant Sun)
    Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs (Smoke Bitten)
    Hidden Legacy by Ilona Andrews (Emerald Blaze)
    Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews (Sweep With Me)
    Guildhunter by Nalini Singh (Archangel’s Sun)
    The Liaden Universe by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Trader’s Leap)
    Carpathian/Dark series by Christine Feehan (Dark Song)
    Leopard series by Christine Feehan (Leopard’s Rage)
    Ghostwalker series by Christine Feehan (Lethal Game)
    Cassie Palmer by Karen Chance (Shatter the Earth)
    Dorina Basarab by Karen Chance (Queen’s Gambit)

  14. Also eligible this year is the main series of Chronicles of St. Mary’s:

    Chronicles of St. Mary’s by Jodi Taylor, Plan for the Worst

  15. Doctor Who: At Childhood’s End by Sophie Aldred.

    Looking at the number of volumes due for publication over this year, there may also be sufficient word count for the Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious sub-series to qualify on its own.

  16. Christopher Moore’s “Fool” series is now up to 3 volumes with Shakespeare for Squirrels. (ISFDB says it came out this year but doesn’t list it as part of the series; whoever entered it can’t have read it, since the narrator explicitly recalls his adventures in the prior two.) Not huge, but I’m pretty sure the three together make the wordcount required.

    @Eve:

    For the Queen’s thief series: publication of The return of the thief was delayed until this year, so it’s not eligible – though otherwise a favourite of mine!

    This is for next year’s awards, so publication this year is required for eligibility. (I’ve already added some works to my TBR that I hadn’t known were out yet, based on this list.)

    I would suggest that people who want a leg up on next year’s nominees read the first two parts of C. L. Polk’s Kingston series, which will be a strong contender based on the first two books — although #2 follows #1 so closely people may want to read all three together. (That’s why I haven’t put Stormsong on this year’s Hugo recommendations: it starts with the assumption that you remember everything from Witchmark and ends with more problems to be solved immediately — it’s more like the middle third of one big book than a set of consecutive works.) I see a lot of other good middle volumes in my reading this year, but this one is outstanding.

    There ought to be the conclusion of Wagers’s Farian War trilogy this year, but I don’t find evidence that it’s expected — maybe she needed too much time to finish #1 in her new NEOG series.

  17. Kitty Norville series, by Carrie Vaughn, The Immortal Conquistador and Kitty’s Mix Tape.

  18. City of Devils, by Justin Robinson, A Stitch in Crime
    The Stormlight Archives, by Brandon Sanderson, Rhythm of War
    The Hollow Gods, by Rebecca Levene, The Sun’s Devices
    The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
    The Chronicles of Ghadid, K. A. Doore, The Unconquered City

  19. I was going to say that Stormlight Archive would be ineligible due to there not being two installments since the last nomination, but then I remembered that there’s a novella coming out too.

  20. NickPheas: Just theoretically and in no sense because I think it a good idea: it’s fairly plain that there are dozens of not hundreds contributing to the wider Cthulhu Mythos. Does the retro Hugo win preclude nomination for a regular Hugo?

    I’m going to take a hard pass on that call. 😀

  21. Sean Mead: While I enjoy Murderbot, does it actually hit the 240,000 word requirement that is also needed for Best Series?

    Yes, indeedy.

    31,000 + 32,500 + 35,000 + 36,000 + 111,000 + 1,000 = 246,500

    (thanks to GiantPanda for the count)

  22. Thanks for all of the additions, gang!

    Guild Hunters, Hidden Legacy, Innkeeper Chronicles, Mercy Thompson, and Shieldrunner Pirates were already on the list. The others have been added.

  23. Alastair Reynolds: I’ll be declining any best series nomination.

    I’m sorry to hear that. I enjoyed that trilogy a great deal, and I thought you really nailed the ending.

  24. @JJ & @Mike Glyer: Thanks for organizing and maintain this, JJ, and hosting this kind of useful page, Mike!

    @JJ: “PsyCop” by Jordan Castillo Price is eligible based on Bitter Pill (book 11, not counting numerous short stories, etc.), published in January 2020.

  25. Chip Hitchcock: I would suggest that people who want a leg up on next year’s nominees read the first two parts of C. L. Polk’s Kingston series, which will be a strong contender based on the first two books — although #2 follows #1 so closely people may want to read all three together. (That’s why I haven’t put Stormsong on this year’s Hugo recommendations: it starts with the assumption that you remember everything from Witchmark and ends with more problems to be solved immediately — it’s more like the middle third of one big book than a set of consecutive works.) I see a lot of other good middle volumes in my reading this year, but this one is outstanding.

    I will fifth this recommendation. I wasn’t sure that Witchmark would be my thing, but I really enjoyed it, and thought that Stormsong was just as strong. If the third book is this good, it will be a strong contender for my Best Series Hugo ballot.

  26. @JJ and @Chip Hitchcock, would either/both of you put up a capsule review either here or on the Recommended Works page? I’m not familiar with CL Polk and would like to know if this series would be interesting to me…

  27. Cassy, here’s the Amazon synopsis for Witchmark:

    In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.

    Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.

    When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.

    (the following is rot13‘ed for those who don’t want to be spoiled)

    So, this is a world where people who are discovered to have powers of magic are shipped off to insane asylums as witches. But there’s a secret: vg’f abg whfg pbzzba crbcyr jub pna unir gurfr cbjref, ohg aboyrf nf jryy – gurl whfg xrrc n yvq ba vg. Gur aboyrf jvgu fgebat zntvp rffragvnyyl trg rafynirq naq hfrq nf cbjre fbheprf ol bgure aboyrf jvgu zhpu yrffre cbjre jub ner noyr gb fvcuba bss gurve zntvp naq hfr vg gb pbageby gur jrngure, juvpu vf jung ranoyrf gurz gb cebgrpg gurve ynaq sebz gur qrinfgngvat angheny jrngure juvpu jbhyq znxr tebjvat sbbq qvssvphyg naq yvsr zhpu uneqre. Ohg bs pbhefr, gurer vf ybgf bs pbeehcgvba naq cynlf sbe cbjre nzbat gur aboyrf.

    Gur znva punenpgre vf sebz n aboyr snzvyl, jvgu fgebat zntvp, ohg ur ershfrf gb or rafynirq naq tbrf bss gb freir nf n zrqvp va gur jne, jurer ur pna hfr uvf zntvp gb qb tbbq. Rirelobql guvaxf ur’f qrnq, fb jura ur pbzrf onpx, ur gnxrf hc n cebsrffvba nf n qbpgbe haqre n arj anzr, urycvat crbcyr, naq uvqvat gur snpg gung ur unf zntvpny cbjref.

    Ohg… gurer’f nabgure ynaq, guebhtu xvaq bs n cbegny gb na nygreangr jbeyq, cbchyngrq ol rkgerzryl cbjreshy snr jub ner rffragvnyyl vzzbegny naq jubfr tynzbhe graqf gb raguenyy / rafynir uhznaf, naq bar bs gurz pbzrf gb gur znva punenpgre’f jbeyq, naq gurve sngrf trg npghnyyl vagregjvarq ol nppvqrag, naq gurer’f fbzrguvat zlfgrevbhf naq qrnqyl tbvat ba, naq gurl unir gb svther bhg jung vg vf.

    I found the characters and the worldbuilding and the mystery interesting and compelling, and book 2 Stormsong goes off in a new direction, so it’s not “second verse, same as the first”.

    Howzat? Is your finger on the “Buy” button yet? 😀

  28. in re: Witchmark —

    I’m interested to hear that y’all liked the subsequent books in the series. I thought book 1 was interesting but not really successful — perhaps too inconsistent in tone? Too overly dramatic? I never managed to get a review written, and now I’ve forgotten the details of my objections. But I didn’t think it was bad, and if you liked books 2 and 3, I might try them out.

  29. @Contrarius: I thought the first book was not utterly successful, mostly because there were too many revelations jammed in at the end — not sure how much was author’s not setting them up (or my not seeing them set up) and how much was having to get some endpoint for the character (since the next book follows his sister, with him on the periphery) in a limited number of pages. #2 gripped me from the start even as I was annoyed by not being sure of the details of what was going on (because I had read the #1 over a year ago and Polk is very sparing with the sort of catch-up material that takes up space in most successor books), and it held my interest strongly through the entire book; I thought what successes there were, were earned rather than dumped out to end on a high note. (There was no high note; the immediacy of the unsolved problems makes “Winter is coming!” seem no more urgent than “you won’t live forever”.) This is the exact opposite of a typical trilogy’s typical middle book.

    BTW — just in case Andy Leighton is still following, what’s the word count on the Green Man’s Heir books? I wouldn’t have sworn that the first reached 80,000 words, but I didn’t try to count and don’t know whether #’s 2 & 3 are longer.

  30. The third book in the Risen Kingdoms trilogy by Curtis Craddock, titled The Last Uncharted Sky, just came out a couple of days ago.

  31. @Chip —

    Thanks for the rundown — I may try to squeeze it onto Mt. TBR. It’s often interesting to see how much a new author improves after they’ve gotten their first book under their belt, and new authors usually deserve some slack for any deficiencies in that debut work.

  32. @Chip Hitchcock

    Green Man’s Heir (the first) in paperback is 363 pages. I haven’t got an exact word count but using the “Count Pages” plugin in Calibre to give a rough count says 120k words for Green Man’s Heir. It counts Green Man’s Foe as 107k. I am not sure how long the third is but it will be of the same order as the first two.

    I have calibrated the Count Pages plugin on Ninefox Gambit and it said 99k words. JJ’s count for Ninefox 3 years ago was 98k and Raven Strategem (plugin count 111k, JJ 109k). So it looks like it does overcount a little but not hugely.

  33. @Andy
    It all depends on how much extra stuff is in there — like a chapter preview of another book. If I feel like checking more accurately, I’ll convert to RTF format, open in a word processor, and cut out front and back matter. (Must be DRM-free, of course.) Come to think of it, I probably learned that trick from JJ.

  34. @Laura

    Yep I know, Green Man’s Heir has a one page About the Author with a list of other works, and a just over half a page acknowledgements. Plus the usual chapter links and prefatory copyright info. So I don’t think it is going to pull it down all that much.

    Green Man’s Foe has the same but the acknowledgements are a little longer (still less than a page) plus a page of praise (blurbs) for the first book.

    So I guess maybe 1-2k fewer words for front and back matter for each book. But it quite clearly looks like when you add in the third novel it will easily be over 240k words for the series.

  35. Juliet McKenna says the word count for all three of the Green Man books is 323,924.

  36. Kristine Kathryn Rusch published a novella in her Diving Universe series this year: Escaping Amnthra.

  37. Lorien Gray: Kristine Kathryn Rusch published a novella in her Diving Universe series this year: Escaping Amnthra.

    Hi Lorien, Escaping Amnthra was first published in Asimov’s in September/October 2019; however, she’s got a new Diving novella, Maelstrom, in the September/October issue of Asimov’s, and I’ve just been waiting for the issue to be released to add it to the list.

    Thanks for the reminder!

  38. @Lorien Gray & JJ, I’ve just started the Diving Universe books (I bought the first trilogy years ago and it’s been languishing on my Kobo unread; so many books, so little time) and am finding it a compelling space opera. I expect one of you mentioned the series her on File770 all those years ago, so a very belated thank you.

Comments are closed.