Category Archives: Reviews

Hugo Award 2021: Best Novel Signum Roundtable (Sat, Dec 18th, 6pm Eastern)

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

As I announced in my “Blogging the Hugos 2021” series launch, I am once again joining Signum University’s Hugo Award Best Novel Roundtable. In a gala zoom event that no doubt will rival the Worldcon ceremony in DC, I will … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging the Hugos, Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Reviews | Tagged Alix E. Harrow, allegory, apocalyptic literature, Gideon the Ninth, Harrow The Ninth, he Ten Thousand Doors of January, Hugo Awards, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Martha Wells, N.K. Jemisin, Network Effect, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, Susanna Clarke, Tamsyn Muir, The City We Became, urban fantasy, Ursula K. Le Guin | 13 Comments

N.K. Jemisin’s Super Strange Urban Apocalypse in The City We Became: Part 2: The City I Can’t Become (Blogging the Hugos 2021)

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

N.K. Jemisin is clearly one of the science fiction greats of the generation. Time will tell if she will stand with the all-time greats, like H.G. Wells, Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Ursula … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging the Hugos, Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Reviews | Tagged allegory, apocalyptic literature, Frank Herbert, H.G. Wells, Hugo Awards, Isaac Asimov, N.K. Jemisin, New York City, Octavia E. Butler, Philip K. Dick, Postcolonial literature, racism, Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, The City We Became, urban fantasy, Ursula K. Le Guin, William Gibson | 16 Comments

N.K. Jemisin’s Super Strange Urban Apocalypse in The City We Became: Part 1: The Allegory That is Born (Blogging the Hugos 2021)

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

I first encountered N.K. Jemisin’s “Great City” series in her bracing, breakneck-speed short story, “The City Born Great,” which (in an edited form) is the prologue to The City We Became. Jemisin is one of this generation’s great speculative fiction … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging the Hugos, Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Reviews | Tagged allegory, apocalypse, apocalyptic literature, Hugo Awards, N.K. Jemisin, New York City, Postcolonial literature, racism, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, The City Born Great, The City We Became, urban fantasy | 8 Comments

A Time to Listen: Rebecca Roanhorse’s Astonishing Novel Black Sun (Blogging the Hugos 2021)

Posted on November 24, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

As part of my “Blogging the Hugos” series, I have just finished Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. Normally as I am reading a book, a theme or image or idea emerges that gives me a chance to write a review … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging the Hugos, Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Reviews | Tagged Black Sun, Epic Fantasy, fantasy, Hugo Awards, Indigenous Authors, Mesoamerican Culture, Postcolonial literature, Rebecca Roanhorse, Robert Jordan, speculative fiction, Wheel of Time | 12 Comments

Sarcastabots, The Wall-E Effect, and Finding the Human in Martha Wells’ Network Effect (Blogging the Hugos 2021)

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

In the googolplex of science fiction genres, is there a category called “sarcastatech?” My spelling bot wants to say “no” to this question, using a “no results found” notification. It is how spelling bots talk, after all, in their (ironically) … Continue reading →