China, 1345. A peasant girl from the Zhu family has, between drought and bandits, lost almost all of her relatives: only her brother Zhu Chongba remains. A fortune teller has predicted vastly different fates for the two of them, seeing greatness in the future of the brother – who is due to attend a monastery…
2022 Hugo Awards: A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
A Master of Djinn is the first full-length novel in the series that started with the short story “A Dead Djinn in Cairo” and continued with the novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015. The setting is an alternate timeline where Egypt was able to successfully rebel against the British Empire with the aid of…
2022 Hugo Awards: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
A man wakes up to find himself in a high-tech environment but has no memory of how he got there. Through observation, he is able to piece together the basics. One, he is on board a space vessel; two, he is the sole surviving occupant, the other crew being mummified corpses. Then, bit by bit,…
2022 Hugo Awards: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
WWAC’s coverage of the 2022 Hugo Awards continues… The planet Gora sits at a convenient intersection between worlds, and so serves as a stopping-off point for galactic travellers of sundry species. Surrounding the planet is a satellite grid governing the communications and transport that anyone visiting Gora relies upon – and once that grid hits…
2022 Hugo Awards: A Psalm for the Wild-Built/Fireheart Tiger
WWAC’s coverage of the 2022 Hugo Awards continues with a look at the last two contenders for Best Novella: Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built and Aliette de Bodard’s Fireheart Tiger…
2022 Hugo Awards: The Past is Red/Across the Green Grass Fields
Continuing WWAC’s coverage of the 2022 Hugo Awards, here are reviews of two more Best Novella finalists: The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente and Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire…
2022 Hugo Awards: A Spindle Splintered/Elder Race
Having covered the Best Short Story and Best Novelette categories, WWAC’s review series on the 2022 Hugo Award finalists now reaches Best Novella. This post shall discuss two of the six contenders: Alix E. Harrow’s A Spindle Splintered and Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Elder Race…
2022 Hugo Awards: O2 Arena/L’Esprit de L’Escalier
WWAC’s coverage of the 2022 Hugo Awards continues with reviews of the last two Best Novelette finalists: “O2 Arena” by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and “L’Esprit de L’Escalier” by Catherynne M. Valente…
2022 Hugo Awards: Colors of the Immortal Palette/Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.
WWAC’s coverage of the 2022 Hugo Awards continues with reviews of two more Best Novelette finalists: “Colors of the Immortal Palette” by Caroline M. Yoachim and “Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.” by Fran Wilde…
2022 Hugo Awards: Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather/Unknown Number
Our coverage of the 2022 Hugo Awards continues with a look at the final two contenders for Best Short Story: “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather” by Sarah Pinsker and “Unknown Number” by Blue Neustifter.
REVIEW: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy Is a Satisfying Chapter in the Monk and Robot Series
Like A Psalm for the Wild-Built before it, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a meandering and gentle novella, exploring what it means to have purpose and be satisfied with yourself and your role in your community. It’s beautifully written and philosophically engaging. A Prayer for the Crown Shy picks up where A Psalm for…
2022 Hugo Award Reviews: Tangles/The Sin of America
Welcome to the second part of WWAC’s 2022 Hugo Award review series. This instalment shall be covering two more Best Short Story finalists: Seanan McGuire’s “Tangles” and Catherynne M. Valente’s “The Sin of America”…