Matthew's Journal

I've now read all of these, and will probably vote thus. There are several fine works here, but nothing that I thought was Really Outstanding.

1. Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik. I loved this - it really drew me in, and I thought the different point-of-view characters were nicely differentiated. It's obviously inspired by Rumpelstiltskin, but isn't just a retelling of that. I thought the Staryk were nicely other, and that was paralleled in how the Jewish characters are treated as other by other townsfolk.


2. Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee. A very satisfying ending to the trilogy that began with Ninefox Gambit. It didn't have as much new to offer (which is perhaps inevitable in the third-of-a-trilogy) as Ninefox Gambit.


3. The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal. There's a lot to like in this book (and a lot to make you cry), and the world needs more stories of lady astronauts. I felt like the plot had an air of inevitability to it, though - I was pretty sure of the ending from quite early on, which maybe took some tension out.


4. Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers. I think I am mostly sad that this isn't the sequel to A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet that I really want to read! It's an enjoyable series of events, but I didn't find myself wanting to find out what happened next.


5. Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse. I thought I'd really like this (everyone likes Coyote stories, right?), but while it was engaging enough, it didn't really leave an impression on me.


6. Space Opera, by Catherynne M. Valente. I hated this, and I thought I'd really like Eurovision fan-fic. I found the style really grating (which is probably at least partly because Douglas Adams isn't my thing, and I think that's what the author was aiming for), and didn't care about the plot or any of the characters.