Sep 09 2026
This was the only Hugo Awards 2026 nominee for Best Novel that didn’t come in the Voter’s Packet, so I got on the waitlist for it at the library, thereby ensuring that I’d actually read the book this year, lol. So on the one hand, I was unsurprised that not being in the packet meant …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/09/09/shroud-by-adrian-tchaikovsky/
Aug 12 2026
Gah, how is the second book in this series even better than the astonishing first? Carl’s Doomsday Scenario is, granted, not a perfect book. There’s still a lot of information dumping — an almost inevitable part of the LitRPG genre — and some bits that verge on deus ex machina. It’s also unforgiving of people …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/12/carls-doomsday-scenario-by-matt-dinniman/
Aug 06 2026
I vastly overestimated the number of books I still had to read for the 2026 Hugo for Best Graphic Story, so this is the last and, dare I say, my favorite of the slate! Full ranking at the bottom, once I’m done discussing this utterly charming graphic novel that reimagines the life of Nnedi Okorafor’s …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/06/the-space-cat-by-nnedi-okorafor-tana-ford/
Jul 21 2026
translated from the original Korean by Anton Hur. The only odd thing about this otherwise terrific collection of short stories, to me, is the fact that they led with the two weakest stories in the bunch instead of any of the strongest. Sure there are only seven stories in this collection, and perhaps other folks …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/21/if-we-cannot-go-at-the-speed-of-light-by-kim-cho-yeop/
Jul 12 2026
Among this year’s Hugo finalists in the four headline fiction categories — short story, novelette, novella and novel — no author has more than one nomination. I don’t think I have a particular view about this distribution. On the one hand, it’s neat when a writer has a banner year and gathers up two or even three …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/12/hugo-awards-2026-best-novelette-2/
Jul 08 2026
Ooh, boy, is Doug gonna be surprised when he reads my voting slate for this year’s Hugo Awards nominees for Best Novelette! Presented, as usual, in descending order of preference. Top of my list this year is Catherynne M Valente’s When He Calls Your Name. Perhaps oddly, it is one of the two nominees on …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/08/hugo-awards-2026-best-novelette/
Jul 06 2026
I admit, dear reader, that I was finally unable to resist the hype surrounding this series and decided to go see what all the fuss is about. And the answer is: a lot, and most of it really good! Full disclosure, the tipping point for finally getting me to pick this up was likely the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/06/dungeon-crawler-carl-by-matt-dinniman/
Jun 19 2026
I am glad that successive Worldcons have decided to make Best Poem a permanent category. Poetry is probably the oldest literary genre, and limiting the Hugo award to prose meant missing out. Speculative or fantastic poetry is difficult, because a work has to be both: good poetry and something beyond the mundane, whether science fiction, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/19/hugo-awards-2026-best-poem-2/
Jun 18 2026
Hello, readers! We have a treat for you today with an interview from acclaimed sci-fi author Kevin Hincker. His latest novel riffs off of the Wag The Dog scenario familiar to consumers of both sci-fi classics (that we won’t name here because of potential spoilers) and political thrillers of page and screen. The Story Eaters …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/18/an-interview-with-kevin-hincker-author-of-the-story-eaters-of-yamm/
Jun 14 2026
True to form, two of this year’s finalists in the category of Best Short Story are listicle stories. I guess by now they’re just another variation in the form, rather than an innovation. The strength in the variation is that it allows an author to show numerous different perspectives or aspects of a situation within …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/14/hugo-awards-2026-best-short-story/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire