Jun 08 2024

Hugo Awards 2024: Best Short Story

How to Raise a Kraken by P. Djeli Clark

I was glad to see that enough Chinese fans nominated works for this year’s Hugos that a fair number of works and people from China made it to the list of finalists. There are two short stories, one novelette, and two novellas in the long-established fiction categories, plus one in best graphic story, two in best related work, one in best dramatic presentation (long form), two in best editor (short form), one in best editor (long form), and one in best fancast. I am grateful that all five tales in the fiction categories were translated into English so that I could read the works and cast a more fully informed vote. This is putting more of the world into Worldcon, and I hope it continues.

Like Doreen, I’ve found that writing about the short story nominees is a good way to get into the flow of writing about the finalists, even if I have already read some of the other nominated works. (And I read Starter Villain so fast and with such delight that I couldn’t not write about it.) So here are my brief thoughts on the short story finalists, in ascending order of preference.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/08/hugo-awards-2024-best-short-story/

Jun 07 2024

City of Bones by Martha Wells

When I sat down to read City of Bones it was just what the doctor ordered: an immersive fantasy adventure that wasn’t too terribly obvious, but that wasn’t exploding with structural or thematic ambition, not trying to expand the genre or blow the reader away with stylistic genius. That willingness to let the book be what it is gives Wells space to spring some surprises as the story develops.

City of Bones by Martha Wells

One additional interesting aspect of City of Bones as a book is that the current version is a 2022 revision — Wells does not say how heavily — of the novel that was first published in 1995. She writes that when the first version went out of print, the rights came back to her and she offered it to “a few other publishers, but no one was interested.” She doesn’t speculate as to why, but adds that City of Bones is “a secondary world post-magical-apocalypse-ecological-disaster with a nonhuman main character, a fantasy on the edge of science fiction, grim and dark but not grimdark, with steam technology but not steampunk, weird but not new weird.” All of that is true, and suggests that publishers might have wondered how to sell the book, at least before Murderbot meant a lot more people willing to read a Martha Wells book on the strength of her name alone.

The City of Bones is Charisat, the bustling eight-tiered main city of a trading league situated between the desert Waste and the Last Sea. The novel’s world is mostly blasted, used up by the Ancients whose magic and technology allowed them to soar to astonishing heights but who left precious little in their wake. In their last years, the Ancients knew that the spirits they had summoned were killing their world, but it was too late to reverse the process. Instead, some of their mages poured great energy into creating the krismen, near-humans who could survive in the Waste. They also left behind Remnants, structures within vast stone monoliths whose purpose has been lost in the intervening centuries. The humans who lived through the great disasters eventually built cities, and Charisat is one of the greatest of these. Its layers directly correspond to social status: struggle for mere existence among the docks of the Eighth Tier, the leisured life of the Patricians up on the Third and higher Tiers, the exalted heights of the Elector’s court of the First.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/07/city-of-bones-by-martha-wells/

Jun 06 2024

Hugo Awards 2024: Best Short Story Nominees

And we’re back! After the registration debacle in Chengdu last year — never mind all the subsequent scandals — it was a relief to be able to sign up quickly and easily for Glasgow and get my voting packet for the 2024 Hugo Awards. I begin my coverage, as always, with the Best Short Story Nominees, which I’ve found always work best in warming me up for all the categories.

After reading through them all, my favorite short story, to my surprise, turned out to be Baoshu’s Tasting The Future Delicacy Three Times. I want to say that it was translated into English by Xueting C Ni, but the rather acerbic author’s note leaves me to wonder at whom else may have translated it in the past. The note was also the reason I was rather cautious going into this, as the author dissenting quite loudly with his translator is rarely a good sign for what I’m about to read in translation. Regardless, the clever, three-fold tale of the lengths that some people will go to in order to taste the most exquisite flavors really impressed me with how well it brings a speculative fiction lens to some of the most universal desires of humanity. As a food-lover, I found the piece both extraordinary and disturbing: my favorite kind of fiction.

Running a close second was Rachael K Jones’ The Sound Of Children Screaming. I am a sucker for a deconstructed tale, and this was a brilliant example of that. Even better, the short story also dissects the USian gun culture that allows mass and in particular school shootings to continue without legislative check. It’s a powerful, deeply intelligent and achingly raw fantasia of survival and fighting back. Honestly, it was so good, it made me want to read the entire issue of the magazine it came in!

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/06/hugo-awards-2024-best-short-story-nominees/

Jun 05 2024

Becoming Who We Are edited by Sammy Lisel & Hazel Newlevant

subtitled Real Stories About Growing Up Trans.

Happy Pride Month, y’all! I was so thrilled to have this land on my desk to officially launch Pride over here at The Frumious Consortium. Collecting nine real biographies of trans people and their childhoods, this is an excellent, inspirational collection that serves double-duty in assuring trans kids (and even some adults!) that it’s okay to be who you are, while also sharing with cis folks the interior lives of a demographic they may have yet had little experience with.

Sammy Lisel has done an excellent job in interviewing nine impressive transgender North Americans from all walks of life and reworking each of their life stories into a chapter of this highly readable graphic novel. The diversity is exceptional, in age, racial and cultural background, profession, and just in the multitude of life experiences that it took for each kid to grow up to be the person who they are today. It’s also really great to see teachers and entrepreneurs, park rangers and musicians, scientists and firefighters all represented in these pages, underscoring how trans people are integral parts of society and will flourish in their chosen fields as long as they’re given the right to live peaceably as who they are. Their stories are told with humor, honesty and verve, emphasizing the need for trans people to be able to exist as unreservedly as cis people do, and to be able to come out on their own terms.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/05/becoming-who-we-are-edited-by-sammy-lisel-hazel-newlevant/

Jun 04 2024

Around The World In 50 Birds Jigsaw Puzzle by Mike Unwin & Ryuto Miyake

I recently surprised myself by doing exceptionally well in the Learned League’s Birds-themed Mini-League, held in the long-running online trivia game’s off-season. I finished second in my group, which qualified me for the finals, tho I ultimately turned in a middling performance in the championship quiz. Still, it was a pretty good showing for someone who’s never really studied either birds or zoology. As I was bending over this jigsaw puzzle one evening, it suddenly struck me that my strange reputation as a go-to for avian-themed books and games targeted at the layman may have had something to do with why I’d gotten so far!

This reputation is also, I believe, one of the reasons I received this gorgeous jigsaw puzzle. I had the chance to review the book it’s based on, Around The World In 80 Birds by Mike Unwin & Ryuto Miyake, back in 2022 so absolutely jumped at the chance to take a look at the jigsaw puzzle derivative. It also gave me an excuse to finally set up my puzzle/craft table! Up until last year, I’d done all my jigsaw puzzles at my former best friend’s house, in order to protect my games from my kids’ itchy fingers. Now that my kids are a little older, I figured I could risk setting up my own table. My middle child could not, alas, resist the temptation of messing with the frame once I’d put it together, but a stern talking-to fortunately cured him of the impulse for the rest of my puzzle-solving duration.

Let me take a moment to brag about my puzzle/craft table before I continue. The square table has a cushioned top, and is set right next to a lamp I specifically bought with one fixed upward light and one directional light I can point wherever I need extra illumination. I laid my grey felt jigsaw mat over top, with four colorful felt trays to help sort pieces into. I’m honestly quite proud of it, and grateful I had a reason to finally put it all together with this jigsaw.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/04/around-the-world-in-50-birds-jigsaw-puzzle-by-mike-unwin-ryuto-miyake/

Jun 03 2024

The Idol Of Mombasa by Annamaria Alfieri (EXCERPT)

Hi readers! This week, we have an excerpt from The Idol Of Mombasa, the second novel in the Vera And Tolliver historical mystery series by Annamaria Alfieri, after the debut title Strange Gods.

1912: on the coast of British East Africa, the invasive and obtrusive British are tangled in an uneasy peace with the Sultan of Zanzibar. The British have outlawed the slave trade, but, well, it’s all a matter of who you know and who you owe, isn’t it? This slippery morality infuriates Vera Tolliver, a Scottish missionary’s daughter and the bride of Justin, an English police officer whose job it is to enforce the law… after he figures out what it is. The murder of a runaway slave only increases the complications, especially when a longtime friend of Vera’s is the likeliest suspect. Meanwhile both the British government and the Sultanate sail above it all, as though they have nothing to do with it, but Vera and Tolliver know their fingers are knotted into this tangle’s every strand.

In the following excerpt, Vera and Tolliver have returned from their honeymoon and are just finishing their breakfast. Vera has been urging Justin to give up his job with the police force. He wants to continue, at least for a while, and has accepted an assignment in the port city of Mombasa.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/03/the-idol-of-mombasa-by-annamaria-alfieri-excerpt/

Jun 02 2024

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Charlie Fitzer’s day is just about to get a lot better. As it begins, he’s divorced (his ex-wife is seeing an investment banker and sharing her fabulous vacations on her Instagram account, which of course Charlie follows), his career has descended from business reporter for the Chicago Tribune to middle-school substitute teacher (thanks to layoffs and a stint caring for his father during his final illness), his bank account is near zero and his main asset is a quarter share of his childhood home, where he has continued to live after his father’s death. His three half-siblings, holders of the other shares, very much want to sell. Then Charlie gets news that his uncle has died. His billionaire uncle. Who had no other close relatives. Also, a kitten adopts Charlie.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

His week, however, is just about to get a lot worse. The first real inkling of how bad is when one of the mourners at his uncle’s funeral pulls out a big knife and winds up to stab the corpse. This is how it came to pass: One of his uncle’s minions showed up at Charlie’s house (“He kept tabs on you,” [Mathilda] Morrison [the minion] said. “Discreetly. From a distance. In a way that wouldn’t antagonize your father.” “Well, that doesn’t sound creepy at all,” I said. (p. 25)) and offered to set up a deal that would leave Charlie sole owner of the house and give him enough money to become proprietor of the local pub, something he felt would be much better than substitute teaching. The catch was that he would have to stand for his uncle at the funeral a few days later. Stabbing had not been mentioned in advance. That this might not be an ordinary funeral was indicated by floral arrangements delivered by courier bearing messages such as “See you in Hell” (“It is, however, one of the nicer [messages].” (p. 34)) and “Not soon enough.” Then there were the mourners.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/02/starter-villain-by-john-scalzi/

May 31 2024

Tantalizing Tales — May 2024 — Part Two

It’s the end of May, and while I’ve been able to read twenty-two books so far this month (covered either here or over at CriminalElement.com) there have still been so many gorgeous books that crossed my desk that I haven’t quite been able to fit in yet.

The first of these, and the first I’m hoping to be able to get to, is I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter Beagle. I definitely feel like I’m letting down Doug, who is a huge Beagle fan, by not immediately dropping everything and diving into this tome, especially since it’s been a dozen years since the fantasy master behind The Last Unicorn last had a book published. Now he’s back with a cozy vengeance, with this charming, whimsical fairy tale about dragons and their reluctant exterminator.

Dragons are common in the backwater kingdom of Bellemontagne, coming in sizes from mouse-like vermin all the way up to castle-smashing monsters. Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (who would much rather people call him Robert) has recently inherited his deceased dad’s job as a dragon catcher/exterminator, a career he detests with all his heart in part because he likes dragons — feeling a kinship with them — but mainly because his dream has always been the impossible one of transcending his humble origin to someday become a prince’s valet. Needless to say, destiny has something rather different in mind…

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/31/tantalizing-tales-may-2024-part-two/

May 30 2024

Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Y’all, I was so excited when my friend Emily asked if I wanted to read Crying In H Mart with her, especially since it would help cap Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month for me here at The Frumious Consortium. We’d both heard so many great things about the book, and it looked short and relevant to our interests as parents and foodies. We dove in over this past weekend and, um, wow. Actually “yikes” is probably the best word to encapsulate the experience.

I have to say that I’m super glad I had Emily to message with throughout this experience, because as an Asian American parent whose own Asian mother will never win any Mother Of The Year awards, even I was staggered by the amounts of abuse on display throughout the book. More concerning to me was Michelle Zauner’s bizarre over-identification with her mom. At first, I thought I was unable to relate because my own mother and I don’t have the best relationship, but soon realized that my detachment sprang from the fact that I’ve only ever seen this kind of behavior in abuse victims. By the end of Chapter 2, I was telling Emily, “Mostly, I’m hoping there’s [a positive] arc to this story, because if [the author] stays like this throughout the book, I’m just gonna be hella depressed for her by the end.”

Reader, I was hella depressed for her by the end.

For those of you who blessedly have never heard of this memoir, it’s a recounting of Michelle’s childhood and early adult life as an allegedly difficult only child to a Korean American mom and white American dad. She fled to the East Coast for college from where she grew up in Oregon, and stayed there for several years after graduation, working odd jobs while nurturing her musical career. She was also slowly beginning to reconcile with her mom when the latter was suddenly diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Michelle immediately gave up her admittedly not that terrific life on the East Coast to come take care of her mother for the next year or so, before death claimed Chongmi for good. The memoir bluntly depicts everything that happened, with several chapters devoted to the aftermath as well.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/30/crying-in-h-mart-by-michelle-zauner/

May 29 2024

The Deck Of Many Drinks by Jef Aldrich & Jon Taylor

subtitled The RPG Cocktail Recipe Deck with Powerful Effects! A part of the Dungeonmeister line of books and gaming aids.

This has got to be one of the most fun and useful items I’ve ever whipped out while running a game of Dungeons & Dragons. Sure, there may have been more fun items, not that any come immediately to mind. And, let’s face it, the Dungeon Master’s screen is the most useful aid for any DM trying to hide the results of their rolls so they can save their party of reckless adventurers from certain doom, ahem. But as a combination of both fun and useful? This deck cannot be beaten.

The fifty oversized cards come in a sturdy flip top deck box, accompanied by a high quality booklet that serves as both guide and recipe book. Let’s talk about the book first before I ooh and aah over the cards. The glossy interiors are in black and white, and are divided into two main parts. First, there’s a How To Use section which talks a little about the D&D lore-related inspiration behind the deck before discussing the drinks’ potential uses as treasure and craftable items, complete with very handy game-mechanics advice for both. The authors then describe the Dungeonmeister Tavern that can be used as a setting related to these drinks, complete with non-player characters the DM can use to staff the bar.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/29/the-deck-of-many-drinks-by-jef-aldrich-jon-taylor/