May 26 2026
I was feeling very intellectually chipper last week and decided to get a head start on some of my Hugo 2026 Awards reading, beginning with a nominated novella from a podcaster I adore. Automatic Noodle is the story of a restaurant’s robot employees in a California that has successfully seceded, at some cost, from the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/05/26/automatic-noodle-by-annalee-newitz/
May 18 2026
Here at The Frumious Consortium, we are always excited to scrutinize the list of Hugo Finalists! Doug: I’ve read one of the Best Novel finalists! And one in Novella! And I think I tried to read one in Best Short Story. I’ve forgotten whether I bounced or just suffered tab overload and closed that one …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/05/18/hugo-awards-2026-chat/
Feb 01 2026
T. Kingfisher’s third Sworn Soldier novella — following What Moves the Dead and What Feasts at Night — takes Alex Easton and their* batsman Angus to America at the urgent behest of their friend James Denton, a doctor last seen by readers not far from where the House of Usher had fallen. He had returned home, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/02/01/what-stalks-the-deep-by-t-kingfisher/
Dec 13 2025
The thing about The Incandescent by Emily Tesh as a novel about a magic boarding school in England is that it’s told from the adults’ point of view, adults who take their responsibilities seriously, and who have real lives that are separate from what is happening to the students. Boarding-school stories often assign the teachers …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/13/an-unrelated-pair-of-books-by-emily-tesh-and-lois-mcmaster-bujold/
Nov 09 2025
Doug Merrill: Hi everyone! Emily Lauer: Hello! Doug: Hi Emily! Doreen Sheridan: Hello, all! I can confidently say that I’m happy they started a poetry category (and that my favorite won, lol) Doug: I’m glad that there’s a poetry category, too, and glad that it seems to have gone over well this year. Now to …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/09/hugo-2025-chat/
Sep 01 2025
I never did finish writing my review of Ancillary Mercy, the final book of Ann Leckie‘s Imperial Raadch trilogy, but here is part of its beginning: Presger Translator Zeiat may be my favorite character in science fiction from 2015. I’ll have to think about it a little while more to be sure, but she is …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/09/01/translation-state-by-ann-leckie/
Aug 07 2025
This graphic novel took Emil Ferris something like seven years to write and draw, and it was honestly worth every minute. My only quibble with it is the idea that it somehow serves as a conclusion. Sure, it solves the murder, presented in the first volume, of who killed Anka. But the emotions are still …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/07/my-favorite-thing-is-monsters-vol-2-by-emil-ferris/
Aug 05 2025
Would I read this comic if it weren’t for the fact that it’s nominated for a Hugo almost every year? Absolutely not. Tho apparently it was not nominated last year (I’ve heard that Vol 8 was Not Great) and I skipped the Hugos the year before, so missed reading the last two books. Not that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/05/monstress-vol-9-the-possessed-by-marjorie-m-liu-sana-takeda/
Jul 30 2025
Continuing with our coverage of the 2025 Hugo Awards is my survey of the poetry finalists, a category that debuts this year as a trial balloon for inclusion in future WorldCons. Personally, I think it’s a great idea for an ongoing category, especially as it encourages writers to continue experimenting with form and, hopefully, discipline, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/30/hugo-awards-2025-best-poem/
Jul 28 2025
As a bad Trekker with little time for TV, I have yet to watch a single episode of Lower Decks, tho it was certainly top of list for me even before I read this astonishing book. I figured that this graphic novel would be a great introduction to the series but was thoroughly unprepared for …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/28/star-trek-lower-decks-%e2%80%95-warp-your-own-way-by-ryan-north-chris-fenoglio/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire