Who hasn’t wondered whether all those twists on the path through Ikea might not lead somewhere else entirely? In Nino Cipri’s Finna, the Ikea stand-in LitenVärld (it means “little world” in Swedish) has a recurring problem with wormholes opening within its stores and leading to LitenVärld analogues in parallel universes. Not that management tells anyone, …
Tag: Hugo Finalist
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/21/finna-by-nino-cipri/
Nov 19 2021
Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
I don’t remember the last time a novella, oh heck, any book, has been so strong and thoughtful before totally collapsing for me in the last two pages. “Riot Baby” is not a directive, as I’d mistakenly believed: it’s a nickname. Kev is born during the L.A. riots that blaze in the aftermath of the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/19/riot-baby-by-tochi-onyebuchi/
Nov 18 2021
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
I don’t think I’ve yet met a premise of P. Djèlí Clark’s that I haven’t loved! Ring Shout posits the idea that the Ku Klux Klan are made up of both your regular hate-filled Klansmen and demonic Ku Klux entities from another realm masquerading as human. Not everyone can see these Ku Klux in their …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/18/ring-shout-by-p-djeli-clark-2/
Nov 17 2021
Finna (LitenVerse #1) by Nino Cipri
Like, I knew this was a portal fantasy of two exes navigating the multiverse that opens up in an IKEA-style store, but the blurb and the cover especially did not prepare me for the excellent hijinks that ensued! I’m also a bit ashamed to admit that I really want to go visit IKEA again after …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/17/finna-litenverse-1-by-nino-cipri/
Nov 15 2021
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Sarah Gailey has long been on my Want-To-Read list, so when I saw their latest novella nominated for a Hugo, I was super excited to finally have the opportunity. Plus, a story about female librarians braving the Wild West to bring books from settlement to settlement? Sign me up! Upright Women Wanted certainly delivers on …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/15/upright-women-wanted-by-sarah-gailey/
Nov 13 2021
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
It’s 1922 and the Ku Klux Klan is marching in Macon, Georgia. The Klan I know from history is bad enough, but the Klan in Ring Shout is supplemented by literal monsters that Clark’s first-person narrator Maryse Boudreaux and her friends Sadie and Chef can see through the human form that the Ku Kluxes have …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/13/ring-shout-by-p-djeli-clark/
Nov 12 2021
Come Tumbling Down (Wayward Children #5) by Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire can be so hit or miss for me, and this one was, unfortunately, another miss. But it was a very near-miss, and one that could easily have been a hit, as I love Jack Wolcott and was panting to read this story of her continuing adventures. Last we’d seen, Jack had taken the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/12/come-tumbling-down-wayward-children-5-by-seanan-mcguire/
Nov 11 2021
Die Vol. 2: Split the Party by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans & Clayton Cowles
The first volume of this outstanding homage to RPGs absolutely broke my heart. It was my favorite for last year’s Hugo for Best Graphic Story, but I was unsurprised that it didn’t win. It’s VERY niche, even for nerds, and not everyone was going to adore it the way I did. The second volume amplifies …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/11/die-vol-2-split-the-party-by-kieron-gillen-stephanie-hans-clayton-cowles/
Nov 08 2021
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
It’s sheer coincidence that I saved this for Native American Heritage Month, but I’m so glad the Hugos forced me to finally get around to reading it! Elatsoe is the full name of Lipan Apache Ellie Bride, a teenage girl who lives in a Texas much like our own but with certain significant differences. For …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/08/elatsoe-by-darcie-little-badger/
Nov 05 2021
Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora & Tamra Bonvillain
The first comic that really expanded my idea of what graphic novels could do was Camelot 3000 by Mike W Barr and Brian Bolland, which I read as a young adolescent, then again less than a decade ago. It certainly was not as good for me the second time around, but I’ll always treasure the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/05/once-future-vol-1-the-king-is-undead-by-kieron-gillen-dan-mora-tamra-bonvillain/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire