Hugo Nominees 2018 TBR

So in my last post, I talked about the Hugo nominated books that I had already read, even before the nominations were announced. This post is going to be about the books that I plan to read. I am not interested in reading all the books that were nominated, but still interested in reading some of them.

Link for the nominations list is here – 2018 Hugo Award Finalists

From the best novel category, I am planning to read the following books –

• The Collapsing Empire –

  I am currently listening to this on Audiobook and loving it. The world building and “Flow” as a concept are interesting. I am not sure why ardent sci-fi readers dislike John Scalzi. His books are fun and entertaining, which is what I hope from the books that I read. I read in order to escape and not to get depressed so his books work very well for me.

• New York 2140 –

  This is the next book on my TBR, as soon as I am done with my current read. I have high hopes from this author and this book so hoping that I end up loving it.

• Provenance and Raven Stratagem –

  I am going to give them a miss, since I did not like the other books written by these authors. I am optimistic that I will not like these either. I prefer straight forward books with some world building from the author’s side.

• The Stone Sky –

  I tried reading Fifth Season multiple times but it is too depressing and dry to read. I am not sure why this series is so popular. I will try reading it for the Nth time and try to see what is so great about this series. If you love this series, please give me some reasons to read it.

From the Novella category, I am planning to read the rest of the nominees that I have not read –

• The Black Tides of Heaven –

  I heard that the gender of the characters in this book is not revealed at all and one has to make assumptions about their gender. That sounds like a very unique way of writing so I am interested in seeing how that works for me.

• And Then There Were (N-One) –

  by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny, March/April 2017) – I am eager to read this story as I have heard some great reviews about it.
  Uncanny Magazine Article Link

From the new Young Adult award category, I am hoping to read these –

• Akata Warrior –

  I started with the first book in the series “Akata Witch” and hope to get to the second part soon. I am liking Akata Witch so far. It is being called Nigerian Harry Potter and I agree with that.

• The Book of Dust –

  I did not like The Golden Compass (first book in the previous series) by this author so not planning to try his new series either.

• Frances Hardinge and T.Kingfisher –

  I have not read anything by these two authors and have heard great things about their earlier works. I hope to read something by these authors soon.

Regarding the other two authors in this category, I am not sure how their books are since I have not heard many people talk about them.

I am also hoping to read something by Lois McMaster Bujold, since her other series is nominated for Hugo awards. I also want to read something by C J Cherryh with the hopes of meeting her in the conference (I am not sure if she is going to attend).

In the graphical novel category, I hope to read these soon –

• Black Bolt, Volume 1: Hard Time –

  written by Saladin Ahmed, illustrated by Christian Ward, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Marvel).

• Bitch Planet, Volume 2: President Bitch –

  written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Valentine De Landro and Taki Soma, colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics).

• Monstress and My favorite thing is Monsters –

  I didn’t like them both and had to DNF the comics. I am not sure why they are so popular. My taste in comics is quite different from others I guess.

• Saga volume 7 –

  I read the first volume of Saga and I did not find the story compelling enough to pick the other volumes. It’s like Romeo Juliet in space and I am not a huge fan of weird love stories. I am definitely not going to read 6 more volumes of it.

Coming to novelette/short stories, I will see how many of these I can get to. The ones I am hoping to read are –

• “The Secret Life of Bots -”

  by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, September 2017).
  Link to Clarkesworld article

• “Sun, Moon, Dust -”

  by Ursula Vernon, (Uncanny, May/June 2017).
  Link to Uncanny magazine article.

Coming to Dramatic Presentation category(short and long form), I am hoping to watch these movies and shows –

• The Shape of Water

  written by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, directed by Guillermo del Toro (TSG Entertainment / Double Dare You / Fox Searchlight Pictures).

• Black Mirror: “USS Callister,”

  written by William Bridges and Charlie Brooker, directed by Toby Haynes (House of Tomorrow)

• Star Trek: Discovery: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,”

  written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander, directed by David M. Barrett (CBS Television Studios)

Are you planning to read any of these? Have you read or watched any of these books/movies?