Looking for the hottest speculative fiction around? Not ready to trust yourself and your time to anything but prize-winning writing? You’re in luck, because some of the top Hugo awards from 2019 are right here at The Field Library, ready for you to check out and enjoy.
The best novel of the year was The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal, which I already wrote about when it came out (here). And just in case the book leaves you feeling you need more about the wonderful women astronauts in this alternate reality, you can pick up the sequel to The Calculating Stars, which is The Fated Sky, taking place in 1961 when people have already gone to the moon and are preparing to colonize Mars as well.
You can imagine how delighted I was to find that Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells, was awarded the Hugo for best novella. Anyone who’s read this blog knows how much I love the Murderbot series, and Artificial Condition, in which Murderbot teams up with a sentient Research Transport vessel (a vivid character in its own right) to go back to the planet where it earned its nickname, finding out what it actually did and whether it is in fact bad, is terrific (see here). All of the Murderbot books are excellent, and they’re all short (novellas), so do yourself a favor and start with the first one, Condition Red, and work your way through. Good news for fans: there’s a Murderbot NOVEL coming out soon, and of course you can count on the Field Library to get a copy as soon as it’s there.
The Hugo winner for best series is Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series, all the books of which are here at the Field Library: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, A Closed and Common Orbit, and Record of a Spaceborn Few. If you’re a fan of space opera (the sub-genre, not necessarily the book), and have a soft spot in your heart for the short-lived Firefly series or Star Trek, you should definitely introduce yourself to the Wayfarers’ universe.
Check out our Hugo winners and enjoy the best speculative fiction of the year.
Bookskill 