Ranking the 2024 Hugo Best Novel nominees by Joe Stech

2024-06-21
What an incredible year for Hugo nominations! It has been a while since we've had a year with this many strong contenders.
Before I jump into the reviews, I want to mention that I have tentative plans to attend Worldcon in Glasgow (assuming my kids' passports arrive in time)! If you'll be there please reply to this email and let me know, I'd love to meet up and say hi.
Back to the reviews. Here is my opinionated list of this year's Hugo noms, from most favorite to least:

1. Translation State, by Ann Leckie

Although it is set in the same universe as Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy, Translation State is stand-alone. If you did read the Imperial Radch trilogy, though, you'll have heard of Presger Translators — beings engineered by the Presger as intermediaries between the Presger and humans.
The book digs deeper into the biology of Presger Translators, and is worth reading just for the perspective of the baby translator, Qven, who grows up inside a very bizarre nursery. The babies sometimes eat each other and there aren't any teachers until they grow into full juveniles.
The second main story thread follows a man named Reet Hluid. He's a 30 year old orphan who has what seems like a very blue-collar space station job. He is befriended by a group who ultimately want to use him to overthrow a government in their ancient home system.
The story is incredibly well-paced, weaving the more alien threads of Qven's life with the more mundane threads of Reet's life. A third thread is also woven in, following an underestimated caretaker-turned-civil-investigator.
I have a couple friends who are Star Trek TNG superfans, and we joke that the most underrated part of that show is Picard waxing philosophical in conference rooms. Translation State leans heavily on conference room scenes, which are such a joy.
I'll stop there before I go off on any weirder tangents, but if you only read one Hugo nominee this year, read this one.

2. Some Desperate Glory, by Emily Tesh

Emily Tesh fit at least two good books into this novel. It starts as a kind of doomsday cult military SF on a space station, and expands to space opera scope.
It's not hard SF by any means, but the book is good at making clear the delineation between the handwavy tech that moves the plot forward and the more concrete explorations of the relationships and circumstances that the characters find themselves in.
More than anything else the book is an exploration of how people are shaped by their environments. From normal run-of-the-mill human cultural indoctrination all the way to creatures birthed by alien superintelligence, it's not possible to separate the conscious being from the inputs they were trained on.

3. Witch King, by Martha Wells

Martha Wells was a fantasy author before her fame skyrocketed with the Murderbot Diaries, and Witch King is an incredible return to fantasy.
For a story about an immortal demon witch king, the book has surprisingly low stakes. Much of the world-changing action happens in flashbacks, and the main storyline is one of found family and rescue of trapped loved ones.

4. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty

The best straightforward swashbuckling fantasy adventure I've read in a long time. Amina's pirate captain charisma jumps off the page, I loved the style and storytelling all the way through. The cultural flavor of the 12th century Indian Ocean Islamic golden age was both exciting and beautiful.
As a father who goes on periodic business trips (albeit trips that have very little physical danger), I emphathized with Amina's simultaneous desire to be back home with her child and her desire to do the thing that she's the best at, exercising skills developed over a lifetime.
If you have ever enjoyed stories about deals with devils, enchanted artifacts, and notorious sea captains, I'd recommend picking this one up.

5. Starter Villain, by John Scalzi

I think everyone reading this already knows what you're going to get with a John Scalzi novel. Fun concepts and quippy protagonists all the way down, and Starter Villain is no exception. If you want deep character exploration this won't be for you, but if you're interested in mysterious inheritances, talking cats, and leagues of supervillains, read Starter Villain. I personally enjoyed it very much.

6. The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera

This is the only book out of this year's nominations where I felt I couldn't entirely appreciate the story. The book was beautifully written, but felt like a prioritization of style over substance.
The main character felt aimless and unlikeable, without curiosity, motivation, or even consistency. He was just being blown through life without agency or the desire to learn more about his curcumstances.
I really enjoyed the fictional setting, and the descriptions of the studies of the bright doors were interesting and well done.
Ultimately though I couldn't get past the fact that it was unclear why any of the factions were doing what they were doing. Nobody seemed like they were trying to improve anything, they were all just reacting blindly to the world and to each other. I'm sure this was an intentional choice, I just didn't enjoy it.
This concludes my yearly review of the Hugo noms! Don't forget to reach out if you'll be going to Worldcon, I'd love to say hi. Until next time (next year?)!
Joe

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