2017 Award Eligibility Post

It's that wonderful time of the year when authors feel like egotistical jerks for reminding readers of all the award eligible things they did last year. You can almost smell the anxiety. But it has to be done because memories are short and regrets are forever.

So...on to business!

This is my last year of eligibility for the Campbell Award. My short story, The Fukuda Cube, which appeared in the Eclipse Phase anthology is eligible for the best short story Hugo award.

This concludes the portion about me. Here's a list of everything I read and loved last year (that was also published last year):

Novels:
The Fireman, by Joe Hill
        This book is really brilliant! It's really not horror either. If I had to re-classify it I'd call it dark contemporary fantasy. And you know what? I'm going to come right out and say it. I think this book establishes him as a better writer than his father.

Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson
        Another brilliant book. The previous book in this series left me heartbroken for the characters and this book was the perfect followup. Plus there's major Cosemere crossover stuff if you pay close attention to those kind of things.

Arcanum Unbounded, by Brandon Sanderson
         Yes, there's two of his on the list but I would be amiss not to put this fantastic collection of his shortish fiction on the list. It's gorgeous and there's so many excellent stories!

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge, by John Ringo and Larry Correia
         I normally don't like reflective first person viewpoints but this one is so good! Granted it helps that I love the Monster Hunter books anyway, but even if I didn't I still would have loved this book. It's that well done...until you get to the giant spiders at the end. I did skip that part. Oh, come on. Wouldn't you? They're giant spiders! Eek!

Ghost Talkers, by Mary Robinette Kowal
         This historical fantasy has all of the charm beautiful language we've come to expect from Mary in addition to being a really compelling thriller. It made me laugh and it made me cry.

Extreme Makeover, by Dan Wells
         When Dan said that this is the best book he's ever written, he wasn't kidding! It's brilliant! The concept is original and terrifying and there's just enough humor to keep me from having nightmares.



Graphic Novel:
Monstress vol. 1, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
        The art is gorgeous, the story is fascinating and original, and the Asian influence makes me feel right at home. I can't wait for the second collection to come out!