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When you read a lot of novels, there comes a time when you need something… different. No farmboys who are destined to become the savior of the land. No elves or dwarves. No schools of wizards. No epic stories that plod along for 82 bajillion pages. Typically when the menu calls for something like this, Subterranean Press is the best place to go. But lately, it seems like Night Shade Books has the kind of story that is needed.
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Here we are with the Hugo novellas. In case you are wondering, a novella ranges from around 17,500 words and measures up to 40,000 words in length. There’s some beautiful stuff in this set of nominated works—in fact, it was a little hard to choose which was the best. In the end, this category will vary a lot from reader to reader. Anyway, let’s jump in.
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It’s been a while since I read these novelettes, but I wanted to sit on them for a bit to see which ones stuck with me, which ones disappeared from memory and just see when I came back to it, which ones were the best compared to the others. The question I hear a lot is, “What the heck is a novelette?” Simply put, it’s a work of fiction ranging from 7500 words to around 18,000 words in length. It is that piece of fiction that takes up the space between the short story and the novella.

There were some pretty good pieces of of fiction in this year’s Hugo nominated batch of novelettes. So here we go:
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The first thing you should know about William Hawthorne (aka Will) is that he’s an actor. He’s unabashedly self-serving, considers himself more clever and charming than he is, and profoundly enjoys his creature comforts.

Unfortunately, those character traits get him into trouble more often than not.
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There’s a reason we like George Mann‘s work. It’s all fast-paced, fun, and can be read without having to work at it. GHOSTS OF WAR (Amazon) is Mann’s second Ghost novel, and follows up immediately after GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN. It has pretty much all the elements that made MANHATTAN fun, yet also seems to have more flaws than the first entry.

Mechanical, bat-like constructs are terrorizing the city of Manhattan. They swoop down and abduct random people off the streets, and those people are never found. The Ghost does what any good vigilante hero would and tries to solve the mystery. He is helped once again by Detective Felix Donovan—one of the few who know the Ghost’s real identity.
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Atticus O’Sullivan is older than he looks. By about two millennia. But that hasn’t stopped him from trying to lead a normal life in Tempe Arizona.

Unfortunately, when a human has lived for 2000+ years one is bound to make some enemies, and his archenemy is none other than the Celtic god of love, Aenghus Óg. For a god of love he’s actually a pretty nasty guy.

A while back—a long while back—Attitus got his hands on the magical sword Fragarach from one of Aenghus’ military generals. The god has been trying to get it back ever since; he’s been sending his minions to do his dirty work, and Atticus has been doing a pretty good job avoiding trouble. But now Aenghus is finally coming to finish the job himself.
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When is a fantasy novel not a fantasy novel? Well, I’d say when it’s this novel, but there might be others that would beg to differ. This one feels more like a literary novel to me. Anyone visiting this site interested in reading a literary novel? I don’t know if there will be, but here I go, nonetheless.

THE SILENT LAND (Amazon) is a Graham Joyce novel, an author with quite a few works already under his feet. It’s a quick, focused read revolving around the relationship of a single couple, Zoe and Jake. Zoe is the main PoV character, though Jake’s thoughts are peppered infrequently throughout the book.
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The 2011 Hugo Nominated Short Stories

Short stories are interesting beasts. They are extremely subjective—even more so than novels. For the sake of reviewing the Hugo Nominated Short stories, Steve & Shawn gave them a read. Enjoy!
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When it comes down to it, I picked up this book based on the cover. I do that more frequently than one would think, and of course the results vary. Bradley P. Beaulieu’s debut novel, THE WINDS OF KHALAKOVO (Amazon), has a lot going for it. But it also has some factors that, for me, hurt the overall experience.

What is KHALAKOVO about? The story mostly revolves around Prince Nikandr Khalakovo as he prepares for an arranged marriage, attempts to overcome a terminal wasting disease, and also endeavors to solve a series of mysteries that are causing ever increasing hostilities with other factions. And then readers are introduced to an autistic child, Nasim, who could potentially solve everything, or destroy everything instead.
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FUZZY NATION (Amazon) is a book unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s the reboot of a classic Science Fiction franchise—a retelling of the original, LITTLE FUZZY (EBR Classic). It follows the story of the original in a loose sense, yet tells that same story in a completely new way. It’s fan fiction… in a good way.

I’m not sure exactly what the aim of this book was. Whether it was simply a writing exercise that John Scalzi undertook to clear his head and have a bit of fun. Whether it was meant to draw attention to a series that Scalzi loved, or whether it was meant to be simply a darn entertaining story. Whatever his motives, Scalzi has succeeded.
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