In a year with a contentious election, it would seem that reading a book about a futuristic election might be a bit much. Mamatas is sharp but fair, never mocking Lovecraft fans, but pulling the veil reveal the complexities of fandom for the late writer. Lovecraft’s writing has been examined more critically in recent years, and the arguments over his legacy have been a sort of microcosm for the larger conversations about race and representation in sci-fi and horror. In his latest novel, I Am Providence, Nick Mamatas takes a shot at sci-fi and horror fandom, creating Lovecraftian murder mystery that’s set during a Lovecraft convention. The Grace of Kings looked at how an empire is overthrown and rebuilt The Wall of Storms is about how one holds everything together. Liu is one of the best authors writing at the moment, and he was particularly busy this year with publishing an anthology of Chinese science fiction, translating a major novel, and releasing his own collection of short fiction. The Wall of Storms takes place years later, when a new generation of characters rise up to contend with an invading force that threatens everything their parents fought for.
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In the first installment, protagonist Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu helped overthrow an empire and install another in its place. Ken Liu’s The Wall of Storms is the sequel to his fantasy epic The Grace of Kings. Jemisin wasn’t the only author to pen a standout middle installment in a trilogy. The Obelisk Gate is an incredibly ambitious and important novel, one that has us eager for the final installment of the trilogy. Jemisin won this year’s Hugo Award for best novel for The Fifth Season, and in these two novels she used her brilliant characters, vivid world, and pacing to examine the use of power in all of its facets. The basics are, admittedly, a little daunting to the newcomer: an orogene (read: magician) named Essun has found refuge from the world’s disasters, and her former mentor and lover, Alabaster, is slowly turning to stone as a result of drawing power from strange constructs known as Obelisks, as he tries to stop the world’s cycles of destruction. The Obelisk Gate continues to build on its predecessor’s brilliance. The Fifth Season elevated the fantasy genre by upending tropes about the portrayal of magic, relationships, and the end of the world. The result is a powerful novel about acceptance, disability, and making one’s way in a difficult world.
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It follows two protagonists: a genetically modified orphan struggling to survive, and a ship’s artificial intelligence, dumped into a humanoid body, trying to learn how to pass for a human.īoth clever and heartbreaking, Chambers story focus on the journeys and growth of her two characters rather than a traditional struggle with a malevolent antagonist. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambersīecky Chamber’s A Closed and Common Orbit is set in the same world as her debut novel, A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. As the end of the world begins, they both find that they have their own roles to play, and will either save or doom the planet. After growing up together, Patricia went on to study magic, while Laurence turned into a mad scientist. The book follows a pair of childhood friends, Patrica and Laurence, who hadn’t expected to reunite as adults. The novel affords her a length and creative freedom so different from the blog, and yet with both she deftly explored the murky boundaries between fantasy and science fiction, and how the world has evolved. I used to work with Charlie Jane Anders when she was the editor-in-chief of Gawker’s io9.
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane AndersĪll the Birds in the Sky is as witty as it is smart. Here’s the best of what the year had to offer. 2016 was a difficult year, but a bounty of fantastic science fiction and fantasy novels were helpful in not simply escaping the present, but confronting it. We’re living in a world that looks increasingly like science fiction, so I find myself looking to the genre not for predictions of what the future holds but for some guidance for dealing with this strange and changing world.
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