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Best first contact sci fi books12/7/2023 Inspired by the rise to power of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it is more historical fiction than SFF. Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun was the only book I read after the finalists were announced, but it was one of my most highly anticipated releases of the year. I just wouldn’t call it the greatest SFF novel. The point of the book is the found family, finding connection and feeling like you belong, and at that it succeeds. Neither the magical demon-dealing aspects nor the alien space-travelling parts were explained or even talked about in any depth. This book is the everything and the kitchen sink kind, and while that made for a truly fun and interesting reading experience, it’s not the strongest contender when it comes to sfnal ideas. The Tran family – donut selling refugee aliens – are also nice, but they don’t get as much page time as Katrina. This girl who isn’t accepted by her family, finds a sort of home with a music mentor (never mind that this mentor wants to harvest Katrina’s soul and hand it over to a demon in order to save herself). Katrina Nguyen is an easy protagonist to like and root for. And some parts of it are better done than others. Ryka Aoki’s Light From Uncommon Stars has such a bonkers-sounding premise, how could anyone resist picking it up? Deals with devils, an alien family selling donuts, violin prodigies, a trans heroine, and the pitfalls of internet fame, it’s all here. Does the story have flaws – sure! Did I love it anyway? Absolutely! This was the only book I managed to read and enjoy during those first months, so I have a soft spot for it. When I listened to this book, I was in the early stages of pregnancy and could barely concentrate on anything. A smart scientist is alone in space, confronted with catastrophe after catastrophe that he needs to solve, and there’s also the small fact that the survival of the Earth depends on his mission’s success. The plot itself is just what I had expected and hoped for. I can only recommend enjoying the story this way. That’s important because not only is the narrator, Ray Porter, doing a brilliant job performing, but the first contact aspect of the story calls for certain non-speech aspects that happen to work really, really well in the audio version. I skipped his second book and went straight into this one, in audiobook format. His second novel was apparently a flop, but this one caught lots of attention again. Andy Weir missed a nomination for the stunning The Martian because when that book came out (self-published) not enough people knew about it. I’m glad we have Becky Chambers and I’m even gladder she is spoiling us with the wonderful stories that her brain comes up with. The way it deals with the complexities of social interactions between people of various cultures and species, and manages to tell an exciting tale on a backwater planet with not much to offer, is just lovely. Galaxy was probably my second favorite book in the loosely connected series, and easily one of the best 2022 novels I’ve read. There was a surprising amount of conflict here as well, but also the usual warmth and respect we expect from a Wayfarers novel. I’m happy to say The Galaxy, and the Ground Within was a big hit and pulled at my heartstrings exactly the way I’ve come to know and love from a Chambers book. Shelley Parker-Chan – She Who Became the Sunīecky Chambers’ Wayfarer series has been mostly hits, but one sort-of-miss for me.Becky Chambers – The Galaxy, and the Ground Within.Arkady Martine – A Desolation Called Peace.What a year! I had read all the finalists except one when the ballot was announced, and that last missing book was already high on my TBR. You can find my ballots and thoughts on the other finalists here: As always, this is what we call the Big One. Since I didn’t post my thoughts while it was happening but did do the reading and the voting and all that, I thought it was only right to post about it here. Here’s my catching up posts about last year’s Hugo Awards.
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