Looking for 2015 SF&F Recommendations!

[rowyn]

Next year, I'll be going to MidAmericon, the 2016 WorldCon. This means I'll be eligible to make Hugo nominations!

Which means that I should read some SF&F that was written this year.

Because I have a habit of reading only work that's been recommended to me, and I'm too cheap to buy hardcovers/e-books priced like hardcovers, my reading is rarely anything published in the last 12 months. But hey, I can check stuff out from the library and even figure out the nationwide-interlibrary loan system again if I have to! And indie books are usually reasonably priced even when new. LET'S DO THIS.

So if you know any good sf&f that came out this year (including your own!), please let me know. I am especially interested in short fiction -- I actually know 2 novels to nominate already -- but anything is good.  If it's something you enjoyed but feel is a "guilty pleasure" or "not literary enough for an award" or whatever, please recommend it anyway. I like light fluffy stories and will be happy to nominate a good one for an award.

Comments

[benalene.livejournal.com]

I think Hugh Howey (author of Wool) has come out (or is coming out) with a new series called Beacon23. I really enjoyed his Wool series, and have been meaning to try his other works, including this one. I think it is a series of short stories. If you have unlimited on Amazon, they are free. Otherwise, $0.99.

[rowyn]

*downloads a sample of Beacon23* Though I admit that the format ("I will release parts 1-5 as individual books for $0.99 each, when all five together would make one shortish book") is kind of a turn off for me. But I can give it a chance!

[benalene.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure how long each individual one was. Are they like, chapter length??

[rowyn]

Yes, each one is around 20-40 pages, per Amazon.

The "break the story into little chunks" reminds me of a Kindle Unlimited revenue-maximizing scheme: originally Amazon paid KU authors by how many "e-books" were downloaded through KU. So you'd make 5x as much off KU readers if you had five 40-page ebooks than if you had one 200 page book. Recently, Amazon switched to paying authors by the number of pages readers read, so there was no incentive to break a story into mulitple "ebooks".

I don't know if that was this author's motive, or if the author just feels that each novelette stands well on its own, or what. But the superficial appearance is not a positive one, for me. :|

[benalene.livejournal.com]

I think he did a similar thing with Wool, and then collected it all into an Omnibus later. I couldn't guess at his motives. But if you don't like it, since I suggested it to you, I'll buy you another .99 cent book of your choosing!