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

[argonel.livejournal.com]

A not very helpful suggestion I'm afraid, but I just started a kindle unlimited subscription. It is a flat $10 a month to read as much as you want from the books in the program and the authors get paid. The problem is still what to read, but it opens the doors to a lot of ebooks for a flat fee.

[alinsa.livejournal.com]

I heard about this one polyamorous romance story...

[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.

[aliettedb.livejournal.com]

Novel: Zen Cho's Sorcerer to the Crown, fantasy Regency with the first Black magician in the UK, familiars, and a very determined young woman... Ken Liu's The Grace of King, which is like a cross between Three Kingdoms and Tolkien.
Mine is out this month as well: The House of Shattered Wings, set in a post-magical-apocalypse Paris with witches, alchemists, Fallen angels and entirely too many dead bodies.

In short fiction I've loved Isabel Yap's Milagroso on Tor.com: http://www.tor.com/2015/08/12/milagroso-isabel-yap/ and Usman T Malik's "The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" http://www.tor.com/2015/04/22/the-pauper-prince-and-the-eucalyptus-jinn-usman-malik/

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Well, my second book, Crossways, came out on 4th August from DAW, though maybe you need to read Empire of Dust first (November 2014)

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

Sorry, the new LJ interface surprised me - writing a comment right now. Not sure how to delete the preceding?

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to think of anything I've read recently that wasn't either a novel or fanfiction. I'm pretty sure fanfiction is disqualified. For one thing, it has to be published, right?

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

Hi,

I have semi-daily SFF recommendations on Twitter under #diversestories and #diversepoems - I also gather them on my website (http://prezzey.net/). I have a lot of 2015 stuff, but also earlier work. For example, this is the Mar-Apr roundup (http://www.prezzey.net/2015/diversestories-diversepoems-recs-mar-apr-2015/).

Around awards time, I also tend to post recommendations specifically focused on awards (Hugo, Nebula, Rhysling, Carl Brandon usually).

Hope this helps a bit!

[mrw42.livejournal.com]

I expect to be going to MidAmericon, too. I hope to see you there!

Good sf&f reads

[(Anonymous)]

Aliette de Bodard's classy and classical The House of Shattered Wings naturally, but also waiting in the sidelines and I can heartily recommend: The Gameshouse, a set of three novella's by Claire North that add up to one stunning read published by Orion and due out next month,and a first novel by Catriona Ward, Rawblood... darkly gothic and immensely spooky writing spanning two centuries, also due out next month and well worth waiting for!

[emgrasso.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Uprooted by Naomi Norvik?
Or Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear?
Or Forgotten Suns by Judith Tarr?

That's one each fairy tale, steampunk and space opera, all with diverse characters and relationships.

[archangelbeth]

1: Toad Words by T. Kingfisher, as a lead-in to Byrony and Roses. (As mentioned on Twitter! Also Nine Goblins, ditto.)

2: ...oh, blast, http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lee_07_14/ is 2014. Maybe look for more by this author? I should do that...