You articulated my problems with These Calculating Stars so well! I’ve never been able to explain why I didn’t love it on the level I felt I should have. All I’ve been able to say is that it’s too hopeful, but you helped verbalize it so much better! Also, fully back The Fifth Season being a book that deserves tons of awards! I too, didn’t love the sequels as much, but that doesn’t stop me from recommending the series because the first book blew me away

The three body problem series was a hands down life changing series to read! Thank you so much for this video!

For me the 3-Body-Problem was a revolution. So many intersting idea's. I have just re-read, or actually re-listened. The story-writing part where Luo Ji develops a character for a story for his partner as a gift - mind-blown.

I knew your thoughts on A Memory Called Empire but still hurt to see it go in the Meh category. It was definitely one of the top books I read last year. I super agree on Fifth Season though, book one blew me away and the others did not reach those same heights. And as an Indigenous female engineer... I think I'll be taking Calculating Stars off the TBR list haha.

I felt much the same about Ancillary Justice and A Memory Called Empire, books with very interesting premises and concepts that were however let down somewhat by what almost felt like young-adult-sf follow-thru. Good reads that were perhaps likely over-praised because of timely topical elements. Redshirts, however, while I found it well-written and entertaining, felt like too much of a derivative work, one whose recursive nature was both its strength and its weakness, because it meant it worked because of its being commentary upon a larger pre-existing narrative mileu. While SF has always had a dialogue with itself, this felt too close to pastiche/fanfic to be a great work on its own deserving of being called the year's best. (Which means that the Hugo actually may have made me expect too much of what I may have otherwise satisfied me well enough as a fun fandom-pleasing romp). The works you praised that I have not read I will now look for, so thanks for the commentary!

Great video! Congrats on being done with this project. I totally share your opinion on A Memory Called Empire, you are not alone haha. I've been reading for the Hugos for a couple years now and have noticed that my personal favorite from the shortlist is rarely ever the book that wins. I think it's a side effect of ranked choice voting - the book that wins tends to be not super polarizing, which means that I rarely hate a Hugo winner, but you sometimes get "safe" books like The Calculating Stars over more divisive ones. It is interesting how different the taste is of Hugo voters than the general public. You're right that most of these authors aren't the typical bestsellers you see everywhere, but that's part of what I like about the Hugos - they introduce me to authors I wouldn't really see otherwise.

The second book in The Remembrance of Earth's Past series is one of my all time favorite books. Love the reviews!

Reading a bunch of award winning literary “masterpieces” is my version of hell. I appreciate the fair review of a lot of these near the bottom of the list and I think the best word I’ve found for these types of stories are pretentious. I admire the discipline it must have taken to get through all of these. I’ll take pulpy “bad” books all day long if it means I get some fun characters, some clever twists and some memorable scenes. I’ll certainly check out some of your top picks though!

Very interesting that your comments on books you liked were about how the story made you question things and expanded your thinking, while negative comments focused on how the story lacked authenticity. Trying to force drama or an idea at the expense of authenticity has caused so me to check out of so many stories.

This was a fun video! I liked A Memory Called Empire more than you did, and The Fifth Season didn't work as well for me, but I also loved The Three-Body Problem and I liked the sequels even more. Connie Willis is another that I really want to get to soon!

Oh wow, A Memory Called Empire was absolutely my favorite of the Hugo winners I've read with Fifth Season coming in second. Wasn't really a fan of Redshirts but I'm also only a super casual Trek watcher.

Thank you for this great video. I only read the Calculating Stars which I really liked. As a man I didn’t realy get all the subtleties. I liked the optimism. I thought the ending was rushed.

Just finished A Memory Called Empire. 1000% completely agree with how you felt.

Awesome video. My 3rd favorite novel is The 3 Body Problem. My 2nd favorite novel is The Dark Forest, and my favorite novel is Death's End.

I think you described my issue with the Three Body Problem perfectly. Really cool ideas, great science fiction. But the characters are SO bad I just couldn't get into The Dark Forest. I'll have to push through it sometime.

A Memory Called Empire should've been a novella! Wow. You nailed it.

Completely agree about The Three-Body Problem. It's been 2 years since I finished the trilogy and I still think about it at times. It absolutely blew my mind and I was glued to the books for a week. Left me with a sense of both awe and dread, and also with a need to discuss the themes and ideas with others. Truly truly a masterpiece. It's very refreshing to hear your take on the characters being representations of ideas. I did find the characters meh, and that was especially prominent in book 2 where I felt it went on way too much about one character's love story, I was like let's get back to those ideas and world-building! however, absolutely love this trilogy as a whole and now you've made me want to reread it! Also anxiously/eagerly/fearfully awaiting Benioff &Weiss's Netflix adaptation... Yikes. Please do the books justice...! 🤞

I just finished "Redshirts" and really loved it. However, I was seriously vested in the theme as I can fondly remember sitting on the couch with my father in the 1960's, laughing hilariously during the prologue of every episode of the original Star Trek. Every time I see William Shatner on TV, all I can think of is what a pompous twit he was on that show. The movie "Galaxy Quest" was a wonderful send-up of Star Trek and also joked about the Redshirt issue. I agree with you - the Codas were interesting but awkward, but the author felt compelled to tie up loose ends. I love your content! Thank you!

So right about Calculating Stars! I couldn’t stand how there were so many token characters to represent a specific identity. And after such an exciting opening it just got so boring!!!

Oh man. You are literally the only booktuber that I've ever heard talk about Blackout/All clear and you didn't like it! I guess I loved the whole premise of it so much that I was able to overlook the frustrating parts. I did like the very end too. And she wrote a couple other books in that world. The Doomsday book was pretty good.

You're so right about Octavia Butler

My wife and I read Red Shirts and she didn’t grow up a Trekkie after reading it we watched TOS and we both laughed so hard and now she’s a big fan

The two of these that I've read (Broken Earth trilogy & Three-Body trilogy) I absolutely loved, so I guess that means I have to read Redshirts

Your description of Blackout is very similar to my experience of reading Doomsday Book this last summer. There were several instances where I had to put the book down because I was so frustrated. I powered through but wow does she string the reader along. Won’t read anything else by her.

If someone hasn't said it already in the comments, you were correct to classify a decade as you did here: 2011-2020. For instance, the millennium started Jan. 1, 2001, not 2000 as commonly thought. There was no year zero. It's why Clarke titled his book "2001: A Space Odyssey" -- in honor of the beginning of the then-upcoming new millennium.

Great reviews! I am leery of award winners and this, THIS is why... Have you tried; The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke? It might be your thing.

We talked a few years back about _Faction Paradox_ on your _This is How You Lose the Time War_ video. (That weird spinoff of Doctor Who novels.) I'd just recommend it again if you enjoyed _Death's End. The Book of the War_ is out of print but the publisher doesn't care if you sail the seven seas. I felt _Remembrance of Earth's Past_ was just a very _Chinese_ trilogy in a lot of ways. Fantastic sci fi. But it was so informed by the author's views on foreign policy that it felt more interesting to me as an analysis of that mindset than as an actual book. It'll be interesting to see how they adapt that, or if they adapt that.

Really interesting to hear your thoughts on the lack of nuance in Calculating Stars. I haven’t read it but have heard a lot of reviews and none of them pointed this out. I fully agree with you though that so many moments of sexism occur in a grey questionable area, where your gut knows that’s what’s going on but you can’t necessarily point to something super blatant to prove it.

In case anyone is curious about the Hugo winners as a whole, I’ve read almost every “best novel” winner and I definitely don’t recommend trying to read ALL of them. Though I did love some, it wasn’t a great experience overall because there were so many books I didn’t end up enjoying. This is especially true of some of the older works that don’t hold up well to modern standards. I feel like I would have done much better if I had just read the ones that were recommended or that sounded interesting to me. There are certainly some classics that are great reads, but most of them are still well known so there’s no need to slog through all the others to find them. I really like the idea of reading the most recent decade, though! I actually haven’t read all of the 2010s yet, so I will have to come back and comment when I finish those.

I loved Red Shirts too. I read it many years ago so I don't remember the codes. I'll have to reread at some point. And I have been a ST fan my entire life too. Mine started with the classic series, though. Lol

Oh, I had completely different takeaways from The Calculating Stars. I personally felt like Kowal captured a lot of nuance in interactions that I appreciated. The novel also had moments grappling with race and gender that I really appreciated. The scene where Elma was forced to shake Werner Von Braun's hand during a work meeting says with me cause it felts so honest to the time. I also liked the ways Kowal depicted the ways different women in STEM navigated getting the careers and life they wanted. Some were great a playing the media and knew how to leverage that in a way Elma never could. And the tension that came from their cohort because of that. Another great bit of subtlety in Kowal's writing was the ways the newspaper clippings she put at the top of each chapter talk about women in ways that reflected the time. Plus it didn't feel like everyone including Elma was perfectly politically correct either. Elma had massive blindspots about race and her journey in letting go of her saviour complex when it came to the women of colour around her was refreshing to see a protagonist do. They're so much else I loved about the book. From Kowal's really well-done alternate history to her incredibly relatable depiction of severe anxiety to the way she writes about loving and supportive married couples. I won't deny that some aspects of her writing are fantastical (imagine world governments having a unified and rapid response to climate change) but in that way, the series sits in my chest the same way Becky Chamber's books do. It imagines a world still full of bigotry but also actualizes people there to fight it.

You're a 10/10. Thank you.

I started the Fifth Season because it is so widely loved, but I put it down because I struggled so hard with the issues around children. I know I should pick it back up, but it was difficult for me.

I hadn't realize I read most of these Hugo winners. My ranking would be greatly different from yours though. At the bottom, Redshirts (characters "out in the real world" is a trope I always hate) and The Fifth Season (I didn't continue on with the series, I didn't care enough). Then Blackout (I have read All Clear, which ends in a good-yet-predictable manner. It would make a good mini series, but To Say Nothing of the Dog is still my favourite of Connie Willis's timetravelling novels.) and Among Others (My favourite by Jo Walton is Tooth and Claw and once you read about cannibalist dragons, everything else fades away). Then A Memory Called Empire (as native-French speaker completely immersed in English culture, I got a lot from that) and The Calculating Stars (only girl of my computer programming classes more often than not). On top, Ancillary Justice (although Ancillary Mercy is probably influencing my opinion of the first book... I just loved that one with a fiery passion.) Rating-wise, they are all 3*, 3.5* and 4*. I haven't read The Three-Body Problem, I read mostly at night and complex theories don't usually work well for me when I'm trying to get to sleep.

Shopping around to find an award that matches your taste is an interesting idea.

If you read All Clear your frustration with Blackout will be explained. What happened has a reason.

I think a cool idea would be for someone to read Peter F. Hamilton's 3000 page Night's Dawn trilogy, then do a tier ranking of all the plot threads (Joshua is #1).

One of my historian friends says that the research on Blackout/All Clear is not very good; there's a lot of very specific research into the bombing, but she didn't do enough work on the general cultural milieu of Britain in the 1940s, so it kept throwing her out of the story when characters (not the timetravellers) had modern attitudes, or when there were anachronisms or whatever. Also, there were lots of mistakes that were instantly obvious to a British person (but probably not so to an American) - for instance a character riding the Jubilee Line (which was named after and built for Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977 - I believe it was changed in more recent editions), or British trains having open platforms at the back, or Brits putting return addresses on envelopes. Incredibly frustrating as a Brit reading the book, and made it instantly obvious that it was an American writer writing about Britain. These are just the ones that still grate on me 10 years since reading it. When people praise the research in those books, I always think "well, yes, there was a lot of specific research, but there were also dozens of gaping holes because she only did the narrow research into the Blitz and where the bombs fell, and not broader research into 1940s Britain".

A bit late to the party here, but your issues with Blackout really struck a chord. It felt like all of the main characters, were unleashed on the past without any training or aptitude for the job. Which made it frustrating and ruined (for me personally) what could have been a wonderful premise.

I can't remember what year it was.. maybe 2013, but I went and read the Hugo nomination and the Nebula nomination, and I was blow away by how lackluster they all were. I stopped caring about awards after that and only go via recommendation from people who's taste I trust.

The fact that a book like you described "These Calculating Stars" to be could win a Hugo is the reason why I ignore the Hugo Awards.

Even Scalzi will tell you that Red Shirts didn't deserve a Hugo. And I'm a big Scalzi fan.

Hi 👋 like ur video!! Happy reading to you!! ⚔️🎥

Another thing I love about O. Butler is how she writes about themes like sexism, racism, tyranny, with so much nuance and making you understand everyone’s point of view.

I wish someone would do a Shining Girls book vs tv show. I guess I'll read it. The audiobook is only 10 hours. Actually you might be interested in the book. It has a handful of historical female characters, including a dancer who put radium on herself to glow, which was apparently a real thing someone did.

Do you have a recommendation for finding the best books? I was using the Hugo awards list, because I thought that it must be a guide to the best scifi books. But after Neuromancer which everyone seemed to think was great, I am questioning the hugo awards. Like maybe it shouldn't be yearly, and the award should only be handed out when something great comes out. Can you recommend a better list to pick from?

This bizarre idea that you have to have a character announce that another character's actions are socially unacceptable is a recipe for bad writing.

About the same rating I would give. Both of your low rated books I though should not have won. A Memory Called Empire was so boring I have no idea how it won. Top picks that I've read are all pretty great, I may need to read Redshirts.

Is the shirt a spoiler of the combined grade these books received?

Enjoyable video. I would highly recommend the Hugo winner "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" by Kate Wilhelm. Excellent book!

Our tastes sync up remarkably well. I don’t get why Robinette-Kowal is such a big deal, I find her writing very basic and mundane. And Willis…repetitive, circular, frustrating motifs (?) are kind of her thing. I stopped reading her after “Passages” because of both the main character’s neurotic internal dialogue and the labyrinthine hospital just drove me nuts. I’ve met Connie, she’s a delightful funny person, but her books…no more!

Serious hot takes! I've read Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog" and while in the same universe, is definitely more comedic (comedy of errors). Sounds like it tried too hard to do too much.

Memory Called Empire- the world building was cool but when she meets the two royals completely randomly 60% through the book, I realized the author was not living up to the Hugo award lens I was viewing it through and I dropped it immediately Fifth season- absolutely amazing but I feel like the third book was rushed but I don't find other people talking about that Ancillary justice - I'm halfway through and liking it but I was hoping the book would focus more on the ancillaries and sad that that might not happen Looking back my experience with Hugo books beyond the 2010s has been very hit or miss as well. Kinda disappointing when a premise or message trumps good writing for these awards

Were the characters bland in Cixin Liu's books but the ideas were amazing.

Of these I've only read Redshirts which I really liked, though I'm more of a casual Trek fan, I've always been more into Doctor Who and Star Wars. Same. The Codas didn't feel necessary.

You describe some of the problems I see in a lot of screenwriting these days. Interesting that it's true of prose fiction too.

Oh I totally agree with you though I never realised it that indeed Jemisin never imposes her opinions, you as the reader get to think by yourself.

How about tackling other decades next?

Blackout/All Clear are a tough one and honestly don't deserve the Hugo because of the slog. Still, I do think they are worth the push through - I just think a good edit would have been necessary to get an award.

I actually didn't finish the fifth season. The point of view that I believe was in second person, just really threw me in so many ways (first because it was in second person voice). I also am okay with dark / sad stories like Kaladin whose hole story is just depressing, but it felt like the sadness was hitting me over the head. Also the mother was just so out of it that I couldn't relate to her and then she went ahead and killed people even though some were nice to her and at that point I just didn't like reading this pov such that I just gave up. I totally understand and can see other people enjoying this book, but it just didn't work for me.

I'm right there with you on Redshirts. I was riding the 5-star high until the Codas completely threw me out of my high. Not a fan of them, they should have been left out. Unnecessary, and one of them I had such a hard time getting through. The pacing was so far off of the pacing from the novel itself, it definitely lost a star for me. With Connie Willis, I was so excited to read Doomsday Book and then it was straight boring, so I wonder if perhaps it's just her style. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that you look crazy beautiful in this video. It's distracting...lol.

I think juvenile really sums up the Calculating Stars really well. I felt pretty frustrated reading it because it was so unrelenting positive in how issues were depicted/resolved. There was no joy in overcoming a real struggle and defying the overwhelming pressures certain ethnicities, races, etc. were going through because it was nearly instantaneous. Three Body Problem was an excellent idea written very poorly. The characters were made of cardboard and the story's pacing was rough.

I also couldn't get on with A Memory Called Empire (or it's sequel). The world building was kind of neat but I hated being in Mahit's head. It seemed like every other chapter there was an internal monologue about her being filled with anxiety about her situation but it would read like a plot summary every 20 pages. This book is not that deep. Or confusing. I don't need a recap. At all. I do not need several recaps.

Regarding Blackout/All Clear, I guess you have to read the other books in the cycle to understand how "everything going wrong" makes sense, since it is a case of history trying to protect itself...

Please review Dying Inside - 1973 winner

I still don't see how/why the three-body problem is so good for so many other people. I didn't finish it the first time I tried reading it and finished it earlier this year and still was just left wanting so much more. I went in really wanting to like this book. It's my favorite genre but it still was just completely meh to me. I don't think the major concepts were groundbreaking so maybe that's why. It felt like someone who had read some very interesting sci-fi concepts then wrote a fantasy story around a concept without really diving deep into it. There are aspects of this book that have been written about going back to the 50's so maybe it's just that people are just getting their first taste (I'm sure Mr. Pibb taste great if you've never had a Dr. Pepper.)

I was frustrated by Blackout as well, but from early on. The mc drove me nuts, nattering on throughout in a frantic fashion I had a hard time tolerating, and to be honest when I started All Clear *it actually got worse*. Dnf'd very quickly. I think I would have enjoyed these if not for Willis's tendency to have her mc's go on ad infinitum about the events and circumstances that complicate their journeys. I had the same experience with her Doomsday Book, which was frustrating because the medieval period was my meat and potatoes for many years. Ultimately I had to conclude that Willis is an author whose ideas and plots fascinate me, but whose style and characters just don't agree with me.

The Three Body Problem series is incredible, though the last book is the weakest. The reveal of the Dark Forest was mind blowing. I wish there was more modern sci-fi like these books. I did like A Memory Called Empire though. I got Star Trek DS9 vibes. Just enjoyed the cultural exchange-esque elements of the book and thought the world building was cool. The sequel wasn't nearly as good. Currently reading The Fifth Season. It's like a four star for me currently, but I can see why it won. It's very innovative and find the themes to be provocative.

The Calculating Stars' problem reminds me of a problem I was talking about with my wife today. We are watching Mythic Quest which is about a fictional online gaming company, and every time there's anything "toxic" happening, it's INSANELY over the top. Like 100,000 people just instantly being the worst of all time. And to me that's not making a good point, like yeah the internet is toxic, but you're caricaturing it so much that the caricature becomes the representation of what people think the actual problem is like and then over time it kills actual discussion about the problem (Note: Mythic Quest is a comedy and meant to be humorous- but this happens with gaming stuff all the time) so while I haven't read TCS or know what it's like to be a woman in STEM, I completely understand why this would take you out of it and make you roll your eyes. The Three Body Problem is mid but The Dark Forest is so good 🤣I'll read Red Shirts and let you know how it lands for a non Star Trek fan.

The "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy was kind of a slog for me. It had some interesting parts but overall it was a kind of "let's keep going to see if gets better" read. The main thing that I took away from the books is that women must never be in a position where their actions can affect the future of humankind because they will cause the destruction of everything.

👍👍👍👍

I DNF Blackout despite looking forward to it since it set in my favorite slice of history. Why? Because of deja vu -- I had read the actual accounts that she used in her story, plus her England of the Blitz just didn't match my "feel" for the period. Also, it was too dated; the future without smart phones and still using signup sheets on the door to reserve a time in a lab. Really?

how come you never talked about game of thrones and house of the dragon, not a fan?

Sorry to be a bit of a curmudgeon here, but there is a point that needs to be brought up: Quality is seldom the deciding factor in any award. And not just the Hugo or the Nebula. The same thing holds true for movie and music awards. Awards are really nothing more than publicity and ego stroking, and the primary deciding factor is whatever politics are dominant in the industry at the time. Go back over the past 40 years and see how many truly terrible artists won a Grammy. Have a look at past Oscar winning movies and you'll see a lot of mediocrity with even a real stinker thrown in now and then. Then go back and see how many truly amazing artists and films have never "won" an award. So ignore the awards. They don't mean much in the end.

Re redshirts: I can’t stand scalzi’s prose. 😢

I DNFed The 3 Body Problem. I just couldn't get past the prose and what seemed to be just throwing out scientific buzzwords without actually saying anything.

Ok, it's looking like you are Team Rocket...come to think of it, I think I've seen an IG post where you were wearing a Team Rocket costume. I usually enjoy MRK's books, but I find them to be entirely too preachy at times. Modern norms and mores being transported back into the 50s or Jane Austen's era just hit wrong...maybe one or two characters with those views, but it seems to be presented more like they are living in woke America, not the times they live in...and only the bad guys have the true norms of the times. Maybe they are too based on the lessons she's trying to preach in the Writing Excuses podcast.

I hated hated Three Body Problem and DNF. I was so mad that people liked it so much, the characters and plot are horribly written.

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The calculating stars is one of those books that won purely because it's supposedly about strong or smart women. Even if terribly written. You can see the same in hollywood and no this isn't some sexist rant it's literally a fact. Like Oscar bait movies that are always about some social issue or whatever. Like Crash winning the Oscars lol. It's a fact like having a female protagonist for your first books makes you 20 times likely to be published esp in fantasy nowadays. P.s. Cixin is an avid supporter of the Uyghur genocide. Moreover his books SUCK. The sci fi concepts are great that is for sure. But everything around it is crap. In the second book his self insert genius writer, play boy professor, genius planner etc character at one point remembers his first love. Turns out it's an imaginary girl. And then we read about her for 40 fkn pages and they go on a road trip etc. Meanwhile he's constantly stroking his own ego having everyone remark that the character must have a brilliant literary mind. "You are in love with an imaginary gf? Well that's completely normal my friend, you're probably just a genius writer!" - Therapist in the Dark Forest to protagonist. By his second book he probably really thought he was a genius writer. Quickly changed. Now he says in interviews he doesn't care the least about plot, characters, story etc. Those are all just vehicles for him to write his sci fi theories. He also lies for no reason. Claiming that he read tons of western sci fi in his youth. That he thought himself to read and write English. The mfkr can't speak or understand a word of English. Maybe the Trisolaran sophon scrambled his brain Don't get me wrong. The sci fi concepts are really cool. But the book is also boring as watching paint dry. Horribly lifeless and cold characters except for the sleazy cop. Characters will take 30 pages to explain a simple concept and sometimes it reads like a bad science journal. Anyway Netflix is adapting it to a show... nice adapting the works of a man supporting a modern day genocide. Claiming China is civilizing them

Cixin Liu who wrote your favorite The Three Body Problem supports Uighur concentration camps where over a million of them are now in reëducation camps in the northwestern province of Xinjiang. He's preaching govt propaganda, you said he has expanded your mind about the universe but you should also know who he is as a person.