Member-only story
An Analysis of the Hugo Novels, 2020
This year’s slate of Hugo nominated novels was high on variety, and distinctly low on, well. Men. All six of the nominated novels were written by women (yes, including the one with a male sounding name). Of course, certain people who like to compare themselves to young dogs probably think this is some kind of backlash against male authors.
Personally, I think it just so happened that the standout works of the year were written by women. Because every single one of these books belonged on the list, in their own way. Even the ones I didn’t much like.
I’m going to do a fairly quick analysis here, and I’m doing it in what I believe is reverse order by votes:
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
(Alix E. Harrow)
I believe this book was hampered in the final voting by the fact that Redhook only provided an excerpt. In fact, I’ve yet to track it down and finish it (my to be read pile is tragic).
It’s a portal fantasy of sorts (and if you like Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children, check it out, there are a lot of similar ideas). I say of sorts because rather than being about Narnia or Fillory, it’s about the doors themselves. The writing style is rich, and I wish I could say more but, again, I haven’t had the chance to find it and finish it.