In a previous post, I gave pocket reviews of four novels short-listed for the 2024 Hugo Award for best novel. Earlier, I had posted more extensive reviews. That’s because those four novels had already been short-listed for the 2024 Nebula, Locus, and Arthur C. Clarke awards, and two of them had won awards from those organizations. This year’s Hugo Awards committee selected two more novels to short-list:

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager UK)
• Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Tor, Tor UK)

Here are my reviews for both:

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager UK)

This novel is a fine swashbuckling pirate adventure full of magical creatures, good humor, and a colorful main character who describes herself as “a criminal, a sinner, a foul-mouthed middle-aged woman with a bad knee.” Sent on a dangerous quest by a rich and powerful noblewoman, the pirate Amina al-Sirafi reunites with her treacherous demon husband and sails the seas like Sinbad.  I loved the background of this novel, set in the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean, and other similar places, with its polyglot cast of characters. I love the idea of a novel that blithely sails past ageism, ableism, northern European fantasy tropes, and stodgy gender norms to pilot its own rolicking path. I’m really no judge, but the authentic feel of the Islamic culture lends depth and sincerity to the tale. I liked this novel as well as the first volume of the author’s popular Daevabad Trilogy–maybe better–and a lot better than the other two volumes in that trilogy.

I could easily see this book winning the Hugo Award for best novel of 2024. Do I think it is better than one of the other short-listed novels, Vajra Chandrasekera’s The Saint of Bright Doors, which won the Nebula for best novel and the Locus for best novel by a first-time author? I don’t. However, to say that is to compare apples to oranges. The Saint of Bright Doors is a serious book about deep problems of urbanization, government malfeasance, corrupt politics, cults of personality run amuck, and the like, while The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is a delightful romp through a Sinbad the Sailor world. I’m not saying Chakraborty’s book is a lightweight–not at all. But I’m thinking awards committees frequently tilt toward the book that possesses the gravitas. Whatever. I loved The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. What a book! What a read!

Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Tor, Tor UK)

Another delightful read! This one reminds me quite a bit of Matt Dinniman’s indie-published LitRPG novel Dungeon Crawler Carl in its use of cat characters who upstage all the humans. The voice is really fun–a down and out man tells his own story. He has inherited his mysterious uncle’s business. Turns out the uncle was a super-villain, so the main character, who has never had a violent moment in his day, must exhibit the necessary chops. Lucky for him, the cats are in his corner. I enjoyed every page of this novel. In fact, I laughed out loud through most of it. It did seem a bit rushed at the end, though–as if, having created this marvelous set-up, the author couldn’t quite figure out how it should all go down. I thought about that. Then I put my no-doubt brilliant critical insight aside. Who cares about that when you’re having so much fun?

That wraps up all my reviews for the Hugo short-listed novels. Now it’s only a matter of waiting for the judges’ decision, which should come down any time now. In the meantime, if you haven’t read all of these books, get going! They are all great, and some of them are great fun.