SF/F: Hugo & Dragon Awards 2024
If science fiction and fantasy are your preferred genres, look no further. Here are the nominees for both the Hugo Awards and the newly created Dragon Awards. (New to the genres? This would be a great place to start!)
Update: the Dragon awards drop in July! Look forward to those!
The adventures of Amina al-Sirafi : a novel
Author(s):
Chakraborty, S. A.
El Gamal, Amin,
Description:
Amina al-Sirafi should be content. But when she's tracked down by the wealthy mother of a former crewman, she's offered a job no one could refuse: retrieve her comrade's kidnapped daughter for a vast sum.
Format:
Audiobook
Call Number:
FIC Cha
The saint of bright doors
Author(s):
Description:
"Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. This gave him plenty to talk about in therapy. He walked among invisible powers: devils and anti-gods that mock the mortal form. He learned a lethal catechism, lost his shadow, and gained a habit for secrecy. After a blood-soaked childhood, Fetter escaped his rural hometown for the big city, and fell into a broader world where divine destinies are a dime a dozen. Everything in Luriat is more than it seems. Group therapy is recruitment for a revolutionary cadre. Junk email hints at the arrival of a god. Every door is laden with potential, and once closed may never open again. The city is scattered with Bright Doors, looming portals through which a cold wind blows. In this unknowable metropolis, Fetter will discover what kind of man he is, and his discovery will rewrite the world" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Cha
Some desperate glory
Author(s):
Description:
"Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the majoda their victory over humanity. They are what's left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows must take humanity's revenge into her own hands. Alongside her brother's brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr escapes from everything she's known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Tes
Starter villain
Author(s):
Description:
"Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital. It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good. In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Sca
Translation state
Author(s):
Leckie, Ann
Andoh, Adjoa,
Description:
Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. But Qven rebels. And in doing so, their path collides with those of two others. As a Conclave of the various species approaches, with the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presger on the line, the decisions of all three will have ripple effects across the stars.
Format:
Audiobook
Call Number:
FIC Lec
Witch king
Author(s):
Description:
"After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai's magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well. But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence? Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions. He's not going to like the answers" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Wel
Mammoths at the gates
Author(s):
Description:
The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest. Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass--and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather's body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor's chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve. But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien's own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Vo
Thornhedge
Author(s):
Description:
"There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story. Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? But nothing with fairies is ever simple. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Kin
Shards Of Earth
Author(s):
Description:
After Earth was destroyed mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared. The war over, its heroes forgotten, Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him. He scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers. Now, fifty years later, his crew has discovered something strange abandoned in space... something many would kill to obtain. It's clearly the work of the Architects-- but are they returning? And if so, why? -- adapted from jacket
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Tch
Ancillary Justice
Author(s):
Description:
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Once, she was the Justice of Toren--a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Lec
A Marvellous Light
Author(s):
Description:
"Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He's struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents' excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what's been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he's always known. Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it-- not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else. Robin's predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they've been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles-- and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep"-- Provided by publisher.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Mar
Of wars, and memories, and starlight
Author(s):
Description:
"Aliette de Bodard, multiple award winner and author of The Tea Master and the Detective, now brings readers fourteen dazzling tales that showcase the richly textured worldbuilding and beloved characters that have brought her so much acclaim. Come discover the breadth and endless invention of her universes, ranging from a dark Gothic Paris devastated by a magical war; to the multiple award-winning Xuya, a far-future space opera inspired by Vietnamese culture where scholars administrate planets and sentient spaceships are part of families." --Publisher description.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Bod
Bea Wolf
Author(s):
Weinersmith, Zach, 1982-
Boulet,
Description:
"Listen! Hear a tale of mallow-munchers and warriors who answer candy's clarion call! Somewhere in a generic suburb stands Treeheart, a kid-forged sanctuary where generations of tireless tykes have spent their youths making merry, spilling soda, and staving off the shadow of adulthood. One day, these brave warriors find their fun cut short by their nefarious neighbor Grindle, who can no longer tolerate the sounds of mirth seeping into his joyless adult life. As the guardian of gloom lays siege to Treeheart, scores of kids suddenly find themselves transformed into pimply teenagers and sullen adults! The survivors of the onslaught cry out for a savior--a warrior whose will is unbreakable and whose appetite for mischief is unbounded. They call for Bea Wolf."--Provided by publisher.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Wei
Saga. Volume eleven
Author(s):
Vaughan, Brian K.
Staples, Fiona,
Description:
"While Hazel and her family fight for scraps to survive, the rich and powerful race to forge new allegiances in the universe's never-ending war" --Amazon.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Vau
Shubeik lubeik
Author(s):
Description:
A literary, feminist, Arab-centric graphic novel that marries magic and the socio-political realities of contemporary Egypt. Shubeik Lubeik--a fairytale rhyme meaning "Your Wish is My Command" in Arabic--is the story of three characters navigating a world where wishes are literally for sale; mired in bureaucracy and the familiar prejudices of our world, the more expensive the wish, the more powerful and therefore the more likely to work as intended. The novel's three distinct parts tell the story of three first class wishes as used by Aziza, Nour, and Shokry, each grappling with the challenge inherent in trying to make your most deeply held desire come true. When Aziza loses her husband and manages to procure a wish, she finds herself fighting unreasonable regulations and inequality for the right to make that wish. Nour is a privileged college student who secretly struggles with depression and must decide whether to use their wish to try to "fix" themself. And Shokry must grapple with his religious convictions as he decides how to help a friend who doesn't want to use her wish.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Muh
A city on Mars : can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?
Author(s):
Weinersmith, Kelly,
Weinersmith, Zach,
Description:
The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away--no climate change, no war, no Twitter--beckons, and settling the stars finally seems within our grasp. Or is it? Kelly and Zach Weinersmith set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of space settlements, but after years of research, they aren't so sure it's a good idea. Space technologies and space business are progressing fast, but we lack the knowledge needed to have space kids, build space farms, and create space nations in a way that doesn't spark conflict back home. With deep expertise, a winning sense of humor, and art work, the Weinersmiths investigate whether and how to become multiplanetary.--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
629.4 Wei
Barbie
Author(s):
Description:
To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken.
Format:
DVD
Call Number:
Comedy
Iron Flame
Author(s):
Description:
Being published November 7th, 2023.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
Midnight at the Houdini
Author(s):
Description:
"Life has gone according to plan for Anna--she stays in the background, letting her sister, Emily, shine in the spotlight. But on Emily's wedding night, Anna learns that her sister is moving away, abandoning her--and all their shared dreams. Devastated, Anna leaves the reception in the middle of a raging storm, taking shelter in a hotel she's never seen before: the Houdini. The Houdini is a hotel unlike any other, with sumptuous velvet couches, marble tiled floors, secret restaurants, winding passageways, and an undercurrent of magic in the air. And when Anna meets Max, who has lived his entire life inside its walls, she's captivated. For the first time in her life, Anna is center stage, in a place that anticipates her every desire, with a boy who only has eyes for her. But there's a terrifying secret hidden in the Houdini. When the clock strikes midnight, Anna will be trapped there forever unless she can find a way to break free from its dreamlike magic" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Daw
All the dead shall weep
Author(s):
Harris, Charlaine
Kaminsky, Eva,
Description:
Sisters Lizbeth Rose and Felicia, as well as brothers Eli and Peter, are reunited in Texoma, only to break apart before the Wizard's Ball held in San Diego, which will determine all their fates.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Har
Black River orchard : a novel
Author(s):
Description:
It's autumn in the town of Harrow, but something else is changing in the town besides the season. Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: Strange, beautiful, with skin so red it's nearly black. Take a bite of one of these apples and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing--and become darker. This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples... and what's the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful? Even if buried in the orchard is something else besides the seeds of this extraordinary tree: a bloody history whose roots reach back to the very origins of the town. But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. And a stranger has come to town, a stranger who knows Harrow's secrets. Because it's harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.
Format:
DVD
Call Number:
FIC Wen
Of jade and dragons
Author(s):
Description:
Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild--a place that harbors her father’s hidden past--determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune. Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally--Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own. The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build--and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire?
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Che
Monstress. Volume seven, Devourer
Author(s):
Liu, Marjorie M.
Takeda, Sana,
Description:
"Humans and Arcanics are at war once again, but battles of the heart and soul are the most dangerous of all. Caught in the calculating grip of the Dusk Court, Maika and Zinn uncover painful secrets of the past while Tuya fights to preserve her future -- and young Kippa might be the Known World's only hope for the present. [...] Inner demons and long-awaited answers take center stage, but the fight rages on. With Maika trapped in the prison of her own mind, it's up to her friends, her allies, and even her enemies to strategize against the power players whose machinations invite world-shattering chaos." --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Liu
Dune. Part two
Author(s):
Motion picture adaptation of (work):
Description:
"...[T]he mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee" --Container.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
SciFi/Fantasy
The adventures of Amina al-Sirafi : a novel
Author(s):
Chakraborty, S. A.
El Gamal, Amin,
Description:
Amina al-Sirafi should be content. But when she's tracked down by the wealthy mother of a former crewman, she's offered a job no one could refuse: retrieve her comrade's kidnapped daughter for a vast sum.
Format:
Audiobook
Call Number:
FIC Cha