2025 Nebula winner and nominees - the best fantasy books of the year?
In addition to ranking all the nominees, we talk about why the entire shortlist this year was all fantasy, no sci-fi. This episode is sponsored by The Boy, the Cube, and the Elf by Brent Golembiewski, which is available in print or kindle edition hereJoin the Hugonauts book club on discordOr you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer videoIf you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books / series we talked about: 00:00 Intro1:50 Episode Sponsor - The Boy, The Cube, and the Elf2:21 #6 - Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera6:33 #5 - Sleeping Worlds Have no Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov10:42 #4 - The Book of Love by Kelly Link15:28 Why are all the nominees fantasy?18:46 #3 - Asunder by Kerstin Hall23:22 #2 - A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher27:53 #1 - Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
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The 10 Best Fantasy Books and Series of all time!
As sci-fi lovers who are looking to read more fantasy we could not be more excited to know what's good. Thanks to all y'all Hugonauts who filled out the survey, this list rocks. And a special thank you to Gordon Burroughs for joining us as our resident expert on the books we haven't read, plus for putting the whole survey together in the first place!Join the Hugonauts book club on discord to see the full survey results, including the undiscovered gemsOr you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer videoIf you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books / series we talked about: 00:00 Intro2:58 Novel #10 - The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson6:11 Series #10 - The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin7:57 Novel #9 - Babel by R.F. Kuang10:30 Series #9 - The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie13:33 Novel #8 - The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle15:40 Series #8 - His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman19:18 Novel #7 - The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin21:20 Series #7 - Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson23:50 Novel #6 - A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin25:37 Series #6 - Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling28:16 Novel #5 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke30:36 Series #5 - The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson34:18 Novel #4 - The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien37:18 Series #4 - The Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin38:38 - Our 3 favorites that didn't make the list43:46 Novel #3 - The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss46:19 Series #3 - Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin47:37 Novel #2 - Perdido Street Station by China Miéville50:04 Series #2 - The Dark Tower by Stephen King53:55 Novel #1 - The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien55:32 Series #1 - The Lord of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Redshirts by John Scalzi - funny, rule-breaking scifi!
As always, no spoilers until the end when we do our plot explainer and discussion.Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer videoSimilar books we recommend: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsThe Murderbot Diaries by Martha WellsMonk and Robot series by Becky Chambers
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The God's Themselves - Asimov answering the biggest question in the universe!
That said, there are some problems with this book too, which made this a fun one to talk about - Brent liked it a lot more than Cody did. Plus, love em or hate em, Asimov thought up some very alien aliens.As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion. NEW THRU 2025-05-15: Fill out our listener survey to tell us your favorite fantasy novels and series, and see them covered in an episode soon!Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer videoSimilar books we recommend: The Foundation trilogy by Isaac AsimovThe Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry PournelleThe Expanse by James S.A. Corey
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Altered Carbon - Wild tech, visceral action, and an unhinged plot!
If you like gritty cyberpunk settings, a page-turning, action-driven plot, and a lot of visceral explorations of violence and sexuality, this one's for you. If you're looking for deep characters, a carefully crafted plot, or philosophical ideas, this might not be your next read.As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion. This episode is sponsored by The Pythagorean by Alexander Morpheigh, which is available in print or kindle edition here.Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer videoSimilar books we recommend: Neuromancer by William GibsonTitanium Noir by Nick HarkawayPermutation City by Greg Egan
Explore the best of sci-fi with Brent and Cody. Each episode dives into a single book or series in the sci-fi cannon. Author interviews, reviews and analysis, and related book recommendations. Happy reading y'all!
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