The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction Shortlist - 2022

 

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I feel like it's blasphemous to admit, but I have yet to read a book by Ursula K. Le Guin. I definitely plan on it. I've started the Earthsea Cycle at least three times as an ebook and each time my library loan has expired. I just need to buckle down and finish. 

This prize is going to be an annual $25,000 cash prize to be awarded to an author for one work of imaginative fiction. For the inaugural prize, the book mush be published or translated into English, and be published between 5/1/2021 and 4/30/2022. 

There are a couple of things that stand out about this award.

1. It is a cash prize. 

2. A writer may only receive it once. 

3. Wight is given to authors who may have limited resources

I think this is able to give more financial freedom to less recognized authors which is just amazing. While there is no shortage of imaginative fiction, there is always room for more, especially when it brings more diverse perspectives and unique voices. 

Nominees

•  After the Dragons by Cynthia Zhang - (Fantasy Romance, LGBTQ rep)

• Appleseed by Matt Bell - (Dystopian Sci-Fi)

• Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky - (Space Opera Sci-Fi)

• The Employees by Olga Ravn - (Literary Sci-Fi)

• The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber - (Magical Realism)

• How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu - (Dystopian Sci-Fi)

• The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente - (Dystopian Sci-Fi)

• A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie little Badger - (Magical Realism, YA)

• Summer in the City of Roses by Michelle Ruiz Keil - (Magical Realism, YA)

Out of these, I have only read Appleseed. I really enjoyed it and ending up giving it a 4/5 on Goodreads. I thought it had a really interesting and unique timeline/structure, as well as touching on some very real climate change issues. I also have a couple on my TBR shelf, including After the Dragnos, Elder Race, The Past is Red, and A Snake Falls to Earth. 

I did attempt to read How High We Go in the Dark, but ended up DNFing it. I got about 30% of the way through before realizing it's not my type of book. The stories felt disjointed and it felt more like glimpses of a whole story rather than one book. 

I most likely will not be picking up any of the other magical realism books on this shortlist either. That is a subgenre that is very hit and miss for me, with most of them being a miss. I love delving deep into fantasy and sci-fi, so when magical realism books feel like they barely toe the line, it gets rather confusing to me. 

I think this shortlist sounds full of imaginative and unique stories that I'll definitely have to get to soon.