In 2016, SF and fantasy went global. Best novel went to NK Jemisin’s The Fifth Season (Orbit), a tale of an earthquake-afflicted and wasted world that functions as a powerful fable of ecological collapse while also reconfiguring fantasy in more ethnically and sexually diverse directions. Best novella was Nnedi Okorafor’s African-flavoured space opera Binti (Tor), while best novelette was Folding Beijing by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu. While Yoon Ha Lee’s worldbuilding is intricate, some of the year’s best books took quite simple ideas and developed them in direct and powerful ways. Her struggles to connect are a metaphor for something far bigger – in SF and fantasy, and in the wider world.

Source: The Guardian November 30, 2016 09:00 UTC