The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn by Usman T. Malik

It is beautiful, compelling, poignant, and tragic. Moreno-Garcia brilliantly weaves the popular culture - specifically, music - of Mexico City into a tale of discontented youths discovering magic through music and sussing out just what that power means for their everyday lives and for the people they are now and hope to be.

There was something both familiar and new about the experience: familiar because I recalled so many of my own teenage memories through reading about the protagonist’s (Meche) complicated everyday life new because I got to experience these familiar memories in a completely different landscape from my own. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s debut novel gripped me by the throat and dragged me into the life of a group of teenagers in Mexico City. Best Novel Signal to Noiseby Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Solaris) Some of the categories include runners up the categories that do not contained far fewer entries on the long list, and so including a short list would basically have included the long list anyway. You might also check out the 2016 Hugo Awards Reading/Watching List, which includes works from my original list and works suggested by readers.Īs with every year of the awards, these selections are based entirely on my own tastes, which are imperfect, narrow, and weird. Unlike previous years, the 2016 WISB Awards included a long list, which you should check out to see all the great stuff I enjoyed. As such, the long list included works published decades ago. As with every year of the award, the winners are selected from my reading and viewing experiences throughout 2015 and during my annual Hugo Awards reading binge.

Now that awards season is in full swing, it’s time to release the winners of the 2016 WISB Awards.

The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn by Usman T. Malik