The 2022 Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards - the shortlists

We read, and we read, and we read, and behold! The shortlists!

Here are the books moving into the second round for the 2022 Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards.

BEST FANTASY
Zoraida Córdova, The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.
CL Clark, The Unbroken
Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became The Sun.

You can expect a review of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina soon(ish) because this one left me awed. It was a very interesting category to read, with many novels in which there was a lot to admire--and others that didn't fit my particular tastes. In the end I'm glad I managed to tackle them all!

BEST SF
Adrian Tchaikovsky, Shards of Earth.
Arkady Martine, A Desolation Called Peace.

It was a bit sad that Meet Me In Another Life couldn't make it to the second round but I'm extremely happy with those two finalists. I've loved reading both and there's a tough decision to take very soon.

BEST BLURRED BOUNDARIES
Ryka Aoki, Light From Uncommon Stars
TL Huchu, The Library Of The Dead

Those are two very different books and it'll be interesting to see how the votes go.

BEST DEBUT
Xiran Jay Zhao, Iron Widow
Lorraine Wilson, This Is Our Undoing

Despite not reading much YA, I was very pleasantly surprised by Iron Widow and I've loved its anger and rage. As for This Is Our Undoing, I guess I've already raved enough about it--but have you checked Lorraine Wilson's latest, The Way the Light Bends?

BEST NOVELLA
Aliette de Bodard, Fireheart Tiger
Shingai Njeri Kagunda, & This Is How To Stay Alive
Premee Mohamed, The Annual Migration Of Clouds
Premee Mohamed, These Lifeless Things

The SF category: "I'm going to make things sooo difficult for those SCKA jurors!"
The novella category: "Hold my beer."

BEST YA
Namina Forna, The Gilded Ones
Anna-Marie McLemore, The Mirror Season

BEST SERIES
James S A Corey, The Expanse
CL Polk, The Kingston Cycle

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL
Molly Ostertag, The Girl From The Sea
Hiromi Goto, Shadow Life

BEST SHORT FICTION
Isabel J Kim, Homecoming Is Just Another Word For The Sublimation Of Self
AC Wise, The Amazing Exploding Women Of The Twentieth Century

What's next?
We're off again for the second round. Some jurors have decided to tackle more categories and will need to catch up, others might want to have a re-read because there are difficult decisions coming up.
The winners will be announced this autumn. You can follow @SCKAwards on Twitter to keep up to date.
The complete lists of nominated works and the current shortlists is up on our website.

Congratulations to all our worthy finalists!