Recs for Hugo novel reading?

[owlmoose]

As the year comes to a close, the thoughts of the Hugo nominator turn to planning her reading for the next four months. Obviously, I cannot read every single novel that was published in 2016, not even every novel that reviewed well and/or seems likely to be a contender, even if I wanted to. The end-of-year lists are already coming out, and I'll be applying to those, as well as the always-helpful Hugo eligibility spreadsheet, but there's almost too many options there.

So I figure, why not start by asking my friends and followers, whose opinions I trust? What's your must-read book from 2016? (I'll get started on short fiction and other categories later; new series are probably more than I'm willing to tackle right now.) I'm already planning to read All the Birds in the Sky and Ninefox Gambit; books published in 2016 that I've read are here. Some possible nominee contenders there, but only one slam-dunk, so your thoughts are definitely welcome.

Comments

[forestofglory]

I still need to do more Hugo focused reading but you might like Ghost Talkers
by Mary Robinette Kowal and Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip.

[owlmoose]

Thanks for the reminder on Ghost Talkers! Kowal read an excerpt from it at BayCon a couple of years ago, and it was intriguing. I've never read any McKillip but I'll have to check it out.

[forestofglory]

Kowal reads the audio book of Ghost Talkers.

Mckillip is one of my favorite fantasy writers -- her books are just so numinous.