Among Others by Jo Walton

Among Others by Jo Walton


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This won the 2011 Nebula Award for novel category.


This is nominated for the 2012 Hugo Award.


I enjoyed this selection. It had wit, it was charming, it was engrossing, I enjoyed the 'memoir style and I'm *not* a dairy type person. The main character wasn't perfect - she was full of doubt, she struggled with "maths", she could be arrogant and conceited, but yet, stood firm in her beliefs. It didn’t feel like this was a ‘coming of age’ book, this young gal ‘came of age’ before the book even began, but adding in the teen angst of not fitting in, I think those of us who read scifi and fantasy growing up know the feeling and could relate to her character.


Science fiction, no. Fantasy, more so. But the reference to all those early science fiction books was nicely done. I did question more than once her ability to read that much, but I have to recall that when I was a teenager, that was all I did and I could read three, four books a week (this was when the 500pg tomes were starting to hit the shelves). However, I didn't find the weekly book group realistic with the number of books they were reading in addition to everything else she was reading.


Recommended if you like memoir style writing, light fantasy and frequent references to past science fiction.



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So, Among Others is the opposite end of the scifi spectrum from Leviathan Wakes so I'm not sure it’s fair or possible to compare the two. 
The 2012 Hugo Nominees
Leviathan Wakes    by James SA Corey   (click to see review)
Among Others       by Jo Walton
Deadline                 by Mira Grant
Embassytown       by China Mieville
Dance with Dragons   by GRR Martin