(Hat tip to @chloroformtea.bsky.social for putting this last story on my radar. For that matter, Roseanna's column Small Press Dispatch at @ancillaryreview.bsky.social is a great resource if you're looking for non-Tor novellas to read and nominate. ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/category/ser...)
Welcome to another batch of 2025 SFF novellas not published by Tor! Please consider reading and nominating some of these books for the Hugo, in an effort to prevent a situation where the novella category becomes completely dominated by a single publisher.
4. Dengue Boy by Michel Nieva, translated by Rahul Bery (Astra House) - in a hot, humid, environmentally ravaged future Argentina, a child who is a human-mosquito hybrid goes on a psychedelic adventure to understand their nature and transform the world. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770246...
In a relatively short page count, this delirious, gonzo story trips between brutal social realism, vicious SFnal satire, gross body horror, and existential dread. It's a quick, rip-roaring, at times extremely funny read. Longer review here: wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/02/rece...
5. Into the Sun by C.F. Ramuz, translated by Olivia Baes and Emma Ramadan (New Directions) - As the Earth's rotation falters and it spins closer and closer to the sun, the inhabitants of an idyllic Swiss mountain hamlet try to grapple with their inevitable doom. www.ndbooks.com/book/into-th...
First published in 1922, this is a shockingly prescient story, anticipating perfectly how people would respond to climate change: denial, fatalism, the irrational belief that surely *someone* will do *something*, followed by increasingly strange behavior. The 2025 translation couldn't be more timely
6. The Supersonic Phallus by Steven Key Meyers (The Smash-and-Grab Press) - as mysterious lights float in the sky above Colorado in 1947, junior reporters Sam and Dean chase both hoaxes and the genuinely inexplicable, embarking on a clandestine relationship. books.apple.com/us/book/the-...
Despite the silly title and romantasy premise, this is a thoughtful, melancholy story. It finds parallels between the pursuit of the truth of UFOs and the truth of one's self, and is clear-eyed about the sometimes insurmountable challenges of living openly as a gay man in 1940s small town America.
I'll have some more novella recommendations later in the year, but in the meantime, feel free to add yours to the thread, and remember that Tor - excellent publisher though they are - are not the only game in town.
I really enjoyed No Such Thing as Duty by Lara Elena Donnelly (Neon Hemlock) - Somerset Maugham alt-history with vampires, but mainly a lot of melancholy and musing about the nature of duty in a really good way.
Yeah, that's on my radar specifically because of your recommendation.
I wish I could bookmark this. Is there a way to do it? Repeat Room is great.
I think Repeat Room is too long (also it's a 2024 publication). But yes, it's fantastic. I don't know how to bookmark a thread, but I'm going to keep reupping it this year so I'm sure you'll see it again.
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Excellent!
I loved Helen de Cruz’s The Artistry of Magic. I miss their voice.
That's it for now! Stay tuned for future novella recommendations, and please chime in with your own!