Wednesday, July 12, 2017

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley is a collection of essays, not all of them about feminism or geeks or revolution (but enough to matter).

I came into this expecting to be pounded over the head by some overly aggressive drivel, but was pleasantly surprised to find it's a great book about writing and being a writer and dealing with life while being a writer. Yes, there's a lot about feminism and why it matters, but it's more about just living and dealing with the realities of being a woman. I really enjoyed it, much more than I was expecting to.

The good: Hurley has a strong voice, and tells about her experiences in plain language. She doesn't shy away from the tough topics, which means I was uncomfortable while reading some of her pieces - but it was that discomfort that arises from knowing such topics aren't discussed enough, not from the discussion itself.

The bad: I don't find Hurley to be sympathetic in the earliest essays in the book, which slightly put me off finishing it (and is why it's literally the last thing I'm reading for the Hugos this year). That feeling went away eventually, but it did stop me from reading for awhile.

Conclusion: I'm not sure where this will go on my ballot. Third? Fourth? First? It's just as likely to change between now and the end of the week.

Best Related Work: I've read all the entries. Check them out in my Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists.

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