This is a great read for a YA audience, but for an adult it loses a little of its shine. The Ice Owl has an interesting world, one where religion separates class and a tone like music from the spheres separates the day. Teen-age Thorn has lived over 100 years, but not really. That's her planet-hopping age. When persecution shuts down her school, she finds a new teacher and that new teacher is somehow linked to her past on a planet during a genocide. Here's where it falls through for adults. At this point, it becomes a holocaust retelling. If she had changed a few details or went into more detail, it might have stayed fresh. For me, the historic background of the story didn't seem well integrated and that threw me out of the story. ( )

...I have only read one of the other Hugo nominees in this category, Ken Liu's The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary, which I think is a more challenging story in a way. It no doubt faces stiff competition but can see why The Ice Owl made the shortlist. It is a very well crafted novella. Gilman makes the most out of the science fictional concepts used in the story. She sketches what is essentially a very recognizable situation but the unusual circumstances raise the stakes considerably. I am definitely going to have to check out Arkfall one of these days.

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