Hugo novelettes/short stories

[cahn]

I have been kind of busy and have not been doing my Hugo reading as I should. But I finally got around to finishing at least the short stories and novelettes. Working on the novels, and the novellas are this big blank space for me right now.

Novelettes

• "Ivy, Angelica, Bay" (C.L. Polk) - Atmospheric story about a woman who takes care of her community, who is confronted by a threat to it. I liked the atmosphere, though I found the story itself a bit predictable.



• "On the Fox Roads" (Nghi Vo) - Differently atmospheric story about Jazz Age bank robbers. Hmm. I am not entirely sure how I feel about this story. I don't know whether it's a simpler story than I think it is or a more complex story than I think it is. I am leaning towards simpler-and-atmospheric. I did think the writing was very good.



• "One Man's Treasure" (Sarah Pinsker) - The trashmen in a universe sort-of-like-ours-except-with-more-magic find something they weren't expecting in the trash. I enjoyed the worldbuilding in this one a lot -- I've always kind of low-key wondered why we don't have more fantasy stories with, say, trash collection, or late-stage capitalism. And there is a happy ending (at least locally), which is always nice. I had the issue I often have with Pinsker, which is that I finished it and was like, "hmm, that's it?" but still there was a lot here to like.



• "The Year Without Sunshine" (Naomi Kritzer) - After the (somewhat temporary) apocalypse, a neighborhood bands together to help each other. This is a very affirming story. I don't know that I would call it the greatest story of all time, but I really really liked it because honestly I kind of needed to read an affirming story about people helping each other right now. Although I kept thinking my neighborhood would not be like this! (But my ward would.)



• I AM AI (Ai Jiang) - rather heavy-handed story about AI taking over all human creative endeavors, and humans trying to scratch out a living in the chinks in between, without losing their humanity either figuratively or literally. Now you don't have to read the story, that's the whole thing.



• “Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition” (Gu Shi) - I mean, I'm an absolute sucker for non-traditional story modes; this is a purported introduction to a book written as a retrospective history in a society where reliable cryosleep has become a way of life, with people skipping decades later through that mechanism; this "introduction" brings up both individuals and more broad societal trends. It reminds me of some of Ted Chiang's work -- I liked it a lot! (But if you don't like Chiang, you probably wouldn't like this either.) I did find the ending clunky, but I am willing to put up with that for the sake of my interest in the rest of it.

Vote: AI < No Award < Ivy <= Fox <= Treasure <= Sunshine < 2181
(the equal signs mean I don't feel super strongly about the ranking and could be convinced otherwise)

Short stories:

• >"Better Living through Algorithms" (Naomi Kritzer) - okay -- I liked this! It's pretty much vintage breezy Kritzer and exactly what the title says. But sometimes I just want vintage breezy Kritzer :D



• "How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub" (P. Djèlí Clark) - DNF. I really don't like stories about unpleasant people getting their comeuppance (told from the POV of the unpleasant person -- if it's from anyone else's POV, that's totally fine), and, well, that's what this is.



• "The Mausoleum's Children" (Aliette de Bodard) - A woman who escaped from the Mausoleum of an old spaceship comes back. Huh! This might be my favorite de Bodard story, with a lot of tropes that I enjoy, though it has rather a deus ex machina ending.



• "The Sound of Children Screaming" (Rachael K. Jones) - it starts, "You know the one about the Gun. The Gun goes where it wants to." This is, as you might be able to tell, a very angry story. I'm a bit fried regarding angry stories, but I did think the structure was interesting.



• “Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松 - DNF, I skimmed to the end. This was kind of an... answerless story about two people (?) in a spaceship without memory. Spoiler: they never get back their memories, it's not really clear if one of them is the bad guy and the other one is good or vice versa. Or maybe that's because I skimmed.



• "美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), 宝树 / Baoshu - okay, uh, I am probably extremely predictable, but I loved these triple linked-vignettes about future food-appreciation technology. I mean, I thought the technologies were both interesting and pointed in regard to how it would intersect with our wealth-stratified societies, and it turns out I do like comeuppances when they're not from the POV of the unpleasant person -- but really you know that the real charm of it for me was the descriptions of food that was experienced as delicious :P
  

My vote: Answerless < No Award < Kraken < Sound < Algorithms < Mausoleum < Delicacy

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

This is about where I am with Hugo reading, too, except for the novellas I read (and nominated) before the short list came out.

I'm done reading the novelettes, and my rankings are A Year without Sunshine => On the Fox Roads > "One Man's Treasure" > 'Overture' > “Ivy, Angelica, Bay” > I AM AI (and I think I AM AI is going below No Award, actually, because I found it really heavy-handed and ridiculous. So, we're in agreement on the bottom of the table, at least!

I liked a lot about "Overture", but felt that the ending cheapened it, and that's where it slipped below "One Man's Treasure" for me. Like you, I found the garbage man's POV interesting, but didn't feel like there was much heft to the story.

I don't know whether it's a simpler story than I think it is or a more complex story than I think it is. I am leaning towards simpler-and-atmospheric.

I found it simple at the beginning and wasn't enjoying it as much (beyond the lovely writing). But the parallel between the fox ?spirit? ?shifter? and the trans narrator was so elegantly done, once all of that clicked together at the ending, the story vaulted to the top of the list for me.

I don't know that I would call it the greatest story of all time, but I really really liked it

This is how I feel about "The Year Without Sunshine", too! It's quite simple, and not the sort of thing I usually like, but this really, really worked for me. Might be a timing thing for me also...

On the short stories front, I have not tried to skim "Answerless" and tried to read "Kraken" twice and got bored on like the first page. Where you've ranked them is not really motivating me to read on, lol.

I did not love any of the stories I did read. "Mausoleum" did not work for me at all, I found "Sound of Children Screaming" way too didactic and also weirdly scattered (the Narnia bits just really don't add anything), did not enjoy the message of "Algorithms" (though I did like the writing). I'm also putting "Delicacy" at the top -- I didn't think it was amazing, but in terms of the combination of what it was trying to do and how well it did it, I thought it was the best.

(My rankings are Tasting the Future Delicacy > Better Living through Algorithms > The Sound of Children Screaming > (No Award?) > The Mausoleum's Children.)

[cahn]

I think your ratings make a lot of sense! (I really was not particularly impressed by this crop -- like you, it sounds like -- so I don't have a lot of strong feelings about how things are ranked, except the bottom, lol.)

I liked a lot about "Overture", but felt that the ending cheapened it, and that's where it slipped below "One Man's Treasure" for me.

I felt the same about the ending, but I guess I liked the rest of it enough that it didn't affect me as much. Which is funny because that's not usually how I roll -- it probably has something to do with it being a more ideas piece as well (as opposed to a character or plot piece).

On the short stories front, I have not tried to skim "Answerless" and tried to read "Kraken" twice and got bored on like the first page. Where you've ranked them is not really motivating me to read on, lol.

Yeah, I would advise against both of these :)

I actually did like "Delicacy" quite a bit, but it may have been partially because it was the last one I read out of a generally underwhelming field. And I read it right after I skimmed "Answerless," so it may also be benefiting from comparison with that one, lol.

[hamsterwoman]

- it probably has something to do with it being a more ideas piece as well (as opposed to a character or plot piece).

Nod. I enjoyed the ideas-ness of "Overture" (and "Delicacy", too) and so I felt like it was at its weakest when it tried to do "plot twist" things and lean on character at the ending, because that was absolutely not where its strengths lay. (I'm really enjoying this chance to read Chinese sci-fi, because in a lot of ways it reminds me of the Soviet sci-fi I grew up with -- though my favorite Soviet sci-fi also had cool characters and plot. But whether as an artefact of translation or just because of different cultural norms, the characters in the Chinese sci-fi are really not doing much for me...)

I actually did like "Delicacy" quite a bit,

Oh, I liked it too, it's not that I think it's the best of a bad bunch -- I'd be reasonably happy if it won the Hugo, and not just by comparison (and also not just because it would be cool to have a Chinese language winner). But in a stronger year I feel like it would be second or third on my list... Like, I don't see myself actively reccing it to people the way I do with "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience", "Metal Like Blood in the Dark", "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather", etc.

[cahn]

I'm really enjoying this chance to read Chinese sci-fi

Same! I think I am probably a little more inclined to give them the top spots on my ballot than I might be otherwise, too, because of all the chicanery last year.

Like, I don't see myself actively reccing it to people the way I do with "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience", "Metal Like Blood in the Dark", "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather", etc.

Yeah, that's fair -- sometimes I'm like "I REALLY liked this" -- I was like that about "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather," though I don't think I've read the other two -- and I don't know that I felt quite that strongly about "Delicacy." But I also wonder if I would feel that way about any Chinese SF story, because of the barriers of translation and cultural norms.

[rachelmanija]

I don't know that I would call it the greatest story of all time, but I really really liked it because honestly I kind of needed to read an affirming story about people helping each other right now.

Same. My neighborhood actually was like this during Snowmageddon, which was nice.

[cahn]

Aw, I love that your neighborhood was like that! And I guess I am probably being a little harsh on mine -- I know some of our neighbors would be great.

[sophia_sol]

this year I started keeping track of all the short stories/novelettes I read online, instead of just the ones I like well enough to bookmark, and now I'm really wishing I started doing this earlier! Because I know I read a bunch of these and didn't enjoy them, lol, but can't remember any details of my opinions.

The only ones I liked well enough to bookmark were the two Kritzer stories, and even of the two, only really liked one of them, "the year without sunshine". for "better living with algorithms" I found it interesting to read, but wasn't quite sure what it's saying about AI and algorithms, and not quite sure it knows what it's saying either.

I do know that "fox roads" is still on my tbr list! I generally enjoy nghi vo a lot so I'm looking forward to it.

I also know I skipped the polk story because I don't generally get along with polk's writing. and I didn't enjoy the pinsker, clark, or de bodard. the jones I didn't read either bc it's published in a horror venue, which is not my thing!

[hamsterwoman]

for "better living with algorithms" I found it interesting to read, but wasn't quite sure what it's saying about AI and algorithms, and not quite sure it knows what it's saying either.

That was pretty much the way I felt about "Algorithms" as well. I guess I found it a more interesting take on AI than the other AI story I read for Hugo homework (I AM AI, which like cahn I disliked enough to rank below No Award), but it seemed like a somewhat muddled take... Like, human community growing out of AI is an interesting take, but I didn't feel like a short story was enough space in which to explore it, and so I just kind of ended up going ??? at the end.

[sophia_sol]

yeah exactly! it's not the worst take on AI I've ever read, but it is pretty "????" and I've definitely read better elsewhere, too. Like the most recent short story about AI that I've read, I'll Be Your Mirror by Rebecca Schneider, which spoke to me far more!

[cahn]

Thank you for the rec, excited to check it out!

[cahn]

Lol, I, uh, don't remember enough about "Better Living with Algorithms" (which was one of the first ones I read) to remember what I thought it was saying about AI and algorithms.

I don't mind Polk's writing though I remember being bothered by worldbuilding stuff in Polk's novella last year, so this length is probably a good one for me. Definitely you should not read the Jones, I can tell you it is very much not your thing!

[sophia_sol]

lol yeah that's why I rely on notes I've written to myself, to remember what I thought about anything I've read!!

it's possible polk would work better for me in shorter form, but life is short and there are so many things to read, I figure. and noted, re the Jones!

[hamsterwoman]

As a data point, Polk worked better for me in this short form than in "Witchmark", the only other thing of Polk's I read, which I'm still mad about several years on. But you are right about there being a lot of things to read in short form!

[sophia_sol]

fair, thanks!

[cahn]

The only Polk I've read was Even Though I Knew the End. I liked the writing and it had such a cool premise (actually being able to sell your soul! Literal angels and fallen angels!) and then, like, no worldbuilding supporting it at all, and also I ended the book thinking that the main character was dumber than rocks, which I think was not what I was supposed to get from it...

What annoyed you about Witchmark? I've never read it (and this combined with my experience above makes me unlikely to, lol).

[hamsterwoman]

Oh, oops, I guess I never answered this, sorry!

Long version, if you don't mind spoilers, is my writeup: here (looking at the timeframe, it may have also suffered from proximity to me discovering Terra Ignota, lol. Although Spinning Silver stood up fine, so I do think it's just that Witchmark is mediocre.)

Short version is that it was one of those unfortunate cases where I really liked the idea of the book -- a healer protagonist dealing with war trauma, an Elf boyfriend, complicated families bound by magic -- and found every aspect I'd been looking forward to disappointing. The war trauma is dealt with in a REALLY WEIRD way which is one of those "unintended troubling implications" that I find modern SFF unfortunately prone to. The healing doesn't play much of a role. My friend who read it ahead of me described the Elven boyfriend as a sexy lamp and said the Elvenness had no bearing on anything in the book, which I found baffling but turned out to be true. And the "complicated family" turned out to require everyone to be complete idiots and relied on worldbuilding that did not make any sense to me. So, like, it's not a terrible book by any means, but it was a book I expected to love, and instead it thwarted me at every turn, and left me prone to ranting about it for that reason.

[sophia_sol]

I haven't read all the novelettes, but I did really like the Kritzer, the year without sunshine! it gave me a lot of feelings and was a kind of story that I was really pleased to see out there. There are not enough like it, imo!

I read the pinsker, and like you, was like, "hmm, that's it?" which was disappointing.

I do intend to read the Vo but I haven't gotten to it yet.

for the short stories, I haven't read the last three because they weren't published in the usual venues I read, but I did read the first three, and unlike you I didn't like any of them, lol. it's been too long since I've read them to remember more details than that though, unfortunately!

but! good news for you and for our ability to talk about sff together, this year I've started to keep track in a spreadsheet of ALL the short stories that I read, instead of just my bookmarks keeping track of the short stories I liked - so I have more info going forward as to what my thoughts were, when I want to look up a short story I've read!

[cahn]

I think you would like the Vo!

Lol, yeah, I feel like de Bodard can be kind of... polarizing? And I do come down on the side where I like her writing style, though sometimes am not excited about the specific implementation. (As opposed to Valente, where I know there are people who like her writing style but I Am Not One Of Them. :) )

Haha, I am looking forward to talking about sff more with you! I am the opposite of you in the sense that I tend not to read very much sff short stories during most of the year, and only get into it around Hugo time :)

[sophia_sol]

I do tend to like Vo! so I'm excited for that one, when I get to it.

de Bodard....sigh. it feels like half of the things she writes, I have zero interest in. and the other half, I'm VERY interested in, but something about the implementation (especially the romance) will fall flat for me despite enjoying a lot of things about the story otherwise. I do keep trying her stuff, because she DOES keep getting very close! Alas. (and I am with you on Valente! her writing style is just....too much. for my tastes.)

with short stories, idk, they're like easy bite-sized chunks I can pull up on my phone any time, and I save them all in my rss reader so I don't lose track of them until I do, and I don't have to spend money on them and I don't have to worry about library due dates. so they're just easier! for me at least! But there is a HIGH effort to reward ratio overall, I will admit. Since this January I started tracking all the short stories I read, I can now tell you that of the 205 stories I've read so far this year, I only really liked 15 of them. Which is only 7%! Ouch.

[cahn]

ahahaha, I think I agree with you about the romance! (I hadn't really made the connection explicitly, but I do tend to wander away when she tries...)

Haha, yeah, I can't take that effort-to-reward ratio. (...although the Hugo effort-to-reward ratio can be pretty high in some years too, lol.) But I admire your efforts!

[sophia_sol]

I think with the short stories it helps that I feel perfectly free to abandon ship without finishing, if the story doesn't feel promising to me! so I'm not committing to much. And it feels much more like a treasure hunt than novel-reading. With novels, you can find all sorts of opinions online if you so much as glance around, but with short stories, it feels like nobody's talking about them, so if I trawl through the unmediated stream of content myself, I might stumble upon a perfect gem that I would never ever have heard of if I didn't go out there myself! so it's very satisfying in that way, even if I have to go through a LOT of stories to find those gems. but I do regularly find gems!

[cahn]

Haha, it's a plus for me that everyone's talking about novels so I can go and join the conversation when I'm done! But I love that you find gems <3

[sophia_sol]

oh, friends talking about books is different! obviously I want to be able to talk with them! I mean more like, seeing reviews on major sites like tor dot com, or being able to find people's opinions on goodreads, or even finding random indie blogs with reviews if you web search for them. it feels like nobody talks about short stories except during award season!

and I love that I can introduce other people to the short stories I think are good! <3

[cahn]

You're right, no one really talks about short stories! That is so cool though that you can be the person who introduces us to short stories you like <3