I read the short story nominations for this years Hugo Award from the nominations pack, so thought I'd post my thoughts here. The nominations really tick the minority box this year. I've no problem of course with anyone of any gender, race or sexual orientation being nominated or awarded a Hugo, but its hard not to pause and wonder whether the best 6 short stories of the year can really have come from such specific demographics. I'm a bit of a cynic, but it seems potentially dodgy to me. I guess none of the stories written by straight, white men (i.e. the largest demographic of SF authors) were any good. I also thought it was a shame that there's not much actual science fiction on display here. Anyway, on to the stories themselves.
Do Not Look Back, My Lion – Alix E. Harrow
This is highly stylised prose, which is not normally my thing, but it’s a well-crafted and very readable fantasy tale. It subverts gender roles (normally not my thing either) but manages to do so without making a fuss about it. It has a depth and moral weight to it that probably makes it a contender for the Hugo. A good story and my favourite of these nominations. 4/5
A Catalog of Storms – Fran Wilde
I didn’t find it this particularly satisfying as it smacks of style over substance. The idea wasn’t awful but neither was it very good, and the execution was awkward, so it won’t be getting my vote. 2/5
Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island – Nibedita Sen
Possibly the longest title of any short story I’ve read. It’s also probably the first story I’ve read by a gay Bengali woman, so that’s expanded my horizons too. I do like the idea of writing a short piece comprising a fictional annotated bibliography (it’s rather a neat concept), but the ‘story’ here is slightly silly, strident feminism dressed up as droll cleverness and it wasn't my cup of tea. 1/5
As the Last I May Know – S. L. Huang
This is a fairly interesting dystopian premise, and the prose is well written, but the idea is slightly blunt to me and it falls just shy of being a top-drawer SF story; its ultimately rather bland considering it had decent potential. 3/5
Blood is Another Word for Hunger – Rivers Solomon
This is written with quite an individualistic style that suits the horror/fantasy subject matter at the outset. A slave girl, in what seems to be the time of the American civil war, kills her owners and gives birth to a fully grown dead girl, as a result. Unfortunately, what starts as a very engaging story went in a silly direction a few pages in and from there it lost my interest. Average at best. 2/5
And now his Lordship is Laughing – Shiv Ramdas
The only male writer represented. Written in purple prose, this is not a story that grabs you; indeed, nothing of any interest happens in the first few pages, other than a Bengali villager makes something out of jute. I couldn’t be bothered to read on further, to be honest. I figure if it cannot get my attention in 2-3 pages, it hardly deserves to win the biggest award in SF. (unrated)
Which stories did you like? I've not read all the novelettes, novellas etc. Too little time to get to them yet, but please let me know which were best in those categories if you can.
Do Not Look Back, My Lion – Alix E. Harrow
This is highly stylised prose, which is not normally my thing, but it’s a well-crafted and very readable fantasy tale. It subverts gender roles (normally not my thing either) but manages to do so without making a fuss about it. It has a depth and moral weight to it that probably makes it a contender for the Hugo. A good story and my favourite of these nominations. 4/5
A Catalog of Storms – Fran Wilde
I didn’t find it this particularly satisfying as it smacks of style over substance. The idea wasn’t awful but neither was it very good, and the execution was awkward, so it won’t be getting my vote. 2/5
Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island – Nibedita Sen
Possibly the longest title of any short story I’ve read. It’s also probably the first story I’ve read by a gay Bengali woman, so that’s expanded my horizons too. I do like the idea of writing a short piece comprising a fictional annotated bibliography (it’s rather a neat concept), but the ‘story’ here is slightly silly, strident feminism dressed up as droll cleverness and it wasn't my cup of tea. 1/5
As the Last I May Know – S. L. Huang
This is a fairly interesting dystopian premise, and the prose is well written, but the idea is slightly blunt to me and it falls just shy of being a top-drawer SF story; its ultimately rather bland considering it had decent potential. 3/5
Blood is Another Word for Hunger – Rivers Solomon
This is written with quite an individualistic style that suits the horror/fantasy subject matter at the outset. A slave girl, in what seems to be the time of the American civil war, kills her owners and gives birth to a fully grown dead girl, as a result. Unfortunately, what starts as a very engaging story went in a silly direction a few pages in and from there it lost my interest. Average at best. 2/5
And now his Lordship is Laughing – Shiv Ramdas
The only male writer represented. Written in purple prose, this is not a story that grabs you; indeed, nothing of any interest happens in the first few pages, other than a Bengali villager makes something out of jute. I couldn’t be bothered to read on further, to be honest. I figure if it cannot get my attention in 2-3 pages, it hardly deserves to win the biggest award in SF. (unrated)
Which stories did you like? I've not read all the novelettes, novellas etc. Too little time to get to them yet, but please let me know which were best in those categories if you can.
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