2013 Hugo picks: short stories
Jun. 6th, 2013 03:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormsewerThis time around I had actually read all the stories nominated before the nominations were announced. All three of these are from previous award nomination darlings. Anyway, here's what I thought.
#3 "Mantis Wives" by Kij Johnson.
A list of the ways in which mantis women kill their lovers.
This one is a bit gimmicky for my tastes. Rereading it I guess I appreciate it a bit more. It's a nice piece, but... Look, I like Kij Johnson. Ponies and Spar are some of the best pieces of short fiction ever written, if you ask me, but just because a story has her name on it doesn't mean it needs to be nominated for an award, okay? (Aside: The analyses of the story by mens' rights activists in the comments are priceless.)
#2 "Immersion" by Aliette de Bodard.
The premise is "immerser" technology, which changes your appearance and prompts you in culturally appropriate social responses.
I was a little annoyed at first, since I was confused at what was going on, but it all came clear by the end. Heart-rending, while sneaking in some meditations on cultural imperialism. I'm happy to see the author get away from that Aztec stuff for a bit, too. [2013-07-19 Edit: I've since realized that this and the Aztec stuff are part of the same "Xuya" universe.] This won the Nebula Award.
#1 "Mono No Aware" by Ken Liu.
The story of the only Japanese person on a ship carrying the only survivors from an asteroid-ravaged Earth.
As previously mentioned, this was my stand-out story of the year. It doesn't seem to be freely available, unfortunately, but the anthology it's in is great and well worth picking up.
2013-06-11 edit: "Mono No Aware" is now available online.
Novelette picks
Novella picks
Novel etc. picks
#3 "Mantis Wives" by Kij Johnson.
A list of the ways in which mantis women kill their lovers.
This one is a bit gimmicky for my tastes. Rereading it I guess I appreciate it a bit more. It's a nice piece, but... Look, I like Kij Johnson. Ponies and Spar are some of the best pieces of short fiction ever written, if you ask me, but just because a story has her name on it doesn't mean it needs to be nominated for an award, okay? (Aside: The analyses of the story by mens' rights activists in the comments are priceless.)
#2 "Immersion" by Aliette de Bodard.
The premise is "immerser" technology, which changes your appearance and prompts you in culturally appropriate social responses.
I was a little annoyed at first, since I was confused at what was going on, but it all came clear by the end. Heart-rending, while sneaking in some meditations on cultural imperialism. I'm happy to see the author get away from that Aztec stuff for a bit, too. [2013-07-19 Edit: I've since realized that this and the Aztec stuff are part of the same "Xuya" universe.] This won the Nebula Award.
#1 "Mono No Aware" by Ken Liu.
The story of the only Japanese person on a ship carrying the only survivors from an asteroid-ravaged Earth.
As previously mentioned, this was my stand-out story of the year. It doesn't seem to be freely available, unfortunately, but the anthology it's in is great and well worth picking up.
2013-06-11 edit: "Mono No Aware" is now available online.
Novelette picks
Novella picks
Novel etc. picks
