2013 Hugo picks: novellas
Jun. 20th, 2013 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormsewerSo, about the novellas...
5. "The Stars Do Not Lie" by Jay Lake
An astronomer on a steampunk world finds evidence that the religious authorities are not eager to accept.
You'd think I'd like this story, what with its science versus religion themes. But I'm not a huge fan of steampunk, generally (I prefer the real stuff, Wells and Verne, thank you very much), and this in particular felt like a boring version of The Golden Compass. And then there's the fact that the hero is a rational white man in a world ruled by superstitious and terribly racist black people, which makes me wonder a bit about the motives of the author and the people who voted for this. There is a single woman tossed into the mix, near the end, who is immediately subject to contempt by one of the viewpoint characters for dressing slutty. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this story didn't do it for me. (EDIT: The author actually read this and gave a brief response. He seemed to take it in stride, but remind me to remember when composing these missives that they might actually be read.)
4. San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant
The story of when the zombie apocalypse hit the San Diego Comic-Con.
I'm just not a Mira Grant fan. I thought zombies were played out before the first Newsflesh book hit the shelves, and... I don't know. I guess I'm just not part of the target demographic for these books, which seems... young. I don't much care for the cinematic style, or the pouty, reckless main characters. I also have a knee-jerk reaction against series that seem to make the finalist list every year. And setting it at Comic-Con just seems like pandering. All that said, this managed to be sort of engaging, and is my favorite thing I've read by this author so far. This is the first time I've ranked a Hugo-nominated piece by this author anything other than dead last.
3. On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard
A former magistrate and war refugee arrives at the Prosper space station, which is run by her distant relatives.
My attitude toward this story is very much colored by other pieces I've read by the same author, namely "Scattered Along the River of Heaven" and "The Weight of a Blessing." All three are meditations on war, rebellion, exile, and imprisonment as played out by conflicts between female relations in interstellar Asian cultures. Any of them individually would be lovely, I'm sure, but there comes a point where I feel like I'm reading the same story over and over again. So I'm a bit tired of it. Plus I found both of the main characters in this one annoying in their complete self-absorption. I guess the idea was to show how both sides in a conflict like this can feel that justice and common sense are on their side, but I just found them aggravating. Still, the characters seemed real, and some of the tech, like the Minds, the trance, and the mem implants, was interesting.
2. After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
The story of apocalypse survivors darting to the past to pick up supplies and children, and a woman living before the apocalypse who is trying to track them.
Well. It was deftly plotted and had believable, well-drawn characters, as I've come to expect from this author. The science wasn't exactly spot-on. (Bacteria don't replicate by mitosis, for instance.) Related to that, the ending really didn't work for me. And that lands it in second place. (This won the Nebula.)
1. The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
A magical forger on death row is made an offer she cannot refuse.
As far as court-intrigue-type fantasy that takes place almost entirely within a single room goes, it was pretty good. I'm somewhat surprised to find this in the top spot, but it was the only nominee that didn't irk me in some way.
Short story picks
Novelette picks
Novel etc. picks
5. "The Stars Do Not Lie" by Jay Lake
An astronomer on a steampunk world finds evidence that the religious authorities are not eager to accept.
You'd think I'd like this story, what with its science versus religion themes. But I'm not a huge fan of steampunk, generally (I prefer the real stuff, Wells and Verne, thank you very much), and this in particular felt like a boring version of The Golden Compass. And then there's the fact that the hero is a rational white man in a world ruled by superstitious and terribly racist black people, which makes me wonder a bit about the motives of the author and the people who voted for this. There is a single woman tossed into the mix, near the end, who is immediately subject to contempt by one of the viewpoint characters for dressing slutty. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this story didn't do it for me. (EDIT: The author actually read this and gave a brief response. He seemed to take it in stride, but remind me to remember when composing these missives that they might actually be read.)
4. San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant
The story of when the zombie apocalypse hit the San Diego Comic-Con.
I'm just not a Mira Grant fan. I thought zombies were played out before the first Newsflesh book hit the shelves, and... I don't know. I guess I'm just not part of the target demographic for these books, which seems... young. I don't much care for the cinematic style, or the pouty, reckless main characters. I also have a knee-jerk reaction against series that seem to make the finalist list every year. And setting it at Comic-Con just seems like pandering. All that said, this managed to be sort of engaging, and is my favorite thing I've read by this author so far. This is the first time I've ranked a Hugo-nominated piece by this author anything other than dead last.
3. On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard
A former magistrate and war refugee arrives at the Prosper space station, which is run by her distant relatives.
My attitude toward this story is very much colored by other pieces I've read by the same author, namely "Scattered Along the River of Heaven" and "The Weight of a Blessing." All three are meditations on war, rebellion, exile, and imprisonment as played out by conflicts between female relations in interstellar Asian cultures. Any of them individually would be lovely, I'm sure, but there comes a point where I feel like I'm reading the same story over and over again. So I'm a bit tired of it. Plus I found both of the main characters in this one annoying in their complete self-absorption. I guess the idea was to show how both sides in a conflict like this can feel that justice and common sense are on their side, but I just found them aggravating. Still, the characters seemed real, and some of the tech, like the Minds, the trance, and the mem implants, was interesting.
2. After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
The story of apocalypse survivors darting to the past to pick up supplies and children, and a woman living before the apocalypse who is trying to track them.
Well. It was deftly plotted and had believable, well-drawn characters, as I've come to expect from this author. The science wasn't exactly spot-on. (Bacteria don't replicate by mitosis, for instance.) Related to that, the ending really didn't work for me. And that lands it in second place. (This won the Nebula.)
1. The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
A magical forger on death row is made an offer she cannot refuse.
As far as court-intrigue-type fantasy that takes place almost entirely within a single room goes, it was pretty good. I'm somewhat surprised to find this in the top spot, but it was the only nominee that didn't irk me in some way.
Short story picks
Novelette picks
Novel etc. picks
