2018 Hugo picks: Novelettes
Apr. 22nd, 2018 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormsewerA bit more mixed feelings about these.
6. "Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time" by K.M. Szpara
A transgender man gets turned into a vampire.
While I'm very interested to hear the transgender perspective on things, this didn't rub me quite right. This comes off to me as basically the E. L. James version of Twilight, except with a transgender MC. It's surprisingly breezy about issues of consent, as well. So essentially this annoys both the prude and the SJW in me.
5. "Extracurricular Activities" by Yoon Ha Lee
A young Shuos Jedao is sent to extract a lost crew from foreign territory.
In the same universe (and about the same character) as Ninefox Gambit, the novel that was nominated last year. It was kind of fun, but I don't find invincible characters like Jedao very interesting. This one is also a little too James-Bondy (though maybe it was an intentional send-up?). I was also a little surprised that the genius strategist/tactician walked into the situation at the end without much of a plan and was only really successful because of dumb luck. This is my least favorite of the Jedao stories I've read, and I wouldn't rate myself as a superfan in general.
4. "Children of Thorns, Children of Water" by Aliette de Bodard
In alternate-history Paris, a pair of Annamite dragons attempt to infiltrate a House run by Fallen angels.
It's an intriguing world, but I feel like I don't have enough of the context for either the characters or the setting to understand, much less really care, what's going on here.
3. "The Secret Life of Bots" by Suzanne Palmer
A bot wakes up on its ship after a long delay and is given a seemingly menial task to complete, but the situation turns out to be rather more complicated.
This piece was engaging and well structured. I feel like it's a variation on a theme I've seen many times, though, and I prefer my bots a little less anthropomorphic.
2. "Wind Will Rove" by Sarah Pinsker
Reminisces of a history teacher and fiddler on a generation ship where the question of the proper attitude of the inhabitants toward their terrestrial origins has grown contentious.
A lovely, thoughtful piece, though it does feel more like a thinkpiece than a story. The setup is very compelling, but there is little plot or character development. But perhaps that's appropriate for a piece so centered on our relationship to history; it's less about big things happening than about how we as individuals are going to respond now that the big things have already happened.
1. "A Series of Steaks" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
A meat forger is blackmailed into a difficult job.
I wasn't sure about this one at first, but by the end I was cheering. There's a lot of stuff these days that gets billed as "biopunk" but very little that lives up to the name, if you ask me [1]. This does, and I loved it. It's such a weird idea, and yet I can absolutely see this happening in the not-too-distant future. The characters are well-developed and interesting, and the author does a good job getting us into the MC's head. There were some refrigerator moments. For instance, the MC is fairly passive and only really succeeds from having hired an assistant who turns out to be amazing in unexpected ways. And there's reason to think the ending isn't as upbeat as it first appears, though if that was intentional it's pretty devious...
[1] Oh, you're really asking me? Then to be called "biopunk," I'd say the biology has to be sensical and central to the plot, which needs to have the sort of vibrant characters and skin-of-teeth underworld grittiness that dazzled me reading Burning Chrome as an impressionable middle schooler.
See also:
Short stories
6. "Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time" by K.M. Szpara
A transgender man gets turned into a vampire.
While I'm very interested to hear the transgender perspective on things, this didn't rub me quite right. This comes off to me as basically the E. L. James version of Twilight, except with a transgender MC. It's surprisingly breezy about issues of consent, as well. So essentially this annoys both the prude and the SJW in me.
5. "Extracurricular Activities" by Yoon Ha Lee
A young Shuos Jedao is sent to extract a lost crew from foreign territory.
In the same universe (and about the same character) as Ninefox Gambit, the novel that was nominated last year. It was kind of fun, but I don't find invincible characters like Jedao very interesting. This one is also a little too James-Bondy (though maybe it was an intentional send-up?). I was also a little surprised that the genius strategist/tactician walked into the situation at the end without much of a plan and was only really successful because of dumb luck. This is my least favorite of the Jedao stories I've read, and I wouldn't rate myself as a superfan in general.
4. "Children of Thorns, Children of Water" by Aliette de Bodard
In alternate-history Paris, a pair of Annamite dragons attempt to infiltrate a House run by Fallen angels.
It's an intriguing world, but I feel like I don't have enough of the context for either the characters or the setting to understand, much less really care, what's going on here.
3. "The Secret Life of Bots" by Suzanne Palmer
A bot wakes up on its ship after a long delay and is given a seemingly menial task to complete, but the situation turns out to be rather more complicated.
This piece was engaging and well structured. I feel like it's a variation on a theme I've seen many times, though, and I prefer my bots a little less anthropomorphic.
2. "Wind Will Rove" by Sarah Pinsker
Reminisces of a history teacher and fiddler on a generation ship where the question of the proper attitude of the inhabitants toward their terrestrial origins has grown contentious.
A lovely, thoughtful piece, though it does feel more like a thinkpiece than a story. The setup is very compelling, but there is little plot or character development. But perhaps that's appropriate for a piece so centered on our relationship to history; it's less about big things happening than about how we as individuals are going to respond now that the big things have already happened.
1. "A Series of Steaks" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
A meat forger is blackmailed into a difficult job.
I wasn't sure about this one at first, but by the end I was cheering. There's a lot of stuff these days that gets billed as "biopunk" but very little that lives up to the name, if you ask me [1]. This does, and I loved it. It's such a weird idea, and yet I can absolutely see this happening in the not-too-distant future. The characters are well-developed and interesting, and the author does a good job getting us into the MC's head. There were some refrigerator moments. For instance, the MC is fairly passive and only really succeeds from having hired an assistant who turns out to be amazing in unexpected ways. And there's reason to think the ending isn't as upbeat as it first appears, though if that was intentional it's pretty devious...
[1] Oh, you're really asking me? Then to be called "biopunk," I'd say the biology has to be sensical and central to the plot, which needs to have the sort of vibrant characters and skin-of-teeth underworld grittiness that dazzled me reading Burning Chrome as an impressionable middle schooler.
See also:
Short stories
