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stormsewer) wrote2018-06-22 10:55 pm
stormsewer) wrote2018-06-22 10:55 pm
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2018 Hugo picks: Novellas
Maybe a little underwhelmed by these as a whole.
6. River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
In an alternate 19th century where hippos were sort of domesticated in the US, a ragtag band of hippo riders set out to clear the lower Mississippi of feral hippos.
The idea is kind of fun, if silly [1]. The execution was rather too gleefully violent for my tastes, and the romantic aspect felt forced and artificial to me. It rather reminded me of The Builders from two years ago in tone and outlook[2].
5. The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang
The story of the lives of twins Mokoya and Akeha, auspiciously birthed to the ruler of the Protectorate.
I can't say I was really a fan. Some of the imagery was cool, but this is standard-issue epic fantasy in so many ways. One way it isn't standard-issue epic fantasy is that it feels more like a summary of the major plot points in a larger novel or series of novels. We just skip from major event to major event over forty years, and I find myself wishing I had a better feel for what day to day life is like in this world, and in the heads of these characters, so that my personal stakes are higher when the crazy stuff happens. Instead I feel like we have attempts at emotional payoff without emotional investment.
4. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor
In this sequel to Binti, the winner two years ago, Binti takes her dangerous alien friend to visit her hometown.
I have mixed feelings about this. It addresses some (but not all) of the things that bugged me about the original, but it didn't quite do it for me. Both Binti and Okwu seem much more powerful than they are wise, and the cliffhanger ending felt manipulative[3].
3. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
A deadly security android that has hacked its control module relates its story.
Nebula winner. Pretty standard adventure SF, but solid and enjoyable. This is part one in a series of four novellas; reading the plot descriptions of the other three, I suspect it would work better as a single novel (but sell for much less, like the previous one). The Amazon product description linked above says this "interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence." Ha. Not quite.
2. Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
A prequel to Every Heart a Doorway, last year's winner, following the experiences of young Jack and Jill in finding and losing the dark alternate world of the Moors.
When I first heard of this book, I was dismayed, thinking these were the characters from Every Heart I was least interested in getting the backstory of, but I've got to say… She finally did it. She wrote a story I love, almost without reservation. I mean, the parents are caricatures, not real people [4] and she's blatantly cribbing Valente's Fairyland style [5], but… this hits a lot of my buttons, and I adored it. It makes me appreciate Every Heart a little more, and want to go back and read it again. Well done.
1. "And Then There Were (N-One)" by Sarah Pinsker
A suspicious death occurs at a conference of Sarah Pinskers from across the multiverse, and one of them must solve it.
This is a great example of one of my favorite types of science fiction story: the simple but intriguing "what if" pursued tenaciously to all its logical ends. The choice of the author to make the conference essentially about herself is an interesting one that might irk some people as a Mary Sue, but I like it because it invites the reader to (A) pretend that this actually happened and (B) imagine what their own conference of multiversal selves might be like, both of which I think are great fun. Note also this is the only of the nominees you can read for free. Bravo.
[1] Apparently there was actually a proposal to try and domesticate hippos in the US, which is a really stupid idea, so it's good it never actually happened.
[2] I also ranked The Builders last.
[3] Like, why don't you just combine these into a novel? Why make people buy multiple separate short books when they are pretty clearly a continuous story?
[4] But that's forgivable in a fairy tale, especially if I see their attitudes as presented here simply as the way their daughters must imagine them.
[5] But who better to imitate than Cat Valente?
See also:
Short stories
Novelettes
6. River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
In an alternate 19th century where hippos were sort of domesticated in the US, a ragtag band of hippo riders set out to clear the lower Mississippi of feral hippos.
The idea is kind of fun, if silly [1]. The execution was rather too gleefully violent for my tastes, and the romantic aspect felt forced and artificial to me. It rather reminded me of The Builders from two years ago in tone and outlook[2].
5. The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang
The story of the lives of twins Mokoya and Akeha, auspiciously birthed to the ruler of the Protectorate.
I can't say I was really a fan. Some of the imagery was cool, but this is standard-issue epic fantasy in so many ways. One way it isn't standard-issue epic fantasy is that it feels more like a summary of the major plot points in a larger novel or series of novels. We just skip from major event to major event over forty years, and I find myself wishing I had a better feel for what day to day life is like in this world, and in the heads of these characters, so that my personal stakes are higher when the crazy stuff happens. Instead I feel like we have attempts at emotional payoff without emotional investment.
4. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor
In this sequel to Binti, the winner two years ago, Binti takes her dangerous alien friend to visit her hometown.
I have mixed feelings about this. It addresses some (but not all) of the things that bugged me about the original, but it didn't quite do it for me. Both Binti and Okwu seem much more powerful than they are wise, and the cliffhanger ending felt manipulative[3].
3. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
A deadly security android that has hacked its control module relates its story.
Nebula winner. Pretty standard adventure SF, but solid and enjoyable. This is part one in a series of four novellas; reading the plot descriptions of the other three, I suspect it would work better as a single novel (but sell for much less, like the previous one). The Amazon product description linked above says this "interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence." Ha. Not quite.
2. Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
A prequel to Every Heart a Doorway, last year's winner, following the experiences of young Jack and Jill in finding and losing the dark alternate world of the Moors.
When I first heard of this book, I was dismayed, thinking these were the characters from Every Heart I was least interested in getting the backstory of, but I've got to say… She finally did it. She wrote a story I love, almost without reservation. I mean, the parents are caricatures, not real people [4] and she's blatantly cribbing Valente's Fairyland style [5], but… this hits a lot of my buttons, and I adored it. It makes me appreciate Every Heart a little more, and want to go back and read it again. Well done.
1. "And Then There Were (N-One)" by Sarah Pinsker
A suspicious death occurs at a conference of Sarah Pinskers from across the multiverse, and one of them must solve it.
This is a great example of one of my favorite types of science fiction story: the simple but intriguing "what if" pursued tenaciously to all its logical ends. The choice of the author to make the conference essentially about herself is an interesting one that might irk some people as a Mary Sue, but I like it because it invites the reader to (A) pretend that this actually happened and (B) imagine what their own conference of multiversal selves might be like, both of which I think are great fun. Note also this is the only of the nominees you can read for free. Bravo.
[1] Apparently there was actually a proposal to try and domesticate hippos in the US, which is a really stupid idea, so it's good it never actually happened.
[2] I also ranked The Builders last.
[3] Like, why don't you just combine these into a novel? Why make people buy multiple separate short books when they are pretty clearly a continuous story?
[4] But that's forgivable in a fairy tale, especially if I see their attitudes as presented here simply as the way their daughters must imagine them.
[5] But who better to imitate than Cat Valente?
See also:
Short stories
Novelettes