2020 Hugo picks: Novellas
May. 31st, 2020 04:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormsewerThese fell pretty neatly into two equal categories for me: "meh" and "WOW." I had some trouble deciding between the WOWs.
6. In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
A young girl finds a door to the Goblin Market and must learn to negotiate its rules.
This is the fourth in this series that I've read. This one was okay, though Down Among the Sticks and Bones remains my favorite. As many novellas do, this one felt like a summary or abridgment of an actual novel. One thing that has changed in my life since I started reading these is that I became a parent, and I am increasingly sensitive to the fact that parents universally suck in these books; they don't know their children and don't particularly care what their children want for themselves [1]. I also didn't care much for the ending; it felt rather forced. This is a prequel, and we know what from the first book what ended up happening to the MC. We get there in this book, but it just doesn't feel like a natural outgrowth of the story that preceded it. Kind of like in Game of Thrones, it seemed like in order to get to the predetermined ending, several main characters had to suddenly turn stupid or otherwise start acting completely differently without clear motivation. Unsatisfying.
5. The Deep by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes
The story of the unwilling historian of merpeople called wajinru, descended from drowned slaves.
Really interesting premise. As detailed in the afterword, the story is based on a song by a group called "clipping." (the creators of which are the "with" authors), which in turn is based on the work of an electronic music duo called Drexciya. There is some interesting world-building in terms of how the wajinru experience their world. I found it an oppressive read overall, though. I had trouble sympathizing with a character so intent on abandoning so important a duty, but on the other hand putting all that weight on a single person seemed unreasonable and doomed to fail sooner or later, so I was simultaneously annoyed at both the MC and her society. And then the ending... felt deserved, perhaps, but not quite earned, given where we started from, if that makes sense.
4. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
In an alternate 1912 where Egypt has become a world power due to opening up relations with supernatural beings, two detectives must deal with the unusual case of a haunted tram car.
It was fun, and the setting is really interesting. There wasn't much to the characters, though. So, I enjoyed it, but it just seemed fluffy.
Now that meh is out of the way, let's move on to WOW. I'd be happy if any of these won; it was hard to choose.
3. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Two agents from opposing factions of time travelers begin a correspondence that deepens into a relationship.
I was really impressed by this. It's a spiritual successor to things like Asimov's End of Eternity and Stross's Palimpsest (which won this award in 2009) [2], but this one does a great job of balancing the grand and historical with the intimate and personal. It brought tears to my eyes in a couple places near the end. I've always wondered how tag-team writing really works and if it's really a good idea, but this is a great structure for it, and was a great idea. The closest things I have to complaints are that the MCs were rather callous (though I suppose that's to be expected for people in their position, and they both become less so over the course of the book), and that the writing, while beautiful, sometimes tripped me up as I had to pause and try and figure out they might have meant by this or that (but as expressions of characters whose modes of thinking would necessarily be quite different from our own, I forgive that, too). I'm tempted to read this again, which is not something I feel very often. This also won the Nebula.
2. "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom" by Ted Chiang
Imagines a world where there is a device that splits the universe into parallel timelines that can communicate with each other via the device for a limited amount of time.
In classic Chiang form, it takes the idea quite far in imagining its effect on society and individuals, and ends up being a lovely meditation on what it means to be a good person. A rare modern example of quality science fiction with a positive outlook despite not shying away from some of the more problematic human tendencies.
1. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Four scientists journey to an alien solar system to study life there.
Yet another Chambers piece that flaunts the "rules" of how a plot should be put together in favor of character and setting. I'm a little surprised to find myself ranking this number one, but it finally clicked for me. What if scientists on a voyage to an alien solar system could just... do science, without battling an evil alien or insane crewmate intent on murdering them all? What if there was a science fiction story about... science? With fully fleshed, sympathetic characters in interesting places? I didn't realize how hungry I am for this until it was plopped in front of me, but I am. In some ways, this story harks back to how science fiction used to be. It could be read as an update of "A Martian Odyssey," for instance, but it's not just an update in the science, it's an update in inclusivity and writing quality. Perhaps my improved attitude toward this as opposed to other works I've read by this author also relates to the fact that this does a fair job chronicling one of my cherished fantasies. I can remember as a child drawing pictures of alien planets and the creatures I imagined might live on them. I should also say that this also does a good job of expressing the dream of how scientists wish science was carried out, instead of the whatever-gets-me-funding Double Helix approach that is all too often the reality. I do have some quibbles with the science [3], but they are minor, really. I've been thinking about this story a lot, and somewhat like my top novelette pick, it reminds me of ideals I want to be working toward, and I adore that.
It'll take me a while to get through the novels (I've read about 1.85 of them at this point), so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I'll try to write up some thoughts on the other categories.
[1] Though in this book, at least, there's a case to be made that the father was actually totally right.
[2] Annalee Newitz also has a time war book out, The Future of Another Timeline, which I've purchased but not yet read.
[3] In brief, the enzyme patches are pixie dust (awesome pixie dust, but in reality, even if you got something like that to work in the first place, you could count on some nasty side effects), and I don't think the discovery of organisms that used amino acids and sugars of both chiralities would mean what she thinks it would mean. If you want the full essay on this topic, let me know.
See also:
Short stories
Novelettes
6. In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
A young girl finds a door to the Goblin Market and must learn to negotiate its rules.
This is the fourth in this series that I've read. This one was okay, though Down Among the Sticks and Bones remains my favorite. As many novellas do, this one felt like a summary or abridgment of an actual novel. One thing that has changed in my life since I started reading these is that I became a parent, and I am increasingly sensitive to the fact that parents universally suck in these books; they don't know their children and don't particularly care what their children want for themselves [1]. I also didn't care much for the ending; it felt rather forced. This is a prequel, and we know what from the first book what ended up happening to the MC. We get there in this book, but it just doesn't feel like a natural outgrowth of the story that preceded it. Kind of like in Game of Thrones, it seemed like in order to get to the predetermined ending, several main characters had to suddenly turn stupid or otherwise start acting completely differently without clear motivation. Unsatisfying.
5. The Deep by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes
The story of the unwilling historian of merpeople called wajinru, descended from drowned slaves.
Really interesting premise. As detailed in the afterword, the story is based on a song by a group called "clipping." (the creators of which are the "with" authors), which in turn is based on the work of an electronic music duo called Drexciya. There is some interesting world-building in terms of how the wajinru experience their world. I found it an oppressive read overall, though. I had trouble sympathizing with a character so intent on abandoning so important a duty, but on the other hand putting all that weight on a single person seemed unreasonable and doomed to fail sooner or later, so I was simultaneously annoyed at both the MC and her society. And then the ending... felt deserved, perhaps, but not quite earned, given where we started from, if that makes sense.
4. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
In an alternate 1912 where Egypt has become a world power due to opening up relations with supernatural beings, two detectives must deal with the unusual case of a haunted tram car.
It was fun, and the setting is really interesting. There wasn't much to the characters, though. So, I enjoyed it, but it just seemed fluffy.
Now that meh is out of the way, let's move on to WOW. I'd be happy if any of these won; it was hard to choose.
3. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Two agents from opposing factions of time travelers begin a correspondence that deepens into a relationship.
I was really impressed by this. It's a spiritual successor to things like Asimov's End of Eternity and Stross's Palimpsest (which won this award in 2009) [2], but this one does a great job of balancing the grand and historical with the intimate and personal. It brought tears to my eyes in a couple places near the end. I've always wondered how tag-team writing really works and if it's really a good idea, but this is a great structure for it, and was a great idea. The closest things I have to complaints are that the MCs were rather callous (though I suppose that's to be expected for people in their position, and they both become less so over the course of the book), and that the writing, while beautiful, sometimes tripped me up as I had to pause and try and figure out they might have meant by this or that (but as expressions of characters whose modes of thinking would necessarily be quite different from our own, I forgive that, too). I'm tempted to read this again, which is not something I feel very often. This also won the Nebula.
2. "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom" by Ted Chiang
Imagines a world where there is a device that splits the universe into parallel timelines that can communicate with each other via the device for a limited amount of time.
In classic Chiang form, it takes the idea quite far in imagining its effect on society and individuals, and ends up being a lovely meditation on what it means to be a good person. A rare modern example of quality science fiction with a positive outlook despite not shying away from some of the more problematic human tendencies.
1. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Four scientists journey to an alien solar system to study life there.
Yet another Chambers piece that flaunts the "rules" of how a plot should be put together in favor of character and setting. I'm a little surprised to find myself ranking this number one, but it finally clicked for me. What if scientists on a voyage to an alien solar system could just... do science, without battling an evil alien or insane crewmate intent on murdering them all? What if there was a science fiction story about... science? With fully fleshed, sympathetic characters in interesting places? I didn't realize how hungry I am for this until it was plopped in front of me, but I am. In some ways, this story harks back to how science fiction used to be. It could be read as an update of "A Martian Odyssey," for instance, but it's not just an update in the science, it's an update in inclusivity and writing quality. Perhaps my improved attitude toward this as opposed to other works I've read by this author also relates to the fact that this does a fair job chronicling one of my cherished fantasies. I can remember as a child drawing pictures of alien planets and the creatures I imagined might live on them. I should also say that this also does a good job of expressing the dream of how scientists wish science was carried out, instead of the whatever-gets-me-funding Double Helix approach that is all too often the reality. I do have some quibbles with the science [3], but they are minor, really. I've been thinking about this story a lot, and somewhat like my top novelette pick, it reminds me of ideals I want to be working toward, and I adore that.
It'll take me a while to get through the novels (I've read about 1.85 of them at this point), so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I'll try to write up some thoughts on the other categories.
[1] Though in this book, at least, there's a case to be made that the father was actually totally right.
[2] Annalee Newitz also has a time war book out, The Future of Another Timeline, which I've purchased but not yet read.
[3] In brief, the enzyme patches are pixie dust (awesome pixie dust, but in reality, even if you got something like that to work in the first place, you could count on some nasty side effects), and I don't think the discovery of organisms that used amino acids and sugars of both chiralities would mean what she thinks it would mean. If you want the full essay on this topic, let me know.
See also:
Short stories
Novelettes
