Hugo short fiction nominees reading

[maharetr]

 “Carnival Nine“, by Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2017) – The lives of windup mechanical people and what they choose to do with the time they have. This is bittersweet and touching and well worth a read.

“Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand“, by Fran Wilde (Uncanny, Sep-Oct 2017) Oh my god. I read the first paragraph/section and literally sat back and blinked with pleasure. Heads up for things like body horror, and Victorian era style medical procedures. This was glorious and creepy and unsettling and I loved it. The last section/wrap-up didn’t quite land the punch I was anticipating based on how good the rest of the piece was, but definitely going high up on my list.
 
“Fandom for Robots“, by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny, Sep-Oct 2017). An archaic robot discovers fandom. I did not expect to like this but ended up absolutely delighted by it. Profoundly charmed.
 
“The Martian Obelisk“, by Linda Nagata (Tor.com, July 19, 2017) Oh my heart. A quiet… not even apocalypse, just the quiet end of our species, and what people do with their time. Mars! Quiet apocalypse! Really long-term remote projects (apparently I have really specific narrative loves) I’m so, so here for all these things. The story twists off into unsettling directions, and I love/hate/respect the shit out of it for that. Like Carnival Nine it’s about what you do with your time when you know the end is nigh, even, or especially, if the end is inevitable and soon. Will rank it highly. 

“Sun, Moon, Dust“, by Ursula Vernon (Uncanny, May-Jun 2017) Allpa does not actually want his grandmother’s adventuring sword. Ohh this is lovely, gardening and not-adventuring and staying home and safe and cosy all wrapped up in Vernon’s wry, wonderful voice. I want to rank it way up there, but Vernon has so many Hugos already…

"Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™“, by Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex, Aug 2017) You maintain a menu of a half dozen Experiences on your digital blackboard, but Vision Quest is the one the Tourists choose the most. This was excellently written and compelling enough that I stayed up to read it even though I was tired enough to bed down for sleep. But the denouement is a trope I find personally so unhappy making and dis/stressing (not mentioning here because spoilers, happy to talk about it comments) that I have no idea how to rank it. It’s a worthy fic, but, welp.

Man. Man. The nominees are really strong this year, for such annoyingly disparate reasons. Very tentative ballot below.

The Martian Obelisk
Clearly lettered in a mostly steady hand
Carnival Nine
Fandom for robots
Sun, Moon, Dust
Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience

(No 'no award')