Hugos 2019 novelettes

[maharetr]

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, 29 November 2018) I didn't like this one for the first third or so -- I didn't like Byam, or care about its quest, or the fact that Byam 'meets a girl', as the summary promised. And then it did meet that girl, Lesie, and I just...thawed, and then freaking melted into a soft, warm, pleased thing. Nice work.

The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly (Tor.com, 11 July 2018)
Oh, this was delicious (#notsorry). I'm always frustrated that food testing is written wrongly in stories, but by the end of this story I had to remind myself that I had been annoyed by that, because I'd forgotten. It also could have done with another edit, too, but neither of those things stop this fantastic premise and skilled weaving from shining. I was legit captivated for huge parts of this (it would have hard for the ending to be as satisfying, honestly, and it wasn't quite as good as the rest of the story, but endings are hard and I don't begrudge it much at all) I'm anticipating rating it highly.

The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com publishing) It turns out I'd already bought this back in May last year, but didn't get around to reading it. Go past me?
This was really well written, and beautifully structured (seriously, I literally whispered “Ohhh, nicely structured!” at one point). There were three different threads going on (the lives of the elephants, Regan, and Kat) and I never felt lost or confused about which was which, which is a skill in itself. This also touches on a brutal part of history: the radium girls, which I keep thinking I should read up on but then I’d just about have a rage-aneurism. I remember having a fierce, electric reaction to the later parts of it. And yet, one, two days after reading it, it’s already fading. I possibly started Trail of lightning too soon after it, and maybe the abrupt ending cost it a little for me. Still, a solid contender.

Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com, 19 September 2018) Huh. This was well-written, and many points for the nbd gay character, but I'm not sure if the closing lines were as insightful as they thought they were being, or if it was me and I missed a point. Contemplatative, and nice, but needed more of a carry-through thread to be compelling to me.

The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)
This was just the most lovely. I genuinely had the sense of a woman's cluttered real life, and I do in fact love ghost stories. This was charming and comforting, and the voice was like drinking hot tea on a cold day type of comforting. Hugo-worthy? Maybe not. But she was the only non-puppy-pick winner in a category back in the day, and I'd love for her to win in her 'own right' so to speak.

When We Were Starless by Simone Heller (Clarkesworld 145, October 2018) Huh. This one had a great idea, and the writing was solid, but it really would have benefited from a few more thousand words. It was trying to set up a LOT of entirely-alien-to-reader, normal-to-character culture in a few short paragraphs and I think it needed a lot more space to breathe before we launched into the core idea (which was also new-to-reader, normal-to-character). Excellent potential and genuinely interesting idea, and only missed the mark by thismuch, alas. I would totally be willing to read more from this author.

Figuring out voting for this one was trickier. One stand out, many very goods and a few mehs, but ranking the very goods was hard.

1. “The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections” by Tina Connolly (Tor.com, 11 July 2018)
2. “The Only Harmless Great Thing” by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com publishing) (excerpt)
3. “The Thing About Ghost Stories” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)
4. “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again” by Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, 29 November 2018)
5. “When We Were Starless” by Simone Heller (Clarkesworld 145, October 2018)
6. “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth” by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com, 19 September 2018)