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Hugos 2024 -- Short story thoughts
Listed in the order I read them:
"The Sound of Children Screaming" by Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare Magazine, October 2023)
I nominated this one, as I imagine so did many people, and am very pleased to see it on the finalist list. An emotionally brutal story, and fantastically done. "She bears no weapon but a sharp-edged teacher’s tongue that cuts through noise like scissors." bowls me over every time.
"Better Living Through Algorithms" by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023) I was having a bad brain day -- 'woke up in the middle of a sleep cycle' type foggy, not able to think well, verging on disassociating, and this story wrapped me up and gently deposited me solidly back into my body to be present and alert and here again, and I'm profoundly grateful to it for that. This looks simply written, in a way that feels actually deeply skilled, somehow. The more I sit on it, the more I appreciate the ending for not being a dramatic Ending, and instead being a rolling on of life. Ranking highly.
"How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub" by P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023) This was an unusual flip for me: on reflection I love the structure of this, what the ending reveals, and the placement of the various pieces and character assumptions, but felt like it was let down on an sentence and scene structure level. (I'm not at all convinced the author had control of point of view, for example.) But the overarching idea was a really good one, and very well executed as a narrative, which feels doubly frustrating. Not sure how to rank this one yet.
"The Mausoleum’s Children" by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, May-June 2023) This was an amazing...last third of a novella? Climax of a novel? I could see the fascinating, in-depth worldbuilding, and the emotional wallop of character growth that would really hit if we'd had time or the space to get actually settled with any of it. I can only hope there's an actual book on the backburner somewhere, and this was a dry run? Not sure how to rank this one yet.
美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), 宝树 / Baoshu (银河边缘013：黑域密室 / Galaxy’s Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain) Huh. Neat idea. I'm not sure the bounds of the premise holds up, exactly, but it held my attention the whole way through. Having only read it the once, I think they've managed to make a story about lavish eating -- and large amounts of food at that -- and not make it fatphobic so kudos there.
"Answerless Journey", Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers). I read the first...third? half? with legit interest, but the lack of answers (titling it as its theme doesn't actually absolve you from providing said answers). Reading this one felt like the literary experimental stories of a few decades back -- I was frequently not sure what the point was, either for the characters, the reader, or the author.
"The Sound of Children Screaming" by Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare Magazine, October 2023)
I nominated this one, as I imagine so did many people, and am very pleased to see it on the finalist list. An emotionally brutal story, and fantastically done. "She bears no weapon but a sharp-edged teacher’s tongue that cuts through noise like scissors." bowls me over every time.
"Better Living Through Algorithms" by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023) I was having a bad brain day -- 'woke up in the middle of a sleep cycle' type foggy, not able to think well, verging on disassociating, and this story wrapped me up and gently deposited me solidly back into my body to be present and alert and here again, and I'm profoundly grateful to it for that. This looks simply written, in a way that feels actually deeply skilled, somehow. The more I sit on it, the more I appreciate the ending for not being a dramatic Ending, and instead being a rolling on of life. Ranking highly.
"How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub" by P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023) This was an unusual flip for me: on reflection I love the structure of this, what the ending reveals, and the placement of the various pieces and character assumptions, but felt like it was let down on an sentence and scene structure level. (I'm not at all convinced the author had control of point of view, for example.) But the overarching idea was a really good one, and very well executed as a narrative, which feels doubly frustrating. Not sure how to rank this one yet.
"The Mausoleum’s Children" by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, May-June 2023) This was an amazing...last third of a novella? Climax of a novel? I could see the fascinating, in-depth worldbuilding, and the emotional wallop of character growth that would really hit if we'd had time or the space to get actually settled with any of it. I can only hope there's an actual book on the backburner somewhere, and this was a dry run? Not sure how to rank this one yet.
美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), 宝树 / Baoshu (银河边缘013：黑域密室 / Galaxy’s Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain) Huh. Neat idea. I'm not sure the bounds of the premise holds up, exactly, but it held my attention the whole way through. Having only read it the once, I think they've managed to make a story about lavish eating -- and large amounts of food at that -- and not make it fatphobic so kudos there.
"Answerless Journey", Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers). I read the first...third? half? with legit interest, but the lack of answers (titling it as its theme doesn't actually absolve you from providing said answers). Reading this one felt like the literary experimental stories of a few decades back -- I was frequently not sure what the point was, either for the characters, the reader, or the author.