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Hugos 2024 -- Novellette thoughts
Listed in the order I read them:
“The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023) I remember liking this one when I read it last year, but during my refamiliarisation skim I found myself irritated by what felt like the 'plot-convenient resources' that just happened to still be available (aka resources that the story couldn't have solved, like insulin availability or complete electricity loss). And then I kept reading and I got swept up again in that effortless narrative voice, and that damn hug of people working to make things okay, and I'm still 100% here for it. Dammit. It's good, and we need so much more of this whole 'positive community building during hard times' narrative.
“One Man’s Treasure” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, JanuaryFebruary 2023) The opening scene made my heart squeeze with the relationship we were shown (this! this is what I want to read and write about!), but the rest of the story felt half-baked. The magic system felt kind of slapped on without much depth, and I didn't feel as deeply inside the narrator's feelings as I wanted to be. It also felt like there were one too many things going on--and that were all too neatly wrapped up at the end of the story--to really feel any of it. Could have been a very good novella, perhaps.
“On the Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo (Tor.com 31 October 2023) This was so delicious, and so smooth. Really well written, excellent voice, and place, and feelings. Seeing this author's name on something else would definitely be a new plus to get me to read it.
“Ivy, Angelica, Bay” by C.L. Polk (Tor.com 8 December 2023) Goddamn. Part way through, and this is very rich, and a really well done magic system, and voice, and place so far. Quietly harrowing, on several fronts, at least one very intentional and really working for me. Very interested to see how or even if the whole 'so now I have your firstborn...who's *ten*' gets resolved or not (one of those things that I'm not sure how harrowing I'm supposed to find it, but I'm *feeling* it). I'm doubly pleased to be enjoying this, having bounced off the author's other works with some sadness.
Now finished: Ooof, the first harrowing thing (the overtaking of the neighbourhood) shrank down smaller than I expected, and the second thing went better than I expected, frankly, although once I saw the shape of it I knew what was going to happen. Still, absolutely captivating for the most part. Will be ranking highly.
“Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适 translated by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld, February 2023)Oooof. Heavy, good reading. Really good exploration of what cryosleep would come to mean to people on Earth, on space voyages, to individual relationships. Damn. Ranking highly
I AM AI by Ai Jiang (Shortwave) This is the first piece in a long time -- years? -- that I've actually quit reading, which feels like a Thing. I can't tell if it's a bad work, if something got lost in translation, or if I'm just very outside cyberpunk as a genre. Either way, this read as melodramatic and overly repetitive. Yes, New Era made everything Bad. Everything's been bad since New Era. Did you know the corporation New Era has made everything Bad? "I can't tell if what burns down my cheeks is rain or tears, but I suppose it doesn't matter because one eats from the outside and the other within." was where I muttered 'oh for fuck's sake' aloud. I put it down entirely at the 'commissioned to write a 150,000 word article' point. What market is reading an 'article' longer than many non-fiction books? Seriously? Going below no award.
This was hard -- many of the works are really, really good at what they're doing, and they're all doing quite different things.
1. "Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition" -- for the serious grappling with the sci-fi invention, and for the meta structure that I rather liked.
2. "A Year Without Sunshine" -- for the hopepunk, the effortless-sounding voice and sentence structure, as always, and for winning me over repeatedly.
3. "Ivy, Angelica, Bay" -- for the luscious language, the excellent characterisation, and the characters in a community.
4. "On the Fox Roads" -- for the luscious language, and for my love of magical shortcuts.
5. No award
6. "One Man's Treasure" -- this is a really borderline one for me, because I know the author can do much, much better than this so it feels doubly disappointing. Great idea, slapdash execution.
7. "I AM AI" -- see above with the didn't finish the damn thing.
“The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023) I remember liking this one when I read it last year, but during my refamiliarisation skim I found myself irritated by what felt like the 'plot-convenient resources' that just happened to still be available (aka resources that the story couldn't have solved, like insulin availability or complete electricity loss). And then I kept reading and I got swept up again in that effortless narrative voice, and that damn hug of people working to make things okay, and I'm still 100% here for it. Dammit. It's good, and we need so much more of this whole 'positive community building during hard times' narrative.
“One Man’s Treasure” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, JanuaryFebruary 2023) The opening scene made my heart squeeze with the relationship we were shown (this! this is what I want to read and write about!), but the rest of the story felt half-baked. The magic system felt kind of slapped on without much depth, and I didn't feel as deeply inside the narrator's feelings as I wanted to be. It also felt like there were one too many things going on--and that were all too neatly wrapped up at the end of the story--to really feel any of it. Could have been a very good novella, perhaps.
“On the Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo (Tor.com 31 October 2023) This was so delicious, and so smooth. Really well written, excellent voice, and place, and feelings. Seeing this author's name on something else would definitely be a new plus to get me to read it.
“Ivy, Angelica, Bay” by C.L. Polk (Tor.com 8 December 2023) Goddamn. Part way through, and this is very rich, and a really well done magic system, and voice, and place so far. Quietly harrowing, on several fronts, at least one very intentional and really working for me. Very interested to see how or even if the whole 'so now I have your firstborn...who's *ten*' gets resolved or not (one of those things that I'm not sure how harrowing I'm supposed to find it, but I'm *feeling* it). I'm doubly pleased to be enjoying this, having bounced off the author's other works with some sadness.
Now finished: Ooof, the first harrowing thing (the overtaking of the neighbourhood) shrank down smaller than I expected, and the second thing went better than I expected, frankly, although once I saw the shape of it I knew what was going to happen. Still, absolutely captivating for the most part. Will be ranking highly.
“Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适 translated by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld, February 2023)Oooof. Heavy, good reading. Really good exploration of what cryosleep would come to mean to people on Earth, on space voyages, to individual relationships. Damn. Ranking highly
I AM AI by Ai Jiang (Shortwave) This is the first piece in a long time -- years? -- that I've actually quit reading, which feels like a Thing. I can't tell if it's a bad work, if something got lost in translation, or if I'm just very outside cyberpunk as a genre. Either way, this read as melodramatic and overly repetitive. Yes, New Era made everything Bad. Everything's been bad since New Era. Did you know the corporation New Era has made everything Bad? "I can't tell if what burns down my cheeks is rain or tears, but I suppose it doesn't matter because one eats from the outside and the other within." was where I muttered 'oh for fuck's sake' aloud. I put it down entirely at the 'commissioned to write a 150,000 word article' point. What market is reading an 'article' longer than many non-fiction books? Seriously? Going below no award.
This was hard -- many of the works are really, really good at what they're doing, and they're all doing quite different things.
1. "Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition" -- for the serious grappling with the sci-fi invention, and for the meta structure that I rather liked.
2. "A Year Without Sunshine" -- for the hopepunk, the effortless-sounding voice and sentence structure, as always, and for winning me over repeatedly.
3. "Ivy, Angelica, Bay" -- for the luscious language, the excellent characterisation, and the characters in a community.
4. "On the Fox Roads" -- for the luscious language, and for my love of magical shortcuts.
5. No award
6. "One Man's Treasure" -- this is a really borderline one for me, because I know the author can do much, much better than this so it feels doubly disappointing. Great idea, slapdash execution.
7. "I AM AI" -- see above with the didn't finish the damn thing.