These are my thoughts on the Hugo-nominated short stories. If you're
planning to vote, you may wish not to read these notes until you have
done so.
The City Born Great, by N. K. Jemisin: urban shamanism from the
viewpoint of a young black hustler bringing the city-spirit to a
fuller life. A longer version would be too long; this is just about
perfect.
A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers, by Alyssa Wong:
lovely ideas about rewinding the world in a futile attempt to change
it, but no beginning or ending.
Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies, by Brooke Bolander: ultra-short
murder and revenge story, with no room to unfold much of anything, but
it works.
Seasons of Glass and Iron, by Amal El-Mohtar: two fairy-tales meet,
the iron shoes and the glass mountain, and the result is a splendid
synergy.
That Game We Played During the War, by Carrie Vaughn: telepathic
humans have been fighting non-telepathic humans, and two of them built
a bridge over a game of chess. Quiet and subtle and socks you in the
heart when you're not looking.
An Unimaginable Light, by John C. Wright: tedious infodumpy
political ranting with a surprise ending that might have been
unexpected a century ago.
This is a really good batch; I felt the Wong wasn't really Hugo-grade,
but that leaves four solid entries and I'd be happy if any of them
won. (I suspect Jemisin will get it by virtue of being the best-known
name, but we'll see.)
Voting order:
- That Game We Played During the War, by Carrie Vaughn
- The City Born Great, by N. K. Jemisin
- Seasons of Glass and Iron, by Amal El-Mohtar
- Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies, by Brooke Bolander
Comments on this post are now closed. If you have particular grounds for adding a late comment, comment on a more recent post quoting the URL of this one.