Hugo Awards 2021 - Thoughts on Short Stories

I haven't done any reviewing of the Hugo Awards for awhile, mostly because I didn't vote in them for the last couple of years. Last year, of course, I was otherwise indisposed. Before that, we lacked the money for my supporting membership - or rather, I had higher priorities and decided to forego the pleasure of trying to read, review and rate all the wonderful works in the Hugo packet.

With my continuing recovery this year, I felt it was time again to dip into the Hugos and see what my fellow fans think are the best works over the past year or so.

I make no promises that I'll review everything, but I will read and watch and listen to as many of the selections as possible and vote for the ones I like the best. So here we go, starting with the short stories.

The finalists for Best Short Story are:

• "The Mermaid Astronaut" by Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
• "Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse" by Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2020)
• "Open House on Haunted Hill" by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots, 2020)
• "A Guide for Working Breeds" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris)
• "Little Free Library" by Naomi Kritzer (Tor.com)
• "Metal Like Blood in the Dark" by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)

So let's get to it... I will attempt to avoid spoilers, but I apparently suck at it so read on at your own peril.

First thoughts after reading all of them: Wow, they are all REALLY good. Not one stinker among them, although there are two I don't like as much. Understand, I'm not saying I don't like them - I'm saying I like the others better.

Starting with "The Mermaid Astronaut" - there's something here that doesn't quite click for me. The story is solid, the world-building makes me happy. There are callbacks to other stories with twists. But it never quite rises to the top of excellence for me. I guess it's just a good story and not one that is going to make me think about it for a long time after, despite some profound concepts it touches on. So this will actually probably be at the bottom of my ballot, although it's certainly deserving of its place as a finalist.

"Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse" - If only I wasn't getting tired of apocalyptic stories, this might have hit me better. I like the characters, I thought the world-building was good, but I also felt like there were enough gaps to leave me wanting more in that respect. The concept is good, but oh so disturbing. Life goes on, life continues - but I have a lot of questions after reading it. A good story, but not one that can get to the top of my ballot.

"Open House on Haunted Hill" - This one definitely hits me in all the right spots. Paranormal, skepticism, family and some awesome bits of humor. I want to live in that house. And I want to hear more about the adventures of that place after the events of this story. This had just the perfect amount of world-building, and characters that drew me in. Definitely a contender for the top spot on my ballot.

"A Guide for Working Breeds" - I started out disliking this one intensely, but after I got a few exchanges in I began to be amused, then to really like it, then to love it. In fact, once I finished it I went back and reread it more closely, giggling at the jokes and thinking about the online exchanges I've had that were... well, not similar but certainly had the same flavor. The whole "how to be mean to humans" bit had me rocking in my chair with laughter on the second read. As soon as I finished it, this one jumped to the top of my list.

"Little Free Library" - I first read this on the Tor website back when they first published it, and enjoyed it then. I enjoyed it on the reread, although I found I had misremembered the ending. I love this story - it's fun and quirky and ties into real life in nice ways. And it makes me want to build my own Little Free Library. Overall, it's high on my list, and frankly this makes the third really strong story that I really love. It is not going to be easy to rank these.

"Metal Like Blood in the Dark" - The second in the list that tells a story from the point of view of an artificial intelligence, but this one isn't nearly so light-hearted as "Breeds". In fact, this one draws me into a deep well of wonder then presents a difficult concept to chew on - one that might keep me up thinking about it at night. The feel of the story is epic, like a myth told through time and handed down over the ages. This is a story that will ride with me for a long time to come.

So... I have four stories in my top spot. How will I decide what the final order will be? I'm going to set them aside, leaving this blog post as my only commentary on them, and read some other Hugo material. Then at some point I'm going to come back and look at the list and hopefully I will have formed an idea on how to rank them. Hopefully. But they are all so good, I feel any one of the six deserves the title of Hugo Winner and all are worthy finalists. I'm just not sure which one I'll pick for the top spot yet.

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley is a collection of essays, not all of them about feminism or geeks or revolution (but enough to matter).

I came into this expecting to be pounded over the head by some overly aggressive drivel, but was pleasantly surprised to find it's a great book about writing and being a writer and dealing with life while being a writer. Yes, there's a lot about feminism and why it matters, but it's more about just living and dealing with the realities of being a woman. I really enjoyed it, much more than I was expecting to.

The good: Hurley has a strong voice, and tells about her experiences in plain language. She doesn't shy away from the tough topics, which means I was uncomfortable while reading some of her pieces - but it was that discomfort that arises from knowing such topics aren't discussed enough, not from the discussion itself.

The bad: I don't find Hurley to be sympathetic in the earliest essays in the book, which slightly put me off finishing it (and is why it's literally the last thing I'm reading for the Hugos this year). That feeling went away eventually, but it did stop me from reading for awhile.

Conclusion: I'm not sure where this will go on my ballot. Third? Fourth? First? It's just as likely to change between now and the end of the week.

Best Related Work: I've read all the entries. Check them out in my Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists.

A Hugo Review: John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer - Malka Older

Malka Older's packet included four works, three short stories and one novel. I enjoyed the short stories, but the longer work... well...

The novel is called Infomocracy, and while the premise seemed ok, the fact that it's all about politics, which I don't feel like thinking about at all and that it's written in present tense made it a slog. I got about halfway through before setting it down and looking for greener pastures, and have only just managed to get through the rest. I cannot say I enjoyed it.

The Rupture is a short story set on a future earth which suffers from cataclysmic eruptions as it nears its death - but is still populated and accepts visitors from other planets, humans who have gone to live on other worlds. The story is set from the point of view of a visitor and was solid, if not brilliant. Looking at why anyone would choose to live on a world that is dying was an interesting exercise, and I felt it got the mood and emotions across.

The Black Box is a little more difficult to define. It covers the lifetime of one person who has a computer helper installed as a child and makes a choice about that helper as she grows older. I got mixed messages from this one - was she better off not being able to access it or was she at a disadvantage? What was the point of the whole thing? And the ending seemed to just turn off any potential for liking the tale. While it makes me think, I'm not sure what it was trying to say.

The last one, Tear Tracks is also a bit problematic for me... mostly because the two representatives of humanity are downright STUPID about what they are hearing and seeing. Flur should have figured it out much quicker. With the hints we were given, I had it worked out before they went for refreshments. The fact that trained diplomats couldn't figure it out was disturbing.

Conclusion: Older will be toward the bottom of my ballot. Some great stuff, but the novel failed to engage my interest and I had issues with all the short stories.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - Traveler of Worlds by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro

Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro is a wide-ranging book of transcribed conversations between the two authors about Silverberg's life and writings.

The good: Lots of great information about Silverberg in here, his opinions, his work - it may not be all-inclusive, but it's one heckuva way to get to know the guy. The back and forth between the two is natural, and I was amused by the inclusion of the cat's activities at one point. The conversations ranged all over the place, but Zinos-Amaro seems to have managed to keep Silverberg mostly on track and edited the book to keep similar conversations in the same chapters.

The bad: Because these are conversations are a particular point in his life, looking back, there is really only one point of view. After reading the Gaiman and Le Guin books, which seemed to dash all over the place and were both written over the course of years, this book felt a little like a one-trick pony. There were also a couple of spots where Silverberg expressed opinions I found... unlikable. That's his right, and even his duty, but I was surprised to find myself respecting him less after reading those conversations. I believe that is a fault in me, not him, but it did affect how I responded to the work.

Conclusion: This probably gets the third or fourth spot at the moment. I'm sure my entire ballot order will change at least three more times in the days I have to finish it.

Best Related Work: I've read The Women of Harry Potter, The Princess Diarist, The View From the Cheap Seats, Traveler of Worlds, and Words Are My Matter. I still need to read The Geek Feminist Revolution.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Series - The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

I'm of multiple minds how to handle this category, as there is no chance of me even getting close to finishing all the entries before voting ends. This is the only series I was very familiar with before the finalists were announced, and it's perhaps my all-time favorite series. There's no way I'm NOT going to put it at the top of my ballot.

But, that said, what do I do about the others? I've skimmed, read a bit of each, and I'm just not sure. With only a couple more days of reading time, I'm not certain yet what I'll do.

So I guess my best bet at the moment is to tell my handful of readers why I like Bujold's work so much.

This series is concerned with the events in a family, focusing mainly on two family members: Cordelia and her son, Miles. I started by reading some of the books completely out of order, then went back and read Shards of Honor and Barrayar, then the rest mostly in publication order after that. Shards of Honor and Barrayar are Cordelia's books, funny and poignant and filled with hope. Most of the other books are about Miles and his various adventures as a man fighting physical problems caused before he was born while trying to live up to his family name.

Over the course of the series, the reader becomes friends with a huge cast of fantastic and wonderful people, all of them filled out with problems and strengths, some liking the others and some not. The end result is that the series as a whole fills its own universe and by the end of CryoBurn - when a certain event happens - the whole universe seems to shatter.

And I guess that's what I love about this series. You are carried along in a bunch of crazy adventures that are each satisfying as a piece, but as a whole work even better.

My favorite "trio" within the series is Memory, Komarr and A Civil Campaign. As a person who struggles with depression, reading Memory takes me down a dark path as Miles suffers what he would consider the worst possible events of his life (keeping in mind that he DIED in a previous book). Through the book, he's at his lowest and yet still manages to pull himself up enough to solve a mystery. Then in Komarr we see him adjust to a new life - which I find heartening. Sometimes you want nothing more than to get back what you've lost, but in Komarr the main character goes in a completely different direction and finds joy and love there. The final of the trio is A Civil Campaign, which is an all-out romp and enjoyable because it's hilarious.

By rereading those three books, I can often pull myself out of a deep depression and face the world again with new eyes. And it's the way this series can help me think differently about my own life while reading about the lives of fictional characters that has turned it into my favorite reread.

Conclusion: I don't know how I'm going to treat the rest of the series finalists, but as a series that has probably saved my life, this one is on top of my ballot.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - Words Are My Matter by Ursula K. Le Guin

Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016 by Ursula K. Le Guin is a collection of essays, book reviews, book intros and other writings.

Like Neil Gaiman's book, this is one that was hard for me to put down. Unlike Gaiman, I think Le Guin left less of herself on the pages of this book, while still giving us far more than you'd expect. This is another large book with a lot in it, and I admit to wanting to savor it much more than I have time to. The result is another book that I recommend for reading in bursts - a great bedside book.

The good: Lots of different pieces in here, starting with a lot of bits and pieces and poetry, and moving into lovely introductions on various writers. I loved the bits and pieces, and was slightly less interested in the intros and reviews, although they were very well-written. There is a lot to digest in this book, and if I had a couple more months to go over it, I would find more treasures.

The bad: I have always felt a distance from Le Guin that I cannot explain, and I still feel it in this writing. I don't connect with her works like I do with my favorite writers, although I enjoy them. There are a lot of reviews and intros of books that I wouldn't call science fiction or fantasy in here as well - not a problem with the book itself, but problematic for me giving it a high spot in this Hugo category.

Conclusion: Probably the number two spot on my ballot at the moment.

Best Related Work: I've read The Women of Harry Potter, The Princess Diarist, The View From the Cheap Seats, and Words Are My Matter. I still need to read The Geek Feminist Revolution, and Traveler of Worlds.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer - Laurie Penny

The Hugo packet includes four stories by Penny: Blue Monday, Everything Belongs to the Future (excerpt), The Killing Jar and Your Orisons May Be Recorded.

I wish I'd read these earlier, because I cannot yet tell if they will have a lasting impact on me... but if they do Penny would go up in my estimation. Every one of these stories hit me hard in a different spot, and while none of them fit my idea of incredible, all of them were very good.

Blue Monday involves mass production of internet videos. It's a somewhat logical progression of the current situation to the extremes presented in the story, which is what good fiction does. It's also a nice exploration of emotion and love and memory, from the point of view of someone who is definitely trying to be unlikeable. As a cat lover, I enjoyed this more than I probably should have.

Everything Belongs to the Future was the hardest to read - I just had difficulty working through it and found myself rereading bits to try to understand how they fit. Once I made of couple of connections, the whole story snapped into focus. But it wasn't a pleasant read for me. The concept is solid - what if there's a way to stop aging, but it's only available to the rich? What happens when the rest of the population starts to try to fight back? I think the result was slightly unsatisfying, however. Unfortunately, I can't pinpoint what bothers me about the story. If only I had read these stories earlier, I might have figured it out.

Moving on, The Killing Jar is possibly the most perfect of the stories by Penny in the packet. I would hate to spoil it, so I will avoid any talk about the plot itself. I'll just say that by the end of it I was cheering while I made a face of utter horror and disgust. And I will say, like I do with many of these tales, that I'm glad I don't live in THAT society.

I will admit that I had to look up the word "orisons" to understand the exact meaning of the title, although the context makes it fairly clear. I really had no idea that was a word, but I'm delighted that she used it so perfectly to disguise what the story is about until the reader clues in from the story itself. That said, the story itself was competent, but nothing amazing. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I'm not sure I'll remember it a month from now.

I just wish I'd read these earlier.

Conclusion: I really have no idea where she'll be on my final ballot - first or second, I suspect.

A Hugo Review: Best Related Work - The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman

The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman is an anthology of essays, introductions and speeches given by Gaiman over the years.

This is actually a really long book and it took me longer to read than I expected. It's just got so much substance to it that I would get caught in an essay and read it to the end, then want to read the next. This is absolutely a perfect book for short readings - have it by your bedside and read an essay/intro/speech each night. It's definitely not as good to power through it, like I did, even when the subject matters were great.

The good: You can learn a lot about Gaiman and his life from this book - it's practically an autobiography if taken all together. You can also learn a lot about his philosophy of writing and get a great deal of hints and helps on how to write. He wrote many introductions to works - some I was familiar with and some I was not. The ones I was familiar with I found myself nodding along as I read or thinking about the work in a slightly different way. The ones I wasn't familiar with I found myself wanting to read. There is a LOT of material here, and that makes it a good collection to give to any fan of Gaiman or good writing.

The bad: If I have to nitpick, there is some duplication of stories. It's only natural, he's writing about the same types of subjects, so there will be some repetition of tales of how he grew up and got into reading certain types of books and such. But some might find it difficult, especially if trying to read straight through - which is why I recommend reading this book in bits and pieces, if you can.

Conclusion: Yes, the best of the three I've read so far. But there's still three more to go.

Best Related Work: I've read The Women of Harry Potter, The Princess Diarist, and The View From the Cheap Seats. I still need to read The Geek Feminist Revolution, Traveler of Worlds, and Words Are My Matter

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer - Kelly Robson

The packet includes three stories by Robson: The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill, Two-Year Man and Waters of Versailles.

I read them in that order, and the first two hit me fairly hard. The third was less of a shock to me for some reason. Perhaps because the death involved in it happens fairly off-camera to a person we haven't been introduced to yet. In any case, I was impressed that a person thought to capture a mythical creature in order to handle a very mundane job, but beyond the concept I didn't have much feeling for the story.

The first one, Jessica Churchill, was incredibly painful to read with horrible events throughout. The choice of the date was interesting, and made the rest feel more painful. I've read stories where this exact thing happens but the end result is happy - having one like this seemed much more logical. The ending was really a punch in the gut. I had a bit of trouble wrapping my head around the story on the first read-through, and had to read it again.

The Two-Year Man was a glimpse into a strange world. I very much liked the world-building and the implications of the world that were presented, even while I'd hate to live in that world. Mikkel thinks he isn't smart because of the way his society has raised him, but he's got what he needs to get by. This is a terrifyingly sad story, like the first, and also included some gut-punching.

Overall, nicely crafted stories, but not really my cuppa. I found them difficult to enjoy even while I admired the craft that went into them.

Conclusion: Right now, second spot on the ballot.

A Hugo Review: Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) - Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures is about three women making history.

Wow. Wow wow wow. This was really very good. We have some real history (a bit altered) and some real people telling a story that made me literally growl at some of the minor characters. I felt a great deal of joy from seeing those women succeed against the odds.

This movie brings attention to three women who ought not to be forgotten - Katherine Goble Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan. Working as "computers" at a time before our futuristic machines existed, these were women who contributed heavily to a field dominated by white guys in ties. The problems they faced and handled should not be forgotten. The math they did should inspire little girls everywhere of any ethnicity.

On the personal side, I once interviewed a woman who had worked a bit with John Glenn, and said he was the nicest guy she'd ever met. His portrayal in the movie certainly seems to back that up.

The good: Lovely acting by the three leads, who manage that perfect blend of endurance and strength that any female mathematician would have to have - and that they, in particular, would have to have in spades. The story was told at a relatively brisk pace, keeping most of the focus on Katherine, but not neglecting Mary and Dorothy too much. The drama surrounding Glenn's capsule was enough to make me hold my breath for a moment until I remembered that Glenn became a Senator and definitely survived the flight.

The bad: The movie tried to cover too much, and so gave us less on some interesting stories. I really wanted to see more on how Mary got along with her group and what she actually did with them. There were a lot of things happening in the world at the time, and while they are mentioned, at times I felt like there was too much of a disconnect. It was an ambitious movie, and I'm not entirely sure it succeeded in getting everything about those three women and that time across. This is a nitpick, by the way - please don't think I didn't enjoy it.

The other flaw involves where the story diverges from real history. I hope the movie inspires people to read the book it's based on and to look for the truth about what happened, because there were enough changes to make this fiction and not fact. I get the need to condense and dramatize, but NASA was considerably more integrated than this movie made it appear, and there were a lot more people involved that couldn't get screen time.

Conclusion: This isn't going to be an easy category for me to rank. I already changed my rankings twice since sitting down to write the review... I'm not at all sure where this movie will end up.

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form): I've watched all the entries. Check them out in my Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists.

A Hugo Review: Best Fan Writer - Abigail Nussbaum

Another writer I know almost nothing about, Abigail Nussbaum included six pieces in her packet (and a table of contents, yay!). All six were reviews, and of the six works reviewed, I was only familiar with one.

The issues she brings up in each review tend to be fascinating, and she presents her arguments nicely. It's almost like each review is an essay on a topic and the work she brings in just to support the topic. The review of Ex Machina discusses artificial intelligence and the gender of such constructs. Reviews of Luke Cage and The Underground Railroad both discuss race relations and how we view it from a mass media perspective.

She also doesn't shy away from comparing similar works or source material with the works she's reviewing. Her review of Russell T. Davies' adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream is compared with the BBC's The Hollow Crown. And her review of Arrival looks at the differences between it and "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang, which the movie was based on.

I find her website's name, "Asking the Wrong Questions" to be delightful when comparing her ability to see past the basics and get into a nice piece of meaty issues. She's got the writing chops along with the logical skills, and she's well worthy of a Hugo.

Conclusion: I have no idea how I'm going to end up voting in this category. The order on my ballot will likely change daily until the deadline.

A Hugo Review: John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer - Sarah Gailey

There is only one story in Gailey's packet, but there are links to four others. The one in the packet, Haunted, is about a house. From a different perspective than I've seen, in general. Nicely done, with a bittersweet ending.

She also links to Stars, which is a tale about death. I realized about halfway through that it wasn't going in the direction I expected, and I found I enjoyed it.

Another story linked in the packet was Bargain, in which a demon turns out to be not nearly as demonic as he ought to have been and a lab gets a second lease on life, sort of. The sequel to that story, Rescue, is also fun.

The last story she links to, Homesick, was more than a bit twisted and made my eyebrows try to hide in my hair. A very interesting tale, particularly the singular "tree".

So, all five stories taken together are a good little sample. Gailey's short fiction, and all of these are nicely short, are powerful little pictures of lives from good perspectives. Each one is satisfying on its own and each one works. With the two linked stories, I could see her developing longer stories. While it would be easy to dismiss her work as being too light and fluffy, I really did enjoy all of them and Homesick made me think.

Conclusion: Well, for the moment she gets the top spot. This is the kind of fiction I enjoy.

A Hugo Review: Best Fan Writer - Natalie Luhrs

I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Natalie Luhrs before the Hugo finalists were announced, although the chances are good I've run across her at some point in my readings just like most of the other fan writers. I enjoyed her packet, which included a piece on Hamilton, an analysis of the Locus Recommended Reading List, a rant about people who review Romance without understanding the genre, an overview of silencing tactics, and thoughts on the World Fantasy Convention.

The Hamilton piece made me want to check out the Hamilton soundtrack, just to see what my brain will make of it. The Locus analysis reminded me why statistics are so nasty to deal with - there's just so much information there that can be read different ways. And in the comments, she notes that some people are upset because of the dataset she used. But you have to draw a line somewhere, and the Locus list is at least an accepted "best of" list in the field, even if it isn't all-inclusive. As an aside, I recognized quite a few names in the comments sections of her posts - so people I know and like follow her writings.

I didn't really understand the romance piece, except in the broadest terms - it's dumb to criticize an entire genre when you object to certain examples from it and aren't even familiar with the vast majority of the field. I don't go to the World Fantasy Convention, and probably never will, so - while I was sympathetic - I didn't really understand the specific issues she referred to except - again - in the broadest terms.

The most informative piece in her packet was probably the overview of silencing tactics, and I spent some time wondering if I'm guilty of any of them and trying to think of concrete examples that I might need to apologize for. I felt more informed coming out than I did going in, and that's a good piece of writing.

Conclusion: Yet another good writer... this is really gonna be a tough category for me to judge.

A Hugo Review: Best Novella - The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson is about a woman in the dream realm going on a quest to the "real" world.

Another story that takes H.P. Lovecraft on from a different angle. In this case, the story looks at the dream worlds he wrote about and tackles the distinct lack of women. Again, having recently read all of Lovecraft's works, I was familiar enough with the setting and creatures to enjoy this without wondering what the heck I was trying to read. In this tale, we revisit Ulthar and Lovecraft's other dream cities on a quest.

The good: Wow, I really like Vellitt. A strong middle-age woman whose adventures are behind her, but she's up for one last necessary trip. The understanding that there are people among those who live in this realm who come from another reality altogether is an interesting aspect of Lovecraft's creation - when I think about it, I believe it was there in the original as well. I love that people from that realm are, in fact, able to cross into our realm, and was both amused and distressed at what happened to the gug.

The bad: I can't really find all that much to criticize. It's a great story, and I enjoy the thought of the ending, but it isn't my favorite of the finalists.

Conclusion: I'm going to be rethinking the order I'm putting the novellas in, but I think this is up there with the best of them. Every single one of these finalists is good enough for a Hugo, and while my heart belongs to Bujold, I won't be disappointed if any of them win.

Best Novella: I've read all the entries. Check them out in my Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists.

A Hugo Review: Best Novel - Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer

Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer is about political intrigue and miracles.

I struggled to read this book. Had I been reading it for pleasure alone, there's a decent chance I wouldn't have finished it. I find the writing style to be immensely irritating, enough to throw me out of the story repeatedly even when the narrator isn't breaking the fourth wall, which the narrator does too much. That said, there are a few compelling characters and situations - enough that it might have been worth it to read, IF this had been a complete novel, and not something that ended on a virtual cliffhanger.

The good: The premise is extremely interesting, and the narrator is a fascinating study who is exposed slowly, explaining the reactions of other characters to him. There are some truly mind-twisting concepts, from the cars to the miracle, that take some getting used to. The society structure is fascinating, and just believable enough - I almost wish floating citizenship was a thing.

The bad: The writing style just does not agree with me in the slightest. I wanted to reach into the book and slap the narrator around until he spoke plain English instead of aping a classic novel. The book slowly got more and more sexual - starting out with a slightly innocent world until we get a scene that's only a step or two from outright pornography. I get the reasoning, but it still felt gratuitous and made me roll my eyes. But the biggest fault is the utter lack of any type of closure. The book ends just as we're getting to some answers to some of the bigger questions. If I know ahead of time that's going to happen, I'm not as annoyed as when I struggle through a book only to find I will have to read another to get the end of the story.

Conclusion: While it's irritating, it's not bad enough to leave off the ballot - like I said, the ideas were mind-bending in some ways. But it gets the bottom spot.

Best Novel: I've read all the entries I plan to. Check them out in my Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists.

NOTE: Ada Palmer has also been nominated for the Campbell award based on this work. Because I haven't read any of the other finalists, she's currently at the top of that list, but I will not be surprised if she drops down after I get through other authors' works.

A Hugo Review: Best Fancast - The Coode Street Podcast

The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan, is an hour-long podcast that features discussion of science fiction and fantasy, and frequently has guests.

Just to get my unfair biases out of the way, I had difficulty downloading these to listen to - they weren't in the feed on my podcast app, and for whatever reason the links in the PDF didn't go to a page where I was able to download. Fortunately, I'm tech savvy and was able to figure it out. The packet linked to three episodes: 282, 288 and Roundtable 3. All three episodes featured guests doing what seemed like the majority of the discussion.

The good: Extremely in-depth and intelligent commentary on each topic, with people who are clearly experts. I really enjoyed the podcast recorded at Kansas City Worldcon, featuring Michael Swanwick and Kij Johnson. I haven't read the story they dissected, James Tiptree Jr.'s novelette "The Women Men Don't See", but now I really want to. The episode with Kai Ashante Wilson answered a few questions I had regarding "A Taste of Honey" and made me like the story a little bit more. I wasn't as interested in the roundtable, partly because I found the sound quality annoying.

The bad: There were far too many issues with sound. At least one of the hosts seemed to be a few decibels louder than any of the guests in one podcast. Also, a guest's microphone kept cutting out, as well. I am not a big fan of live discussion, especially in a podcast where it ought to be easy enough to edit pauses and confusion about who is speaking. The podcast is a bit longer than my preference, although I do seem to be in the minority for wanting shorter 'casts.

Conclusion: This one will be toward the bottom of my ballot. That said, all five of the entries I've reviewed are good, and while I have a preference, I won't be upset if any of them win.

Best Fancast: I've listened to all the entries I plan to listen to. Check them out in my Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Novella - A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson is about a critical choice made in the name of love.

While I liked the characters in this, I felt like I couldn't mentally pronounce any names, which somehow confused me. It's was a strange sensation - one I've had before - of not being able to connect with the characters because I couldn't figure out how I would say their names. I wonder if I'm alone in having this problem, or if naming conventions in fiction sometimes bother other people as well.

The good: It's possible to get a complete sense of the main character and his motivations through the story. There's also a nice sense of the entire world and the various nations in it. The fact that there are "gods" and that mathematics is considered women's work are both interesting, and a little strange. But then the reader learns that there's even more to the world.

The bad: And that's the bad, sort of. I felt the ending was far too abrupt, with a soap opera sensibility. It wasn't truly "just a dream", but enough of it was to make me feel slightly betrayed. I wanted more of the first relationship, more of how it turned out, but didn't get it because it didn't work in the narrative.

Conclusion: As good as it was, it wasn't the best I've read. It'll be fourth on my ballot for now, I think.

Best Novella: I've read Penric and the Shaman, The Ballad of Black Tom, Every Heart a Doorway, A Taste of Honey, and This Census-Taker. I need to read The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Fan Writer - Mike Glyer

I've never made a secret of the fact that I enjoy File 770 and read it regularly. That said, I sometimes think of Glyer as the teacher of a class of rowdy high school students being clever in the comments, and forget that he does a lot of writing, too. So I had to adjust my brain a little to examine his status as a finalist in this category.

Fortunately, Glyer provided an excellent packet that picked out a few good pieces of writing, including a post on Hallmark ornaments, a movie review, some news articles and far too many obituaries. If I hadn't already been familiar with his work, this would give a good overview. Because I have read his website/fanzine for a few years now, it simply reminded me of what types of posts I should be thinking about.

I didn't find Glyer's writing quite as compelling as Foz Meadows' work in her packet - which is slightly ironic in that Glyer included a news piece on a Meadows article. I feel like Glyer is more of a pure reporter - he manages to present information without too much bias, making it great for learning and getting information, but not as great for getting a feel for him as a writer. I consider this a virtue, not a fault, but it does make it harder for me to give him the top spot on my ballot.

Conclusion: I'm going to have a very tough time deciding the order of writers on this ballot, aren't I?

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Fancast - Galactic Suburbia

Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts, features discussion of a variety of genre topics from an Australian point of view.

There was a single episode linked in the packet as the featured episode, but I also downloaded a couple of other ones in the hope that I would get a better representation that way. I'm going to have to say, these are REALLY long podcasts, each one at least an hour with some approaching two hours. I'm a short podcast fan, so I really do have to count the length of these against them.

The good: All three voices are very nice and knowledgeable. It's also easy to tell the speakers apart, which is good. The subjects are varied enough to find something you like among the podcasts. The discussion is very interesting, with the presenters delving deep into each subject. The podcast is also not afraid to introduce the listener to different shows, books, conventions or whatever.

The bad: The featured episode, while interesting, had a little too much about the personal lives of the presenters for a first-time listener. While I don't particularly object to any of what was discussed, I also had very little interest because I had no context.

Conclusion: I enjoyed listening to this podcast, for the first half hour or so, but I eventually had to pause and find something else to do because the length of this was just ridiculously long. I think this moves into third place on my ballot.

Best Fancast: I've listened to Tea and Jeopardy, Ditch Diggers, Fangirl Happy Hour, and Galactic Suburbia. I still need to listen to The Coode Street Podcast.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists

A Hugo Review: Best Fanzine

So, after dealing with the Semiprozines, this is much the same process. I'm looking through the packet to see what's been provided and see if it matches what I want from a 'zine.

• Journey Planet - Each issue of this fanzine focuses on a different subject, and all five issues published in 2016 (#28-32) are included in the packet. The single focus aspect makes it difficult for me to love this mag, because any given issue might be about something I have no interest in. The 'zine is nicely done, but I have always found it difficult to "get into" it because of the themes. Of the finalists, this is by far the most traditional 'zine.


• Lady Business - Why do you torment me with a lack of a table of contents? Ahem. The packet includes a representative sample of articles and reviews. I like the format of the reviews, with a spoiler-free section followed by a clearly marked section with spoilers. I generally like Lady Business, anyway, and I'm happy to see it as a finalist.


• Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together - This packet came with a nice introduction and a table of contents (thank goodness!). The rating system is terribly amusing to me (in particular I love how they treated "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child") and fairly original, with points being added and subtracted in the final summary for each review. A nicely solid website.


• Rocket Stack Rank - I'm not impressed with the PDFs in the packet, which are basically just flat-out screen caps of the website with no formatting adjustments (like removing the sidebar) that might make it easier to read. While I get that this is a website, that doesn't mean I want to read it like a website in PDF format. They might as well have just included a set of links and nothing more. That annoyance aside, there's a lot to look at on the website. There are some interesting articles, including a numerical look at the impact the slates had on the Hugo finalists. The reviews are particularly useful, containing a quick summary and star rating. There are sometimes more details, but the whole point of the site is to give readers an at-a-glance way of picking stories to read from a variety of sources. A typical "issue" simply lists stories by ratings. I'm not really sure how this fits into my concept of fanzine, but there is absolutely no doubt it is a useful tool for finding fiction to read.


• SF Bluestocking - Another packet entry with no table of contents. PLEASE include a TOC, 'zine editors! I know you don't have to on your websites, but it makes perusing the packet much more pleasant. Ok, now that I've got that out of the way... there's a lot here, but unlike the other selections, it appears to be the work of a single writer. There are book and television show reviews, and while the writing is blunt and has good perspectives, from a reader point-of-view it almost doesn't fit my concept of fanzine, which includes more than a single perspective. I'd rather see this nominated in best fan writer, instead.

Conclusion: None of these are unworthy, but none of them stand out to me as the best of the best. I think I like the contents I read in Lady Business the best, but Nerds of a Feather is also great. Rocket Stack Rank is probably the most useful, but if Journey Planet covers a subject you love it would be fantastic. I honestly am not entirely sure how to rank these. At the moment, I'm putting Lady Business in first with Nerds next. RSR is third, Journey Planet fourth and SF Bluestocking fifth. The ever popular "No Award" will take the sixth spot. The order I put these in is more likely to change than other categories.

I will not be disappointed if any of these five entries win.

Reviews of 2017 Hugo Finalists