Reading the Hugos (and Nebulas) 2022 - Short Story
Short Story Nominees
Reviews
“Mr. Death”, by Alix E. Harrow
Hugo & Nebula Nominee (Apex Magazine/Feb 2021)
⭐⭐⭐ A story about several deaths and yet none... Emotional, humane, interesting idea, Fantasy rather than SF. What if there's an opposite to fallen angels? Rising devils (Deaths). “You can cheat a lot of shit,” she says, “But not death.”... or can you?
Tags: death, afterlife
“Proof by Induction”, by José Pablo Iriarte
Hugo & Nebula Nominee (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)
⭐⭐And another story about death... SF this time. The Coda is a device that allows one to interact with a simulacrum of a deceased person, with her memories and personality at the end of her life. After his father's death, Paulie takes ownership of his father's Coda (I find it weird that taking the Coda is considered atypical - Codas are supposed to be "temporary means of gathering information and comfort" - I expect the vast majority of people to want to have a simulacrum of their loved one - and definitely not in a columbarium wall). But Paulie wants his father's Coda in order for them to continue working on the "The Perelman Hypothesis" (a ninety years unsolved conjecture) Solving it would ensure Paulie's career (starting with a much desired but recently denied tenure), and his father's legacy. Solving it would also help Paulie live up to his father... prove himself to him (the word "closure" also comes to mind). And they do - through, you guested, induction (as Paulie is his father's n plus 1, Maddie, Paulie's daughter is his).
Tags: death, afterlife
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, by Sarah Pinsker
Hugo & Nebula Nominee (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Difficult to get into (because the story is formatted as a forum dedicated to the traditional song “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather.”) but such a treat! The tale, the corresponding research, the several different perspectives, and the humor. I'm left with more questions than answers.
Update: devastated that "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather Joan Baez" returns no result - Borgesian.
Tags: experimental
“The Sin of America”, by Catherynne M. Valente
Hugo Nominee (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
⭐ Unnecessarily complicated and rather pointless; my least favorite by far... The information about butterflies and the metaphors involving them? Awesome. Do I don't understand this story? Nope... Is this a much more disturbing version of "The ones who walk away from Omelas"? What's the genre? Is this even fantasy? I'd go for "philosophical horror short fiction"...
Tags: no idea, butterfly
“Tangles”, by Seanan McGuire
Hugo Nominee (Magicthegathering.com: Magic Story, Sep 2021)
⭐⭐⭐Good old-fashioned fantasy about a dryad and a mage (both "planeswalkers" that meet in a forest in Innistrad (a Plane of the multiverse), written in not-my-favorite-style. Had to reread a few sentences, Teferi's introduction was blunt and his characterization flimsy - why does he act the way he does? why is Innistrad advertised as a place better avoided ("blood that watered the soil", "bones that littered the riverbeds") when these facts have absolutely no relevance in the story? Also... the ending was less gratifying than I expected (maybe if it's part of a "universe" - let's check - yes it is "an Innistrad side story" (Innistrad being a Plane in MTG) (MTG stands for Magic: The Gathering) - which makes many of my above complaints much less relevant)
Tags: multiverse
“Unknown Number”, by Blue Neustifter
Hugo Nominee (Twitter, Jul 2021)
⭐⭐ I was worried about where all the lgbtq Hugo nominees disappeared. Whew! The story is formatted as a (well-written and believable) SMS (?) dialogue between "the same" person from two parallel/alternate universes. One became a physicist and discovered how to contact parallel "selfs" in order to find out if any of "them" managed to address his gender dysphoria and became ("transitioned to") female. The one he is chatting with, the sixth he managed to contact, did. My rating is so low because in my opinion there's not enough SF to talk about.
Note: Read it here.
Tags: experimental, lgbtq+
“Let All the Children Boogie”, by Sam J. Miller
Nebula Nominee (Tor.com 1/6/21)
⭐⭐ Coming of age/love story, barely SF (time-travel), radio transmission from future self(s) trope
Tags: time-travel, lgbtq+
“Laughter Among the Trees”, by Suzan Palumbo
Nebula Nominee (The Dark 2/21)
⭐No wonder it was published in "The Dark Magazine"... sad, disturbing, bleak. A family of immigrants from West India - mother, father, and daughter (Ana - our protagonist) - had a hard time settling in Canada. Sab, the youngest daughter, born in Canada, had no such issues. During a family holiday in a natural park, Sab disappears while playing with a child named Greg (but no child camping in the park at the time is named Greg). Ana, who was supposed to take care of Sab, feels guilty all her life and ends up returning to the park, 25 years after the event. There, guided by her undead sister (ghost?) she finds Sab's body and lays down beside it to die. The fantasy/horror element is Greg - a cousin of Ana's mother, who drowned while in her care a long time ago and returned to take Sab. To quote Ana's mother, "You can’t outrun the past, Ana, even if it’s dead and drowned in another country". Remember last year's nominee "My Country Is a Ghost", Eugenia Triantafyllou? Immigrants and ghosts, (Greek ghosts seem to be more benevolent than Indian ones...)
Tags: undead, karma, lgbtq+
“For Lack of a Bed”, by John Wiswell
Nebula Nominee (Diabolical Plots 4/21)
⭐⭐Lightweight short story about a succubus sofa - which is not such a big deal in a world, similar to our contemporary one, where chronic back pain exists, but so do mermaids, other succubi (that's the plural I think), griffins basiliscs, and other fantastical creatures.
Tags: chronic pain, succubus
Comments
I read the Hugo shorts too. So allow me to post my reviews (which, incidentally, are similar to yours) here, in your comments.
'Mr. Death'
3.5 stars
First nominee I've read of the 2022 Hugos and it's going great! Nice, uplifting story (well, eventually), well written, with a fun idea of death and the afterlife. Sorry, the Department of Death. Redemption is (somewhat) possible and death isn't necessarily the end.
'Proof By Induction'
3 stars
Good angle on death (again. Second Hugo short about death) and the aftermath. Or, more profoundly, parental love or lack thereof; even clearer: emotionless parenting for adult children. What?! Yeah...
The story is so good that it makes me wonder how Paulie dealt with the feeling of having to prove himself to his father, and how, in the end, there is never enough to be done for him to get his father's approval/perceived love. It's sad to think that, in this universe, technology can only provide the rational side of a deceased person, the emotional being forever unknown. Guess it's frustrating for Paulie.
'The Sin Of America'
1 star
The sacrifice of one for the good of the many. Great, but it looks to me that there must be a sacrifice every time the last sacrifice has been... well, sacrificed. Which means that there's always going to be someone who pays for everyone else's sins, continuously, and it's not as 'voluntary' as it seems. Which, in turn, means that anyone's liable to be the sacrifice. Weird, but it makes sense. Wouldn't want to read this again, even if I can see the moral of the declining American society blah blah blah.
'Tangles'
2 stars
From the beginning, I got the feeling that this was supposed to be in a specific universe (and it is), and I'd probably read more from that particular series. But that's mostly all that this is for me: a teaser for something else. It's not engaging on its own and I'm not sure why it got picked out to be in this category. Nevertheless, I didn't feel like I wasted my time.
'Unknown Number'
2 stars
Points for the form (and the idea) of having a 'story' as a series of text messages. I'm not really interested in the content of these messages, although I do agree that transgender issues are a (very) present topic nowadays.
'Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather'
4 stars
A lyrics online forum or something like that. At first, it was a hard story to follow, but then I realized that the story to follow is not necessarily the one I thought I was supposed to follow, or, at least, not the only one. The song is actually cool and haunting. But the people commenting on the song are cooler and very distinct in their way of expressing themselves. The aliases made me giggle, their interaction is funny and credible, and their points of view really explained the lyrics to me. Yes, the lyrics are dark, and the end could be interpreted the same, but it's a fun read.
I'll get to the Nebual nominees in another comment.
'Let All The Children Boogie'
1 star
I didn't find much sci-fi or fantasy in the story. It's more a fictional little tale about a (very clear-minded, grown-up, but still confused) teenager, who, by 17 already knows exactly who she is and what her sexual preferences are, but has the age-specific trouble of fitting in - seriously, even as an adult I've not been so sure about other people's sexual inclinations - and her non-binary friend, also a very informed individual, with clear-cut ideas about gender. Oh, and it's the early '90s. And it's love at first sight, and they are perfect for each other, and...
This is a completely unbelievable story with too little fantasy (their own voices merged together will contact them from the future) and of no value to me.
'Laughter Among The Trees'
1 star
Was there any laughter anywhere in the story? Was there any sci-fi or fantasy? Meh...
'For Lack Of A Bed'
2 stars
I wonder what Noemi and Tariq are. I mean, this is an alternate universe, where the only other character (Lili) is a succubus, and she and Noemi work at a monster pet store, so I'd suppose that everyone should be a type of mythical creature. Which one would be prone to back pain?
As the writer suggests, the story is about living with chronic pain, but with the support of the people around. Good but not great.