Short Business: Hugo Short Stories, 2019

[owlmoose]

And so I wrap up this year's Hugo reading with the Short Stories. Voting closes on August 1st, Dublin time, so it's just in the nick of time.

Alphabetical by title.

"The Court Magician" by Sarah Pinsker: Good, although it didn't stick with me the way that most of Pinsker's other stories have. I suspect I prefer the way Pinsker's writing unfolds in longer short-fiction formats -- although I do feel this one stuck the landing, compared to some of her other work where I've found the endings unsatisfying.

"The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society" by T. Kingfisher: Normally I love T. Kingfisher's work, but this one left me a little bit cold. Maybe it's the focus on the jilted lovers rather than on Rose MacGregor -- one of the things I so often like about Kingfisher's folklore-inspired fiction is how grounded it is in real people.

"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" by P. Djèlí Clark: Probably the story on this list about which I've heard the most buzz, and deservedly so. Beautiful and unflinching look at the dehumanization wrought by slavery. Between this and The Black Gods Drums, Clark is the best writer that this year's Hugo lists have brought to my attention, and I'm really excited for his forthcoming novel.

"STET" by Sarah Gailey: I feel like this story would have worked better for me in a different format. The idea is innovative and fascinating -- a story is told mainly via footnotes isn't new, but I've never seen a story told via document comments that convey a conversation between the author of a journal article and her editor. But at first glance, the comments are not obvious -- I didn't even see them until I'd already read the article and all the footnotes through, because the formatting of the story allows you to read the footnotes as pop-ups. Then I noticed the comment on the title, which prompted me to scroll down for more. I think the narrative would have built more effectively for me if I'd been forced to click down and back to the footnotes on the page, where the comments would've been obvious.

"The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat" by Brooke Bolander: When I reviewed the Hugo novelettes earlier this month, I mentioned that I hadn't yet found a Brooke Bolander story I really liked. Allow me to take that back, immediately. This story, about a velociraptor who is captured by a prince and befriends the princess, is more narrative-forward than Bolander's other work, which I'm sure contributed to my enjoyment.

"A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" by Alix E. Harrow: This story almost lost me near the beginning, because it leans on one of the more unflattering and unfortunate librarian stereotypes -- librarians as book hoarders who don't want patrons touching the precious tomes with their grubby little hands -- and implies that it describes the vast majority of us. While I do find some of the handwringing in the profession about the librarian image excessive, I have my limits. But I pushed through, and it was worthwhile, because at its core this is a story about the power of stories, and the role that a good librarian can play in connecting a person to the stories they need, so I can forgive (if not forget).