2019 Hugo nominees: Best Short Story
Jul. 26th, 2019 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nonelvisReally short this time, because as with the novelettes, I never bothered taking notes. Fortunately, they're all online, and all good. (Well, STET isn't my favorite, but it's powerful nevertheless and will work better for other people than it did me.)
ANYWAY.
“The Court Magician,” Sarah Pinsker
This is essentially a fairy tale/cautionary tale about getting what you wish for, and let's face it, the most interesting fairy tales are also cautionary tales. Here, a boy discovers that there's a physical and emotional price for learning real magic instead of the stagecraft he's already mastered, and even though that might sound like a clichéd premise, the bitter weight of the magician's plight transcends its premise. Four and a half stars.
“The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society,” T. Kingfisher
I basically always love T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon's work, and this is no exception. It's a story in which various magical creatures reminisce and lament about the Human Who Got Away, and the sense of humor and tight writing frankly make me jealous I didn't write this first. Five stars.
“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” P. Djèlí Clark
Nine short-short stories tell the tales of the slaves who "donated" Washington's teeth, and the effect they would have had upon them. It's every bit as clever and well-written as Clark's other Hugo nominee, The Black God's Drums, and is therefore one of my three five-star ratings in this category.
“STET,” Sarah Gailey
WARNING: If you read this on a mobile device, as I first did, you won't get the full impact of this story; only now, trying to add a link to it on my computer, do I see how much I missed. And yet, even with the missing content more obvious, this story doesn't quite hang together for me, not in the least because it describes something awful that could literally happen today, not in 2046, as the story indicates. Two and a half stars.
“The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” Brooke Bolander
It's another Bolander story I genuinely enjoyed! I can't describe it any better than the title does, so if you feel like the kind of person who'll enjoy a fairy tale that stars three dinosaurs, please read this. In fact, even if you're questioning whether you're the kind of person who thinks you'll enjoy this, please read this. Five stars.
“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” Alix E. Harrow
A librarian – or more accurately, a witch – helps wayward, troubled teens find the books they most need. It's a perfectly fine story, but it's up against some strong competition, and can't quite hold its own against those. Four stars.
My rankings:
1. "The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society"
2. "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington"
3. "The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat"
4. "The Court Magician"
5. "A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies"
6. "STET"
ANYWAY.
“The Court Magician,” Sarah Pinsker
This is essentially a fairy tale/cautionary tale about getting what you wish for, and let's face it, the most interesting fairy tales are also cautionary tales. Here, a boy discovers that there's a physical and emotional price for learning real magic instead of the stagecraft he's already mastered, and even though that might sound like a clichéd premise, the bitter weight of the magician's plight transcends its premise. Four and a half stars.
“The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society,” T. Kingfisher
I basically always love T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon's work, and this is no exception. It's a story in which various magical creatures reminisce and lament about the Human Who Got Away, and the sense of humor and tight writing frankly make me jealous I didn't write this first. Five stars.
“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” P. Djèlí Clark
Nine short-short stories tell the tales of the slaves who "donated" Washington's teeth, and the effect they would have had upon them. It's every bit as clever and well-written as Clark's other Hugo nominee, The Black God's Drums, and is therefore one of my three five-star ratings in this category.
“STET,” Sarah Gailey
WARNING: If you read this on a mobile device, as I first did, you won't get the full impact of this story; only now, trying to add a link to it on my computer, do I see how much I missed. And yet, even with the missing content more obvious, this story doesn't quite hang together for me, not in the least because it describes something awful that could literally happen today, not in 2046, as the story indicates. Two and a half stars.
“The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” Brooke Bolander
It's another Bolander story I genuinely enjoyed! I can't describe it any better than the title does, so if you feel like the kind of person who'll enjoy a fairy tale that stars three dinosaurs, please read this. In fact, even if you're questioning whether you're the kind of person who thinks you'll enjoy this, please read this. Five stars.
“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” Alix E. Harrow
A librarian – or more accurately, a witch – helps wayward, troubled teens find the books they most need. It's a perfectly fine story, but it's up against some strong competition, and can't quite hold its own against those. Four stars.
My rankings:
1. "The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society"
2. "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington"
3. "The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat"
4. "The Court Magician"
5. "A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies"
6. "STET"
no subject
on 2019-07-27 01:07 pm (UTC)STET, I appreciate what it was trying to do, and the ethics and consequences certainly make you think. But it was clunky. The only emotion that came out was anger--which, I'm not saying that's not valid, but it is a lot harder to connect to the protagonist that way from the outside. Also, no one should use multiple citations in the middle of sentences like that in a research article. And IDK, I feel like, the type of person who would channel their anger and grief into a research paper, would not be the same type of person that would then expound on the actual details of why in the written comments to an editor. The protagonist comes across as more of a Tumblr blogger taking on a cause than an affected grieving parent. Too much story tried to be crammed into the margins.
no subject
on 2019-07-27 09:07 pm (UTC)I think you've put your finger on the problem. The issues I had with the limited version of the story displayed on my phone didn't improve significantly in the longer desktop version, and I don't think they could be fully resolved without an even longer story -- but the story is set up so that the formatting concept has to take center stage rather than characterization. I see why it would get nominated, but there are much better options for the #1 slot.