2004 Hugo Review - Novella
How I voted for the 2004 Hugo for Novella, from favorite to least favorite:
1. Empress of Mars, Kage Baker
2. Walk in Silence, Catherine Asaro
3. Just Like The Ones We Used To Know, Connie Willis
4. The Cookie Monster, Vernor Vinge
5. The Green Leopard Plague, Walter Jon Williams
My comments, in reverse order of how I voted. (WARNING: There may be MAJOR SPOILERS ahead).
5. The Green Leopard Plague, Walter Jon Williams.
I remember reading this in Asimovs when it first came out, but I remember not thinking it anything special or interesting.
4. The Cookie Monster, Vernor Vinge.
I thought it was an interesting hook for a story, that of people trapped in a looping simulation who are trying to figure a way out (using the "cookies" concept from web browsers). But beyond that, I don't think there was anything really deep or special (there's that word again) in the story.
3. Just Like The Ones We Used To Know, Connie Willis
A giant worldwide snow slows down everything in the days before Christmas. Again, another story that was cute and moved between a set of characters, but I didn't feel there was any depth to it, that it was about anything more than telling a story of a big snow before Christmas.
2. Walk In Silence, Catherine Asaro.
A commander of an Earth ship is pregnant due to her relationship with an Alien ambassador. How, you say? Well, that's one of the things revealed during the story. I found this a somewhat standard story of earthling-alien love, but one that was really redeemed by a very complex and appealing main character. Without Jess's conflict between her multiple roles and the new emerging roles, this would have been a very run-of-the-mill story.
1. Empress of Mars, Kage Baker.
A crazy, ripping good tale of a bar in a "frontier" town in Mars, the woman that runs the bar, and the characters that interact with the bar and the woman. I had fun reading this story, and even if it wasn't deep it was well put together, made me want to continue reading, and I liked it.
I have to say that, overall, I wasn't that impressed with the quality of the nominees. I felt like none of these stories was a very deep story, either in terms of themes or characterization. Though I had read all five of them when they were first published, none of them had really stuck with me so I had to quickly review all five stories before casting my vote. Hopefully, nominees in the other categories will be stronger.
1. Empress of Mars, Kage Baker
2. Walk in Silence, Catherine Asaro
3. Just Like The Ones We Used To Know, Connie Willis
4. The Cookie Monster, Vernor Vinge
5. The Green Leopard Plague, Walter Jon Williams
My comments, in reverse order of how I voted. (WARNING: There may be MAJOR SPOILERS ahead).
5. The Green Leopard Plague, Walter Jon Williams.
I remember reading this in Asimovs when it first came out, but I remember not thinking it anything special or interesting.
4. The Cookie Monster, Vernor Vinge.
I thought it was an interesting hook for a story, that of people trapped in a looping simulation who are trying to figure a way out (using the "cookies" concept from web browsers). But beyond that, I don't think there was anything really deep or special (there's that word again) in the story.
3. Just Like The Ones We Used To Know, Connie Willis
A giant worldwide snow slows down everything in the days before Christmas. Again, another story that was cute and moved between a set of characters, but I didn't feel there was any depth to it, that it was about anything more than telling a story of a big snow before Christmas.
2. Walk In Silence, Catherine Asaro.
A commander of an Earth ship is pregnant due to her relationship with an Alien ambassador. How, you say? Well, that's one of the things revealed during the story. I found this a somewhat standard story of earthling-alien love, but one that was really redeemed by a very complex and appealing main character. Without Jess's conflict between her multiple roles and the new emerging roles, this would have been a very run-of-the-mill story.
1. Empress of Mars, Kage Baker.
A crazy, ripping good tale of a bar in a "frontier" town in Mars, the woman that runs the bar, and the characters that interact with the bar and the woman. I had fun reading this story, and even if it wasn't deep it was well put together, made me want to continue reading, and I liked it.
I have to say that, overall, I wasn't that impressed with the quality of the nominees. I felt like none of these stories was a very deep story, either in terms of themes or characterization. Though I had read all five of them when they were first published, none of them had really stuck with me so I had to quickly review all five stories before casting my vote. Hopefully, nominees in the other categories will be stronger.
posted by yeff at 10:01 PM
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