Hugo Nominees 2025: Short Stories
Jul. 27th, 2025 02:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asePicked this category to tackle next because short stories are short.
“Five Views of the Planet Tartarus”, Rachael K. Jones, narrated by Justine Eyre: Omniscient third PoV describes prison planet and punishment. This isn't "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird ," or a Five Things, this is a story with "one", "two," "three," inserted at the paragraph breaks.
“Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal, narrated by Erika Ensign: Third person past PoV. Deadly giant snail acid! Random woman figures out how to kill snails with salt and honey! This is apparently an unknown snail-killing tactic in a cod medieval setting. I have questions about this worldbuilding, some of which are answered by comments elsewhere that this is basically Snails Doodled On Medieval Manuscripts fanfic. With that in mind, the woman's mother's looks-likes-Parkinson's conveniently death in the closing action, right after the woman and her brother are offered a place in the manor, is still an example of infuriating twee sentimentality, but now it's deeply irritating twee sentimentality with context. Oh look, it's a medieval morality parable about courage being rewarded by a rise in station, how cloyingly sweet.
Kowal's writing and my reading continue to be complete mismatches. Celebrate diversity! Celebrate the field is large enough someone like's Kowal's writing and I can have things I like too!
“Stitched to Skin Like Family Is”, Nghi Vo: First person past tense. Protagonist looks for her brother, or his passing, during the American Depression, and finds out his fate. Also she has clothes magic. The clothes magic leads to vengeance. Huh.
“Three Faces of a Beheading”, Arkady Martine: Second person present tense PoV. MMORPGs and resistance, with academic excerpts about history as (shape-able) narrative. The Byzantine Empire references give away this is a Martine story. The inclusion of an author interview in the Hugo packet is... it helps explain some of the story? We're all coping with Current Events in our own ways.
“We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read”, Caroline M. Yoachim: stunt storytelling format. Read the PDF, not the ebook; or listen the podcast. Huge points for the format, this is what short stories are for. Not sure there's much content past the format, but it's fun to see someone do something a little weird.
“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole”, Isabel J. Kim: Third person omniscient. Omelas 21st century update, thesis: what if Omelas were just another first world city?
I feel like Omelas gets a lot of play because it's a big part of the SF/F canon, which is both a plus and a minus in craft. It's a plus because Omelas becomes a handy shorthand, and also chunks of the characters and/pr worldbuilding is already done for you, fanfic style; but you're stuck, not only with the canon, but also with everyone else's responses to the canon. I'm not sure that entirely serves the story intent here, but I also start with a baseline of "Omelas again, really," which isn't a helpful mindset to whatever point of cultural complicity the author is (or isn't) trying to make.
I'm tempted to give the Yoachim first place on stunt storytelling points alone. I enjoyed the experience of reading! This was not true of a lot of the short story nominees! Using "meets craft benchmarks" and "how much did this actively irritate me" gives: Read, Stitched, Three Faces, Omelas, Marginalia, Tartarus; and I might swap the last two because I think Tartarus's format doesn't serve its title, but Marginalia really annoys me.
“Five Views of the Planet Tartarus”, Rachael K. Jones, narrated by Justine Eyre: Omniscient third PoV describes prison planet and punishment. This isn't "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird ," or a Five Things, this is a story with "one", "two," "three," inserted at the paragraph breaks.
“Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal, narrated by Erika Ensign: Third person past PoV. Deadly giant snail acid! Random woman figures out how to kill snails with salt and honey! This is apparently an unknown snail-killing tactic in a cod medieval setting. I have questions about this worldbuilding, some of which are answered by comments elsewhere that this is basically Snails Doodled On Medieval Manuscripts fanfic. With that in mind, the woman's mother's looks-likes-Parkinson's conveniently death in the closing action, right after the woman and her brother are offered a place in the manor, is still an example of infuriating twee sentimentality, but now it's deeply irritating twee sentimentality with context. Oh look, it's a medieval morality parable about courage being rewarded by a rise in station, how cloyingly sweet.
Kowal's writing and my reading continue to be complete mismatches. Celebrate diversity! Celebrate the field is large enough someone like's Kowal's writing and I can have things I like too!
“Stitched to Skin Like Family Is”, Nghi Vo: First person past tense. Protagonist looks for her brother, or his passing, during the American Depression, and finds out his fate. Also she has clothes magic. The clothes magic leads to vengeance. Huh.
“Three Faces of a Beheading”, Arkady Martine: Second person present tense PoV. MMORPGs and resistance, with academic excerpts about history as (shape-able) narrative. The Byzantine Empire references give away this is a Martine story. The inclusion of an author interview in the Hugo packet is... it helps explain some of the story? We're all coping with Current Events in our own ways.
“We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read”, Caroline M. Yoachim: stunt storytelling format. Read the PDF, not the ebook; or listen the podcast. Huge points for the format, this is what short stories are for. Not sure there's much content past the format, but it's fun to see someone do something a little weird.
“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole”, Isabel J. Kim: Third person omniscient. Omelas 21st century update, thesis: what if Omelas were just another first world city?
I feel like Omelas gets a lot of play because it's a big part of the SF/F canon, which is both a plus and a minus in craft. It's a plus because Omelas becomes a handy shorthand, and also chunks of the characters and/pr worldbuilding is already done for you, fanfic style; but you're stuck, not only with the canon, but also with everyone else's responses to the canon. I'm not sure that entirely serves the story intent here, but I also start with a baseline of "Omelas again, really," which isn't a helpful mindset to whatever point of cultural complicity the author is (or isn't) trying to make.
I'm tempted to give the Yoachim first place on stunt storytelling points alone. I enjoyed the experience of reading! This was not true of a lot of the short story nominees! Using "meets craft benchmarks" and "how much did this actively irritate me" gives: Read, Stitched, Three Faces, Omelas, Marginalia, Tartarus; and I might swap the last two because I think Tartarus's format doesn't serve its title, but Marginalia really annoys me.
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Date: 2025-07-28 02:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-08-09 09:40 pm (UTC)Weak field, overall? It'll be interesting to see what was below the nomination cut-off, when the full nomination list is published.