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Hugos, Novelettes
Apr. 30th, 2015 09:42 amI've read the novelette nominations, all of which are online for free. Herewith are my comments:
1) “The Triple Sun: A Golden Age Tale”, Rajnar Vajra (Analog, 07/08-2014) - This feels like an episode of the Twilight Zone where, if they'd just pan the camera out, you'd see the "surprise" ending. It also had very kludge-y plotting and characters, including a cadet who, after years of training, suddenly springs on his fellow cadets that he's filthy rich.
2) “Championship B’tok”, Edward M. Lerner (Analog, 09-2014) - This felt to me like it was the middle chapters of a novel. Very incomplete.
3) “The Journeyman: In the Stone House”, Michael F. Flynn (Analog, 06-2014) - I found this a pleasant-enough story, and I'm fond of Flynn's writing style. It did feel a bit like Flynn was serializing a novel with this, but unlike the Lerner, it was a complete story.
4) “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Earth to Alluvium”, Gray Rinehart (Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, 05-2014) - Actually quite entertaining, although it required buying into the idea that "we humans must continue to fight!"
“The Day the World Turned Upside Down”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Lia Belt translator (Lightspeed, 04-2014) - The science in this was weak to non-existent, but the imagery stuck with me and the emotional impact was high.
My ballot at this time:
1) Heuvelt
2) Rinehart
3) Flynn
4) No Award
1) “The Triple Sun: A Golden Age Tale”, Rajnar Vajra (Analog, 07/08-2014) - This feels like an episode of the Twilight Zone where, if they'd just pan the camera out, you'd see the "surprise" ending. It also had very kludge-y plotting and characters, including a cadet who, after years of training, suddenly springs on his fellow cadets that he's filthy rich.
2) “Championship B’tok”, Edward M. Lerner (Analog, 09-2014) - This felt to me like it was the middle chapters of a novel. Very incomplete.
3) “The Journeyman: In the Stone House”, Michael F. Flynn (Analog, 06-2014) - I found this a pleasant-enough story, and I'm fond of Flynn's writing style. It did feel a bit like Flynn was serializing a novel with this, but unlike the Lerner, it was a complete story.
4) “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Earth to Alluvium”, Gray Rinehart (Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, 05-2014) - Actually quite entertaining, although it required buying into the idea that "we humans must continue to fight!"
“The Day the World Turned Upside Down”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Lia Belt translator (Lightspeed, 04-2014) - The science in this was weak to non-existent, but the imagery stuck with me and the emotional impact was high.
My ballot at this time:
1) Heuvelt
2) Rinehart
3) Flynn
4) No Award
