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Hugo Packet - Thoughts
May. 19th, 2015 09:28 amI got my Hugo packet last night, and herewith are my thoughts so far:
Best Related
Mike Williamson's Wisdom From My Internet is everything the Amazon preview promised, namely random crap half-assedly puked into book format. Yeah, I get that it was parody, but I'm not amused by it. Antonelli's Letters from Gardner is better (small praise indeed) but seems mostly an excuse for ananthology ETC: collection of Antonelli's short fiction. No Award for the whole category.
Short Story
The one short story I hadn't read was “A Single Samurai” by Steven Diamond. I read it, more-or-less, and bounced off of it hard. It will not be getting a Hugo from me.
Novella
Big Boys Don’t Cry by Tom Kratman proved interesting. It starts as Yet Another Gung-ho Blow Shit Up Real Good story, but turns subversive. Our heroine tank, Magnolia AKA Maggie, discovers that her human masters are venial and corrupt, and that many of the wars she fought in were merely for conquest. You'd think that its exactly the sort of subversive "false advertising" that would get Brad Torgersen's underwear in a wad. Either Torgersen missed the subversion or Its Okay When My Buddy Does It.
Having said that, I do have issues with Big Boys. I thought it could be tighter with less weapons-porn, and I felt that the training sequences at the end were too long. (Although the part where the trainers left Maggie in a burning tank overnight was powerful.) Overall, Big Boys is a competent story. Now I need to decide if it's Hugo-worthy.
Best Related
Mike Williamson's Wisdom From My Internet is everything the Amazon preview promised, namely random crap half-assedly puked into book format. Yeah, I get that it was parody, but I'm not amused by it. Antonelli's Letters from Gardner is better (small praise indeed) but seems mostly an excuse for an
Short Story
The one short story I hadn't read was “A Single Samurai” by Steven Diamond. I read it, more-or-less, and bounced off of it hard. It will not be getting a Hugo from me.
Novella
Big Boys Don’t Cry by Tom Kratman proved interesting. It starts as Yet Another Gung-ho Blow Shit Up Real Good story, but turns subversive. Our heroine tank, Magnolia AKA Maggie, discovers that her human masters are venial and corrupt, and that many of the wars she fought in were merely for conquest. You'd think that its exactly the sort of subversive "false advertising" that would get Brad Torgersen's underwear in a wad. Either Torgersen missed the subversion or Its Okay When My Buddy Does It.
Having said that, I do have issues with Big Boys. I thought it could be tighter with less weapons-porn, and I felt that the training sequences at the end were too long. (Although the part where the trainers left Maggie in a burning tank overnight was powerful.) Overall, Big Boys is a competent story. Now I need to decide if it's Hugo-worthy.
