Hugo Reading: Novella
Countdown by Mira Grant
I liked this much more than Feed or Deadline, probably because of the lack of first person narration. That said, the events covered in this were already familiar from those two books, so while it was nice enough to get a more detailed view of specific incidents I'm not sure it was really needed. It did make me kind of want to go re-read World War Z, though.
"The Ice Owl" by Carolyn Ives Gillman
This didn't really work for me. The characters seemed thin, including the protagonist. The title image didn't really go anywhere, and the backdrop was a retelling of the Holocaust (called the Holocide here, because the future) that in the end didn't really matter all that much and seemed far too heavy to support the rather basic coming of age story. The sfnal elements were also rather beside the point--I feel like the whole thing would have worked just as well with pre-industrial travel and communications as with interstellar ones and I might have bought the somewhat contrived ending more easily in that case. Finally, I have some serious reservations about the handling of the character of Ginko.
"Kiss Me Twice" by Mary Robinette Kowal
Futuristic police procedural, something I really enjoy when it is well done. In this case it is, for the most part, but the ending didn't entirely sell me and the sfnal elements were interesting but didn't feel all that novel. I liked the characters and the setting, and would gladly read other shorts set in the same world but I don't think this one will linger in my memory the way "Evil Robot Monkey" did.
"The Man Who Bridged the Mist" by Kij Johnson
Well written but didn't do anything for me. The world seemed neat enough, but the story went nowhere and did little to grab or keep my interest. In fact IIRC when I was reading it I reached the end and then turned the page expecting it to go on, except it was over. I might go back and give it another chance if I get my other reading done.
"The Man Who Ended History" by Ken Liu
Another briliant Liu story, this one much darker but still emotionally resonant. The sfnal angle in this one proves Liu is equally adept at SF as he is at fantasy, and it very thought provoking. I wrote about this one over on hugo_recommend.
"Silently and Very Fast" by Catherynne M. Valente
I think I wish this one was either a novelette or a full-length novel, to reduce the noise (gorgeous as it was) or give it a framework large enough to encompass it more comfortably. Still, it's a great story beautifully told, and I was surprised at how well Valente's brand of metaphor and myth worked for such a thoroughly sfnal tale, and an intriguing one at that. In a way it reminded me of Cordwainer Smith. I was also struck when Valente used simile and metaphor in a way that immediately made me think of Embassytown.