Reading for the Hugos
A terrific privilege of buying a support membership for Worldcon, and thus voting rights for the Hugos, is the ton of goodies included in the Hugo voters' packet - even this year's one, which is of course stuffed with unreadable Puppy rubbish. The "graphic story" examples in particular were a joy to read - juicy slabs of the new Ms Marvel, Rat Queens (a D&D-like series full of blood and brio), and the, erm, remarkable Sex Criminals, which I think will get my #1 vote for sheer originality.
This morning I read Kary English's short story Totaled, a Puppy pick, but IMHO one of the few stories they slated which has any business being on the ballot. (Like the other authors placed on the slate, English was not asked, and recently gave head Rabid Puppy honcho Vox Day the finger.)
Anyway, being about creepy brain stuff, Totaled is right up my alley. (Basically, I've never recovered from reading Greg Egan's The Jewel.) I enjoyed it, the use of neuroscience was simple but clever, it was Twilight Zone nightmare poignant. Now I'm hopping from foot to foot trying to decide whether I should give it a vote in the Short Story category, and if so, whether I should put it above or below No Award.
Because it is good, but - and it shares this with pretty much every other SF short story I'm encountering in contemporary magazines and anthologies - it needed one more draft, or the input of a wise editor. It's far from being a dog's breakfast, like Flow was. It's just that there are dropped stitches here and there. An example: Brain researcher discovers that the brain in a tank he's been experimenting on belongs, or belonged, to his former collaborator. He's amazed that it's her. He's not amazed that she's still conscious - the implications of which, for neuroscience, for ethics, you name it - are colossal. In fact, we only get a throwaway mention later that the brains being used for the research weren't expected to be awake and aware. OTOH, maybe I shouldn't complain; this is high-octane nightmare fuel (did I mention The Jewel?)
Totaled is available to read for free online. If you have a read, feel free to leave me a comment - it'd be interesting to compare notes.
This morning I read Kary English's short story Totaled, a Puppy pick, but IMHO one of the few stories they slated which has any business being on the ballot. (Like the other authors placed on the slate, English was not asked, and recently gave head Rabid Puppy honcho Vox Day the finger.)
Anyway, being about creepy brain stuff, Totaled is right up my alley. (Basically, I've never recovered from reading Greg Egan's The Jewel.) I enjoyed it, the use of neuroscience was simple but clever, it was Twilight Zone nightmare poignant. Now I'm hopping from foot to foot trying to decide whether I should give it a vote in the Short Story category, and if so, whether I should put it above or below No Award.
Because it is good, but - and it shares this with pretty much every other SF short story I'm encountering in contemporary magazines and anthologies - it needed one more draft, or the input of a wise editor. It's far from being a dog's breakfast, like Flow was. It's just that there are dropped stitches here and there. An example: Brain researcher discovers that the brain in a tank he's been experimenting on belongs, or belonged, to his former collaborator. He's amazed that it's her. He's not amazed that she's still conscious - the implications of which, for neuroscience, for ethics, you name it - are colossal. In fact, we only get a throwaway mention later that the brains being used for the research weren't expected to be awake and aware. OTOH, maybe I shouldn't complain; this is high-octane nightmare fuel (did I mention The Jewel?)
Totaled is available to read for free online. If you have a read, feel free to leave me a comment - it'd be interesting to compare notes.