Hugo short stories
Finally, rounding up my reviews of the Hugo written fiction nominees, here is my rating of the candidates for Best Short Story, as before in reverse order of preference.
5) "Bridesicle", by Will McIntosh, is a very icky story indeed where cryogenically preserved young women are periodically woken up from death by well-off but sexually frustrated men looking for dates. If (and it's a big if) you can get past the ick factor, it's an interesting idea, but Roger Zelazny did it better at least twice, and the execution squicked me out so badly that I rate it lower than the Mike Resnick story.
4) "Bride of Frankenstein", by Mike Resnick, is not as crass and embarrassing as some of his other recent nominees but that is not saying much. Here we have the viewpoint of Baroness Frankenstein, irritated with her husband for frittering away her money on experiments in the basement. That's the joke. Funny, eh?
3) "The Moment", by Laurence Schoen, seems to be a story commemorating the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 in the style of Olaf Stapledon (or the odder end of Arthur C. Clarke's writings). Well meant, but in a piece this short it is quite difficult to do justice to the rise and fall of several distinct civiliations. And I did not see the point of the Marx Brothers reference.
2) "Non-Zero Probabilities" by N.K. Jemisin is an engaging tale about a New York where luck has become much more malleable and prone to human intervention. I found it charming but a bit insubstantial.
1) "Spar", by Kij Johnson, is a short story of intense sexual frenzy between a woman and an alien marooned on a small spaceship. A mild ick factor but nothing like as bad as "Bridesicle", and a much more original and better executed idea, which slightly faute de mieux gets my top vote. (And won the Nebula earlier this year.)
Previous Hugo roundups: Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Novelette, Best Graphic Story
5) "Bridesicle", by Will McIntosh, is a very icky story indeed where cryogenically preserved young women are periodically woken up from death by well-off but sexually frustrated men looking for dates. If (and it's a big if) you can get past the ick factor, it's an interesting idea, but Roger Zelazny did it better at least twice, and the execution squicked me out so badly that I rate it lower than the Mike Resnick story.
4) "Bride of Frankenstein", by Mike Resnick, is not as crass and embarrassing as some of his other recent nominees but that is not saying much. Here we have the viewpoint of Baroness Frankenstein, irritated with her husband for frittering away her money on experiments in the basement. That's the joke. Funny, eh?
3) "The Moment", by Laurence Schoen, seems to be a story commemorating the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 in the style of Olaf Stapledon (or the odder end of Arthur C. Clarke's writings). Well meant, but in a piece this short it is quite difficult to do justice to the rise and fall of several distinct civiliations. And I did not see the point of the Marx Brothers reference.
2) "Non-Zero Probabilities" by N.K. Jemisin is an engaging tale about a New York where luck has become much more malleable and prone to human intervention. I found it charming but a bit insubstantial.
1) "Spar", by Kij Johnson, is a short story of intense sexual frenzy between a woman and an alien marooned on a small spaceship. A mild ick factor but nothing like as bad as "Bridesicle", and a much more original and better executed idea, which slightly faute de mieux gets my top vote. (And won the Nebula earlier this year.)
Previous Hugo roundups: Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Novelette, Best Graphic Story