Short fiction report #3

[pabba]

So, this be the one that won a Hugo a few days back. It's been available for online for some time now, but, cause I suck, I only just managed to make my way over and check it out. Was it worth it? Yes. Did it deserve to win? Mostly yes (I say this only because I thought it was a great piece of writing, but have not read any of the others that were

Comments

[affinity8]

I thought it was very well-written but also excessively sentimental. From the beginning there was no doubt as to how it was going to end, so I also found it lacking in suspense. Beauty almost made up for that, but not quite.

[pabba]

I can see where it can be overwhelming. Maybe I just haven't read enough excessively sentimental tales for it to really stand out to me.

But yeah, the lack of suspense. Not even when the *spoiler* raiders on the beach showed up was I worried. I knew our gal was built to pack heat.

[vee_ecks]

I thought it was a cool story, but it wasn't my favorite story by Bear, ever. I thought the "Hey, I'm a big reader, too!" checklist aspect to it probably helped it, as far as awards go. Book nerds do like their shout-outs.

[pabba]

As in the "Chalcedony is a library of classic literature" part?

Yeah, not my favorite of Bear's short fiction. That'd be "The Something Dreaming Game" or "Orm the Beautiful" but still a solid read.