My Hugo Votes: Best Novella 2014

[sierra_le_oli]

Once again, Novella = 17,500 to 40,000 words and Novelette = 7,500 to 17,500 words. Does anyone actually care about the distinction? Maybe it would be better to fold the two categories into one and open up the remaining space to Best YA Novel.

That said, the first two novellas were very worthwhile.

(1) Six-Gun Snow White - Catherynne M. Valente A

Comments

[bellinghman]

open up the remaining space to Best YA Novel

I'm strongly against that idea - the thought of building a ghetto for some novels horrifies me. At least length is an objective measure: for me YA against non-YA is like the SF or Fantasy or Horror or Mainstream arguments.

Also, if you're going to split YA/A in the novel section, surely you have to split it everywhere?

[sierra_le_oli]

It doesn't necessarily follow that the YA/A split has to be consistent down the categories. Just because one would make a strong category, doesn't mean others would. I've really only heard people argue for Novel and nothing else. I'm not massively for or against the idea, just throwing it out there. I'd be more enthusiastic about an award that recognised a series, as that's such a part of SF/F.

Length is an objective measure, but as I said, how many people really care? What real effect does it have on the story told?

As for the SF, Fantasy, Horror, Mainstream arguments; that's a judgement that's made every time something is included or excluded in the nominations. YA is no less hazy a category. I note again that I've seen people argue against Wakulla Springs' inclusion this year.

[silly_swordsman]

I think Tarzan is SF in the same way "The Handmaid's Tale" isn't - the author is/isn't a SF author.

[sierra_le_oli]

Ah ok. I know nothing about Tarzan beyond the fact that he yells, so I was starting to wonder what SF I was missing in Wakulla Springs.

(It took me a while to unpack your sentence because Atwood has actually said she writes SF.)

[silly_swordsman]

Oh, I didn't know that. Or maybe I should have written the acronym out - I thought Atwood had said she doesn't want her work to be described as "science fiction", and prefers to call it "speculative fiction".

Mind you, I don't think Edgar Rice Burroughs necessarily was a "science fiction" author, as I think the term was invented long after he began writing about John Carter, Warlord of Mars, and all his other pulp adventures.

[sierra_le_oli]

It's funny. All I hear is people getting cross with Atwood because she (allegedly) doesn't want to be called science fiction, but then she doesn't get credit for what she does say in its favour. When I saw Margaret Atwood in Paris (8 years ago, admittedly!), she talked about, "...two sorts of science fiction, one not based on real stuff (e.g., talking squid on other planets) and one that was. "Oryx and Crake" fell into the second category and she also applied the tag of speculative fiction to it."

It's been hard for me to tease out where she might have changed her position or where the SF mob are misinterpreting her words, but that was straight from the horse's mouth, at least.