Hugo Awards 2011 - Short Story Nominees

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2011 HUGO AWARD SHORT STORY NOMINEES

I decided to start my Hugo nominee reading with the Short Story category. The four nominated stories vary widely in tone and topic, from the struggles of a species to survive to My Little Pony. All were well written. Here's my picks from last to first…

Ponies - Kij Johnson- My Little Pony and how they lose their wings and their horns. OK - fun idea, but it's My Little Pony. First appearance on tor.com. You can read it here.

For Want of a Nail - Mary Robinette Kowal - A story on a generation ship about a family's computer that falls in love with a man with dimensia and doesn't want to be deactivated. Interesting. First published in Asimov's Sept 2010. You can read it here.

 

Amaryllis - Carrie Vaughn - A post-ecopocalypse story about a fishing crew getting a bigger quota and being allowed to have a baby. This was a very nicely told story and came very close to winning me over for the top slot. First appeared in the June 2010 issue of the online magazine, Lightspeed. You can read it here.

The Things - Peter Watts - A unique retelling of the events of the John Carpenter movie, The Thing, told in first person from the perspective of the invader. My #1 pick. I found the storytelling compelling and the alien perspective fascinating. This story came from Clarkesworld in January 2010. You can read it here.

I find it telling that 3 of the four stories first appeared online. That is good news for the short fiction market, and perhaps bad news for the print magazines. In today's hurried, always online times, it is easier and faster to find and read a short story on your phone that to find a print issue of a magazine at a store - A few months ago I went to 3 bookstores and 4 newsstands while trying to find the current issue of Asimov's. If I want to buy your magazine and can't find it anywhere, then you are in trouble.

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