Reviewing the 2022 Hugo Award Finalists: Short Stories
On April 7, 2022, the Hugo Award Finalists were announced. The most prestigious award in Science Fiction and Fantasy is given each year at WorldCon based on the nominations and votes of the members. This is open to anyone in SFF fandom who in energized enough to pay a small membership fee. The entire list of finalists can be found here.
Last year, I reviewed the 2021 Finalists for Short Stories (7,500 words or less) and the 2021 Finalists for Novelettes (7,500 to 17,500 words.). This year I intend to do the same. This is the post for the 2022 Short Story Finalists.
Once again, all of the finalists are available to read online freely (and importantly legally!). I will share links to where to read each story is a review it. Of course, there will be no spoilers.
Best Short Story
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
Good (*this would be great, but that is reserved on this blog for science fiction). A wonderful bit of growing dread that comes out of a series of online forum posts (and comments) that try to discuss an old English Folk Ballad. Delightful scary. Erudite and clever. Very nice bit of creepy.
“Unknown Number” by Blue Neustifter (Twitter, Jul 2021)
Good. A very innovative story structurally. This is series of images that look like screenshots of text messages. It was originally published as a thread of Twitter tweets. If you don’t have Twitter, you can read the story here.
There is a very interesting use of alternate universes in this story. A trans woman gets a surprise text message from a person who claims to be herself, but who made very difficult life choices. A cool SF idea and great dialogue, but doesn’t really embrace the central conceit, choosing instead to have a strong message.
“Mr. Death” by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, Feb 2021)
Good. A charming and emotional story of an ‘angel of death’ who gets assigned the death of a two-year-old child and has a hard time with it.
“Proof by Induction” by José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)
Good. Technology lets us capture the last bits of consciousness before death, allowing those left behind to ask questions such as “Where is the Will?” One son uses the technology to collaborate with his father on a historically difficult math puzzle.
“The Sin of America” by Catherynne M. Valente (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
Average. Valente’s prose is soaring as always, which makes me sad that the storyline is such a bust here. A girl sits in a diner watching the horrible news and eating an enormous amount of food. She’s is taking on America’s sins in a heavy handed Christ allegory that comes across as banal, despite being superbly written.
“Tangles” by Seanan McGuire (Magicthegathering.com: Magic Story, Sep 2021)
Poor. This is the type of generic stereotypical fantasy that I hate. I had to force myself to finish it. A dryad disconnects from her host tree and tries to find another with the help of a mage. I don’t understand how this was nominated. Maybe this has more resonance for fans of the Magic the Gathering game. That is where it was published.
THE 2022 HUGO AWARD FINALISTS: SHORT STORIES
RATED 75% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 3.5 OUT OF 5
6 STORIES: 0 GREAT / 4 GOOD / 1 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
I am again disappointed with the quality of the Hugo Short Story Finalists. The Sarah Pinsker story is a worthy nominee - and in my opinion should win - but there are too many stories that are merely good and a few that shouldn’t have be nominated at all.
The 2022 Readers Award Finalists from Asimov’s Science Fiction offered a much better overall selection. There were no stories amongst the award finalists from this storied magazine, but then again, none of these stories are freely available to read on the internet.
