Sep 26

Sep 26 Reviewing the 2023 Hugo Award Finalists: Best Novella

THE 2023 HUGO AWARD FINALISTS: NOVELLA

RATED 83% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 3.67 / 5

6 STORIES: 1 GREAT / 4 GOOD / 0 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 1 DNF

The Best Novellas of the Year (The 2023 Hugo Award Finalists) skew once again towards Fantasy and Tor.com, but the best of all of them “Ogres” does neither. People who lament the “decline of the science fiction ethos” in the Hugo Awards will have much to complains about again. I would, however, direct them to Asimov’s Science Fiction Reader’s Awards or last year’s Hugo’s which leaned heavily sci-fi.

If your tastes are more ecumenical than mine, you’d probably enjoy these selections more. Many different subgenre of Fantasy are represented in these 5 stories, Wuxia, Modernist Fairy Tale, Gothic Horror, Urban Noir, and YA Magic School.

This is the third year that I am trying to review and rank all of the short fiction finalists.

Novellas. Stories of between 17,500 and 40,000 words. (Reviewed: 2022)
Novelettes. Stories of between 7,500 and 17,500 words (Reviewed: 2023, 2022 & 2021)
Short Stories. Stories of less than 7,500 words. (Reviewed: 2022 & 2021)
Best Novella

Ogres, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Solaris)
Great. The Landlords are literal Ogres, but “You” are destined to rise up and become a hero. What starts as a simplistic fairy tale allegory, slowly gets smart and becomes purely science fiction. Then it finishes with a complex and challenging ending that you don’t see coming. This is way better than you think it is, but it takes spoilers to tell you why.
What Moves the Dead, by T. Kingfisher (Tor Nightfire)
Good. An expansion of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, but there is enough new and creepy to make this worthwhile. Taking place in an alternate history steeped in the fantastic, it slowly turns from horror fantasy or horror science fiction by the concluding moments. The real joy here is the voice given to Kingfisher’s protagonist: full of snark, humorous insights, and a skewed perspective. A nice moody, gothic read. It is pleasant to see genre horror make its way into the Hugo Finalists.
A Mirror Mended, by Alix E. Harrow (Tordotcom)
Good. Zinnia has been bouncing around the Sleeping Beauty side of the Fairy Tale Multiverse for awhile now until she is grabbed by the “Evil Witch” and yanked into the Snow White Multiverse. As is usual in this series, nothing is quite what it seems, but it is all great fun.
Significantly better than the first novella, mostly because Harrow isn’t requiring that we like the snarky protagonist. The prose is tighter and more intense. The “Villain” is more interesting and complex. This was a face-paced read. Very movie-like. Falls short of a Great score because I don’t think it could stand alone without the first novella.
Even Though I Knew the End, by C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)
Good. A Sapphic Urban Fantasy Noir set in 1930s Chicago. The ‘White City Vampire’ is ritually killing and our magic protagonist is tempted into investigating. Years ago, she sold her soul, but if she can solve this mystery it might be returned to her. A pleasant enough “B-Movie” vibe, but didn’t feel like it should be an award contender. Hollywood should option it.
Into the Riverlands, by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
Good. A Wuxia inspired story about stories. Who tells them? Who gets to have their story told? What stories should be kept private. Cleric Chih and their talking bird (who doesn’t think he’s a talking bird) are joined by a small group of people. As they travel into the Riverlands, many stories are told and characters from the stories may be amongst the party.
My first foray into literary Wuxia, having experienced the genre entirely through excellent films like Hero, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and the House of Flying Daggers. While I think the genre is best expressed in cinema, Vo did a great job describing the action vividly.
Where the Drowned Girls Go, by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
DNF at 48%. I tried four times to keep reading this and my self discipline failed me. A Fat Girl Mermaid (the story’s description, not mine) abandons one home for people that have gone through portals and finds another that is worse. Abandoned at the halfway point. Super preachy. Felt incredibly derivative of other better work. Derogatorily YA in thinking, writing, and moral complexity.