As I said last post, I’ve been busy… but fortunately it doesn’t take too long to read short stories. I’ve read most of this year’s Hugo nominees in the short story category, and enjoyed… most of them. Let’s get into some quick reviews.
Answerless Journey
Han Song, Translated by Alex Woodend
Originally Published in English in the Anthology ‘Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers’
‘Answerless Journey’ was originally published in Chinese back in 1995, but as this translation in ‘Adventures in Space’ is the first time it has appeared in English, it is eligible for the Hugo Award this year. This is the first Hugo nomination for Han Song, but he is a very big name in Chinese Science Fiction. Most sources I’ve looked up state that he has won the Galaxy Award (China’s Hugo-level Award) six times. Though, I’ve been unable to find out what stories those six awards went to. Also, fun fact, his book ‘Red Star Over America’ featured terrorists flying planes into the World Trade Centre like, a year before it actually happened, so, add that to the list of crazy ‘prophecies’ in fiction.
This story is about a person who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memories. A bit like ‘Project Hail Mary’ but darker. Much, much darker, and bleaker, with no funny alien banter. This person, who dubs themselves ‘Creature’, soon meets another human in a different room, who they think of as ‘Same Kind’, and then the two enter the control room and find three chairs, which suggest that somewhere out there, there is The Third. The two humans spend their time looking for The Third, trying to remember who they are, and hoping that they can one day remember how to operate the ship. They want answers to why they’re here, but they have no way to discover that information. The story goes on to document just how much that scenario would mess people up.
As interesting as this set-up is, I still did not enjoy this story. I feel this scenario needed a menacing horror vibe, but the prose reads like a dry, methodical story. Which just serves to make logical flaws in the what the characters remember more noticeable. ‘Answerless Journey’ needed to read like a psychological horror story, not a hard SF story.
I don’t know how much of the blame for this is on Han Song, and how much is on the translator Alex Woodend. I assume a lot of it is on Woodend. Most stories I’ve read that have been translated from Chinese have felt a bit stilted. Some of this could be different writing styles (show don’t tell doesn’t seem as big a commandment for example) but it also makes sense that it’s hard to get a smooth translation. From some of the discourse I’ve seen around this story (I usually try and avoid reading other reviews and discussions of stuff before I post my own, but I had to go digging to find background info for this one) people are saying Woodend doesn’t seem to have translated any of the stories in the collection well. Maybe that’s why the vibe is so off.
I’m gonna cut Woodend some slack here. I think even if this was a perfect translation, I still wouldn’t have liked it due to the ending. I don’t usually say anything that can be spoilery, but in this case well, let’s just say it’s in the title. Answerless Journey indeed.
Better Living Through Algorithms
Naomi Kritzer
Originally Published: Clarkesworld, May 2023
It’s been a good year for Naomi Kritzer. Not only is this story a nominee for the Hugo’s, but her Novelette ‘The Year Without Sunshine’ is a finalist in the novelette category in both Hugos and the Nebulas. Scratch that, ‘The Year Without Sunshine’ just won the nebula award this year. Kritzer isn’t a stranger to the Hugo Awards; among a handful of Hugo and Lodstar nominations, her short story ‘Cat Pictures Please’ won the controversial 2016 Hugo Award. Those were the first Hugo Awards I blogged about, so that story has always held a special place in my heart for more reasons than just the warm fuzzies it generates.
There are a few similarities between ‘Better Living Through Algorithms’ and ‘Cat Pictures Please’. Both explore similar ideas, and have a similar “cozy” vibe, yet do so through extremely different characters, which I find interesting, and I do recommend reading both and comparing them. They are both warm, fun, human stories about AI and computer algorithms making a positive impact on human lives, without sounding like the AI apologist crap we hear nowadays.
‘Better Living Through Algorithms’ is the more grounded of the two, being told from a human point of view and focusing on human concerns rather than the sentient AI we see in Cat Pictures. The story starts with a group of women having lunch, one of whom keeps checking her phone. Then the phone addict puts down her phone and explains that her new app has just told her not to look at her phone until lunch is over. Which, should not work as an opening hook, but I think we are all familiar enough with screen addiction and the sleazy tricks used to keep us coming back to our social media that this scenario doesn’t quite ring true. From the very start this story asks us to examine how we interact with social media and explores what non-toxic use of the technology can look like. Yet, it does this in a way that is not oblivious to the downsides of said technology.
I really enjoyed this story, and I also found it quite memorable. I read this ages ago, and even though some plot points have faded, the feelings this story gave me, and the questions it asked about how much control we want to give up to algorithms, have remained with me after all this time. Highly recommended story.
How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub
P. Djèlí Clark
Originally Published: Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2023
Congratz to P. Djèlí Clark for winning the Locus Award for best Short Story with this one.
I love P. Djèlí Clark stories. always such a fun mix of alternate history and fantasy. Usually his stories are also very queer, and extremely anti-colonial. His most notable alternate universe is that in the ‘Dead Djinn’ series, where around 1912 Cario is able to not only become independent, but rise up as a global super-power due to the magical powers of Djinn that have been newly unleashed on the world. His debut novel ‘Master of Djinn’ is set in this world, and won the 2022 Nebula and Locus awards for very good reason.
‘How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub’ does not appear to be obviously set in any of P. Djèlí Clark’s previous alternate histories. Instead we find ourselves in a Victorian England that has recently won a war against the Mermen, and where Jules Verne’s intrepid Indian Submersible Captain is mentioned being out there giving the Empire hell. We follow young, newlywed Trevor Hemley, a man of ambition with views common to this era. Both of those traits have terrible consequences for Trevor and everyone around him, and he’s such an ass that we love to see it.
It can be very difficult to write a likable story with an unlikable lead character, especially a bigoted main character. Even without knowing anything about P. Djèlí Clark and publisher Uncanny Magazine, I don’t think there is any way to read the story and think Trevor’s Victorian-era views are being condoned (though, saying that, there are people who have been watching ‘The Boys’ for years and are only now realizing what Homelander is a send-up of.) Overall, the story does a good job at showing someone shoot themselves in the foot due to their worldview, whilst also showing that violent acts of rebellion are well, violent and horrible. This is another top tier P. Djèlí Clark alt fantasy history story.
The Mausoleum’s Children
Aliette de Bodard
Originally Published: Uncanny Magazine, May-June 2023
Aliette de Bodard is most well known for her Xuya Universe, with its Vietnamese inspired space empire and living ships. When I read this story, I thought it was a Xuya story, but turns out it isn’t included on the list of Xuya stories on de Bodard’s website, so nope, I was wrong there. Just got some similar worldbuilding aspects. Either way though, this is a completely standalone story and doesn’t require any familiarity with de Bodard’s previous work to enjoy.
Though, as a small aside, it is well worth getting familiar with de Bodard’s work, because she writes a lot of cool stuff. She has been nominated for Hugos, Nebulas, and Locus awards way too many times to list here. As well as the Xuya universe, she also has a dark Gothic fantasy series called Dominion of the Fallen, which is set in a turn-of-the centaury Paris devastated by a magical war between fallen angels.
This story, ‘The Mausoleum’s children’, is an emotional, action-packed tale of a young woman who escaped an oppressive group of salvagers in an ancient ship as a child, who now goes back to try and and save the friends she left behind. It touches on the lingering effects of trauma, and in a short amount of time shows a wide range of responses to being hurt by cruel authority figures. Probably would have been better as a longer story, with more time to set up the Mausoleum and it’s capabilities, but on the other hand being such a short story makes it even easier to just zoom through it. Fun isn’t the right word, but there was definitely a lot of excitement and dread.
The Sound of Children Screaming
Rachael K. Jones
Originally Published: Nightmare Magazine, Oct 2023
Okay, wow… this was disturbing. Great story, but really disturbing. This is the first I’ve ever heard of Rachel K. Jones, but she has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award and is a Tiptree Award honoree, so she isn’t a newcomer to the scene, though this is her first Hugo nomination.
‘The Sound of Children Screaming’ is a very dark fantasy, involving eight students and their teacher getting sucked through a portal to a fantasy world during a school shooting. They get saved by a talking mouse who takes them to a castle full of mice-folk and nice food, and they are given magical crowns to help them become heroes. Their teacher, Michelle, quickly realizes that maybe the portal and the talking mice haven’t actually saved them after all.
This story isn’t subtle about it’s message, but I think if you have a problem with the message that permitting gun violence in schools is bad, then I have a problem with you. As an Australian, pretty much every depiction of modern US schools sounds like an over-the-top dystopia. I suppose if you want a character-driven story, ‘The Sound of Children Screaming’ just doesn’t have the focus or length for that. However, it isn’t trying to be that sort of story; from the very beginning, it lets you know that it’s going to explore the horror of US gun culture, and it does that perfectly.
Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times
Baoshu
Originally Published: 银河边缘013黑域密室 (Galaxy’s Edge 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain)
I am so sad right now. This is probably the short story on the list I was most looking forward to reading, but I haven’t been able to find an English translation. Baoshu has been on my radar ever since I read his ‘Three Body Problem’ fanfic ‘The Redemption of Time’. Of course, there is a huge debate about the ethics of publishing a fanfic the way ‘Redemption of Time’ was, and there are certainly very fanfic-typical issues with the book, but I still enjoyed it and have been interested in seeing what Baoshu does with his own ideas. Also, his novel Ruins of Time sounds interesting, but again… not sure if there is an English translation.
I may not have found the story I’m supposed to be reviewing… but I found a novelette of his, titled ‘The Lighthouse Girl’, which appeared in Clarkesworld in 2018 and was translated by Andy Dudak. (Read it here) and since I can’t review ‘Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times’, I’m going to take a second to gush about this novelette instead. Such a great idea, and a really menacing mystery. Also, that ending was such a gut punch. I’m purposely not saying too much, because watching Ling Rourou slowly grow and realize something is wrong with her life is an important part of the journey.
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And there we have it, most of the finalists for this year’s Hugo Award for short story. Some good stories, though maybe not as strong a ballot as years past. Personally, I think ‘Better Living Through Algorithms’ is a clear winner. I don’t usually have a clear winner. For comparison, the short story winner of this years Nebula was ‘Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200’ by R.S.A Garcia, and the winner of the Locus award was as mentioned before ‘How to Raise a Kraken in your Bathtub’. I would be very happy with either Algorithms or Kraken winning the Hugo this year.
Now the big question; will I be able to post a review of the novelettes before the winners are announced on the 11th of August?
See you all again soon.
– Jayde
Jayde Holmes 