My 2024 Hugo Short Fiction Nominations and Votes

I’ve been an SF and speculative fiction fan for many decades, but I came to voting on the Hugo Awards, attending conventions and being a more active fan fairly late in life.

Perhaps in 2014, I realized that I was doing the reading anyway and that being a Hugo voter was a great way to obtain and read other great SFF at a reasonable price. Also, those who know me well understand that I have opinions and that I love to share them; this is one way to do it. I’ve been nominating and voting ever since, enjoying most things about it.

After last year’s Chengdu Hugo Award kerfuffle (the most polite term I can use), I have so far been very impressed with the nomination and voting process for Glasgow 2024. My thanks to 2024 Hugo Awards Administrator Nicholas Whyte and the rest of the team.

I just finished reading the last eight short fiction (novella, novelette and short story) finalists; I had read 10 of the 18 finalists before nominations were due in March. My deepest thanks to the 2024 Hugo Awards team and to the finalists for the voter packet.

I submitted my short fiction nominations for the Glasgow 2024 Hugo Awards at the link.

Like always, there are stories that I love, that I feel were deserving finalists and potentially deserving winners. There are also finalists here where my reaction after reading is, “What were the Hugo nominators thinking?” Many of the stories that I nominated didn’t make finalist; a bit more on that below. There are stories here where the success of the translation materially affected my voting; I assume the same applies to Chinese translations of English language originals.

Here are my rankings as submitted yesterday, ranked in order. For example, I thought “Rose/House” was the best novella, hence it is ranked #1.

Best Novella

1. Rose/House, by Arkady Martine, Subterranean.
2. The Mimicking of Known Successes, by Malka Older, Tordotcom.
3. Thornhedge, by Ursula Vernon (using her pen name T. Kingfisher), Tor, Titan UK.
4. Mammoths at the Gates, by Nghi Vo, Tordotcom.
5. “Seeds of Mercury”, by Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend, for Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers, Patrick Parrinder & Yao Haijun editors, Flame Tree Press.
6. No Award.
7. “Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, by He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend, for Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers, Patrick Parrinder & Yao Haijun editors, Flame Tree Press. Unranked.

Best Novelette

1. I AM AI, by Ai Jiang, Shortwave.
2. “The Year Without Sunshine”, by Naomi Kritzer, Uncanny Magazine November-December 2023.
3. “Ivy, Angelica, Bay”, by C. L. Polk, Tor.com 8 December 2023.
4. “One Man’s Treasure”, by Sarah Pinsker, Uncanny Magazine January-February 2023.
5. “On the Fox Roads”, by Nghi Vo, Tor.com 31 October 2023.
6. No Award.
7. “Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, by Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适 translated by Emily Jin, Clarkesworld, February 2023. Unranked.

Best Short Story

1. “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub”, by P. Djèlí Clark, Uncanny Magazine January-February 2023.
2. “Better Living Through Algorithms,” by Naomi Kritzer Clarkesworld May 2023.
3. 美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), by 宝树 / Baoshu (银河边缘013：黑域密室 / Galaxy’s Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain.
4. “The Sound of Children Screaming”, by Rachael K. Jones, Nightmare Magazine October 2023.
5. “The Mausoleum’s Children”, by Aliette de Bodard, Uncanny Magazine May-June 2023.
6. “Answerless Journey”, by Han Song /没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend, for Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers, Patrick Parrinder & Yao Haijun editors, Flame Tree Press.

I really, really loved some of these stories. As I prefer science fiction, I was pleased that 11 or 12 appeared to be SF. I was pleased with the diversity of sources for short fiction.

I was pleased to see stories here that were in translation. I love international speculative fiction and the diversity it brings to the table. At the same time, the success of the translation does impact how I perceive a story.

I was disappointed that only one of my nominations were finalists, but that’s just life. The Hugo nominators and voters do what they do. I am somewhat surprised that the Nebula finalists had more overlap with my Hugo nominations than the Hugo finalists, which is unusual for me.

I am disappointed that the professional SFF magazines I read and follow (Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF) did not place any finalists here. Asimov’s and Analog make their reader’s poll finalists available for free access before the end of the nomination period. This was announced at Locus and other places on February 23, 2024. To me, this result means that either the nominators did not have the time to read them before the nomination deadline of March 9, 2024, that they did not like any of the Asimov’s and Analog stories, or that they did not care enough to read them. I would encourage readers to look for the announcement of the readers polls finalists, as they did come out several weeks before the nomination deadline this year.

As you’ll notice, I did have several stories that I placed below “No Award”. I did not feel these were worthy of being Hugo finalists, but clearly others disagreed.

Next I’ll be reading the voter packet items for Best Editor Short Form finalists, for Scott H. Andrews, Neil Clarke, 刘维佳 (Liu Weijia), Jonathan Strahan, Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and 杨枫 (Yang Feng).

My Hugo nominations

Best Novella

“On the English Approach to the Study of History“, by E. Saxey, Giganotosaurus, October 2023.
The Crane Husband, by Kelly Barnhill, Tor.com (a Nebula finalist).
“The Tinker and the Timestream“, by Carolyn Ives Gilman, Analog March-April 2023.
The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar, by Indra Das, Subterranean Press.
After Many A Summer, by Tim Powers, Subterranean Press.

Best Novelette
“Contracting Iris“, by Peter Watts, Lightspeed March 2023.
“Saturday’s Song“, by Wole Talabi, Lightspeed May 2023.
“SuperMAX“, by Daniel H. Wilson, Uncanny July-August 2023.
“The Luck Thief“, by Tade Thompson, from The Book of Witches, Jonathan Strahan editor, 2023 Harper Voyager.
“The Witch Is Not the Monster“, by Alaya Dawn Johnson, from The Book of Witches.

Best Short Story
“Today I know“, by Martin L. Shoemaker, from Robots Through the Ages, Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Robert Silverberg editors, 2023 Blackstone Publishing.
“Berb by Berb“, by Ray Nayler, Asimov’s November-December 2023.
“How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub“, by P. Djèlí Clark, Uncanny January-February 2023.
“In the Days After …“, by Frank Ward, Asimov’s November-December 2023.
“Just a nudge“, by Maureen F. McHugh, from The Book of Witches.

Other awards

The Nebula and Locus Award finalists/nominations for 2024 have been announced. There can be substantial overlap with the Hugo Award finalists, but they are worth a look regardless. For those interested in short speculative fiction, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award finalists will be worth looking at also when they are announced.

DETAILED REVIEWS/COMMENTS OF THE HUGO FINALISTS – SPOILERS ALL OVER

Novella

“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, by He Xi, translated by Alex Woodend for Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers, Patrick Parrinder & Yao Haijun editors, 2023 Flame Tree Press. This story of interstellar exploration and settlement had potential, but it dragged way too much and had too much info dumping for me. I did not finish it. Rated 2/5, or “Did not finish”.

Mammoths at the Gates, a Singing Hills story by Nghi Vo, Tordotcom. A great story of Cleric Chih returning home to the Singing Hills abbey. The death of a senior and much loved cleric leads to conflict and eventually reveals more of the nature of the sentient neixin birds with amazing memory. The granddaughters of the cleric arrive, including mammoths. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

The Mimicking of Known Successes, by Malka Older, Tordotcom. This might be the first SF by Malka Older I’ve read set in outer space. After Earth’s ecosystems have been destroyed, humans live on rings set in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter (I think). They plan to return to Earth someday, with some conflict over when and how. A stranger disappears from a very remote ring rail platform. The investigator must go to Valdegard the university city and recruit an old academic friend to help find out what is going on. In the end, the two friends are back together as a couple. They have both changed since their long ago breakup. A plot to circumvent the seemingly endless planning for Earth return is partially thwarted, but life will change. I think the only thing I struggle with here is the question of the gravity on their rings. As I understand it, these rings are in the upper part of the atmosphere of Jupiter. I am not at all sure why the human inhabitants would not be under full Jupiter gravity, which is not mentioned or discussed. I could be really wrong here, and I still love the story. After discussion, the gravity could be at 1.6 g, but that still sounds like a lot to not mention it at all or show its effects. I still love the story. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

Rose/House, by Arkady Martine, Subterranean. A subtle future police procedural set in the desert, with great characters. I loved this story of a death in a somewhat impregnable AI house, and an investigation into the death. The AI house is very different and scary, and one of the great characters. Rated 4/5, or “Great”.

“Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend for Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers, Patrick Parrinder & Yao Haijun editors, 2023 Flame Tree Press. The story of a new form of metal, high temperature life crested by an academic, and the people who fulfill her wishes to propagate the metal race on Mercury. Rated 3.6/5, or “Very good”.

Thornhedge, by Ursula Vernon (using her pen name T. Kingfisher), Tor/Titan UK. A great reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, with a spell and not a curse, and a changeling, and a woman that is not exactly human but was. Wonderful characters and story. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

Novelette

I AM AI, by Ai Jiang, Shortwave. A phenomenal story of a cyborg pretending to be an AI writer, in a future where New Era has all the power and everyone either works themselves to death or suffers grinding poverty or both. The cyborg lives by the countdown on their battery display as they struggle to stay partly human in their found family community. Wow. Rated 4/5, or “Great”.

“Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, by Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适, translated by Emily Jin, Clarkesworld February 2023. I have very mixed feelings about this story. Conceptually, I think its use of cryosleep is interesting and imaginative. I like that it is substantially epistolary. I struggled with some issues. I found the writing and the characters to be very bland and undifferentiated. This may be a result of both the writing and the translation. There are translation errors, not major but present. I really, really struggled to keep track of the different characters. I was unable to figure if Titan here was really the moon of Jupiter or in another solar system – the text implies interstellar travel. Rated 3.5/5, or “Good”, and not one I felt was finalist quality.

Cover for 2024 ebook

“Ivy, Angelica, Bay“, by C. L. Polk, Tor.com 8 December 2023. A wonderful story of a neighborhood’s witch and protector, and a little girl, and developers. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

“On the Fox Roads”, by Nghi Vo, Tor.com 31 October 2023. A very good story of a young woman of Asian descent. She wants the deed to her parents store, taken by the bank, back from the bank robbers who take it. They all run and she learns about the fox roads. She will get the deed back to her parents, but she will stay on the road and in the bank robbing business. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“One Man’s Treasure”, by Sarah Pinsker, Uncanny Magazine January-February 2023. A very enjoyable story of waste disposal/recycling in a world of magic. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“The Year Without Sunshine”, by Naomi Kritzer, Uncanny Magazine November-December 2023. A great story of a neighborhood reacting to a partial societal breakdown, caused by a unspecified event that made the sky dusty/cloudy and really impacted life. Rated 3.8/5, or “Great”.

Short Story

“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), Baoshu, Galaxy’s Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain, translated by Xueting C. Ni. This is a darn interesting story of a future technology to enable people to enjoy the superior senses of animals while eating. I enjoyed the structure of the story, which presents episodes in this technology’s introduction and evolution over time. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub“, by P. Djèlí Clark, Uncanny January-February 2023. A dashing, capital tale of an ambitious man in London, the Mermen, Captain Nemo, and a kraken. Things do not go well for the ambitious man or Great Britain. Rated 3.9/5, or “Great”.

“The Mausoleum’s Children”, by Aliette de Bodard, Uncanny May-June 2023. A verry good story of a dangerous zone, somewhere, where Hunters/adults use children to merge a bunch of decayed/obsolete ships. The POV character has escaped the worst area, but decides to return to rescue two friends she left behind. She finds out that one of them is now a Hunter, but she gets unexpected help from one of the old ships. Rated 3.6/5, or “Very good”.

“The Sound of Children Screaming”, by Rachael K. Jones, Nightmare Magazine October 2023. A story that is more a metaphor than a story, of The Gun and Children having Agency. Rated 3.7/5, or “Very good”.

“Better Living Through Algorithms”, by Naomi Kritzer, Clarkesworld May 2023. A great story of a young woman and an AI app created to promote happiness. It turns out to be a fairly successful experiment. Rated 3.8/5, or “Very good”.

“Answerless Journey”, by Han Song /没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend, for Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers, Patrick Parrinder & Yao Haijun editors, 2023 Flame Tree Press. An interesting story of two people on a spaceship who have woken up with almost no memory of the past. The story is mostly internal dialogue. Rated 3.6/5, or “Very good”.