2022 Hugo Award: Best Novella

[sophia_sol]

Woohoo I finally got through another Hugo category! Here's how I'm voting for the novellas this year. Links to full reviews in the titles.

1. Elder Race, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I LOVED THIS. I was not expecting it at all and it blew me away!

2. The Past is Red, by Catherynne M Valente

Yes, I'm surprised as you are that I'm ranking a Valente this high, but you know what, every now and then she manages to write something that really works for me, and this does.

3. Fireheart Tiger, by Aliette de Bodard

Loved everything about this one except that the romance felt too rushed.

4. A Spindle Splintered, by Alix E Harrow

Although I don't love everything this book is doing, I still really liked it!

5. No Award

6. A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

I've loved most of the Becky Chambers books I've read in the past, but this one just really rubbed me the wrong way in a number of aspects. DNF.

Not ranking: Across the Green Grass Fields, by Seanan McGuire

I find myself so deeply irritated by something or other about every single book in this series I've read over the years for the Hugos and I'm not gonna keep on trying.

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

Well done! And it's heartening to see a really worthy top-four.

[sophia_sol]

Thank you! And yeah, it's a pretty good selection this year!

[china_shop]

Thanks so much for this post -- very timely for me. I've been thinking I should read more novellas. (Or, well, I've been thinking I should read more, and novellas are less daunting than full-length novels. :-)

[sophia_sol]

hooray, glad I can provide! :D I hear you about the daunt of full-length novels

[lirazel]

I am interested in hearing which Valente work for you! The only one I've been able to finish (and I haven't tried very many) was Radiance, which I enjoyed because it combined space opera with classic Hollywood, two of my favorite things. But it sure was A Lot!

I read the first Wayward Children book and really hated it, probably because the premise (and the title) was so good and nothing else worked for me. It made me angry!

[sophia_sol]

I really liked Valente's Deathless when I read it, though I think that's in part because I don't know enough Russian history to be annoyed :P and even then it was A Lot. Valente can't be anything but A Lot, I think! And every now and then I like one of her short stories or poems.

I haven't actually read the first Wayward Children book, but I strongly disliked both In An Absent Dream and Come Tumbling Down, and on the basis of those feel NO need to go back to the beginning of the series, lol. I remember when the first one came out and everyone was like "oooh great ace rep!" but I looked at reviews of the book and was like "no thanks" and I feel like that was the right choice for me.

[lirazel]

I have never been able to make it through Deathless. I've tried twice! And I eventually just gave up. I've heard that I might enjoy her Fairyland books, though, so I probably will try them at some point.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT REP IF THE STORY ISN'T GOOD. Omg, I would rather never read a story about ace people for the rest of my life than read bad stories about ace people!

[sophia_sol]

I tried the first Fairyland book and bounced HARD off it -- the narrative voice felt....idk, too twee and arch at the same time, but who knows, it might work for you!

and AGREEEEEED about rep!! it irritates me so much when I see recommendations on tumblr or whatever that are just an enthusiastic list of what rep a book contains and I'm like "okay but what kind of book is it. what are the vibes. what is the plot. is it good." Representation is great! But it doesn't actually tell you anything about whether you'll enjoy the book as a book!

[lirazel]

We'll see! I will certainly report back about how I feel about it!

I'm like "okay but what kind of book is it. what are the vibes. what is the plot. is it good." Representation is great! But it doesn't actually tell you anything about whether you'll enjoy the book as a book!

I think there are some people who view reading a book as kind of like...checking things off a list? Is there queer rep? Is there sufficient racial diversity? And this is so the opposite of how I read that I can't really wrap my head around it.

Or maybe they don't really read like that, they just perform about those things when they talk about books online.

[sophia_sol]

I also think that there are some people for whom the most important thing is that they can see themself in the main character (or any character), and so a character who doesn't have a lot of characterization beyond "is X sexuality/race/gender/ethnicity/neurotype/whatever" is actually exactly what they want because they can project themself onto that character. Which is SO SO different from how I read!

[lirazel]

I think you may be right. That is absolutely not how I read, either, or ever have. I'm of the Fran Lebowitz school--for me, a book is not a mirror, it's a door. Always.

[sophia_sol]

yes, EXACTLY!

[cahn]

Woooo Novella! I also loved Elder Race! And also Psalm for the Wild-Built was so annoying! Should I read the Chambers that's up for the novel? I feel like I've had bad luck with Becky Chambers...

[sophia_sol]

The Chambers novel for this year didn't move me, but that's because the themes it's interested in exploring are about children and parenthood, which are not of inherent interest to me, but I think are much more likely to work for you! But if Chambers in general has not been your jam then this one probably won't be either, because it's very much in the same vein as her usual work: an optimistic character piece with almost zero plot.

[cahn]

Mmmmph. It's true that themes of children and parenthood are more likely to be interesting to me, but I also think that an optimistic character piece with zero plot about children and parenthood is likely to annoy me rather than otherwise. Oh well, I guess I will see if I can get through any of it in the next week or so...

[sophia_sol]

yeahhhh I thought that might be the case, and this book reaches the pinnacle of Chambers' ability to write a book with zero plot. The plot of this one: a bunch of different people from different species are stuck together for a few days in a space waystation. They talk.