Hugo Stories
Jun. 11th, 2011 04:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhI've read all the short stories/novelettes/novellas nominated for the Hugos this year (except for 'Troika', which isn't available online. Which is too bad, because the summary sounds awesome). Overall, I have to say that I was pretty disappointed. I feel like the quality was really low this year. There were several stories that I thought were just plain bad, particularly 'The Sultan of the Clouds'. When I started reading it, I thought it was going to be retro in a cool, post-modern way. But no, it is just dumb and old-fashioned in a 'I have nothing new to say" way.
You can read them all yourself here, or here are the ones I liked the most:
The Things by Peter Watts. Apparently this is basically fanfiction for the movie 'The Thing', but I didn't realize that until after I'd read this story, and I've never seen the movie, so it definitely works if you don't know the source. Very creepy, with genuinely alien aliens.
Eight Miles by Sean McMullen. Steampunk with a balloonist in London, creepy aristocrats, and a mute girl who is not what she seems. I thought the twist was really super obvious, but I liked the story nonetheless, and would love to see more of the characters and world.
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang. This was my favorite of all the nominees this year. An software company develops a Tamagotchi/Furby type program, a pet that users can take care of as it grows. The twist is that it's a genuine AI. What are the owners responsibilities to it? What happens when the software starts to become obsolete? How does an AI designed to be a cute puppy grow into an adult? Very interesting questions, and well-written.
I've only read one of the novels nominated ('The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms', which I quite liked and reviewed here), but I'm going to try and read the others. I may not make it before the winners are announced, though.
You can read them all yourself here, or here are the ones I liked the most:
The Things by Peter Watts. Apparently this is basically fanfiction for the movie 'The Thing', but I didn't realize that until after I'd read this story, and I've never seen the movie, so it definitely works if you don't know the source. Very creepy, with genuinely alien aliens.
Eight Miles by Sean McMullen. Steampunk with a balloonist in London, creepy aristocrats, and a mute girl who is not what she seems. I thought the twist was really super obvious, but I liked the story nonetheless, and would love to see more of the characters and world.
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang. This was my favorite of all the nominees this year. An software company develops a Tamagotchi/Furby type program, a pet that users can take care of as it grows. The twist is that it's a genuine AI. What are the owners responsibilities to it? What happens when the software starts to become obsolete? How does an AI designed to be a cute puppy grow into an adult? Very interesting questions, and well-written.
I've only read one of the novels nominated ('The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms', which I quite liked and reviewed here), but I'm going to try and read the others. I may not make it before the winners are announced, though.
