Hugo thoughts - novellas

Novellas

The Butcher of Khardov by Dan Wells is a grimdark story of grimdarkness. Wells tries to create tension by telling the tale out of order, but all it does is make it feel fragmented, and there is nothing in the characters of the writing to hold the story up either. It also suffers from the problem of much game fiction that showing off the world takes precedence over the story to be told.

"The Chaplain's Legacy" by Brad Torgersen. A better story than "The Exchange Officers" by the same author, but still not that good. No real tension, and the moral of that becoming dependant on technology is bad for you and for your spirituality is quite heavy-handed.

"Equoid" by Charles Stross. Liking the Laundry series, I read this when it was first published. Bob Howard has to investigate an infestation of unicorns, with a good mix of cynicism, humour, action, and callbacks to HP Lovecraft.

Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente is a western retelling (for very liberal values of "retelling") of Snow White. Wonderfully written exploration of fairy tales, myth, story, racism, and misogyny. However, it fails to provide any real ending or closure in the story.

"Wakulla Springs" by Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages is a generational tale centered around the Wakulla Springs in Florida and Tarzan, which also explores American race and class relations. However, there aren't any fantastical elements in the story.

My current favourite: "Equoid" over Six-Gun Snow White, but I might very well change my mind later on.