Zombies, a haunted house, a fairytale retelling, two different types of robot (one in space) and a transdimensional portal (possibly) in a neighbourhood box of books.
This sums up the short story finalists in a simplified nutshell.
Honestly, there wasn't a dud one in the lot. There were elements of a few of the stories that had me skimming past things (I have a low tolerance for certain forms of violence and harm which means I end up skimming things just in case said violence shows up) but in each case I pushed past my qualms and was glad I did. This is something I can do in a short story that I can't necessarily in a longer piece, which is one of the good things about short stories.
Three of the authors were completely new to me (Carson, Prasad and Wiswell); the other three I'd heard of before, have read some of their work, or have wanted to read their work (Kingfisher, Kritzer and Lee).
I wasn't sure whether to repeat my mini-reviews here, but perhaps I should.
In the case of one or two it will give me a chance to refine them before I finish the Instagram posts. So: in order of reading -"Little Free Library" by Naomi Kritzer
Objectively delightful and I honestly wanted it to go on. There's a whole 'nother story just waiting there, although at the same time I think it stopped at the perfect point. This is a story that could make me feel somewhat less grumpy about the whole 'little free bookbox' concept than I actually do.
"A Guide for Working Breeds" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Began by thinking "this is just Murderbot" but it took it to different places. I really enjoyed this story - it was touching. There was a moment or two where I almost put it down (violence of a sort I can't deal with), but I pushed through, and I'm actually really glad I did.
"The Mermaid Astronaut" by Yoon Ha Lee
The first work by Lee that I've read, although I've known of him for years. There is so much wrong with the classic Little Mermaid story, and this rights so much of it. Also the writing is beautiful and lyrical and sumptuous and I completely and utterly loved it. The ending is perfection.
"Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse" by Rae Carson
I don't do zombies. Like, I really don't do zombie stories. I would never have read this if it weren't for my Hugo project, but it was really, really good. I loved the world Carson created, the way the characters just lived in such a short space of story; the hints of backstory, of having to deal with this situation for a long, long time now.
"Metal Like Blood in the Dark" by T Kingfisher
Okay, this is getting unfair. How am I supposed to choose between these stories when they're all so good? Nothing I had to skim over in this one, far more my usual kind of story. Loved Sister's gradual realisiations about the world around her, and the whole atmosphere of this one.
"Open House on Haunted Hill" by John Wiswell
The author's note got me on this one, especially as someone who does NOT do Horror. This was beautiful. That poor wonderful house trying so hard! Ana and her father just trying to deal... this was really good, and a pleasant surprise that subverted the expectations of the title.
So there are my reviews: for what little they're worth. Maybe this whole project will also help me write better reviews (although I doubt it.) I have no idea how I'm going to put these into preferential order, although I'm certain of position 6 on my ballot and probably fairly sure of position 1, everything in between is uncertain right now.
I've since started working on the third of the Murderbot novellas. I'm counting this as Hugo-adjacent reading as I need to finish these before I can get to the Murderbot novel ("Network Effect") which is up for the novel award. It will also mean I will have read at least two of the series' up for for Series award, too.
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