Re: Hugo Shortlist 2008

The novel category is very strong, I think, except for Rollback (but
you knew that’d get a nomination, right?). I wish Catherynne Valente’s
In the Cities of Coin and Spice had got a nod, but I’m sure not enough
people read it, and many who did may not have thought it a novel. 

Novella was a weakish category over all this year, and this category
reflects that. It’s not that bad a list based on what was out there.
My vote goes to “Memorare”, but I can see arguments for the other
ones. (I didn’t really like KKR’s story that much, but I noted that
lots of people did. And Willis’s story is amusing enough but really
pretty slight. So maybe I can really only see arguments for the Kress
and Shepard!) The two novellas I really miss here are Elizabeth Hand’s
Illyria, but again, not that many people saw it, I’m guessing; and Ian
MacLeod’s “The Master Miller’s Tale”, which does rather puzzle me by
its absence. (Oh, and I should add Dan Simmon's "Muse of Fire" to the
list of good novellas that were ignored.)

As Niall Harrison says, the novelette category is sma****ng! (Well,he
actually said that about the Moles story, but it works for the whole
category.) Of the five stories, I’d be happy with a win for any —
“Glory” seems definitely the weakest to me, but at least that too
would celebrate Egan’s return. I just really regret that neither of
Kelly Link’s wonderful novelettes made the list. (Though my favorite,
“Light”, was perhaps again hard to find for nominators, given its
mainstream source.) 

And, yes, short story is a bit of a letdown, though there’s some nice
stuff there. My vote goes very strongly to Ken MacLeod’s “Who’s Afraid
of Wolf 359?”, though I actually preferred (very slightly) his “Jesus
Christ, Reanimator”. My favorite story of the year, Holly Phillips’s
“Three Days of Rain”, didn’t make it, and neither did any of my next 5
or 6 favorites (except MacLeod’s story, of course). But in all honesty
stuff like “Tideline” doesn’t disgrace the category — and I’ll revisit
“Last Contact”, which really seems to have made an impact on a lot of
people but which I frankly don’t really remember that well. 

No comment on the rest of the list except to say that I’m thrilled
that Jonathan Strahan got a nod, and I’m thrilled that Argentus (to
which I contribute regularly) also got a nod. (Happy for Locus too of
course, but it’s expected to be on the list!) And really I think Helix
has been publi****ng some very fine fiction, and it's nice to see them
getting noticed.