This time, the novellas were the first Hugo nomination category I finished reading. The stories were mostly at least decent, but there were no truly exceptional or unforgettable ones. On the other hand, the overall quality was much higher than last year’s, and there were no complete stinkers like the bottom nominees of the previous year. Three of the stories were fantasy, and three leaned more toward science fiction, which made for a fairly good mix. My voting order was pretty easy to decide.
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
Veris lives a peaceful life in a small village. Most of her family was destroyed when a tyrant and his invading army came to her country and settled in a nearby castle. Close to the village lie the northern woods—no one goes there. If a child or an ignorant person wanders into the forest, they never return. Not once.
Veris once managed to retrieve a child from the forest, something unheard of. When the tyrant’s children go missing into the woods, Veris is summoned to the tyrant’s court. She has no choice: she must bring the children back, or she and her remaining family will be killed.
The forest is filled with strange and mischievous creatures, but Veris manages to strike deals with them—at a cost. She escapes the forest again, but not without sacrifice. This was a pretty good story, though it could have been slightly tighter. The backstory was also a bit sketchy. What exactly is the tyrant’s background? What is the origin of the forest and its creatures? The ending felt somewhat abrupt—was this perhaps the start of a series?
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
A sequel to the earlier novella What Moves the Dead by the same author. The main characters return. Ex-military officer Alex (who belongs to a “military gender”) travels to her family’s hunting lodge in a remote location. It has been largely unused for years. A caretaker was living there, but he has recently died from a mysterious respiratory illness that the villagers refuse to discuss.
The lodge feels unnaturally quiet. Alex and her companions hire a cook, whose son comes along to help as a handyman. Alex dreams of a woman sitting on her chest and stealing her breath. Surely it was just a dream? But the handyman begins to seem exhausted and distracted, like he hasn’t slept in days. Is something supernatural happening?
It turns out, yes—there is something otherworldly going on. The story takes a while to build up, but it ends up being a solid supernatural thriller (and, as a mild spoiler, there is no quasi-natural explanation this time). There were some genuinely tense moments. The characters were well-developed, and the writing was smooth and enjoyable. I liked this more than the first installment.
Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
Navigators guide ships through a form of hyperspace using “shadows”—some kind of invisible (perhaps metaphysical?) extensions of their bodies. It reminded me of Lucy’s “vectors” from the anime Elfen Lied, though less lethal and with greater range. Navigators belong to various guilds that are in constant rivalry, seeing each other as competition. Meanwhile, the powers that be see the entire navigation system as expensive and possibly obsolete.
A dangerous creature has escaped from hyperspace, one that feeds on human minds. (I did wonder how such a thing evolved in a place where no sentient beings presumably exist…) A team of young trainees from different guilds is assembled to stop it. The situation becomes even more critical when their senior mentor is apparently poisoned. Can this group of misfits—each viewed with skepticism by their own superiors—succeed?
The story was quite good, although the focus leaned more toward the relationships between the characters than the central plot. I wasn’t too interested in the teenage emotional drama, but the writing itself was strong.
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
Damira spent her life fighting for elephants. It was a losing battle against ivory poachers, and ultimately, she died in the struggle. Just weeks before her death, however, her consciousness was recorded.
Decades later, Russian scientists have brought back mammoths—or at least mammoth analogs—to roam Siberia. But these creatures lack the instinctive knowledge to thrive. So Damira’s mind is uploaded into a large female mammoth, making her the “matriarch” of the herd. Who better to guide them than someone who knew elephants intimately?
But even in remote Siberia, the mammoths aren’t safe. Poachers remain a threat, and the park's organizers plan to sell hunting rights to the ultra-rich, at prices only billionaires could afford. Damira, in mammoth form, is more aggressive than a natural elephant—and it’s not wise to provoke a creature that size.
A well-written and thoughtful story, told from multiple perspectives and timeframes, including the son of a poacher who doesn’t share his father’s views.
The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo
The story continues a series set in an alternate version of ancient China. The protagonist, Cleric Chih, serves as a chaperone for a young noblewoman—whose background may not be as noble as she claims. The bride-to-be is to marry a wealthy man at a distant manor and live a life of luxury.
But things at the manor seem… off. A servant casually refers to the man’s former wives, implying there have been many. A young man behaves erratically, trying to convey something important. Chih and the bride discover strange things in an abandoned building. Is the marriage dangerous?
The groom starts to appear increasingly unstable and sinister. Should Chih stop the wedding and escape? Well—yes, but not for the reasons they think, and not for the person they believe to be in danger.
By far the best entry in the series so far. The first half of the story is very low fantasy, like earlier installments—but that changes. Dramatically. As does everything else in the story.
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
Set aboard what appears to be a generation ship—or maybe a mining ship?—this story’s worldbuilding is confusing. There’s a rigid caste system. At the bottom are the "chained": literal chains around their ankles, living in filth in the Hold. A level up are people with anklets—electronic chains controlled via a mobile app by those in power.
A young man from the chained caste turns out to be a gifted artist. A social scientist, herself an anklet-wearer and the daughter of a chained man, brings him to the upper levels as part of a social experiment. The boy struggles to adapt and misses his mentor, a prophetic figure from the Hold. The scientist takes him back to visit—but the ship’s rulers are not pleased.
There may be a chance for solidarity and rebellion.
The writing is solid, but the message felt extremely obvious. “Oh wow, slavery and oppression are bad?” Who could have guessed? I also struggled to buy the setting: are they mining ore in space? By hand? Is it a hollowed asteroid? The caste system lacked a clear, believable origin. The background was underdeveloped.
My voting order will be:
1. The Butcher
of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
2. What Feasts
at Night, T. Kingfisher
3. The Brides
of High Hill by Nghi Vo
4. The Tusks
of Extinction by Ray Nayler
5. Navigational
Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
6. The
Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
