My Hugo award votes 2010 part 1: Novellas

Novellas happen to be the first category of the Hugo Awards I have read this year. The overall quality was pretty good. There were no bad or unreadable stories at all this time.

Act One, Nancy Kress
An actress and her midget manager are meeting members of a clandestine (and highly forbidden) organization which is creating children who are modified to be more empathic, as a movie dealing similar issues is being planned. Later the organization decides that some more drastic measures will be needed for the good of mankind. Pretty good story, but there is nothing really new or surprising.

Palimpsest, Charles Stross
A sort of ”timepolice” is constantly altering reality to ensure the long survival of humanity. But is their plan the best possible one? Extremely good story which has some echoes of Asimov's ”End of Eternity”. Few stories cover a longer time span.

Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow
An actor famous for his roles as a monster in horror films is planning a suicide. He reminisces his contribution to the war effort during the Second World War. There apparently for a competitor for the Manhattan Project – a plan to create giant monsters to wreak havoc on Japan's coastal cities. A part of the plan is to make an impression on the Japanese delegation by using a man in a suit to create the impression of damage that could be caused.

The God Engines, John Scalzi
Minor gods are used as engines on starships. They are forced to that function by torture and iron which binds them, and by the force of the main god, who gets power through the worship of his people. But there appears to be a new force in play, someone or something that weakens the power of the main god by killing the believers. The beginning and the end are excellent, but the middle part is probably a bit weaker.

Vishnu at the Cat Circus, Ian McDonald
The main protagonist, Vishnu, is genetically enhanced. He is extremely intelligent and will live twice as long as a normal human. The only catch is that his body ages at half speed starting from childhood, so when his mind is twenty, he looks like a ten-year-old boy. His parents had entertained some ideas about establishing a “dynasty” of superhumans, but Vishnu himself has some other ideas. And at the same time, India seems to be approaching singularity. A good, well-written story, but somehow it was a bit too open.

The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker
A steampunk-style story. A very exclusive brothel is working together with a clandestine government agency to ensure that the British empire will flourish. The agency also makes new inventions, among others artificial eyes for blind women. When a shady, eccentric, nobleman invites representatives of several foreign powers for a demonstration of a new, amazing invention, it is up to our brave hookers to prevent any competitors of the empire from getting it.

It was very hard to decide which was the best voting order, as all stories were at least pretty good. The first and the last places were fairly easy. I think that Stross's story gave the best sense of wonder. Morrow's story was a bit too irritatingly stupid and unlikely and with some far too obvious allegories about nuclear war. Late Kage Baker's story was very nice. I wonder if it will get some sympathy votes, but it was not a bad story. In my opinion, it competes from the second place with Scalzi's story, which was pretty different from anything else I have read by him. Maybe The Women of Nell Gwynne’s was a bit stronger overall.

1.Palimpses, Charles Stross
2.The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker
3.The God Engines, John Scalzi
4.Act One, Nancy Kress 
5.Vishnu at the Cat Circus, Ian McDonald
6.Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow