The novelette category was pretty good this year. However, there was no story that would have been the best, on the other hand, none of the stories was the worst. The bleak futures was a theme and most of the stories had some dystopian undertones, but survival and the power of community and cooperation were seen as an answer. I started to create my list backward. Gu Shi’s story was fairly easy to put in last place. It was not bad per se, but too much explaining made it easy to place it number six. The second to last was fairly easy to find; Nghi Vo’s story didn’t engage me. After that, “I AM AI” was clearly the least good of the remaining novelettes. “The Year Without Sunshine” and “Ivy, Angelica, Bay” had some similarities as, in both, communal cohesion small suburban communities were an important part of the plot.
“Ivy, Angelica, Bay” by C.L. Polk (Tor.com, 8 December 2023)
The local community is threatened by a shady urban development company planning to take over a local park and develop a road which would shatter the village-like neighborhood. Miss l'Abielle has recently lost her mother, a witch who tried to strengthen the community. She has powers, but the representatives of the company have abilities of their own and a clever plan. However, Miss l'Abielle has some help—in many forms. A fine story, well told, with a nice blend of magic in a suburban setting.
“I AM AI” by Ai Jiang (Shortwave)
AI is a human who has had most of her parts replaced by cybernetic ones. She makes her living by writing things she pretends are written by an AI, but with better-than-average individualism. Surviving is hard, and her battery charge tends to be low. To be a more efficient and untiring writer, she wants to replace more of her biological parts, but there will be a cost. The place where she lives has a strong communal feeling, which initially she doesn’t realize. She also provides power to poor people from her batteries (I didn’t really get how that happened; was there some kind of wireless power transfer?). A well-written story, but the first half was perhaps a bit too long and confusing as little of the background was explained.
“Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition” by Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适 translated by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld, February 2023)
The history of a world after a safe method of cryosleep was developed. It is safe, but it isn’t possible to more than double someone's combined lifetime—about 90 years of life awake and 90 years of sleep. The story is mostly excerpts from a book which describes the history and consequences of the technology, even if there is a backstory of sorts. People make investments and wait for them to mature, and people abandon their children and parents (the latter is seen as totally immoral, apparently much worse than leaving your children behind, apparently everywhere in the world). There are descriptions of an expedition to “another galaxy,” which will take 900 years (no mention of inventing FTL drive); on the other hand, “interstellar immigration” to Titan is mentioned (apparently, the author’s astronomical knowledge approaches zero). The writing is okay, but very much in the apparent Chinese tradition of “tell, don’t show.” Not bad, but not an excellent story, either.
“On the Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo (Tor.com, 31 October 2023)
A young person joins Bonnie and Clyde-type outlaws who rob banks and escape via “fox roads”—roads which are impossible to find and seem to be in another dimension, The person wants to find the deed to his/her parents' house, which was stolen by the outlaws from a bank. (I wonder why, if the bank has lost it, would it not be automatically void?) While traveling with the outlaws, he/she really finds out what and who he/she is. A genderfluid story, it was fairly good, but not excellent, with hardly any background of the characters or situation.
“One Man’s Treasure” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023)
Trash collectors have a special day when they collect larger objects abandoned on the streets (apparently there is a special day for that). When magical objects are commonplace, their job gets interesting, as it is hard to know what kind of effects a particular object might have. There have been deaths due to those objects, though sometimes the collectors may also find valuable things. But when the collectors find a statue that appears to be a live man turned to stone, they face a dilemma: what to do? Their managers seem to have strangely little interest in the problem and seem to think the rubbish is rubbish—just throw everything away. A pretty good story that was interesting to the end.
“The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023)
There has been some kind of disaster (volcanic action?) and the internet has stopped, there is little fuel, and electricity works intermittently. One neighborhood pulls resources together, cooperates, and cares for people, working through the difficulties better than many other areas. A warm and cozy, perhaps even too cozy, story as there is little conflict—everyone is mostly happy and copes despite the situation. (I wonder, though, what happened to houses that were left to freeze during the winter—frozen pipes were not mentioned.)
My voting order:
1. “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi
Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023)
2. “Ivy, Angelica, Bay” by C.L. Polk
(Tor.com, 8 December 2023)
3. “One Man’s Treasure” by Sarah
Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023)
4. “I AM AI” by Ai Jiang (Shortwave)
5. “On the Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo
(Tor.com, 31 October 2023)
6. “Introduction to 2181 Overture,
Second Edition” by Gu Shi /〈2181序曲〉再版导言, 顾适 translated by Emily Jin
(Clarkesworld, February 2023)
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