The novella category was pretty varied. The best story was very clear, a few others were adequate but not especially good or unforgetable, and the worst nominee was horrible in both writing and philosophy, almost worse than the worst rabid puppy nominees. So the first and last places were easy to decide, the other places fell also pretty easily into their places.
“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet,” He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short Stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)
An expedition from Earth travels to a colony located on a sea world. All contact had been cut off years ago, and they are going to investigate if all the rules have been followed. There are many rules: All scientific information is strictly restricted, and there may not be any significant genetic drift compared to “base” humans. The restrictions haven’t been followed, and the colonists have evolved (some space radiation has caused everyone to develop exactly the same mutations, which are beneficial for survival on that planet - heh), which is a very bad thing. It’s a pretty bad story. It starts with an unnecessary scene at an apparently abandoned American space facility. I didn’t really see the point of that episode; it was pretty superfluous. There is a vast amount of straight lecturing about the backstory (with stupid made-up or badly understood science) and most of the dialogue is “As you know, Bob” style, where the characters discuss things they should be well aware of. The society is apparently an extremely fascist one, to which genetic purity is the most important thing, and it destroys sentient beings with no moral qualms or ethical discussion at all. The story was badly written and had extremely disgusting morality. It will be below “no award.”
“Seeds of Mercury,” Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend (Adventures in Space: New Short Stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers)
Another Chinese story. When I was reading the first story, I thought the bad writing was partly due to the translation. As this was translated by the same person, the fault was not in the translation - this one was okay writing-wise. In the story, a researcher creates a new kind of life that could live on Mercury. An eccentric billionaire sponsors the research and designs a way to transport life to the planet. They were hoping that, with enough time, life would evolve intelligence. And so it does, eventually. Almost the opposite in philosophy to the other Chinese story, this one was about creating a new intelligent species, not destroying one due to trivial differences. The plot was better, and the writing was vastly better than in that novella. Despite that, as a whole, this story felt fairly average and had significant faults. Apparently, the Chinese style of storytelling includes long “lectures” by a narrative voice that carefully explains science and story details to the reader, which feels extremely old-fashioned and irritating.
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
The story continues a series set in an alternative version of China. A cleric who has been traveling returns to his home monastery only to find that the monastery's leader has passed away. His relatives, who seek his body, have arrived at the monastery gates with war mammoths. The monastery is also home to a colony of intelligent birds, the same species as the one that has been accompanying the cleric. These birds remember everything they hear. The story is filled with names and places and is very dense (making it not an easy read). I have not been a big fan of this series or this particular story. There is a lot of dialogue, but even with mammoths at the gates, there is little action. Despite these aspects, it is the best installment in the series so far. However, it could have been shorter. It is unlikely to be one of my top choices when it comes to the Hugo voting.
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (Tordotcom)
The Earth is uninhabitable, and people are living on strips built around Jupiter. Not all of the strips are inhabited; there are platforms where people live. (I wonder why Jupiter? What was stopping them from building those superstructures around Earth itself, or around the Moon, Venus, or Mars?) There is a plan to repopulate Earth with animals. There are genetic archives, and animals are being raised and studied in certain areas. One scientist disappears. Apparently, all safety features are unheard of, and it is possible to jump or throw someone off a habitable platform. A detective starts to study the case and, in the university area, meets her former flatmate. They were apparently romantically involved but haven’t been in contact for years. Together, they start to study the crime case. It is a fairly slow-moving story that started pretty well but decayed after that. The “romance” part was at times pretty cringe and teen-like. “Oh, I touched her hand.” The ending had some slight shades of gray, but the whole society seemed strange and wasn’t really well described. A solid three-star story.
Rose/House by Arkady Martine (Subterranean)
A famous architect built his dream house before his death. The house is run by an AI and is closed to anyone but Dr. Selene Gisil, who was the architect's pupil until they had a falling out. The house is filled with art and schematics done by the architect, but no one can go inside except Dr. Gisil, for two weeks every year. About two weeks after Dr. Gisil last visited the house, the house AI calls the police and reports a dead body. It doesn’t volunteer any other information and doesn’t allow anyone to enter the premises. As no one is allowed inside, who could the body be? It turns out that several people and groups have an interest in the contents of the house and the AI software itself. After Selene Gisil returns from Europe, she and a member of the local police are able to enter the house - but is it easy to get out of there anymore? It’s a pretty well-written story about a “ghost” house. The beginning was pretty good, but the latter part of the story was fairly confusing and disorganized. I wonder why anyone would want a copy of such an irrational AI to run anything - and why old architectural drawings would have such immense value - aren’t there any other talented architects in the world?
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK)
Toadling is a princess who was raised by water fairies. She is a changeling and was replaced by an elf child. As time passes differently in Elfen land, she is asked to be the fairy godmother of the elf child who took her place. She was supposed to give a blessing so that the child would not harm those around her. The spell goes wrong and doesn't work. Toadling stays at the castle and tries to undo her mistake, but eventually isn´t able to do it except by putting the changeling to permanent sleep, after she has killed her nurse without the slightest remorse. That leads to the “Sleeping Beauty” scenario where a beautiful (but deeply evil) princess sleeps at an abandoned castle surrounded by vines and trees, and is guarded by Toadling who can take the form of a toad. Centuries later, a knight who has read tales about an imprisoned princess, arrives to rescue the damsel. He seems nice and understanding; perhaps Toadling could explain what is going on. An interesting take on an old fairytale told in beautifully written and easy-to-read language. The characters were interesting and well-drawn, except for the princess whose absolute evilness was poorly explained and did not seem to have any other character traits. Overall, this is an excellent and enjoyable story.
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