psocoptera

I was waiting until we got the packet and I read the last two novellas to rank all the short fiction at once, but now I've decided that we're not getting the packet until I make some public gesture of giving up hope of getting the packet, so, behind the cut, my ballot ranking w/comments for the novelettes and short stories.

Novelette

My initial prediction, before reading the de Bodard and Pinsker stories, was that "Secret Life of Bots" would win. I still think it's an excellently-paced crowd-pleasing story and will stand by this prediction although I also think the meta commentary-on-the-arts nature of Wind Will Rove will play pretty well.

My own ranking:

1. “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” by K.M. Szpara (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
2. “A Series of Steaks,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld, January 2017)
3. “Wind Will Rove,” by Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s, September/October 2017)
4. “The Secret Life of Bots,” by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, September 2017)
5. “Extracurricular Activities,” by Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com, February 15, 2017)
6. “Children of Thorns, Children of Water,” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny, July-August 2017)

2 vs 3, Steaks vs Wind, was the hardest relative ranking to decide for me (and I still feel a little dithery about it. Wind is deeper, Steaks is just so clever.).

Short Story

My initial prediction before reading Martian Obelisk was that "Authentic Indian Experience" would win and I continue to think so.

My own ranking:

1. "Welcome to your Authentic Indian Experience™,” by Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex, August 2017)
2. “Fandom for Robots,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny, September/October 2017)
3. “Carnival Nine,” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2017)
4. “Sun, Moon, Dust” by Ursula Vernon, (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
5. “The Martian Obelisk,” by Linda Nagata (Tor.com, July 19, 2017)
6. “Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand,” by Fran Wilde (Uncanny, September 2017)

Hardest relative ranking here was 3 vs 4, Carnival vs Sun Etc. I really liked Sun, it was a sweet and clever twist on the trope, but I thought Carnival Nine was more original and more powerful. Martian Obelisk I felt was really undercut by the last reveal and would have been much stronger if it just focused on the Martian side of the story, oh well.

Nothing in either of these I thought about ranking below no-award; in both cases, I wasn't into the story I put sixth by, like, a lot, as compared with the other five, but, I don't know, if the Hugo voters disagree I don't feel like I need to *object* other than the implicit objection of having ranked everything else higher.