Best Novelette
This is one of the hardest categories to pick. There were a lot of very fine novelettes published in 2004, and in too many places to mention. I could easily have put together a list of ten or more, but these five are my final choice. Looking back, Chris Rowe’s remarkable “The Voluntary State” still seems like the SF story of the year. It had that dislocating sense of strangeness that makes SF special. Kelly Link’s delightful “The Faery Handbag” was the best fantasy story of the year, though her “Stone Animals” is also remarkable. I loved Jeff VanderMeer’s “Three Days…” from Polyphony – it’s enigmatic, distant and has stayed with me long after reading. The Wolfe is classic Wolfe, which means it’s as good as it gets, and Baxter doesn’t get the Hugo attention he deserves. Any of these would be a worthy winner, should they make the final list. I’m dubious they will, though…
- Rowe, Christopher, “The Voluntary State”
- Link, Kelly, “The Faery Handbag”
- VanderMeer, Jeff, “Three Days in a Border Town”
- Wolfe, Gene, “The Lost Pilgrim”
- Baxter, Stephen, “PeriAndry’s Quest”