Hugo Awards - Novelette 2021

I am motivated to read this year's novelette nominees primarily based on the first story listed below.  It was originally published as "I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter".  The author was then subject to all manner of abuse and harassment until they asked Clarkesworld [to withdraw the story].

I thought at the time that the story was marvelous.  The text of the story was great.  One need not delve into the subtext to enjoy the story.

But...if you wanted to reflect on that subtext, gender in general and transgender specifically, then there was a lot to chew on.  Most importantly, the author didn't kick the reader out of the story for wanting to think about it further.  The best method for attracting converts is to leave the door open.

1. “Helicopter Story”, Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020) - well...see above.  This is a top-notch story.
2. “The Inaccessibility of Heaven”, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, July/August 2020) - The story tells of fallen angels that rebelled against Heaven/God who are forced to live among common humans.  It isn't clear if this is our Earth, but it is close enough.  The rebellion lives on while they are on earth.  Humans are subject to angelic "effects".  The angels long to return to their home in heaven.  I thought it was a well-crafted tale.
3. “Two Truths and a Lie”, Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com) - This story is about a young woman who slowly discovers that she and most of her childhood friends were subjected to a sort of mystical storyteller whose stories about the children seem to come true.  It is a bit of a think piece on the impact of our words on one another and especially on our children that slowly resolves into a horror ending.  Pretty good stuff.
4. “Burn, or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super”, A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny Magazine, May/June 2020) - The world of this story includes people with supernatural abilities.  Unfortunately, the normal humans don't like the supers...at least until the supers can step in and save the normal humans.  The ending wasn't the greatest as our protagonist, Sam Wells natch, discovers that he doesn't want to use his powers.  He just wants to be an accountant that helps the "front line" supers do their thing.  We discover at the end that Sam is immune to fire.  His clothes, not so much.  I think a better ending would have involved Sam being adopted by firefighters as he can wander into fires to rescue people without the fear of being burned alive.
5. No Award
6. “Monster”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2020) - A young scientist goes to China in search of her high school friend that just so happens to be a ubiquitous super-brilliant villain that has murdered many people to develop a serum that makes him super strong and quick.  She ends up killing the villain and destroying all evidence of his discovery to prevent it from falling into the government's hands.  This was not a bad story.  It just didn't measure up to what I think Hugo-worthy work should be.

Not mentioned -

“The Pill”, Meg Elison (from Big Girl (PM Press))

It seems like this story might be in conversation with Cliff and the Calories by Robert A Heinlein.  In Heinlein's tale, our protagonist is committed to a diet to keep her in a super svelte condition because she thinks that is what her boyfriend wants.  Spoiler, he prefers her with a little more meat on her bones as being too skinny makes her look unhealthy.

In The Pill, our protagonist is obese in a world that is discovered a pill that causes everyone to be a healthy weight.  The downside is that one in ten people who take the pill die.  Our heroine eschews the pill and ends up being a sort of live porn star who is steadily being encouraged to go from obese to morbidly obese.

The story has several significant flaws.

• It portrays the US FDA as rapidly and cavalierly approving the drug even though the 1:10 death rate is well documented from the trials.  The FDA never approves a drug quickly.  And FDA officials are terrified of approving a drug that kills one out of 100,000 much less one out of every ten people.
• As an aside, it should be pointed out that America's problem with obesity is primarily the result of poor government policies originating with the food pyramid of the 1970s that advocated an increase in starches and carbohydrates.
• Obesity is not healthy.  The NIH estimates that obesity reduces a person's lifespan by an average of 14 years.  There are real-world consequences for being obese that include heart issues and diabetes. Our various public and private means of funding health care are strained by obesity.
• As an additional aside, consider the implications of a treatment that kills one in ten that then improves the health of the other nine such that they regain 14 years of healthy, productive living?  While we lose a person 30-40 years early, we gain over 120 cumulative years in the other nine.  I wouldn't accept a 1:10 death rate in a pharmaceutical treatment, this particular cold equation suggests that our society would be better off even with that disastrous sort of drug.
• The story briefly entertains and then immediately discards, the idea of changing one's diet and increasing one's physical activity as a means of losing weight.  Instead, the story validates and excuses poor eating habits.
• The story describes those that take the pill as having a single body style.  There isn't any more diversity of appearance as everyone has the same chiseled features.  That is utter nonsense.  If you look back at older photos before American prosperity gave rise to the American obesity epidemic you will see a wide range of appearances that were all very healthy.  The author is offering a false choice to the reader.

Unlike Heinlein's tale that supports a healthy lifestyle, this story endorses a decidedly unhealthy lifestyle.

Being honest here, I have struggled with my weight.  In my prime in the Corps, I was 190 lbs.  After the service, I gradually increased my weight to 255 lbs.  After I got serious about my health, I was able to go back down to 195 lbs. - they were good-looking pounds, but I still had more to lose.  Various factors over the last few years have caused me to go back up to 225 lbs.  I want to go back down.  Losing weight is hard.

But it isn't impossible for the vast majority of obese people if they are willing to learn some simple rules about eating and commit to a very modest amount of exercise.  This story does harm to the obese by offering succor to their desire to be seen as "normal".  Rewarding this story with being a finalist for a Hugo is unconscionable.