Outside of a Dog: 2007 Hugo Award Nominees: Short Story

Cyphomandra

Cyphomandra wrote on July 2, 2007 at 8:16 AM:

Thanks for the links here - I'd read all of them except the Robert Reed one, and I completely agree with you that it's the best. I would have worried about the current state of the genre if I hadn't remembered how much I'd disliked most of last year's nominees as well...

I think the Gaiman short annoyed me a lot more than Pratt's Impossible Dreams, because I would rather one perky and convenient store clerk than all women becoming convenient metaphors for alien contact (are there any stories where men are the mysterious alien unknowable?), but that's more rearranging the runners-up rather than changing the order. I thought The House Beyond Your Sky was pretty but pointless, and Kin was interesting but didn't really stick. Eight Episodes has definitely lodged in my mind for future consideration.

I've been reading your booklog for a while but haven't commented before - I really enjoy reading the reviews, tho', and hope you don't mind lurkers!

Kate

Kate wrote on July 2, 2007 at 9:26 AM:

Cyphomandra, welcome.

Your reaction to the Gaiman was my first reaction, which made me *very* cranky, but as I said, I ended up giving it a more charitable reading--not aliens to illustrate women, but to illustrate the flaws in the narrator's perception & worldview, and by extension everyone who believes that "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" tripe. But I agree that the story can be read either way.

(And how could I mind lurkers? They're _readers_, that's what they are. => Also, I see you're watching _Fullmetal Alchemist_, and I went a little overboard on writing about that on LJ a while back, if you're interested: tagged posts. Somewhere in there is links to other people's episode-by-episode (and thus spoiler-safe) commentary.)

Cyphomandra

Cyphomandra wrote on July 3, 2007 at 8:52 AM:

Oh man. I am completely obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist, although I haven't yet posted anything about it in detail because my notes keep deteriorating into inarticulate lists of delight, and I need to corral them into something more eloquent and reasoned. Your list of posts is great, and a definite inspiration, although I'm only reading the early ones in an attempt to control myself (I'm on ep 32 of the anime - my next DVD is corrupt and there's no replacement in stock, I still haven't got the last few DVDs due to ordering issues and I have a heap of actual work-related things to do, so I've started reading the manga as a (possibly misguided) coping mechanism).

I will probably see you again in a comments section for one of the more traumatic episodes...

Kate

Kate wrote on July 3, 2007 at 9:08 AM:

Let's see, episode 32 . . . oh, look, cliffhanger. What a surprise! =>

I've only read two volumes of the manga, which early on is just close enough to the anime to suffer in comparison. I'm waiting for the anime to fade a bit in my mind--hah!--to be able to do the manga justice, especially since it does diverge.

I haven't dared watch the movie yet, because reviews of it are so mixed. One of these days.

And there's nothing wrong with inarticulate lists of delight!

Have fun--it keeps getting better from there.