Hugo novelettes tend to be long short stories (7500-17500 words). I used to bag on this category as slightly too long short stories, and that’s certainly true for the bulk of nominees, but for the last few rounds I’ve reviewed, the top stories have been really excellent; the best entries are super short stories that benefit from the extra space while still being compact and not overstaying their welcome.
Reviews of the Novelette Nominees.
I really look forward to the short story category – it’s a good chance to find new authors, and often has the biggest return on my reading time. This year I was particularly enthusiastic as I don’t think I’ve read anything from any of the authors.
Reviews for all of the Short Story Nominees.
It’s been a while since I’ve done this, (2019) so I hope I’m not too rusty. As is my want, I’ll stick to the Fiction categories, prioritising Novel, Novella, Novelette and Short Story (the last two generally being my favourite categories), then if I have time hit Series, Graphic Novel, New Writer, and Young Adult (the last two technically not being Hugos). I’ll also dip my toes into the presentation categories if I’ve already covered off most of the entrants.