We have never liked pumpkin spice. We have never cared for apple orchards or trick-or-treating, or anything of the like. Nonetheless, we still wait for autumn with anticipation, because October is when the winners of the Hugo Awards are announced! If you are an upstanding citizen and happened to read our article about the Hugos last year, you should be familiar with the excitement, but for all the rest of you, the Hugo Awards are only “the most prestigious award in science fiction,” as stated on their website. The awards include categories for works of different mediums and lengths released during the window of eligibility. For this article, we’re covering the 2024 Hugos, which awards science fiction published in 2023. This year, the winners have already been announced, so we would like to review some winning works, as well as one that deserves plenty of recognition, despite not winning.

For example, the novelette “On The Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo wasn’t this year’s winner, but we figured this review would be incomplete without highlighting a local author, seeing as Vo was born in Illinois but lives in Milwaukee. “On The Fox Roads” follows an unnamed person as they join two bank robbers, originally to try to get the deed of their parents’ store back. They join Jack and Lai, the bank robbers, as their getaway driver, and they race away from the scene of the crimes out into the unknown, unpredictable Midwest fields. This is where they encounter the fox roads, which require belief and trust in each other to navigate. As the story progresses, they find a home with Jack and Lai, as well as confidence and contentment in their own identity. 

Set in the Jazz Age, the novelette plays with motifs of identity, connection, and self-discovery, as well as allusions to the often-romanticized Bonnie and Clyde. A man and a woman on the run, committing crimes, are going to be assumed as lovers, and when our narrator joins them, the media decides that she is Jack’s little sister. The ideas around finding oneself and connection are shown through a discovery of gender identity and queerness from our narrator, and through an exploration of Asian identity, specifically Chinese and Vietnamese. Our narrator is a first-generation Chinese immigrant, and Jack and Lai are Chinese and Vietnamese respectively. The characters deal with a lot of blatant racism, but also connect with their identities through places like Chinatown and the ways in which they grew up, although neither of these are the focus of the story. Identity and connection is a thing that almost everyone can relate to, as is putting your trust in other people. 

The winner of the short story category is “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer. The story begins by introducing Abelique, a fresh-to-the-market lifestyle mobile application. The app takes off, seeing exponential growth in users, and our protagonist Linnea ends up trying it. Based on the information she gives, Abelique tells Linnea what to eat, when to sleep, and how to get to work. There is also an added social feature—she receives phone calls from other users reminding her to follow her schedule. Soon, she is tasked to make some calls herself, and she does. Conspiracy theories begin to circulate that the app is run by a dark cult. However, Linnea remains healthy. The app also encourages Linnea to reconnect with an old interest in art by adding her to an art discussion group. She begins to take time every day to draw. After some investigation, the app is revealed to just be artificial intelligence. Not an evil cult, but the A.I. isn’t evil either. After the discovery, users began to leave the app, but Linnea continues her new habits and keeps in touch with her new art friends. 

Through this story, Kritzer argues that human connection is what makes us happiest. Readers can see this as Linnea forms better habits after talking to people over the phone and on discussion boards. As readers, we expect the A.I. to be evil, but it’s refreshingly regular. It is ambivalent towards Linnea, unlike the friends she makes. The reason that Abelique is helpful to Linnea and other users is ultimately because of the connections it facilitated with other humans, and that is what brings her joy in the long run. We are social creatures, and connection is something that makes us happy, even if we aren’t getting something material out of it.

Also by Kritzer is the winner of the novelette category, “The Year Without Sunshine.” This novelette takes place in a world where an unnamed disaster has caused smoke to cover the sun. The story follows our narrator Alexis and her neighbors as they navigate this new world. They start by creating a booth that lets people communicate with each other in place of messaging apps, but as time passes, the block grows closer together and supports each other. One neighbor relies on a constant flow of oxygen to be able to breathe, and the rest of the block donates propane to help run their generator and figures out a way to make sure that they have power during the frequent blackouts. 

Human connection is key throughout the story, just like in “Better Living Through Algorithms.” When this block is thrown into a dystopian world, they don’t turn on each other or isolate. Instead, they work together to support everyone, and make sacrifices to help each other. 

Emily Tesh’s book, Some Desperate Glory, took home the win in the novel category this year. Set in outer space in a universe where Earth has been destroyed, the novel follows Kyr, a girl who’s been raised in a human colony that wants to avenge Earth. As she learns more about Gaea Station, where she lives, she struggles to reconcile what she learns with her preconceived perception of Gaea Station and the people there. 

The exciting setting draws us readers in, where they then engage with the story of a teenage girl trying to figure out how to live when everything she knows has been thrown into doubt. We see the cult-like environment that Kyr lives in, and how she reacts when she has to question her beliefs. Many can relate to this feeling, of having something that you always thought was good and true being exposed for its flaws. It creates complete mental upheaval to have your lifelong beliefs criticized, even when the criticism is valid. 

This year’s works definitely hinged on human connection, but we believe that that is the same every year. Science fiction stories are delivered in unique ways, but the throughline is that they comment on aspects of the human condition. This year’s stories tell us that no matter what technological advancements are made, what disasters we’re facing, or what planet we’re on, the most important thing is our relations with one another.