Hodgepodge

The five choices for The 2008 Hugo award in the short story category are:

Who's Afraid of Wolf 359 by Ken MacLeod - A rather uninspiring tale that is satirical and banal with only a few interesting moments. Not worthy of a Hugo.

A Small Room in Koboldtown by Michael Swanwick - A cute little cop drama in the land of kobolds and other fantasy world creatures. The story is well written and the ending is clever but not a story I could vote for as a Hugo.

Distant Replay by Mike Resnick - Possibly the best story here, but it's not sci/fi fantasy. It's a story of a dying man's chance meeting and what he does at the end. Poignant and moving but just because he's a known sci/fi writer and the story is in a sci/fi magazine doesn't make it Hugo material.

Tideline by Elizabeth Bear - This is a boy and his dog story with a sentient machine as the dog and the boy a survivor in a post apocalyptic time. The plot is minimal but interesting and the two characters well written. I almost decided to vote for this but re-read the next story and liked it a bit more.

Last Contact by Stephen Baxter - A wonderful story about a mother and daughter who are waiting for the end of the world. The daughter is an astrophysicist who's project may have brought on the catastrophe and is suffering from a major guilt trip. The difference in how both spend their last hours is really the strength of the story. I thought the ending could've been stronger but out the choices here, I liked it best.