Intersting mix of subjects here; kaiju, vampires, magic, and self-aware machines (the old term is too loaded and too intentially muddled by llm-hucksters to be of any use to me now). The machines take the biggest slice, but each story has a very different focus, so that’s nice. Top of my ballot will go to Never Eaten Vegetables by H. H. Pak, which was wonderfully well rounded, using its relatively short length to pack a short novel’s worth of world-building and characterisation, and also delivers on the feels.
Hugo Reading: Novelette
I’m not a Hugo voter this year, but I try to read the short fiction categories that are freely available. I thought this year’s short story and novelette categories were both very strong. I’d nudge “The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For” slightly above “Never Eaten Vegetables” but both are great stories.
In short, I’d put either “Six People to Revise You”, or “Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” top.