Jeff sent me a link to this story after I told him about my 52 Short Stories plan. Apparently all of the Hugo nominees are available to read on the net.
I started liking this story at precisely the moment when the narrator, who is being dragged to a party, says, when it is revealed that they may not know how to get to the party, “Hope welled slowly up inside me.” I know that feeling. Usually it’s when your boss gives you a crappy assignment, and suddenly the server crashes. Hope wells slowly up inside you that the server will just die there in the closet and you’ll be left with nothing to do.
This is occurs very early in the story, and was enough of an emotional hook to keep me there for the rest of it (which I read at work).
The real hook in this story doesn’t come in until much later. I won’t spoil it, but it’s wonderful. This was the first bit of Neil Gaiman that I’ve read, so I look forward to more.
Criticism: Something bugged me about the narrator’s perspective being 30 years in the future. It seemed to get in the way of the story.
Lesson gleaned: Hook the reader early and often. Make them identify with the character in a specific and original way.
March 6th, 2009 at 11:42 am
tim introduced me to neil’s books, and i started with neverwhere. i know it’s not a short story, but i think you might appreciate it nonetheless.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
thanks for the suggestion, dee.