By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars
Premee Mohamed
Premee Mohamed's By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars provoked in me an all-too-common reaction:
Would someone please explain to me why this is a Hugo finalist?
Of course, the answer might simply be that there were not six better novelettes this year. Most of the other five are better, though, in my opinion.
It's not terrible. It was kind of fun, and I enjoyed it. It helps that it's just a novelette and thus a quick read. It's a story about a wizard who cozens her new apprentice into fighting off an existentially threatening dragon. Actually, that sounds like a pretty good premise for a story!
Well, it is a good premise, and not a terrible story.
“By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” in Strange Horizons, 2 June 2025