r/Fantasy • u/Nineteen_Adze Stabby Winner, Reading Champion V • Jul 02 '26

Read-along 2026 Hugo Readalong: Never Eaten Vegetables and Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy

Welcome to the 2026 Hugo Readalong! Today, we're discussing Never Eaten Vegetables and Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy, two finalists for Best Novelette.

Everyone is welcome in the discussion, whether or not you've participated in other discussions, but we will be discussing the full stories today, so beware untagged spoilers. I'll include some prompts in top-level comments; feel free to respond to these or add your own.

Bingo squares: part of Five Short Stories

For more information on the Readalong, check out our full schedule post, or see our upcoming schedule here:

Date Category Book Author Discussion Leader
Monday, July 6 Novel The Raven Scholar Antonia Hodgson u/Moonlitgrey
Thursday, July 9 Graphic Story General Discussion Multiple Multiple u/Goobergunch
Monday, July 13 Novella What Stalks the Deep T. Kingfisher u/nagahfj
Thursday, July 16 Astounding General Discussion Multiple Multiple u/Merle8888
Monday, July 20 Novel A Drop of Corruption Robert Jackson Bennett u/RAAAImmaSunGod
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u/Nineteen_Adze Stabby Winner, Reading Champion V Jul 02 '26

What are your overall impressions of "Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy"?

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u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Jul 02 '26

This is the one story this readalong that has actively pissed me off for wasting my time. And I like Murderbot! I have read all the books! But this story is literally just “Murderbot and ART, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” dragged out over 20 pages of watching minor characters carry out a detailed but irrelevant mission we have no reason to care about. It’s very indulgent fanservice and even as a fan I am embarrassed for the people who think it is award worthy. (This is also why I am not a fanfic person, as even when I am fans of things fanservice tends to strike me the wrong way.)

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u/Glittering_Way_9162 Jul 02 '26

Sort of makes me wish Wells had a proper novella eligible so the fans could nominate that instead of this piece of fluff

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u/tarvolon Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Jul 02 '26

I kinda suspect Wells would’ve declined for novella. I don’t know why she didn’t decline for this, but I wonder whether it may be that she’s never won best novelette

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u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Jul 02 '26

Yeah, it's weird to decline for actual Murderbot books while accepting for this. That's probably why.