Ponies (short story)
Ponies is a 2010 fantasy story by Kij Johnson. It was first published on Tor.com.
Synopsis
Barbara, like all little girls, has a magic talking pony with wings and a horn. She is invited to a ritual "cutting-out party", where she must destroy two of the three things that make her pony special.
Reception
Ponies won the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story,[1] (tied with "How Interesting: A Tiny Man" by Harlan Ellison), and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story[2] and the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story.[3]
Lois Tilton considered the story to be "Highly Unsubtle."[4] Chad Orzel described the story as "just dreadful", based on a central idea that was "preposterously contrived" and "a gigantic and unsubtle literalized metaphor", and with "essentially no plot."[5]
References
- ^ Nebula Award Winners, at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved April 3, 2014
- ^ 2011 Hugo Finalists, by Patrick Nielsen Hayden, at Tor.com; published April 24, 2011; retrieved April 3, 2014
- ^ 2011 World Fantasy Award Winners & Nominees, at WorldFantasy.org; retrieved April 3, 2014
- ^ Lois Tilton Reviews Short Fiction, by Lois Tilton, at Locus Online; published 30 November 2010; retrieved June 9, 2015
- ^ Short Story Club: “Ponies,” by Kij Johnson, by Chad Orzel, at ScienceBlogs; published May 28, 2011; retrieved June 9, 2015