And the 2007 story competition winner is....

First we got really busy at just the wrong (right?) time. Then the judge got stuck on a Greek island without proper Internet connectivity. Then Hogswatch and Christmas came upon us... OK they're crap excuses (except for the one about the judge!) but, hey! We have a winner. And so we hand it over to the judge:
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Judges always say they have a tough time making their decision, but there's a reason for that. First you have to read all the stories. Then you have to go through the mountain of dross in front of you until you're faced with a plateau of high-quality pieces for which you have to invent a means of making some count more highly than others. So you get sidetracked and play games on the Internet instead. Then you have to read all the good ones again because you've forgotten which was which. In this particular case, I had the good fortune to be delivered straight to the plateau without having to toil through any dross-mountains, but this didn't help me much. I still procrastinated.

Here is my final decision, and sorry for the delay.

THIRD PLACE:
The Sto Helit Team.

I liked the whole issue with the Thud set: it's original, and gets the reader puzzling; there was a definite Agatha Christie feel to this one. The dialogue involving Mrs Cake is very entertaining, and I enjoyed the way Lord Vetinari's appearance caused a fluster--although, wouldn't Vetinari summon Vimes to his office rather than pay him a visit?

I thought the sense of fear and mistrust around the HEM building was nicely done, though there was some unnecessary repetition of events in the dialogue. The ending was excellent: a well-thought-out explanation about the Thud set, and no unnecessary waffle.

SECOND PLACE:
The Sto Lat Team.

I thought the beginning was cleverly done: the reader has been warned that the policeman is walking into a trap, but, distracted as I was by the baton incident, the ambush still came as a surprise.

There's a Reservoir Dogs feel to this one, what with the gang, and the warehouse, and the bloody violence. Some excellent characterisation here, including backstories, and I liked the use of different senses ( e.g. the awful stench) to make things more vivid. As for the dialogue, the person who wrote the bit where the policeman is speaking through the gag must have stuffed their mouth with something and spoken through it to achieve such gag-speaking accuracy. Or they have an interesting personal life.

I have not read all of Pratchett's novels, but would question whether a member of the Watch would actually commit murder during an arrest; also, why didn't the policeman give his real name? A nice wrapping-up at the end, and the bit about the dart board made me smile.

FIRST PLACE:
The Lancre Team.

This one has first place because it was the only one that made me laugh out loud. Twice.

I liked the intriguing nature of the alphabetic murders and the fact that it is the victims who have yet to be identified, not the murderers. Speedspare is wonderfully spooky and pathetic. I enjoyed the invention of so many new characters and backstories, and the character interplay is excellent.

The plot switches from cheesy gags to spookiness to slapstick comedy to literary experimentation to action-packed excitement; it maintains its pace and there is not one dull moment. I enjoyed the way the writers kept veering off on wild tangents, but the downside of this is that several promising threads were not followed up. I find myself hoping that one day they will be, and I will learn more about the alphabetic murders or the stories behind the characters. I was also a bit disappointed that the spoon didn't get used in some amazingly ingenious way.

The team who wrote this story obviously had a barrel of fun writing it, and I had a barrel of fun reading it.