chris_gerrib | Entries tagged with hugos

Herewith is my Hugo final ballot for 2024. Any category or nominee within a category not listed means I did not vote or rank therein.

Category: Best Novel
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Tordotcom, Orbit UK): 1
Translation State by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK): 2
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager UK): 3
Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Tor, Tor UK): 4
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom): 5

Category: Best Novella
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK): 1
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (Tordotcom): 2
Rose/House by Arkady Martine (Subterranean): 3

Category: Best Novelette
“The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine, November-December 2023): 1
“Ivy, Angelica, Bay” by C. L. Polk (Tor.com 8 December 2023): 2
“On the Fox Roads” by Nghi Vo (Tor.com 31 October 2023): 3
“One Man's Treasure” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023): 4
I AM AI by Ai Jiang (Shortwave): 5

Category: Best Short Story
美食三品 (“Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times”), 宝树 / Baoshu (银河边缘013：黑域密室 / Galaxy's Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain): 1
“Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023): 2
“How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” by P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2023): 3
“The Mausoleum’s Children” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, May-June 2023): 4

Category: Best Series
Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK): 1
October Daye by Seanan McGuire (DAW): 2

Category: Best Related Work
A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith (Penguin Press; Particular Books): 1

Category: Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Barbie, screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, directed by Greta Gerwig (Warner Bros. Studios): 1
Poor Things, screenplay by Tony McNamara, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Element Pictures): 2

Category: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: "Subspace Rhapsody", written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, directed by Dermott Downs (CBS / Paramount+): 1
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: "Those Old Scientists", written by Kathryn Lyn and Bill Wolkoff, directed by Jonathan Frakes (CBS / Paramount+): 2

Category: Best Editor, Short Form
Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas: 1
Neil Clarke: 2

Category: Best Semiprozine
Uncanny Magazine, publishers and editors-in-chief: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas; managing editor Monte Lin; nonfiction editor Meg Elison; podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky.: 1
Strange Horizons, by the Strange Horizons Editorial Collective: 2

Category: Best Fan Writer
James Davis Nicoll: 1

Category: Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (not a Hugo)
To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (Del Rey): 1

Category: Astounding Award for Best New Writer (not a Hugo)
Sunyi Dean (2nd year of eligibility): 1
Moniquill Blackgoose (1st year of eligibility): 2

Current Mood: accomplished

As many people already know, the Hugo nomination statistics for the 2023 event have been released. There are a number of glaring anomalies and the relevant committee members are providing vague and uninformative answers. Unfortunately, unless somebody has access to a working TARDIS, fixing the 2023 event is simply impossible. What we need to do is figure out how to prevent this from happening again.

I believe this year’s problem results from a fundamental flaw of the unincorporated literary society which administers the award, the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). Simply put, the organization was designed for an era in which everybody who cared about the Hugos could fit into a large hotel ballroom. As both Sad Puppies and this current incident prove, those days are long gone.

Some in fandom have said that this year’s problem was because the con was held in China, a country that is quick to censor people it disagrees with. This is probably true, but hard to fix. Simply put, any organization with membership open to the public is vulnerable to being diverted by a sudden influx in new members. There is no easy way to ensure that future Worldcons will only happen in “friendly” countries.

I believe, therefore, that the solution to fixing the Hugos is to, as much as possible, to decouple the Hugo process from the administering of the seated convention. I propose:

1) Creating a standing committee of people to administer the Hugos. I propose five people, each elected for a two-year term with those terms staggered such that the WSFS membership is voting for at least two seats each year.

2) This committee’s primary function would be to hire and direct a third-party firm to administer the election. This firm would:
a. count the votes for both nomination and finalists and administer the website for voting.
b. Make recommendations to the committee for eligibility, leaving the committee to make the final decisions.
c. run EPH.
d. report results including nomination statistics.
e. Administer the committee election. (I assume that the initial committee would be appointed by WSFS at a Business Meeting.)

3) The committee, once created, would develop their own internal rules which would be reported to and approved by WSFS at a Business Meeting. Thereafter, the committee would make an annual report to WSFS at the Business Meeting which would also fill any unanticipated vacancies.

4) The seated convention would still handle all the logistics of the award ceremony and provide to the committee a list of eligible voters.

To be clear, this would require a significant and ongoing financial commitment. My personal guess would be around $20,000 USD for year-one startup costs and somewhat less for ongoing operations. This is just a guess – our committee would have to get firm numbers. I do, however, feel there will be a number of benefits. Specifically:

1) The committee can select which country they are based in and therefore which local laws apply. There will be less concern (at least with regards to the Hugos) where the con is held and the local fans can say to their government “all we do is hand out the awards to the people we’ve been told to.” Any censorship (denying of visas, etc.) will have to be explicit.

2) The actual administration of the award will be easier. Currently, each sitting con has to create their own voting system. With a standing committee, this work would be done once.

3) Reporting will also be easier as we don’t have to rely on the availability of somebody who’s also running a con and has a day job. We can also define specifically what information we want in the report (for example, author names with their nominated work).

4) Currently, the Hugo Administrator has significant power to determine eligibility and the larger fan base has no visibility into these decisions. Having a committee alleviates these concerns. Part of the actual rules for the committee can include requiring more specific explanations with regards to eligibility decisions.

In summary, this recommendation splits the functions of the WSFS into two buckets – administering an award and running a convention. The convention-running portion remains the same while a new apparatus is created for award administration. This is clearly a radical change to the way WSFS does business. But a ruleset written when Hugo results were typed up and mimeographed to the membership may not be the best ruleset for the second decade of the 21st century.

Current Mood: busy

The Hugo nomination stats are finally available (PDF link). There are a number of problematic bits to them, notably several works were declared ineligible with no reason given. Since the Hugo administrator is not providing explicit answers, the clear implication is the the Chinese government, for reasons of their own, decided that they didn't want these works to win and directed the Chengdu Worldcon to make it happen. Thoughts:

1) I was not concerned about the Chinese government interfering in the Hugos because I thought we weren't big enough to matter. Clearly I was wrong. I think the lesson here is that, in authoritarian governments, even minor officials can be dictatorial, if only to avoid looking bad to their bosses.
ETA From this post by Ada Palmer, it's entirely possible that no government official said anything, rather we have a case of self-censorship. Money quote: "The majority of censorship is self-censorship or middleman-censorship, but the majority of that is deliberately cultivated by an outside power.
For this reason, we cannot consider state and non-state censorship separate things. State censorship systems work dominantly via shaping and causing private censorship."

2) I've seen allegations that the people who bid on the Worldcon were a front for the real estate company that owned the venue.

3) Given either point 1 or 2, clearly we can't hold Worldcons in countries that don't follow the rule of law. Cairo and Uganda's bids need to be rejected. Whether or not we enshrine that principle in the WSFS Constitution or not remains to be seen.

4) Part of what makes an award valuable is trust. The general public trusts that whomever is giving the award is doing so because they honestly feel it's the best of what is eligible. There's a reason the Academy Awards makes a point of hiring an accounting firm to run the voting process and highlights that fact. Unfortunately, that trust was broken and the people involved have to know that they won't be allowed to run the award again.

Current Mood: sad

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I purchased this book for my monthly SF book club event. I think we expected it to be on the Hugo ballot (it's not) but I did read the book and find it interesting if a bit slow.

The story starts with a small Chinese boy in 1828 who is dying of cholera, which has taken his family. He is rescued by an Englishman, Richard Lovell, and taken to England where he uses the name Robin Swift. Under Lovell's instruction, Swift ends up going to Oxford. It's not our Oxford - at the center of town is Babel, a tower where silver bars are inscribed with word pairs, giving the silver magical qualities. Swift and a few other translators eventually understand the exploitive system they live under and take action to fight it.

I found the novel interesting, and as a student of history I found myself carefully looking for where the author's history diverged from ours. I also found the novel a bit slow - by starting when Swift was a small boy we spend many pages merely observing him as he observes the world. The second half of the book has a lot of interpersonal drama as Swift and his friends deal with some very complicated interpersonal relationships. These bits were just this side of soap opera for me.

Overall, and enjoyable if long read and I hope to find out why it did not get on the Hugo ballot.

View all my reviews

Current Mood: chipper

I'm at Discon III, the current World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon). One of the things we do at a Worldcon is vote on where the convention will be two years from now. It was announced today that Chengdu, China won the bid for 2023. It was not my first choice, largely due to the travel cost. The other bid was Winnipeg, Canada - obviously cheaper to get to from Chicago.

China rather obviously has human rights issues, and there are more than a few people who are rightfully concerned that they may be in danger of arrest if they visit mainland China. As a result, a number of people were vehemently opposed to the bid. I am of several minds about that. First, yes we should recognize the human rights issues. Second, we should recognize that no country is perfect.

The US has our own issues, from white supremacy to a bad track record of allowing Arabs in the country. I personally saw a Canadian writer of Lebanese descent get pulled aside for additional screening while re-entering the US on a cruise. Her mother (also a Canadian citizen) had been denied entry into the US prior to the cruise.

My third take is that we as a country have decided to engage in extensive trade and business with China. We as science fiction people claim to represent the world (see "World Science Fiction Convention.") If the bidder wins the bid via legitimate means, then they win the bid. If an individual or group doesn't want to attend, then they don't attend.

Lastly, there were a number of shenanigans during the bid process. This started with overheated announcements about the number of Chinese people registered to vote and ended with an attempt to implement a technical change to the way we count bids which seemed designed to toss out the Chinese bids. That last attempt obviously failed, but it did not cover the current convention with glory - rather the reverse.

Whether or not I actually go to China will depend on many factors, including budget, but they certainly have the right to host the convention.

Crossposts: https://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/767307.html

Here's my ballot so far. I'm still working on the short fiction and Lodestar categories, so that will be reported later.

Best Novel
1. Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
2. Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tor.com)
3. Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Gallery / Saga Press)
4. The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books)
5. The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
6. Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com)

Commentary: If I had bounced any harder off of Harrow I would have injured myself. I liked Relentless Moon, but I felt the middle section got a bit draggy.

Best Series
1. The Lady Astronaut Universe, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books/Audible/Magazine of
Fantasy and Science Fiction)
2. The Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells (Tor.com)
3. The Interdependency, John Scalzi (Tor Books)

Commentary: I really like the Lady Astronaut series - it felt original and fresh. I also liked how Mary Robinette wrote her way out of the corner formed by the two short stories that bookend the series. Murderbot is, well, Murderbot, and Scalzi is Scalzi - both solid entries.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
1. The Old Guard, written by Greg Rucka, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Netflix /
Skydance Media)
2. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), written by
Christina Hodson, directed by Cathy Yan (Warner Bros.)
3. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, written by Will Ferrell, Andrew Steele,
directed by David Dobkin (European Broadcasting Union/Netflix)

Commentary: Frankly, Eurovision is a bit of a stretch to call genre, but it's definitely got it's moments.

Current Mood: calm
Crossposts: https://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/762427.html

My Rotary club is making a field trip tomorrow, so I'll be mostly out of pocket. Here's a couple of quick takes:

1) I did not attend Worldcon this year. This was for a variety of reasons, to include having taken a lot of trips last year and wanting to accumulate money for next year's trip. Then I became unemployed, so that was the final nail in the coffin. Having said that, it appears that Worldcon was controversy-free. I congratulate the winners.

2) Regarding point #1, I note that the big protest planned by a noted troll turned out to be underwhelming at best. It appears that, contrary to his prior statement, said troll blew of the event to go boating.

3) Here's a very interesting conversation with the magician Penn Jillette. In part of it he discusses one Donald Trump.

4) On the writing front, it was raining today, and I cranked out 3155 words before noon. Now up to 41,451 total words on the latest WIP.

Current Mood: chipper
Crossposts: https://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/709230.html

The final Hugo ballots are due in to Worldcon by midnight Tuesday. Herewith to fill some space, my discussion of parts of my final ballot. I'm not going to discuss the whole thing, just a few pieces and parts.

Best Novel (in order from #6 to #1)

6. New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson - Kim is leaving me cold, writing novels that (to me) are too long and too slow.
5. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin - not a fantasy reader, and this is part of a series that I also bounced off of.
4. Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee - I enjoyed this book, although I found it dense. Yoon tosses you into the world's deep end and says "swim or die."
3. Provenance by Ann Leckie - another solid effort from Ann Leckie, and I find her worldbuilding very interesting
2. The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi - a rollicking good time.
1. Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty - I really, really liked the concept behind this one.

Best Novella (in order from #6 to #1)

Others have said this and I have to agree - the hot competition in this year's ballot is in novellas.

6. Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire - again, I really liked the concept behind this story. In a year with less competition, it would have rated higher for me.
5. The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang - I'm not a strong fan of fantasy.
4. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor - again, this was a strong story, but given that it's a muddle-in-the-middle of the series, not quite strong enough.
3. River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey - this was a really weird and original story.
2, And Then There Were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker - a great twist on that old standby, the locked-room mystery.
1. All Systems Red by Martha Wells - murderbots. Need I say more?

Best Novelette

6. Children of Thorns by Aliette de Bodard - I've personally met Aliette, and she's good people, but this was the weakest of a strong bunch. I much prefer her Vietnamese ins space stories.
5. Small Changes Over Long Periods by K.M. Szpara - neat modern vampire story.
4. Extracurricular Activities by Yoon Ha Lee
3. Wind Will Rove by Sarah Pinsker - a neat twist on the old generation-ship concept.
2. A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad - very clever concept and execution
1. The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer - just a cute and entertaining story

Best Short Story

6. Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand by Fran Wilde - catchy title, a bit too weird for me.
5. Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim - a touching little tale of mechanical beings.
4. Welcome to your Authentic Indian Experience™ by Rebecca Roanhorse - I enjoyed it. I suspect that, given my tastes aren't always that of the average Hugo voter, this is the story to beat in this category.
3. Fandom for Robots by Vina Jie-Min Prasad - a strong entry, and given that the author has two stories in Hugo contention, I put her as #1 on my Campbell list.
2. Sun, Moon, and Dust by Ursula Vernon - a neat twist on the old "find a hero in a haystack" story.
1. The Martian Obelisk by Linda Nagata - a somber and downbeat tale, but I like it.

Best Fan Writer

I only went to 4 on this, voting only for those I read.

4. Sarah Gailey
3. Mike Glyer
2. Foz Meadows
1. Camestros Felapton

The (as-yet nameless) Award for Best Young Adult Book (not a Hugo)

I also only went down to 4 on this.

4. The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller - a bit too much teen angst for me to handle.
3. In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan - somewhat bog-standard quest
2. Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor - I'm liking more non-bog-standard magic systems
1. Summer in Orcus by written by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) - this I just adored, especially how the main character triumphed.

Current Mood: cheerful
Crossposts: https://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/706537.html

I am slowly working my way through the Hugo ballot, and hit what is to me always a tough call, the Best Related Work. Because it's such a catch-all category, I frequently find myself comparing apples to kumquats. This year's list is a bit more cohesive, but still hard to vote on. I ended up using my usual metric, which is, "which would I buy first?" and proceeding that way. Here's where I landed (1 to 6)

No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters Ursula K. Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Sleeping with Monsters: Readings and Reactions in Science Fiction and Fantasy Liz Bourke (Aqueduct

Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate Zoe Quinn (PublicAffairs)

Iain M. Banks (Modern Masters of Science Fiction) Paul Kincaid (University of Illinois Press)
Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler edited by Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal (Twelfth Planet Press)

A List Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison Nat Segaloff (NESFA Press)

Current Mood: busy
Crossposts: https://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/699922.html

There is yet another controversy in SF fandom, namely when to announce the finalists. There is a long-standing tradition in fandom of making said announcements on a Saturday and having a big production at as many conventions as possible. This year's committee is following tradition, and announcing the finalists this Saturday.

The problem is, this Saturday is Easter weekend (for western Christians - the Orthodox go next week) and Passover. It's not usually a good day to find a reporter, and for religious reasons a lot of people just aren't going to be paying attention. In media matters, releasing news after business hours on Friday is a good way to bury said news.

Having said that, per the Con Chair's statement, it looks like they will have at least some media coverage. Good on them. I still hope that we get away from the Saturday schedule and release the news at a better time.

Current Mood: calm
Crossposts: https://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/696347.html

"Learn Your Craft," or how to show one's ass in public.

I was at a neighborhood restaurant over the weekend, and the lady near me ordered Oysters Rockefeller. They were served with Tabasco sauce, as per the menu. The lady found this highly unacceptable, a manager was called, and when Hollandaise sauce or an (in the mind of the customer) substitute was not immediately available our customer told the manager to "learn your craft."

To the great relief of all concerned, the customer left shortly thereafter. There are times and places where getting in high dungeon over a meal in a restaurant is appropriate. When a menu item is served in a timely manner and exactly as described on the menu is not such an occasion.

Writing

So, I got some fiction writing done today. I added a new scene in which we get some backstory about a major character and some unanswered questions. Go me!

Hugos

I have cast my final votes for all Hugo categories I care to vote in. I'm not a graphic novel guy, so I didn't vote there, and I had no opinions on the fan artist, so no votes.

Crossposts: http://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/679913.html

For budgetary reasons, I did not go to ConQuest in Kansas City this year. (NASFIC will cost twice as much as ConQuest.) Thus, I went downstate for my Memorial Day weekend and visited the parents. It proved a very relaxing weekend, and I'm glad I did.

Last night, I read the Hugo short story nominations for this year. Yea gods and little fishes was the John C. Wright offering bad! As per Sad Puppies Central Command best practices, Wright took a collection of right-wing strawmen, dialed them up to 15, and used them to beat the reader vigorously about the head and shoulders. I'm sure he thought he was clever in casting himself as the boogeyman and a nubile naked "girl" as the heroine, but I found that in particular and the story in general as the failure mode of clever.

I found the Jemisin story a bit too opaque, and have no strong opinions either way on the Wong. The other three I felt were pretty strong contenders. In the novel category, I haven't read three of the six (Jemisin, Anders and Chambers) and bounced hard off of the Palmer. It looks like I've got my work cut out for me.

Current Mood: chipper
Crossposts: http://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/677445.html

Nominations for the 2016 Hugo Awards are now being accepted. Thanks to me (and others) sitting in two years of business meetings, there will be six finalists in each category. Thanks to the sitting Worldcon committee, we will be able to vote on the proposed "Best Series" Hugo.

Herewith are my eligible works:

Best Novel

Definitely eligible: The Night Watch, book 3 of my Pirates Series.

Arguably eligible: The Mars Run. It was originally released in 2008 but extensively reworked for 2016. If ~~we get hit by an asteroid~~ the book gets nominated, I'll let the Hugo Administrator make the call. If given a choice between this and The Night Watch, I will withdraw The Mars Run.

I am not eligible for Best Series, as the total word-count for my three books is 180,000, under the 240,000 word cap.

Fan Writer

I suppose this blog makes me eligible for Fan Writer. It's your call.

Current Mood: hopeful

A couple of thoughts on the occasion of going back to work after Labor Day.

Thought #1 - Dragon Awards

The Dragon Awards were announced over the weekend. Congratulations to the winners listed here. The list is not whom I would have picked, but it's not the first or the last time somebody wins an award I didn't agree with. (Ask me about Hugo-winner The Windup Girl.)

Thought #2 - Why Labor Day

In most of the world, the holiday for labor is May 1. We celebrate Labor Day in September because the Communists had claimed May 1.

Thought #3 - A Good Book

I was a member of the Kickstarter for the new anthology Alien Artifacts. I read my copy over the weekend and enjoyed it immensely. I highly recommend you getting a copy.

Current Mood: busy

Hugos

1) Nicholas Whyte, the Hugo administrator for Worldcon 75, has a very cogent analysis of last year's Hugo results had all the new rules been in effect. The combination of EPH and 5 and 6 seem to result in a much better ballot.

2) At Wright's House of Wrong, Mr. Wright goes off on (what is for him a short) rant on the poor quality of recent Hugo nominations. My reply:
Mr. Wright: your editor, deliberately and with malice aforethought, loaded the short fiction categories with as much crap as he could. The only reason any award was given in short fiction is because Thomas A. Mays withdrew. As per his statement at the time, he withdrew because of the ballot-loading.

In short, sir, your complaint about the poor quality of Hugo-winners is rather like a man killing his parents and then asking for mercy from the judge because he's an orphan.

ETA: Mr. Wright's response to the above was to call me a jackass in one comment and in a second comment [wallowing] "in the filthy sewer of your sickening dishonesty, still have the gall to address an honest man, much less upbraid him as if I, and not you, have done something wrong."

I'm never in doubt where I stand in his regard.

Sieges

Via Wikipedia, the Siege of Sidney Street. In January 1911, two crooks holed up in a building in Sidney Street, and the London police had to call in the Army for help. A young Home Secretary, one Winston Churchill, a born micro-manager, ended up on-scene and on camera in one of the earliest newsreels. Really quite interesting.

Current Mood: contemplative

More thoughts on The Con That Was:

1) I drove to this con. It's an 8-hour drive, but driving is cheaper than flying, even when paying $24/day parking. Having said that, if I drive again, I'm definitely taking I-80 through Des Moines. Mapquest had routed me via I-72 and US-36. Those roads are fine, but desolate, with little in the way of services. That's not surprising, since I-72 in Illinois runs through Pike and Scott counties - the later being the 4th least-populated county in Illinois.

2) I was amazed at the number of Big Name Writers (Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle) who seem completely incapable of using a microphone. During a conversation with Mary Robinette Kowal, voice actor and writer, she stated that at the SFWA business meeting she took a moment of personal privilege and held a quick course on the use of a microphone.

3) Based on a glancing analysis of the Hugo Award stats (PDF), it appears that ~~Wile E. Coyote'~~s Vox Day's minion count is down - around 150 or so of his little buddies paid to vote. This is less than half ~400 who voted to nominate. Apparently paying $40 for two years running was a stretch.

4) The Sans won - San Juan for NASFIC and San Jose for Worldcon 2018. I'd like to go to San Juan (Tobias Buckell is Guest of Honor) but that will make 2017 a damned expensive travel year.

5) Not con-related, but a nice interview of me by Ellie Maloney. Worth a read, if I do say so myself.

Current Mood: pleased

Comes news at MidameriCon II they revoked the membership of Dave Truesdale over conduct at a panel. Specifically, he read a prepared speech that had nothing to do with the panel and unnecessarily pissed off a bunch of people. Also comes news today that the con issued a one-day suspension of Mary Robinette Kowal's badge for serving alcohol at a panel in the convention space. I didn't see either event, and I know Mary personally (and have not talked to her about this) but I have thoughts.

Thought #1 - Once Bitten Twice Shy

So, a few months back, Mark Oshiro broke the Internet over KC fandom's head regarding (in part) what happened at a panel. So, once bitten and thus twice shy, one would reasonably expect this con to have a lower tolerance for shenanigans. I'm told Truesdale has enough of an Internet presence to know this. So, in his case, it's rather like somebody making an elaborate sign saying "kick me" and taping it on their back, then getting upset at being kicked.

Thought #2 - New Sheriff in Town

Again as a reaction to past shenanigans, MidAmeriCon felt they needed to step up their enforcement game. They felt they needed a new sheriff, so they got one in the form of Mark Oshiro, deputy on the Incident Response Team. The whole point of getting a new sheriff is that all the stuff the old sheriff overlooked doesn't get overlooked any more. That cuts both ways.

Thought #3 - Response

As usual, Mary's response is thoughtful, classy and appropriate. She broke a rule she didn't know existed, apologized, took her punishment, and moved on. Frankly, were I in her shoes, I would not have been as gracious. I haven't seen a response from Truesdale, but I would be surprised if it were within a country mile of Mary's.

Current Mood: contemplative

I don't have a lot to say today, so here's the portion of the DragonCon Awards finalist list that I give a damn about with my vote in italics.

1. Best Science Fiction Novel
Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwitheriing Realm by John C. Wright
Raising Caine by Charles E. Gannon
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie
Agent of the Imperium by Marc Miller
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Life Engineered by J-F Dubeau

2. Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
Asteroid Made of Dragons by G. Derek Adams
Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Changeling’s Island by Dave Freer
Grave Measures by R.R. Virdi
Blood Hound by James Osiris Baldwin

3. Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
Updraft by Fran Wilde
Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley
Trix and the Faerie Queen by Alethea Kontis
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett
Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
Changeling’s Island by Dave Freer
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

4. Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel
Allies and Enemies: Fallen by Amy J. Murphy
Hell’s Foundations Quiver by David Weber
The Price of Valor by Django Wexler
Wrath of an Angry God: A Military Space Opera by Gibson Michaels
Blood in the Water by Taylor Anderson
Chains of Command by Marko Kloos
The End of All Things by John Scalzi (note: If Scalzi hadn't withdrawn this would be my vote)

5. Best Alternate History Novel
1635: A Parcel of Rogues by Eric Flint & Andrew Dennis
League of Dragons by Naomi Novik
Deadlands: Ghostwalkers by Jonathan Maberry
Bombs Away: The Hot War by Harry Turtledove
Germanica by Robert Conroy
1636: The Cardinal Virtues by Eric Flint & Walter H. Hunt

6. Best Apocalyptic Novel
A Time to Die by Mark Wandrey
Chasing Freedom by Marina Fontaine
The Desert and the Blade by S.M. Stirling
Ctrl Alt Revolt! by Nick Cole
Dark Age by Felix O. Hartmann
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

7. Best Horror Novel
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay
Chapelwood by Cherie Priest
Honor at Stake by Declan Finn
An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel
Souldancer by Brian Niemeier
Alice by Christina Henry

8. Best Comic Book
Ms. Marvel
Daredevil
Providence
DC Universe: Rebirth
Civil War II
Saga
Astro City

9. Best Graphic Novel
Sacred Heart by Liz Suburbia
The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman
Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine
Virgil by Steve Orlando
March: Book Two by John Lewis & Andrew Aydin
Chicago by Glenn Head

10. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series
Jessica Jones – Netflix
The Flash – CW
Daredevil – Netflix
Game of Thrones – HBO
The Expanse – Syfy
Doctor Who – BBC
Outlander – Starz

11. Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie
Crimson Peak
Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens
Ant-Man
Captain America: Civil War
Deadpool
The Martian

Current Mood: busy

Herewith are my thoughts on the Hugo Awards for novels and novellas.

BEST NOVEL

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

I read and nominated Seveneves and Ancillary Mercy, so I have a bias. I was completely unable to get into The Fifth Season, and found the excerpts provided of the other two novels entertaining. I thought Uprooted was an original take on fantasy, and Cinder Spires had promise as a steampunk / post-apocalyptic novel. My vote:

1) Seveneves
2) Uprooted
3) Ancillary Mercy
4) Cinder Spires
5) Fifth Season

BEST NOVELLA

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
The Builders by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)
Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)

I bounced hard off of The Builders - no talking mice for me. I also found Perfect State impenetrable, which is a shame as I've met and like Brandon. I'm not no-awarding them, but I am leaving them off the ballot. Binti and Slow Bullets were (to me) novel, and Penric was entertaining but bog-standard. So my (short) ballot will be:

1) Binti
2) Slow Bullets
3) Penric's Demon

Current Mood: contemplative

Herewith my list of Hugo-eligible novels read:

The Ark: Children of a Dead Earth - Patrick S. Tomlinson (author Campbell-eligible)
Planetfall - Emma Newman
Windswept - Adam Rakunas (author NOT Campbell-eligible)
Raising Cain - Chuck Gannon
Chapelwood: The Borden Dispatches - Cherie Priest
SevenEves - Neal Stephenson
Linesman - S. K. Dunstall
The Dangerous Type - Loren Rhodes
Solomon's Arrow - J. Dalton Jennings (a definite no, listed for completeness sake)
Ghost Fleet - P. W. Singer
Ancillary Mercy - Ann Leckie
The Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier: Leviathan - Jack Campbell
The Dark Forest - Cixin Liu
Nemesis Games: The Expanse - James S. A. Corey (actually haven't read this one yet)
Tin Star - Cecil Castellucci
Unbreakable - W. C. Bauers
There Will Be War Vol 10 - Jerry Pournelle, editor
Barsk: The Elephant's Graveyard - Lawrence M. Schoen
Jupiter Justice - Donald J. Hunt
Belt Three - John Ayliff
Karen Memory - Elizabeth Bear

Tentative ballot:
Karen Memory - Elizabeth Bear
Nemesis Games: The Expanse - James S. A. Corey (I'm reading this next)
Raising Cain - Chuck Gannon
The Ark: Children of a Dead Earth - Patrick S. Tomlinson
Windswept - Adam Rakunas (author NOT Campbell-eligible)
Ancillary Mercy - Ann Leckie (if the Corey isn't as strong as I think it will be.)

Current Mood: busy

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Private Mars Rocket II

From The Mind of Chris Gerrib

Entries tagged with hugos

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