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August 22, 2015

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I reckon this rising star Noah Ward is going to have a very good night.

It's been fascinating to see the Puppies in various fora proving by their own words that their opponents have them pegged correctly as loathsome reactionaries.

I bet the Puppies are foaming at the mouth (or any other orifice they use for communication) over the Sasquan Asterisk!

Morzer:

What asterisk? Explain, plz! File700 is having connection problems for me.

@Doctor Science


There is now an official WorldCon asterisk, designed and made by Jim Wright of Stonekettle Station, because if you put a bunch of exclamation points together you just happen to get an asterisk.....

The asterisk is commemorative and proceeds go to Sir Terry Pratchett's favorite charity.

And I have now seen Robert Silverberg singing Hare,hare Krishna....

You might try the io9 liveblog:

http://io9.com/its-a-party-were-liveblogging-the-2015-hugo-awards-1725933125

(Better than File770 by a mile, I reckon!)

Wes Chu gets the Campbell and a thousand puppies cry out in anguish before hastily screaming "Victory! Total victory!"

David Gerrold:

"Mr Trump, I want my tribble back!"

"Benjanun Sriduangkaew" is probably not overjoyed to see Laura J. Mixon win the award for best fan writer. Nor are the four rejected Puppies!

Looks like a very bad night for the Puppies.

Yup. And I gather Mixon gave a shout-out to #BlackLivesMatter, too.

Now io9 is flaking on me, too. We still have twitter, thank goodness.

I am truly impressed by the Annihilation of the Puppies. There's no way of spinning this: Teddy Beale and his comrades have been smashed out of sight by the fans.

Thank the FSM!

No Award to Short Story -- and that was the short fiction category where I thought it possible there'd be a winner.

Whoops I was wrong -- I mis-remembered and thought Heuvelt's story was Short, not Novelette. I didn't care for it, but I'm not terribly surprised it won.

The Puppies are being *cremated*.

John C Wright must have set a new record for most Hugo rejections in one evening.

Perhaps there is some sort of cosmic justice after all.

And there we go: No Award for Novella, Best Novel to Three Body Problem.

FANomenon: A gripping and intimate look at the sub-culture of female sci-fi fans, their creative pursuits, and why they need heroes. (video - Hulu)

Vox Day convinced a bunch of his ideological fellow-travelers to contribute $40 each to the Worldcon, just so they could vote on the Hugos.

I wonder if they're happy with the results of their "investment".

@snarki

Well, so far the Puppets' reactions range from "'Twas a famous victory!" to "You will all regret the day you mocked my complexion!" to "Am Ende der Sieg!" to "This shows the evil malice of the treacherous SJW cabal!" to "This is what Teddy Beale prophesied, so he must be a great spiritual leader and strategic genius!"

In sum, they are are scurrying around like headless chickens and trying desperately to pretend that crushing rejection didn't really mean crushing rejection.

No Award for Long Form Editor. Word was this was Sheila Gilbert's turn for this.

I usually read these SF threads because I'm out of touch with the current writers for the most part and people usually mention some books (award winning or not) that they really like, which I may then check out at the local library. This ain't happening here people. (Hint, hint). For some reason the names of the new authors (new to me) don't stick in my head.

Of course I could just stop being lazy and start googling around, but it's more fun to hear people here recommend their favorites.

Glad to hear the Puppies are losing.

On the topic, I had never given much thought to SF art, except I always thought that most SF book covers were deeply embarrassing and sometimes did a disservice to what was inside, even if the cover depicted an actual scene from the book. I'm thinking, for instance, of the cover of a paperback copy of The Malacia Tapestry ( which is fantasy rather than SF) that I have somewhere. A really good book as I recall (it's been decades since I read it) about a narcissistic social climbing young man in what I took to be a city on the verge of revolution during the Italian Renaissance in an alternate universe with magic and dinosaurs and the cover shows a scene in the book, but it makes it seem like a shallow adventure story with scantily clad women being saved from an allosaurus by heroic young men.

I can't really help with that; the only novel nominee I read this year was Goblin Emperor and I hated it.

For the most part I'm underwhelmed by cover art, for reasons including yours, but I always had a soft spot for Michael Whelan. Even when he depicted highly pulpy subject matter, he managed to make the images rich and evoking.

I just read the Wikipedia article on Goblin Emperor-- it did sound dull. Characterization is great and political intrigue can be interesting, but if that's all you want to write about then why set it in a fantasy world? The only reasons I can think of is that you may not know enough about the real world's politics to do a good job in a realistic setting, or maybe you want to explore some sort of conflict which doesn't quite match anything inthe real world or you wish to feel free to make up details. I guess those are legit reasons, but it probably wouldn't interest me.

the cover shows a scene in the book, but it makes it seem like a shallow adventure story with scantily clad women being saved from an allosaurus by heroic young men.

It has been obvious for a long time that publishers think that cover images of scantily clad women help sales.** I don't know if they have any data to actually support that. But it is pretty clear that they believe it.

** Which presumably means that they think their customer base is heavily skewed towards adolescent males.

Silly cover art is nothing new. Tolkien was quite surprised when he got to see the intended covers for the first (legal) US edition of The Hobbit. Two Emus and a lion and a strange tree?
http://nerdalicious.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Barbara_Remington_Hobbit.jpg

Yeah, that tree looks like it was inspired by something like this

Have any science fiction writers thought of this?

http://wonkette.com/593206/your-saturday-nerdout-the-world-now-has-a-vomiting-robot-thanks-science

On the other hand, the world could use a pukebot in time for the Republican debates.

More science fiction from the past, and the stress is on the word "fiction"

http://wonkette.com/566865/you-will-be-outraged-by-the-tax-dollars-not-spent-on-this-dumb-science-thing

Re: Goblin Emperor

I loved it, but I would not have voted for it to win a Hugo; it is just the kind of character-and-shenanigans story I enjoy, and I think the fantasy setting made it more fun to read -- I love worldbuilding, so getting fun characters and fun worldbuilding in one place was a bonus.

But it's...I don't know. It's well but not stellarly written, it's complex but not deep. I prefer Hugos to go to deeper things, personally.

Men. Fuck you. It he 'AWARD' looks stupid and you know it.

I meant 'The 'AWARD' has serious design-flaws ... and I'm sorry this was my first comment. I lenjoy reading your work and the comments.

Studies Show Reading Fiction Can Transform the Way Our Brains Think and Act Every Day

Informant advised that individuals such as RAY BRADBURY are in a position to spread poison concerning political institutions in general and American institutions in particular. He noted that individuals such as BRADBURY have reached a large audience through their writings which are generally published in paper backed volumes in large quantities. Informant stated that the general aim of these science fiction writers is to frighten the people into a state of paralysis or psychological incompetence bordering on hysteria which would make it very possible to conduct a Third World War in which the American people would seriously believe could not be won since their morale had been seriously destroyed.

The informant observed that this appeal taken be the science fiction writers sympathetic to Communist ideology, is similar to the approach taken by a small number of scientists who hold that it is impossible to conceive of war without threatening the isolation of the Universe.

the FBI, besides being shitty at writing, was not a fan of scifi.

people usually mention some books (award winning or not) that they really like, which I may then check out at the local library. This ain't happening here people. (Hint, hint)

DJ, a fair point. My tastes in SF run to AltHist. If this appeals, I recommend SM Stirling's Island in the Sea of Time series.

Cleek, have you even noticed how those folks getting hysterical about the baleful impact of science fiction on the view of American children never seem to cite Heinlein?

Maybe because they agree with his views, and are looking for something to get worked up about....

bad linky! bad!

http://boingboing.net/2015/08/24/fbi-kept-files-on-ray-bradbury.html

Thanks MckT. I looked at the Wikipedia article and the plot sounded fun. I'll see if the library has it.

Put this on the wrong thread:

According to John Boehner, keeping government files on Ray Bradbury and company in 1959 occurred during the golden age of America.

The high marginal rate was 91%. Now we know what it was spent on.

I'm going to cry. The nostalgia is killing me.

Boehner can find some solace that Black Lives Matter people are being tailed and harassed by the FBI in 2015, the latter a nest of uptight conservatives if ever there was one, with the exception of the times J. Edgar showed up in pumps and a house dress and claimed he was Vivian Vance.

In fact, I think he ordered a file opened on Vivian Vance while he was dressed as Vivian Vance, which seems to be a conflict of interest.

Awww, Fred!

Makes you wonder if he ordered the assassination of Martin Luther King while he was dressed as Lena Horne.

I don't understand why Boehner doesn't congratulate Obama for surveilling Black Lives Matter and I don't understand why he doesn't call for impeaching Obama for permitting the FBI its surveillance of BlackLM.

Seems like a terribly neutral position for an anti-gummint radical.

DJ, hope you find it. If you do, let me know your thoughts.

Science Fiction Fans Are Fighting About Politics. It’s Not the End of the Universe: Science fiction's culture wars have been around for as long as science fiction.

I was really rooting for neither "side". I have never been part of fandom, although I have read SF and Fantasy fairly obsessively all of my life.

Ted Beale is not a guy you'd want to ally with, is probably my strongest reaction. John C. Wright, what I have read of him (which is zero other than blog posts related to this conflict), is a guy who's a little too overly full of himself for his own good. If his fiction comes off anything like his blogging, I am not interested.

I like what I like. I don't see a need to ally with anyone over it. If enough people like what I like, someone gets an award for me having liked it. If not, well, I was never really cheering that hard on anyone's behalf in the first place. Because different people have different tastes, and will like different things than I do. That's life.

This argument over which side is more overly composed of old white guys, though, is enough to keep me out of the argument altogether. If white guys are writing the fiction that people like the most, well, it's no scratch on them.

I do recognize, of course, that it's good to get out and take a look at new things, literarily, from time to time. But Delaney's stuff was putting me to sleep a long, LONG time before I was aware that he's not a straight white guy. This is not a stab at Delaney; from what I have seen, he's a very decent human being. Just not my cup of tea.

And that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

John C. Wright, what I have read of him..., is a guy who's a little too overly full of himself for his own good. If his fiction comes off anything like his blogging, I am not interested.

There seems to be little relationship between what kind of a writer someone is and what kind of a human being. The example that always leaps to my mind is Poul Anderson vs. Randall Garrett. Poul was a wonderful human being, and his writing was OK. Randall, in contrast, wrote a lot of really good stuff (under a mountain of pen names), but he was a dead loss as a human being (not to mention enormously full of himself).

There are those who are wonderful people and wonderful writers. And there are those (Jerry Pournelle comes to mind somehow) who are terrible writers and rotten human beings as well.

In short, there is just no correllation.

From what I have read from him, Ted Beale doesn't have allies; he has minions.

Ted Beale is entirely a creation of Patrick Nielson Hayden, doncha know. or so says "...in all modesty, a skilled author, one of the finest writing today."

spam trapped???

come on.

It's spelled 'minions', it's pronounced 'suckers'.

If you dig into the roots of this with your cynicism hat on (all the way back to Sad Puppies 1) you find that it started because Larry Correria got mad because he didn't win the Campbell award or the Hugo. (It's an award for best newbie writer. Just getting nominated means your first work caught TONS of eyes). So, first book by a new writer gets nominated for a Campbell and a Hugo, doesn't win, and proceeds to throw massive snit-fit for years over it.

My sympathy for him dried up pretty quickly that that point.

Having perused the Puppy blogs, I do note many of them don't seem to understand IRV. One of the puppies (Wright, Torgeson or Correllia -- I think Wright) literally used the phrase "Hugo I was owed" because on the first ballot he came in second to "No Award" (not even a close second. No award took 50%+).

However, once the balloting was complete he was 3rd or 4th. Without "No Award" he still wouldn't have won -- that's the joy of IRV, you can tell things like that.

*shrug*.

If you look at the EPH change to voting, AND if you take the Sad Puppies complaints at face value (they worry that slates are being used against them, and that beloved but somewhat minority books are being kept off the lists either through conspiracies and slates or just the nature of the nomination process) then they won. EPH spikes slates, no matter the source.

Further, if there is a stand-out book beloved by a minority of the nominees it now has a much greater chance of hitting the voting list.

Therefore, if Sad Puppies et. al are actually honest about their complaints, the proposed voting changes that passed at Worldcon (have to be ratified again next year before they go into effect) have addressed their concerns.

Since they're still screaming and threatening fire and brimstone, I can't help but feel that perhaps their stated rationale is a bit...deceptive.

Ted Beale, "the monster known as Vox Day is a creation entirely of Mr. Patrick Nielsen Hayden". at least according to "...in all modesty, a skilled author, one of the finest writing today.'"

(3rd try!)

Ted Beale, "the monster known as Vox Day is a creation entirely of Mr. Patrick Nielsen Hayden". at least according to "...in all modesty, a skilled author, one of the finest writing today.'"

Cleek: Our own Gary Farber has posted this self-evaluation by John C. Wright on his Facebook page, resulting in a lengthy thread to which I (among many others) have contributed.

I'm always so confused about figuring out where an artist I like belongs, fan or pro. I hate that it is such a headache to figure out. I've only been nominating and voting for a few years now. I tend to separate them by making pros anyone who designed a book cover that year and the others in fan. Ugh.

to which I (among many others) have contributed

I am among those many others.

Our own Gary Farber has posted this self-evaluation by John C. Wright

I keep trying to put my finger on Wright's blogging style, but without success.

It's as if Hedda Hopper's column was written by Torquemada. In a style that's some kind of weird mash-up of Trollope and Chesterton, but without the wit. And then broadcast in the voice of Pee Wee Herman.

It's a singularity of arch snottiness, moralistic finger-wagging, and self-consciously archaic grad school lit seminar verbosity.

Doesn't anybody read Strunk and White anymore?

to which I (among many others) have contributed

I wouldn't aspire to "contributed", but I too am there.

And then broadcast in the voice of Pee Wee Herman.

Ok, I am swiping that one. I probably would have gone more Jar Jar Binks; hence the swipe.

Oh, yeah. Just ran across this, which some folks might enjoy:

Anonymous asked: unfortunately for your side, GRR Martin was caught handing out the real trophies to the people the SJW's unilaterally crowned winners after the ceremony where they gave out no award. Oops! your arrogance will always be your undoing.

Various forms of correction ensue.

Just ran across this

it's always a conspiracy, for some folks.

i usually read JCW in the voice of Comic Book Guy. or sometimes in the voice of an old Victorian-era British woman - the kind who is always about to toss her spectacles and faint over the uncivilized behavior of today's youth.

either way: a caricature of a pompous ass.

"I keep trying to put my finger on Wright's blogging style"

GK Chesterton as filtered through the mind of an emogirl cosplaying Donald Trump.

If you want a more literary description of John C Wright:

Six Pathologies In Search Of An Editor.

(With apologies to Luigi Pirandello)

Every time I look at the Hugo award, it makes me think of ca. 1950 Olds 88.

It's not an exact match to the hood ornament, it just makes me think of it, for some reason. It's got that same swoopy, shiny, optimistic mid-20th C. jet-age vibe.

In my dreams, I'm the guy whose job it is to drive Jay Leno's cars around every now and then. You know, just to keep the fluids flowing and make sure the carbs don't get dusty.

:)

Here's the image I get when there is talk of putting a finger on Wright's blogging style

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kancho

"I keep trying to put my finger on Wright's blogging style"

Look on the bright side. By any standard, it falls woefully short of persuasive.

Be thankful for small things.

It has been a fascinating time catching up with the eternally fractious SFF community. Racefail, RequiresHate, Puppies, Oh my!

I suppose the internet is driving all the factions nuts, no surprise there. I do feel a tad sorry for the pups, though they sure asked for it.

I was surprised to find I do enjoy Wright's prose in his fiction. Wish he would stay off his blog, though. That stuff is not helping him of his family out.

To my absolute delight, Ted Beale has released a new book! (It's called something like "SJW's Always Lie").

It's delightful, and contains twice as many Chapter 5's as any other book on the market.

You can see why Beale, is a multiple-Hugo nominee for Best Editor.

A man who can fit two Chapter fives into a single tome is a man of skill indeed.

Chapter 5 is alive!

There is now a parody of Teddy Beale's biquintiley capitulated book-like product by the elegantly named Theo Pratt. Proceeds from the book go to the charity Con or Bust.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2015/08/27/charity-drive-for-con-or-bust-an-audio-version-of-john-scalzi-is-not-a-very-popular-author-and-i-myself-am-quite-popular-read-by-me/

I don't really follow all of the ins and outs of the SF world, but I'm feeling like John Scalzi is a guy I could hang out with.

I hadn't heard of Scalzi before the whole 'Puppies' nonsense erupted this year..but since then, got 'Redshirts': it was hilarious.

Got 'Old Man's War': great entertainment, in an updated Heinlein-esque way.

If written dialog is indicative of an authors persona, yeah, Scalzi would be great to hang out and have a beer with.

yeah, i'm on the second of the Old Man's War books now. entirely thanks to the Puppies' little tantrum.

he hangs out at Making Light, so i'd only known the name as that of a commenter. before the Puppies alerted me to the fact that he is an author.

and yeah, the books are fun. they zip right along.

If written dialog is indicative of an authors persona, yeah, Scalzi would be great to hang out and have a beer with.

Tom Hanks apparently felt so. :)

I actually have a question about all this -- I glanced at the nomination totals for this year and the last few, and I think the upshot here is the SP/RP slate conclusively proved there WAS no other slates.

Specifically only for this year, but you can deduce there wasn't any for prior years either from the numbers.

If there was a 'liberal' or 'SJW' or 'diversity' or whatever slate, the SP/RP couldn't have had such a clean sweep -- the only place they didn't was best novel. The slates would have collided.

Like Best Novellete -- the slate ones were all clustered around 250 to 270 votes --four novelletes, all with 250 to 270 votes. The next eleven range from 38 to 72.

Best novel? You see two big "pop out" novels that weren't slates (Ancillary Sword and TGE) but the next one down is a full 25% lower -- and then a big smear of votes over 10 novels, ranging from 88 to 210.

It's far more clear in 2014. The 5 nominees for novel? Ranged from 100 to 368 votes. The next 10 range from 66 to 96.

There's no coordination, no lockstep, no numbers even remotely together. You have one standout (Ancillary Justice) which had almost twice as many nominations as the next one down (The Ocean at the End of the Lane).

If there was a slate competing with the Puppies, why didn't it show up in the numbers?

I kinda wonder if Correria and Torgeson were actually surprised when they swept the nominations -- because if they truly believed there was secret slate, they couldn't have taken so many categories. Why didn't that cause them to question their assumptions?

People like Torgeson don't question their assumptions. They create rationales for holding on to their assumptions.

Wasn't it Heinlein, in the voice of Lazarus Long, that said that "Man is not a rational animal, he's a rationalizing animal" ?

Irony, it's what's for post-Hugo breakfast.

I've read some Scalzi. Not close to a lot of Scalzi, but I pick up his stuff when I happen across it, which is not that often.

Zoe's Tale and The Last Colony are I think the only two of his works I have read so far. They make me want to see a bit more.

My opinion, which is my own, is that Scalzi and a whole lot of other people are at their least best when soapboxing.

Granted, of all the soapboxers on this topic, Scalzi is well above average. I still like his fiction better.

Speaking for myself I like Scalzi's soapboxing. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/

An oldie, linked because I think it might be relevant to ObWi interests.

Culture Warriors Invade Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Mutiny at the Hugo Awards

Horrifyingly bad article. The description of "Ancillary Justice" is just flat out wrong.

He describes "whose protagonist belongs to a futuristic human civilization with no concept of gender distinctions and with "she" as the universal pronoun."

Like literally all of that is wrong. The protagonist isn't human, for starters.

*She describes...

Sorry, my advanced AI can't tell gender but defaults the other way.

Or possibly I typo'd it. :)

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