Not interested in your bullshit

[ellestra]

So the Hugo Awards happened yesterday (here is liveblog and hopefully they'll put the whole ceremony somewhere because it was hilarious). I watched the ceremony and Connie Willis and Dalek killed everyone and it was great despite all the No awards (it ended with the more No awards that were given out last evening than in all the years before combined). This is, of course, the result of the whole Sad Puppies/Rabid Puppies gaming the nomination precess and the actual voters choosing No Awards in the categories completely taken over by the slate nominations (Hugo allows voter to say they didn't like any of the options given and that's what has happened here). Here are the results (full listing at the link):

BEST NOVEL
The Three Body Problem, Cixin Liu, Ken Liu translator (Tor Books)

BEST NOVELLA
No award

BEST NOVELETTE (1031 ballots)
The Day The World Turned Upside Down by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Pat Cadigan translator (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2014)

SHORT STORY
No award

BEST RELATED WORK
No award

BEST GRAPHIC STORY
Ms. Marvel Vol 1: No Normal written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Jake Wyatt, (Marvel Comics)

DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM)
Guardians of the Galaxy written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, directed by James Gunn (Marvel Studios, Moving Picture Company)

DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM)
Orphan Black: “By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried”written by Graham Manson, directed by John Fawcett (Temple Street Productions, Space/BBC America)

BEST EDITOR (SHORT FORM)
No award

BEST EDITOR (LONG FORM)
No award

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST
Julie Dillon

BEST SEMIPROZINE
Lightspeed Magazine, edited by John Joseph Adams, Stefan Rudnicki, Rich Horton, Wendy N. Wagner, and Christie Yant

BEST FANZINE (576 ballots)
Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Alissa McKersie, Colin Harris and Helen Montgomery

BEST FANCAST
Galactic Suburbia Podcast Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)

BEST FAN WRITER
Laura J. Mixon

BEST FAN ARTIST
Elizabeth Leggett

CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER
Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2013 or 2014, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo Award).
Wesley Chu

It ended up being pretty diverse (Ms. Marvel, Orphan Black, translations, Lightspeed Magazine) despite the slate and I really liked when the best novel award was announced from ISS (live from space) by an American astronaut born in China with Swedish name who also grew up in London and went to a Chinese writer for a book originally published in Chinese. It gave it an extra international feel on something called Worldcon.

And the really interesting part was that of the Hugos that were awarded a lot went to those who were initially out of nominations but got on the shortlist after the Sad Rabid Puppies nominees withdrawn their works or were found ineligible. This includes two translated works (first time in Hugo history so many of them got an award) and Orphan Black and best artist. That really shows that what the puppies were really trying to keep out of the awards was quality.

At the end George R. R. Martin organised the traditional Losers Party party where he gave away special trophies - Alphies - awards for those who were pushed away from Hugo nominee list by the slate voting and those who were on the slate but withdrawn. And this is what the nominee list would look like if the slate never happened.

Comments

[novin-ha.livejournal.com]

I feel really bad for all the people who should have been on the shortlists but for those shenanigans.

Have you read any of the nominees / near-nominees? Are you planning to? I've read Ann Leckie and I've read good things about The Goblin Emperor as well as City of Stairs (and the winner too, ofc) but I'm not sure if they're my thing.

(Meanwhile, it has been a very interesting month, publication-wise, with new Kate Elliott and new Jemisin - both of which I'd had preordered for monthsssss. I look forward to next year's noms!)

[ellestra.livejournal.com]

I feel it is deeply unfair. I'm glad that grrm organised the Alphie thing but it shouldn't have been necessary.

I didn't. I have Leckie's books on my kindle but I haven't got to them yet. I planned to this summer but I haven't been able to concentrate on any serious books (I tried but ended up giving up). I've been only reading fluff in past couple of months. And short stories - I read all Jemisin short stories from the Thousand Kingdom universe (I haven't touched The Fifth Season yet though). Maybe after I finish the latest Laundry novel (it has superheroes).

[novin-ha.livejournal.com]

I hope you enjoy Leckie! I really did.

The Fifth Season appeals to me more than Kingdoms :)

What fluff did you end up reading? I spent the whole month of June reading mostly romance novels by Sherry Thomas...

[ellestra.livejournal.com]

I hope so - everyone seems to love it. And I hope I'll like 5th Season - for some reason I couldn't get into the Dreamblood books.

Mostly urban fantasy. I read Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers books - there are dragons and magic and the urban fantasy part doesn't make me want to kill the main characters (and no love triangles). I loved both of the books and now I'm waiting for more. I also started her (as Rachel Bach) more science fiction - Paradox trilogy but the romance is heavy in this one (and I don't like this kind of 'I'm always right' characters - remind me too much of Anita Blake and Richard Rahl). I tired the first Kim Harrison Hollows book - Dead Witch Walking - and I liked the world and it wasn't bad but I can see all the future romantic complications coming (especially with the main bad) and I just don't want any of that. And then was the short fiction I mentioned and now I'm finishing the newest Stross Laundry book - Mo is the narrator in this one and she deals with superheroes - it a series about Lovercraftian horrors from another dimensions and demonology through mathematics (computers really sped up the rate of incursions).

I keep complaining about romance but in urban fantasy it tends to devolve into something awful (borderline abusive - especially if it includes triangles) that make me deeply dislike everyone involve and spoil the series. Not always but often enough that I get wary whenever there are even indications it may happen.