Science Fiction - The Culture War's Line in the Sand

LewRockwell.com ^ | April 16, 2015 | Allan Davis

[Utilizer]

Does that mean that Jim Butcher’s book “Skin Game” (The Dresden Files) has no chance of winning his nomination? That would be truly sad. Excellent series.

[Salgak]

John’s a great guy. He and his family were over for BBQ a week or two ago. We occasionally trade snarky comments. .

[Ransomed]

I have heard of it, but have been warned off by opinions like yours. Another one that is supposedly pretty bad but won a Hugo is the short story “If you were a dinosaur, my love.” A big criticism of it seems to be it’s not even speculative fiction at all, but simply hits all the SJW points.

FReegards

[petro45acp]

“...They have been dining out on “McCarthyism” for decades,...”
When in fact, McCarthy was not far from the x ring. Post Venona declassification, documents show the government at the time was riddled with communists, as was hollywierd, and the press.

Might be worth checking out the Prometheus awards list.

YMMV
KYPD

[Ransomed]

Ah yes, I recall. Very very cool. Still jealous. Hope your new grill performed without a hitch.

Freegards

[schurmann]

I’ve read the series, and I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by the end. It starts off strong, but by the middle, it gets bogged down with too many characters and subplots.

I think that is about the time Jordan’s illness was getting more severe and he lost sight of where the story was going.

It did improve a bit with the last three books; some of the subplots were resolved and it was quickly moving toward the ‘final battle’.

The last books was disappointing. The ending was what I wanted. But it also had a political overtone. The sexual preferences of less-than-minor characters was suddenly the focal point of at least two conversations (this going on while battle that was deciding the fate of their world was being fought).

Was it worth the wait? For me, I would have to say yes. I had, after all, been waiting over a decade for the series to end. But I also have not reread the series since I put “A Memory of Light” down.

I guess I can recommend it, but not highly. There are better fantasy series out there.

[tbw2]

There is a lot of science fiction, as well as survivalist fiction, on Amazon kindle. There’s an explosion of self-published sci-fi; the issue is that the publishing houses are applying political litmus tests to writers, so Octavia Butler’s anti-hierarchical aliens and black female savior of humanity would make the test, but many others wouldn’t.

[GraceG]

The Star Trek Scale of politics:

DS9 - Conservative
TOS - Conservative / Libertarian
ENT - Mushy Middle
TNG - Socialist
VOY - control Freak Communist

[no-s]

Sasquan voting registration

heheh, I had the signup page open, and then I saw your post and and thought to myself, heheh, why not a free republic referrer for the visit and signup. That's a message too.

[Sherman Logan]

Wheel of Time is fantasy/swords and sorcerers stuff.

I read the whole darn series, which I think was 14 books.

Excellent in the beginning, then for about 8 books an editor was desperately needed, picking up in the last two or three. The 14 book series, each of which was like 800 pages, would have been a MUCH better series it if were edited down to perhaps 8 books.

JMO.

I liked a lot about the series, particularly many of the characters and the world-building, but it was just so looong.

[Sherman Logan]

Wrote post 30 before reading this. Interesting how similar our take was.

[zeugma]

buying a $40 supporting membership gets full voting rights on the Hugos as well as electronic copies of all nominated works,

Do you know what all is nominated this year?

[zeugma]

never mind. I found it.

Best Novel (1827 nominating ballots, 587 entries, range 212-387)

• Ancillary Sword, Ann Leckie (Orbit US/Orbit UK)
• The Dark Between the Stars, Kevin J. Anderson (Tor Books)
• The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette) (Tor Books)
• Skin Game, Jim Butcher (Orbit UK/Roc Books)
• The Three Body Problem, Cixin Liu, Ken Liu translator (Tor Books)

Note: The Three-Body Problem was originally published in Chinese in 2008. The 2014 publication by Tor was the first English-language version, and therefore it is again eligible for the Hugos, according to section 3.4.1 of the WSFS Constitution.

Best Novella (1083 nominating ballots, 201 entries, range 145-338)

• Big Boys Don’t Cry, Tom Kratman (Castalia House)
• “Flow”, Arlan Andrews, Sr. (Analog, 11-2014)
• One Bright Star to Guide Them, John C. Wright (Castalia House)
• “Pale Realms of Shade”, John C. Wright (The Book of Feasts & Seasons, Castalia House)
• “The Plural of Helen of Troy”, John C. Wright (City Beyond Time: Tales of the Fall of Metachronopolis, Castalia House)

Note: Both Big Boys Don’t Cry and One Bright Star to Guide Them were previously published in much shorter versions, and were significantly expanded to novella-length in their 2014 publication. Following previous precedents, for the purposes of the 2015 Hugos they are designated as new works.

Best Novelette (1031 nominating ballots, 314 entries, (72-267)

• “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Earth to Alluvium”, Gray Rinehart (Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, 05-2014)
• “Championship B’tok”, Edward M. Lerner (Analog, 09-2014)
• “The Day the World Turned Upside Down”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Lia Belt translator (Lightspeed, 04-2014)
• “The Journeyman: In the Stone House”, Michael F. Flynn (Analog, 06-2014)
• “The Triple Sun: A Golden Age Tale”, Rajnar Vajra (Analog, 07/08-2014)

Best Short Story (1174 nominating ballots, 728 entries, range 132-226)

• “On A Spiritual Plain”, Lou Antonelli (Sci Phi Journal #2, 11-2014)
• “The Parliament of Beasts and Birds”, John C. Wright (The Book of Feasts & Seasons, Castalia House)
• “A Single Samurai”, Steven Diamond (The Baen Big Book of Monsters, Baen Books)
• “Totaled”, Kary English (Galaxy’s Edge Magazine, 07-2014)
• “Turncoat”, Steve Rzasa (Riding the Red Horse, Castalia House)

Best Related Work (1150 nominating ballots, 346 entries, range 206-273)

• “The Hot Equations: Thermodynamics and Military SF”, Ken Burnside (Riding the Red Horse, Castalia House)
• Letters from Gardner, Lou Antonelli (The Merry Blacksmith Press)
• Transhuman and Subhuman: Essays on Science Fiction and Awful Truth, John C. Wright (Castalia House)
• “Why Science is Never Settled”, Tedd Roberts (Baen.com)
• Wisdom from My Internet, Michael Z. Williamson (Patriarchy Press)

Best Graphic Story (785 nominating ballots, 325 entries, range 60-201)

• Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal, written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Jake Wyatt, (Marvel Comics)
• Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass and Sorcery, written by Kurtis J. Weibe, art by Roc Upchurch (Image Comics)
• Saga Volume 3, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics))
• Sex Criminals Volume 1: One Weird Trick, written by Matt Fraction, art by Chip Zdarsky (Image Comics)
• The Zombie Nation Book #2: Reduce Reuse Reanimate, Carter Reid (The Zombie Nation)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (1285 nominating ballots, 189 entries, range 204-769)

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier, screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, concept and story by Ed Brubaker, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Entertainment, Perception, Sony Pictures Imageworks)
• Edge of Tomorrow, screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth, directed by Doug Liman (Village Roadshow, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, 3 Arts Entertainment; Viz Productions)
• Guardians of the Galaxy, written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, directed by James Gunn (Marvel Studios, Moving Picture Company)
• Interstellar, screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, directed by Christopher Nolan (Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Lynda Obst Productions, Syncopy)
• The Lego Movie, written by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, story by Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, LEGO System A/S, Vertigo Entertainment, Lin Pictures, Warner Bros. Animation (as Warner Animation Group))

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (938 nominating ballots, 470 entries, range 71-170)

• Doctor Who: “Listen”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Douglas Mackinnon (BBC Television)
• The Flash: “Pilot”, teleplay by Andrew Kreisberg & Geoff Johns, story by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg & Geoff Johns, directed by David Nutter (The CW) (Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television)
• Game of Thrones: “The Mountain and the Viper”, written by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss, directed by Alex Graves ((HBO Entertainment in association with Bighead, Littlehead; Television 360; Startling Television and Generator Productions)
• Grimm: “Once We Were Gods”, written by Alan DiFiore, directed by Steven DePaul (NBC) (GK Productions, Hazy Mills Productions, Universal TV)
• 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 (870 nominating ballots, 187 entries, range 162-279)

• Jennifer Brozek
• Vox Day
• Mike Resnick
• Edmund R. Schubert
• Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Best Editor, Long Form (712 nominating ballots, 124 entries, range 166-368)

• Vox Day
• Sheila Gilbert
• Jim Minz
• Anne Sowards
• Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist (753 nominating ballots, 300 entries, range 118-188)

• Julie Dillon
• Kirk DouPonce
• Nick Greenwood
• Alan Pollack
• Carter Reid

Best Semiprozine (660 nominating ballots, 100 entries, range 94-229)

• Abyss & Apex, Wendy Delmater editor and publisher
• Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Association Incorporated, 2014 editors David Kernot and Sue Bursztynski
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies, edited by Scott H. Andrews
• Lightspeed Magazine, edited by John Joseph Adams, Stefan Rudnicki, Rich Horton, Wendy N. Wagner, and Christie Yant
• Strange Horizons, Niall Harrison, editor-in-chief

Best Fanzine (576 nominating ballots, 162 entries, range 68-208)

• Black Gate, edited by John O’Neill
• Elitist Book Reviews, edited by Steven Diamond
• Journey Planet, edited by James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, Colin Harris, Alissa McKersie, and Helen J. Montgomery
• The Revenge of Hump Day, edited by Tim Bolgeo
• Tangent SF Online, edited by Dave Truesdale

Best Fancast (668 nominating ballots, 162 entries, range 69-179)

• Adventures in SciFi Publishing, Brent Bower (Executive Producer), Kristi Charish, Timothy C. Ward & Moses Siregar III (Co-Hosts, Interviewers and Producers)
• Dungeon Crawlers Radio, Daniel Swenson (Producer/Host), Travis Alexander & Scott Tomlin (Hosts), Dale Newton (Host/Tech), Damien Swenson (Audio/Video Tech)
• Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)
• The Sci Phi Show, Jason Rennie
• Tea and Jeopardy, Emma Newman and Peter Newman

Best Fan Writer (777 nominating ballots, 265 entries, range 129-201)

• Dave Freer
• Amanda S. Green
• Jeffro Johnson
• Laura J. Mixon
• Cedar Sanderson

Best Fan Artist (296 nominating ballots, 198 entries, range 23-48)

• Ninni Aalto
• Brad W. Foster
• Elizabeth Leggett
• Spring Schoenhuth
• Steve Stiles

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (851 nominating ballots, 220 entries, range 106-229)
Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2013 or 2014, sponsored by Dell Magazines. (Not a Hugo Award, but administered along with the Hugo Awards.)

• Wesley Chu*
• Jason Cordova
• Kary English*
• Rolf Nelson
• Eric S. Raymond

[Personal Responsibility]

Wheel of Time is a series written by Robert Jordan. The books are large - 900, 1000 pages each. It started off very good but kinda lost its way. Jordan passed away before he could finish it and Sanderson was chosen to finish it.

If you’re looking for good stuff, check out Sanderson’s “The Stormlight Archive”, his best series (imo). Mistborn (Final Empire, Well of Ascension, Hero of Ages), Elantris, Warbreaker and The Emperor’s Soul are also all really enjoyable.

I’ve read sci-fi, fantasy for 30+ years and haven’t found anyone else like Sanderson. He is a prolific writer with great stories, great characters and great worlds.

[Personal Responsibility]

It’s the media so there’s really no reason to guess lol.

Also - I loved Groo! I think of him alot, especially when liberals make me want to stab things.

[circlecity]

"If you’re looking for good stuff, check out Sanderson’s “The Stormlight Archive”"

Is this Science fiction or Fantasy? As I said above, I'm not really into the fantasy but love Sify.

[Personal Responsibility]

The books I mentioned solidly fantasy.

He has another series (like I said - prolific writer) called “The Reckoners” that’s a “super-powers-gone-bad dystopia” which is good but not as good as the fantasy stuff.

[schurmann]

It took a while for me to come to the conclusion that the last book was a disappointment, simply because I had enjoyed the earlier books so much.

I might reread the entire series at some point, but at the moment, I have no desire to do so.

[GrootheWanderer]

Yeah, Vox Day has noted the irony that if the leftists do what they say and vote against every Sad Puppies/Rabid Puppies work, they’ll have to vote against a book that even they acknowledge is worthy of the award by a writer who is well liked and not even a conservative.

[Sherman Logan]

Big Boys Don’t Cry, Tom Kratman (Castalia House)

Quite possibly the most non-PC author I've ever read.

While I agree with much of his politics and enjoy some of his writing, sadly he also isn't that good.