Posted on 06/24/2021 2:56:47 PM PDT by tbw2
Over the past several years, I’ve watched WorldCon repeatedly implode.
Well, not exactly. It imploded in 2018 in a very spectacular way. WorldCon 2019 didn’t exactly implode, but then again, Jeanette Ng’s “acceptance” speech of the John W. Campbell award (now renamed “Astounding”) was her long awaited stab at a long-dead science fiction icon which spawned more of her displeasure at the “stale, pale, male crowd,” as well as a long list of other award renamings. The irony is that Ng also won a “Best Related Work” Hugo for 2020 because she complained about Campbell the year before. A rant wins you a Hugo. Who’d have thought.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, famed writer George R.R. Martin was accused of racism at the totally tanked WorldCon 2020. On top of that, the World Fantasy Con in the same year wrought its own disasters. If you read those blog posts, you’ll see the collection of “usual suspects” who complain about everything and anything that’s even a hair out of place compared to their high and mighty expectations.
Now we come to this, which I found online at Locus Magazine, a small article called Hugo Administration Team Resigns.
(Excerpt) Read more at poweredbyrobots.com ...
Hugo Admin Team Members Resign, But Why?
https://poweredbyrobots.com/2021/06/23/hugo-admin-team-members-resign-but-why/
My personal theory: it is related to the liability of committee members after Hispanic science fiction author Jon Del Arroz won a defamation lawsuit against Worldcon. They called the conservative author racist from official accounts, banned him from the event after he was harassed and strange packages sent to him home, and continued to exaggerate rumors against him to justify banning and publicly defaming him.
Worldcon Ordered to Apologize and Pay Conservative Author Jon Del Arroz for Banning Him and Calling Him ‘Racist’
https://pjmedia.com/culture/megan-fox/2021/06/05/worldcon-ordered-to-apologize-and-pay-conservative-author-jon-del-arroz-for-banning-him-and-calling-him-racist-n1452388
These awards are useless now. If you aren’t female you need not apply. Still, all that matters is whether your works sells. All else is pure unicorn farts..
It’s amazing that the author of this article seemed to have missed this very salient point. But, because they do, the article is mostly useless.
I had no idea that wokeness had hit Sci Fi. Well, that explains the stupid stories I’ve read recently...filled with “diversity” of every kind, but lacking imagination, plot, character development and science.
Well, back to the golden age authors for me....I really hate millennials.
I have been working my way through the really old Heinlein books.
Since the 90's, pretty much. Better to re-read Heinlein and Asimov than struggle through today's endless parade of Green Feminist Wokeness.
“I have been working my way through the really old Heinlein books. “
So have I. The last one I read was Friday, one of his later books. It was okay, but it took 200 pages before I decided it was worth finishing.
So far my favorite was Time Enough for Love, but I still have at least a half dozen to read. I took a break from Heinlein and bought some Mitch Rapp novels written by Vince Flynn. I also have a bio of Alexander Hamilton to read.
If your books don't sell, you are just a marginal creator - no matter how much appreciation you get from the Left.
Oh, yes. Google “Sad Puppies” sometime for the whole sordid story. For Golden Age flavor, I recommend John C. Wright, (sometimes) Evan Currie, and a good chunk of the Kindle Unlimited sci-fi section. Declan Finn looks pretty good so far, though he’s more in the urban fantasy department. Lots and lots of independent authors are self-publishing to get around the wokies. “Superversive” and “human wave” are a couple good keywords to surf on if you’re looking for non-nihilistic SJW work.
Age caught up with me some time ago.
Hmmm. Enough information in the article to convince me to buy one of his books.
I have read, own and re-read everything Heinlein wrote. He is a fave.
Fonda Lee’s “Jade City” was a good read - but the next book had a gay sex scene. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
I reread Heinlein every 10 or 15 years, mostly the books from before around 1970. We have them all, though, early and late.
My other thought on the matter: they’re afraid of another Sad Puppies slate and would rather quit than risk conservatives winning the award.
wokeness....
Yes, indeed for a long time now. Harlan Ellison refused to attend anything in a state that had not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment when it was alive.
Mar-Apr, 2021 issue of Analog has a bold and slashing attack against the presidency of Donald Trump, his supporters the hopeless rube morons (us) and the bright new hope by overturning traditional patriotism and America First insanity under the Dems. Sheesh!
Editor got “many” subscription cancellations and subsequently devoted a few pages to letting readers take swings at him.
But his magazine represents the last place where Larry Niven and similar authors would have regularly found a home. Asimov’s SF and F&SF have actually requested story submissions of gender changing, same sex couples in love and diversity. Total virtue signaling. Also climate change propaganda.
SPJNK.
Thanks for that informative post. I deliberately swore off SF a long time ago after actually closely tied to the field myself for decades.
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