Weighing in on the Hugos
Okay, so I posted a comment over on Mary Robinette Kowal's blog, about Sad Puppies. It got kind of long-winded. In fact, I decided it might as well be my jump-in, on here.
Some dude named Ian Monroe said, in part:
"I personally have a lot more cynicism about the SP voters, in that it’s not they are ‘new’ to fandom, but they have an interest in fandom. The SP leaders actively hate fandom and I suspect so does the Joe Sad Puppy. However I’d be happy to be proved wrong on this. You are really giving them the benefit of the doubt and I respect that."
Respondit me:
Hi, there.
I think I can qualify as Joe Sad Puppy, since (a) I’m not a leader thereof, but (b) I’ve picked up a supporting membership specifically to join the fray. I’ve also already picked up an attending membership for MidWestCon next year.
I don’t know Brad Torgersen personally, but have known Larry Correia for several years. Vox Day has nothing to do with SP, and decided to tag Rabid Puppies onto the argument for, as near as I can tell, grins and giggles.
I don’t hate “fandom”. As of this spring, I’ve been reading SF/F for fifty years, since I picked up “Red Planet” in first grade. My first exposure to organized fandom was a bunch of us crashing Worldcon, Labor Day weekend before I started college. I started legitimately attending cons about 25 years ago. I’ve volunteered at most of the cons I’ve attended, I’ve attended panels, worked hall tables, cosplayed, done the whole thing. Haven’t been to a Worldcon since 1974, but see above re: this year and next.
So, I’ve been a fan since before a lot of the WorldCon insiders were born, been attending cons for 25 years, been into everything from reading, to Star Trek (original series, thankyouverymuch - watched it on its first run), been a gamer, cosplayed, and have even been red-shirted by authors. For that matter, I’ve actually survived being a character in a John Ringo book. So, any of y’all, TELL me, I dare you, that I’m not a “trufan” or a member of fandom.
I just picked up “Ancillary Sword” from the library, since I’ve heard that Leckie’s publisher doesn’t include e-copies in voter packets. I’ll be blogging my opinions of the works on this year’s ballot, as I read them. I will say that I read the sample chapters available on Amazon for “Ancillary Justice”, and wasn’t impressed. We shall see.
The whole point of Sad Puppies isn’t to get “conservatives” on the ballot. It’s not racism, misogyny, or any of that crap that someone spewed verbatim to half-a-dozen media outlets. Larry’s perception (borne out by the reaction to SP 1 and SP 2, in my opinion) was that there was a lock on the Hugos, in the hands of people who didn’t care about Story. Things were being nominated, not for their quality, but for the demographics of the author - race, sex, identity, and political orientation.
The object of Sad Puppies is to break the lock. I have a bet with myself, as to what this year will do to WorldCon’s membership. Given that the variable costs of electronic materials packets are about zero, I’m thinking that $30 to $35 of that $40 is free money to the Con.
If “Ancillary Sword” is the best novel I read between now and June, I’ll vote for it. It’s got a high bar to top, though. Larry C turned down the nomination for “Monster Hunter: Nemesis”. I read “Nemesis” about 4 months before it came out in hardback, and it’s one of my benchmark books for 2014. I’ll read “Sword”, and everything else on the ballot. May the best book win.
I already know one piece, by a fairly close friend, that I’m not likely to vote for. It’s down-ballot in another category, but I happen to know that the only reason he published it was for laughs. With the exception of a couple of authors whom I know personally, I’m not actually sure what’s on the SP ballot. I haven’t read it. I still consider myself an SP supporter, because the MAJOR principle of Sad Puppyhood is Story Over All.
Some dude named Ian Monroe said, in part:
"I personally have a lot more cynicism about the SP voters, in that it’s not they are ‘new’ to fandom, but they have an interest in fandom. The SP leaders actively hate fandom and I suspect so does the Joe Sad Puppy. However I’d be happy to be proved wrong on this. You are really giving them the benefit of the doubt and I respect that."
Respondit me:
Hi, there.
I think I can qualify as Joe Sad Puppy, since (a) I’m not a leader thereof, but (b) I’ve picked up a supporting membership specifically to join the fray. I’ve also already picked up an attending membership for MidWestCon next year.
I don’t know Brad Torgersen personally, but have known Larry Correia for several years. Vox Day has nothing to do with SP, and decided to tag Rabid Puppies onto the argument for, as near as I can tell, grins and giggles.
I don’t hate “fandom”. As of this spring, I’ve been reading SF/F for fifty years, since I picked up “Red Planet” in first grade. My first exposure to organized fandom was a bunch of us crashing Worldcon, Labor Day weekend before I started college. I started legitimately attending cons about 25 years ago. I’ve volunteered at most of the cons I’ve attended, I’ve attended panels, worked hall tables, cosplayed, done the whole thing. Haven’t been to a Worldcon since 1974, but see above re: this year and next.
So, I’ve been a fan since before a lot of the WorldCon insiders were born, been attending cons for 25 years, been into everything from reading, to Star Trek (original series, thankyouverymuch - watched it on its first run), been a gamer, cosplayed, and have even been red-shirted by authors. For that matter, I’ve actually survived being a character in a John Ringo book. So, any of y’all, TELL me, I dare you, that I’m not a “trufan” or a member of fandom.
I just picked up “Ancillary Sword” from the library, since I’ve heard that Leckie’s publisher doesn’t include e-copies in voter packets. I’ll be blogging my opinions of the works on this year’s ballot, as I read them. I will say that I read the sample chapters available on Amazon for “Ancillary Justice”, and wasn’t impressed. We shall see.
The whole point of Sad Puppies isn’t to get “conservatives” on the ballot. It’s not racism, misogyny, or any of that crap that someone spewed verbatim to half-a-dozen media outlets. Larry’s perception (borne out by the reaction to SP 1 and SP 2, in my opinion) was that there was a lock on the Hugos, in the hands of people who didn’t care about Story. Things were being nominated, not for their quality, but for the demographics of the author - race, sex, identity, and political orientation.
The object of Sad Puppies is to break the lock. I have a bet with myself, as to what this year will do to WorldCon’s membership. Given that the variable costs of electronic materials packets are about zero, I’m thinking that $30 to $35 of that $40 is free money to the Con.
If “Ancillary Sword” is the best novel I read between now and June, I’ll vote for it. It’s got a high bar to top, though. Larry C turned down the nomination for “Monster Hunter: Nemesis”. I read “Nemesis” about 4 months before it came out in hardback, and it’s one of my benchmark books for 2014. I’ll read “Sword”, and everything else on the ballot. May the best book win.
I already know one piece, by a fairly close friend, that I’m not likely to vote for. It’s down-ballot in another category, but I happen to know that the only reason he published it was for laughs. With the exception of a couple of authors whom I know personally, I’m not actually sure what’s on the SP ballot. I haven’t read it. I still consider myself an SP supporter, because the MAJOR principle of Sad Puppyhood is Story Over All.