Reading roundup, Hugo homework, Worldcon plans
55. Ursula Vernon, Whiskerella (Hamster Princess 5) -- the last of the Hamster Princess books currently out, so there will be no more sparkly hamsters for me until October (which is fine, as I'm ready to take a break; binging these is probably not what one should do, anyway). This one was also pretty cute, with the Cinderella story subversion ( spoilers! )
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
... Though tbh, I think I may currently be on a Sanderson hiatus as well -- I finally sat down and read Edgedancer and, while I enjoyed it, also noticed how starkly I didn't care when it tried to edge back into references to the main series' overarching plot.
I suspect I should probably wait until I actually care about the epic fantasy plots again before I spent another X thousand words reading about them. :D
ambyr on DW says kaffeeklatsches are her favorite and one can generally get 1-2 books signed. So hm!
Yeah, that was an interesting data point for me, too. :D
And honestly, if not for the fact that I'm sure it'll fill up with actual fans, the idea of doing a kaffeeklatsch with Ada Palmer is actually rather compelling -- she seems like the person who'd be fascinating to listen to in person, even if I hate her books. :'D So if you manage that, I'm definitely interested to hear how it goes!
(And if you want to try for the Leckie kaffeeklatsch, I suspect my mom and I would also be interested in trying to tag along. :D)
Seriously?! Though I would guess she's grown in popularity considerably this year courtesy of Murderbot...
It's been three years, so I could easily be misremembering, but I think I remember it being in a decent-sized (20-30 person?) conference room, and not being entirely full.
The Raksura series I think was her most popular thing before Murderbot, but my impression is that in terms of sales, it was still solidly midlist; I was shocked to see it make it onto the Best Series ballot because even though most of the people I know who've read it really like it ... I didn't think there were enough of us to count. XD
It'll be interesting to see if / how much things have changed this year. And I'm still so pleased that, regardless, she'll be going home with two Hugo nominations (and a Nebula and a Locus) - I hope it's enough of a boost to her career to allow her to continue writing the books she wants to write for a long time to come. :)
(BTW, I assume you've seen by now, but apparently after the current novella series wraps up there's going to be a novel!)
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*nods* I seem to be running short on epic fantasy mojo myself, and should probably save it for series-already-in-progress that I like, like Kingkiller Chronicles (assuming he ever writes that next book) or ASOIAF (ditto).
she seems like the person who'd be fascinating to listen to in person, even if I hate her books. :'D
Haha! But, yeah, she is definitely someone I'd love to hear talk at length, and I suspect you would find her interesting, too, but, yeah, going for a kaffeeklatsch with someone whose book(s) you hate is probably not the best use of either your time or the kaffeeklatsch slots. But right now I'm determined to try to make this happen, and will for sure report back!
I might try for Leckie as well, though I suspect that would be tougher competition, and also there are three panels scheduled against it that I'm sort of interested in... But I'll find out when the sign-ups are -- they apparently have to be done in person and open at a specific time -- I remember seeing the details somewhere, but now where it was, so I need to find that again...
I was shocked to see it make it onto the Best Series ballot because even though most of the people I know who've read it really like it ... I didn't think there were enough of us to count. XD
I'm actually still wondering how the series nominations worked this year, because that list ended up being very different from anything I had expected. And there is zero overlap between the series nominations and the individual works that made them eligible for series nom being on the ballot -- e.g. none of the Penrics made the novella shortlist but Five Gods as a whole did; Broken Earth and Imperial Radch did not show up under series when I was totally expecting them to. I wonder if they excluded from the series list any series which had a series entry elsewhere on the ballot. Which wouldn't be an unfair way to do it, and would lead to a more diverse total set of nominations, which is all to the good.
And I'm still so pleased that, regardless, she'll be going home with two Hugo nominations (and a Nebula and a Locus)
I'm like 90% certain she'll be going home with a Hugo for Murderbot, too :) (In series, I'm going to guess that all the same people who carried Vorkosiverse to its series win last year will be voting for Five Gods this year, so I think LMB is the one to beat there. But I'll be curious to see how it actually goes!)
And yes, I did see the Murderbot novel news! Looking forward to that for sure!
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:'D
I do hope that they will both finish eventually, for the sake of folks who are bigger / ongoing fans; I started and liked both, and have enough residual fondness that I might go back and pick them up again when/if they finish. But until then, I'm not going to inflict on myself the angst of interminable waiting. :D
I remember seeing the details somewhere
Looks like they've got rough guidelines here? So, by that logic, Ann Leckie would be available starting ~4pm Thurs, Ada Palmer ~4pm Fri, I think. :)
And yeah, as usual, it seems like there's always too many things to pick between. XD I may go ahead and try for it, just for the experience, though the Queer Families panel is awfully enticing ... XD
For the Best Series, yeah, now that you mention it, it is odd -- I wonder if enough people have an innate tendency to assume that series has to be > trilogy to have weighted the nominations away from Radch and Broken Earth? (I know I nominated the former, but tbh I have no memory of whether it occurred to me to nominate the latter. XD)
For Penric -- maybe people weren't super enthused by the latest novella and so didn't nominate it in large numbers, but still felt that the series as a whole deserved recognition?
Hopefully if there is some sort of elimination of duplication, that'll play into the stats they release after the announcements. :D
And yeah, much as I love Raksura, I will be deeply shocked if it ends up any higher than ... third? fourth? XD
I agree Five Gods is likely the one to beat; if I had to make a backup bet, it would be Stormlight. And even InCryptid I wouldn't be surprised to see relatively high on the list, given how many SMG fans exist, though I don't know how this specific series rates among her fans compared to e.g. Toby Daye.
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Yes, that's the one! And of course the opening of Palmer signups is scheduled opposite the Beagle autograph session... Well, I'll have to figure something out. (Leckie's are actually conveniently scheduled, for once, although the koffeeklatsch itself is not.
I wonder if enough people have an innate tendency to assume that series has to be > trilogy to have weighted the nominations away from Radch and Broken Earth?
I'm too lazy to check my actual nominations ballot, but I think I did nominate both -- or maybe I did initially and then bumped one when ambyr reminded me Temeraire was eligible by virtue of the artbook that was published this year. But you might. But I think you might be right about the longer-than-a-trilogy reasoning, too. And you're almost certainly right about the later Penrics being less beloved by the Five Gods fandom than the two Chalion novels or the first Penric, plus there were actually two (or maybe even three) Penric novellas that came out in 2017, and would probably split the novella vote while not competing against each other under series. But, yeah, I'm definitely curious to see the nominations breakdown for series vs novel/novella specifically when the stats come out.
if I had to make a backup bet, it would be Stormlight. And even InCryptid I wouldn't be surprised to see relatively high on the list, given how many SMG fans exist, though I don't know how this specific series rates among her fans compared to e.g. Toby Daye.
Yeah, good point about InCryptid. I feel like I've encountered fewer rabid dedicated fans of the series than her other work (Toby Daye, Wayward Children, or the Mira Grant books), but it's still SMG, so that's definitely a pro when it comes to Hugo competitiveness, clearly. I feel like Stormlight, out of the lot of nominations, is the hardest series to get into out of all of them, due to the massiveness of even the first volume, so I feel like anyone who is not already a pre-existing fan won't be able to get into it really. But I'm sure there are quite a few pre-existing fans, so I wouldn't be surprised if it does well. And I don't know how many people try to at least sample all the nominees in the series category vs just voting for the ones that they know and ignoring the rest...
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Oof -- although at least if it's anything like Norwescon, it's probably just a room somewhere with clipboards and sign-up sheets, so theoretically if you show up right around the time they put it out, you should be able to slip in, sign up, and be back over at the autographing station in plenty of time to get in line. Kind of dicier with it only being a 30-minute slot, though. :\
and would probably split the novella vote while not competing against each other under series
Ohhh yeah I can see that -- I'm actually curious to see what happens to Murderbot next year, since if the first got nominated this year, I imagine there'll be a strong enough fandom to potentially get one of the others on the ballot, too ... buuut with 3 coming out this year, the vote might end up split. XD
(And in hindsight, I'm a bit surprised the same thing didn't happen with JY Yang's duology -- I guess enough people got the impression that Black Tides came first that they figured that was the one to nominate?)
so I feel like anyone who is not already a pre-existing fan won't be able to get into it really.
Yeah, there is definitely that. 'Twil be interesting to see the stats afterward. :D
vs just voting for the ones that they know and ignoring the rest...
I came out here to have a good time etc etc. :D
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I was wondering about that too, but then someone linked me to the explanation that JY Yang asked people who had room to nominate only one of the two to nom "Black Tides", because it functioned better as a standalone (which I can't judge on my own, not having read the other one yet, but people who have read both seem very consistent in their opinions that a) 'Red Thread' is the better novella but b) relies on having read "Black Tides" to full appreciate, so it was probably the right call.)
And good point about Murderbot being in a similar situation next year, and I wonder if Wells will also put forward a preferred pick... (I don't think LMB ever did, with the Penrics, but she doesn't seem overly concerned with the whole Hugo thing anymore at this point.)
it's probably just a room somewhere with clipboards and sign-up sheets, so theoretically if you show up right around the time they put it out, you should be able to slip in, sign up, and be back over at the autographing station in plenty of time to get in line.
Yeah, that's my hope as well... Or at least the course I plan to follow...
I came out here to have a good time etc etc. :D
Ahaha, sorry! XD But I actually meant that this is the SANE thing to do, and therefore probably what the majority would opt for.
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I would agree re (a) -- or at the very least, that it's the novella with a more standard construction, which tells a story with less-strange pacing?
re (b) I think I could see it functioning pretty well as a standalone for people who don't mind being spoiled for the parts of Black Tides that do change drastically over the course of the novella?
E.g. if someone reads Red Threads first, they'll see that Mokoya has a brother named Akeha. It's not really necessary to the story that Red Threads is telling, to go into all the angst they both had around his decision, and the fact that it was an explicit decision - she has a brother, they love each other but also have some history, but you don't need to dive into the history because that's not what the story is about.
Buuut in that case, if you go back and read Black Tides later, you're going to know Akeha's decision, and about the tragedy that happens near the end of Black Tides, etc. going in.
... But also that's coming from me, who has read both, so I can't say for sure that there isn't some key missing context if you read Red Threads only, aside from all of this stuff that I would call more "backstory that means more if you watched it happen"?
And good call that Yang suggested that specifically -- that hadn't occurred to me, but sounds like a wise tactic. :)
she doesn't seem overly concerned with the whole Hugo thing anymore at this point.
Hahahaha yep. :D
Ahaha, sorry! XD But I actually meant that this is the SANE thing to do, and therefore probably what the majority would opt for.
<33 Don't worry, no feelings were hurt or even mildly bruised, it just seemed like a perfect opportunity to pull out that particular meme. :D And yeah, I agree that the majority probably also did likewise -- much like a lot fewer people vote on the less-prominent categories than the big ones. :)
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Ah, I see! Hm! Then maybe it's for keeping things non-spoilery reasons that JY Yang suggested 'Black Tides' as the one to nom...
, it just seemed like a perfect opportunity to pull out that particular meme. :D
And it was! :D I totally chortled out loud at the aptness :D
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