On why George R.R. Martin is wrong: No Awarding the slate

[nwhyte]

When I saw the domination of this year's Hugo finalists by a slate of works nominated by a misogynist racist and his colluders, my immediate reaction was that I should vote "No Award" ahead of every one of their nominations, no questions asked or quarter given. (I was not alone.)

There has been some debate about this in the last week. Notably,

Comments

[martin_wisse]

I don't believe anybody has sent death threats to the Puppies; they've lied about everything else, so I don't trust them to not lie about this.

Meanwhile, personally I am starting to lean towards No Awarding everything and sorting it out in the retro Hugos because of the Puppy taint. How can I vote for best novel when only two out of five candidates are there on merit?

[nwhyte]

How can I vote for best novel when only two out of five candidates are there on merit?

That is indeed a fair point.

I'm sorry, by the way, that we did not get to talk at Eastercon. We were obviously in the same room at the same time at least once - thanks for tweeting my soundbite on Sunday night! - but I failed to identify you and introduce myself.

[drplokta]

You can vote for one of those two nominees if you think it was the best novel of the year, and vote No Award if you don't think either of them is the best novel of the year. The same as in any other year, except with two instead of five.

[catsittingstill]

Do be aware that since Hugo nominations were run this year, we do not get a do-over unless enough people at two consecutive business meetings agree to change the rules to make that possible.

I am planning to No Award all slate nominees. But I don't expect to get a do-over that way; I think we're just giving up on this year.

I don't plan to No Award anything that made the ballot fairly unless the work is really Just That Bad.

I do see your point about the works not having fair competition--this just how I intend to thread that needle but I understand other people will take different approaches.

[nwhyte]

I'm afraid that's right. The 2015 Hugos are largely lost already.

[sbisson]

No retro-Hugos for this year unless someone cancels them...