Hugos

1) Nicholas Whyte, the Hugo administrator for Worldcon 75, has a very cogent analysis of last year's Hugo results had all the new rules been in effect. The combination of EPH and 5 and 6 seem to result in a much better ballot.

2) At Wright's House of Wrong, Mr. Wright goes off on (what is for him a short) rant on the poor quality of recent ( Read more... )

More thoughts on The Con That Was1) I drove to this con. It's an 8-hour drive, but driving is cheaper than flying, even when paying $24/day parking. Having said that, if I drive again, I'm definitely taking I-80 through Des Moines. Mapquest had routed me via I-72 and US-36. Those roads are fine, but desolate, with little in the way of services ( Read more... )

Comes news at MidameriCon II they revoked the membership of Dave Truesdale over conduct at a panel. Specifically, he read a prepared speech that had nothing to do with the panel and unnecessarily pissed off a bunch of people. Also comes news today that the con issued a one-day suspension of Mary Robinette Kowal's badge for serving alcohol at a ( Read more... )

I don't have a lot to say today, so here's the portion of the DragonCon Awards finalist list that I give a damn about with my vote in italics.

1. Best Science Fiction Novel
Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwitheriing Realm by John C. Wright
Raising Caine by Charles E. GannonAncillary Mercy by Ann Leckie ( Read more... )

Herewith are my thoughts on the Hugo Awards for novels and novellas.

BEST NOVEL

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher (Roc)
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

I read and nominated Seveneves ( Read more... )

Herewith my list of Hugo-eligible novels read ( Read more... )

I've heard a lot of Hugo buzz regarding Emma Newman's novel Planetfall. I recently read it and found it terribly disappointing. Without giving too much away, here's why I didn't like it ( Read more... )

Over my vacation, I consumed a fair number of books. Herewith, links to books and my reviews thereof:

1) An anthology of female-written SF which I enjoyed: The Dark Beyond the Stars. Methinks all stories are Hugo-eligible for 2016.

2) I am very much not a fan of Vox Day, but I am a fan of milSF. There Will Be War Vol X. Vox let Jerry ( Read more... )

I went downstate for the Labor Day weekend, and much fun was had, including a reunion with my high school class (30 years!).

I did not stay to see the annual Labor Day parade, perhaps fortunately, because at the start of the parade somebody accidentally ran over 9 people watching said parade. None of the injuries were life-threatening, but the ( Read more... )

Various thoughts related to Hugo and Puppies:

1) EPH does not take 76 pages to explain. The entire WSFS business packet was 76 pages, including eight new constitutional amendments, 4 from last year, various committee reports and financial reports from six or seven Worldcons. EPH only took up 3 pages of that ( Read more... )