My problem with The Wheel of Time being nominated
in toto (primarily due to a loophole in the wording of the rules) is how it affects a voter's ability to actually
read the whole Best Novels shortlist in the time frame allotted. If they've not read a large portion of the work
before it was nominated, there's a pretty good chance they're going to be voting having NOT read the entire shortlist. It promotes an "I've not read it"/"Oh my gosh I've been hooked on these since I was kid!" scenario. Which is perfectly fine for a fan discussion, but maybe not so much for the voting members of an award committee.
It is my contention that anybody who hasn't read the entire shortlist for a category, shouldn't be voting on that category (if they want to pretend it's at all about the excellence of the works). To be clear, that's my own personal conviction, I know it's not a "requirement." The Nomination of The Wheel of Time has made that difficult--if not impossible--for many voters. Whether they be the stay-at-home supporting member, or the attending, cosplaying convention-goer who shows everyone pictures of his cat posed like Chewbacca.
