Finalists: 2015 Hugo Award

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I can't find any "official" confirmation yet, but social media seems fairly confident that Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem has replaced Kloos' withdrawn Lines of Departure on the Best Novel shortlist.

Thankyou - now on my wishlist. I've read a couple of his short stories/novellas and was interested in what he could do with a novel.

[caleb72]

I haven't explored what "Rabbid Puppies" is, although I've come across the name Vox Day here and there.

Is a rough summary, a group of like-minded individuals who seek to use various means at their disposal to influence the selection of Hugo nominees based on the author's/work's political leanings?

If so, it's quite honourable for an author to refuse the nomination. Although, I wouldn't hold it against anyone to hold onto the nomination if they thought that would ultimately be better for their career.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I haven't explored what "Rabbid Puppies" is, although I've come across the name Vox Day here and there.

Is a rough summary, a group of like-minded individuals who seek to use various means at their disposal to influence the selection of Hugo nominees based on the author's/work's political leanings?

As a very rough summary, that's close enough for jazz. To add some detail without going overboard, VD was on the SP2 slate last year and started his own slate this year. There are allegations of behind-the-scenes collusion between the SP3 and RP administrators, but little hard evidence. Of course, since the nature of such collusion is that it tends to be secret...

[AnemicOak]

Science Fiction's White Boys' Club Strikes Back
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/1...n-culture-wars

Currently, the science fiction world is being torn asunder by a cultural war over diversity, with a hot battle going on over the Hugo Awards, the long-running and prestigious fan-selected awards given out every year at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon). Reflecting the demographics of the larger field, the Hugo Awards have traditionally gone to white men, but nominations for women and non-whites have risen in recent years. That trend has upset right-wing fans who say they've been marginalized by affirmative action gone mad—and who organized a successful nomination campaign to undo these gains in diversity, creating an unprecedented party-line slate which has led to the stacking of this year's Hugo ballot largely with white men once again.

[kennyc]

I say we press forward with our own ballot of 'All Cats, All the Time!'

and if there ain't no ebook, fergedddaboutit!

[Iphinome]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I say we press forward with our own ballot of 'All Cats, All the Time!'

and if there ain't no ebook, fergedddaboutit!

No slates are bad and make you go blind and get hairy palms and have you ever tried herding cats? It ain't as easy as herding puppies.

[scottken]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

As a very rough summary, that's close enough for jazz. To add some detail without going overboard, VD was on the SP2 slate last year and started his own slate this year. There are allegations of behind-the-scenes collusion between the SP3 and RP administrators, but little hard evidence. Of course, since the nature of such collusion is that it tends to be secret...

Actually, Sad Puppies was announced Feb 1, Rabid Puppies Feb 2, as can be seen on their web pages.

They also used logos that look nearly identical, so I'd be surprised if they didn't collaborate on this in advance, given the short time between their announcements.
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Rabid Puppies dominated the voting, with no Sad Puppies nominess making the ballot who were not also on the Rabid Puppy slate.

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Essentially, Sad Puppies provides a nice face for Rabid Puppies, run by Theodore Beale (ie. Vox Day), who is essentially a white supremacist. There's a good rundown on Beale at :
http://www.philipsandifer.com/2015/0...r-weapons.html

But having the Hugos hijacked by a white supremacist really pisses me off. And the way Torgersen and Correia bend over backwards to justify their relationship with Beale is additionally infuriating.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by scottken

Actually, Sad Puppies was announced Feb 1, Rabid Puppies Feb 2, as can be seen on their web pages.

I was deliberately trying to stay out of the weeds with my reply, hence "close enough for jazz."

At any rate, the documented ties between VD and the Sads* go back significantly further than February of this year. Furthermore, I am thoroughly unconvinced by Correia's "explanation" of his enthusiastic review of the 2011 WorldCon as "I was scared to speak out" - particularly since Torgersen commented on that post with his own "OMG SO AWESOME" mini-review.

In short, I know the Sad Puppy faction better than I'd like. It's a right-wing echo chamber, prone to conspiracy theories, and this is what happens when they drink too much of their own weak tea.

Yes, I'm still slated to attend one of their pet cons in a couple of months, but it will probably be my last time there. Over the last few years, I've seen the crazy just keep building. (I mean, they put a climate-denial panel on their science track!) I used to enjoy the convention, but the more overtly political it's gotten, the less comfortable I've felt there. This is where I draw the line; I have no desire to associate with people who would celebrate the destruction of an award I hold in high esteem. I'd rather spend that money buying a supporting membership and doing my part to thwart them by doing what they claim to encourage: voting for works I find outstanding.

* "VD and the Sads" is my Cure tribute band.

[Iphinome]

While I wait for the packet to come out I've started my Hugo reading, rereading in this case with _Skin Game_. Sadly it is just as I remember, a decent yarn with nothing at all to make it stand out as something special deserving of an award.

*sigh* All that effort and bad will just to get something on the ballot that I'm going to have to put below No Award. Thanks puppies, that slot could have belonged to a book that just might have knocked my socks off.

[scottken]

Yes, it's their slate tactic, which basically breaks the function of the award from a sort of hive-mind consensus into a contest for political organization (or, in this case, outreach to the spleen of gamergaters) that's really sad.

And, Rev Bob, that crazy-building you so well describe just confounds me. I mean, I was raised by engineers, and as such very much enjoy the sort of traditional, capable person narrative who survives by their wits in the tradition of Alistair MacLean or, for a recent example, The Martian by Andy Weir. But why these guys somehow weld that "can-do" liking back into the viewpoint of technology doing no wrong (such as their belief in climate change denial) just confounds me. The will-full blindness they demonstrate in that and other areas is really something.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I mean, they put a climate-denial panel on their science track!

Wow - that's pretty brave. They deny that there is a climate?

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by scottken

But why these guys somehow weld that "can-do" liking back into the viewpoint of technology doing no wrong (such as their belief in climate change denial) just confounds me. The will-full blindness they demonstrate in that and other areas is really something.

It gets even worse when you consider that these are SF fans. How can they not grasp the concept of terraforming? That's what anthropogenic climate change is, after all - only accidental instead of guided, and harmful instead of benevolent.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

It gets even worse when you consider that these are SF fans. How can they not grasp the concept of terraforming? That's what anthropogenic climate change is, after all - only accidental instead of guided, and harmful instead of benevolent.

You say it's accidental but that's what they want you to believe.

Also, very disappointed not to find a tin foil hat wearing paranoid smiley

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

You say it's accidental but that's what they want you to believe.

I can't talk about that.

(Hint: This is me. I work for the company that makes this, among other things. Fnord.)

[Dr. Drib]

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