Hugo 2020 Award Winners

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by leebase

How do you choose the books you read? I pay attention to the description of the book...how else would I choose among the thousands?

I pay attention to the cover, to the title, to the description, to the blurbs written by authors I know.

If I read "lesbians in space" in the BOOK's blurbs (not some critic on the web), I probably wouldn't read it.

I might well read: Captain Julie Swan takes on the galaxies worst criminals in this fast space brawling space opera. If you wondered what Jack Reacher might be like in space...read this book.

It could turn out that Julie is a gay woman and it wouldn't bother me. But if the description of the book, by the author/publisher was " lesbians in space" -- no thank you.

If I read a description of a book from an author I've not read that reads like...If you like some other book and even yet another books, you'll love this one, I pass it by.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Well, of course, he's my candidate for President of the US this year. It says so on my t-shirt.

Cthulhu for President, why settle for the lesser of two evils?

Now THAT is exciting -- and not boring!

And you also have a sense of humor.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by DNSB

From what you wrote, I take it that you are okay with the books written about gay men written by women? A rather popular subgenre. Books about gay women written by straight women? Books about gay women written by men? With authors who are now making a character in their book a "person of colour"?

I am not sure how this has anything to do with what I said, but as an example, Greg Rucka and Terry Moore are both men who write excellent LGBT women characters. I have no problem with him doing so. I would prefer read those perspectives written by those who have lived them, but I am not territorial about it.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Can someone give me a good example of a book description that doesn't sound boring to them? Also... have you ever read books whose description didn't do them justice?

If we include nonfiction in your questions, then I would say Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson is an example of a book whose description I found intriguing and whose book description doesn't do it justice (I am in the midst of reading the book. I have tried to split my time between it and the new Catherine Coulter novel, Deadlock, but have found I can't stop reading Caste.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I read the first few chapters, but just couldn't get into it. I've read and enjoyed books that had a lesbian as the main character, so that wasn't the issue. It just wasn't particularly interesting to me.

I, too, found Gideon the Ninth a boring, highly overrated book. I, too, was unable to finish it. That the main character is a lesbian played no part in my decision; I simply found the book dull and uninteresting. I would also add that I have no problem with strong female leads. In fact, one of my favorite series is the Honor Harrington series by David Weber -- so much so that I bought copies of each book in the series for each of my granddaughters and suggested that Honor Harrington was a worthy role model.

I am looking forward to the new James Bond movie where the new female 007 is introduced.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Cthulhu is racist.

Cthulhu is not racist. He is willing to devour anyone.

Hmm.... Vote Cthulhu. No lives matter before his hunger!

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Cthulhu is not racist. He is willing to devour anyone.

Like father like son. Lovecraft is racist and so is Ctulhu.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Like father like son. Lovecraft is racist and so is Ctulhu.

Jon, I suspect you are stretching the definition of racist well past it's breaking point. As near as I can remember from reading Lovecraft, Derleth, et al., Cthulhu, like the other Great Old Ones, does not discriminate between human races. They simply classify all human as potential snacks.

Or are you simply upset that an Great Old One or an Elder God would not consider you as an equal?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by leebase

I never made that assertion. I said that efforts to promote diversity of authors or characters....rather than simply looking for the best stories....produce sub par results.

Not saying "diversity produces sub par results". Saying that "look for the best" you will find the best.

"Looking for the best from a disabled, trans person of color" might make you feel better....but it's not likely to be the best story.

What make you assert that the 2020 Hugos weren't chosen on the basis of being the best stories?

[hildea]

Originally Posted by DNSB

From what you wrote, I take it that you are okay with the books written about gay men written by women? A rather popular subgenre. Books about gay women written by straight women? Books about gay women written by men? With authors who are now making a character in their book a "person of colour"?

I'm not when that is all the character has to offer. No additions to the storyline, just a cardboard cutout character with a label so that author can claim to be PC.

You know, I've read books where all (or almost all) the main characters were white AND straight AND cis AND allosexual AND neurotypical AND without any physical disabilities. Talk of identity politics gone wild! I get that such people exist, but when an author decides to populate their books with such a narrow subset of humanity, there should be a strong plot reason for it, and preferably some worldbuilding to make it seem less unrealistic.

(In case it wasn't obvious, the previous paragraph was sarcasm )

Returning to the topic: I haven't read any of this year's Hugo nominated works, but I've read and liked several of the authors on the list, so I'll definitively check out the rest of the authors too. I've meant to read several of them for a while.

I actually didn't pay attention to the Hugos until the Sad Puppy stuff. That told me that a lot of people care about the Hugos, and that these days they make decent attempt at covering the whole field of SFF, not just the white male part which tends to get more attention in awards, so that made me more interested in paying attention to it.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Cthulhu is not racist. He is willing to devour anyone.

Hmm.... Vote Cthulhu. No lives matter before his hunger!

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Vote Cthulhu, No lives matter before his hunger!

Boy, I wish had the nerve to wear that t-shirt!

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Now THAT is exciting -- and not boring!

And you also have a sense of humor.

Well, of course. Now, admit-ably my sense of humor has been described as "off beat", "warped" and "sick", but it does exist!

[haydnfan]

I don't think the Hugo awards just go through a "PC checklist." If you look over the past few years you will see that overall male writers are well represented. No my problem with the Hugo awards is that they nominate the same handful of writers over and over and over again. There is no intellectual diversity. And it provides a very misleading picture of the state of sf/f.

These kind of awards have really lost their relevance anyway now that bloggers, booktubers and goodreads' reviewers have made it so easy to identify rising stars and must read books.

Edit: Also want to add that there are many excellent writers that are snubbed by awards, not promoted on NYT and as a result they can't even make a livable wage. When these major awards hyperfocus on a handful of writers it produces an effect where that minority makes money hand over fist while other great writers can't even make it their day job.

[Dr. Drib]

Where is Harlan Ellison when we need him? He's probably turning over in his grave, assuming he's been buried.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Vote Cthulhu, No lives matter before his hunger!

Boy, I wish had the nerve to wear that t-shirt!

Check Cthulhu 2020 No Lives Matter for sizing and other choices.