Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2021 Hugo Awards. #thehugoawards #hugos #thehugos #DisconIII #Worldcon2021 #Worldcon pic.twitter.com/YpWLv8531S
— DisCon III – The 79th Worldcon (@worldcon2021) December 19, 2021
It’s been a solid quarter-century since I gafiated — drifted away — from sf fandom. (And even then, I was a dedicated fanzine fan who went to a few cons every year, just to see my friends in person.) So it was a pleasant surprise to see a photo of this year’s Hugo winners; I can imagine any number of puzzled fans, back in my day, complaining ‘Why are the winners standing behind their… dates?’
And in those long-departed days, the ‘Worldcon’ was not much more inclusive than baseball’s World Series — the sf ‘world’ we shared was the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia / New Zealand, and some token Europeans. Pretty much English-monolingual, and almost entirely white. But yesterday:
Congratulations to Chengdu. I know many people are not happy with this decision, but can we please not blame the Chinese fans who voted to have a Worldcon in their home country for any issues, no matter how legitimate, we have with the country and its policies. https://t.co/lACgdHjYAI
— Cora Buhlert virtually @DisCon III (@CoraBuhlert) December 18, 2021
From what little I’ve seen on social media since then, the Chengdu fannish community has put on regional conventions, and there’s obviously a solid readership base in China. The 2023 attendees may end up being mostly Mandarin speakers — Murphy the Trickster God only knows what China’s leadership will be like, even leaving aside the pandemic — but it won’t be the end of sf/f culture if ‘American’ isn’t the default setting for once.
Things do get better, even in ways we may never have expected…
Citizen Alan
That piercing scream you just heard was all the Sad Puppies crying out in despair.
West of the Rockies
@Citizen Alan:
I know. A white guy has no chance of winning a damn thing anymore!
In case there’s any doubt: ////////////////////
dm
Sad Puppies struck me as weird science fiction alleged-fans who were unable to appreciate their first encounter with an alien way of seeing things.
Oh, and the winners: https://www.tor.com/2021/12/18/2021-hugo-award-winners/
eclare
@dm: Wow, that’s a lot of awards.
Anne Laurie
@dm: I went to my first sf con (Lunacon, 1971 or ’72) wearing a small-press superhero-comic tshirt. As I was registering, someone behind the table groaned ‘Oh, god, who lets these people in?!?’
It wasn’t clear, at the time, whether they meant women, or comix fans, or both. But now, well…
Redshift
I was there! The convention committee was dealt a very tough hand, with both the pandemic and the major DC convention hotel that was supposed to hold most of it (the Wardman Park) going out of business after a hundred years, but I though they pulled it off pretty well, with a combination of in-person and virtual programming.
And yeah, the lineup of Hugo nominees and winners would have been unrecognizable even a few years ago.
MisterForkbeard
@eclare: The awards are pretty spot-on, I’d say.
Best Novel for Network Effect is something I’m really happy to see. That entire series is just amazing, especially if you listen to the audiobooks. It ALSO won “Best Series”.
The Good Place won for Best Shortform Dramatic Representation (TV show).
T. Kingfisher won two awards, including for A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking.
Honestly, just read everything on the list and you won’t be disappointed.
dm
I can’t fault the choices for best novel and best novella (though I’d have been hard put to choose among the novels).
Definitely check out Nghi Vo’s The empress of salt and fortune (winner in novellas). I can’t wait for more stories in that series (there’s already one other story).
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Hopefully GRRM wasn’t there to lazily mangle the names of the winners (despite the remarks being prerecorded), lionize the likes of John W. Campbell the year after he had been criticized in a piece that had won, make inappropriate jokes, and share boring anecdotes about his past WorldCons that nobody cared about
eclare
@MisterForkbeard: I was just amazed at all the different categories.
MisterForkbeard
@eclare: No kidding, there’s a lot.
The Hugo’s are run by and voted on by fans, so there are a lot of fan-centric and other categories (like best editor) that aren’t directly about the authors. They really do try to represent and recognize all parts of the fandom, and that includes things like “Best Semiprozone” :)
Chetan Murthy
@dm:
Can I just say, this was very, very, very well-put.
dm
Oh, hey! Open thread, so…
The thread the other day about Web 3 got me curious, so I went to investigate what there there was there, only to find that there was less than I originally thought.
I did find this delectable bit of snark along the way, however:
https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/15/web3_apparently_the_next_generation/
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Chetan Murthy:
@dm:
Agreed. They’d rather read stories about strong, lantern-jawed white men zapping the evil hive-mind bug aliens while saving the smoking hot damsel-in-distress
SectionH
So it happened. In DC. Wonderful! I’m happy for them. Mr. S had flights booked, NO – for real. No m’ship (“there are no tickets (repeat 3 times)- you buy a membership” Yes, back the very early 80’s. He basically wrote that into Worldcon received “wisdom”. Well he did.) It’s not that hard buy a m’ship from a fellow fan. Or pay the going price*. But srsly, I was like WUT? What is the point of the Worldcon? Then even he agreed that, if you can’t hang out with your firends (sic) at a bunch of room parties, srsly? Please this year? Hard Pass.
Chengdu? YES!!! proving again there’s a World in Worldcon. It’s a bit like when there was Brighton and then Den Haag, and the English thought they were clever… but the Dutch were reassuringly English-friendly. And most US fans voted for the Nederlands. And then Nippon won. That was a real breakthrough. And I guarandamntee you that more US fans voted for Nippon than Columbinatti… And if you recognize that, you probably know who I am.
And also a bit sorry for the guys who lost this year. The Winnipeg committee had quite a lot of people I like and respect, and most of the rest I just didn’t recognize. If I have the opponents straight. I tried to check, there’s a google challenge for anyone.
*Or not, dammit. WITAF? I am so out of date. At the Brits generally have student rates.
hervevillechaizelounge
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Goku, are you still awake and if so do you still work in retail? I have a question and I need to talk to someone in the trenches.
SectionH
@SectionH: at least ….
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@hervevillechaizelounge:
I do. Shoot away
Chetan Murthy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Oh, huh, why did I think you worked in nursing?
hervevillechaizelounge
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Are self-service check-outs immoral?
Am I helping overburdened employees or fucking them out of a job?
Thanks in advance for your guidance:)
hervevillechaizelounge
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Are self-service check-outs immoral?
Am I helping overburdened employees or fucking them out of a job?
Thanks in advance for your guidance:)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Chetan Murthy:
I went to school for that and graduated but the pandemic put a wrench in it. I delayed out of caution for myself and my parents. In doing so, I began to realize that I might not want to do it
@hervevillechaizelounge:
Those are pretty heavy questions.
Well, it depends. There’s only a few self-checkouts where I work and one of my jobs is to watch over them and help customers out when they need help. I suppose it could, but there still needs to be people, admittedly fewer, to put new register tape into them, void items/transactions off for customers, do price checks/overrides for them, etc
I think they do take away jobs from people, but I don’t think they’ll be going away anytime soon. Personally, I don’t get people who put a huge orders through them. It seems like it would be a pain to do. Hope this helps
hervevillechaizelounge
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
It absolutely does. Thanks so much for your guidance, and please pardon the double post.
Chetan Murthy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I certainly can’t blame you. The reason I wondered, is that I’ve read that pay for traveling nurses here in CA is …. pretty lucrative.
opiejeanne
@dm: I laughed when I saw that the Will Ferrell rockumentary Fire Saga was nominated. That was some totally silly fun when we really needed some.
HumboldtBlue
For some dancing joy, there is always Gurdeep Pandher of the Yukon.
opiejeanne
@dm: Thanks for posting the link to the list. I recognized some names but there were a lot more that I haven’t seen before, and the titles of the stories have piqued my interest. I think I’ll track down “The Empress of Salt and Fortune” and the “Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking”.
eclare
@HumboldtBlue: That is true joy!
HumboldtBlue
@eclare:
Joy.
That’s his gig.
SectionH
@opiejeanne: ALL of them are women. How cool is that? How male dominated was that field back in the day? ]
TBH, it took me re-reading Anne Laurie’s post to let it sink in, because
LiminalOwl
@opiejeanne: Do check out “Two Truths and a Lie” as well. Sarah Pinsker is wonderful, though rarely comforting. (I saw her at Readercon and have been reading everything since. Though it was disconcerting to read “A Song for a New Day” in autumn 2019, and then see Covid lockdown happen in the spring…)
LiminalOwl
@Citizen Alan: ah yes, Sad Puppies. And are the Rabids still around to froth about the Hugos?
@dm: Beautifully said,indeed.
@Anne Laurie: were you following faanish news when those SOBs tried to hijack the Hugos? And if you were still attending Lunacon in the ‘80s, you might have met me (‘81was my first, I think) or the Thin Black Duke.
What a lovely thread to wake up to! I meant to ask, a few days ago, whether there might be BJ subgroup interest in an SF discussion by Zoom?
Back to sleep now….
Doug
@opiejeanne: Here’s a quick-ish review of A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/05/a-wizards-guide-to-defensive-baking-by-t-kingfisher/
Here’s a longer set of thoughts about the Hugos this year, and if you’re not super invested in the awards, just skip to the links to reviews of the works. Doreen (my co-blogger) and I both reviewed all of the novellas (back in March, she even flagged Empress of Salt and Fortune as a potential Hugo winner), I got to all of the novels, and if you click on the “Hugo Finalist” tag, you’ll get to all of the graphic novels that she reviewed.
https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/19/hugo-2021-and-me/#more-7220
SectionH
@LiminalOwl: Oh you sweet summer child… yes, the idiot puppies, were except for losing a couple of long term friends (a certain Baen Book editor mostly, just don’t) that was a blip into making the Worldcon BE a WORLDcon.
Mary G
I joined for a few years because you got complete electronic files of almost every written work nominated. I could never get through a quarter of it. I did join and voted against the Sad and/or Rabid Puppies’ entries the year they were slapped down and went away. I think their vociferous objections to women/LGBTQ+/anyone not a white male actually accelerated the 180 degree turn we are seeing. I found a lot of great writers from columns about the uselessness of the SPs, with recommendations of others I’d never heard of that I went off to read and fell in love with.
Mo MacArbie
I see quite a few published by Tor. I appreciate that they sell their ebooks DRM-free, and I like to support them in that. I guess I have a few more leads for what to pick up next.
Ken
Those have their place. Lately it’s in the “humor and parody” section, but it’s a place.
raven
I have no fucking idea what this is about????
Anne Laurie
Count your blessings!
SectionH
It’s about Science Fiction fandom, from AL’s post. Most of us proto-fans were just kids who just wanted to read, and be left alone. Quite a number of us were srsly brainy girls.
I seem to be the only person for most to comment who knew what she meant until a couple of ppl – Lim Owl and Mary G, who is on the West Coast chimed in.
tl;;dr – you’ll be bored. The Hugos are still about the best writers in the genre. It’s still an important award.
SectionH
@Anne Laurie: Blast. I hate it when I’m actually earnest…
Anne Laurie
Tragically, after attending one or two Lunacons (and some early NYC comic cons), I moved to the Midwest to go to college. So I think I only attended one more Lunacon, sometime in the mid-80s… but I spent most of it at hall parties or restaurant runs with my in-group of fanzine fans…
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Ken: That might be part of why people like the Puppies got so mad at John Scalzi – his “Old Man’s War” superficially resembled that sort of story, but the hints of subversion were there if you read carefully (and the wingnut fantasy stuff got blown out of the water in the sequels, plus Scalzi turned out not to be a wingnut in real life, which the Puppies saw as a hideous betrayal).
Anne Laurie
@SectionH: Heck, if you can remember any of my shenanigans at the time — a certain level of detachment is to everybody’s advantage!
(I don’t regret the past, but if I were forced to live it all over, I’d have laughed more & sworn less.)
nonrev321
Love SciFi, Love it, long time reader (55 + years) so I’m always interested in finding a new classic. Went to the 2021 Hugo award web page. Looked at every Novel winner and checked out the book and reviews. None caught my interest. I realize this is entirely personal opinion and judgement and some may love a few of these winners but not a one impressed me as approaching the level of past masters. None of these books seemed they would be remembered and re-read in 25 years and be just as enjoyable and thought provoking. I truthfully suspect the best SciFi novels are sitting out there on a shelf right now unrecognized by publishers.
SectionH
@Anne Laurie: Now there’s an epitaph. I’m working on not doing that. Well, I can’t get shed of the swearing, but laughing more. That’s my bestest option. And I think it might be working.
SectionH
@Anne Laurie: Are. you joking? I was much too busy with my own shenanigans.
LiminalOwl
@SectionH: Hey, what did I do to deserve “sweet summer child”? I haven’t gafiated, just couldn’t afford to go to Worldcon or other non-local cons, for some years now. (Well, the Thin Black Duke and I went to Philcon for several years until the pandemic, and were hoping to go this year until… well you know.)
I do plan to attend Arisia and Boskone this year—yes, in person, unless the situation grows even more threatening health-wise. If any of youse guys are there, come to Info Desk to say hi.)
hedgehog mobile
I did very little reading this year due to concentration shot, but I hope to change that next year, starting with the Hugo winners. I have read and loved all the Martha Wells series. The Hugo award ceremony was very well done: I was able to watch the livestream. Planning for Chicago next year in person, Ghu willing. Thanks to Anne Laurie for an excellent recap.
LiminalOwl
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Don’t forget the biggest betrayal of all—once he became a Name, Scalzi threw his full weight behind anti-harassment Codes of Conduct.
I’m not a huge fan of the guy’s fiction, but he seems to be a wonderful human being.
JAFD
Was looking thru BJ last week, wondered if anyone else was heading for DC, thot maybe, might be hoisting green balloons for a jackal meetup there, sorry there wasn’t one.
Am one who spent a decade on the Philcon committee, my admiration to those who ran this Worldcon ! Hope no fen are found still lost in the Shoreham in 2022 ;-)
H.E.Wolf
@nonrev321: “Love SciFi, Love it, long time reader (55 + years) so I’m always interested in finding a new classic.”
You may have read it already, but if not, try The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. It would probably have won the Hugo in 2015 had the soi-disant Sad Puppies not abused the nominating system.
The author has described the premise as “what happens AFTER the scullery boy (who knows nothing of the corridors of power) becomes the head of state?” and said that she wanted to write a “hero’s journey” that wasn’t the usual travel-and-maps version.
The novel is full of political intrigue, the protagonist is mixed-race, and there are airships.
Brief commentary from the author (Katherine Addison is the pseudonym of Sarah Monette):http://www.thebooksmugglers.com/2014/04/sff-in-conversation-katherine-addison-on-the-goblin-emperor-and-grimdark.html
SectionH
@LiminalOwl: Um, ok, the assholes who insult young dogs – you are too kind. Just don’t get me started on that for real, “Sweet etc” = I meant you were too nice about them. I never minded being a sweet summer child, btw, because I was. If. that really bothered you, lo siento mucho.
That’s all, except. Arisia AND Boskone? Wow, Get. your N-95s. Learn to wear them. Don’t buy any tickets you can’t afford eat. This Covid shit is so not over.
J R in WV
@nonrev321:
You aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are.
There is only ONE novel winner each year, so you can’t have “looked at every Novel winner..”
I would recommend to your attention the actual one winner, by Martha Wells, which is part of a series called the Murderbot Diaries. The protoganist is an AI operating a robot, which has managed to achieve independence. She also won the Hugo for best Series, as well as best Novel. She truly deserves the award, and the work will be a classic when you and I are dead and gone.
I suspect you are a misogynist Sad Puppy-like fool who can’t stand that all the winners this year are women. Perhaps also a racist upset that some of the winners aren’t white male Americans?
Other authors who were nominees that I have read a lot of include Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal and N.K. Jemisin, who won best novel 3 years in a row. No classic there, either, I’m sure!
Thanks for being so revealing, now I can put you in the pie safe for safekeeping away from my attention evermore. FU, also too.
SectionH
@JAFD: LOLOLOL! Same joke, different millenium
If they can be found next year, I’m fine with that.
glc
Back from WorldCon. Well run under rather difficult circumstances, in hybrid format. The Hugo Ceremony went off very well (after a delayed start) and with a good deal more careful preparation than the previous one – which, in fairness, had a more challenging set of constraints to deal with, and what I think the organizers could fairly characterize as some bad luck.
The Chengdu meeting raises some practical difficulties which don’t look easy to navigate. Jeannette Ng has remarked that her prior award acceptance speeches would have gotten her arrested in China. There are rather broad issues in terms of the kinds of participation and discussion that will be possible in that setting. But for the moment I congratulate the Chinese fans on the opportunity this presents and hope for the best.
glc
@nonrev321: The SF field is in a golden age at the moment. If you want a good sense of it I would recommend subscribing to Locus Magazine. I believe their review of 2021 will appear in the next issue, so if you just buy that one issue you may have all the information you can digest for several months to come.
There are many subgenres and many awards that reflect different interests. The Hugos are the fan awards and reflect, in a loose sense, what is actually broadly popular among the more active segments of fandom (heavily biased toward the U.S. in practice). Jo Walton’s book reviewing the history of the awards (in the rear-view mirror) is also interesting.
For a casual point of entry I’d recommend Scalzi’s blog, Whatever, which has a range of commentary (whatever is on his mind at the moment) as well as regular blog posts by authors on their own thinking behind their current work (typically around the time it is released)
P.S. Sorry for double post but on the other hand … I found I had two things to say.
Hob
@nonrev321: First, in case you’re wondering what the hell J R in WV is on about (if in fact they’re wrong), be aware that in the last decade there’s been a very vocal right-wing group who are the type of people J R described, and in forums where they felt they had to soft-pedal their politics a bit, they would tend to say exactly the kind of stuff you just said about how this new stuff just isn’t like it used to be. So that’s a type of comment people have seen A LOT from those trolls, and it may be that you just had the bad luck to write a comment that recalled bad memories for some of us.
Second– even if perfectly well intentioned, your comment isn’t so much a matter of individual taste as an example of forgetting history. Take a look some time at the past list of Hugo-winning novels. I would bet that even for a lifelong fan, most of them have not stood the test of time and many are completely forgotten. So it doesn’t make sense to look at the winner from one particular year and conclude “stuff now isn’t as great as the past masters”. You’re remembering selectively.
glc
@Hob: Belated comment on the last …
Very well could be. I was going to write more about that but I’ll just leave it at that. Dead horse I think.
Pots
There’s a story in the idea of a fan lost on level 3B of the Shoreham…