[April 2016] What are you reading?

Kramodlog · Apr 27, 2016

I finished Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. It started out alright, but became uninteresting pretty quickly. I can't believe it won the Philip K. Dick Award in 2003. Makes me wonder about that prize*. Maybe the Netflix adaptation will be better by shortening it.

I'm starting the classic Ringworld by Larry Niven.

*With all the problems the Hugos got last year with the Sad/Rabbid Puppies and the problems they has this year with them, finding quality work seems harder now.

Ralif Redhammer · Apr 27, 2016

This latest slate seems like they’re reduced to just trolling the Hugos. "SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day," really?

For my part, I’m tackling Riddley Walker. The post-apocalyptic tale is fascinating, but the writing style makes for tough going. It's all written in a devolved form of English:

"I gone front spear and kilt a wyld boar he parbly benn the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs."

goldomark said:
I finished Altered Carbon

*With all the problems the Hugos got last year with the Sad/Rabbid Puppies and the problems they has this year with them, finding quality work seems harder now.

Kramodlog · Apr 27, 2016

Ralif Redhammer said:
This latest slate seems like they’re reduced to just trolling the Hugos. "SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day," really?

On their slate were works like Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman's latest Sandman comics, and films like the Martians. It seems like they are pushing mainstream stuff or stuff that would have gotten nominated anyway and claim it was because of them. John Scalzi wrote a good article on this. http://www.latimes.com/books/jacket...zi-hugo-award-nominations-20160426-story.html

Umbran · Apr 27, 2016

The Philip K Dick Award is a bit of an odd bird. The Hugos are intended to be a fan award. The Nebulas are the SF Writer's Association award. The PKD Award is, if I understand it properly, just this one sci-fi society giving out an award. While it picked some good works early on, I think its overall picks are a bit hit or miss.

goldomark said:
On their slate were works like Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman's latest Sandman comics, and films like the Martians. It seems like they are pushing mainstream stuff or stuff that would have gotten nominated anyway and claim it was because of them.

The strategy seems a touch more complicated than that. Their slates in some of the most popular categories were those things that likely would have gotten nominated anyway. And we could read that simply as them either wanting to put themselves in front of the pack and claiming they are leading, or as them saying, "Look, we aren't actually that bad! You like what we like, see?" A step toward trying to legitimize and bleed out the controversy.

But, in some of the lower popularity categories, their slates lean away from the recognized leaders, and more to the whitewashing seen last year.

The tactic there may be to blunt resistance, being inoffensive where people care, so that they can then win in these other categories.

Kramodlog · Apr 28, 2016

Umbran said:
The Philip K Dick Award is a bit of an odd bird. The Hugos are intended to be a fan award. The Nebulas are the SF Writer's Association award. The PKD Award is, if I understand it properly, just this one sci-fi society giving out an award. While it picked some good works early on, I think its overall picks are a bit hit or miss.

The strategy seems a touch more complicated than that. Their slates in some of the most popular categories were those things that likely would have gotten nominated anyway. And we could read that simply as them either wanting to put themselves in front of the pack and claiming they are leading, or as them saying, "Look, we aren't actually that bad! You like what we like, see?" A step toward trying to legitimize and bleed out the controversy.

But, in some of the lower popularity categories, their slates lean away from the recognized leaders, and more to the whitewashing seen last year.

The tactic there may be to blunt resistance, being inoffensive where people care, so that they can then win in these other categories.

It is probably giving them too much credit. The novel category is probably off limits for their strategy since a few novels and authors will gather a consensus early on. Their voting block is relatively small and can't pierce that wall. In the more obscure categories like short story where votes will be all over the place, their voting block has more weight.

I'm not sure what will be long term impact, but slates and voting blocks might be the Hugo's future. The Nebula might end up the more credible and prestigious award.

Umbran · Apr 28, 2016

goldomark said:
It is probably giving them too much credit. The novel category is probably off limits for their strategy since a few novels and authors will gather a consensus early on. Their voting block is relatively small and can't pierce that wall. In the more obscure categories like short story where votes will be all over the place, their voting block has more weight.

Yeah. That's exactly what I said. If you agree, how it is giving them too much credit?

I'm not sure what will be long term impact, but slates and voting blocks might be the Hugo's future. The Nebula might end up the more credible and prestigious award.

Yah. Once someone with a cause noticed that social media and the internet allowed for organized voting blocks, the Hugos were pretty much done for.

Kramodlog · Apr 28, 2016

Umbran said:
Yeah. That's exactly what I said. If you agree, how it is giving them too much credit?

On intention and masterminding everything. It is probably less of a brilliant plot and more, as G.R.R. Martin wrote, a f-u to some people.

There is a parallel to be made with... literature. Critics sometimes over analyze and give intentions where authors did not have any. Vox Day just seems vindictive and not particularly brilliant. Or that is what he wants us to think.

Yah. Once someone with a cause noticed that social media and the internet allowed for organized voting blocks, the Hugos were pretty much done for.

The World Science Fictions Society should change the rules now that the Hugo are broken. Nominate a jury to select the nominees among the public submissions and then let WorldCon members vote on that. Or something.

Ralif Redhammer · Apr 28, 2016

That probably will be the way it goes, as the Hugo Awards' get slogged by slates/"recommendations" year after year now. At the same time, I can understand their defiance and sticking to how they've always done things. The Puppies have pretty much created a no-win situation. Keep going as they have been and the Puppies get to continue tarnishing the Hugos. Make changes to prevent them from doing this yet again, and the Puppies will claim a so-called "SJW Agenda Conspiracy."

goldomark said:
The World Science Fictions Society should change the rules now that the Hugo are broken. Nominate a jury to select the nominees among the public submissions and then let WorldCon members vote on that. Or something.

Kramodlog · Apr 28, 2016

Ralif Redhammer said:
That probably will be the way it goes, as the Hugo Awards' get slogged by slates/"recommendations" year after year now. At the same time, I can understand their defiance and sticking to how they've always done things. The Puppies have pretty much created a no-win situation. Keep going as they have been and the Puppies get to continue tarnishing the Hugos. Make changes to prevent them from doing this yet again, and the Puppies will claim a so-called "SJW Agenda Conspiracy."

People have to pay to vote and I think that is valid for two years but I could be mistaken. So next year the fevor of the RPs might go down. They will still e vulnerable to slates though.