2016 Hugo Awards: Despite pups, good works still make ballot

The 2016 Hugo Awards final ballot has been announced by MidAmericCon II and, as expected, a good deal of the Rabid Puppies' slate are among the finalists. File 770 has an excellent breakdown of which works and authors made the ballot because of RP slate voting.

The relative good news, though, is that more non-slate works and authors made the ballot than last year, and many of these works and authors are very deserving of Hugo Award consideration. For example, I loved both The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin and Uprooted by Naomi Novik and could easily see either of them winning the novel category. The same with Alyssa Wong in the Campbell Best New Writer category. Most other Hugo categories also have a few award-worthy options.

There are exceptions. The short story category is completely filled with the RP slate, including works like "Space Raptor Butt Invasion" by Chuck Tingle which no one can deny made the ballot for no reason other than outright trolling. The same with the Best Related Work category.

There are also authors who made the ballot with slate support but didn't ask to be included, such as Andy Weir of The Martian fame along with many of the films and semiprozine finalists who were slated without their consent. As a result Hugo voters will have to go through each category, consider the nominated works, and make a decision on how to vote. If that vote is No Award, then so be it.

But never forget that the goal of the Rabid Puppies is to destroy the Hugo Awards. That's why they included publications like Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Strange Horizons on their slate — they want people to vote No Award on publications which are the exact opposite of everything the Rabid Puppies stand for. It's up to Hugo voters to see this trick and not fall for it.

After all, as John Scalzi asks, "how much credit should (the puppies) get for nominating already-celebrated work?" The answer is none.

In the end, read and consider all the works on this year's Hugo ballot and vote for those which are worthy of winning. And as with last year's Hugos, if a category has no deserving finalists then No Award is always an option.

And before anyone asks, yes, rule changes being considering at this year's Worldcon will make it more difficult for slates to dominate the Hugos in the future. I also don't believe a second year of puppy madness will permanently destroy the Hugo Awards' brand or importance. People are able to recognize hateful trolling when they see it, and hateful trolling is what people will remember about this whole affair in the decades to come.

Chinese edition of The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain

The Chinese edition of The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain is now available as a stand-alone ebook on Douban Read.

So far I've been really impressed with Douban Read, which translates and publishes e-editions of genre works by a number of authors including Ken Liu and Aliette de Bodard.

Douban Read takes an innovative approach to translating foreign works. They have a "foreign works in translation page" where they allow different translators to post sample translations of upcoming books. The editors then review these translations and pick the best translator to go with the story. Among the books they're currently translating are The Waiting Stars by Aliette de Bodard, Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead by Carmen Maria Machado, The Elephant and Macaw Banner by Christopher Kastensmidt, and my novella Sublimation Angels.

To purchase and read the Chinese edition of The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain, go here.

A short fiction Dragon Award in honor of Eugie Foster

Eugie Foster working on the Daily Dragon at Dragon Con.

Dragon Con has announced the creation of the Dragon Awards, which will "recognize outstanding achievement in science fiction and fantasy literature, comics, gaming and filmed entertainment." The awards will be selected by fans in an open nomination and voting process.

Complete information is available on the award's website.

I think this is a great idea and look forward to taking part as a genre fan. I also think this will go a long way toward raising awareness about the different literary subgenres recognized in the award.

In fact, my only criticism of the award is that it lacks a short fiction category. On one level I understand this decision since short fiction is not as popular as novel-length fiction. However, short fiction is still a powerful force in our genre and one well worth honoring and recognizing.

My hope is that in the future Dragon Con will consider adding a short fiction category or two to the Dragon Awards. And perhaps they could do so while also honoring a short fiction author who devoted so much of her life to the convention: Eugie Foster.

For many years Eugie edited the Daily Dragon, the official publication of Dragon Con. Eugie deeply loved Dragon Con, perhaps as much as she loved writing short fiction. If Dragon Con decides to create a short fiction award in the future it would be a fitting honor if they named or hosted the award in Eugie's name.

My novelette "Blood Grains Speak Through Memories" in Beneath Ceaseless Skies

My novelette "Blood Grains Speak Through Memories" is in the special science-fantasy double issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies alongside fiction by Aliette de Bodard, Sarah Pinsker, Yoon Ha Lee, Cat Rambo, and Anaea Lay.

In addition to reading the story online You can also download it in the following formats:

The novelette will also be reprinted in The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2017 Edition, edited by Rich Horton.

So far the review of "Blood Grains Speak Through Memories" have been excellent.

  • Rocket Stack Rank, which ranks the year's best genre short fiction, calls the novelette Hugo Award worthy and gives it 5 stars. See the complete review for more. 
  • Rich Horton in the May 2016 Locus Magazine gives the novelette a "recommended" rating and says "It’s cool and strange stuff, almost gothic at times, thought-provoking and honest."
  • Eric Kimminau at Tangent Online calls the novelette a "marvelous piece of work" and adds "It is unlike any story I have ever read and I give it my highest possible recommendation."
  • Maria Haskins writes "Sanford skillfully sets up an intricate, weird, and uniquely imagined world where land-anchors are set against day-fellows (don’t ask, just read), and where memory, family, protecting the land, and finding a place to call home are complex and potentially dangerous things. It’s a story that made me want to read more about the world it conjures."
  • Charles Payseur at Quick Sip Reviews calls the novelette "rather moving" and adds that it's "a fine story and one well worth its fairly substantial weight. Indeed!"
  • Tethyan Books says "With its creative setting and deep emotional stakes, this story was my favorite of the month."
  • Tadiana Jones at Fantasy Literature gives the story 4.5 stars out of 5, says "Jason Sanford has created a unique and compelling world in this novelette ... The characters have complex motivations that are equal to the unusual setting, making this intricate SF tale a delight to unpack."
  • Four stars from Reading Trance. "Imaginative and original, with great characterization.
  • Named to the Tangent Online 2016 Recommended Reading List.

The Retro Hugo Awards must be fixed

Last year's Hugo Awards were so full of fun and screams that we just had to do it again, with the deadline to nominate works for the 2016 Hugos only a few days away. Already the drama has shifted into high gear with people arguing over nominations, engaging in name-calling, and debating whether or not recommendations are truly slates in disguise.

However, there's always more gasoline to throw onto a genre bonfire, so I want to raise an issue which hasn't yet been screamed about.

Namely: The current system by which nominations are made for the Retro Hugo Awards is a mess and must be fixed!

Retro Hugos? you ask. What the hell are those?

The Retro Hugos honor science fiction and fantasy stories and works from either 75 or 100 years ago when no Hugo Awards were given out. This means current members of the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) are nominating for two different sets of Hugo Awards. The first is for works published last year, meaning the regular Hugos. The second or Retro Hugos are for works first published in 1940.

Before I proceed to my rant, know this: I think the Retro Hugos are a great idea. I love how the Retro Hugos seek to honor and highlight great works from our genre's long history. The awards are part history lesson and part memorial. We can't have a healthy genre without knowing our genre's history, so in that respect the Retro Hugos are a net positive.

However, despite these lofty ideals the Retro Hugos have descended into a crap shoot of a nomination process where only the most insider of genre insiders can take part.

Sure, everyone who is eligible to nominate for the Hugo Awards can also nominate for the Retro Hugos. But have you tried to actually nominate stories for the Retro Hugos? Think that's easy? Then quick, name some outstanding stories and authors from 1940. And if you can name them try to locate the eligible stories and authors so you can read them.

Not so easy, is it? I spent the last two weeks tracking down and reading eligible stories from 1940. I have access to two world-class library systems and a personal collection of Golden Age SF/F magazines. I'm also a bit of a genre history buff, so I'm familiar with the authors and stories and editors who are eligible for this year's Retro Hugos.

Despite all those advantages I still struggled to nominate works for the Retro Hugos. I also spent more time tracking down the stories and authors than I spent actually reading their works. I took the time to do this because I'm passionate about the Hugos, but I can easily see why most people wouldn't bother.

And because more people don't bother, only a small group of people will nominate for the Retro Hugos. That results in the nominated stories and authors having a good chance of not representing our genre's true history.

This brings me to the first thing Worldcon should do to fix the Retro Hugos: Make sure e-book editions of eligible works are available to all people nominating for the Retro Hugos.

E-book editions of eligible stories should be a no-brainer. And yes, a step toward something like this has already been taken in the genre, with groups putting together collections of public domain short stories published in 1940 (File 770 has a nice link to all the stories). In addition, Amazing Stories did a good roundup of the authors and editors and fiction eligible for the award. But all of that only scratches the surface of what's out there. And merely having the title of an eligible work means crap if you can't read that work.

If any particular Worldcon wants to give out Retro Hugos, then e-book and/or online anthologies of eligible authors and stories must be made available to those nominating for the awards. And that must include works which are not in the public domain. Yes, it would take time to do this but I imagine most publishers and/or author estates would be willing to make the stories available for members at no cost.

But even if voters have access to stories from decades ago, it's still unlikely that as many people will take part in the Retro Hugo nominating process as takes part in nominating for the regular Hugos. This, unfortunately, leaves the Retro Hugos open to missing important works and to being gamed.

To fix this here's my next suggestion: Use a combination of juries and regular Worldcon members to nominate works for the Retro Hugos. 

I know juries seem like the ultimate insider power play, but when you're dealing with stories published 75 or 100 years ago it can be useful to have experts in that genre time period also nominating stories. Perhaps the jury could nominate two of the five works in each category, and Worldcon members could nominate three of five. This also seems like a sensible way to make sure the nominated stories are truly the best that year has to offer.

And every Worldcon member would still be able to vote for the overall winner from the final Retro Hugo ballot.

The third thing Worldcon must do to make the Retro Hugos more credible is to give Retro Hugos for every year the original Hugos were not given out.

For example, did you know that while we're voting on stories originally published in 1940, under Worldcon rules you won't ever be able to vote for any SF/F stories published between 1941 and 1944 even though no Hugo Awards were given out in those years?

This is due to the inane way the Retro Hugo Awards are set up. Instead of giving out Hugo Awards for any year in which the Hugos weren't awarded, the "WSFS Constitution gives Worldcons the right to award Hugos for a year 50, 75 or 100 years in the past, provided only that there was a Worldcon in that year but no Hugos Award election happened that year."

This year is 75 years after the 1941 Worldcon, which didn't award any Hugos for works published in 1940. But due to World War II there were no Worldcons held in the years 1942 to 1945, meaning no Retro Hugos for those years even though no Hugo Awards were originally given out.

Which is a shame. While 1940 saw the publication of a number of genre classics, the following years were truly the start of the Golden Age of SF. But until Worldcon changes their rules the World War II years will remain a Hugo Award no-go time zone.

So to fix the Retro Hugos and make the awards truly accessible and representative of our genre, Worldcon should:

  • Make sure e-book editions of eligible works are available to all people nominating for the Retro Hugos.
  • Use a combination of juries and regular Worldcon members to nominate works.
  • Give Retro Hugos for every year the original Hugos were not given out.

This should be an issue which unites the genre community. After all, one complaint of last year's puppy campaign was that the Hugo Awards were an insider's game and too easily controlled by a small group within fandom. While I personally don't believe that complaint was true about the current Hugo Awards, it is a fair summary of the Retro Hugos.

Our genre's history belongs to all of us. Worldcon should ensure the Retro Hugos also represent everyone, not merely those few with the knowledge and resources to nominate works from decades ago.


Bonus: My Retro Hugo Ballot  

In the interest of giving more attention to works eligible for this year's Retro Hugos, I've pasted my nominating ballot below. Some of these stories I read ages ago; others I read over the last two weeks.

Note that this isn't a slate and also isn't my final ballot for the Retro Hugos because I'm still adding and subtracting stories. If anyone has suggestions or thoughts on alternate stories and works, let me know ASAP and I'll consider them.

Best Novel

  • If This Goes On— by Robert A. Heinlein, Astounding Science-Fiction, February – March 1940 (A minor and early Heinlein novel.)
  • Final Blackout by L. Ron Hubbard, Astounding Science-Fiction, April – June 1940. (Look, most of Hubbard's writing was crap, but this novel was his best and is quite good.)
  • Slan by A.E. van Vogt, Astounding Science Fiction, September – December 1940. (One of the classic works of science fiction. Highly influential, even if it hard to read today.)
  • The Reign of Wizardry by Jack Williamson, Unknown, March 1940. (Been a while since I read this but it did stick in my mind when I was a kid.)

Best Novella

  • Soldiers of the Black Goat by Marian O'Hearn, Unknown, January 1940. (Let's be honest: 1940 was a crap year for novellas. But this novella is good and definitely the best up for consideration. It's also online.)

Best Novelette

  • "The Roads Must Roll" by Robert Heinlein, Astounding Science-Fiction, June 1940.
  • "Fruit of Knowledge" by C. L. Moore, Unknown, October 1940. (Adam and Eve as retold by one of our genre's classic authors.)
  • "It" by Theodore Sturgeon, Unknown, August 1940. (A highly influential story in the genre.) 
  • "Vault of the Beast" by A. E. van Vogt, Astounding Science-Fiction, August 1940.
  • "The Voyage that Lasted 600 Years" by Don Wilcox, Amazing Stories, October 1940. (Likely the first-ever generation ship story. Holds up well.)

Best Short Story

  • "Strange Playfellow" (also titled "Robbie") by Isaac Asimov, Super Science Stories, September 1940. (The first of Asimov's famous robot stories.)
  • "The Stellar Legion" by Leigh Brackett, Planet Stories, Winter 1940. (Brackett's first Venus story. An early story of hers but still good and shows why she was known as the "Queen of Space Opera.")
  • "The Automatic Pistol" by Fritz Leiber, Weird Tales, May 1940. (An eerie fantasy very much in the mold of Weird Tales.)
  • "The Valley of the Undead" by Helen Weinbaum, Weird Tales, September 1940. (Another eerie fantasy from a Weird Tales author more people should read.)
  • "Hindsight" by Jack Williamson, Astounding Science-Fiction, May 1940. (A disturbing story from a SF master.)