71 thoughts on “2016 Hugo Award Finalists”

1. @Eli If I wrote a book and literally the only person willing to publish it (bearing in mind that self-publication is always an option) was a Nazi troll running a vanity publishing operation with editing standards so poor he’ll put out books with two chapters five, then I’d be seriously considering the possibility that the book just wasn’t worth publishing…

2. Also:

   a. Andy Weir is confirmed as eligible for the Campbell – which may be relevant when considering other people’s eligibility in future.

   b. Wot, no Thomas Olde Heuvelt?

3. Aramini is in the comments on the latest Making Light post, saying that he thinks literally no one else would ever have published his book.

   Of course. No one would ever publish a book of science fiction related literary criticism. Oh wait:

   The World According to Philip K. Dick by Alexander Dunst and Stefan Schlensag. Palgrave 2015.

   The Science Fiction of Phyllis Gotlieb by Dominick Grace. McFarland 2015.

   Lois McMaster Bujold. Modern Masters of Science Fiction by Edward James. U of Illinois Press 2015.

   Frederik Pohl. Modern Masters of Science Fiction by Michael R. Page. U of Illinois Press 2015.

   Ray Bradbury. Modern Masters of Science Fiction by David Seed. U of Illinois Press 2015.

   That’s just books of literary criticism focused on a single science fiction author that were published in 2015. There are literally dozens of books of literary criticism published every year. For more examples see this bibliography.

   I am always amazed by the apparent utter cluelessness of those who choose to work with Beale. Or maybe they aren’t clueless and are just being disingenuous to cover their ass. It is hard to tell. One isn’t really much better than the other in any event.

4. This would be a good time to do a test run on EPH. The results should be presented at the business meeting before the vote on EPH.

5. @Milt Stevens
   I believe we’ll be getting a basic analysis of how EPH would have affected the shortlist well before the business meeting so attending members can have time to think things over before the vote. What we won’t get is enough information to know specifics such as the longlist until after the Hugos are handed out as usual.

   It should be interesting to see how they pull this off.

6. They would never have published one over 320,000 words, that’s for sure. Look at the length of those books: 200-250 pages max. Mine is over 800 pages and the second is trending well over a thousand. No matter what I say it will merely give you more justification to dislike me, so I will merely bow out here. Take care.

7. @marc aramini
   Did you approach Toni Weisskopf at Baen or anyone at Tor? Did you talk to a university press? Sure you might have had to cut your book into more pieces or not. But who did you try to sell it to?

8. Even with the Puppy connection, I think I have to vote for the ponies.

9. I’d have voted for the ponies in the first season or two, but lately they’ve lost whatever it was that made it work for kids and adults both. Not as much as the reincarnated Powerpuff Girls, which really ought to have a big E/I “bug” slapped on them, the lessons are so obvious.

10. I’m bummed that the final Phineas and Ferb episode didn’t make the ballot.

11. They would never have published one over 320,000 words, that’s for sure. Look at the length of those books: 200-250 pages max. Mine is over 800 pages and the second is trending well over a thousand.

    A perusal through the linked bibliography reveals several books on it published in 2015 that are 300-305 pages long, and one that is 920 pages long. Basically, you don’t know what you are talking about. I suspect it is because you were too lazy to actually do any research on the subject.

12. Earlier today I told someone that, after reading Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend, that I could live without reading scenes involving “relations” between humans and Cretaceous creatures ever again. It just dawned on me that I’ll be reading such a work again very soon. I’ll just be over here in a corner dying a slow death.

13. That flounce is totally unstuck.

14. @K8
    My sympathies. You have a few months before you have to read it if it’s any consolation.

15. @K8

    Erotica, much less niche erotica is not my thing. But as Tingle is not on my exclude list, I’ll at least start to read his book and give it a fair shake.

    I will have a bottle of vodka nearby though.

16. At least it will be shorter. And, I should be able to work in a few palate-cleansing texts by then. The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge is on my read-soon list. I expect it to be a refreshing change.

17. Well, I honestly have nothing against gay dinosaur erotica. I mean, like, whatever. I’m not gay, and I don’t think of dinosaurs that way, but I certainly have no problems with those who do. It doesn’t squick me out; it merely fails to interest me.

    The thing that concerns me is that it appears to be what you might call “extruded product”, churned out as rapidly as possible to fill a market demand that has absolutely no concerns for/interest in the quality of the writing. That’s not a recipe known for generating great fiction, to put it mildly.

    On the other hand, from everything I’ve heard about this Tingle guy, he has a pretty good sense of humor, at least on social media. If that also makes it into his work, then, who knows? I might even make it all the way to the end before making my final decision.

    Heck, I loved “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury” (finalist for DP/short in 2011), and that one had to be nearly as embarrassing to those who find themselves embarrassed by such things. 😀

18. Xtifr, I think the mistake you’re making is that, because it looks like gay dinosaur erotica, it’s actually gay dinosaur erotica. It’s a much more meta joke than that. He’s the Stephen Colbert of direct-to-Kindle erotica, everything about the persona is a parody invention. It’s definitely not great fiction. But that’s part of the performance.

    The guy who puts out stories like “Slammed in the Butthole By My Concept of Linear Time”, “Oppressed In The Butt By My Inclusive Holiday Coffee Cups”, and recursive stories like “Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt” and “Pounded In The Butt By My Book ‘Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt'” is not putting out ordinary extruded product. Terrible, forgettable prose, yes. Extruded product, not really. The product isn’t the prose, it’s the gonzo satire.

19. @John A Arkansawyer:

    I’m bummed that the final Phineas and Ferb episode didn’t make the ballot.

    Me too! Curse you, Puppy the Rabidpus!

20. I said:

    2) Does Kate Paulk still want to take credit for the increase in nominators this year?

    That’s a definitive yes. No mention of the original goal of increasing the ballot count by 8,000, though.

21. Pingback: 2016 Edgar Awards | File 770

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