Del Arroz Not Allowed To Attend Worldcon 76

The 2018 Worldcon committee has notified author Jon Del Arroz that his right to attend Worldcon 76 in person has been revoked. He will still be allowed to retain a supporting membership with Hugo voting rights. They made the announcement today on social media. Here is the Facebook version:

Worldcon 76 has chosen to reduce Jonathan Del Arroz’s membership from attending to supporting. He will not be allowed to attend the convention in person. Mr. Del Arroz’s supporting membership preserves his rights to participate in the Hugo Awards nomination and voting process. He was informed of our decision via email.

We have taken this step because he has made it clear that he fully intends to break our code of conduct. We take that seriously. Worldcon 76 strives to be an inclusive place in fandom, as difficult as that can be, and racist and bullying behavior is not acceptable at our Worldcon. This expulsion is one step towards eliminating such behavior and was not taken lightly. The senior staff and board are in agreement about the decision and it is final. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to share them here or in email at [email protected]

They added on Twitter:

548 thoughts on “Del Arroz Not Allowed To Attend Worldcon 76

  1. Cherryh’s latest in the Foreigner series dropped into the reader stack this week. (It’s fairly peaceful. Most of the action is at Tirnamardi.)

  2. I missed a thread about Steven Brust? Heavens. I’ll have to go look for it.

    As for book recs: not a recent read, but one of my favorites from 2017 reading was the Lens of the World trilogy by RA MacAvoy. The whole trilogy is only about 30 hours in audio, shorter than single books from folks like Sanderson.

    I don’t understand why I don’t hear more about this trilogy. It’s great — really tickled my fancy. It deserves a lot more love.

  3. Camestros Felapton: I’ll get my coat.

    How long have you been wearing a white coat with sleeves that tie in back?

  4. @Paul – What do you think of The Armored Saint? I like Myke, but some of his stuff was a bit too depressing, particularly the one about how the afterlife is an eternal hellscape of despair.

  5. Also, Catherine Asaro’s got another winner in the Skolian War Saga with The Bronze Skies, another Major Bhaajan mystery. The beauty of it and its predecessor Undercity is that they make a nice standalone duology for those who haven’t read the rest of the series. Definitely on my Hugo Best Series list this year.

  6. (Ties Camestros’s sleeves in a granny knot.)

    I finished hate-reading the last third of Autonomous yesterday. It’s such an interesting multi-layered premise and. every. single. character. interaction. is. completely. unbelievable. I might be ready to tackle The Stone Sky.

  7. I haven’t read anything new for the past month or so for reasons, but while away on my Christmas vacation I got sucked into rereading The Two Towers. I didn’t mean to start a LotR reread in the middle of the story, but for some years I’ve been casually trying to identify a tree that he describes but does not name, and while I was looking up the passage, well, stories happen.

    I can’t be the only person who loves Tolkien’s tree descriptions, can I?

  8. I’m reading Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard. I’ve also been enjoying Disneyland and reading the comments while waiting in lines.

  9. @ Contrarius

    I dearly love the Lens of the World trilogy. R.A. MacAvoy really does something special in those books, especially in the first two volumes.

  10. Filers: Lens of the World

    Dammit, every time I knock 1 book off Mount Tsundoku, you lot add 3 more!

    “Just read Rosemary Kierstein’s Steerswoman series”, they said. “We promise not to suggest any more books”, they said. 😵

  11. Cassy B on January 6, 2018 at 8:19 pm said:
    Emergence: it came out Tuesday in the US.

  12. @JJ —

    Filers: Lens of the World

    Dammit, every time I knock 1 book off Mount Tsundoku, you lot add 3 more!

    Hey, at least it’s short. The whole trilogy is right around 27 hours; in contrast, The Way of Kings all by itself is 45. So it could be much worse!

  13. The best part is, I got Lens of the World from a filer’s Meredith moment a few months ago, so it’s like all the stages of the book are being covered by file 🙂

    I’m also slowly getting through the Clan chronicles, though much further behind – I’m reading in publication order and have just finished book 4 (which is chronologically book 1). Despite Czerneda’s eye twitch inducingly regular use of “interlude” chapters, I really dig this series.

    Also on the recent dig list was Sovereign by April Daniels, second in the Nemesis superhero trans coming of age series. These books are dark but there’s a found family element to this one in particular which makes me very happy.

    In currently reading,, I just cracked open another filer favourite, City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett.

    ETA: to answer JJ’s long buried comment about Windswept/Like A Boss – yes, read Windswept, loved it, excited to be reminded there was another one I never got to!

  14. None of it would have occurred if not for a difference in politics.

    This is true only in the sense that JDA picks the targets of his harassment on the basis of their politics.

    I’m not so sure of that.

    Comments elsewhere have mentioned that one of his targets was Sharon Lee. I wandered over to her blog ( sharonleewriter.com/blog-without-a-name ), and read a bit. There is zero political content. Nothing whatsoever about anything at all happening in the US or the SF scene in terms of events, people, or policies about gender, sexuality, race, or religion. No foreign policy, no local policy, nothing about

    Sharon Lee writes about the books and stories she’s working on; cats; publishing milestones of interest like availability of eARCs; cats; books read this year; the weather; cats; electronic equipment she’s tried; a bat in the house (and the cats’ reaction to that); her health/husband’s health/cats’ heath; and so on.

    I like her taste in books, and seeing the list being reposted fairly regularly with accumulating additions made me wonder if the sequence that led to her being targeted was something like: (1) JdA becomes aware that Lee has a large and dedicated fanbase, and maybe checks out her blog, then (2) asks Lee to favorably review one of his books to her large and dedicated audience, or at least show up in her “books read” list, and (3) she either ignores him or refuses. So (4) JdA retaliates with his unpleasant harassment campaign, using “super SJW” to falsely describe her.

    Or maybe someone else suggested her to JdA to get revenge in the above scenario, because JdA didn’t care one way or the other.

    Alternatively, JdA targeted her for no particular reason. Maybe he had a harassment lottery. Flip of a half-dollar? Polyhedral dice? Yarrow stalks?

    But there are no “super SJW” politics that Sharon Lee exhibits for JdA to target her for.

  15. Owlmirror: (1) JdA becomes aware that Lee has a large and dedicated fanbase, and maybe checks out her blog, then (2) asks Lee to favorably review one of his books to her large and dedicated audience, or at least show up in her “books read” list, and (3) she either ignores him or refuses. So (4) JdA retaliates with his unpleasant harassment campaign, using “super SJW” to falsely describe her.

    Yes, I’ve seen him do this with several authors and reviewers on Twitter: offers to send them a book and asks for a blurb, or asks them to be on a podcast, and then when they say no, or don’t respond, goes on a pouty little campaign of “Why won’t you do author courtesy with me??? Why don’t you like me???” That’s probably what happened with Lee. I guess if they refuse to cooperate, he figures it’s because they must be an SJW (because of course it can’t just simply be because he’s a dick 🙄 ).

  16. Yes, JA going after Sharon Lee of all people make zero sense except that she maybe ignored his request for a blurb or something.

  17. For book recommendations, a classic that I noted on Sharon Lee’s list of books read in 2017:

    A Night in the Lonesome October, Roger Zelazny (read aloud w/Steve) (re-re-re-re-&c-read)

    (Obviously a political choice /sarcasm)

  18. Preparing these forecasting khipus was obviously a “knot for prophet”

    Huh. I’d always seen it spelled “quipus”.

    Anyway, I have of course heard of this, and it’s worth noting that at least some of the time, there were food reserves available for the empire to draw on. Demand from storage was noted using sets of quipus that were specially threaded with slightly bitten peas, or the match-to-pea-chews.

  19. “How long have you been wearing a white coat with sleeves that tie in back?”

    They’re coming to scroll me away, ha ha!

    “Sharon Lee writes about the books and stories she’s working on; cats; publishing milestones of interest like availability of eARCs; cats; books read this year; the weather; cats; electronic equipment she’s tried; a bat in the house (and the cats’ reaction to that); her health/husband’s health/cats’ heath; and so on.”

    Cats, aka SJW credentials? Well, there’s your problem.

  20. Well, if we’re talking recommendations…

    I just got around to watching King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, aka “a completely generic fantasy movie with a few random bits of Arthurian lore tossed in for flavor.” Let’s just say that it had a couple of neat moments, but I don’t recommend it at all if what you want is either “a King Arthur movie” or “a fantasy movie with a coherent story.”

  21. @JJ: I’m currently re-reading The Outskirter’s Secret, as it happens. Of course, this thread has just given me more series – not individual books, mind you, but whole series of them – to investigate …

  22. Right now I’m reading The Boy on the Bridge, which is a sequel or perhaps parallel work to The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey.
    Entertaining, but I’ve not yet worked out what it’s going to add to the party.

  23. Jo on January 6, 2018 at 1:36 pm

    In other words, just like you (and the rest of team left) keep repeatedly telling me this isn’t about politics… I keep repeatedly telling you that this is about politics.

    Team left? I’m a Spectator-subscribing Conservative voter and and I think JdA is a jerk.

  24. I just started on You Should Come With Me Now by M. John Harrison. It’s interesting but at 20% of the way through I hope the stories build to something more substantial as a whole.

  25. Last genre book I read and would recommend was “Shadow and Bone” by Leigh Bardugo (Grisha 1). Lyric russian-based dark fantasy (?) that hits the right spot for me. I’ll get to the sequels as soon as I break my new year’s resolution of not buying books without reading some I’ll already own.

  26. Steel’s Captain Future Avengers of the Moon.

    rip roaring neo pulp fun.

    @Camestros Felapton: aaaah, I get it now.

    Llamas own all the 501c3s.

    I know a few that hang out at the Hopkington Fair. I’ll ask them about it in the spring.

  27. ‘“Someone won’t stop making fun of me on the internet!”

    I mean, I guess it’s possible that’s what’s going on, but it just seems… odd. To me, at least.’

    Online bullying of children is a serious problem. Young people have committed suicide as a result. I know you don’t care, and for the purposes of your trolling you are obliged to stipulate that there is no such thing as serious online trolling or harassment, regardless of the implications, but I thought it was important to underline the sheer reckless irresponsibility of this.

  28. @Maximillian. Yeah, its a grim book, to be sure, not a world I want to luxriate in, but it is, I think, some of the best stuff he’s written to date.

  29. Books?

    I’m just about finishing up Ursula Vernon’s Black Dogs Part One: The House of Diamond. The book comes with an author foreword warning us readers that

    It was my first novel, and as such, I am both very proud of it and desperately embarrassed by it.

    And … well, I can see flaws in the book. There’s some plot holes, and some not-quite-believable world building and geography. But with some charitable suspension of disbelief it’s a good, fun read, and I look forward to continue with part two of the story.

  30. “The only thing worse than being scrolled is not being scrolled.”
    —Oscar Filed

    (I dunno. Should I have said “Hugo Filed”?)

  31. All this discussion keeps reminding me that I really need to check out the Liaden books one of these days….

  32. Pingback: AMAZING NEWS FROM FANDOM: 1-7-2018 - Amazing Stories

  33. Well after everyone else, I read and was thrilled by Lincoln in the Bardo. The Ben Aaronovitch novella and The Book of Dust were next on my list, but PJ says the next Foreigner book is out and

    *door slamming as msb rushes off to SF bookstore*

  34. @Rev. Bob:
    I haven’t seen King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, but I did read a review of it which had the wonderful opening: “Several years in the making, all of them wasted …”

  35. Pingback: Links and Notes for the Week of January 1, 2018 – Ecce Signum

  36. a consuite – which is not part of the common area

    This is quite a surprise to me. At every American con I have been to the consuite is part of the common areas, open to all members, frequented by all, with open door. Is there some document that defines it to not be part of the common areas? Also, it was my understanding that the threat in question was about the SFWA suite which is not convention space at all and only under SFWA policies. Is this incorrect?

    but del Arroz is booted after running harassment campaigns against the guests and volunteers of Worldcon. These are not hidden actions, they have been listed here in the comments.

    I read the concom’s descriptions of the reasons for the booting. They cited the body cam and said there were “other things” that they would not name. What troubles me is the non-transparency of this.

    Prior restraint based on words should be reserved for only the most egregious violations of a code.

    Do you have any support for this position that’s not based on jurisprudence that’s particular to the USA and only relevant to government actions?

    The worldcon is not the US justice system, of course. But as I said, it is our community, and many of the principles of western justice systems (not just US) are not simply laws, they are good ideas. They are things that all communities should aspire to. I wish our community to have as many of these principles as it can afford to have. I would hope few would dispute that, they might only differ on what we can afford. This sort of ejection is probably the strongest punishment our community has. As such, I hope for the best upholding of our ideals in carrying it out. I ask not whether this man is guilty of whatever, I ask, “If he is guilty, what is the best way to do his ejection?” The size of this thread and others and the extent to which it has been politicised is evidence I may be correct — more transparency would eliminate many of these questions and some of this debate.

    More transparency is harder, but in the end, cheaper and better. It means more of us can understand the justice of the decision, and also understand where the line is in governing our own behavior.

    I was not even considering that this applies to me, but I now recall it did. As many of you may recall, I attended the London worldcon by inhabiting a telepresence robot. While the system only streamed and had no function for recording or taking stills, there was still lots of debate about how privacy and photography policies and EU laws applied to this form of attendance. I was denied entry to an official party for some time until I suggested “Why not go in and ask the attendees if they mind if I come in this way?” They all shouted that of course they did not mind. That’s one way to resolve it, but better to be clearer about what these policies mean.

  37. Brad Templeton: As many of you may recall, I attended the London worldcon by inhabiting a telepresence robot.

    (Waves hand) Yes, I thought of that when I read your earlier comment. (Francis Hamit took a photo of you while the Worldcon was under way, and I linked to your post about the experience.) Your sensitivity about people’s concerns made a big difference.

  38. Brad Templeton: I read the concom’s descriptions of the reasons for the booting. They cited the body cam and said there were “other things” that they would not name. What troubles me is the non-transparency of this… more transparency would eliminate many of these questions and some of this debate. More transparency is harder, but in the end, cheaper and better. It means more of us can understand the justice of the decision, and also understand where the line is in governing our own behavior.

    In this case, more transparency also means that the harassment victims get more harassment and re-victimized. I am sure that you don’t want that, and that you can understand why revealing any further details would not be in the best interests of anyone — except those who are so nosy and inconsiderate that they must demand details at the risk and expense of the victims.

  39. And Brad, if you are genuinely interested in understanding more about the reasons for the banning, you can go back through JDA’s tweetstream and see the evidence of harassment — he hasn’t been the slightest bit subtle about it.

    Here’s a good place to start. This is just a small sampling of what he’s been doing to SFF authors, reviewers, and fans for the last year.

  40. @Brad Templeton

    So you seem to believe that values particular to some people in the US are – or ought to be – universal in “western” justice systems, and so ought to apply to WorldCon, despite the fact that they don’t even apply legally when WorldCon is in the US. You seem to be unaware that the U.S. attitude to prior restraint isn’t remotely close to universal across “western” systems, and I’m sorry to have to inform you that WorldCon is not American, or even “western”. The clue is in the name. Please stop acting like you speak for anyone other than yourself, and that you’re espousing some sort of universal principles.

    Something good I read recently? Jade City by Fonda Lee. The Godfather meets wushu-style superpowers (that’s a terrible description but honestly it fits).
    Also The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, with myths and magic intruding into early medieval Russia (I think it’s actually in the Muscovy period but I’m kinda shaky on that area/period). Beautiful writing and fascinating use of the setting but the plotting/pacing can be a little uneven in places.

    Both are the start of series but are satisfying on their own.

  41. @Mike

    Whereas l would say that resolving an issue by asking for general acclamation is a perfect way to leverage social pressure against those who may not be happy with the decision.

  42. One of the biggest dust-ups for Helsinki was when they tried to be transparent. It blew up much, much larger than this because they didn’t understand that they should keep the details to those directly involved. There is no reason for the whole internet to know everything.

    They got a lot of backlash for that one. Worldcon 76 have been smarter and have not tried to appease everyone on the net.

  43. @Brad Templeton–

    As has been mentioned multiple times in this thread, Jon’s banning wasn’t just about the bodycam or the consuite.

    You can get a slightly better idea of the general issue from the letter Worldcon sent to Jon, which he has posted himself elsewhere. The most relevant sentence reads: “On your personal blog you have made it clear that you are both expecting and planning on engendering a hostile environment which we do not allow.” Since this fact can easily be verified by simply reading Jon’s blog and various tweets, I don’t really see why any additional “transparency” is needed.

    This sort of ejection is probably the strongest punishment our community has.

    Actually, I would think the *strongest* would be something like “go and never darken our doorstep again”. This is only a one-year ban. I don’t know whether the WSFS or any part of the complex of organizations responsible for the Worldcons even has the capability of banning anyone for life, but one single year is certainly not the end of the world.

  44. This sort of ejection is probably the strongest punishment our community has.

    That’s possibly true, but as punishments goes it’s nonetheless fairly mild. It’s an ejection from one iteration of one con – it’s not an ejection from other cons in the community, not an ejection from next years Worldcon, and not a ban on contributing to podcasts or fanzines. While other cons might choose to also eject JDA, that requires separate decisions by those concoms and is not something that follows automatically from the decision Worldcon 76 have made.

    The size of this thread and others and the extent to which it has been politicised is evidence I may be correct.

    Most of the size of this thread is caused by people who either haven’t familiarized themselves with the available evidence, or who willfully ignores it. A better justification might have made things easier for the first group and therefore reduced the debate a little, but there’s no way Worldcon 76 could have fended off JDA’s most ardent defenders.

    If anything, I’d say the size of the debate shows that the decision was correct – because it shows that JDA had an intention of creating problems and that a polite reminder about the CoC wouldn’t have helped.

  45. “The only thing worse than being scrolled is not being scrolled.”
    —Oscar Filed

    Very witty, KipW! “Your Majesty is like a scroll with pixels on top.”

Comments are closed.