2015 Hugo Awards Developments

2015 Hugo Awards: The Beat Goes On:

A lot of movement on the Hugo Awards puppygate scandal. Here is the latest.

Author’s  Marko Kloos and Annie Bellet have both withdrawn their stories from the list of Hugo-nominated stories for the 2015 Hugo Awards to be named this August at the Sasquan, 73rd World Science Fiction Convention.

Marko Kloos was nominated in the Best Novel category for his book “Lines of Departure.” Mr. Kloos laid out his reasons for pulling out in a post on his blog titled: “A statement on my Hugo nomination.” He writes:

“It has come to my attention that “Lines of Departure” was one of the nomination suggestions in Vox Day’s “Rabid Puppies” campaign. Therefore—and regardless of who else has recommended the novel for award consideration—the presence of “Lines of Departure” on the shortlist is almost certainly due to my inclusion on the “Rabid Puppies” slate. For that reason, I had no choice but to withdraw my acceptance of the nomination. I cannot in good conscience accept an award nomination that I feel I may not have earned solely with the quality of the nominated work.”

Annie Bellet, who was nominated in the short story category for “Goodnight, Stars,” posted “Hugo Story Withdrawn” on her blog to let her fans know why she removed her story from award consideration. She writes:

“I am withdrawing because this has become about something very different than great science fiction. I find my story, and by extension myself, stuck in a game of political dodge ball, where I’m both a conscripted player and also a ball. (Wrap your head around that analogy, if you can, ha!) All joy that might have come from this nomination has been co-opted, ruined, or sapped away. This is not about celebrating good writing anymore, and I don’t want to be a part of what it has become.”

Other Hugo news of note:

John Scalzi reacts to the notion that he was treated differently than author John C Wright’s whose Hugo nomination “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” was disqualified for being previously published (novelette category). John’s reaction is in his post:  The Latest Hugo Conspiracy Nonsense Involving Me. Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s novelette “The Day The World Turned Upside Down,” replaced Wright’s novelette on the ballot.

Also, artist Jon Eno had no qualifying art in 2014 so his nomination the Professional Artist category was disqualified. He was replaced on the ballot by artist Kirk DouPonce.

Another noteworthy development was Connie Willis, 11-time Hugo winner’s announcement that she turned down an invitation to present at this year’s ceremonies: Why I Won’t Be A Presenter At The Hugo Awards This Year.

A not to be missed development is the weighing in on the Puppygate issue by literary heavyweight George RR Martin who has written a flurry of blog posts on the subject (latest to oldest):

On the Darkling Plain   Larry Correia, Once Again   Meanwhile, Back at the War   House Cleaning

A Reply to Larry Correia   Reading for Rockets   One Nice Night   Hatespeech

What Now?   STAY ON TOPIC!   Where’s the Beef?   Blogging for Rockets

Me and the Hugos   Puppygate

Whew – that is a lot of posts from a man that must have one incredibly busy schedule!

I can hear the Willard voice-over from Francis Ford Coppola’s movie Apocalypse Now:

“Oh man… the bullshit piled up so fast in Vietnam, you needed wings to stay above it.”

Change that to:

“Oh man… the bullshit piled up so fast in the 2015 Hugo Awards, you needed wings to stay above it,” and I think you would be right on the money.

So where does that leave us?

Right here: The Final Revised Hugo Ballot was released today by the Hugo Administrators. Here is the finalized list of nominees:

Best Novel (1827 nominating ballots)

• Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• The Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J. Anderson (Tor Books)
• The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette) (Tor Books)
• Skin Game by Jim Butcher (Roc Books)
• The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Ken Liu translator (Tor Books)

[The Three-Body Problem was originally published in Chinese in 2008.  The 2014 publication by Tor was the first English-language version, and therefore it is again eligible for the Hugos, according to section 3.4.1 of the WSFS Constitution.]

Best Novella (1083 nominating ballots)

• “Big Boys Don’t Cry” by Tom Kratman (Castalia House)
• “Flow” by Arlan Andrews, Sr. (Analog, Nov 2014)
• “One Bright Star to Guide Them” by John C. Wright (Castalia House)
• “Pale Realms of Shade” by John C. Wright (The Book of Feasts & Seasons, Castalia House)
• “The Plural of Helen of Troy by John C. Wright (City Beyond Time: Tales of the Fall of Metachronopolis, Castalia House)

[Both Big Boys Don’t Cry and One Bright Star to Guide Them were previously published in much shorter versions and were significantly expanded to novella-length in their 2014 publication.  Following previous precedents, for the purposes of the 2015 Hugos they are designated as new works.]

Best Novelette (1031 nominating ballots)

• “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Earth to Alluvium” by Gray Rinehart (Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, May 2014)
• “Championship B’tok” by Edward M. Lerner (Analog, Sept 2014)
• “The Day The World Turned Upside Down” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Lia Belt translator (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2014)
• “The Journeyman: In the Stone House” by Michael F. Flynn (Analog, June 2014)
• “The Triple Sun: A Golden Age Tale” by Rajnar Vajra (Analog, Jul/Aug 2014)

 Best Short Story (1174 nominating ballots)

• “On A Spiritual Plain” by Lou Antonelli (Sci Phi Journal #2, Nov 2014)
• “The Parliament of Beasts and Birds” by John C. Wright (The Book of Feasts & Seasons, Castalia House)
• “A Single Samurai” by Steven Diamond (The Baen Big Book of Monsters, Baen Books)
• “Totaled” by Kary English (Galaxy’s Edge Magazine, July 2014)
• “Turncoat” by Steve Rzasa (Riding the Red Horse, Castalia House)

Best Related Work (1150 nominating ballots)

• “The Hot Equations: Thermodynamics and Military SF” by Ken Burnside (Riding the Red Horse, Castalia House)
• Letters from Gardner by Lou Antonelli (The Merry Blacksmith Press)
• Transhuman and Subhuman: Essays on Science Fiction and Awful Truth by John C. Wright (Castalia House)
• “Why Science is Never Settled” by Tedd Roberts (Baen.com)
• Wisdom from My Internet by Michael Z. Williamson (Patriarchy Press)

Best Graphic Story (785 nominating ballots)

• Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Jake Wyatt (Marvel Comics)
• Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass and Sorcery written by Kurtis J. Weibe, art by Roc Upchurch (Image Comics)
• Saga Volume 3 Written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
• Sex Criminals Volume 1: One Weird Trick written by Matt Fraction, art by Chip Zdarsky (Image Comics)
• The Zombie Nation Book #2: Reduce Reuse Reanimate by Carter Reid (The Zombie Nation)

Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) (1285 nominating ballots)

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, concept and story by Ed Brubaker, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Entertainment, Perception, Sony Pictures Imageworks)
• Edge of Tomorrow screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth, directed by Doug Liman (Village Roadshow, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, 3 Arts Entertainment; Viz Productions)
• Guardians of the Galaxy written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, directed by James Gunn (Marvel Studios, Moving Picture Company)
• Interstellar screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, directed by Christopher Nolan (Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Lynda Obst Productions, Syncopy)
• The Lego Movie written by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, story by Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, LEGO Systems A/S Vertigo Entertainment, Lin Pictures, Warner Bros. Animation (as Warner Animation Group)

Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) (938 nominating ballots)

• Doctor Who: “Listen” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Douglas Mackinnon (BBC Television)
• The Flash: “Pilot” teleplay by Andrew Kreisberg & Geoff Johns, story by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg & Geoff Johns, directed by David Nutter (The CW) (Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television)
• Game of Thrones: “The Mountain and the Viper” written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, directed by Alex Graves (HBO Entertainment in association with Bighead, Littlehead; Television 360; Startling Television and Generator Productions)
• Grimm: “Once We Were Gods”, written by Alan DiFiore, directed by Steven DePaul (NBC) (GK Productions, Hazy Mills Productions, Universal TV)
• Orphan Black: “By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried” written by Graham Manson, directed by John Fawcett (Temple Street Productions; Space/BBC America)

Best Editor (Short Form) (870 nominating ballots)

• Jennifer Brozek
• Vox Day
• Mike Resnick
• Edmund R. Schubert
• Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Best Editor (Long Form) (712 nominating ballots)

• Vox Day
• Sheila Gilbert
• Jim Minz
• Anne Sowards
• Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist (753 nominating ballots)

• Julie Dillon
• Kirk DouPonce
• Nick Greenwood
• Alan Pollack
• Carter Reid

Best Semiprozine (660 nominating ballots)

• Abyss & Apex Wendy Delmater editor and publisher
• Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Association Incorporated, 2014 editors David Kernot and Sue Burtsztynski
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
• Lightspeed Magazine, edited by John Joseph Adams, Wendy N. Wagner, Stefan Rudnicki, Rich Horton and Christie Yant
• Strange Horizons Niall Harrison (Editor-in-Chief), Brit Mandelo, An Owomoyela and Julia Rios (Fiction Editors), Sonya Taaffe (Senior Poetry Editor), Abigail Nussbaum (Senior Reviews Editor), Rebecca Cross (Columns Editor), Anaea Lay (Podcast Editor) and Tim Moore (Webmaster)

Best Fanzine (576 nominating ballots)

• Black Gate, edited by John O’Neill
• Elitist Book Reviews edited by Steven Diamond
• Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Alissa McKersie, Colin Harris, and Helen Montgomery
• The Revenge of Hump Day edited by Tim Bolgeo
• Tangent SF Online, edited by Dave Truesdale

Best Fancast (668 nominating ballots)

• Adventures in SciFi Publishing Brent Bowen (Executive Producer), Kristi Charish, Timothy C. Ward, Shaun Ferrell & Moses Siregar III (Co-Hosts, Interviewers, and Producers)
• Dungeon Crawlers Radio Daniel Swenson (Producer/Host), Travis Alexander & Scott Tomlin (Hosts), Dale Newton (Host/Tech), Damien Swenson (Audio/Video Tech)
• Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)
• The Sci Phi Show Jason Rennie
• Tea and Jeopardy Emma Newman and Peter Newman

Best Fan Writer (777 nominating ballots)

• Dave Freer
• Amanda S. Green
• Jeffro Johnson
• Laura J. Mixon
• Cedar Sanderson

Best Fan Artist (296 nominating ballots)

• Ninni Aalto
• Brad Foster
• Elizabeth Leggett
• Spring Schoenhuth
• Steve Stiles

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (851 nominating ballots)

Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2013 or 2014, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo Award).

• Wesley Chu*
• Jason Cordova
• Kary English*
• Rolf Nelson
• Eric S. Raymond

*Finalists in their 2nd year of eligibility.

Photo Credit: “1968 – The battle for Saigon. Pity the poor fighting man in Vietnam”
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