"Who Won Science Fiction’s Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters" Topic

"Since 1953, to be nominated for a Hugo Award, among the highest honors in science fiction and fantasy writing, has been a dream come true for authors who love time travel, extraterrestrials and tales of the imagined future. Past winners of the rocket-shaped trophy—nominated and voted on by fans—include people like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Harlan Ellison, Philip K. Dick, and Robert A. Heinlein. In other words: the Gods of the genre.

But in recent years, as sci-fi has expanded to include storytellers who are women, gays and lesbians, and people of color, the Hugos have changed, too. At the presentation each August, the Gods with the rockets in their hands have been joined by Goddesses and those of other ethnicities and genders and sexual orientations, many of whom want to tell stories about more than just spaceships.

Early this year, that shift sparked a backlash: a campaign, organized by three white, male authors, that resulted in a final Hugo ballot dominated by mostly white, mostly male nominees. While the leaders of this two-pronged movement—one faction calls itself the Sad Puppies and the other the Rabid Puppies—broke no rules, many sci-fi writers and fans felt they had played dirty, taking advantage of a loophole in an arcane voting process that enables a relatively few number of voters to dominate. Motivated by Puppygate, meanwhile, a record 11,300-plus people bought memberships to the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane, Washington, where the Hugo winners were announced Saturday night.

Just before 8 PM, in a vast auditorium packed with "trufans" dressed in wizard garb, corsets, chain mail and the like, one question was on most everybody's minds: Would the Puppies prevail?

Though voted upon by fans, this year's Hugo Awards were no mere popularity contest. After the Puppies released their slates in February, recommending finalists in 15 of the Hugos' 16 categories (plus the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer), the balloting had become a referendum on the future of the genre. Would sci-fi focus, as it has for much of its history, largely on brave white male engineers with ray guns fighting either a) hideous aliens or b) hideous governments who don't want them to mine asteroids in space? Or would it continue its embrace of a broader sci-fi: stories about non-traditionally gendered explorers and post-singularity, post-ethnic characters who are sometimes not men and often even have feelings?…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Oh, those evil white males again.

Ya gotta be kidding me.

The PTB at the Hugos nuked the village to save it…

I read this earlier and at first thought it an April Fool Joke that had been misplaced.

This really is a bit silly…..

Tony

Oddball…

I would say "Let's wait for someone from Denver to say that it's "Dem Evil White Men From THE SOUTH!" that did all of this!" but I see he is no longer a lounge member….

A posting about this from the other side of the issue.

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A pox on all houses involved in this. I understand some of the Puppies' concerns, but they turned themselves into the type of person you emigrate to avoid.

Another posting from the other side.

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This Puppy has been Muzzled

by Cedar Sanderson · August 23, 2015

The fiasco that was the Hugo Awards last night made a deep impression on me. I've never been of the establishment, although I had friends and acquaintances in it. As a fan, I naively thought the Hugo Awards were worth saving.

There was a story on the news not too long ago about a dog who had been cruelly tortured. Her muzzle was bound shut so tightly she would have starved had not some kind person come along and to her rescue. But she will bear the scars on her face for the rest of her life, from the bindings that silenced her. This is what the WorldCon and Hugo establishment would like to do to the Sad Puppies.

Last night was chilling. The cheers from the people who voted as a bloc to shut out the people nominated by fans, because those nominations were from WrongFans. The asterisks. One of the few people in this industry I treasure and respect, walking out of the ceremonies because they were slapping her in the face with the derision.

I can never again go to a ‘literary' con and feel safe. These are the people who have spent months dragging people I know and respect through the mud, and my name with them. Calling me a token woman, and the other women who were on the ballot with me. Because we didn't fit their narrative. I have no power, they have it all, and they revel in it. They have no qualms about punching down, making sure unwanted fans don't get their noses into the establishment.

Today, they dance and celebrate, because they won. They won by voting no award as a bloc, while accusing the Sad Puppies of having done so.

No. If we had, those of us who are puppies, there would have been a different outcome. But Organized Fandom took over. I've never been so happy to be a part of the great disorganized mass of fans who just like stories. That's all. We read the material, they boasted that they wouldn't bother. We voted our hearts, they voted in spite.

This was never about politics for me. It was about getting more fans involved in what called itself the Best of SF and Fantasy. For a price, you could vote, and put in the name of the most deserving works in nominations. I'd watched Scalzi campaign every year, and Locus publish a slate of nominations, and Tor send employees to the cons with ballots clenched in their hands… And it disgusted me, as I got further into the industry and saw what was happening.

But now I see what levels they will stoop to. Last night I saw that despite the claims of people I once thought I knew, the WorldCon itself is implicit in the discrimination and wielding the power to keep things the way it has always been.

Frankly, as a nobody in the field, despite my nomination, I never expected to win. No-one knows who I am, after all.

Now? I'd be afraid to go to WorldCon. They have shown how they feel, and they will treat any threats to their position with… theft, suppression of free speech, mockery, and more. There are people who will never again be able to publish traditionally because of this. And not everyone has the options to be an independent, to have the freedom I so cherish.

I can't be involved any longer. If it were just me… but it isn't. I have others who need me to stay out of the fight, as much as I hate it. If I keep in the frontlines, I will become a casualty, and I have people who are dependent on me, helpless in the world if something becomes of my good name. And so I must turn away, tears in my eyes, and leave the field of battle. I am sickened, but my duty is clear.

I cannot bay. I have been bound into silence. I bow my head, and exit…

The entire thing is just a sad commentry on the inherent ty nature of mankind.

-Will

Who reads books based on whether they've won a Hugo?

I 100% agree with pox on both their houses comment.

-Will

Awards are so much BS anyway.

Next thing someone will say something bad about the Nobel prize.

I got hear Ann Leckie and get some of my writing critiqued by her at local writers group I belong several weeks ago. The whole Hugo awards fiasco was brought up at the meeting. It's a mess all around. I haven't read Ann's book, Ancillary Justice. She brought up the fact people were upset by her getting the Hugo last year. I'm so behind with my reading, I haven't kept up with all the new sci-fi that's being produced this year. I do read different stuff and try keeping up with new authors.

But I'm like Bill. I don't read books because they won the Nebula or Hugo awards. I read them because they're good stories and entertain me…

Blake

Next thing someone will say something bad about the Nobel prize.

I could, but only on the Blue Fez.

Here Here Editor!! I asked the same question on an HP Lovecraft page where there was a battle raging between anti and pro puppies forces.

I can't recall ever reading, listening, or watching anything based on whether it was given some kind of award or other. If I liked it and it happened to win an award I'll generally not even realize it. "That short story won an award? Huh."

Awards, especially literary and art awards are extremely politicized and the criterion for granting the award is often based more on having the 'right' (or is that left?) opinions.

A friend of mine stayed overnight with us last night to break his return journey to London from the convention in Spokane. He'd financed the trip himself because he wanted to receive an award (the Hal Clement, previously won by writers like Suzanne Collins and Cory Doctorow) in person.

I don't think he considers the award 'so much BS'. He's worked very hard to get his work to a state where it is worthy of such a prize.

Some people were sore losers because they lost a popularity contest last year. So they exploited the rules to get on the ballot of the popularity contest this year. Then they act surprised when they still lost the popularity contest.

I know nothing about either side of this debate and only first heard of it on NPR today. So I will not comment on that.

Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP
Who reads books based on whether they've won a Hugo?

I do, I have, and probably more people do than you think.

One of my most treasured childhood possessions came in a Christmas stocking when I was 7 (this would be 1970ish); it was a collection of Nebula Award-winning short stories. Over the years I acquired the other Nebula Award collections (there were two more volumes containing the longer works), and successor volumes as well.

Later (about 15, 1978ish), when I joined the Science Fiction Book Club (remember those?), I made sure to pick the Hugo Award collections.

Using these award stories as springboards, I spent quite a number of years picking up other works by the same authors.

Sure there were authors I picked up who hadn't won those awards and when I found I liked them, I read them anyway. But the foundation, the bedrock core of my reading was award-winning authors, picked specifically because they were award winners.

Think about it. You walk into a library or bookstore and go to the Science Fiction section. It is as big as one wall of your living room, and that's only half the alphabet. You're only going to walk out with 1 or 2 or 4 books. You can't read all of it, and worse, some must be weaker than others and you'd rather start with the good stuff. What possible filter can you apply? Oh sure you can ask friends, or librarians, or bookstore employees, or (nowadays) look on the Internet.

But it seems so simple: award winning stories. These have been selected out of the pack for you by people who took the job seriously. Just what you need.

Just what anyone needs.

Yes. Awards are important and should mean something.

I cut my teeth on collections of Hugo and Nebula stories from the local library as well. And the quality of those collections also guided my decisions on which novels to grab. I imagine that such an award could take a writer from hobbyist to professional (in that they can now pay the bills through publishing), and even for a current author a prestigious award probably ups your search engine rank. So it's not just a piddling contest between ideologues, there are real people with real stakes, and a certain amount of gatekeeping. But I have a hard time caring because it seems like a bunch of drama queens pleading for attention.

Nice, a bunch of white guys who think sci-fi should only be about white guys running around with ray guns try to shut out anything thats not about white guys with ray guns out of the rewards and cry discrimination when no one votes for them.

Why is anybody surprised? Many writers are part of the 40% of the US body politic that is active politically. That 40% that votes in primaries, does the grassroots running in campaigns, and is willing to sacrifice time, money and psychological and sometimes physical well-being. Also that 40% that holds dear ideas that the rest 60% would consider extreme.

That 40% is severly divided nowdays and hate each others guts (there was a study that showed that they would not want their chidlren to marry a person of the other political tribe, and that they would discriminate on job hiring on the basis of political belief). They pretty much loathe and hate each other and will actively fight over symbols that were once supposed to represent all in order to prove that they either do not, or that they represen their side. I was suprised this did not happen earlier(in the early 2000s OR LATE 90S).

And crying pox on both their houses is not much use either. As they say in greece, the bird that does not sing does not eat. That 60% that is not engaged in politics can rue all they want about the number the 40% is doing on the country and its institutions, but as long as they do not go and vote in primaries, or actively take action in issues like this, well they will not eat. solon did believe that a citizen should always take a side when a city is in civil strife, or else lose their citizenship.

All is happening is the quite natural end result of a award that claimed to represent all but was targeted at members of the political active population (writers) been another victim of the political strife in that population. In the end there will be two awards, both openly catering to their tribe, and both claiming to represent real art or the fans. Anyway the majority of the fans do not care enough about it and will continue reading what they want. That said an award system that would recognise the diffrent strands of sci fi and fantasy would be nice (for example best military sci fi, best progressive sci fi, best avant garde etc). Maybe it would had helped avoid this sad state of affairs. Then again if people want to fight they will find a reason to fight.

Sad all around.

@KTravlos – withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy. There are two sides here who have chosen at every turn to behave like children.

Cedar Sanderson's quote above and the Sad/Rabid Puppies' self-pity at losing would be turned around 100% if they'd won, they'd be doing the crowing and dancing in the streets. Maybe next time they'll chose an adult tactic, like negotiation and compromise.

The Hugos are like the Grammys, Emmys, Globes, etc. -- an industry's ory exercise in self-congratulation. What bothers me the most about this concept in the area of science fiction is that it reinforces orthodoxy and puts all published works on a linear (if not binary) scale of "Good enough for a Hugo" to "Not good enough for a Hugo". Sci-fi (or spec-fic, if you prefer that moniker) should not be forced into such a mold. The purpose of sci-fi is to push boundaries and explore what the human condition would be in situations so removed from our own reality. You can't do that if hemmed in by preconceived notions of what Hugo-worthy literature should look like.

If the Puppies are correct and s have taken over the Hugos, that is bad for the industry, period. It's bad for the industry no matter who takes over the awards and imposes a narrow world-view. Ultimately, basing the award on anything other than the quality of the writing (which can include how thought-provoking it is, or how much it imparts a pleasant disquietude to the reader) is going to turn off more and more readers who don't feel like a part of the 's (or the Puppies') agendas. And readers are the lifeblood of the industry; without them to pay for it, the number of writers who can make a living off their writing will plummet.

Who reads books based on whether they've won a Hugo?

It`a all about book sales and a bit like the movie Oscars.

Traditionally if a publisher could put "Winner of the Hugo (and Nebula) award" on a book`s dust jacket then they could guarantee much higher sales for a new author than otherwise.
Sadly, like in so many other areas it looks like "big money" is now moving in and trying to corrupt the voting system.

But in recent years, as sci-fi has expanded to include storytellers who are women, gays and lesbians, and people of color, the Hugos have changed, too. At the presentation each August, the Gods with the rockets in their hands have been joined by Goddesses and those of other ethnicities and genders and sexual orientations, many of whom want to tell stories about more than just spaceships.

Recent years being back in the 1960`s by the way, there is nothing new in that sort of content in Hugo winners. Sounds like some people want to turn the clock back to the `40`s or `50`s.
I like my miltary SF as much as anyone but some of the stuff being written today is just rehashing old, tired idea`s that were staid and boring back in the so called "Golden Age" of the Campbell Astounding.

Reads like the aftermath of an HMGS meeting. Really sad to see the big tent of fandom fraying around the edges.

For years the s shut out competition as being too commercial or not diverse enough.

This lead to the birth of the SPs.

The Hugos are supposed to be awarded by the fans, but manipulation of the nomination machinery made sure that only "acceptable" work was on the ballot.

This year the nomination machinery was seized by the sad puppies and for the first time in a while actual work that the fans enjoy was on the ballot.

The s response was to "no award" five of the categories.

The PCP strike another blow……..

A terrible shame even SF novels and their writers are affected by this.

If the Puppies use the anti-puppies tactics against them next year (which is virtually guaranteed), then those 5 categories of Hugo will disappear completely – 2 no awards in a row automatically kills that award.

Someone deserving may have lost because of these idiots.

Rogzombie, that statement sadly applies to both side of this mess.

@ Mitochondria

Yes because its impossible that the stuff nominated in the past was stuff that other people may have enjoyed.it's all a big plot by the evil .

Who reads books based on whether they've won a Hugo?

I do not, I read a very select group of authors but it is their storie that will drive me to read more of their books.

Like this last weekend I got a huge shipment in on Glen Cook's SciFi and Dread Empire books. Reading Passage in Arms right now.

It is from early in his Writing career.

Hugos had become overly dominated by what he and others call "s," who value politics over plot development.

So true which is why I do not read Comic Books anymore.

"the cognitive dissonance of people saying, ‘No, the Hugos are about quality,' and then at the same time they're like: ‘Ooh, we can vote for this author because they're gay, or for this story because it's got gay characters,' or, ‘Ooh, we're going to vote for this author because they're not white.' As soon as that becomes the criteria, well, quality goes out the window."

Hugos are beset by identity politics. "When people go on about how we're anti-diversity, I'm like: No. All we're saying is storytelling ought to come first."

So very true.

But to many it is the Agenda that comes first and they will push it to the for front even with it means destroying these Awards with their No Award votes.

Someone deserving may have lost because of these idiots.

Yes but they do not care if that happens.

Fabe

They were excluding books because of the who the authors were.

Very y.

I think this is the best conclusion to this years situation

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The thing is that 90% of the SF&F books I've ever read have not won a Hugo.

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And if you go here

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You can read all my posts on what I've read or not.