2012 Hugo Award Longlist

The story revealed by the 2012 Hugo Longlist is how quickly the Game of Thrones television series became a dominant force among Hugo voters. Although the show only appeared one time on the official list of finalists where the entire first season of the show was nominated in the Long Form Dramatic presentation category, a perusal of the longlisted entries shows that two individual episodes garnered enough nominations to be eligible for finalist slots in the Short Form Dramatic Presentation category, and three others were close behind. Because the producers of the show apparently elected to have the entire season of the show considered in the Long Form category, the individual episodes were declared ineligible and replaced on the ballot by other entries, but this means that fully half of the episodes of the first season of Game of Thrones were popular enough to be nominated to the longlist, which is quite an impressive achievement.

I noted when I put together the 2013 Longlist that as I work further back in time that the records concerning the nominees will become less and less comprehensive. In 2013, the names of the editors and other participants in the longlisted nominees for the categories of Semi-Prozine, Fanzine, and Fancast were left out of the official records reported by the 2013 Hugo Administrators. In 2012, the names of some of the editors and participants in those categories who appeared on the list of finalists were left out of the reported post-Award statistics. This is not an insurmountable problem, as this data can still be found elsewhere, but it is notable how quickly the records seem to be deteriorating in quality as I work my way backward in time. One entry in the fanzine category has me somewhat puzzled, as it is listed in the official post-Award statistics only as "el" with nothing further provided. I have looked for "el" in the context of fanzines, but this sort of search returns so many Spanish language fanzines that figuring out which one is the right one. There is also the possibility that this entry is an error, and "el" is a truncated portion of the name of some fanzine that got accidentally trimmed off somewhere. Either way, this is likely to remain a mystery unless someone who was directly involved can shed some light on the issue.

Addendum: David D. Levine has shed some light on the "el" mystery. It appears likely that "el" is actually "eI" a fanzine published and edited by Earl Kemp that enjoyed a ten year run before folding up shop in 2012.

Best Novel

Finalists:
Among Others by Jo Walton [winner]
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
Deadline by Mira Grant
Embassytown by China Mieville
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Longlisted Nominees:
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
The Kingdom of the Gods by N.K. Jemisin
Mechanique by Genevieve Valentine
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Rule 34 by Charles Stross
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

Best Novella

Finalists:
Countdown by Mira Grant
The Ice Owl by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Kiss Me Twice by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Man Who Bridged the Mist by Kij Johnson [winner]
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu
Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente

Longlisted Nominees:
The Adakian Eagle by Bradley Denton
The Alchemist by Paolo Bacigalupi
Angel of Europa by Allen M. Steele
The Ants of Flanders by Robert Reed
Gravity Dreams by Stephen Baxter
Lord John and the Plague of Zombies by Diana Gabaldon
Martian Chronicles by Cory Doctorow
The Rat Race by Cherie Priest
With Unclean Hands by Adam-Troy Castro

Best Novelette

Finalists:
The Copenhagen Interpretation by Paul Cornell
Fields of Gold by Rachel Swirsky
Ray of Light by Brad Torgersen
Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders [winner]
What We Found by Geoff Ryman

Longlisted Nominees
The Book of Phoenix (Excerpted from the Great Book) by Nnedi Okorafor
The Choice by Paul McAuley
Citizen-Astronaut by David D. Levine
Ghostweight by Yoon Ha Lee

Laika's Ghost by Karl Schroeder (reviewed in Clarkesworld: Issue 100 (January 2015))

A Long Walk Home by Jay Lake
The Migratory Pattern of Dancers by Katherine Sparrow
The Old Man and the Martian Sea by Alastair Reynolds
Sauerkraut Station by Ferrett Steinmetz
The Summer People by Kelly Link
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong by K.J. Parker
White Lines on a Green Field by Catherynne M. Valente

Best Short Story

Finalists:

The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu

The Homecoming by Mike Resnick
Movement by Nancy Fulda
The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu [winner]

Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue by John Scalzi

Longlisted Nominees
After the Apocalypse by Maureen McHugh
The Bread We Eat in Dreams by Catherynne M. Valente
The Drowner by Paedar O'Guilin
Goodnight Moons by Ellen Klages
Her Husband's Hand by Adam-Troy Castro
The Invasion of Venus by Stephen Baxter
Mama, We Are Zhenya, Your Son by Tom Crosshill
The Server and the Dragon by Hannu Rajaniemi

Shipbirth by Aliette de Bodard (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 35, No. 2 (February 2011))

Tidal Forces by Caitlin Kiernan
Tying Knots by Ken Liu
Unlimited Delta by Robin Walton
Younger Women by Karen Joy Fowler

Best Related Work

Finalists:

The Anticipation Novelists of 1950s French Science Fiction: Stepchildren of Voltaire by Bradford Lyau [ineligible]

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 3^rd Edition edited by John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls, and Graham Sleight [winner]

Jar Jar Binks Must Die . . . and Other Observations About Science Fiction Movies by Daniel M. Kimmel

The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature by Jeff VanderMeer and S.J. Chambers

Wicked Girls by Seanan McGuire

Writing Excuses, Season 6 by Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells

Longlisted Nominees:
Evaporating Genres: Essays on Fantastic Literature by Gary K. Wolfe
In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood

Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art: A Collection of the Most Inspiring Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Gaming Illustrators in the World by Karen Haber

Musings and Meditations by Robert Silverberg
Murray Leinster: The Life and Works by Jo-An J. Evans and Billee J. Stallings
Nested Scrolls: The Autobiography of Rudolf von Bitter Rucker by Rudy Rucker
Pardon This Intrusion: Fantastika in the World Storm by John Clute
Sightings: Reviews 2002-2006 by Gary K. Wolfe

Spectrum 18: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art by Arnie Fenner and Cathy Fenner

Whedonista: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them by Lynne M. Thomas and Deborah Stanish

Best Graphic Story

Finalists:
Digger by Ursula Vernon [winner]

Fables, Volume 15: Rose Red by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham

Locke & Key, Volume 4: Keys to the Kingdom by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
Schlock Mercenary: Force Multiplication by Howard Tayler
The Unwritten, Volume 4: Leviathan by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Longlisted Nominees:
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8 by Joss Whedon
Doorways by George R.R. Martin and Stefano Martino
Fables, Volume 16: Super Team by Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin, Daniel Abraham, and Rafa Lopez
Finder: Voice by Carla Speed McNeil
Freakangels, Volume 5 by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield
Gunnerkrigg Court, Volume 3: Reason by Thomas Siddell
Habibi by Craig Thompson
Knight and Squire by Bill Willingham and Joao Ruas

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Finalists:
Captain America: The First Avenger
Game of Thrones (Season 1) [winner]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Source Code

Longlisted Nominees:
The Adjustment Bureau
Attack the Block
Contagion
Cowboys and Aliens
Kick-Ass
Misfits, Series 1
Paul
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Thor
X-Men: First Class

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Finalists:
Community: Remedial Chaos Theory
Doctor Who: The Doctor's Wife [winner]
Doctor Who: The Girl Who Waited
Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes to War
The Drink Tank's Hugo Acceptance Speech
Game of Thrones: Baelor [ineligible]
Game of Thrones: Fire and Blood [ineligible]
Game of Thrones: The Pointy End [ineligible]

Longlisted Nominees:
Being Human: The Wolf Shaped Bullet
Doctor Who: The Wedding of River Song
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Fringe: The Day We Died
Fringe: Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
Game of Thrones: A Golden Crown
Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming
Supernatural: The French Mistake

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Sheila Williams [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Scott H. Andrews
Ellen Datlow
Gardner Dozois
Liz Gorinsky
Susan Marie Groppi
Ann Leckie
George R.R. Martin
William Schafer
Catherynne M. Valente
Gordon van Gelder
Ann VanderMeer
Jeff VanderMeer

Best Professional Editor: Long Form

Finalists:
Lou Anders
Liz Gorinsky
Anne Lesley Groell
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Betsy Wollheim [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Ginjer Buchanan
Julie A. Crisp
Moshe Feder
David G. Hartwell
Jeremy Lassen
Nick Mamatas
Beth Meacham
Devi Pillai
Eric Reynolds
Jacob Weisman
Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Daniel Dos Santos
Bob Eggleton
Michael Komarck
Stephan Martiniére
John Picacio [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Vincent Chong
Julie Dillon
John Foster
Donato Giancolo
John Howe
Kekai Kotaki
Alan Lee
Chris McGrath
Lee Moyer
Randall Munroe
Ted Nasmith
Raymond Swanland
Michael Whelan

Best Semi-Prozine

Finalists:

Apex Magazine edited by Jason Sizemore, Lynne M. Thomas, and Catherynne M. Valente

Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, and Jason Heller [nomination declined]

Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Lightspeed edited by John Joseph Adams
Locus edited by Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong [winner]

New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kris Dikeman, Avram Grumer, David G. Hartwell, and Kevin J. Maroney

Longlisted Nominees:
Ansible edited by David Langford
Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
Escape Pod edited by Mur Lafferty
Fantasy Magazine edited by John Joseph Adams
Salon Futura edited by Cheryl Morgan
Shimmer edited by Beth Wodzinski
Strange Horizons edited by Niall Harrison
Weird Tales edited by Marvin Kaye

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
Banana Wings edited by Claire Biraley and Mark Plummer
The Drink Tank edited by James Bacon and Chris Garcia
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Emma J. King, Helen J. Montgomery, and Pete Young

SF Signal edited by John DeNardo, J.P. Frantz, and Patrick Hester [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian, III
Chunga edited by Randy Byers, Andy Hopper, and Carl Juarez
The Coode Street Podcast by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
A Dribble of Ink edited by Aidan Moher
eI edited by Earl Kemp
Pat's Fantasy Hotlist edited by Patrick St. Denis
SF Commentary edited by Bruce Gillespie
SF in SF edited by Jean Martin
StarShipSofa by Tony C. Smith
The Wertzone edited by Adam Whitehead
Yipe! edited by Kevin Roche

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:
James Bacon
Claire Brialey
Christopher J. Garcia
Jim C. Hines [winner]
Steven H. Silver

Longlisted Nominees:
Mike Glyer
Mette Hedin
David Langford
Guy H. Lillian, III
Cheryl Morgan
James Nicoll
Abigail Nussbaum
Mark Plummer
Abigail St. Denis
Adam Whitehead

Best Fan Artist

Finalists:
Brad W. Foster
Randall Munroe
Spring Schoenhuth
Maurine Starkey [winner]
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne

Longlisted Nominees:
Alan F. Beck
Kurt Erichsen
Dave Hicks
Dick Jenssen
Sue Mason
Dan Steffan
D. West
Delphyne Woods
Frank Wu

Best Fancast

Finalists:
The Coode Street Podcast by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe

Galactic Suburbia Podcast by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch

SF Signal Podcast by John DeNardo and J.P. Frantz, produced by Patrick Hester

SF Squeecast by Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, and Catherynne M. Valente [winner]

StarShipSofa by Tony C. Smith

Longlisted Nominees:
Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing Podcast by Shaun Farrell
Drabblecast by Norm Sherman, Nathaniel Lee, Charity Helton, and Nicky Drayden
The Drink Tank Review of Books by Christopher J. Garcia
Eric in the Elevator by Eric Zuckerman

Escape Pod by Mur Lafferty

Fanboy Planet Podcast by Ric Bretschneider
Geek Girl Crafts Podcast by Jade Falcon and Sandy J-T
I Should Be Writing by Mur Lafferty
The Nerdist by Chris Hardwick
Podcastle by Anna Schwind, Dave Thompson, and Ann Leckie
Radio Free Skaro by Warren Frey and Steve Schapansky
The Writer and the Critic by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
Writing Excuses by Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Finalists:
Mur Lafferty
Stina Leicht
Karen Lord
Brad Torgersen
E. Luly Yu [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Zen Cho
Ernest Cline
Ty Franck
Mark Hodder
Kat Howard
Kameron Hurley
Brit Mandelo
Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
Erin Morgenstern
Shauna Roberts

Go to previous year's longlist: 2011
Go to subsequent year's longlist: 2013

Go to 2012 Hugo Finalists and Winners

Hugo Longlist Project     Book Award Reviews     Home

Book Blogger Hop June 10th - June 16th: Mia Hamm Scored 158 Goals in International Soccer Play

Jen at Crazy for Books restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another, but then couldn't continue, so she handed the hosting responsibilities off to Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them.

This week Billy asks: Are giveaways a part of your blog or only reviews?

I don't do giveaways. I don't do giveaways for much the same reason I don't participate in blog tours - I'm just not organized enough to be able to be able to commit to a particular schedule by which things will take place on this blog. I have numerous other commitments, and to be blunt, sometimes I have to let stuff on this blog slide. This past week I didn't post any reviews because I had fallen behind on some of the administrative and infrastructure work that holds the blog together and I spent my time playing catch-up on that. As long as the only person I am answerable to on the subject of scheduling material on this blog is me, then the only person I disappoint when I fall behind is me. If I were to start agreeing to do giveaways and blog tours, I know that I would fall behind schedule and run the risk of disappointing someone who isn't me. So I don't do either.

Previous Book Blogger Hop: Gaius Marius, Reformer of the Roman Army, Was Born in 157 B.C.

Subsequent Book Blogger Hop: The Alfa Romeo 158/159 Was a Grand Prix and Formula One Racing Car Used Primarily from 1937 to 1953

Book Blogger Hop     Home

Follow Friday - The Second Syrian War Started in 259 B.C.

It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and a single Follow Friday Featured Blogger each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
2. Follow the Featured Blogger of the week - All the Doodles 'n Scribbles.
3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

And now for the Follow Friday Question: What is your ALL TIME favorite book?

This is a tough question, because narrowing the choice down to just one book is almost impossible because there are so many excellent books that I have read. I could pick Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, or Delany's Nova, or Miller's Canticle for Liebowitz, or Lem's Cyberiad, or any number of other books that were simply brilliant and have stuck with me through the years.

But if I have to pick one book as the best I have read, and which I have gone back to more than any other, it will have to be the first book by Le Guin that I ever read: A Wizard of Earthsea. Although the book is only the first in the Earthsea series, which builds upon it and makes the characters and the world they live in even more compelling, the book stands by itself as quite simply the best story that I have ever read of a person coming of age and grappling with what kind of person they want to be. This is the book that introduced me to Le Guin's writing and started my love affair with her work, and for that and for the fact that it is a magnificent story, I will call this my favorite book.

Previous Follow Friday: Two Hundred and Fifty-Eight Is Six Cubed Plus Six Squared Plus Six

Subsequent Follow Friday: Benjamin Franklin Created the Franklin Magic Square with a Magic Constant of 260

Follow Friday     Home

Musical Monday - What's Up by 4 Non Blondes

The right music can add so much to filmed fiction. This song isn't particularly nerdy by itself - it is essentially a relatively standard pop anthem dedicated to rebellion and extolling the counterculture. But when placed in this sequence in the series Sense8, it becomes a symbol of the growing connection between the sensates in the cluster at the heart of the story. Without getting too deep into spoiler territory, this scene is the first time we see all of the members of the cluster sharing the same moment - this is more or less when they take their first real step to becoming a unit. We've seen pairs or even trios of sensates work together before this scene, but they've never all been together at once.

It seems fitting that this moment is one of joy, mostly because the series is so frequently such a very dark story. This one moment is experienced by many of the sensates as one of almost unbridled joy: Riley enjoying a sunrise, Sun celebrating in the shower, Capheus behind the wheel, and Wolfgang and Kala sharing a song as part of their budding romance. But it is also bittersweet: Leto contemplates what his relationships might do to his career, and Will has just helped Nomi escape from being imprisoned by the villain Whispers (imprisonment that was aided by Nomi's own mother, who disapproves of Nomi's transition from being Michael to being Nomi). There is a kind of desperate happiness as Nomi sits sheltered in Amanita's arms as they drive away.

This scene has some foreboding too, and that is also part of what makes it brilliant: When Nomi shows up next to Riley, they share a moment, but don't realize that quite soon they will have much more in common with one another than they could ever imagine. We see Sun in her beautiful, huge glass shower in an apartment that is suitably ostentatious enough for the high-powered executive that she is, but know that this will all be taken away from her in the very near future. There are so many layers in this brief sequence, and the song that ties them all together just makes it all work so well.

Previous Musical Monday: Promises by the Cranberries

Subsequent Musical Monday: Nun Fight by Paul & Storm

4 Non Blondes     Musical Monday     Home

2013 Hugo Award Longlist

Because I am working my way backwards in time from 2015 for this project, I expect that the information available concerning the Hugo Longlists is going to become harder and harder to find. In 2013, the first indicator that this expectation is justified can be found in the Semi-Prozine, Fanzine, and Fancast categories, as the Hugo administrators seem to have simply not reported the editors or contributors to those works that did not make the list of finalists. This information can be found, but it will require research - and it may prove tricky in some cases, as many of the longlisted fanzines (for example) are online publications, so figuring out who was on their editorial staff in a particular year may be elusive.

The longlist for this year also reveals a couple of interesting twists in the story of the Hugo Awards. First, the entire second season of the Game of Thrones television show was nominated as a Long Form Dramatic Presentation finalist. The producers of the show apparently decided to decline this nomination so that the individual episode Blackwater could compete in the Short Form category, which turned out well. At the time this was something of a bold move as that category also included three Doctor Who episodes, and Doctor Who had been the short form juggernaut in the Short Form category since it had been created. Second, The Unwritten had two volumes appear on the longlist in the Graphic Story category, but neither garnered enough nominations to make the list of finalists. The series also received several rather unclear nominations, and the Hugo Administrators had to try to figure out if some of the nominations were for volume five, volume six, or the series as whole. This highlights the fact that being a Hugo Administrator is a job that requires judgment in addition to impartiality.

That judgment also came into play in the Novelette category, where Mary Robinette Kowal's story The Lady Astronaut of Mars was ruled ineligible on the basis that it had only been published as an audio book, and thus could only qualify in one of the dramatic presentation categories. This was kind of an odd decision, but there was some precedent for it - after all Mark Oshiro received nominations in the Short Form Dramatic Presentation Category for reading from the John Scalzi story Shadow War of the Night Dragons. On the other hand, Kowal is the author, not someone performing a reading of her work, and audio books are generally regarded as actually being books. In any event, this was the last time this came up, because the World Science Fiction Society passed an amendment to its Constitution specifying that audio books were eligible in the fiction categories.

Best Novel

Finalists:
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Blackout by Mira Grant
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi [winner]
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Longlisted Nominees:
Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
Existence by David Brin
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
Libromancer by Jim C. Hines
Monster Hunter Legion by Larry Correia
Railsea by China Mieville
Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear

Best Novella

Finalists:
After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson [winner]
On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant
The Stars Do Not Lie by Jay Lake

Longlisted Nominees:
All the Flavors by Ken Liu
The Boolean Gate by Walter Jon Williams
Gods of Risk by James S.A. Corey
In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Sigil Burns by Elizabeth Bear
Katabasis by Robert Reed
The Last Judgment by James Patrick Kelly
Legion by Brandon Sanderson
Let Maps to Others by K.J. Parker
Murder Born by Robert Reed
Twenty Lights to the Land of Snow by Michael Bishop

Best Novelette

Finalists:
The Boy Who Cast No Shadow by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Fade to White by Catherynne M. Valente
The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi by Pat Cadigan [winner]

The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal [ineligible] (reviewed in 2014 Hugo Voting - Best Novelette)

Rat-Catcher by Seanan McGuire
In Sea-Salt Tears by Seanan McGuire

Longlisted Nominees
Arbeitskraft by Nick Mamatas
Astrophilia by Carrie Vaughn
Close Encounters by Andy Duncan
The Finite Canvas by Brit Mandelo
Flight of the Runewright by Howard Tayler
The Ghosts of Christmas by Paul Cornell
Holmes Sherlock: A Hwarhath Mystery by Eleanor Arnason
Portrait of Lisane de Patagnia by Rachel Swirsky
Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron
The Waves by Ken Liu

Best Short Story

Finalists:

Immersion by Aliette de Bodard

Mantis Wives by Kij Johnson
Mono no Aware by Ken Liu [winner]

Longlisted Nominees
Armless Maidens of the American West by Genevieve Valentine
The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species by Ken Liu
The Education of a Witch by Ellen Klages
Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain by Cat Rambo
The Flower of Arizona by Seanan McGuire
My Wife Hates Time Travel by Adam-Troy Castro
No Place Like Home by Seanan McGuire
One Hell of a Ride by Seanan McGuire
Robot by Helena Bell
A Tall Tale by Charles Stross
Tyche and the Ants by Hannu Rajaniemi
Valedictorian by N.K. Jemisin
We Will Not Be Undersold! by Seanan McGuire
The Wizard of 34^th Street by Mike Resnick

Best Related Work

Finalists:
The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature by Edward James and Farah Mendelsohn

Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Sigrid Ellis

Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who edited by Deborah Stanish and L.M. Myles

I Have an Idea for a Book . . . The Bibliography of Martin Harry Greenberg compiled by Martin H. Greenberg, edited by John Helfers

Writing Excuses, Season Seven by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Taylor, and Jordan Sanderson [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
24 Frames into the Future: Scalzi on Science Fiction Films by John Scalzi

Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's a Song of Ice and Fire edited by James Lowder

Distrust that Particular Flavor by William Gibson

A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer

Frank R. Paul: The Dean of Science Fiction Illustration by Jerry Weist

Hank Reinhardt's Book of Knives: A Practical, Illustrated Guide to Knife Fighting by Hank Reinhardt

The John Picacio 2013 Calendar by John Picacio
Reflections: On the Magic of Writing by Diana Wynne Jones

Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010 by Damien Broderick and Paul Di Filippo

Some Remarks: Essays and Other Writings by Neal Stephenson
We Wuz Published: Joanna Russ, Radical Truth-Telling by Brit Mandelo
World SF in Translation by Jari Koponen

Best Graphic Story

Finalists:
Grandville Bête Noir by Bryan Talbot
Locke & Key, Volume 5: Clockworks by Joe Hill, Illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez
Saga, Volume One by Brian K. Vaughan, Illustrated by Fiona Staples [winner]

Saucer Country, Volume 1: Run by Paul Cornell, Illustrated by Jimmy Broxton, Ryan Kelly, and Goran Sudzuka

Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia by Howard Taylor

Longlisted Nominees:
Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection by Gail Simone, illustrated by Adrian Syaf

Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Emma Rios and Dexter Soy

Dial H, Volume 1: Into You by China Miéville, illustrated by Mateus Santolouco
Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction, illustrated by David Aja

The Massive by Brian Wood, illustrated by Garry Brown, Kristian Donaldson, and Dave Stewart

The Manhattan Projects, Vol. 1: Science Bad by Jonathan Hickman, illustrated by Nick Pitarra

Morning Glories by Nick Spencer, illustrated by Joe Eisma
The Situation by Jeff VanderMeer, illustrated by Eric Orchard
The Unwritten by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross
The Unwritten, Vol. 5: On to Genesis by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross

The Unwritten, Vol. 6: Tommy Taylor and the War of Words by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Madeleine L'Engle, illustrated by Hope Larson

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Finalists:
The Avengers [winner]
The Cabin in the Woods
Game of Thrones, Season Two [nomination declined]
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hunger Games
Looper

Longlisted Nominees:
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Brave
Chronicle
Cloud Atlas
The Dark Knight Rises
Dredd
Iron Sky
John Carter
Prometheus
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Finalists:
Doctor Who: The Angels Take Manhattan
Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks
Doctor Who: The Snowmen
Fringe: Letters of Transit
Game of Thrones: Blackwater [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Castle: The Final Frontier
Chronicle
Community: Digital Estate Planning
Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
Doctor Who: The Power of Three
Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy
Game of Thrones: Valar Morghulis

Mark Reads "The Shadow War of the Night Dragons - Book One: The Dead City" by Mark Oshiro

Paperman
Phineas and Ferb: Excaliferb
An Unexpected Briefing

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Stanley Schmidt [winner]
Jonathan Strahan
Sheila Williams

Longlisted Nominees:
Scott H. Andrews
Ellen Datlow
Nick Mamatas
Brit Mandelo
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Lynne M. Thomas
Gordon van Gelder
Anne VanderMeer
Terri Windling

Best Professional Editor: Long Form

Finalists:
Lou Anders
Sheila Gilbert
Liz Gorinsky
Patrick Nielsen Hayden [winner]
Toni Weisskopf

Longlisted Nominees:
Ginjer Buchanan
Malcolm Edwards
Anne Lesley Groell
Lee Harris
David G. Hartwell
Jeremy Lassen
Beth Meacham
Jim Minz
Devi Pillai
Betsy Wollheim

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Vincent Chong
Julie Dillon
Dan Dos Santos
Chris McGrath
John Picacio [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Alejandro Colucci
Bob Eggleton
Donato Gioncola
Joey Hi-Fi (aka D. Halvorsen)
John Howe
Michael Komark
Alan Lee
Todd Lockwood
Stephan Martiniere
Howard Tayler

Best Semi-Prozine

Finalists:

Apex Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Jason Sizemore, and Michael Damian Thomas

Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews

Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Kate Baker, Jason Heller, and Sean Wallace [winner]

Lightspeed edited by John Jospeh Adams and Stefan Rudnicki

Strange Horizons edited by Rebecca Cross, Niall Harrison, Jed Hartman, Brit Mandelo, Dave Nagdeman, Abigail Nussbaum, An Owomoyela, Julia Rios, and Sonya Taaffe

Longlisted Nominees:

Cascadia Subduction Zone edited by Arrate Hidalgo, Nisi Shawl, L. Timmel Duchamp, and Kath Wilham

Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
Escape Pod edited by Mur Lafferty
Goblin Fruit edited by Amal El-Mohtar and Caitlyn Paxson
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Locus edited by Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong

New York Review of Science Fiction edited by David G. Hartwell and Kevin J. Maroney

On Spec edited by Diane Walton
Shimmer edited by Beth Wodzinski

Stone Telling edited by Rose Lemberg, Shweta Narayan, Jennifer Smith, and Bogi Takács

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
Banana Wings edited by Claire Biraley and Mark Plummer
The Drink Tank edited by James Bacon and Christopher J. Garcia
Elitist Book Reviews edited by Steven Diamond

Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Christopher J. Garcia, Emma J. King, Helen J. Montgomery, and Pete Young

SF Signal edited by John DeNardo, J.P. Frantz, and Patrick Hester [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Ansible edited by David Langford
Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
The Book Smugglers edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian, III
Chunga edited by Andy Hooper, Randy Byers, and Carl Juarez
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
The Mary Sue edited by Maddy Myers and Dan van Winkle
SF Mistressworks edited by Ian Sales
Trap Door edited by Robert Lichtman

World SF Blog edited by Lavie Tidhar, Charles Tan, Debbie Moorhouse, and Sarah Newton

Yipe! edited by Kevin Roche

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:
James Bacon
Christopher J. Garcia
Mark Oshiro
Tansy Rayner Roberts [winner]
Steven H. Silver

Longlisted Nominees:
Liz Bourke
Claire Brialey
N.K. Jemisin
Guy H. Lillian, III
Seanan McGuire
Foz Meadows
A Cracked Moon
Cheryl Morgan
Abigail Nussbaum
Charles Tan

Best Fan Artist

Finalists:
Galen Dara [winner]
Brad W. Foster
Spring Schoenhuth
Maurine Starkey
Steve Stiles

Longlisted Nominees:
Sue Beatrice
Jim Hines and Amy Hines
Kathleen Jennings
Randall Munroe
Hildy Pearlman
Melody Rondeau
Espana Sheriff
Katy Shuttleworth
Dan Steffan
Noelle Stephenson
Taral Wayne

Best Fancast

Finalists:
The Coode Street Podcast by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe

Galactic Suburbia Podcast by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch

SF Signal Podcast by John DeNardo, J.P. Frantz, and Patrick Hester

SF Squeecast by Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, and Catherynne M. Valente, produced by David McHone-Chase [winner]

StarShipSofa by Tony C. Smith

Longlisted Nominees:

Escape Pod by Mur Lafferty

Fanboy Planet Podcast by Ric Bretschneider
I Should Be Writing by Mur Lafferty
Nerdvana by J.C. Arkham and Two-Buck Chuck
Outer Alliance Podcast by Julia Rios
Radio Free Skaro by Warren Frey and Steve Schapansky
SF Crossing the Gulf by Karen Burnham and Karen Lord

Speculate! The Podcast for Writers and Fans by Gregory A. Wilson, Brad P. Beaulieu, and Michael R. Underwood

Sword and Laser by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt
The Writer and the Critic by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
Writing Excuses by Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Finalists:
Madeleine Ashby [withdrawn]
Zen Cho
Max Gladstone
Mur Lafferty [winner]
Stina Leicht
Chuck Wendig

Longlisted Nominees:
Brooke Bolander
Adam Christopher
Thoraiya Dyer
Damien Walters Grintalis
Rachel Hartman
Brit Mandelo
E.C. Myers
Jeff Salyards
Cory Skerry

Go to previous year's longlist: 2012
Go to subsequent year's longlist: 2014

Go to 2013 Hugo Finalists and Winners

Hugo Longlist Project     Book Award Reviews     Home

Book Blogger Hop June 3rd - June 9th: Gaius Marius, Reformer of the Roman Army, Was Born in 157 B.C.

Jen at Crazy for Books restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another, but then couldn't continue, so she handed the hosting responsibilities off to Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them.

This week Billy asks: Do you reply to every comment on your posts?

I will conditionally answer this question with a yes. I moderate all comments, mostly because I have had a number of obnoxious individuals show up and try to pollute the comments with asinine bullshit. For rather obvious reasons, I don't reply to comments that I don't allow through moderation.

For comments that I approve for publication, I try to make sure I respond. I figure that if someone takes the effort to make a coherent and intelligent comment on one of my blog posts, I should do them the courtesy of responding.

Previous Book Blogger Hop: There Were 156 Sons of Magbish in the Census of Israel

Subsequent Book Blogger Hop: Mia Hamm Scored 158 Goals in International Soccer Play

Book Blogger Hop     Home

Follow Friday - Two Hundred and Fifty-Eight Is Six Cubed Plus Six Squared Plus Six

It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and a single Follow Friday Featured Blogger each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
2. Follow the Featured Blogger of the week - I Heart Reading.
3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

And now for the Follow Friday Question: What is your most interesting bookish memory or experience?

One of my earliest bookish memories is reading The Hobbit for the first time. When I was about eight or nine, my father started reading the book to me as a bedtime story over the summer, one page at a time, perhaps inspired by the truncated version of the Rankin-Bass movie broadcast on television. We made it about a third of the way through the book before school started again and the reading sessions just kind of petered out roughly a third of the way through the story.

Cue to a year or two later. We had moved to Tanzania in the interim, and I picked up The Hobbit on an evening in the summer break between, my fourth and fifth grade years and started reading. I began some time just before my normal bed time, and didn't put the book down until I had finished it, just as the first rays of dawn began to appear over the horizon. I finished the Lord of the Rings over the next week. When the school year rolled around, I hunted through the library looking for fantasy novels to read. By spring break of the next school year I was reading the Silmarillion.

Although it isn't explicitly reading related, I have another memory from Tanzania that seems relevant. I was living in Tanzania because my father was working for the U.S. Embassy there, in the Consular office. In 1980, Muhammad Ali visited the country. I didn't know it at the time, but he was there to try to convince Tanzania to join the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Olympics. What I do remember was going with my father to meet him at the airport. There were hundred, or perhaps thousands of enthusiastic Tanzanians who also showed up to greet the boxing champion. They jumped over barricades, and met him in a cheering crowd as he emerged from the plane, sending up cries of "Ali!". What I remember was seeing this crowd and seeing their excitement and realizing he was their hero. His accomplishments made them proud. Made them feel like they counted. Because he was black. Because he was Muslim. Because he was one of them. I didn't have the words to describe it then, but it was at that moment that I understood that representation matters.

Previous Follow Friday: The Battle of Tyndarus Between Rome and Carthage Was Fought in 257 B.C.

Subsequent Follow Friday: The Second Syrian War Started in 259 B.C.

Follow Friday     Home

2016 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 47 in San Antonio, Texas.

Comments: As usual for the Mythopoeic Award, the nominees in the two fiction categories are a strong set of fantasy works that are both varied and interesting. The collection of fiction works does highlight one of the persistent oddities of the Mythopoeic Award by making the Inkling Studies category look quite limited in its horizons: Two of the nominated works in that category are revisions of works originally written by J.R.R. Tolkien, while two others are books about C.S. Lewis. To a certain extent, a category devoted to scholarship about the Inklings - a group that consisted of (depending on who is counted as being a "member") a dozen to just over two dozen men - is going to be quite focused in the works it chooses to honor. When one considers that the bulk of academic interest in the group is probably limited to four subjects (Tolkien, Lewis, Williams, and Green), the limited range of works is even more apparent. This creates a strange dichotomy, where most of the categories of the award feature works that are diverse and sometimes experimental, while the Inklings Studies category is stuck rehashing the same very limited aspect of the past over and over again.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Other Nominees:
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

Other Nominees:
Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley
The Girl Who Could Not Dream by Sarah Beth Durst
Serafina and The Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

Tiffany Aching series (Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight, and The Shepherd’s Crown) by Terry Pratchett

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Charles Williams: The Third Inkling by Grevel Lindop

Other Nominees:

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary Together with Sellic Spell by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien

C.S. Lewis - A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Alistair E. McGrath
Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis by Abigail Santamaria
The Story of Kullervo by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Verlyn Flieger

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

The Evolution of Modern Fantasy: From Antiquarianism to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series by Jamie Williamson

Other Nominees:
English Poetry and Old Norse Myth: A History by Heather O’Donoghue
George MacDonald: Divine Carelessness and Fairytale Levity by Daniel Gabelman
Here Be Dragons: Exploring Fantasy Maps and Settings by Stefan Ekman
Science in Wonderland: The Scientific Fairy Tales of Victorian Britain by Melanie Keene

Go to previous year's nominees: 2015
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2017

Book Award Reviews     Home

Event - Balticon 50, May 27th - 30th, 2015

Or The Tale of the Good, the Bad, and the Shoe-Cop

The Good: There was a lot that went right at Balticon 50. This was a unique event, as Balticon invited all of its previous guests of honor back to celebrate the fiftieth time this convention had been held. As a result, the lineup of guests was quite impressive for a relatively small regional convention, and a similar event is probably not going to happen outside of a Worldcon for at least a few years. The real beauty of smaller conventions is the unplanned things unconnected with any "official" events that happen spontaneously. We were able to go to dinner with Day al-Mohammed, Renee Brown, and Meriah Crawford and play Stone Age with Renee as well. I saw Natalie Luhrs, who I only get to talk to at conventions. We went to dinner on Saturday night with a group that included the authors Tom Doyle and David Walton, and so on. These sorts of things are the magical part of science fiction conventions, and pretty much make going to these events worthwhile all by themselves. As far as planned events go, the following are the highlights of the weekend from my perspective.

• All of the author guests the redhead and I interacted with were absolutely fabulous in person, most notably Connie Willis, Fran Wilde, and Kim Stanley Robinson. In the swirl of convention chaos, the presence of so many top-notch and exceptionally warm authors provided a steady rock to stabilize the convention. A terribly run convention can be saved by a strong guest of honor, and while Balticon 50 had issues, it wasn't terribly run and with both George R.R. Martin and the returning "Alumni Guests of Honor" it had the advantage of having at least a dozen guests who could have headlined the convention. There was so much star power at this convention that it is somewhat tempting to simply list them all and call it a great convention. As far as I can tell, every one of the "alumni" was extremely generous with their time and effort, patiently sitting through long signing sessions and participating in panels and readings scheduled for some of the less desirable hours that would normally be populated by faces with considerably less experience in the field (Connie Willis, for example, was saddled with two 8:00 AM events). I am consistently amazed by how accessible and friendly so many of the figures in science fiction are, and it is on this pervasive congeniality that the community is built.


• Speaking of readings, the redhead and I attended a number of very good author readings. Before Balticon, I though of Jody Lynn Nye as "that author who has written some collaborations with Robert Lynn Asprin and Anne McCaffrey". After Balticon, I will always think of her as "that author who delivers fantastic readings". Nye was brilliant both as a reader and as a panelist. I have some of her solo books (I even brought them to the convention and got her to sign them), and seeing her in person pushed them quite a bit closer to the top of my mountainous to-be-read pile. Although the event we attended featuring Steven Barnes was listed as an author reading, Barnes didn't do much reading, but instead talked about how he found balance in his life - more or less turning into an infomercial on "how to live your life according to the wisdom of Steven Barnes". This was different from the reading it had been advertised to be, but Barnes is such a passionate person that listening to him extol the virtues of almost anything would be interesting. We also attended a few multi-author readings, starting with one that featured Tom Doyle, A.L. Davroe, and David Wood. It seems that Balticon tried to put authors together who would have a diverse array of writing, as Doyle's modern secret magic story, Davroe's young adult story on the moon, and Wood's hard-boiled 1930s detective story would seem to have little in common. All three authors gave good readings, but the star was clearly Doyle who read the introduction to his forthcoming War and Craft, wherein he sang the mystical poetry duel between two Irish craft practitioners. The other group reading featured Scott Edelman, Steve Lubs, Christopher Rose, and Don Sakers. Edelman got everyone on his side right off the bat by bringing an assortment of cookies to share, and then delivered his usual excellent reading. Steve Lubs read what I believe was an as yet unpublished science fiction story about double-crossing aliens visiting the Earth, while Rose read his story that won a Baltimore Science Fiction Society-sponsored writing award, and Sakers read an excerpt from a longer work. Once again, the line-up of authors at the reading were all very different, although they were all quite entertaining.


• Although the redhead and I only attended a few panels, the ones we went to were all good - once again made so by the high quality of the program participants. Our first panel was Why Ant Man and the First Thor Movie Are Good moderated by S.L. Wideman with panelists Day al-Mohammed, Meg Nuge, and Joshua Bilmes. The panel was mostly interesting, although it quickly devolved into a referendum on the more recent super-hero oriented movies Batman vs. Superman and Captain America: Civil War, turning more into an analysis of why people don't like some movies featuring super-heroes rather than an explanation of why the movies that were supposed to be the subject of the panel were good. The next was titled Writing: Its My Job and What I Do for Fun and was moderated by Carl Cipra and featured Jean Marie Ward, Jody Lynn Nye, and Keith DeCandido. To be perfectly honest, the redhead wanted to go because she wanted to see Ward on a panel, having enjoyed her presentations at previous conventions. Ward was in fine form with her usual wit, and both Nye and DeCandido made us into new fans with their participation. The most star-studded panel we attended was Finding a Foot to Stand On, another panel moderated by Carl Cipra which had Alexandra Duncan, Charles Gannon, Fran Wilde, Larry Niven, and Connie Willis as panelists. The subject under discussion was more or less "how does an author with a non-science background write hard science fiction", and given that both Willis and Gannon have academic backgrounds in English, while Niven holds a degree in mathematics, this seemed particularly apropos. Wilde, with an undergraduate degree in English and graduate degrees in information architecture, seemed to bridge the gap. Overall, the panel was exceptional, covering the topic quite ably, and often humorously. Our last panel was a presentation by Day al-Mohammed which was titled How to Make Your SF Short Film, but actually had the topic of "odd historical pieces of technology that Day thinks are interesting", including al-Jazari's water clock, the Mysorean rockets, and the somewhat ghoulish necropants.


• The redhead and I attended part of the Baen Road Show, an almost ubiquitous event at conventions these days, where Baen promotes various upcoming titles. This road show was no exception on that front, with announcements including an upcoming title by David Weber and a discussion led by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller about the interconnected web that is their series of stories set in the Liaden universe. Having seen the presentation, I am somewhat interested in reading the series, but somewhat deterred by the fact that it is eighteen novels long (plus various other ancillary materials) and has an almost unfathomable continuity. The highlight of the event was when Larry Niven was called to the stage to talk about the ongoing Man-Kzin Wars series. Apparently, no one had bothered to tell Niven where the stairs were to get on stage. Not to be deterred by such issues, the 78 year-old clambered onto the waist high stage, and then slowly rose from the hands and knees position such a maneuver had placed him in. As he turned to the audience, one could see that his face was flushed from the effort and both the redhead and I were certain he would have a heart attack right there on stage. Fortunately, he did not, and when a con staff member ran up to point out where the stairs were, Niven simply deadpanned in response, "That will be useful information for when I want to get down".


• After two years of planning (and failing) to attend an Eye of Argon reading, the redhead and I finally made it. For those unfamiliar with the work, The Eye of Argon is more or less an homage to the pulpy barbarian stories of authors like Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter, and L. Sprague de Camp. Written by a very young Jim Theis and originally published in the Journal of the Ozark SF Society, the story is terrible in the most hilarious way, combining a mighty thewed barbarian hero, a wench with a "lithe, opaque nose", an evil prince with an adviser who gets killed twice in the story, and even more evil cultists worshiping the vile idol of Argon. The writing is terrible, riddled with grammatical errors, misspellings, words used in incomprehensible ways, and situations described that are literally physically impossible (at one point a woman is described as having her face peering up from between her bosoms). The story has since become something of a cult favorite at conventions where it is read aloud, with the challenge being to read it as written in all of its horrendous glory, convoluted syntax, oddly spelled words, and all. At this reading, members of the audience were brought to the front to read the story, with Ian Randal Strock reading along to make sure they read the text exactly as written, and stopping any reader whose internal editor unconsciously caused them to say "many faceted gem" instead of "many fauceted gem", "chasm" instead of "chasim", or "deity" instead of "diety". Enhancing the reading, Keith DeCandido, Hildy Silverman, and Mike Ventrella attempted to act along, trying to recreate the actions the text describes, although they occasionally had to simply shrug their shoulders and give up despite their valiant efforts, helpless to actually recreate what was on the page (mostly because what was described was anatomically impossible). Despite excellent work by Keith, Hildy, and Mike, and some almost improbably skilled readers (at one point DeCandido remarked that this reading had gotten further through the story than any other he had participated in), the highlight was Strock reading along and registering his approval with a nod and a smile when a reader navigated a particularly tricky passage.


• The redhead and I attended the eSpec book launch party where the publisher was officially launching their short fiction anthologies Gaslight & Grimm, The Weird Wild West, and The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, as well as the relaunch of their military science fiction anthology Dogs of War. With plenty of good food, an impressive array of authors, and a pile of good books to be had, this was an excellent event. There were a number of small presses at Balticon, many of whom clearly get a decent chunk of their business from convention sales, and eSpec, run by Danielle Ackley-McPhail and Mike McPhail, is one of my favorites (I am also a fan of Ian Randal Strock's small press Fantastic Books). With the death of the mid-list at larger publishers, it seems that small presses are taking up the slack. If one is interested in experimental work, authors on the rise (or simply authors who are more comfortable working at shorter lengths), the diverse assortment of small presses in the genre fiction world are the place to look.

The Bad: Balticon 50 had a lot of issues. Some were beyond the control of the convention staff. The following problems, however, are pretty much squarely on them.

• One glaring problem was that programming was a mess, and apparently so from the beginning of the convention. Balticon provided both a large convention book containing a schedule and a pocket guide that also had a schedule. The first problem was that these schedules were incompatible with one another, each listing events at different times - they diverged by a half an hour, which unsurprisingly served to make it difficult to figure out when an event was supposed to take place. The second problem was that many program participants had schedules that were, as Mur Lafferty described it, "temporally impossible", with many participants double-booked for two events at one time, or booked with back-to-back events separated by several hotel floors. When I attended a scheduled interview with Phil and Kaja Foglio on the tenth floor of the hotel, they were immediately whisked away to a panel that was taking place on the fifth floor. Despite many fans standing there who wanted to say hello to the Foglios and maybe get something signed or a picture (and the Foglios being apparently willing to accommodate such fans), the requirements of the schedule were such that they had to leave right away. Given that the Foglios did not have a scheduled signing session, this was somewhat disappointing. The programming issues were especially problematic when one considers the presence of so many guest of honor "alumni". Given that the convention had a magnificent pool of talent to draw from that included Steve Barnes, Peter Beagle, Michael Flynn, Phil and Kaja Foglio, Joe Haldeman, Donald Kingsbury, Sharon Lee, Steve Miller Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Nancy Springer, Allen Steele, Charles Stross, Harry Turtledove, John Varley, Jo Walton, and Connie Willis as well as their usual set of attendees such as Charles Gannon, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Fran Wilde, not to mention guest of honor George R.R. Martin, there was absolutely no need to have such tight schedules for any participant.


• The convention was held at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, which had a number of design flaws that hampered the convention. I'm not going to hold the poor hotel design against the convention staff (except to the extent that they never should have chosen this hotel to begin with), but I will hold it against the convention staff that they used the available space quite badly. To begin with, programming was spread out over several floors, with scheduled items taking place on floors five, six, nine, ten, and eleven, and the Con suite and Green Room were on floor twelve. This meant that program participants often had to go up or down several floors to get between their (often tightly packed) events. Because the hotel had so few elevators, this often meant using the Soviet surplus stairwell to get from one event to another. Apparently no one considered that by bringing back several guest of honor "alumni", they were bringing back people who are a lot older than they had been the first time they attended Balticon, and many of them are, for want of a better word, frail. Watching a convention staff member try to get Donald Kingsbury to hurry to his next panel was almost painful. Kingsbury was a trooper about it, but the man is eighty-six and that should have been considered when his schedule was made. This could have been avoided: Most of the programming could have taken place on the fifth floor. If ConOps, the Tabletop Game room, the RPG room, the Dance Hall, and the LARP room had been moved to the sixth floor (or in the case of ConOps, to one of the ninth or tenth floor suites), that would have freed up more space on the fifth floor for programming, easing the load on the elevators and making it easier for program participants to move from scheduled event to scheduled event.


• Using the space badly extended to the locations provided for author signings. With a star-studded lineup, one would think that the convention would have thought to provide a good space for signing events. Instead, most of the signing events were crammed into the back corner of the hotel restaurant, meaning that the lines would snake through the bar area and into the hallway. This resulted in people seeking to get books singed being constantly admonished to move their line so it wasn't in the way of restaurant patrons - an issue that loomed especially large during signings that coincided with the breakfast buffet, such as the one for Niven, Willis, MacAvoy, and Turtledove. Another issue was having signing sessions that conflicted with one another - the signing session for the four authors I just mentioned took place at the same time as George R.R. Martin's first signing (which had its own issues, that I will go into next), so a fan basically had to choose between getting something signed by Niven or signed by Martin. Placing the signing sessions where they were almost seemed like an insult to the authors in question, who should have had space allocated to their event that was more commensurate with their stature. Compounding the problem, immediately behind the "main" signing area was a glass partition, behind which the convention had scheduled other signing sessions: At the same time Niven, Willis, MacAvoy, and Turtledove were signing up front, Compton Crook Award winner Fran Wilde and former Compton Crook award winners Alexandra Duncan and Kim Stanley Robinson were behind the glass partition at their signing event - and the only way to get to them was to form a line in the area where Niven, Willis, MacAvoy, and Turtledove were doing their signing. This created no small amount of congestion. This was not unique - later an "up front" signing session that included Charles Stross had John Varley, Peter Beagle, Jody Lynn Nye, and Donald Kingsbury behind the glass partition.


• George R.R. Martin breaks conventions. That can simply be taken as a given. He has hordes of fans, all of whom want autographs and pictures with him, and they will mob any event he is at unless plans are made to organize this chaos into some semblance of order. Balticon worked out a system where each attendee could get a ticket to one of his signing events, and then they would control the number of people who attended each one and limit how many things a person could get signed. This seemed like a reasonable plan, but it was (at least initially) executed very badly. The schedule said that the first signing would begin seating at 10:00 AM, and the event would start at 10:30 AM. When people began to show up at 10:00 AM, it seemed to take the convention staff by surprise, as they were unready to begin seating people. When 10:20 rolled around, a large line had formed in the central hallway, and convention staff were yelling at people to clear a passageway through the area so others could get to and from the events going on at the convention. When convention staff finally started calling for groups of ticket numbers to come forward, the woman working the seating table insisted that those in a group called up that included numbers 1 through 40 must line up in numerical order before she would process them and allow them to enter the room. A good plan can be foiled by poor execution, and although Balticon's plan had promise, the execution left a lot to be desired.


• This is a gripe that is probably minor in the grand scheme of things, but as one of the things that I look forward to at conventions is browsing the booksellers in the dealer's hall, I will bring it up anyway: For no real reason that anyone can discern, Larry Smith was given inadequate space. Smith has been attending Balticon as a dealer for many years, and in the past he has always requested, and paid for, four tables to be able to adequately display his stock. This year, he was limited to two, and one was only allocated to him at the last minute. To cope with his reduced space, he bifurcated his wares and had some in the dealer hall with a suite on the tenth floor to hold the remainder. Smith was able to work around the problem, but it was a solution he should not have had to resort to.

The Shoe-Cops: Several of the problems at Balticon stemmed from the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel itself, and can't really be blamed on convention staff. That said, the hotel had so many problems, and most notably a security staff run amok, that the redhead and I are unlikely to return to the convention as long as it is located there. This is not a sentiment that is unique to us: I have spoken with several other convention attendees who have said the same thing, and seen posts and comments online to that effect as well.

• One of the major problems was the structure of the hotel itself. The hotel had most of the convention space on the fifth floor with an additional amount on the sixth floor, and a few suites on the ninth, tenth, and twelfth floors, which would not have been a huge problem, except that the hotel only had one publicly accessible bank of six elevators to serve a twelve story facility that took up an entire city block. Two of these elevators were express elevators that only went between the first and fifth floor (and the parking garage), so getting to and from the convention space was a little bit easier than one might think, but the elevator area was still incredibly congested at almost all hours. Although this hotel has more rooms than the Hunt Valley location Balticon was at for the last couple of years, I'm not entirely convinced it has more public convention space, and even if it does, it is very poorly laid out. Among other things, the public areas seem to be almost designed to prevent the kind of casual socialization that makes fan run conventions so special (and the hotel security did their best to make such socialization even more unappealing than the space did). When these issues are combined with the greater expense of everything in the Baltimore Inner Harbor area - from parking to food to accommodations - the move from the Hunt Valley location to the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace seems like a step backwards.


• The Harborplace Hotel also seemed to be poorly ventilated. The main convention area on the fifth floor had a skylight and overlooked a four level mall built into the hotel, and the HVAC system of the facility didn't seem to be up to the task of keep the air in this large area adequately circulated. With the sun shining through the glass roof onto several hundred people, the convention area got quite warm, and was almost stifling at times. Someone who had their table in the atrium area of the convention space got a sunburn from sitting there all weekend. I can't imagine how unpleasant this space must be in July and August. The Harborplace Hotel seems like it was designed to be a pretty facility, and it is, but it certainly falls down when it comes to functionality.


• The biggest problem with the Harborplace Hotel was that hotel security was obnoxious and surly. I have seen reports that hotel security harassed convention goers, including the sexual harassment of female cosplayers. That would be an issue by itself, but the hotel security seem to have spent their time looking to start problems rather than trying to solve them. Security people would roam the quiet hallways, knocking on doors looking for parties to shut down - targeting rooms that were frequently occupied by sleeping guests instead of the parties they were supposedly looking for. One convention goer was accompanied by his teenage children, and left his door propped open so they could get in and out of the room when he wasn't there. Hotel security paid him a visit to harass him over leaving his own room door open. Hotel security apparently harassed and behaved aggressively towards a person who was in the middle of a panic attack. One of the panels I attended was interrupted by hotel security who informed the panelists that there had been a noise complaint. One of the panelists asked if security had contacted the convention staff to let them know (so they could do something to make sure it didn't become an issue again), and was told they had done so. This was a lie. Hotel security never bothered to contact convention staff. When people attempted to discuss the matter with hotel security, they were uninterested in working with convention staff to prevent problems from reoccurring and seemed almost gleeful at the prospect of throwing people out of the rooms they were using. I have been told that hotel security did, in fact, shut down the dance hall.
  
  
  
  Then there was the issue with shoes. Hotel security was very concerned about foot-gear, enforcing their previously unannounced policy that shoes had to be worn at all times (throwing at least one person out of the hotel for not wearing them). It would seem that once this policy was made known, this would not be an issue any more, but it turned out that hotel security was also interested in policing what kind of shoes people wore, harassing a young woman over the ballet shoes she was wearing. To most of the world, these are shoes by any definition of the word, but hotel security was using some alternate and arbitrary definition and targeted the poor girl anyway. The shoe-cop issue was hotel security at their most petty, and was such an annoyance that one attendee wrote a long poem titled Ode to the Shoe Cop and left it on one of the fan tables after it had been vacated¹. To be blunt, I don't think I have ever seen a hotel that had as many uniformed security personnel as this one did, and I have never seen hotel security behaving in a ruder manner. When they were not roaming the halls in packs looking for illusory parties to break up, they took up positions in the middle of the convention space, transforming what could have been a social space into their turf to launch harassment targeted at convention attendees. The head of hotel security was a thoroughly unpleasant man, and I suspect that the problems with hotel security stemmed from a combination of poor training for the security staff, and the fact that the head of hotel security seemed to have an axe to grind against those who came to the convention. In a job where resolving conflict would seem to be the goal, he and his staff spent their time trying to unnecessarily create conflict.

¹ I didn't copy the Ode down, but I wish I had. I know other attendees did, and if I can find a copy, I will place it here to immortalize it for all time

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