Starship Fonzie

I’m currently reading a book called Debarkle. It’s written by an Australian author named Camestros Felapton (not his real name). Debarkle is a historical recounting of the Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies fiasco that ruined the Hugo Awards ceremony in 2015. And this book is really amazing. I’m enjoying it a lot, and I think Camestros Felapton deserves serious consideration for the Hugo category of Best Fan Writer. But going over the Sad Puppies fiasco again (and if you don’t know about the Sad Puppies slash Rabid Puppies kerfuffle, please look it up on Wikipedia, it’s fascinating), going over that has made me realize that the Hugos have been badly scarred. And those scars are preventing many in the sci fi community from considering Project Hail Mary. I mean, let’s be honest: Project Hail Mary has a white, male protagonist who saves all of humanity on his own and does so not only in spite of a strong female antagonist, but because of said female antagonist. But the Puppies travesty happ...

  It's that time of year again. Time for bloggers like me to name the books from 2021 that they feel are worthy of the Locus, Hugo, Nebula, and Dragon awards. I'm better prepared this year than in any year in the past, and I think that I can give a pretty good assessment of what's worthy out there vs. what isn't worthy. To save time, I'm focusing on the Hugos, since that's the grandaddy of them all. As always, I reserve the right to change my mind, based on later readings or additional information. But for now... Here's my list: Lodestar Award: I have the trickiest time with the Lodestars because I don't usually read YA fiction. Yet it's abundantly clear that one book stands out from the rest, and that's Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders. The amazing author of the Hugo-winning  All The Birds in the Sky is at the top of her game, and it shows. Other Lodestar candidates that caught my interest include Speculative Fiction for Dre...

It's that time of year again - time to select the best of the previous year and serve it up to be considered for a Hugo Award in 2022. Essential to the selection process is reading Locus Magazine's edition for February. If you don't subscribe to Locus (and if you're reading this blog, why aren't you?) you should at least understand that nearly every single Hugo Award winner makes the list on Locus Magazine first. There are always dizzying amounts of candidates to consider, and Locus helps to whittle down the huge, huge pile to a manageable size for people who do not review sci fi novels and short stories for a living. It's a vital service which helps to kick-start every Hugo candidate who makes that list. Except this year, there is a huge oversight major fuck-up. Ask any casual reader what the best novel of 2021 was and they'll tell you right away: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It was amazing. It was awesome. When I'd finished reading it, I felt privi...