Datepalm Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Anyone actually, uh, read the Vox Day thing? Is it online somewhere? Frankly, this is only marginally more embarassing than that Scalzi parody story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anatúrinbor Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 That the same Vox idiot who had a flame war with a certain author a few years ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seli Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I'd never heard of this Vox Day character before the nominations were announced. Jeez, what a douche. I'm trying to reconcile the nomination of this racist, sexist, homophobic asshole with the demonisation of Jonathan Ross. My mind is boggled. Hugo nominations are a democratic-ish process. The thing about the selection of Ross (protest is a better word in my opinion) was that an organization that pledged to be inclusive and safe selected an prime example of the nodge-nodge wink-wink culture that has protected the actual arseholes for so long. Anyone actually, uh, read the Vox Day thing? Is it online somewhere? Frankly, this is only marginally more embarassing than that Scalzi parody story. No idea, but there is a fragment https://twitter.com/gavreads/status/457846787458736129/photo/1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anatúrinbor Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 It's on his website, but I won't dirty my hands any further by linking to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 The excellent Nicholas Whyte has read it already. Don't worry, clicking on the link won't take you to VD's website, but if you're curious, there's a link to the full story on the page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I just read Vox's story. I wish I hadn't. It's not well written, but it's not of the "so bad it's good" kind either. It's just tedious and boring, the plot is barely existent, the message is hammered home without any subtlety, and the writing style is mediocre at the best of times, but not bad enough to be entertaining. Except this brilliant sentence, which made me laugh out loud: "The pallid sun was descending, its ineffective rays no longer sufficient to hold it up in the sky or to penetrate the northern winds that gathered strength with the whispering promise of the incipient dark." But the blurb page for the novel, in which universe this novella is set in, is fun. It cites a bunch of sites and authors I've never heard of, which praise it to the skies, and even two "Amazon reviews", both of which mentions that it's much better than ASOIF. The latter seems par for the course for any overenthusiastic review of a fantasy novel these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maester Llama Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Thank you for sharing that sentence. It is a thing of beauty. You know what? I think I might buy me a supporting membership so I can read where that sentence came from and vote on what I find [i applaud you for braving his site to get it, but I am too chickenshit.] Plus then I'd have at least an e-copy of Valente's Six-Gun Snow White, which would make me happy. As for making sure every entry on the list Day plugged ends up below "no award," I appreciate the spirit of the suggestion, but doesn't that play precisely into this group's hands in a sense. If I'm understanding rightly -- and I don't know much about it -- they consider themselves to be politically persecuted at the Hugos, which no longer automatically reflect the things they are pleased to call values. Wouldn't the best way of working to defuse this criticism -- to the extent that it can be defused, since they may very well see what they want to see -- be to judge, as far as possible [we are not made of stone], based only on "literary merit," whatever that means for each of us? Day and "the whispering promise of the incipient dark" are up against Chiang and De Boddard in that category if I remember rightly; I am not worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Thank you for sharing that sentence. It is a thing of beauty. You know what? I think I might buy me a supporting membership so I can read where that sentence came from and vote on what I find [i applaud you for braving his site to get it, but I am too chickenshit.] Plus then I'd have at least an e-copy of Valente's Six-Gun Snow White, which would make me happy. As for making sure every entry on the list Day plugged ends up below "no award," I appreciate the spirit of the suggestion, but doesn't that play precisely into this group's hands in a sense. If I'm understanding rightly -- and I don't know much about it -- they consider themselves to be politically persecuted at the Hugos, which no longer automatically reflect the things they are pleased to call values. Wouldn't the best way of working to defuse this criticism -- to the extent that it can be defused, since they may very well see what they want to see -- be to judge, as far as possible [we are not made of stone], based only on "literary merit," whatever that means for each of us? Day and "the whispering promise of the incipient dark" are up against Chiang and De Boddard in that category if I remember rightly; I am not worried. I agree with you. Also, I don't think there's anybody Chiang ever needs to worry about ;) I'll be reading everything and ranking everything as fairly as I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlingzen Bill Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I agree with you. Also, I don't think there's anybody Chiang ever needs to worry about ;) I'll be reading everything and ranking everything as fairly as I can. A part of me wants to see the explosion of heads that would result from a Vox win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I agree with you. Also, I don't think there's anybody Chiang ever needs to worry about ;) To be honest, I wasn't much impressed by Chiang's story either, way below his usual standards IMO. Still way better than Vox's mess, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seli Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 And Tor has announced they will make the complete wheel of time available for the Hugo voter packet. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/04/the-wheel-of-time-and-the-hugo-voter-packet eta: better get reading :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 And Tor has announced they will make the complete wheel of time available for the Hugo voter packet. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/04/the-wheel-of-time-and-the-hugo-voter-packet eta: better get reading :P 40 dollars for voting rights suddenly doesnt't seem so much :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 To be honest, I wasn't much impressed by Chiang's story either, way below his usual standards IMO. Still way better than Vox's mess, of course. I liked Chiang story a lt - easily takes first place on my ballot, but I still think Mary Robinette Kowal may win, since many people think she was wronged previous year, when the audio version of this story was declared ineligible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alytha Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Good Lord, the entire Wheel of Time?! I was wondering if they were going to do that, but was pretty sure they wouldn't. I really hope Ancillary Justice gets the award for novel. I don't think I've ever even heard of the other nominees. The only difficult category forme will be the short form one, because I've seen most of the nominated pieces and loved all of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I just read "The Waiting Stars" by Aliette de Bodard, excellent story. Needed something like that as a counter to the horribleness of you know what. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alytha Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Does anybody know when the voter packages will be available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Does anybody know when the voter packages will be available? If they want people to have time to read all 14 volumes of the Wheel of Time to make an informed decision before voting they should probably have sent them out about a year ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Between the grrr factor and the extraordinarily good value of the package this year, I wonder if we'll see an uptick in the vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seli Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Does anybody know when the voter packages will be available? I think they mentioned May in the broadcast of the ballot announcement, but I am not 100% sure. I believe last year the content arrived in bits and pieces, so perhaps it is the same this time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felice Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 As for making sure every entry on the list Day plugged ends up below "no award," I appreciate the spirit of the suggestion, but doesn't that play precisely into this group's hands in a sense. If I'm understanding rightly -- and I don't know much about it -- they consider themselves to be politically persecuted at the Hugos, which no longer automatically reflect the things they are pleased to call values. Wouldn't the best way of working to defuse this criticism -- to the extent that it can be defused, since they may very well see what they want to see -- be to judge, as far as possible [we are not made of stone], based only on "literary merit," whatever that means for each of us? Day and "the whispering promise of the incipient dark" are up against Chiang and De Boddard in that category if I remember rightly; I am not worried. Oh yes, they should definitely be evaluated on whatever literary merit they might have (and not having read any of it yet, I'm prepared to be surprised); but it is important that people realise that No Award is a valid and important option in ranking the nominees, and needs to be used rather than just not ranking if the voter genuinely believes a nominee isn't worthy of an award. There's a huge difference between coming fifth in a Hugo category and coming below No Award.I'm not remotely interested in defusing their criticism; they can feel as persecuted for being sexist racist homophobic jerks as they like. If they want people to have time to read all 14 volumes of the Wheel of Time to make an informed decision before voting they should probably have sent them out about a year ago... A few years ago, ideally! But I'll probably manage to get through at least the first volume as a sample. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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