Cora Buhlert's Blog, page 88

Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for August 2017

[image error]It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some July books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Once again, we have new releases covering the whole broad spectrum of speculative fiction. This month, we have epic fantasy, historical fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal mystery, paranormal gothic romance, science fiction romance, space opera, military science fiction, young adult science fiction, Steampunk, Cyberpunk, superheroes, ghosts, haunted valentines, alien invasions, FBI dark fae, magical circusses, galactic outlaws, space pirates, girl scientists and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

[image error] Rotten Magic by Jeffrey Barwell:

Devin will do anything to win. Even resort to magic.

Devin competes to become the best artificer in the mage phobic Iron Empire. Who needs magic when you can master the art of machinery? The other apprentices envy his genius and skills . . . especially Benson. Every apprentice hones their craft building and fighting in crude prototypes of powered armor. Some add frills, others barbs or horns. When Devin transforms himself into a mechanical dragon to slaughter the competition, Benson steps into the role of dragon slayer.

But Devin harbors a secret as he claws his way to the top of the Artificer’s Guild: he’s a mage. These new abilities are thrilling and frightening, and the voices more so. How long can Devin be content wearing a steel dragon mask when the seductive promise of true arcane power whispers in his ear?

Experience the novella prequel to the Artifice Mage Saga: a fantasy steampunk brawl of metal vs. magic where sorcery is bloody, science is greasy, and nobody’s hands are clean.

[image error] Resistance by Max Carver:

DISCOVERY…INVASION…WAR…

On a rocky, desolate planet, a small band of gold prospectors find themselves making a discovery they never expected–valuable and powerful relics of the galaxy’s deep past.

They also discover a hostile alien species: gigantic, hideous, ruthless monsters who wipe out all humans on sight.

Humanity’s first contact with intelligent aliens becomes a war for survival. The invasion has begun…but the beginning of the invasion is also the beginning of the resistance.

[image error] Renegade Star by J.N. Chaney:

Jace Hughes is a Renegade.

That means taking almost any job that comes his way, no matter the situation. So long as he can keep his ship floating, he’s free to live the life he wants.

But that all changes when he meets Abigail Pryar, a nun looking for safe passage out of the system.

Too bad there’s something off about the cargo she’s carrying.

Jace knows he shouldn’t ask too many questions, but when strange sounds start coming from inside the large, metal box, he can’t help but check it out.

Big mistake.

To make matters worse, he’s being pursued by unknown ships–people who want that cargo. Does Jace give up the goods and hand over the nun…or does he risk it all for an even bigger payout?

[image error] The Contending by Cynthia Joyce Clay:

“If I survive this, I must make amends to Princess Royal Tristabe-airta. If don’t, when I become her liege, she be too powerful of an enemy.”

Royal swords possess the unhuman strength and temperament of their ancestors, dragons. Burta, a young royal sword, resents that she must always defer to Tristabé-airta, Princess Royal of Allsongs, a poet. But Burta is so skilled in arms she expects to win the Allsongs’ Contending and that will make her Tristabé-airta’s liege. The problem is, though, she is trapped between the monster that hunts her and the deadly drop down the cliff to the turbulent sea. In Book Two of the Saga of the Dragon Born, all the poets of Allsongs, including Tristabé-airta, must unite their power to rescue Burta. Once rescued, will she unwisely keep a secret close to her heart that will be a rending betrayal to Allsongs’ best hope and defense, Tristabé-airta?

[image error] The Dance on the Moons of Serenity by M.D. Cooper:

Everyone deserves a day off, right?

That’s just what Jessica and Cheeky are enjoying when a pair of old “friends” show up and force them to smuggle weapons into the Serenity System.

On their own with just a small interstellar pinnace at their disposal, Jessica and Cheeky aren’t going to let someone else force them to smuggle weapons (especially when there’s no profit in it for them) and they take control of their ship and escape.

Unfortunately, they still end up in the Serenity system…with the weapons. Now they must unravel a tangled web of deception in a highly stratified aristocratic society to learn the intended recipient of the weapons.

Attending a series of gala events, Jessica will have to use a particular set of skills she’s acquired over the years (as a TBI Agent, seriously, people) to start a war between two aristocratic families.

What could go wrong?

[image error] Agent of Darkness by C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers:

There’s a dark power growing within me. And I’m not sure I can control it.

The fae king wants me dead. His assassins tracked me down and nearly killed me— now they’re the ones lying lifeless in a pool of blood. But the price I’ve paid is too high. They hurt someone I love, and I burn for revenge.

I’m done watching from the sidelines. Following the seductive fae Roan, I join the rebels but find myself surrounded by suspicion at every turn. But with the strange new magic in my blood, no one trusts me anymore.

It’s the magic of fear, of terror, of nightmares. The king’s minions have given me another name: Mistress of Dread. My power is unstable and deadly, and to get my vengeance, I must learn to control it. Yet with fury boiling in my blood and desire for Roan kindling my heart, it seems like an impossible task.

FBI Agent, Pixie, Terror Leech, Mistress of Dread. Will I become a King Killer as well?

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Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for August 2017

[image error]Welcome to the latest edition of “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some July books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Our new releases cover the broad spectrum of crime fiction. We have cozy mysteries, culinary mysteries, small town mysteries, paranormal mysteries, romantic suspense, police procedurals, psychological thrillers, crime thrillers, medical thrillers, legal thriller, science fiction thrillers, men’s adventure thrillers, YA thrillers, serial killers, missing girls, stolen Shakespeare manuscripts, murderous apple thieves, forensic photographers, lawyers, guns with a mind of their own, adventures in the Caribbean and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Crime Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Indie Crime Scene, a group blog which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

[image error] Apple Assassination by Stacey Alabaster:

An apple a day keeps the homicides away…or maybe not!

When apples go missing from Pippa’s farm, the Bakery Detectives have another mystery on their hands. When someone turns up dead at a rival bakery, things turn far more sinister than a simple case of apple thievery. Can they put aside personal feelings and business rivalry and clear their rival or will this be the first case the Bakery Detectives can’t (or won’t) solve?

Apple Assassination is part of the Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery series. If you like fast paced mysteries full of quirky characters and unexpected twists, you’re going to love the Bakery Detectives.

[image error] The Carlswick Deception by S.L. Beaumont:

Theft. Murder. Love Tested.

A priceless Shakespearean First Folio is stolen from an English manor house.

A man is dead.

Oxford student Stephanie Cooper is drawn into the dangerous criminal world of art theft when she meets attractive young detective Luke Spencer.

While her rock-star boyfriend tours Japan with the band, Stephanie and Luke’s quest becomes personal as they follow an increasingly perilous trail that leads from Oxford to London, Paris and Venice.

But when Stephanie takes an unnecessary risk, the stakes turn deadly. Can she stay alive long enough to expose the identity of the thieves, help recover priceless literary works and resolve her conflicted feelings for Luke and her boyfriend James?

The Carlswick Deception is another exciting instalment in the Carlswick Mysteries series and can be read as a stand-alone novel.

[image error] Buried Secrets by T.J. Brearton:

What if your dream home became your worst nightmare?

Newlyweds Brett and Emily Larson have just moved into a new home deep in the countryside, and are overjoyed when Emily finds out she’s pregnant.

Then they discover human bones in their garden.

As the police start to investigate, three things become clear:

The bones are recent.

They are not here by accident.

They are a message.

When the police put three photographs of known criminals on the Larsons’ kitchen table, the couple realize the danger may be closer to home than they think.

As the situation escalates, can Brett and Emily keep one step ahead to protect themselves – and their unborn child?

[image error] The Girls in the Water by Victoria Jenkins:

When the body of Lola Evans is found in a river in a local park on a cold winter’s morning, Detective Alex King and her new recruit Chloe Lane are called in to lead the hunt for the killer.

Days later, another girl goes missing, and another body is found in the water. It seems the two girls shared a troubled history, and were members of the same support group. What secrets were they keeping? And who is the monster preying on these vulnerable girls?

As the detectives start to piece together the clues, it becomes clear that the murderer’s reach goes even further – back into the painful past of Chloe Lane herself. Chloe realises that she too is in danger – as she uncovers secrets about her own brother’s death which someone will kill to keep hidden.

Alex and Chloe are soon caught in a race against time to reach the next victim before it’s too late… and they must face terrifying truths from their own lives to have a chance of catching the killer.

[image error] Freaky Games by Amanda M. Lee:

Look out Sin City, here comes the Mystic Caravan Circus.

The city that never sleeps has something lurking in the darkness and Poet Parker can’t decide if it’s friend or foe. The rich history of the area comes into play when research uncovers a mine disaster more than a hundred years in the past … and a tragic outcome that still haunts the locale to this day.

Between dust storms bringing forth a creature with glowing red eyes, screams in the desert and Poet’s increasing conviction that they’re not alone, the team has their hands full. That’s on top of the fact that Max decides now is the time to make his move and get to know his son – who also happens to be Poet’s boyfriend – in a new light and the unwelcome realization that Luke has seemingly become obsessed with gambling.

Poet’s attention is split in numerous directions, although Luke’s quagmire is closest to her heart. She wants to help her best friend, even as he spirals out of control. He’s not the same best friend she’s spent the past few years loving, but she’s determined to get him back … even if it means facing off with some of Las Vegas’ most perilous residents.

The mystical world of the circus is due to collide with the dangerous underbelly of the gambling world and the two sides might not be as far apart as they initially assume.

When the dust storm settles – and the final battle is upon them – more than one person will be in danger … and Poet will have to make a hard choice to protect those she loves while sacrificing someone else to the unending darkness.

It’s the ultimate game, but money isn’t the only thing at risk.

[image error] Ice Lake by John A. Lenahan:

An abandoned body

Deep in the woods of north-eastern Pennsylvania, the body of a man is found – shot three times, dumped under the trees where the local kids will find him.

A haunted psychologist

Psychologist Harry Cull, tormented by his past, arrives in the picturesque town of Ice Lake to help with the murder investigation. There he unravels a web of lies and deceit that leads to the dark heart of a community torn apart by fracking, drugs and murder.

A desperate killer

It’s not long before the second corpse turns up, this time a lawyer left for dead in the forest, and Harry finds himself on the trail of a twisted killer – who will do anything to keep the town’s darkest secrets buried.

[image error] Cause of Death by Patrick Logan:

How do you catch a killer when no one believes that a murder has been committed?

Detective Damien Drake is back, but after what happened with the Butterfly Killer, he’s no longer associated with the NYPD.

Now Drake heads his own PI firm, which specializes in dealing with paranoid housewives and rich suburbanites suspicious that their nannies are stealing their silverware.

That is until a visitor comes to him with a series of photographs of dead people. The problem is, no one believes that the victims in the images have actually been murdered.

Staged to look like suicide, the victims follow a pattern that Drake is determined to crack. But as the body count rises, the real difficulty becomes determining the victims’ true Cause of Death…

[image error] Dead in Bed by Wendy Meadows:

Brenda Sheffield is thrilled to host the East Coast Acting Troupe in her inn set above the Atlantic Ocean. Excitement permeates the Sheffield Bed and Breakfast and injects new life in the small town of Sweetfern Harbor. Ellen Teague, the famous actress will be given a large suite on the second floor. From the adjoining room she will have access to her assistant Chester Boyd. Chester caters to her every whim. Ellen is demanding and narcissistic. She is liked by very few members of the troupe who are there to perform “The Rich Game.”

After the first performance at Harbor Park, Edward Graham pulls Brenda aside and tells her he has serious business to discuss with her. The lawyer informs her that Ellen Teague states she is the rightful owner of Sheffield Bed and Breakfast, not Brenda. Brenda argues her uncle’s will states she is the heir to his property. Ellen argues she and Randolph Sheffield signed an agreement that the bed and breakfast would be hers.

When Brenda confronts Ellen late at night, a loud argument ensues. Brenda’s raised voice awakens the cast members who were sound asleep. Brenda doesn’t think about this and goes to her apartment seething in anger. The next morning, she becomes fully alert when one of the cast members informs her that Ellen Teague is dead in her bed. As if this discovery isn’t shocking enough, Brenda is dismayed when Detective Mac Rivers narrows her down as his prime suspect and states she has the strongest motive for killing the star who demanded her rights to the bed and breakfast. Brenda and Mac are in love with one another, or at least that is what he told her when he gave her the Promise ring the day before. The estrangement leaves Brenda to solve the murder case as soon as possible or Mac plans to serve the warrant for her arrest.

This will be no easy task since at times all of the actors argued with Ellen. Combined with the fact that none of them cared for her egotistical behavior they also had individual motives for wanting her dead. Brenda knows she is on her own. Will the forty-eight hours the detective gave her be enough to prove who the killer really is? It is the only way Brenda will avoid prison for the rest of her life, and she realizes time is of essence.

[image error] L.A. Defense by Rachel Sinclair:

Ginger is back, and her mouth is as unfiltered as ever…

Ginger Perry, Harper’s star witness in her previous murder trial, left Kansas City for the greener pastures of the Los Angeles adult film scene. As soon as she gets out to the West Coast, however, she catches a case. A big case. A murder case.

The victim is a powerful studio head. Ginger insists she was framed. Harper’s not so sure. She wants to give Ginger the benefit of the doubt, but Ginger’s always been a little shady. Nevertheless, she agrees to take the case. After all, she hasn’t had a vacation in years, and a trip to Los Angeles is as much of a vacation as she’s ever going to get – even if it’s not really a vacation, but another murder case. Harper knows that she needs another murder case like she needs a hole in the head, but she just can’t resist a lost cause.

And Ginger’s case seems to be as lost of a cause as you can get.

With the twists, turns and lightning-fast pace you’ve come to expect from a Harper Ross Legal Thriller, L.A. Defense is not to be missed!

[image error] Picture Perfect Murder by Jenna St. James:

Ryli Sinclair had no idea that moonlighting as a Forensic Photographer for the Granville Police Department would put her directly in the path of a crazed killer. Determined to identify the murderer before she becomes the next victim, Ryli enlists the help of her best friend, Paige, and her elderly great-aunt, Shirley, a former private investigator. From the driver’s seat of Aunt Shirley’s coveted ’65 Falcon, Ryli and the girls are hot on the trail of the murderer…and hilarity ensues, as the ridiculously handsome chief of police, Garrett Kimble, throws stumbling blocks in their path at every turn.

Hold on to your seats as hilarious and talented Cozy Mystery Author, Jenna St. James, takes you on the ride of your life! You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, you may even scream during this rollicking romp through the town of Granville. This down to earth non-traditional Cozy is an absolute delight that pushes the boundaries of the genre in some daring ways that make it all the more enjoyable.

[image error] Rising Storm by Wayne Stinnett:

Miles from the laid-back lifestyle of No Name Key, and just shy of the raucous nightlife of Miami and South Beach, lies Coconut Grove, a tropical oasis with a distinct Bohemian flair. Lately, a seedy underside has emerged along the Grove’s waterfront, preying on adventurous young women.

Somewhere amid all the glitz and glamour, hides a thief who stole a fortune in Aztec emeralds. Or did he? Jesse McDermitt must first determine if the victim herself is a thief. The trail of clues leads him to evidence that the thief may be involved in a string of more heinous crimes.

Jesse and Chyrel enlist the help of the recently returned Charity, and the trio go “undercover” at a floating swinger’s party headed for the Bahamas, which may well be a front for torture and murder.

When a sudden violent storm strikes Stiltsville, Jesse finds himself alone on the ocean, trying to recover the treasure and put a murderer behind bars—but first he must win the battle with Mother Nature.

The Haunted Valentine by J.A. Whiting:

Lin and her cousin, Viv, stop into a gift shop in Nantucket town and while browsing, Lin sees an antique Sailor’s Valentine.

The valentine, made of tiny beautiful shells, pulls at Lin and she decides to buy it and bring it home.

At times, the object feels hot to the touch and sometimes the shells illuminate and dim in a sequenced pattern. Once in a while, the valentine makes appearances outside the house in places Lin happens to be. A ghost pays a visit, but Lin has no idea what he wants from her or what his link might be to the sailor’s valentine. With the help of her boyfriend and her cousin, Lin works to solve the mystery of the haunted valentine.

This is book 7 in the Lin Coffin Mystery series from USA TODAY Bestselling Author J A Whiting. Although the main mystery is solved in each story, the books should be read in order for the most enjoyment as story threads run from book to book. This story has ghosts and some mild paranormal elements.

[image error] Spider Jack by Cyrus Winters:

CAN YOU GUESS THE KILLER?

Detective Taylor Shandling is one of the only good guys left standing after events that have shaken her city precinct. Indefinitely suspended and spending her days drinking alone, things spiral further into desolation as an old nemesis from Taylor’s past makes an unexpected return.

Once again she finds herself on the hunt for a killer, in a day where friends become enemies, enemies become friends and the unexpected is always sure to happen.

 

[image error] Dead Weapons by Simon Paul Woodward:

Ciaran Richards’ father was a soldier. A hero. But now he’s dead. Or is he?

Ciaran has lost his way. He’s forgotten the boy he was and the man he wanted to become. Worst of all, he’s betrayed his only true friend, Isobel, leading her to a tragic accident.

His estranged brother, Patrick, forces him to carry out one last job for his crew: collecting a stolen gun and delivering it to the gangster Eliza Frost. In return, Patrick reveals a startling secret: somebody faked their father’s death.

When the gun malfunctions, fastening itself to Ciaran’s hand, he’s framed for the murder of two policemen and forced to go on the run. He searches for a way to remove the weapon and find his father, but the police, Eliza Frost and a black ops team of frighteningly modified soldiers are all hunting him and Isobel may be the only person who can help.

Dead Weapons is a young adult, urban fantasy; a story of father figures fair and foul, broken friendships and the fleeting possibility of redemption.

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WorldCon 75 Photos and a Report

Now the extended Hugo commentary is out of the way, here is my WorldCon 75 report with plenty of photos. Many of the photos are already in this video I posted on YouTube, but here you can see them without effects.

So, as most of you already know, I went to WorldCon 75 in Helsinki, Finland. It was my first WorldCon as an attending member after a near miss with Loncon in 2014, where I had an attending membership, but couldn’t go in the end. This time, however, I jumped in with both feet, filled out the programme participant form and wound up on four panels.

The night before the start of the convention, there was a reception for convention staff, programme participants and other volunteers at Helsinki’s beautiful city hall. I got an invitation to the reception, but wasn’t sure about going, since I don’t feel very comfortable in formal social situations where I don’t know anybody. But in the end, I went anyway and had a good time. There was a speech by Helsinki’s deputy mayor, a buffet consisting of feta salad, salmon salad and lentil salad as well as free drinks. And though I didn’t yet know any of the people at the reception, a shared love for SFF always makes for good conversation.

Of course, I took some photos as well:

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Helsinki City Hall, built in 1833 as a luxury hotel by German architect Carl Ludwig Engel.

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SFF fans under chandeliers at the pre-WolrdCon reception at Helsinki City Hall

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More SFF fans under chandeliers at the pre-WorldCon reception at Helsinki City Hall.

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And here is a closer look at the ceiling of Helsinki City Hall with one of the chandeliers. Because chandeliers are cool.

The convention proper opened the next day. My Mom and I set off to the Messukeskus convention center and arrived fairly early, when the registration lines weren’t very long yet. We got our badges and goodie bags and went in. The trade and exhibition halls weren’t open yet and there weren’t any panels or other programming, so we hung out in the seating area opposite the Hesburger inside the convention centre.

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The Messukeskus convention center in Helsinki welcomes the members of WorldCon 75.

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A blacksmith display and shop outside Messukeskus.

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WorldCon 75 badges and ribbons – my Mom’s and my own.

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The WSFS banner flies at WorldCon 75. On the lower gallery you can see some of the various eateries at Messukeskus.

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SFF fans (including a Deadpool cosplayer) having lunch at the Hesburger inside Messukeskus.

I’ve heard some complaints about the lack of places to eat near the convention center, but IMO Messukeskus itself was well supplied with eateries, including several cafés, a burger shop, a sandwich shop, a pizza and pasta shop, a curry restaurant as well as the restaurant of the adjacent Holiday Inn. The only problem was that they all closed in the evening, so if you wanted dinner you had to go to downtown Helsinki or the restaurant at the Holiday Inn. But since Helsinki has a good public transport system and all WorldCon attendants were provided with a free travel pass for the time of the convention (which saved a lot of money, cause a single tram or train ticket was 3.20 EUR), that wasn’t much of a problem.

The widely reported overcrowding, on the other hand, was a problem, albeit one that the con com immediately took steps to solve. And in the end, WorldCon 75 turned out to be the second largest WorldCon ever (after the 1984 WorldCon in Anaheim, California) with more than 7000 people on site. The crowds weren’t so notable in the trade and exhibition hall, but panels were full and queues were long. The layout of the Messukeskus convention center didn’t help either, since it required people exiting panels and those queuing for the next panel to move through a fairly narrow corridor that was quickly dubbed “the hallway of death”. In general, I found the layout of the Messukeskus convention center very confusing. I’m not a person who gets lost easily, but I kept getting lost inside Messukeskus until the very last day. None of this is the fault of the con com – they had to work with the building that was there.

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Queuing up for panels was a common experience at WorldCon 75.

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Panel audience at the “alien language in science fiction” panel seen from the panelists’ POV. The front row seats were reserved for people with disabilities and access issues.

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Panel audience, here at the Fannish Inquisition, seen from the audience POV.

I wasn’t on any programming on the first two days, so I had plenty of time to go to panels, meet people and wander around the trade and exhibition hall. There was one panel I didn’t get into, because of overcrowding. After that, I learned and came early to queue up.

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The entrance to the trade and exhibition hall at WorldCon 75 at a relatively quiet time.

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Signposts inside the exhibtion hall at WorldCon 75. The front of the signposts pointed at mundane destinations such as the trade hall, fan lounge, art show, site selection table, etc… The back of the signposts, seen here, pointed to much more interesting destinations. The helpful note from Ambassador Kosh is a nice touch.

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Star Wars, Mad Max and Discworld characters assembled from Lego on display inside the exhibition hall at WorldCon 75.

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More Disworld characters made from Lego, including Sir Terry Pratchett himself, on display at WorldCon 75.

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Hugo Awards past and present on display in the exhibition hall.

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A display model of a 2017 Hugo Award in the WorldCon 75 exhibition hall.

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The “Romance and the Power of the Female Gaze” panel at WorldCon 75, featuring Donna Maree Hanson, Carrie Vaughn, Nick Hubble and Cassandra Rose Clarke. Fiona Moore was also on the panel, but isn’t pictured here.

The “Romance and the Power of the Female Gaze” panel was very interesting, by the way (and it’s available online here), even if its very existence has infuriated SFF’s least favourite rabid dog so much that he decided to take it as yet another sign for the impending death of science fiction (no link, because the post is basically just offensive remarks about the panelists’ appearance). I guess he missed all the panels on military SF (I counted at least three and I might have missed some), space opera (okay, one of them talked about – gasp – colonialism in space opera) and other properly nutty nuggetty subgenres as well as the many science panels, which usually had the longest queues.

As a panelist, I was on four panels, about alien languages in science fiction, adapting the Hugos to a digital future, machine translation and book blogs. All of the panels went well IMO and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves. I don’t have a lot of good photos of myself on panels, because my Mom is not a very good photographer. However, two of the panels I was on, “Alien Language in Science Fiction” and the “Digital Hugo” panel, have been recorded and are available at the official WorldCon 75 YouTube channel, where you can also see recordings of plenty of other panels and events.

I also wound up moderating the Book Blogs panel, because the WorldCon 75 team didn’t have enough moderators. They asked me and I said I’d do it, if there was no one else, whereupon I was promptly taken up on the offer. Luckily, the panel I moderated was on the final day of the con, so I had plenty of opportunity to watch how other moderators handled their job and to see what I did and didn’t like about their approach. What is more, I had to remember that English was not the first language of many people in the audience, which sometimes led to awkwardly phrased questions. I’d seen moderators at other panels not dealing very well with that, e.g. getting impatient at a non-native speaker who was having problems finding the correct words, and that was something I wanted to do better. There were some technical challenges as well, e.g. the microphones at Messukeskus were highly directional, so you had to get very close and speak directly into them (which is easy to forget, especially if you’re used to more sensitive microphones). In the end, I think I didn’t do too badly. The audience seemed to enjoy it, too.

And now let’s have some panel photos. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of the “Alien languages in science fiction” panel, but a Finnish fan named Melanie Marttila who was in the audience tweeted this photo:

Alien languages in science fiction. #Worldcon75 pic.twitter.com/Rk8MdLReA6

— Melanie Marttila (@MelanieMarttila) August 11, 2017

The next two photos were taken by my Mom. She’s not a very good photographer, especially with a smartphone camera. Still, some of them came out okay.

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The Digital Hugo panel, featuring Kristina Knaving, Nicholas Whyte and myself.

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The backs of the audience at the Book Blogs panel with myself and the top of Theresa Nielsen-Hayden’s head just visible. Shaun Duke and Thomas Wagner are not pictured, but were definitely on the panel.

Finally, WorldCon is also a chance to meet old and new friends and to finally meet people you only know online in person. I don’t have a lot of photos of this, simply because you often forget to take a photo, if you’re having fun and geeking out. Still, I have a few, mostly taken at the File 770 meet-up at the Belge Bar & Bistro. File 770 has a few more photos of that meet-up, taken by Eric Wong of Rocket Stack Rank.

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The File 770 meet-up at the Belge Bar & Bistro in Helsinki.

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The File 770 meet-up at the Belge Bar & Bistro in Helsinki

Finally, here is a really nice photo Paul Weimer took of me on the first day of the con:

And its @CoraBuhlert pic.twitter.com/DxG3NQFLxv

— Paul Weimer (@PrinceJvstin) August 17, 2017

All in all, I had a great time at WorldCon 75. I also think the convention staff did a great job, even if there were some hiccups. And indeed, when I still had some of the German candy I’d brought to Helsinki left over on the final day of the con (the chocolate was all gone by this point), I gave the final two bags to the program ops team, because they really deserved a thank you for all their hard work.

Coincidentally, my Mom enjoyed WorldCon a whole lot, too. She’s not a hardcore SFF fan – SFF is just something she enjoys watching and reading on occasion. However, she was very impressed by the sheer number and variety of people who’d been brought together at Messukeskus by their shared love for science fiction and fantasy. There were fans of all ages, shapes and sizes at WorldCon 75, from babies being carried in a sling at their mother’s chests to people in their eighties and beyond (Robert Silverberg, now 82, was the oldest person I recognised). It was a testament to what a welcoming place fandom is.

The 2019 WorldCon will be in Dublin, Ireland. I already bought my membership at the con, so see you there.

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Some More Words about the 2017 Hugo Awards

I already wrote a short 2017 Hugo Awards reaction post on Friday night, but now I’m home here is a longer version:

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A display model of a 2017 Hugo Award in the WorldCon 75 exhibition hall.

This is an unusual Hugo year for me, for even though we had an excellent Hugo shortlist full of very fine works, only five out of eighteen of my first choices won, a much lower hit rate than in previous years. And while there is no Hugo winner this year that I really did not want to see win at all and consequently no awarded (which has happened in previous years – I don’t no award just puppies), quite a few of the eventual winners placed fairly low on my ballot. And when I discussed the winners with my Mom, there were some comments along the lines of “I really loved that one”, but also a lot of “I didn’t much care for that one.” But I guess this is what happens when you have a Hugo ballot full of actual good choices instead of one good choice and a load of puppy poo.

The disconnect between my personal ballot and the rest of the Hugo electorate is most notable in best novel, where I had an unprecendented three favourites that I really couldn’t decide between this year (I kept shuffling them around until the last minute). The eventual winner, however, was not one of these three. That’s not to say that The Obelisk Gate is not a worthy winner, for it absolutely is. However, the Broken Earth trilogy (which has been optioned for television BTW) are books I admire rather than love. And indeed, both my Mom and I enjoyed N.K. Jemisin’s story “The City Born Great”, which was a Hugo finalist in the short story category, a lot more than The Obelisk Gate.

Last I said in my last Hugo post, I did not expect The Obelisk Gate to win, because it was the second book in a trilogy and those rarely win and also because it was competing in a very strong ballot. In fact, I suspected that All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders would win (which also wasn’t one of my three top picks), since it already won the Nebula and Locus Awards (in the end, it came in second). I’ve been wondering how my predictions for this category could have been so totally off and I suspect that we’re seeing an effect at work here we often see with awards of any kind, from genre awards via general literature prizes to the Oscars, namely that more serious works focussed on serious issues tends to trump lighter works. Now both All the Birds in the Sky and A Closed and Common Orbit are lighter and more hopeful works, even though they do tackle serious issues as well. Coincidentally, A Closed and Common Orbit addresses very similar issues as The Obelisk Gate, namely who is viewed as a person and who is viewed as a thing or tool, but it handles these issues in a very different way. And due to a general bias towards more serious works that can be found in pretty much all awards, a darker book like The Obelisk Gate trumped a lighter and more hopeful treatment of the same theme like A Closed and Common Orbit (or the equally lighter and more hopeful All the Birds in the Sky). It was always pretty obvious that Death’s End and Too Like the Lightning were not going to win, since both were love it or hate it books, which leaves Ninefox Gambit as the other darker and more serious work on the ballot.

What is more, the US is going through a dark period of its history right now (which became even darker while WorldCon was going on), so maybe The Obelisk Gate was exactly the book American Hugo voters needed right now, because in many ways it mirrors the issues the US is facing right now. Of course, there were plenty of international fans at WorldCon 75, but I strongly suspect that the majority of Hugo voters were Americans, especially since several international fans I talked to at the con told me that they didn’t bother voting for the Hugos, either because of language issues or because they were unfamiliar with the nominated works. I have no idea how to fix this, since we can’t do more than make the Hugo voter packet available to every WorldCon member, which we already do. But it’s pretty obvious that even in years where WorldCon is outside the US and outside the English speaking world in general, the Hugos will still be determined primarily by US concerns and tastes. We see a couple more examples for this among the 2017 Hugo winners.

Two of those examples are Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire and “Seasons of Glass and Iron” by Amal El Mohtar, the winners in the best novella and best short story category respectively. Neither win was a surprise, since they also won the Nebula and Locus Award in the respective categories. What is more, both are worthy winners, but neither was my first or even my second or third choice in the respective category. Both stories are examples of the trend towards metafictional works that was really notable on this year’s Hugo shortlist, where we had plenty of works that were references to, reworkings or retelling of other works. Now these metafictional stories have one huge drawback, namely that they work a lot better, when you are familiar with the source material. Coincidentally, I was surprised that my Mom ranked The Ballad of Black Tom and The Dream Quest of Vellitt Boe fairly high, since both IMO hinge a lot more on H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction (which to my knowledge she hasn’t read) than Every Heart a Doorway hinges on Narnia or Oz or Neverland.

Every Heart a Doorway is Seanan McGuire’s take on portal fantasies. And indeed, I like the central idea of what happens to kids who went through a portal into a fantastic realm after they return. However, while Anglo-American children’s literature is full of portal fantasies, they are comparatively rare in German children’s literature. Not that the protagonists of German and North European children’s fantasy don’t have fantastical adventures – they absolutely do. They just rarely travel through magical portals to have them. Instead, the protagonists of continental European children’s literature are far more likely to come across a magical world that exists in parallel with our world (and coincidentally, my very first attempts at fantasy writing featured just such a scenario – a magical world that exists in parallel with our own, only that we can’t see it). The Neverending Story by Michael Ende is the only German example for outright portal fantasy I can think of. If you look a bit further afield, you could also include The Brothers Lionheart (where the alternate world is the afterlife, i.e. that’s one trip to a magical realm you don’t return from) and Mio, My Mio by Astrid Lindgren. However, regarding the big names of Anglo-American portal fantasies, I have never read either the Narnia or Oz books (though I did see the movie) nor The Bridge to Terabithia. I have read Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, but I read them at university as a classic of English literature, when the effect is very different. Ditto for Peter Pan, though I loved the Disney movie as a kid. So for me, a novella about what happens to the kids who went through a magical portal after they return naturally has less resonance than it has for someone who grew up with portal fantasies. This does not make Every Heart a Doorway a bad story, quite the contrary, and I’m happy that Seanan McGuire finally got to take home a Hugo after so many nominations. I just didn’t love the story as much as many others obviously did.

This year’s Hugo winner for best short story, “Seasons of Glass and Iron” by Amal El-Mohtar, belongs to the subgenre of fairytale retellings and new fairytales, which has been very popular in recent years. It’s not a trend I particularly like, as detailed here, especially when it’s paired with a blanket dismissal of the original tales as irrelevant and hopelessly old-fashioned (well, you’re looking at at least two hundred years old orally narrated message fiction and cautionary tales, so of course they don’t address our current concerns, but those of a different time). Many fairytale retellings are also a lot less groundbreaking and subversive than their authors think. I can’t even count the times I’ve seen an author proclaim that they have written the first truly feminist fairytale retelling, which usually makes me roll my eyes and think, “It’s been done before, plenty of times, in anything from forty year old Czech children’s TV shows to Angela Carter novels”. Now “Seasons of Glass and Iron” is one of the better fairytale retellings and Amal El-Mohtar is a fine writer. Nonetheless, the story is highly predictable to the point that I could tell where it was headed from the blurb and I have no idea why this particular story is so beloved and why so many people claimed that it knocked their socks off.

Meanwhile, the Hugo winner for best novelette, “The Tomato Thief” by Ursula Vernon, was actually my first choice (and my Mom’s as well, though we didn’t have all that much overlap on our Hugo ballots) and a very fine story it is, too. The folk tales motifs of the US Southwest found in “The Tomato Thief” and “You’ll Surely Drown Here, If You Stay” by Alyssa Wong, another nominee in the novelette category, also worked a lot better for me than retellings of European folk and fairytales often do.

Regarding the new best series Hugo (which has passed the business meeting and is now a permanent fixture), the inaugural winner was – unsurprisingly and highly deserved – the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. The Expanse by James S.A. Corey (a.k.a. Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) came in second, probably boosted by the eponymous TV show. On the other hand, I was surprised to see the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire come in last, since it’s a good series by a writer who’s popular with Hugo voters (and coincidentally, I voted the October Daye series a lot higher in its respective category than Every Heart a Doorway). But I guess that the twin anti-urban-fantasy and anti-romance biasses of the Hugo electorate struck again here, since October Daye is the most romancey of the three urban fantasy series on the Hugo ballot, though still less romancey than e.g. Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson and Ilona Andrews’ Magic series, both of which are hugely popular, were eligible and did not even make the longlist. Coincidentally, looking at the longlist for best series, I see a lot of bullets dodged in the form of series I either really don’t like such as the Laundry Files by Charles Stross or have neither read nor any intention to try. I’m also still not sure if the best series Hugo is really such a good idea, though the first year had a fine ballot and a most deserving winner.

The 2017 John W. Campbell Award goes, once again highly deserved, to Ada Palmer. I’m really, really pleased about this result and indeed Ada Palmer was also number one on my Campbell ballot. 2017 has been a very strong year for the Campbell Award in general, particularly after the shitshow of the past two years. Yes, there is a puppy on the ballot, but J. Mulrooney show more promise than many of the puppy nominees of the past two years and the rest of the ballot contains some excellent up and coming writers. However, Ada Palmer really stood out among those nominees, for even though Too Like the Lightning was flawed and also hampered by its rather abrupt ending (which is probably why it didn’t win the best novel Hugo, even though it was one of my personal top three), it was still so much more ambitious in style and scope than anything else on the Campbell ballot this year (even though Laurie Penny, Sarah Gailey, Kelly Robson and Malka Older are all very fine writers).

The Hugo Award for best related work goes, once more highly deserved, to Words Are My Matter by Ursula K. Le Guin. Ursula K. Le Guin is clearly the grande dame of our genre plus the first woman to win a Hugo Award in the best novel category and this may well be the last chance to honour her work, so I’m highly satisfied by this result. The Princess Diarist by the late Carrie Fisher came in second, probably because it was the last chance to honour another beloved figure of our genre.

The winner in the best graphic story is volume 1 of Monstress by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda and an excellent choice it is, too, even though my personal top pick was Saga. But then, fan favourites Saga and Ms. Marvel both already won Hugos, so it’s good to see a new comic series winning. I’m surprised that Black Panther finished so high, since I felt that while it was an ambitious work, it did not work very well and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ inexperience as a comics writer really showed at times.

On to the two best dramatic presentation categories. The Hugo for best dramatic presentation long form goes – unsurprisingly – to Arrival. Arrival really was the favourite to win in this category, since it is exactly the sort of serious science fiction movie, based on a beloved story at that, which Hugo voters tend to love. Though at the Alien Language in Science Fiction panel (which you can see here BTW), we all had our reservations about the movie, ranging from, “Well, it’s wonderful to see a linguist heroine, but linguistics don’t work that way, sorry.” to “Jeremy Renner’s character is an arsehole.” But then the vast majority of Hugo voters are not linguists (and apparently not annoyed by Jeremy Renner’s character) and Arrival is certainly a deserving winner. Coincidentally, the best dramatic presentation category long form also once more shows very clearly that there is a bias against comedic content, since the two comedic entries on the ballot, Deadpool and Ghostbusters respectively, both finished last, even though both movie do contain serious themes, cancer and what people will do to beat it in the case of Deadpool and how highly qualified women will still be dismissed and see less qualified men promoted ahead of them in the case of Ghostbusters. Interestingly, Hidden Figures, which tackles almost the same theme as Ghostbusters, though with an added racial dimension (on the other hand, there is Leslie Jones’ Patty in Ghostbusters who faces even more dismissal and discrimnation than her white teammates), but does so in a more serious manner, finished in second place.

The Hugo for dramatic presentation short form went to the “Leviathan Wakes” episode of The Expanse. Again, this was not an unexpected win, since The Expanse is a well regarded TV show and – unlike fan favourites Game of Thrones and Doctor Who – has never been nominated for a Hugo before, let alone won. Though my personal favourite in this category was the “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror, which was a surprisingly touching story and a pleasant surprise, considering how much I normally dislike Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker. I’m a bit sad to see the album Splendor & Misery by clipping finish in last place, but then it was up against three juggernauts in a category where anything that is not a TV episode usually doesn’t even get nominated.

The winners in the two editor categories are Liz Gorinsky and Ellen Datlow respectively, both highly deserved. Meanwhile, everybody’s least favourite puppy lost to “No Award” for the fourth year in a row, also highly deserved. The Hugo for best professional artist went to Julie Dillon, while Elizabeth Leggett won in the best fan artist category, once again both excellent choices. Uncanny Magazine takes best semiprozine for the second year in a row and Lady Business wins in the best fanzine category. Both were my top picks in their categories BTW. The Hugo for best fanwriter goes to Abigail Nussbaum, while the delightful Tea and Jeopardy wins in the best fancast category, both again highly deserved.

That’s it for my reactions to the 2017 Hugo winners, so let’s take a look around the web at what others have to say:

Let’s start with the winners: Campbell Award winner and best novel nominee Ada Palmer shares her acceptance speech and talks about living, working and writing with an invisible disability, which flared up on Hugo night of all times. Meanwhile, best fanwriter winner Abigail Nussbaum shares her acceptance speech at Asking the Wrong Questions. The editors of Lady Business, winner in the best fanzine category, also share their acceptance speech.

2017 Hugo administrator Nicholas Whyte shares his experiences and all the work (from counting nominations and votes to physically assembling Hugo Awards) that went into making the 2017 Hugo Awards run smoothly in a two part post. It’s a fascinating look behind the scenes of the Hugo Awards. Nicholas Whyte has also put up more Hugo reports detailing the decisions he made as administrator during the nomination stage, the final rounds of counting nominations and how the points were distributed as well as measuring the impact of the EPH and the possible impact of the EPH+ nomination system. Coincidentally, I was on a panel with Nicholas Whyte and Kristina Knaving about how to adapt the Hugos to an increasingly digital world, which you can watch on YouTube here. Though I forgot MicroSFF (who shows up on the best fanwriter longlist under their passport name O. Westin) as an example for something that does not comfortably fit into any of the current Hugo categories.

ETA: Nicholas Whyte also shares this report from Hugo packet coordinator Jo Van Ekeren in which she details the challenges of putting the Hugo voter packet together. Again it shows how much behind the scenes work the WorldCon 75 team put into making WorldCon 75 and the Hugos a success.

At the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, Joel Cunningham points out something that I already noticed in my previous Hugo post, namely that the 2017 Hugo Awards were dominated by women. Women and writers of colour already dominated the Hugo shortlist (which caused some people to worry about the poor white men who were being shut out) and with the exception of the two dramatic presentation categories, all 2017 Hugos as well as the Campbell Award went to women or – in the case of best fancast and best semiprozine – to husband and wife teams. This is truly remarkable and also mirrors a trend that we have seen at the Nebula Awards the past two or three years, namely that both nominees and winners skew strongly female. This has some of the usual suspects upset. However, Joel Cunningham also correctly points out that the Hugos took until 1968 until a woman (Anne McCaffrey for “Weyr Search”) finally won in one of the fiction categories and she had to share her win with Philip José Farmer, too. And even as late as 2007, the finalists in the fiction categories were almost entirely male with Naomi Novik the lone token woman, though there also were a few woman artists and editors nominated and a woman actually won in the best related work category. So we have one female dominated year at the Hugos against more than sixty male dominated ones.

At The Guardian, Alison Flood also points out that the 2017 Hugo winners are overwhelmingly female and that the Sad and Rabid Puppies seem to have been vanquished for good. Meanwhile, the CBC article about the Hugos focusses mainly on the Canadian winners, namely Amal El-Mohtar and Denis Villeneuve, director of Arrival.

At Kirkus, Thea James, Hugo finalist in the best semiprozine category for The Book Smugglers, declares that after two years of puppy shenangigans, the 2017 Hugos sent a message of empathy, tolerance and hope, which is more important than ever today. I can only agree with her.

At the Kaedrin Weblog, Mark Ciocco has mixed feelings about the 2017 Hugo results, particularly since he is not a fan of the Broken Earth trilogy and not happy with the direction towards more literary works that Hugo Awards have taken in the past few years. He also wonders whether the second win in a row for N.K. Jemisin is not a reaction against the puppy activities of the past two years. As pointed out above, I think larger political forces than a few disgruntled rightwing fans play a role here and explain why the Broken Earth trilogy resonates with so many fans.

So how decisively did the puppies lose anyway? All of the blatant slate picks were no awarded, while “hostages” such as China Mieville, Neil Gaiman an the Deadpool movie easily cleared the “No Award” hurdle. Jason Sanford has now set himself the task of analysing the slow death of the rabid puppies. As noted before, they had around 80 votes at the nominating stage and around 30 during the voting stage.

Camestros Felapton also dedicated himself to analysing the Hugo short- and longlist and particularly the effect the new EPH system has on the finalists, using the best fanwriter category, where Camestros Felapton are on the longlist themselves (as am I), as an example. It’s a good analysis and well worth reading. Coincidentally, Camestros also comes to the conclusion that the rabbid puppies had around 80 votes, maybe less (since not all of them voted consistently and the occasional puppy nominee might have picked up an organic vote or two), at the nomination stage and 32 at most at the voting stage. So not much of a menace anymore, besides EPH did its job. BTW Camestros Felapton would make an excellent fanwriter nominee for 2017 – hint, hint.

Steve J. Wright also offers a detailed analysis of the Hugo winners as well as the long- and shotlist at his blog, including the final ranking of the finalists.

At The Beat, Torsten Adair also analyses the Hugo finalists as well as the longlist, using the best graphic story category as an example, since The Beat is a comics site.

So what about the puppies themselves? The sad puppies have largely disintegrated and most of both puppy groups and their offshoots such as superversive science fiction and pulp revolution seem to have moved on to the Dragon Awards who are welcome to them. Though the claims from the puppy camp that the Dragon Awards represent the true voice of fandom, unlike the Hugos, are hilarious, considering that at this point in time, all the Dragon Awards represent are authors eagerly campaigning for a nomination with a few generally popular choices thrown in, many of whom don’t want to be there.

As a result, we get resounding silence from the major puppies as well as the minor ones I bothered to check (I can take only so many puppy blogs before I need brain bleach), which confirms that we seem to have shoved that particular genie back into its bottle. However, rabid puppy in chief Vox Day cannot resist offering his commentary on the 2017 Hugo Award winners. Apparently, destroying science fiction, WorldCon and the Hugos by making sure that a lot of awesome women writers and writers of colour, including N.K. Jemisin, win Hugos was his great plan all along.

In that case, mission accomplished. And now go and play with Dragons, while we enjoy the current awesomeness of SFF.

Comments are off, in case any stray puppies feel like pooping here.

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Some Videos of my WorldCon Adventures

I’m still working on my more detailed Hugo post, but in the meantime, here is a little video I made about my WorldCon adventures.

It’s basically a jazzed up slideshow, assembled from some of the photos I took at WorldCon 75, but I really like how it came out:

Two of the panels I was on were also recorded. Here is the Digital Hugo panel, featuring Kristina Knaving, Nicholas Whyte and yours truly:

And here is the Alien Language in Science Fiction panel, featuring Lawrence M. Schoen, David J. Peterson, Stephen W. Potts, Heather Rose Jones and yours truly. Coincidentally, I’m the only person with only two names on that panel:

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Back from Helsinki

I had a great time in Helsinki, both at WorldCon 75 and in the city in general. I got back home yesterday evening and spent most of today unpacking, refilling the fridge, etc…

I took lots of photos, both of the city (which has a lot of beautiful Art Noveau architecture) and the con, so over the next few days there will be several Helsinki posts, both about WorldCon as well as general photo posts. I’ll also offer some more Hugo analysis and see if I can catch up on the Dragon Awards who went and had themselves a scandal, while everybody was at WorldCon.

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A Very Few Words on the 2017 Hugo Awards

I’m still in Helsinki with a very slow computer and WiFi connection, so this is only a short Hugo reaction post. Detailed analysis will follow sometime next week.

Even though I am at WorldCon, I didn’t catch the ceremony in person, because I had a panel on alien language in science fiction (which was a lot of fun) which ran right up to the beginning of the ceremony. BTW, I think someone recorded the panel, so it may eventually show up on YouTube. And given the well documented overcrowding issues and the fact that I was hungry, I headed back to the hotel for dinner and wound up sitting in the hotel restaurant with my phone by my side, following the Hugos and occasionally surprising fellow diners with spontaneous outbursts of “Yeah” or “Huh”. No outbursts of “no, no, no” this year, because even though a lot of the winners were not my first or even my second choice, I’m not unhappy with any of them.

The full list of winners as well as photos from the ceremony may be found here. I’m particularly happy about Ada Palmer winning the Campbell, Lois McMaster Bujold winning the brand new best series award (even though that was to be expected), Ursula Vernon’s “The Tomato Thief” winning in the novelette category, Lady Business, Tea and Jeopardy and Uncanny winning in fanzine, fancast and semiprozine respectively.

The Hugo for best novel in a very strong field went to N.K. Jemisin for The Obelisk Gate, following her win last year for The Fifth Season. I honest did not expect The Obelisk Gate to win, because a) it was a very strong year and b) sequels rarely win the Hugo, if the first book in the series won. I think the last time that happened was Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead. I also confess that The Obelisk Gate also wasn’t my first or even my second choice, but I’m nonetheless very happy for N.K. Jemisin.

I’m also very happy that except for the two best dramatic presentation categories, every single Hugo award plus the Campbell went to women (two Hugos, best fancast and semiprozine, went to husband and wife teams).

The full voting and nomination statistics are here BTW. If you look at the voting stats, you’ll see that all puppy nominees except the shields placed under “No Award” (fourth year in a row for Vox Day and sixth time altogether for John C. Wright). We can also tell that there are roughly 85 rabid puppies left, going by the number of nominations the puppy candidates received.

And if you look at the nomination stats, you’ll find my name right near the end with 25 nominations. So thank you, 25 people who nominated me, whoever you are.

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In Helsinki

I made it safely to Helsinki.

From what I’ve seen so far, it’s a lovely city with lots of stunning art noveau buildings, which is great for me, because I love art noveau. Even my hotel is an art noveau building, a converted warehouse by the harbourfront originally built in 1910. It’s directly opposite the ferry terminal. From my room window, I can see the ferries.

Photos will have to wait, because my aging netbook is too slow for that, though I’ll be tweeting some pics through the day via my smartphone.

Worldcon 75 doesn’t start until tomorrow, but I already spotted at least four folks clearly headed there in the plane from Amsterdam to Helsinki. The “Helsinki in 2017” shirt was a dead giveaway, as were the t-shirts from various other cons.

Meanwhile, half my Twitter timeline already made it to Helsinki or is currently somewhere en route.

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Cora goes to WorldCon 75 in Helsinki, Finland

[image error]Next week, I’m off to Finland for WorldCon 75 in Helsinki. I’ll be leaving on Monday and am really looking forward to the experience.

So there will be light to no blogging next week and plenty of photos and con reports and Hugo discussion (come on, you know there’ll be Hugo discussion) once I get back.

In the meantime, the Speculative Fiction Showcase and the Indie Crime Scene will still be chugging along, including (somewhat truncated) link round-ups.

But should you find yourself in Helsinki for WorldCon 75, say hello to me.

You can also find me and several other fine folks on the following panels:

 

Alien Language in Science Fiction

Friday, August 11, 2017, 6 PM – 7:30 PM
Messukeskus – 208
Moderator Lawrence M. Schoen | David J. Peterson | Stephen W. Potts | Cora Buhlert | Heather Rose Jones

As easy as a Babel Fish is, usually alien languages are handled differently in science fiction. The panelists discuss various alien languages and how they are understood.

 

Digital Hugo – How Do We Adapt the Hugo Categories to an Increasingly Digital Reality?



Saturday, August 12, 2 PM – 3 PM
Messukeskus – 208
Moderator Kristina Knaving | Nicholas Whyte | Cora Buhlert | clipping. 

The Hugo categories are based on paper publishing. With more and more writing and art ending up on the internet, in shapes not constrained by publishing houses, shipping, printing and paper, the categories are getting less and less relevant in the light of what is created and what people actually read.

Do the Hugo categories need to change? Do the categories reflect what you read and watch? How do we create a set of categories that get enough nominations and votes, but still mesh with the historical traditions?

Do we need to rethink the traditional fiction formats based on length? How about Best Related Work, which used to be called Best Non-Fiction Book, but now is used to nominate among other things internet platforms, larps, pods, scientific papers and internet essays – do we need to split it into (at least) two? The recent influx of non-fictional future speculations in blogs, articles, TED talks and lectures: are they relevant and pervasive enough that a future category should be discussed? Why do the zines categories assume periodicals with issues? Where is art published – does it need to appear in print?

Unless we think about change now, the future could take us by surprise.

  

The State of Machine Translation



Saturday, August 12, 6 PM to 7:30 PM
Messukeskus – 101d
Moderator Greg Hullender | Marek Pawelec | John Chu | Cora Buhlert 

What is the current state of machine translation? The rough-n-ready web page translation provided by Google, the apps you speak into, film dubbing/sub-titling, and translating SF books themselves all present unique technical challenges. If machine translation is commonplace, will fewer people learn English (or Chinese) as a lingua franca, and will the American cultural steam-roller’s effects be reduced? We’ll also look at the risks and benefits of translation making foreign countries less foreign to visitors.

  

Book Blogs



Sunday, August 13, 2017, 10 AM to 11 AM
Messukeskus – 207
Moderator Cora Buhlert | Shaun Duke | Teresa Nielsen Hayden | Thomas Wagner  

Blogging/vlogging about books has caused some recent controversy. Some authors have claimed bad reviews in book blogs have resulted in poor sales. Book bloggers and authors discuss the importance and power of book bloggers/vloggers.

 

The full program schedule for WorldCon 75 may be found here, BTW.

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Some Comments on the 2017 Dragon Award Nominees

Before everybody is focussed on Worldcon and the Hugos next week, the Dragon Awards have managed to present their 2017 nominees. The link goes to File 770, because the official Dragon Awards website hasn’t even been updated yet and is painful to read, too. ETA: It has been updated now, but is still painful to read.

The 2017 Dragon Awards nominees are a mix of popular authors and/or books with notable fan followings (Becky Chambers, John Scalzi, N.K. Jemisin, Liu Cixin, Faith Hunter, Sarah J. Maas, Rick Riordan, A.J. Hartley, Claudia Gray, Beth Cato, Cory Doctorow, James S.A. Corey, China Miéville, Victor LaValle, Allison Littlewood, Charles Gannon, Dan Wells, Eric Flint, John Ringo, Larry Correia, many of the film, TV, comic and game nominees), popular indie authors (Amy J. Murphy, Pippa DaCosta, Richard Fox, David VanDyke and B.V. Larsson), authors affiliated with the sad and rabid puppies or various puppy offshoot movements (Vox Day, John C. Wright, Declan Finn, Brian Niemeier, Jagi Lamplighter Wright, Jon Del Arroz, Lou Antonelli, Kai Wai Cheah), authors puppies happen to like but who aren’t puppies themselves (e.g. horror author Allison Littlewood who has since withdrawn) as well as a couple of complete unknowns, at least to me, with some overlap between the different groups. Coincidentally, Mark, a regular commenter at File 770 and Camestros Felapton’s blog, has traced some of the unknowns to Inkshares.

All in all, the shortlist looks better than it did for the inaugural Dragon Awards back in 2016 (for my comments on that, go here). I even found something to vote for without teeth gnashing in every category save the gaming ones (not a gamer, therefore I can’t evaluate them). Though for an award that has positioned itself as the populist SFF award, the 2017 Dragon Awards shortlist is still an odd mix between massively popular works/authors with big fan followings and works which appeal to various niches and can must enough of a following to gain a nomination, but are little known outside their respective niches.

There are also some notable omissions. For example, the most notable alternate history novel of the year, The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, a huge bestseller endorsed by Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama among others, is conspicuous by its absence. But then, The Underground Railroad has already won the Pulitzer Prize and the Arthur C. Clarke Award and is up for the Man Booker Prize, so Colson Whitehead really doesn’t need a Dragon Award. Coincidentally, I’m surprised to see another work of literary SFF, American War by Omar El Akkad, nominated in the post-apocalyptic category, since the Dragon Awards crowd (or rather crowds) don’t strike me as the sort to care for more literary SFF at all.

So how big was the influence of the sad and rabid puppies and their offshoot movements like Superversive SF, Pulp Revolution or Happy Frogs (at least the name is funny)? Mike Glyer at File 770 offers a colour-coded breakdown here, which suggests that there was less puppy influence than in 2016, though it’s still quite a bit. Commenter Nick Pheas also noticed huge discrepancies in the numbers of Goodreads ratings between books nominated in the same category. For more Dragon Awards neepery, Camestros Felapton offers a two part analysis of and baseless speculation about the 2017 Dragon Award nominees. At The Verge, Andrew Liptak also offers some background and commentary on the 2017 Dragon Awards nominees.

From the puppy camp, we mostly see cheering that they and/or their choices have been nominated. Though Brian Niemeier, who won last year in the horror category for a book that’s not even a horror novel and who is nominated in the science fiction category this year, can’t resist making a crack against John Scalzi and complain that the dreaded social justice warriors (that would be everybody who’s not a puppy) are flooding the Dragon Awards with nominations to destroy fun SFF or some such thing. Uhm, the Dragon Awards are specifically open vote, so anybody can vote or nominee, and that includes people with very different taste than the puppies. They’re not the puppy awards, even if it sometimes looks that way. As for why John Scalzi’s The Collapsing Empire (or The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin or A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers or Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey or anything else that the puppies don’t like) were nominated, maybe because they’re popular authors with big fan followings.

So how are the Dragon Awards doing in their second year? A little better than in their first, though many problems still persist. The official Dragon Awards website is badly maintained, the nomination system is intransparent and easily gamed via using multiple e-mail addresses to nominate/vote and whoever is behind the Dragon Awards still hasn’t released the voting figures for 2016. What is more, the Dragon Awards are very little promoted by Dragon Con itself to the point that most of the info you can find about the Dragon Awards online can be found in the blogs of authors campaigning for one. So as of 2017, the Dragon Award still does not really look like the populist SFF Award it claims to be and may yet become some day.

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