George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 83
May 16, 2016
All the King's Horses...
The 4/6 proposal is pretty straightforward. At present there are five finalists in each category, and each voter gets to nominate five choices for those five slots. 4/6 would increase the number of finalists to six, and simultaneously decrease the number of nominations allowed each voter to four. The theory being that a slate voting lockstep might take four slots, but not the whole category.
EPH, which stands for E Pluribus Hugo, is considerably more complicated, and I will not attempt to describe it here. It was designed by mathematicians and voting theorists, and will supposedly prevent a small disciplined minority from taking all the slots on the ballot. There's been plenty of discussion and debate about EPH all over the internet.
Most recently, the designers of EPH have done a test run to see what impact the system would have had on the latest ballot. The results, and a spirited discussion of same, can be found over on Mike Glyer's FILE 770, here: http://file770.com/?p=28946#comments
((For those of an academic and mathematical bent, the hard crunchy bits are here: https://www.schneier.com/academic/paperfiles/Proportional_Voting_System.pdf ))
From where I sit, the EPH results are not very encouraging.
Over the past few months, I've read countless variations of the statement that goes, "well, this is the last year we will have a problem, come summer we'll pass EPH and all will be fine." I had my doubts about that every time I heard it, and this new report just confirms them. We may indeed pass EPH, and it may help... a little... but all will not be fine.
We may pass 4/6 too, and that could also help... slightly... but it's easily thwarted, if you have hundreds of followers who will do exactly as you tell them, and the Rabids seem to have just that.
If EPH and 4/6, or both, are passed at MidAmericon II, and work more-or-less as advertised, the slates will no longer be able to completely dominate entire categories by taking all five slots. The reforms should ensure that there are at least one or two legitimate nominees in every category. Which is better, certainly, than what has happened to Best Related Work the past two ballots, say. But it is still far from ideal. Future ballots will instead look more like last year's Best Novelette, Best Professional Artist, and Best Fan Writer shortlists, or this year's Best Fan Artist, all of which featured one legit choice and four slate candidates. Maybe we'd see some improvement in some categories, and have two finalists to choose between.
Better than what we have now? Sure. But comparable to being able to choose among five strong candidates to decide which one was the very best of the year? Not even close.
I can hear the proponents of EPH and 4/6 saying their reforms were never meant to be a cure all. Yes, I know that, I never believed otherwise, and I applaud your efforts to help. I just wish these reforms helped more . Neither EPH nor 4/6 is going to prevent us from having VD on the Best Editor shortlist from now until the heat death of the universe.
And I also know that there are now other proposals out there, proposals that call for three-stage voting, for negative votes and blackballing, for juries. Some of these cures, I fear, might be even worse than the disease. We have plenty of juried awards; we don't need another. Three-stage voting, with fifteen semi-finalists that get boiled down to five finalists and one winner? Maybe, but that considerably increases the workload of the Hugo administrators, whose job is hard enough already... and I fear it would actually ratchet up campaigning, as friends and fans of those on the List of Fifteen rallied around their favorites to get them on the List of Five. And a blackball round, voting things off the ballot? Is that really a can of worms we want to open, in this present climate? That would dial the ugliness up to eleven, I fear... or higher.
Sadly, I don't think there is an answer here. No magic bullet is going to fix this. And I fear that the people saying, "pretty soon the assholes will get bored and go away," are being hopelessly naive. The assholes are having far too much fun.
A year ago April, when Sasquan announced the ballot, I wrote the Hugo Awards had been broken, and might never be fixed. A lot has happened since that time, and from time to time I've allowed myself to think that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, that this too would pass. Now I am starting to fear that my first reaction was the correct one.
The Hugo Awards have always been an occasion for joy, for celebrating excellence and recognizing the best among us. That's what we need to get back to. But I don't see how.
May 14, 2016
Nebula Winners Announced
(No, I'm not there. Wish I was. Sounds like a good time was had by all).
LOCUS has the story, as always:
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2016/05/10777/
Congratulations to all the winners... and to the runners-up and losers as well. As with the Hugo Awards, it is a proud and noble thing to lose a Nebula. (Lost a bunch myself).
May 10, 2016
A Taste of This, A Taste of That
I must confess, though, I don't update it as often as I should. What can I say? I'm busy.
But today we uploaded a couple of new items that some of you may be interested in: new samples from two forthcoming books.
For all the Wild Cards fans out there, we've got a taste of HIGH STAKES, due out this August. HIGH STAKES is the twenty-third volume in the overall series, and the third and concluding part of the 'Fort Freak' triad. The sample is from the pen of the talented Ian Tregillis, and features Mollie Steunenberg, aka Tesseract. You'll find it at: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/wild-cards-excerpt/
((Readers with weak stomachs be warned, HIGH STAKES is our Lovecraftian horror book, and things do get graphic and bloody and... well... horrible. Althought not so much in the sample)).
And... because I know how much bitching I'd get if I offered a new sample from Wild Cards without also doing one from A SONG OF ICE & FIRE... we've also changed the WINDS OF WINTER sample on my wesbite, replacing the Alayne chapter that's been there for the past year with one featuring Arianne Martell. (Some of you may have heard me read this one at cons).
Have a read at: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/excerpt-from-the-winds-of-winter/
You want to know what the Sand Snakes, Prince Doran, Areo Hotah, Ellaria Sand, Darkstar, and the rest will be up to in WINDS OF WINTER? Quite a lot, actually. The sample will give you a taste. For the rest, you will need to wait.
And no, just to spike any bullshit rumors, changing the sample chapter does NOT mean I am done. See the icon up above? Monkey is still on my back... but he's growing, he is, and one day...
Jean Cocteau Book Sale! #GRRMinion
Jenni the Ogre here! I work for Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, and we are having another book sale. All of our books are by authors who have visited the Cocteau, and they are all signed. The following signed books are 50% off. Get 'em while they're hot!
Mary Robinette Kowal's Of Noble Family: NOW $14.00
Jane and Vincent have finally gotten some much-needed rest after their adventures in Italy when Vincent receives word that his estranged father has passed away on one of his properties in the West Indies. His brother, who manages the estate, is overwhelmed, and no one else in his family can go. Grudgingly, out of filial duty the couple decide to go. Read more!
Stuart Woods' Hot Pursuit: NOW $14.00
Stone Barrington is back in the exciting new adventure from perennial fan favorite Stuart Woods. It’s not often that Stone Barrington finds a woman as accustomed to the jet-set lifestyle as he, so he’s pleasantly surprised when he meets a gorgeous pilot who’s soon moving to New York, and available for closer acquaintance. Their travels together lead them from Wichita to Europe, but trailing them is some unwanted baggage: his new lady love’s unstable, criminal ex-boyfriend. Read more!
Jane Lindskold's Artemis Awakening: NOW $12.50
Artemis Awakening is the start of a new series by New York Times bestseller Jane Lindskold. The distant world Artemis is a pleasure planet created out of bare rock by a technologically advanced human empire that provided its richest citizens with a veritable Eden to play in. All tech was concealed and the animals (and the humans brought to live there) were bioengineered to help the guests enjoy their stay…but there was always the possibility of danger so that visitors could brag that they had "bested" the environment. Read more!
See you at the Cocteau!
—THIS MESSAGE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER—
Not Me
It's good to know that I'm so funny. Except...
(1) I don't troll my readers, and,
(2) I don't do Twitter (my minions tweet echoes of what I post here),
(3) it wasn't me.
Sorry.
But really boys and girls, don't believe everything you read on the internet.
PS from the MINIONS: #GRRMinion is what you'll see when its one of us on Social Media or here on Live Journal, and ONLY @GRRMspeaking Tweets are from the Fevre River office. Thanks from the Minions-
May 8, 2016
Cool Stuff at the JCC
Next up: JOE HILL. You will be here on Monday, May 23, to sign copies of his new novel THE FIREMAN. And we'll have the usual interview and Q&A as well. Reserve your seats now from the JCC website; we're expecting a sellout.
Meanwhile, we have some terrific movies showing. On Friday we opened THE MERMAID, a blockbuster out of China; highest-grossing film in the history of Chinese cinema.
And next Friday, we're very excited to be opening HIGH RISE, based on the novel by J.G. Ballard. Ballard, as every SF fans knows, was one of the giants of the British "New Wave" in science fiction, the author of such classics as THE DROWNED WORLD, THE CRYSTAL WORLD, "Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan," CRASH, VERMILLION SANDS, EMPIRE OF THE SUN, and "The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered As a Downhill Motor Race." HIGH RISE is one of his major works, an important (and disturbing) novel, and we're all excited to see the film.
See you at the movies!
May 6, 2016
The Replacements
Replacing BLACK GATE in Best Fanzine is LADY BUSINESS, which can be found here http://ladybusiness.dreamwidth.org/
Replacing "The Commuter" by Thomas Mays in Short Story is "Cat Pictures Please" by Naomi Kritzer, which was originally published in CLARKESWORLD http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_01_15/
I am not familiar with either of the new nominees... but since they were not part of any slate, I think both of them are likely to be strong contenders. I look forward to checking them out.
(As I said in a previous post, sixth place has never been so important).
((Though I am curious as to whether these two new finalists were indeed sixth. It seemed to take MAC a rather long time to announce the replacements after the withdrawal, something that could presumably be accomplished in minutes just by looking at the list and seeing who was next up -- unless, perhaps, there were other withdrawals along the way? We'll find out come August)).
Short Story and Fanzine were two categories where the Rabid Puppies had swept the field, top to bottom. Accordingly, they were also two categories that I had earmarked as being in need of Alfies. But the withdrawals and replacements broke the Rabid stranglehold, leaving me with a decision to make -- do I still present Alfies in those categories, or no?
I am going to need to ponder that for a while.
May 4, 2016
Jean Cocteau Cinema Presents: Stephen Chow's "The Mermaid" #GRRMinion
Another post from Ogre Jenni—hope you kids don't mind. I work at George's cinema in Santa Fe—what a lucky ogre I am!
Beginning this Friday, Jean Cocteau Cinema will proudly screen The Mermaid (Mei Ren Yu), the latest film by Stephen Chow. Chow is the Chinese filmmaker (and talented martial artist) responsible for Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004). Chow brilliantly parodies absurd action and kung fu movie tropes, and he is well known for his over-the-top martial arts sequences, bizarre circumstantial comedy, and quirky characters.
Who doesn’t love the surly chain-smoking landlady from Kung Fu Hustle?
And who won't love the half-octopus mer-uncle sushi chef in The Mermaid?
David Ehrlich from Slate says of Chow's latest film, “...it's demented. Great. And a hit." He also adds that, "…Chow, without overlooking his hometown crowd, directs with a primal wit that appeals to all audiences with the immediacy of silent cinema.” Read his full review here!
MORE ABOUT THE FILM:
Xuan's estate project involving reclamation of the sea threatens the livelihood of the mermaids who rely on the sea to survive. A mermaid named Shan is dispatched to assassinate Xuan, but this inevitably leads to a complicated, interspecies, office romance. Out of his love for Shan, Xuan plans to stop the reclamation. Unfortunately, Shan and the other mermaids are hunted by a hidden organisatio, and Xuan has to save Shan before it's too late.
See you at the Cocteau!
–THIS MESSAGE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS AT FEVRE RIVER—
May 3, 2016
Awards, Awards
Such as the Locus Awards. Locus just announced the shortlist for those, which you can find here:http://www.locusmag.com/News/2016/05/2016-locus-awards-finalists/
I'm delighted to see that OLD VENUS is one of the finalists in Best Anthology, and that one of the stories therein, Elizabeth Bear's "The Heart's Filthy Lesson," is a nominee in Best Novelette. Congratulations, Elizabeth! Oh, and Gardner Dozois was nominated as Best Editor. Congratulations, Gargy. Congratulations, Venus. Congratulations, me!
(OLD VENUS and OLD MARS both done very well, both critically and commercially. That's very gratifying. If I ever find some spare time, Gardner and I need to do some more of those. OLD URANUS, anyone?)
The Locus Awards winners will be announced in Seattle, June 24 to 26.
Well before that, we will learn the winner of this year's Nebula Awards. The Nebula Banquet is going to be in Chicago next weekend, May 14. My friend John Hodgman will be the master of ceremonies. You can still get a ticket, I think. Check it out: http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/2016-nebula-conference/
Oh, and I've also been informed that the Spanish language edition of THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE, the massive "fake history" book I did with Elio Garcia and Linda Antonnson, has been nominated for the Ignotus Award, one of the biggest SF/ awards prizes in Spain.
The full list of nominees is here: http://www.aefcft.com/nominaciones-a-los-premios-ignotus-2016/
Win or lose, as always, it is an honor just to be nominated.
Jean Cocteau Cinema Presents Stephen Graham Jones #GRRMinion
Is it another post from Ogre Jenni instead of the famous George R.R. Martin? Why, yes! Yes, it is! I’m here to tell you about an exciting author event coming up at the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe.
Jean Cocteau Cinema has the honor of hosting an interview, reading, Q&A, and book signing with Stephen Graham Jones on May 7th. One of our favorite journalists in Santa Fe, Lorene Mills, will interview Jones and moderate the audience Q&A. Jones will read excerpts from his latest novel (and lycanthropic masterpiece), Mongrels, which is described by author Benjamin Percy as existing “somewhere in the borderlands of literary and genre fiction, full of horror and humor and heart…” Lorene Mills says, "This book is a great read, as are his other unique and dazzling books."
Tickets are available here!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
He was born an outsider, like the rest of his family. Poor yet resilient, he lives in the shadows with his aunt Libby and uncle Darren, folk who stubbornly make their way in a society that does not understand or want them. They are mongrels, mixedblood, neither this nor that. The boy at the center of Mongrels must decide if he belongs on the road with his aunt and uncle, or if he fits with the people on the other side of the tracks.
For ten years, he and his family have lived a life of late-night exits and narrow escapes—always on the move across the South to stay one step ahead of the law. But the time is drawing near when Darren and Libby will finally know if their nephew is like them or not. And the close calls they’ve been running from for so long are catching up fast now. Everything is about to change.
A compelling and fascinating journey, Mongrels alternates between past and present to create an unforgettable portrait of a boy trying to understand his family and his place in a complex and unforgiving world. A smart and innovative story— funny, bloody, raw, and real—told in a rhythmic voice full of heart, Mongrels is a deeply moving, sometimes grisly, novel that illuminates the challenges and tender joys of a life beyond the ordinary in a bold and imaginative new way.
“With lupine tongue tucked well into cheek, Mongrels is at once an adolescent romp through the tangled woods of family history and a rich compendium of werewolf lore, old and new. Stephen Graham Jones gifts us with fun characters, imaginative set pieces, and an immersive tour of the flat-broke American South that spares no plastic orchid or cable-spool coffee table.” — Christopher Buehlman, author of The Lesser Dead.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Stephen Graham Jones is the author of fifteen novels and six story collections. He has received numerous awards including the NEA Fellowship in Fiction, the Texas Institute of Letters Jesse Jones Award for Fiction, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, the This is Horror Award, as well as making Bloody Disgusting’s Top Ten Novels of the Year. Stephen was raised in West Texas. He now lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife and children. He is a Blackfoot Native American, and he has been invited to speak at The Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center for their “Spotlight on Native Writers.”
See you at the Cocteau!
—THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER—
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