From a Colleague

Mr Charles Stross holds forth on the recent controversy concerning the Hugo nominations:

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2015/04/the-biggest-little-sf-publishe.html

The indented remarks are his, and the italics is his quote of Castalia House’s public statement of purpose:

Castalia House was (per wikipedia) founded by Theodore Beale (aka Vox Day) in early 2014 in Kouvola, Finland. As their website explains:

Castalia House is a Finland-based publisher that has a great appreciation for the golden age of science fiction and fantasy literature. The books that we publish honor the traditions and intellectual authenticity exemplified by writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert E. Howard, G.K. Chesterton, and Hermann Hesse. We are consciously providing an alternative to readers who increasingly feel alienated from the nihilistic, dogmatic science fiction and fantasy being published today. We seek nothing less than a Campbellian revolution in genre literature.

Total culture wars, very gamergate, much fail, wow. But the screaming question I feel the need to ask, is: why Finland? Could there be a connection between the white supremacist Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party), the overtly racist Sweden Democrats, the Dark Enlightenment/neoreactionary movement, and Vox Day’s peculiarly toxic sect of Christian Dominionist theology?

Later, in the comments, Mr Stross remarks:

The shout-out to “Campbellian” in the Castalia House bumph is telling — John W. Campbell was an obnoxious racist (consider that Heinlein wrote “Fifth Column” to an outline drafted by Campbell and toned down the racist/eliminationist invective against the Yellow Peril!), as well as a crank and a reactionary who thought teh wimmins’ place was in the kitchen. Says it all, really.

And

Jim Butcher certainly deserves to be on the Hugo shortlist.

Agreed.

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Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.