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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   26716 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 22, 2024

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I saw that, and I'm laughing. They wanted this, and now they're getting it. The Sad and Rabid Puppies campaigns were all about the Hugos being a cosy little arrangement where the people 'in the know' got their favourites pushed, and the response was all "nope, not us, each con is its own thing, it's the people who registered to vote who make the decisions" at the same time as they were publicising that Worldcon owned the Hugos so you grubby lowlifes can just forget about it.

Well now, China is hosting Worldcon and, as they say, when in Rome... and all the outrage is superfluous because they wanted the principle of "we can select a slate of nominees and award winners on DEI and LGBT+ and other progressive grounds", and now that principle of "we can select the criteria according to which any work is judged permissible or deplorable" is being used against their pet causes. Too bad, they set this up and it's one more example of "but how was I supposed to know the leopards would eat my face?"

Do they still work relatively well at selecting good books? Are there other, less problematic, awards?

I have no idea, I haven't read a "Hugo Nominee/Hugo Winner" in ages. I had a look at this year's slate, there was one novel that vaguely interested me, but looking it up - ah, it's about colonialism and feminism and religion and I don't even have to read it to know what it will be like.

Also, you don't get to look down your nose at H.G. Wells (even if he is open to criticism) when you're relying on his original work to be the source for your reworking. Get your own characters and events.

Dragon Awards are pretty good for finding decent 'popular' works.

Prometheus Award if you want things that lean libertarian.

I would say they haven't been useful at selecting good books since 2000. It really has been a while.

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