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Hugo 7: Hugo a-go-go
My ballot is in, folks! I did it! \o/
..well I'm skipping the Campbell because I just can't face another whole novel in the next two days. But the Campbell is (not a Hugo) so that still counts as making it through, right?
Last two categories are zines. I will admit to skimming the voter packet on these, but I liked them all and am looking forward to reading them later at leisure.
Best Fanzine: 1 nominee
Journey Planet
1. Is it SF?
...Mostly? Every issue has a theme, and they're all fandom-related, and they're *almost* all SF related. Anyway it's out of the SF community and tradition, so at least 5/6 of the issues out so far are SF related, more-or-less. Which leaves me puzzled as to why, out of two issues they put in the voter packet, one of them had nothing to do with SF at all. (It was the "sports fandom" issue.
...on the other hand if this got in we really should nom TWC next year. :P
2. Is it good?
I really really liked it! It's really well-produced while still not feeling too slick and consistently interesting. This may the one thing out of the voter packet that I had previously not heard of and am now going to happily add to my to-reads going forward.
3. Is it good SF?
I really love the celebration of fandom of all kinds and the breadth of stuff it includes under its umbrella (Even if it's not all SF <_<) and the real effort they seem to be making toward a diversity of voices and the sense of shared community underlying everything, even if the contributors have never interacted before. It looks like it's been nommed every year since it started and so far I have no qualms about this being its year to win.
Best Semiprozine - 3 nominations
The Hugos' definition of semiprozine seems to be "if they pay people, but not enough for anyone to live off of it" which. Is not a thing that makes me happy. (Not in terms of the Hugos, but in general RE: SF. There are so few prozines - by which I mean, people paying "market rates" for short fiction and editing - that they had to take that category out of the hugos altogether. :/ I say, as I contribute to the problem by only reading free stuff.
Anyway this was a category where I was already at least vaguely aware of all the nominees already, and at least vaguely liked them all already, so they get short version discussion too.
Beneath Ceaseless skies - not just F&SF, but specifically secondary world fantasy, which is great because that's been out of fashion lately. I like their website layout which is reasonably clean, easy to navigate, and fast-loading, and also partakes of a wonderful eu de 90s geocities without being annoying. The stories I've read from it have been mixed quality but they've all stuck with me; the bad ones tend to be unpolished rather than proudly awful, and I understand the editors do lots of work with new writers. (On the other hand, RH story in current issue...)
Lightspeed Magazine - Mostly fantasy & SF, although they are responsible for that horrible "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bottle of 7-Up" story getting published in English, and tend to have quite a lot of alternate history/urban fantasy rather than space and secondary world stuff. I've found the stuff I've read there kind of uneven in terms of "really good" or "boring and full of itself". I've heard a lot about them RE: their "Foo destroys science fiction" issues as well. The website's kind of cluttered and ad-cruft-filled compared to the others, and harder to figure out what is where, and I don't like the design as much as the others, but I suppose a zine's gotta make a living somehow.
Strange Horizons - Yep, basically F&SF. I like their website a lot, too, and I like the way they do a weekly release and how they organize that on the site, it works really well for the way internet browsing works. Most of the stuff I've read on there is good, and I like their interviews and reviews as well.
Note: All of these 'zines include audio versions of stories, at least in their online versions, and I haven't listened to any of them - when I have audio on, it usually means I'm doing something else and at least half-distracted. I can do chatty podcasts or podfic of stories I already know, but listening to knew stuff that way always gets me lost. So I can't judge those very well.
..now we get to see if I'll manage the rest of my 40-item to-do list by Saturday 7 AM.
..well I'm skipping the Campbell because I just can't face another whole novel in the next two days. But the Campbell is (not a Hugo) so that still counts as making it through, right?
Last two categories are zines. I will admit to skimming the voter packet on these, but I liked them all and am looking forward to reading them later at leisure.
Best Fanzine: 1 nominee
Journey Planet
1. Is it SF?
...Mostly? Every issue has a theme, and they're all fandom-related, and they're *almost* all SF related. Anyway it's out of the SF community and tradition, so at least 5/6 of the issues out so far are SF related, more-or-less. Which leaves me puzzled as to why, out of two issues they put in the voter packet, one of them had nothing to do with SF at all. (It was the "sports fandom" issue.
...on the other hand if this got in we really should nom TWC next year. :P
2. Is it good?
I really really liked it! It's really well-produced while still not feeling too slick and consistently interesting. This may the one thing out of the voter packet that I had previously not heard of and am now going to happily add to my to-reads going forward.
3. Is it good SF?
I really love the celebration of fandom of all kinds and the breadth of stuff it includes under its umbrella (Even if it's not all SF <_<) and the real effort they seem to be making toward a diversity of voices and the sense of shared community underlying everything, even if the contributors have never interacted before. It looks like it's been nommed every year since it started and so far I have no qualms about this being its year to win.
Best Semiprozine - 3 nominations
The Hugos' definition of semiprozine seems to be "if they pay people, but not enough for anyone to live off of it" which. Is not a thing that makes me happy. (Not in terms of the Hugos, but in general RE: SF. There are so few prozines - by which I mean, people paying "market rates" for short fiction and editing - that they had to take that category out of the hugos altogether. :/ I say, as I contribute to the problem by only reading free stuff.
Anyway this was a category where I was already at least vaguely aware of all the nominees already, and at least vaguely liked them all already, so they get short version discussion too.
Beneath Ceaseless skies - not just F&SF, but specifically secondary world fantasy, which is great because that's been out of fashion lately. I like their website layout which is reasonably clean, easy to navigate, and fast-loading, and also partakes of a wonderful eu de 90s geocities without being annoying. The stories I've read from it have been mixed quality but they've all stuck with me; the bad ones tend to be unpolished rather than proudly awful, and I understand the editors do lots of work with new writers. (On the other hand, RH story in current issue...)
Lightspeed Magazine - Mostly fantasy & SF, although they are responsible for that horrible "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bottle of 7-Up" story getting published in English, and tend to have quite a lot of alternate history/urban fantasy rather than space and secondary world stuff. I've found the stuff I've read there kind of uneven in terms of "really good" or "boring and full of itself". I've heard a lot about them RE: their "Foo destroys science fiction" issues as well. The website's kind of cluttered and ad-cruft-filled compared to the others, and harder to figure out what is where, and I don't like the design as much as the others, but I suppose a zine's gotta make a living somehow.
Strange Horizons - Yep, basically F&SF. I like their website a lot, too, and I like the way they do a weekly release and how they organize that on the site, it works really well for the way internet browsing works. Most of the stuff I've read on there is good, and I like their interviews and reviews as well.
Note: All of these 'zines include audio versions of stories, at least in their online versions, and I haven't listened to any of them - when I have audio on, it usually means I'm doing something else and at least half-distracted. I can do chatty podcasts or podfic of stories I already know, but listening to knew stuff that way always gets me lost. So I can't judge those very well.
..now we get to see if I'll manage the rest of my 40-item to-do list by Saturday 7 AM.