Running Through Hugo's Back Yard 11: Deathworld

Hugo nominee: Deathworld by Harry Harrison, 1961

My view: Considering how much danger Jason dinAlt is put in in most chapters of this book by the flora and fauna of Pyruss, a description consisting of the phrase "action-packed" seems more than a bit inadequate. The action doesn't let up a whole lot (which is the point, obviously) and Deathworld is probably one of the best examples of this type of SF that I've read.

Nuggety?: while it seems to meet some of the qualifications of what Brad Torgersen thinks is traditional, action-based SF, the big reveal concerning why Pyrrus is so dangerous isn't one likely to please him. Even more than Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, there's a message buried in the action that's far too complex and ambiguous than "let's go kill us some BEMs!"  

Running Through Hugo's Back Yard 10: Who?

Hugo nominee: Who? by Algis Budrys, 1959

My view: a dark book that treats the concept of being stuck in the uncomfortable middle ground of the Cold War with the symbolism it deserves, Who? is one of those novels most people probably won't forget years - or even decades - after reading it. I'm not sure how much Kafka Budrys read during his life, but Lucas Martino's dilemmas as a character (suspected by all, but especially by those who knew him before he was "rebuilt") seems to have been inspired by him to a certain degree.

Or maybe that's just Budrys' understanding of that decade's international politics and how it related to his expatriate background talking. A enjoyable, unnerving novel, and its unresolved cliffhanger ending is just about perfect considering the subject matter.

Nuggety?: Absolutely not.

Charmers, each and every one

A certain amount of backlash was to be expected from the Hugo results at Sasquan, but...

Yeah.

First off, there's the stupidity concerning this nonsense, in which Scott Malcomson thoroughly makes a fool of himself concerning the idiotic idea of a class-action lawsuit because the Puppy slates didn't win en masse.

Now what would actually be even more laughable as a concept?

How about a Gamergate-connected something called Andrew Swallow trying to drag the FBI into it for no real reason?

Add to this Kate Paulk's ever so subtle characterization of anyone opposed to this nonsense as "petty bullying socialists" who  would "fit in just as well with the Nazis as they would with their equally murderous Communist cousins" (gee, Kate, hyperbole much? Over losing a bunch of literary awards, for crying out loud?) and you get the sense that the Puppy camp is exclusively made up of one of the following:

1) Professional Internet trolls;
2) People looking to expand their following and book sales by throwing red meat to readers gullible    enough to believe their logic-free bullshit in toto;
3) People dumb enough to actually believe their own rhetoric;
4) An unpleasant mixture of "All of the Above".

Seriously, how many more iterations of this garbage do we have to go through before people do what the logical thing is and write these idiots off as not worth addressing, bickering with or even caring about?  

It seems to be the thing to do, especially since tuning out obnoxious blowhards whose opinions you couldn't give two shits about in real life is second nature to most adults.

So why not here?

Sasquan and the Crazy Uncle problem

I have no real news to add concerning the incidents concerning Lou Antonelli's letter to the Spokane police concerning that international criminal mastermind David Gerrold or his earlier outbursts of irrational anger aimed in the general direction of Carrie Cuinn and Aaron Pound (subjects covered in a far more exhaustive manner by Natalie Luhrs on Pretty Terrible); what I do have is an opinion on Sasquan's decision to let Antonelli attend later this month. 

The decision's a bad one. Here's why: despite Antonelli's apology (one which I really have my doubts about - saying "I'm sorry" seems to be the least of your problems if you openly libeled someone and tried to get them in trouble with a police department weeks before that person was even due to set foot in the city in question), what he did not only put Gerrold in potential jeopardy but the rest of Sasquan's attendees as well. This wasn't merely the action of a complete asshat with serious anger management issues; it was the action of someone who apparently has no regard for any of the other people going to a function he was going to attend as well.

I'm not sure what's more disturbing - the fact that an alleged adult was going to do this to a well-known author merely because he wrote something he didn't like or that he was apparently willing to cause all sorts of potential mayhem to other attendees in the process. Sure, Gerrold accepted his apology. That's what the bigger man does when confronted by this sort of crap. But that's not the same thing as giving him tacit permission to do it again by not reminding him of the consequences of such actions, and that's what Sasquan effectively did. In a time where all manner of deeply unpleasant shit is breaking out all over the place over the Sad Puppies 3 campaign, this was not the signal a Worldcon needed to send to its attendees or SF fandom in general.

Frankly, I'm more than a bit puzzled by this. What would happen if Antonelli had phoned in a bomb threat or called in a false active shooter report to the cops some time during the con? Would that have been okay with Sasquan's concom as well?

Back in the day, most tiffs between pros and fans ended up being confined to email and online flame wars; these days it's almost as if you have to pack a flak vest before heading off to one of these things. Sasquan's actions didn't help that perception one bit.

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