The Great Science Fiction Civil War, Part 4
Hugo Awards 2015
This year’s Hugo Awards ballot has become a major battleground in the Great Science Ficiton Civil War. I’m not going to go into all the details of what’s going on. That information is out there and readily accessible. I also have some links to that information in previous posts. What this is about is the nominees.
For the most part, those on the block list did not place themselves there. Many of those who made the final ballot now face a dichotomy of elation for a career milestone and the tarnish that a cabal perhaps placed them there. We’ll never know if many of these stories, authors, and editors would have made the ballot under different circumstances, but the fact remains that people voted for the candidates on the final ballot.
While block voting may wrankle some (or most) in the community, it isn’t against the rules. There should be no asterisks in the historical list. Whether the rules need to be modified is a different discussion I’m not going to start today.
I’ve avoided commenting on the Hugo ballot for several days and several reasons. The largest of those reasons is that I feel I have a somewhat unique position to be able to help negotiate a cease fire if both sides are willing to talk. I actively tried that last week, and while there was a professional and even pleasant and fairly lengthy exchange, it didn’t go anywhere. Still, I want to maintain a stance of neutrality as I continue my offer to help mediate.
That said, the parties who are on the ballot did not, with rare exceptions, place themselves on the voting block. That was done by somebody else. While there is guilt by association, the association in many cases was not voluntary. We need to keep that in mind when discussing the Hugo ballot.
While I know many of the people on the ballot, I don’t know everyone. I don’t know how involved anyone on the Sad Puppies or Rabid Puppies block list is with that side of the conflict, but I do want to congratulate everyone on the ballot for reaching this career milestone. I’m not going to call out anyone in particular. This should not be considered an endorsement nor a disapproval of those on the ballot. I haven’t read the stories.
I still maintain there is enough room at the table for all types of writers. That even includes people I don’t care for. This active war is not productive, and I maintain my offer to help mediate even though I fear there is no desire for peace.