In the Sad Puppy Hugo running so far --

[Contrarius]

Just to show how desperate I can get to avoid work --

I spent a little time this afternoon tallying the Sad Puppy "recommendations" list for the Novel Hugos this afternoon. Note: this list is still open, so the numbers will no doubt change by the end of the nomination period.

Also note: on some posts it was hard to tell whether it was an actual nomination or simply a "yeah, that was a good book" post -- and I ignored posts that "nominated" more than five books. I also did not check for eligibility or double voting. And another caveat, there seemed to be a fair amount of sockpuppet/let's-vote-for-my-buddy voting. So my totals may not exactly reflect "official" totals once they come out.

That said, the top eleven picks so far (I included eleven because of ties) are:

#7 -- Ancillary Mercy
#7 -- The Just City
#6 -- Strands of Sorrow
#5 -- A Long Time Until Now
#5 -- Nethereal
#5 -- Son of the Black Sword
#4 -- Seveneves
#3 -- The Aeronaut's Windlass
#2 -- Uprooted
#1 -- Honor at Stake
#1 -- Somewhither

Interesting list. I was especially interested that Uprooted came out so high on the list, as well as The Just City and Ancillary Mercy! And I really want to check out Honor at Stake now.

 

[Contrarius]

And just to add --

From the puppy-type nominations on the list:

I listened to the first 5 hours of A Long Time Until Now a couple of weeks ago and dnfed it because it was boring.

Somewhither is not available from Audible, and I wasn't willing to give my money to Castalia House, but it turns out that it's available on Kindle Unlimited. I *was* willing to extend that far, so I downloaded it and tried the first few chapters yesterday. So far it is actually rather catchy, although quite explicitly Catholic; although I won't go back to it immediately, I may very well read the whole thing before the nomination period is up.

I don't know if I'll check out Nethereal or not. That was one that gave a strong impression of sockpuppetry/recruited voting in the recs.

 

[Jennifer P]

Uprooted is, IMO, the best fantasy novel of 2015. It's actually the only thing on my list right now because I have so little time to read and money to spend on new books.

 

[Contrarius]

And here's the official Sad Puppy top ten -- not much different from what I posted, but not identical --

Somewhither John C Wright 25
Honor At Stake Declan Finn 24
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut's Windlass Jim Butcher 21
Uprooted Naomi Novik 20
A Long Time Until Now Michael Z Williamson 17
Seveneves Neal Stephenson 15
Son of the Black Sword Larry Correia 15
Strands of Sorrow John Ringo 15
Nethereal Brian Niemeier 13
The Discworld Series Terry Pratchett 11

 

[Windshadow]

And here's the official Sad Puppy top ten -- not much different from what I posted, but not identical --

Somewhither John C Wright 25
Honor At Stake Declan Finn 24
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut's Windlass Jim Butcher 21
Uprooted Naomi Novik 20
A Long Time Until Now Michael Z Williamson 17
Seveneves Neal Stephenson 15
Son of the Black Sword Larry Correia 15
Strands of Sorrow John Ringo 15
Nethereal Brian Niemeier 13
The Discworld Series Terry Pratchett 11

As Pratchett is my Favorite author of the last 25 years (note the avatar of the Bursar and Ponder that I use (the young me and the current me)I have to ask: is the listing for him due to the "Long XXX " series with the last? one The Long Utopia published last Jan. that he cowrote with Baxter which is science fiction with the Discworld series considered fantasy or is the Hugo now covering both areas?

 

[Contrarius]

The Long Utopia published last Jan. that he cowrote with Baxter which is science fiction with the Discworld series considered fantasy or is the Hugo now covering both areas?

The Hugo does cover both sf and f, though it typically favors sf.

From the Hugo website: "
What are the Hugo Awards?
The Hugo Awards, to give them their full title, are awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy. "

I suppose the first really obvious fantasy winner would be 2001's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but several fantasy books have won since then.

 

[intensityxx]

Uprooted is, IMO, the best fantasy novel of 2015. It's actually the only thing on my list right now because I have so little time to read and money to spend on new books.

Uprooted has been on my wishlist for ages. I keep swearing I'll read all the ebooks I have before buying more, but I'm weak. I think you pushed me off the fence. Will buy now.

Is Naomi Novik one of the Sad Puppies? I know they only vote for their own. (I really hate all the Hugo in-fighting.)

 

[Jennifer P]

This year, the Sad Puppies set up a forum that was open to the public and did open voting, and they have carefully made sure not to recommend exactly five works in any given category.

I no longer have a problem with them. Given the vast scope of the genre these days, a forum to help people narrow down their reading and campaign for the books they like is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Naomi Novik is not associated with them as far as I know.

(The RABID Puppies are still a problem).

I just hope Seveneves doesn't win. Stephenson was off his game with that one. But that's not political, it's an aesthetic dislike of the book .

 

[Contrarius]

Is Naomi Novik one of the Sad Puppies? I know they only vote for their own. (I really hate all the Hugo in-fighting.)

Ha. Very much NOT a Sad Pup. What Jennifer said about the open voting this year for the Sad Pups (although the recommendations list appeared to be rife with sock puppets and engineered voting, the actual votes were and still are available for all to see and contribute to).

In fact, Naomi Novik has a long history in slash fiction, and originated/runs/ran the Archive Of Our Own (AO3) site -- the largest fanfiction website I'm aware of. Her history in slash accounts for the homoerotic overtones in the Temeraire series, I believe.

(And for those who haven't read Uprooted yet, no, there is no homoeroticism to speak of in that book, though I don't even remember right now if there are any same-sex relationships amongst the secondary characters.)

 

[Jennifer P]

The key thing is that they didn't recommend exactly five things, which means people still have to choose, or fill out their ballot with other stuff, or nominate less than five. That reduces the abuse of slate voting.

I don't remember any same sex relationships in Uprooted and my library is currently in a mess from moving, I think I already packed my copy. But it does have some beautiful trope subversion, starting with turning "Virgin sacrificed to dragon" into something amazing.

 

[Contrarius]

The key thing is that they didn't recommend exactly five things, which means people still have to choose, or fill out their ballot with other stuff, or nominate less than five. That reduces the abuse of slate voting.

Yup, I'm with you on all that. Their process was much improved over last year, and the inclusion of Novik, Leckie, and Walton high on the list proves that (probably Stephenson too, considering that

Spoiler

large swaths of the book focus on female characters

.)

 

[Jennifer P]

I think a lot...I didn't participate myself because time...of the people who were irritated with the slate voting actually went over there to vote when they said anyone could.

 

[Luke_B]

This might be of interest: http://approachingpavonis.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/slow-bullets-and-sad-puppies.html?m=1

Alastair Reynolds is seeking to have his novella "Slow Bullets" removed from the Sad Puppies list with little luck.

 

[Contrarius]

This might be of interest: http://approachingpavonis.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/slow-bullets-and-sad-puppies.html?m=1

Alastair Reynolds is seeking to have his novella "Slow Bullets" removed from the Sad Puppies list with little luck.

Interesting, thanks! I know Catherynne Valente was also Not Pleased about being on one of the lists.

I don't see too much to complain about with the process this year, but I understand that some may still be disturbed about the principle of the thing.