Domain: worldcon.org
Stories and comments across the archive that link to worldcon.org.
Comments · 30
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Re:I'm not buying any more WoTC products...
Back in 1995, I attended the Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland. http://www.worldcon.org/
On the schedule booklet was a message which declared that it (the booklet) was sponsored by "Wizards of the Cost".
Serendipity or Prophecy? You decide. -
Re:It's a TV Show
0) Read a book. If you want good SF, you could just start with the Hugo Award winners. At your local bookshop or library. But that will make you dissatisfied with what is presented as SF on network TV....
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Spider Robinson, a full-time author, has an answer
for this. His Answer won the Hugo for best short-short story in 1983. It is three pages long and worth the read. He makes it available "for free" on his website. http://www.spiderrobinson.com/melancholyelephants
. html.
Spider Robinson is the author of the "Calahan's Crosstime Saloon" series which inspired the "alt.callahan's" usenet newsgroup.
The Hugo, as most slashdotters are probably well aware is a major fan-voted award for excellence in science fiction and fantasy related literature and art. The Hugo is awarded in several categories each year at the Wold Science Fiction Convention.http://www.worldcon.org/
Note that I am Not Mr. Robinson!
(just a fan) -
Re:Accumulated knowledge
Great, if not moderately obscure, reference. Foundation is a great series.
Obscure? It was voted the Hugo Best All Time Series. http://worldcon.org/hc.html#ats -
Re:What about comics?
This reminds me of the time that an issue of Sandman won the World Fantasy Award, and the committee immediately changed the rules to prevent a comic book from ever winning again.
As for the Hugos, it looks like one comic actually managed to win: They created a one-off "Other Forms" category in 1988 for Watchmen. -
Re:SF Writers Dominate Hugos
Actually, the Hugo Awards are explicitly for both fantasy and SF:
Section 3.3: Categories.
3.3.1: Best Novel. A science fiction or fantasy story of forty thousand (40,000) words or more.
3.3.2: Best Novella. A science fiction or fantasy story of between seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) and forty thousand (40,000) words.
Etc etc.
I'm all for the World Fantasy Awards -- I won one in 1987 and I was a judge this year -- but they're not different from the Hugos in that they're for fantasy and the Hugos are "for SF". They're different in that they're a juried award and the Hugos are a popularly-voted one. You're mixing apples, oranges, prosciutto, and turpentine. -
Re:I've seen 3 Harry Potter movies so far
I sometimes wonder if the adults that enjoy these books have not yet been exposed to real fantasy.
Well, it's not like she's won any major SF awards or anything, so I guess not.
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Re:First comment! :D'The City On The Edge Of Forever'
I beg to differ.
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Re:UhhhYou *have* to take action to enforce trademarks, or lose them. The "Scrabble" name is worth something to Hasbro. The game could have been nothing like real Scrabble, and they'd still probably have to send out a notice, just in case.
There's nothing "probably" about it. If you let anybody use your trademark without permission you can, and eventually will lose it. Years ago, a group of dentists wanted to hold a world-wide conference of dentists, and call it "Worldcon." The trademark owners for the World Science Fiction Convention had to tell them they couldn't use it, even though there was no real conflict.
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Re:I'm sorry, I just don't get itSo do you disagree with the Hugo award for the season 2 episode "The Coming of Shadows"?
can somebody explain to me why I shouldn't consider the failure of this to become a movie anything other than a benefit to mankind?
Well, even if you don't like the show, it's not like it's flesh-eating bacteria, or Star Trek: Enterprise. -
Re:MCI aka WORLDCON
Worldcon is trademarked by the World Science Fiction Society. They were really not thrilled with the "Worldcon" headlines. The Worldcon Mark Protection Committee is going to get you!
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YES!!!
Of course! I think the World Science Fiction Convention should give a Hugo award to the Best Open Source Documentation.
Then folks like me, who program more than write, would actually have a chance of winning a Hugo.
On the other hand, I don't want my Open Source documentation to be mistaken for science fiction...
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the father of cyberpunk
Gibson is one of the all time great sci-fi storytellers.
To this day neuromancer remains one of the best sci-fi tales of the modern age. Reading it for the first time when I was 13, I didn't understand it all. In fact I didn't understand most of it until I had re-read it a few times. Perhaps this is why it was not a critical success immediately. Either way, they eventually came around, and within two years the book had won the big three.
The real reason I loved the book as a kid was because of Case! He was one of the guys who made me want to grow up to be a code cowboy (even if I didn't come close). Gibson gave the nerd a sexy and dangerous side that put the cyberpunk genre on the map, soon after every would be 'hacker' was longing for 'cyberspace' just like Case was:
A year [in Japan] and he still dreamed of cyberspace, hope fading nightly.... He'd see the matrix in his sleep, bright lattices of logic unfolding across that colorless void.... The Sprawl was a long strange way home over the Pacific now, and he was no console man, no cyberspace cowboy. Just another hustler, trying to make it through. But the dreams came on in the Japanese night like livewire voodoo, and he'd cry for it, cry in his sleep, and wake alone in the dark, curled in his capsule in some coffin hot el, his hands clawed into the bedslab, temperfoam bunched between his fingers, trying to reach the console that wasn't there.'
A master at the top of his game. -
Re:Spider Robinson on SF? Huh?
What makes Spider Robinson a commentator on SF, Sci-Fi or anything else other than pablum?
You mean besides winning a Locus award for Best Critic? Besides being book reviewer for Galaxy, Analog and New Destinies magazines for nearly a decade, and continuing to write occasional book reviews and a regular Op-Ed column, "Future Tense," for The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper.? Nothing, I guess...
And as for the 'Speculative Fiction', well, he isn't a writer of that either.
The people who voted to award him three Hugo awards (science fiction's top honor), a Nebula award, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the E.E. "Doc" Smith Memorial Award (Skylark), the Pat Terry Memorial Award for Humorous Science Fiction, and a second Locus award for Best Novella would appear to disagree with you. But you can always define 'speculative fiction' to be whatever you want, and set up your definition to exclude what he writes. -
Re:Not too bright..
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Irrelevant
And yet, if you read the actual rules for the Hugo Awards, it clearly states that "Hugo Awards are given for work in the field of science fiction or fantasy"
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Fantasy is part of the definition
From the
constitution of the WSFS:
3.2.1: Unless otherwise specified, Hugo Awards are given for work in the field of science fiction or fantasy appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year.
Admittedly, prior to Harry Potter the winning novel has never been fantasy (Lord of Light and To Your Scattered Bodies Go are probably the closest, and few people would characterize those as anything other than SF). But fantasy often wins in the short fiction catagories.
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If you don't like the results...If you don't like the results, go to the Worldcon and vote. It's not that hard. Preregister in advance to save the money, find some friends, get a hotel room, and have a good time.
Some people take their fun way too seriously. The hugos are a classic example of this. It's just a vote by a group of geeks attenting a yearly international party. Your local mayor probably gets more voter turnout in the local election.
See you at Torcon.
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If you don't like the results...If you don't like the results, go to the Worldcon and vote. It's not that hard. Preregister in advance to save the money, find some friends, get a hotel room, and have a good time.
Some people take their fun way too seriously. The hugos are a classic example of this. It's just a vote by a group of geeks attenting a yearly international party. Your local mayor probably gets more voter turnout in the local election.
See you at Torcon.
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Re:This guy's art and why I hate being an artist.
Thankfully, there is the Association of Science-fiction and Fantasy Artists which gives an annual award (The Chesley Award).
The Chesley awards are presented each year at the World Science Fiction Convention, which this year (later this month, in fact) is in San Jose.
The convention has an extensive art show, with many artists exhibiting their work.
There is even a 'real-world' gallery devoted to space art.
So, although the 'serious' art world looks down on this type of art, there are venues, and a market, for this work. -
Harry Potter is Fantasy
Yes, I know, the rules specify the field of "science fiction or fantasy." And I have nothing against fantasy; I read a little. But last year's Harry Potter novel didn't belong there. Fantasy is a different genre and has its own awards.
None of the other 48 award winning novels are fantasy. About the closest are the Zelazny winners (Lord of Light, ...And Call Me Conrad) and To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Farmer). Those are clearly science fiction at the core, but with some fantasy-like setting. -
Harry Potter is Fantasy
Yes, I know, the rules specify the field of "science fiction or fantasy." And I have nothing against fantasy; I read a little. But last year's Harry Potter novel didn't belong there. Fantasy is a different genre and has its own awards.
None of the other 48 award winning novels are fantasy. About the closest are the Zelazny winners (Lord of Light, ...And Call Me Conrad) and To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Farmer). Those are clearly science fiction at the core, but with some fantasy-like setting. -
What about Frank Herbert or George Orwell?
Frank Herbert - Dune. It didn't win the Hugo Award for nothing.
George Orwell - 1984. Dated,yes. But also timeless. -
Popularity ContestIt's ridiculous; obviously the Hugo is becoming a popularity meter like the Oscar.
The Hugo Award is a popularity contest. To quote from the page:
...and determined by nominations from and a popular vote of the membership of [the World Science Fiction Society]. -
Re:From the Hugo rules...The Hugo awards are voted on by the people who attend or support the World Science Fiction Convention. It's a popularity contest voted on by the fans. Any work that the fans think qualify as SF or fantasy is eligible to be nominated and voted on.
It doesn't cost very much to buy an advance supporting membership. I wish this page for the current Worldcon still had the prices for advance membership posted, but that info was probably removed when the deadlines passed. The prices were probably not too much different than next year's Worldcon. Act now; for just $35 USD, you too will be able to nominate and vote the Hugo for works first published in 2001.
*** Ponderoid -
Re:Do they know what sci-fi is?Point taken.
I wish I had read that before I posted, but the Hugo Award Rules appear to be non-existant
:\But doesn't the majority of readers associate the Hugo with hard sci-fi? Are they trying to dilute the meaning of award?
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Re:TerribleYet he's received more Hugo awards that the any other author you've mentioned. I guess some people think he's a pretty good author.
There are only two type of Heinlein books reviews, those who like them, and those who don't. I've noticed that the good reviews focus on the societal and cultural ideas of the book, while the bad reviews focus on the situations or characters with which Heinlein presents his ideas. So decide what you like, and you'll know if Heinlein is for you.
On a personal note, the fantasy of 3 young girls fulfilling my every whim is appealing, which is one of the reasons why I thought it was good book.
bh
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My child's readling list. By two geeks.Warning, includes fantasy.
Warning, these books are based off of reading level, not content. Books may contain violence, sex, lots of gay people, or christianity.A wrinkle in time. by Madeleine L'Engle
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - (Note: get a copy of The AQnnotated Alice by Martin Gardner
The hobbit. by J.R.R. Tolkien
Anything by Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Alan Dean Foster, or Piers Anthony
Darkover (any of the books) by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orsen Scott Card
The Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.A decent collection of Science fiction, mostly suitable for children
Also, Please attend the Worldcon, this year it's in Chicago followed by Philadelphia, PA, then San José. We have a lot of things for you and your children.
of course, our little one is only 6 months old. Mostly he's an excuse to reread Harold and the Purple Crayon
I aplogogise for any redundancies. This list took awhile to compile and find the links, especially as the co-author was breastfeeding at the time...
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Good beginners Science FictionFrom what I dimly remember of being that age myself, here are a few suggestions:
- 'Cordelia's Honor' by Lois McMaster Bujold.
- 'The Moon is Hell' by John W. Campbell. (Although that's pretty hard to find these days)
- 'On Basilisk Station' by David Weber. (A good introduction to SF, and available free online! See the Baen Webscription site. (Free registration required).
- 'A Fire Upon the Deep' by Vernor Vinge
- 'Hyperion' by Dan Simmons
- 'Steel Beach' by John Varley
- 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress' by Robert A. Heinlein
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Keeping your geeks happyHave fast net access, Omaha, NE for example has a lot of cable modems.
Have a good sized convention center. Without it you cant attract things like the Worldcon or any of the computer expos.
Have good colleges, including science and liberal arts. Geeks need schools, and when we're not learning cryptography we're learning egyptology. Don't skip on the science or the arts.
Realize that having a liberal police department and a liberal political system may become political realities. Geeks tend not to run with the herd. That skate punk the cops are harassing may be a lead analyst for one of your local corps.
Watch your parks and recs. Geeks like skateparks and disc golf courses just as much, if not more, than traditional sports.
Forget the curfews. Make sure there's at least a taco bell open at 3 am. It's better if there's a pizza place that takes internet orders.
Watch your taxes. We make money, serious money, and we hate losing it to the government. We know you want us for our money, so play that game carefully. We're much more likely to consider taxes an investment and want a good return on it than most citizens.
Watch your P.R. We're better connected than you think we are. We know B.S. and have a tendancy to want to find the "truth" out. Normals don't get as nosy as geeks on a rampage.Most importantly, make sure you really want us. We may be serious income for a city, but we're also a headache. If you want our cash without being willing to seriously cater to us, then forget it. On the other hand, if you really cater to us, we'll hand over our money in the form of taxes without much worry.