Ansible 334 -- May 2015 [long]

[David Langford]

ANSIBLE 334
MAY 2015

From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website
news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE,
5 eggs, dangerous flags or a Cephalotron.

[NET NOTE. See http://news.ansible.uk/a334.html for the nice HTML version.
Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please
don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]


DYSPROSIUM & PUPPYGATE. The 2015 Eastercon at the Park Inn, Heathrow, was a
lot of fun: I'm not much of a programme-goer these days but among other
things appreciated the newsletter (_Plokta_ team), real ale/cider bar
(wrangled by Martin Hoare) and Hugo Horrors panel. The last discussed the
Hugo shortlist, which as heavily foreshadowed had been successfully gamed
by slate votes organized by groups calling themselves Sad Puppies and Rabid
Puppies. This is made possible by the huge spread of Hugo preferences: a
relatively small percentage of voters following a party-line slate covering
all five available slots in each category can swamp the usual unorganized
vote. SP/RP candidates duly filled the entire initial ballot for Related
Work, Short Story, Novelette and Novella, with just two non-slate options
for Best Novel -- at least one freed by a declined slate nomination. Two
slate choices were then removed as ineligible; two more unprecedentedly
withdrew after the shortlist announcement, Marko Kloos (novel) and Annie
Bellet (short); later withdrawals, too late to affect the printed ballot,
were _Black Gate_ (fanzine) and Edmund R. Schubert of _Orson Scott Card's
Intergalactic Medicine Show_ (editor, short form). Novel finalists are now
_Ancillary Sword_ by Ann Leckie, _The Dark Between the Stars_ by Kevin J.
Anderson, _The Goblin Emperor_ by Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette), _Skin
Game_ by Jim Butcher and _The Three Body Problem_ by Liu Cixin, trans Ken
Liu. Anderson and Butcher were slate choices; Cixin just missed nomination
and moved up when Kloos withdrew. The online indignation level has been
high since Easter. George R.R. Martin himself took time off writing for
several long, sane blog posts on 'Puppygate'. I mostly burnt out on listing
links at news.ansible.uk/misc/link15.html#hugonoms, but continue to link to
Mike Glyer's heroic _File 770_ coverage. Since I consider slate voting a
thoroughly bad thing, I expect to make judicious -- though not
indiscriminate -- use of the No Award option on the final Hugo ballot.
Meanwhile, all sympathy to John Lorentz's hard-pressed Sasquan Hugo
committee; to Kevin Standlee and others who'll be running a perhaps
overcrowded and fraught Worldcon business meeting at which anti-slate rules
changes will be proposed; and to slate nominees who were unaware either
that they'd been included or that this placed them in an exposed position
on a new battlefield of the US culture wars.


### THE PUPPIES OF TERRA ###

RAMSEY CAMPBELL will receive an honorary fellowship from Liverpool John
Moores University in July 'for his outstanding contribution to literature'.
(news.cision.com announcement, 16 April)

MALCOLM EDWARDS is to step down as Orion's deputy CEO and publisher at the
end of the year, becoming chair of Gollancz and consultant publisher for
Orion; he's glad to have found this 'way of stepping off the management
roundabout.' (_Bookseller_, 29 April) [AIP]

H.R. GIGER's name has been bestowed on a carnivorous _Nepenthes_
pitcher-plant hybrid of 'nightmarish appearance' which in close-up looks
like 'a frightening alien landscape'. (_Telegraph_, 10 April) [MPJ]

JEET HEER on how the Hugos used to be: 'The nomination process works on the
wisdom of crowds, which the final vote winnows to a winner. Slate voting
undermines.' (Twitter, 18 April)

K.J. PARKER, after much speculation (and a period of disinformation when
this uncomic fantasy author was said to be female), has been revealed as
the pseudonym of Tom Holt. (_Pornokitsch_, 21 April)

LAVIE TIDHAR summed up a great deal with his Hugo shortlist tweet: 'Truly
it's an honour just to not be nominated.' (6 April)


### CONCEPTS ###

6 May [] ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD presentation, Foyles, 107 Charing Cross
Road, London. See clarkeaward.com and 'Awards' below. Tickets Pounds12.50:
www.foyles.co.uk/Public/Events/Detail.aspx?eventId=2521.

6 May [] TELEFANTASY AND SOCIETY (symposium), University of Lincoln, from
9am. Pounds45 reg; students Pounds25. See tinyurl.com/njbbw4z.

7 May [] LONDON FIRST THURSDAY pub meeting. Upstairs bar, The Castle, 34-35
Cowcross St, London, EC1M 6DB, from 6pm -- a temporary move while the
Melton Mowbray is being refurbished in May and June.

8-10 May [] FANTASTIQ (genre film festival), QUAD art centre, Market Place,
Derby, DE22 3PN. Pounds50 reg. See fantastiq.co.uk.

9 May [] BFS/BSFA PUBMEET, Brigantes Bar, 114 Micklegate, York. 4:30pm on.
Free. With K.T. Davies, Mark Morris readings/Q&A.

13 May [] IN CONVERSATION: Penelope Lively and Philip Pullman, Waterstones
Piccadilly. 6:30-8:30pm. Pounds20 online or Pounds22 offline;
Pounds15/Pounds17 for Society of Authors members. See tinyurl.com/qgma7ja.

13 May [] THIRD ANNUAL TOLKIEN LECTURE, Pichette Auditorium, Pembroke
College, Oxford. With Lev Grossman. 6:30pm. Free, but you are asked to sign
up in advance: see tinyurl.com/k6zxeyr.

17 May [] PAUL 'GAMMA' GAMBLE wake, The Enterprise, 2 Haverstock Hill,
London, NW3 2BL. 6-11pm. All friends of Gamma welcome.

24 May [] TRIFFID ALLEY, named in honour of John Wyndham (see _A333_):
unveiling 11:30am-12:15pm. Gather 11:30am at the drinking fountain, South
End Green, London, NW3 2DG. Then: '... speeches; walk over to the Alley to
unveil the plaque; maybe a band or costumes.'

27 May [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, Artillery Arms, 102 Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y
8ND. 5/6pm for 7pm. With Sarah Pinborough. Free.

28 May - 6 Jun [] SCI-FI-LONDON (genre film festival), London, various
venues. See www.sci-fi-london.com/festival.

30 May [] CONAN DOYLE CON, City Tavern, 38 Bishopsgate Street, Birmingham,
B15 1EJ. Noon-8:30pm. Pounds15. See tinyurl.com/pzwmpl7.

30 May [] WONDERLANDS: The U.K. Graphic Novel Expo, Cityspace, Chester
Road, Sunderland, SR1 3SD. Free entry to Publishers' Hall and all panels
and talks. See www.wonderlands.org.uk for more.

4 Jun [] LONDON FIRST THURSDAY at The Castle: see 7 May above.

4 Jun [] SCI-FI AND THE FUTURE (Cheltenham Festival sf panel), Winton
Crucible, Cheltenham. 8-9pm. Pounds10. See tinyurl.com/nbeb3l3.

5 Jun [] BFS OPEN NIGHT, The Blacksmith & Toffeemaker pub, 292-294 Saint
John St, London, EC1V 4PA. 7pm-11pm. Free; all welcome.

26 Sep [] BRISTOLCON, Doubletree Hotel, Bristol. _Now Pounds25 reg_;
Pounds30 at the door. Cheques to 18 High Leaze Road, Patchway, Bristol BS34
5AF. See also www.bristolcon.org.

26 Sep [] TITANCON, Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast. Pounds25 reg; Pounds5
supporting. See titancon.com.

16 Oct [] GOLLANCZ FESTIVAL, Waterstones Deansgate, Manchester. 6pm-9pm.
Also online activity all day. More TBA at gollanczfest.com.

17 Oct [] GOLLANCZ FESTIVAL, Waterstones Piccadilly, London. 2pm-5pm. Also
online activity all day. Again, more TBA at gollanczfest.com.

23-25 Oct [] FANTASYCON, East Midlands Conference Centre & Orchard Hotel,
Nottingham. GoH (so far) John Connolly, Jo Fletcher, Brandon Sanderson.
Pounds65 reg; couples Pounds110; under-16s Pounds30; under-5s free. Rates
rise 1 July. See fantasycon2015.org.

25-28 Mar 2016 [] MANCUNICON (Eastercon), Manchester. GoH Aliette de
Bodard, David L. Clements, Ian McDonald, Sarah Pinborough. Pounds60 reg;
13-17s Pounds45; 4-12s Pounds30; under-4s free. See mancunicon.org.uk.

28-29 May 2016 [] SATELLITE 5, Marriott Hotel, Glasgow. Now Pounds55 reg;
12-17s Pounds20; 5-11s Pounds5; under-5s Pounds2. Rates good to 18
November. Membership forms and online registration at satellite5.org.uk.

14-17 Apr 2017 [] PASGON (Eastercon), Cardiff. GoH Jo Walton, Lyn Evans,
David 'DC' Carlile, Judith Clute. See www.pasgon.org.uk.

RUMBLINGS. _2017 Worldcon Site Selection_ is open, with contenders
Helsinki, Montreal, Nippon and Washington DC. Ballots, though not as yet
online payment, at sasquan.org/site-selection/. [] _Hugo Voting_ (member
number and PIN required): sasquan.org/hugo-awards/voting/.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS SEE US. 'If you haven't seen any of Game of Thrones so far, you
might be wondering if it's worth ploughing through 40 hours of fantasy
hokum to get you up to speed. It certainly looks, at first glance, like a
load of old nonsense comprising bare breasts, fighting, dragons and not
much else.' (Charlotte Runcie, _Telegraph_, 12 April) [MPJ] But after this
cunning narrative hook, the article becomes a rave review.

AWARDS. _A. Bertram Chandler_ (Australia; life achievement): Donna Maree
Hanson.
_Arthur C. Clarke_ shortlist: M.R. Carey, _The Girl with All the
Gifts_; Michel Faber, _The Book of Strange New Things_; Dave Hutchinson,
_Europe in Autumn_; Emmi Itaranta, _Memory of Water_; Claire North, _The
First Fifteen Lives of Harry August_; Emily St John Mandel, _Station
Eleven_.
_BSFA:_ NOVEL Ann Leckie, _Ancillary Sword_. SHORT Ruth E J Booth,
'The Honey Trap' (_La Femme_). NONFICTION Edward James, _SF and Fantasy
Writers and the First World War_ (fantastic-writers-and-the-great-war.com).
ARTWORK Tessa Farmer, _The Wasp Factory_ (sculpture).
_Ditmar_ (Australia) novel category, a tie: Glenda Larke, _The
Lascar's Dagger_; Trudi Canavan, _Thief's Magic_.
_Doc Weir:_ Martin Hoare.
_Edgars_ (mystery) novel winner: Stephen King, _Mr. Mercedes_.
_ESFS Hall of Fame:_ AUTHOR China Mieville; ARTIST Manchu (France);
MAGAZINE _Fantastica Almanac_ (Bulgaria); PUBLISHER Gollancz; PROMOTER
Mihaela Marija Perkovic (Croatia); TRANSLATOR Ekaterina Dobrohotova-Majkova
(Russia).
_James Herbert_ (horror; (inaugural award): Craig Davidson as Nick
Cutter, _The Troop_.
_James Tiptree Jr_ for gender-bending fiction (tie): Monica Byrne,
_The Girl in the Road_; Jo Walton, _My Real Children_.
_Norma K Hemming_ (Australia; sf race, gender, sexuality, class and
disability): Paddy O'Reilly, _The Wonders_.
_Philip K. Dick:_ Meg Elison, _The Book of the Unnamed Midwife_.
_Prometheus _(libertarian) shortlist: Liu Cixin, _The Three-Body
Problem_ (trans Ken Liu); Terry Pratchett, _Raising Steam_; Marcus Sakey,
_A Better World_; Daniel Suarez, _Influx_. Hall of Fame: Harlan Ellison,
'"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman' (December 1965 _Galaxy_).
_Pulitzer Prize:_ the shortlist of five includes Jordan Harrison's sf
play _Marjorie Prime_. [AIP]
_Solstice_ (SFWA life achievement award): Joanna Russ, Stanley
Schmidt.

THE WILDEST LINK. _Bradley Walsh:_ 'Who was famously imprisoned in cell C33
in Reading Gaol?' _Contestant:_ 'Nelson Mandela.' (ITV, _The Chase_) [PE]
_Bradley Walsh again:_ 'The fictional land of Fantippo features in
books about which doctor?' _Beth Tweddle_, excusably: 'Who.' (ITV, _The
Chase: Celebrity Special_, 5 April) [MPJ]

R.I.P. _Patrick H Adkins_ 1948-2015) US author, editor, publisher and fan
who wrote the Titan mythological fantasy trilogy (1997-1990) and the
sf/horror _The Third Beast_ (2000), died on 7 April aged 67. [GHL]
_Karl Alexander_ (1944-2015), US film worker and author whose novel
_Time after Time_ (1979) appeared in the same year as the film based on his
story, reportedly died in late March at age 70. [SFS]
_James Best_ (1926-2015), US character actor seen in many sf
productions from _The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms_ (1953); _Riders to the
Stars_ (1954); _Forbidden Planet_ (1956) and _The Killer Shrews_ (1959) to
_Return of the Killer Shrews_ (2012), died on 6 April aged 88. [SG]
_Claire Gordon_ (1941-2015), UK actress seen in _Konga_ (1961; aka _I
Was a Teenage Gorilla_), died on 13 April aged 74. [MPJ]
_Gunter Grass_ (1927-2015), Polish-born German author who received the
Nobel Prize in 1999, died on 13 April aged 87. Fantastic elements appear in
some of his novels, in particular the famous _The Tin Drum_ (1959; filmed
1979) and the animal fantasies _The Flounder_ (1977) and _The Rat_ (1986).
_Andrew Lesnie_ (1956-2015), Australian cinematographer whose films
include _Babe_ (1995), the _Lord of the Rings trilogy_ (2001-2003), _King
Kong_ (2005), _The Last Airbender_ (2010), _Rise of the Planet of the Apes_
(2011) and the _Hobbit_ trilogy (2011-2014), died on 27 April; he was 59.
[MPJ]
_Miroslav Ondricek_ (1934-2015), Czech cinematographer who filmed
_Slaughterhouse-Five_ (1972), died on 28 March aged 80. [MPJ]
_Rex Robinson_ (1926-2015), UK actor seen in three _Doctor Who_
serials (_The Three Doctors_, 1973; _The Monster of Peladon_, 1974; _The
Hand of Fear_, 1975) and _Superman IV: The Quest for Peace_ (1987), died in
April; he was 89. [SFS]
_Herb Trimpe_ (1939-2015) US comics artist who during his long stint
at Marvel drew _The Incredible Hulk_ from 1968 to 1975 and co-created
Wolverine, died on 13 April aged 75. [PDF]
_Art Widner_ (1917-2015), long-time US fan who was a 1940 founder
member of Boston's first SF group The Stranger Club and published over 160
fanzines, died on 17 April; he was 97. [AR/AIP] The Stranger Club,
including Art, was collective Fan Guest of Honour at the 1989 Boston
Worldcon. Other honours included the 1989 Big Heart Award, a 1991 DUFF win
and entrance to the First Fandom Hall of Fame. He was widely loved and will
be very much missed.

MAGAZINE SCENE. Neil Clarke reported the most popular story titles from the
_Clarkesworld_ slushpile (50,000+ submissions to date). Top of the list was
'Dust' (18 stories); then 'The Gift', 'Home', 'Hunger', and 'Homecoming'
(all 16); 'The Box' (15); 'Monsters' (14); 'Lost and Found' (13)....
(neil-clarke.com, 9 April) Now I need to think up a new title for my
current work in progress, 'A Homecoming Gift of Lost and Found
Hunger-Monsters in a Box of Dust'.

WE ARE EVERYWHERE. Madeleine L'Engle was big news in _The Wall Street
Journal_ when her granddaughter found three pages cut from the draft of _A
Wrinkle in Time_ (1962). 'The excerpt is the most direct discussion of
politics in her writing, the scholars said, offering a richer explanation
of the author's political views. / They agreed [...] that cutting it was
the right decision, one which strengthened the narrative. The section was
too didactic, and would have dated the book, some said.' (_Galleycat_, 21
April) [PB] Will there soon be an Uncut Edition?

RANDOM FANDOM. _Fancy That:_ At the St Petersburg Eurocon in April, the
programme book listed all the Russian nominations for ESFS awards but none
from any other country.
_Hugo Finalists for Best Fan Artist_ (the one and only unPuppied
category): Ninni Aalto, Brad W. Foster, Elizabeth Leggett, Spring
Schoenhuth, Steve Stiles.

OUTRAGED LETTERS. _David Redd_ on Terry Pratchett: 'In Charles Platt's
front room, 1965, I heard Terry observe sadly that he didn't want to be
known as "the thirteen-year-old author" all his life. Well, I think he
cracked that one. RIP.'
_Andrew Stephenson_ misses nothing: 'During a recent (in UK) episode
of TV's _CSI_, a dead man is revealed as having worked for accountants
"Baker, Smith, Capaldi".'

THE DEAD PAST. _50 Years Ago_, Hugo controversy was not unknown: 'The
London Worldcon Committee, which originally followed the lead of last
year's Pacificon in dropping the drama award, have bowed before the general
feeling prevalent in fandom and have heeded what has been a significant
number of write-in nominations regarding this category. The Committee is
undoubtedly to be congratulated, not only upon the reversal of its original
decision, but upon the admirable manner in which it has conducted itself in
the entire matter.' (_Skyrack_ 79, May 1965) The reinstated Dramatic
Presentation Hugo had just two nominees, _The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao_ and
_Dr. Strangelove_ (which won).
_30 Years Ago_ there was a backlash in favour of good old-fashioned
sf: '"_Do You Remember_ when humans were heroes, androids didn't have
social hang-ups and the only good alien was a dead one?" Thus the flyer for
Hamlyn's VENTURE SF line, edited by Andromeda Bookshop stalwarts Rog Peyton
and Rog Milner.' (_Ansible_ 43, May/June 1985)
_20 Years Ago,_ Stephen Baxter had a narrow escape: 'I've come to an
agreement with the H.G. Wells estate over approval for my _Time Machine_
sequel _The Time Ships_. The estate approved publication in return for a
modest share of the proceeds, and so the huge pulping machines have been
turned back from HarperCollins's Glasgow warehouse.' (_Ansible_ 94, May
1995)
Hugos: 'Meanwhile, spies inform me that Shoemaker-Levy 9 was not ruled
ineligible for Best Dramatic Presentation but merely failed to get enough
votes.' (_Ibid_)

FANFUNDERY. _TAFF:_ the 2015 European winner of the TransAtlantic Fan Fund
is Nina Horvath, with 48 first-round votes to Wolf von Witting's 40 (Hold
Over Funds 1; No Preference 18). Nina will attend Sasquan, the Spokane
Worldcon.
_DUFF:_ there will be no 2015 race. Julian Warner and Justin Ackroyd
are assisting Australasian administrator Bill Wright with the Down Under
Fan Fund. Lucy Huntzinger is now acting as North American DUFF
administrator, since the most recent NA winner Juanita Coulson is unable to
handle the work.

MEDIA MUCHNESS. _BAFTA TV Craft:_ special visual/graphic effects, _Doctor
Who_ (BBC); original music, production design and make-up & hair, _Penny
Dreadful_ (Sky Atlantic).
_Empire Film Awards:_ best film was _Interstellar_, with Christopher
Nolan as best director. Other winners included _Game of Thrones_ ('Hero'),
_Paddington_ (comedy), _The Babadook_ (horror) and _X-Men: Days Of Future
Past_ (sf/fantasy). [MPJ]

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Missing Link Dept._ 'He was wearing a grey cap, grey
jacket, white shirt, navy-blue striped tie and white socks, which he'd
pulled up almost to his pink kneecaps.' (Claire North, _The First Fifteen
Lives of Harry August_, 2014) [AS]
_Dept of Fractal Physics._ 'The fact is that such _[black]_ holes can
be very small, as small as the size of their constituent particles ...'
(David A. Kyle, _Lensman from Rigel_, 1982) [BA]
_Hothead Dept._ 'The human's brain began to function once more; he
could almost feel it sweating.' (Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson, 'In
Hoka Signo Vinces', June 1953 _Other Worlds_) [CG]
_Dept of Interplanetary Phrenology._ 'I was somewhat startled, then,
in looking at the head and center of the great military system of Mars, to
find in his appearance a striking confirmation of the speculations of our
terrestrial phrenologists. His broad, misshapen head bulged in those parts
where they had located the so-called organs of combativeness,
destructiveness, etc.' (Garrett P. Serviss, _Edison's Conquest of Mars_,
1898) [JN]
_Running Off at the Mouth Dept._ 'Dolusi let a smile drip toward the
scientist.' (Curtis W. Casewit, _The Peacemakers_, 1960) [CG]


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### ENDNOTES ###

APPARITIONS.
[] 8 May 2015, Iain Grant talks to the Brum Group, Briar Rose Hotel,
Bennett's Hill, Birmingham city centre. 7:30pm for 8pm; Pounds4 or Pounds3
for members. Contact bhamsfgroup at yahoo co uk or rog dot peyton at
btinternet dot com. Future meetings: 12 June 2015, Stephanie Saulter; 10
July 2015, TBA; 14 August 2015, Summer Meal; 11 September 2015, TBA; 9
October 2015, TBA; 6 November 2015, Emma Newman; 4 December 2015, Xmas
Social.

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the
editor happy! Or just buy his books.
http://ansible.uk/paypal.html
http://ae.ansible.uk/
http://ansible.uk/books/index.html
http://ansible.uk/books/leaky.html
http://ansible.uk/books/starcomb.html

EDITORIAL. I've been somewhat distracted from the noble labour of
converting the Langford backlist into ebook form. Almost ready for release
are the retrospective collection _Different Kinds of Darkness_ (2004, now
expanded) and my 1980 TAFF trip report _The TransAtlantic Hearing Aid_
(1985) -- the latter with much help from Rob Jackson, who thirty years
later still has all the original artwork from the print edition. More soon
at:
http://ae.ansible.uk/ebooks.php

STILL MORE AWARDS. Links to _ESFS Awards_ in full; _Goldie Awards_
(lesbian) shortlist -- see genre categories; the final Hugo shortlist.
http://esfs.info/esfs-awards/
http://www.goldencrown.org/2015_Finalists
http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2015-hugo-awards/


Ansible 335 Copyright (c) David Langford, 2015. Thanks to Brian Ameringen,
Paul Barnett, Paul Di Filippo, Carl Glover, Steve Green, Martyn P. Jackson,
Guy H. Lillian, James Nicoll, Andrew I. Porter, Private Eye, Alan
Rosenthal, Andy Sawyer, SF Site, and our Hero Distributors: Dave Corby
(Brum Group), SCIS/Prophecy, Alan Stewart (Australia).

1 May 2015

--
David Langford | http://ansible.uk/ | http://news.ansible.uk/

[Robert A. Woodward]

In article <gcb7katk7gkosn1sv...@4ax.com>,

David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk> wrote:

> ANSIBLE 334
> MAY 2015
>
> From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website
> news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE,
> 5 eggs, dangerous flags or a Cephalotron.
>
> [NET NOTE. See http://news.ansible.uk/a334.html for the nice HTML version.
> Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please
> don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]
>
>
> DYSPROSIUM & PUPPYGATE. The 2015 Eastercon at the Park Inn, Heathrow, was a
> lot of fun: I'm not much of a programme-goer these days but among other
> things appreciated the newsletter (_Plokta_ team), real ale/cider bar
> (wrangled by Martin Hoare) and Hugo Horrors panel. The last discussed the
> Hugo shortlist, which as heavily foreshadowed had been successfully gamed
> by slate votes organized by groups calling themselves Sad Puppies and Rabid
> Puppies.

The final Hugo ballot is proof that there was Rabid Puppies slate
votes. But how many Sad Puppies ballots were there? Without the
actual nomination numbers, there is no way to tell the difference
between no Sad Puppies slate nomination ballots and a number of
slate nomination ballots just 3 or 4 shy of the Rabid Puppies list.

--
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com>
<http://robertaw.drizzlehosting.com>

[David Langford]

On Fri, 01 May 2015 17:46:42 +0100, David Langford <ans...@cix.co.uk>

wrote:
>ANSIBLE 334
>MAY 2015

[...]

>27 May [] BSFA OPEN MEETING, Artillery Arms, 102 Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y
>8ND. 5/6pm for 7pm. With Sarah Pinborough. Free.

Oops. That should read "With Edward James" -- Sarah Pinborough is the June
speaker.

> _30 Years Ago_ there was a backlash in favour of good old-fashioned
>sf: '"_Do You Remember_ when humans were heroes, androids didn't have
>social hang-ups and the only good alien was a dead one?" Thus the flyer for
>Hamlyn's VENTURE SF line, edited by Andromeda Bookshop stalwarts Rog Peyton
>and Rog Milner.' (_Ansible_ 43, May/June 1985)

Oops again: _Rod_ Milner. A 1985 typo comes back to haunt me. Spotter's
credit to Chris Priest.

[David Goldfarb]

In article <robertaw-6BB148...@news.individual.net>,

Robert A. Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>The final Hugo ballot is proof that there was Rabid Puppies slate
>votes. But how many Sad Puppies ballots were there? Without the
>actual nomination numbers, there is no way to tell the difference
>between no Sad Puppies slate nomination ballots and a number of
>slate nomination ballots just 3 or 4 shy of the Rabid Puppies list.

Well, there's some indication in the Short Story category. The
initial Short Story ballot contained every story that was on the
Rabid Puppy list, and missed one story that was on Sad but not
on Rabid. When Annie Bellet withdrew, the story that replaced
hers was the one that was Sad.

--
David Goldfarb |"...with very few exceptions, nothing lasts
goldf...@gmail.com | forever; and among those exceptions no thought
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | or work of man is numbered." -- Iain M. Banks