Monthly Archives: August 2020

Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for August 2020

It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”. So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some July … Continue reading

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Cora’s Adventures at the Virtual 2020 NASFiC and More Thoughts on Virtual Conventions

  In January of this year, there were four SFF conventions/events I was tentatively planning to attend, namely CoNZealand, the 2020 Worldcon, in Wellington, New Zealand, Futuricon, the 2020 Eurocon in Rijeka, Croatia, Hinterm Mond in Leer, East Frisia, and … Continue reading

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Indie Crime Fiction of the Month for August 2020

Welcome to the latest edition of “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”. So what is “Indie Crime Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of crime fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some July books I missed … Continue reading

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Why the Retro Hugos Have Value

Once again, this is not the post I wanted to write. I had been planning to review The Old Guard, which I finally got around to watching, and maybe write a quick con report about the virtual 2020 NASFIC. However, … Continue reading

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Retro Review: “Gambler’s Asteroid” by Manly Wade Wellman

“Gambler’s Asteroid” is a space opera short story by Manly Wade Wellman, that was published in the Spring 1944 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories and would have been eligible for the 1945 Retro Hugo Award. The story may be read … Continue reading

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Cora’s Adventures at CoNZealand, the Virtual 2020 Worldcon, and Some Thoughts on Virtual Conventions in General

So far, I’ve talked a lot about the Hugo ceremony at CoNZealand, the virtual 2020 Worldcon, but little about the con itself, which is a pity, because CoNZealand was actually pretty good, all things considered. Normally, this would be a … Continue reading

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Retro Review: “Unsung Hero” by Ruth Washburn

“Unsung Hero” is a humorous science fiction short story by Ruth Washburn, that was published in the Spring 1944 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories and would have been eligible for the 1945 Retro Hugo Award. The story may be read … Continue reading

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Reactions to the 2020 Dragon Awards Finalists or the Sound of Puppies Crying

Considering that this year’s Dragon Awards ballot looks pretty good, I guess reactions from certain quarters of the genre community, who used to consider the Dragons their territory, were inevitable. And indeed, Mike Glyer has put up a round-up of … Continue reading

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The 2020 Dragon Award Finalists Go Full Tilt Towards Mainstream Respectability

I’ve been following the saga of the Dragon Awards, an SFF award handed out at Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, since their inception in 2016. During these five years, the Dragon Awards went from puppy award that was conceived as … Continue reading

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Some Comments on the 2020 Hugo Award Winners

Now that I’ve finally got the discussion about the neverending Hugo ceremony from hell out of the way (see here and here), let’s talk about a much more pleasant topic. For while the 2020 Hugo ceremony may have been an … Continue reading

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