Introducing the Indie Crime Scene

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Cora

Many of you will know that in addition to this blog and the Pegasus Pulp blog, I also co-run the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a blog for all things indie SFF, together with Jessica Rydill.

Talking of which, I totally forgot to mention that Jessica and I have been interviewed at Joshua Pantalleresco’s Just Joshing podcast last month, where we talk about our books and our writing as well as about the Speculative Fiction Showcase. You can listen to the episode in question here.

Anyway, this weekend I was getting Kitchen Witch, the next Helen Shepherd Mystery, ready for publication. I went looking for places to promote the new release, basically for the crime and mystery equivalent of the Speculative Fiction Showcase. However, I found nothing along those lines. So I thought, “Hey, why don’t I just create my own crime and mystery promo site?” And so the Indie Crime Scene was born.

So what is the Indie Crime Scene? Eventually, I hope that it will become for the crime, mystery and thriller genres what the Speculative Fiction Showcase is for SFF, a place where you can look up new indie releases and read author interviews. There’ll be a regular link round-up as well.

What sort of books will the Indie Crime Scene feature? As explained here, my definition of crime fiction is fairly broad and encompasses not just classic mysteries, from cozy to hardboiled, and detective fiction, but also noir, suspense, both romantic and otherwise, and thrillers.

I’ve already had some submissions and the first new release spotlight will be posted tomorrow. So if you’re interested in mysteries, crime fiction and thrillers, check out the Indie Crime Scene.

Indie Crime Scene

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Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for April 2017

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Cora

Indie Speculative Fiction of the MonthIt’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 February books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, most links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailers for future editions.

Once again, we have new releases covering the whole broad spectrum of speculative fiction. This month, we have urban fantasy, epic fantasy, Asian fantasy, dystopian fiction, Cyberpunk, space opera, military science fiction, science fiction western, science fiction romance, paranormal romance, horror, dragons, werewolves, third twins, mindjackers, bounty hunters, FBI witches, alien invasions, galactic empires, intergalactic animal rescues, genetically engineered tiger supersoldiers and much more.

Don’t forget that Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month is also crossposted to the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a group blog run by Jessica Rydill and myself, which features new release spotlights, guest posts, interviews and link round-ups regarding all things speculative fiction several times per week.

As always, I know the authors at least vaguely, but I haven’t read all of the books, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books without further ado:

The Rogue Prince by Lindsay BurokerThe Rogue Prince by Lindsay Buroker

Starseer, pilot, and animal lover Jelena Marchenko wants to prove to her parents that she’s ready to captain her own freighter and help run the family business. When she finally talks them into getting a second ship and letting her fly it, it doesn’t faze her that the craft is decades old and looks like a turtle. This is the chance she’s craved for years.

But it’s not long before the opportunity to rescue mistreated lab animals lures her from her parentally approved cargo run and embroils her in a battle between warring corporations. To further complicate matters, her childhood friend Thorian, prince of the now defunct Sarellian Empire, is in trouble with Alliance law and needs her help.

Torn between her duty to her family and doing what she believes is honorable, Jelena is about to learn that right and wrong are never as simple as they appear and that following your heart can get you killed.

Broken Wolf by Stacy ClaflinBroken Wolf by Stacy Claflin:

The wolf essence stone—finding it could free werewolves from the curse of the moon. Or it could kill them all.

Victoria has burned with “the fever” to find the stone since hearing about it. Hundreds of werewolves before her have died in the quest. That legacy doesn’t deter her, though. She’s willing to risk anything to find the stone and break the curse that forces them to shift every full moon. Her obsession compels her to travel to Iceland, where she feels the stone calling to her. Pulling her toward it. If only she knew the ancient evil residing inside.

Toby fears the changes in his beloved Victoria. He sets out to find the one person who might be able to help—Soleil, a Valkyrie with incredible power and vast knowledge about essence stones. But even she may not be enough to stop the carnage Victoria is about to set loose on the world.

Victoria has a strong connection to both the stone and danger behind it. Will she be able to end the curse of the moon, or will the stone destroy them all?

USA Today bestselling author, Stacy Claflin, brings you Broken Wolf, the fourth book in the Curse of the Moon series. It’s a paranormal romantic suspense saga that features gripping supernatural drama, surprising twists, dynamic characters, and heart-pounding romance. For the best reading experience, follow the series in order.

Eye of theTiger by Michael-Scott EarleEye of the Tiger by Michael-Scott Earle:

Imprisoned and subjected to brutal genetic experiments, space marine Adam has been changed into a perfect predator. A super soldier that is part man, part tiger, and all killing machine.

When his latest mission has an unexpected outcome, Adam finds himself free of his explosive control collar and honor bound to protect a mysterious woman. Now he is on an alien planet, and they are both being hunted by the most powerful mega corporation in the solar system. Their only escape lays at the helm of an experimental starship hidden beyond countless layers of military security.

All Adam has is his military training, sense of honor, and a beautiful woman who needs to drink blood to live.

It is time to let the tiger out.

Scions of the Star Empire by Athena GraysonScions of the Star Empire: Scandal by Athena Grayson

When a princess who’s no stranger to scandal runs afoul of the secrets of the most powerful cabal on Landfall, even her crown can’t protect her from the consequences.

They can have anything they want…except a future.
Nothing infuriates Princess Ione Ra more than having someone else take control of her reputation from her, and her old nemesis–gossip journalist Jaris Pulne–is poised to do just that with pilfered pics of her caught in a compromising position with her power-couple partner. As someone who’s no stranger to manipulating the markets on her own social life, Ione knows the wrong scandal means social suicide.

Privilege is a prison…
For the other half of the power couple, Den Hades, his survival has depended on staying in his powerful father’s shadow in order to protect his secrets. But on the very night of his one chance to earn a shot at becoming a Scion–and freedom from his father’s ambitions, scandal threatens to tear him from Ione, or worse–force them together before their time.

Symphony of Fates by J.C. KangSymphony of Fates by J.C. Kang:

Kaiya escapes her ordeal at the hands of the Teleri Emperor, only to return to a homeland beset by enemies on all sides, and crumbling from within.

As a teenager, she quelled a rebellion with the Dragon Scale Lute. As a young adult, she vanquished a dragon with the power of her voice.

Now, robbed of her magic by grief, Kaiya must navigate a web of court intrigue to save the realm before it falls. Only she can lay claim to the Dragon Throne on behalf of her unborn sons—whether the father is the lover who perished rescuing her, or the hated enemy who killed him.

In the final story in Kaiya’s saga, she must rally a nation, repel invaders, and prove to the world why her family alone holds the Mandate of Heaven.

Edge of War by Anthony MelchiorriEdge of War by Anthony Melchiorri

Humanity’s expansion into the stars has led to awe-inspiring discoveries—and terrifying new threats. An insidious alien race is waging an interstellar war, enslaving any civilization they encounter to carry out their galactic rampage. Now they have set their sights on mankind.

Tag Brewer is a medical scientist. Not a ship’s captain. But as humanity’s survival hangs in the balance, he must lead a ragtag crew of humans, a skeptical alien, and a synthetic lifeform into the depths of enemy territory. There he forms an uneasy alliance with a group of aliens—the Mechanics—fleeing from the destruction.

There is only one way to track down and stop their frightening new adversaries. Tag must follow the trail of devastation left behind in the fallen Mechanic empire. There he hopes to recruit other survivors to their cause. But what Tag and his crew find is far more dangerous than any of them thought possible.

Witness Enchantment by T.S. PaulWitness Enchantment by T.S. Paul:

The Magical Crimes Division of the FBI has been loaned out to WITSEC to help protect a very valuable witness. The only problem is they don’t like FBI Agents and refuse to allow them to take him. Agatha and her charge are plagued with Magickal Assassins, Evil Witches, and Fergus her Mini Unicorn. What is one Witch to do when even members of your own family are trying to kill you?

 

 

Locked Tight by Susan Kaye QuinnLocked Tight by Susan Kaye Quinn

In a world filled with mindreaders, being a mindjacker is a good way to end up dead.
And Zeph is no ordinary jacker.

He can break open the toughest minds—or lock the weakest ones—but that just makes him a weapon every jacker Clan wants to control. To keep his family of mindreaders safe, Zeph does what his Clan leader says and tries to shut out the screams—but when jackers are revealed to the world, he has no choice but to hug his kid sister goodbye and leave home.

Passing for a reader is something Zeph does well, but when readers start changing into jackers and his family disappears, Zeph must return to a city filled with jackers who hate him, trick a mindware CEO into helping him, avoid a girl who knows him too well, and spy on the most powerful jacker in the state.

All without dying or revealing his abilities—or being caught in the firestorm of hate between jackers and readers that’s threatening to pull the world apart.

Second Time Charm by Hollis ShilohSecond Time Charm by Hollis Shiloh

I’ve wanted to work with a wolf partner for as long as I can remember. This is my third — and final — chance of being chosen by one.

You know what they say. Be careful what you wish for.

I had no idea wolves could be as broken as my new partner is. He has an intense phobia of dogs, his attitude reeks, he barely knows how to take care of himself, and doesn’t care about much of anything — except having lots of sex.

That’s the best thing about our partnership, the sex. But sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. I don’t know how to fix this. He’s difficult, annoying, handsome as hell…and I don’t want to give him up.

My dream come true is starting to feel like a nightmare. But the one he’s living turns out to be far worse.

A shifters and partners novel

The Third Twin by Darren SpeegleThe Third Twin by Darren Speegle

Some things should never be bred…

Barry Ocason, extreme sportsman and outdoor travel writer, receives a magazine in his mailbox and opens to an ad for an adventure in the Bavarian Alps. Initially dismissing the invitation, which seems to have been meant specifically for him, he soon finds himself involved in a larger plot and seeking answers to why an individual known only as the elephant man is terrorizing his family.

Barry and his daughter Kristen, who survived a twin sister taken from the family at a young age, travel from Juneau, Alaska to the sinister Spider Festival in Rio Tago, Brazil, before he ultimately answers the call to Bavaria, where the puzzle begins to come together.

Amid tribulation, death, madness, and institutionalization, a document emerges describing a scientist’s bloody bid to breed a theoretical “third twin,” which is believed to have the potential, through its connection with its siblings, to bridge the gulf between life and afterlife. The godlike creature that soon emerges turns out to be Barry’s own offspring, and she has dark plans for the world of her conception that neither her father nor any other mortal can stop.

Mercury's Bane by Nick WebbMercury’s Bane by Nick Webb:

They’re all gone. We remember them like yesterday: pieces of our stolen heritage. Things like NASA. Football. Parades and pies. Good things, comfortable things. We remember a time when we were alone in the universe, safe and oblivious.

But it’s all gone now.

We called them the Telestines, and in the face of their ruthless invasion we were powerless. By 2040, all the world’s governments and militaries had fallen, and the remnants of humanity exiled to the solar system. We looked down on our blue planet, so close to our birthplace, so close to our home. But the miles may as well have been lightyears.

Our anger smoldered in the darkness of space. On Mars. On Ganymede. In the dank crowded filth of the asteroids. We swore: we will take our planet back.

And today, it begins. Our fleet is ready. Our soldiers determined.

Earth will be ours again.

Coil Hunter by Dean F. WilsonCoilhunter by Dean F. Wilson:

Welcome to the Wild North, a desolate wasteland where criminals go to hide—if they can outlast the drought and the dangers of the desert. Or the dangers of something else.

Meet Nox, the Coilhunter. A mechanic and toymaker by trade, a bounty hunter by circumstance. He isn’t in it for the money. He’s in it for justice, and there’s a lot of justice that needs to be paid.

Between each kill, he’s looking for someone who has kept out of his crosshairs for quite a while—the person who murdered his wife and children. The trail has long gone cold, but there are changes happening, the kind of changes that uncover footprints and spent bullet casings.

Plagued by nightmares, he’s made himself into a living one, the kind the criminals and conmen fear.

So, welcome, fair folk, to the Wild North. If the land doesn’t get you, the Coilhunter will.

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A Birthday and a Book Promotion

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Cora

First of all, there is currently a big multi-author speculative fiction cross promotion going on. Over sixty authors are involved and all books are 99 cents. There is a list of all participating books here and if you scroll down, you may also find a title you recognise.

SFF multi author promo

What is more, April 18 is my birthday. I celebrated relatively low-key, since the long Easter weekend is only just over. And besides, I already went on a roadtrip with lunch at a nice restaurant yesterday, so going out for lunch or dinner again today felt like overkill. I’ll do that sometime next week, when things have calmed down a little.

I also didn’t feel like making an elaborate meal like sailor’s curry directly after a holiday weekend with several days of elaborate food. Besides, the curry will taste just as good next weekend or the one after.

I did watch a feel-good film though – Guardians of Galaxy, Vol. 1 – in preparation for Vol. 2, which will hit our theatres next week. I do find it interesting that we usually get the Marvel movies about a week or so before the US these days. I guess we are a test market for Marvel.

Though I did have visitors today – my parents, of course, as well as a neighbour. I also had a phonecall from a former student as well as a bunch of congratulations via e-mail and social media. In fact, I have noticed that I’m getting steadily fewer birthday cards, but more e-mail and social media congratulations. And given the cost of postage and also of cards, I find that I send fewer cards myself.

However, I did get some presents, so take a look:

Wrapped presents

Wrapped birthday presents and a card.

Unwraped brithday presents

And here are the unwrapped presents. Lots of lovely books and coincidentally all of them by women.

My neighbour also brought me a bottle of wine, which is not in the photo.

If you’re wondering about the presence of Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire, when the Oktober Daye books were nominated for the best series Hugo, I checked my collection and noticed to my own surprise that though I had read some books in the series, I didn’t own the first book for some reason. So I put it on my wishlist and it promptly showed up for my birthday.

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Photos: Wangerland in East Friesia

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Cora

Easter Monday is a public holiday here in Germany. And since the weather was a bit cold, but otherwise nice, we decided to go on an outing to the East Friesian North Sea coast to visit the municipality of Wangerland.

I also took my camera – well, only my smartphone camera, since I forgot to charge my proper camera – along, so here are some photos. Ships, fish, random wood paths and windmills. East Friesia borders on the Netherlands, so you can find quite a few windmills here.

Stumpens windmill

The windmill in Stumpens near the village of Horumersiel. Originally built in 1816, it houses a café nowadays.

Stumpens windmill

Another look at the windmill in Stumpens near Horumersiel.

Stumpens windmill

A close-up look at the top of the windmill in Stumpens. Note the gallery, which was included to facilitate maintenance work.

Osternburg windmill

This windmill is not in East Friesia, but in Osternburg near Oldenburg. Unlike the Stumpens windmill, the Osternburg mill was reconstructued according to historical blueprints and is actually less than twenty years old. It houses a restaurant and boutique hotel.

Road through the forest

A country road passes through a forest near Kirchhatten near Oldenburg.

Wood path near Kirchhatten

A wood path near Kirchhatten near Oldenburg.

Wilhemshaven destroyer Möldens

The “Möldens”, a decommissioned destroyer of the West German navy that now serves as an exhibit of the navy museum in Wilhelmshaven. Wihelmshaven has been one of the main ports of the German navy since the days of the second German empire. Even today, half of the buildings in the harbour either belong to the navy or used to belong to it.

Here is the homepage of the German Navy Museum in Wilhelmshaven and here is the Wikipedia entry for the destroyer Mölders.

We also had lunch at favourite restaurant of ours, “Die Brücke” (The Bridge) in the village of Hooksiel, a seafood restaurant which also smokes its own fish.

"Die Brücke" in Hooksiel

The restaurant “Die Brücke” (The Bridge) in the village of Hooksiel.

Rosefish and zander with lobster sauce

Here’s my lunch: A so-called sluicegate keeper’s platter, consisting of filet of rosefish and filet of zander with lobster sauce and grey shrimp.

Matjes housewife style

Lunch (not mine): Matjes (Dutch salted herring) housewife style, which means served with a sour cream sauce with apples, onions and dill.

Here is the recipe for Matjes, housewife style, BTW.

Eggs Kejriwal

Finally, this is something I made for dinner yesterday: Eggs Kejriwal

I found the recipe for Eggs Kejriwal, an egg and cheese sandwich originally served at a country club in Mumbai, here. It sounded tasty, so I wanted to try it out and Easter was the perfect excuse. It doesn’t look as pretty as in the recipe, but it was very tasty.

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Of False Memories and Explosions

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Cora

Yesterday, I came across this article by Kate Lunau on Motherboard, in which psychologist Julia Shaw explains false memories and how they form. It’s a fascinating article, which also struck a chord with me, because I have a very vivid memory of a traumatic event stuck in my head that happens to be false.

In 1979, a fire broke out at the Rolandmühle, a flour mill here in Bremen, which caused a devastating flour dust explosion that killed 14 people, injured a further 17 and caused a huge amount of damage. Here is an article about the explosion.

I was not quite six years old at the time of the disaster and I have an extremely vivid memory of watching the explosion happen: In my memory, I’m standing on the far side of the Nordstraße. The sun is shining, the wind is tugging at my dress and playing with my still short hair that has only begun to grow out, the daffodils on the dike are blooming and I’m looking over at the mill, when it suddenly explodes. As memories go, this one is absolutely crystal clear, as if it happened only yesterday. My mind can replay it at will. Worse, I sometimes get flashbacks, whenever I happen to be near the Rolandmühle. Once, when I had to drive directly past the flour silos, I got not just a flashback, but a full blown panic attack to and had to stop the car, which is not exactly ideal, because it’s an area where street prostitutes hang out and stopping your car there, even though you’re not a customer will only piss them off.

This memory, which is so absolutely clear and vivid, is also completely false. The explosion really did happen and I knew the Rolandmühle, because I often drove past it with my parents on our way to visit friends of theirs. However, I was nowhere near the mill, when it exploded. Instead, I was about twenty kilometres away, most likely in bed.

Replaying the memory – and remember that I can replay it at will – it’s notable that there are some things about it that are odd. For starters, the memory has no sound – the explosion happens in absolute silence, even though the real explosion was so loud it could heard as far as twenty-five kilometres away. I also don’t turn away or duck or scream, I just stand there calmly and watch it happen like in a movie, which isn’t particularly likely, especially not considering I was only six years old at the time. I can also read the signs on the mill and the other factory buildings in the area, even though I wasn’t in school yet and therefore couldn’t read. Finally, in the memory I’m all alone on a street, where I had no reason to be, since I only knew the area from driving past it.

Nonetheless, I assumed for many years that the memory was real and that we must have driven past the mill, when it exploded. Only that my parents had no memory at all of driving past the exploding Rolandmühle and that’s not something one is likely to forget. So eventually I assumed that I had simply seen a footage of the explosion on TV and mistook it for one of my memories.

However, there is no footage of the explosion, only of the aftermath. So how could I come to have a clear memory of watching footage that doesn’t exist.

Upon closer examination, a lot of the details of my memory are off: The explosion happened at half past nine at night, yet in my memory it is daylight. And in my memory, I clearly remember wearing a dress and seeing the daffodils on the dike, even though the explosion happened on a cold night in February. Plus, photos taken after the explosion show that the part of the mill where I remember seeing it happen is about the only part that remained undamaged.

So how can I so clearly remember an event I neither witnessed nor that ever happened that way? The Motherboard article explains that if you imagine something happening over and over again, it will eventually turn into a false memory. And this is precisely what happened here.

Now the explosion at the Rolandmühle was front page news in Bremen in February of 1979, so even at the age of not quite six, I would have heard about it on the radio and TV news. The event also clearly terrified me, because I knew the mill from driving past it with my parents every weekend and because that sort of thing wasn’t supposed to happen in places you knew. Buildings exploded in war zones far away, but not where I lived. And flour was not supposed to explode at all (in fact, dust explosions happen on occasion, but most people are completely unaware that flour can cause massive explosions).

So I must have become obsessed with the explosion and imagined it happening over and over again, until it turned into a memory. This also explains the discrepancies. I imagined the scene in daylight, because we’d only driven past the mill by day. I imagined the explosion seen from Nordstraße, because that was the street we always drove along (There are some photos of what the area looks like today here). And of course, I imagined the explosion in the front part of the mill that was actually visible from the street rather than where it really happened. The daffodils really do grow on the dike in front of the mill – you can see a photo here – so I incorporated them in my memory. My hair was really still short in February 1979 and I really had a dress like the one I remember wearing – though I have no idea why I incorporated this particular dress, since it wasn’t a favourite. So I recreated a scenario out of all of this bits of reality, the street, the mill, the daffodils, the dress, the short hair, and somehow managed to implant a false memory in my brain. Coincidentally, this memory feels as real, if not more so, as other memories from the same time, even though I know that it’s false.

When I first heard of false memories, e.g. of people recalling crimes that never happened (and of course, talk of false memories first surfaced in the context of allegedly false sexual abuse allegations supposedly planted by overzealous investigators), I viewed it as just another excuse to dismiss crimes and not believe the victims. Once I realised that I have a vivid false memory myself I became more open to the idea that false memories can and do exist, though that does not mean that sexual abuse and other allegations should be dismissed, but that they should be investigated thoroughly.

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Photos: Heiligenrode and Spring Flowers

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Cora

Due to several warm and sunny days in March, spring is currently in full bloom here in North Germany, so it’s time for some spring flower pictures.

What is more, the long Easter weekend also caused massive traffic jams on all the highways in the area. Therefore, on Thursday afternoon, while I was on the way back from Oldenburg, I found myself forced to leave the highway and make my way home via smaller country roads. I chanced to come through the village of Heiligenrode and stopped for a cup of ice cream.

The village of Heiligenrode is more than 800 years old and was once home to a benedictine abbey, which was founded in 1182. The nuns are long gone, but the old abbey church is still there as is the so-called abbey mill, a restored water mill. I’ve been in Heiligenrode dozens of times, since I live only five kilometres away. But while I was enjoying my ice cream, I suddenly realised that I had never actually taken any photos of the village and promptly proceeded to remedy that.

So here are some photos of the Heiligenrode abbey mill, the Klosterbach a.k.a. the Varreler Bäke and the so-called Mühlteich (mill pond):

Timbered farm house

Traditional timbered farmhouse in Heiligenrode. Note the inscription above the door.

Heiligenrode water mill

The Heiligenrode water mill. This building houses the actual mill – the miller used to live next door – and was built in 1843. However, there has been a water mill at this spot since the 16th century.

Heiligenrode water mill

The water wheel of the Heiligenrode mill. The building across the road is the old bakery house.

Heiligenrode water mill wheel

Here is a closer look at the water wheel of the Heiligenrode abbey mill. It’s still functional, too.

Heiligenrode Klosterbach

A look down the Klosterbach, which is known as Varreler Bäke outside Heiligenrode, with the water wheel of the mill in the foreground.

The Klosterbach a.k.a. Varreler Bäke is mentioned in the song “Delmenhorst” by the German band Element of Crime, by the way, as the “brook behind Huchting, which goes into the Ochtum”, since the road B75 crosses it on the way from Bremen to Delmenhorst. It’s a delightful song in general and even better, when driving down B75 towards Delmenhorst (Element of Crime singer Sven Regener is originally from Bremen). Unfortunately, there is only a low quality live version on YouTube.

Heiligenrode Mühlteich

A look across the so-called Mühlteich a.k.a mill pond, which branches out from the Klosterbach. The people in the middle of the pond are not particularly hardy bathers, but an art installation.

Heiligenrode Mühlteich art

A closer look at the art installation “Der Mensch lebt nicht vom Brot allein” (Man does not live only of bread) by sculptor Petra Förster.

Heiligerode Mühlteich art

This was supposed to be an even closer look at the art installation in the Mühlteich. Unfortunately, the camera focussed on the leaves instead, but it’s still a great shot.

Here is a close-up photo (not mine) of the art installation and here is the website of artist Petra Förster. Coincidentally, I was present when one of the sculptures was cast as past of a local film group making a documentary about the artist.

Tulips in the garden

Here are some tulips in full bloom in my grden.

Tulips in my garden

A closer look at the tulips in my garden.

Tulips in the garden

More tulips in my garden, this time shot against a brick wall.

Purple flowers

I have no idea what these little purple flowers in my neighbour’s garden are called, but they sure are pretty.

Indian egg curry

Finally, here is today’s lunch, Indian egg curry.

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And even more reactions to the 2017 Hugo Finalists

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Cora

In general, the 2017 Hugo Awards shortlist is less contentious than those of previous years, but were still seeing reactions trickling in. I offered my own take on the 2017 shortlist and also did a round-up of reactions from around the web here and then another round-up a few days later.

However, since then a few more Hugo reaction and discussion posts have appeared, so here is round-up number 3. As always, thanks to Mike Glyer of File 770 for pointing out some of the links I missed. I already included some of these as ETAs to the previous post, but I’m including them again here. Continue reading →

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Yet More Reactions to the 2017 Hugo Finalists

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Cora

Thanks to Mike Glyer of File 770, the hits on my Hugo reaction post and the space opera post of the day before have gone through the roof. My first round-up of Hugo reactions from around the web got a lot of attention as well.

Meanwhile, more reactions are trickling in, so here are the latest links: Continue reading →

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Reactions to the 2017 Hugo Finalists

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Cora

Currently, the SFF world is all abuzz talking about the Hugos, but of course there are other awards announcing their shortlists at this time of the year as well. One of them is the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and this year’s shortlist includes a science fiction novel, The Power by Naomi Alderman. This isn’t the first time the Bailey’s Prize has recognised speculative fiction – The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers was one of last year’s nominees.

But now, let’s get back to the Hugos: My own take on the 2017 Hugo Awards shortlist is here (and hits are currently going through the roof thanks to Mike Glyer of File 770 linking to it), so let’s take a look at other reactions from around the web:

For starters, here is a short video where 2017 Hugo administrator Nicholas Whyte shares three things to know about the 2017 Hugo Awards.

At Forbes, Kevin Murname offers a list of the 2017 Hugo finalists as well as a brief summary of the whole puppy mess.

At the Barnes & Noble SFF blog, Joel Cunningham is very pleased by the scope and diversity of the 2017 Hugo nominees and declares that the future of science fiction is diverse. He also makes a crack about the Marvel Comics diversity uproar, but then it is low hanging fruit.

Case in point, at Fusion.net, Charles Pulliam-Moore focusses on the Hugo finalists in the graphic story category and points out that the nominations for Ms. Marvel and Black Panther (as well as for the Image comics Monstress and Saga) belie the claim by Marvel’s vice president of sales David Gabriel that diverse comics don’t sell.

At Bleeding Cool, Jude Terror focusses mainly on the comic related Hugo finalists, but then Bleeding Cool is a comics site. Of course, he also cannot resist making a crack about three of Marvel’s supposdly so unpopular diverse series getting Hugo nods.

David Gerrold is happy to see the Hugos return to their pre-2015 form, as the sad puppies fade into obscurity, and hopes to see the rabids fade away soon as well. He also points out that the attacks on the Hugos by the sad and rabid puppies caused the WorldCon community (and SFF fandom in general) to come together to repeal them.

At Dreaming About Other Worlds, Aaron Pound is happy to finally have a good Hugo shortlist full of fantastic nominees again. He also points out that the sad puppies faded away and that while the rabid puppies managed to get a few of their choices onto the shortlist, their impact has been much diluted by the 5/6 and EPH voting systems as well as by the rabids’ own incompetence in determining what is eligible.

At Bookriot, Alex Acks is also generally pleased by a very good Hugo shortlist before proceeding to measure the impact of the rabid puppies on the 2017 Hugo ballot. He comes to the conclusion that there is still puppy poo on the ballot, but it’s manageable. And since the 5/6 system has given us an extra nominee per category, we are basically getting a full category of five finalists plus an occasional additional serious finalists.

Camestros Felapton offers his comments on the 2017 Hugo ballot and is overall very pleased with the outcome. So far, nothing has been heard from Timothy, the talking cat.

In a follow-up post, Camestros Felapton also offers a guide how to evaluate the nominees in the best series category, since the reading load for a long and unfamiliar series can be heavy.

Ana Grilo and Thea James of The Book Smugglers are thrilled to be nominated for the Hugo in the best semiprozine category in a year with such a great shortlist.

Ana Grilo is also nominated in the fancast category along with Renay Williams for the Fangirl Happy Hour, which is one of my favourite SFF podcasts. They have now uploaded a special 2017 Hugo nomination edition of the Fangirl Happy Hour. Renay and Ana are also happy that the Hugos are finally back to normal and that people are back to agonising about how to rank the many good choices on the ballot rather then looking for something, anything at least halfway decent to vote for. They also have some strong words about the rabid puppies.

ETA: At Wired, Jason Kehe reports about the 2017 Hugo shortlist and particularly focusses on two nominees, Chuck Tingle for best fan writer and Stix Hiscock for best novelette. He also reads Alien Stripper Boned From Behind by The T-Rex, so you don’t have to.

At The Mary Sue, Kaila Hale-Stern is really happy about the 2017 Hugo ballot and particularly about the organic best fan writer nomination for Dr. Chuck Tingle.

Meanwhile, the estimable Dr. Chuck Tingle has responded to his second hugo nomination in his own unique way by writing and publishing Pounded In The Butt By My Second Hugo Nomination. Because love is real.

Abigail Nussbaum is happy about her well deserved Hugo nomination in the best fan writer category, but frustrated about the continued puppy poo presence on the shortlist. She also finds the finalists in several categories a bit predictable and middle of the road and would like to return to those pre-2014 of arguing about the Hugo shortlist and the various nominees and not about puppies.

Indeed, we are seeing some predictable grumblings about the quality of the shortlisted works from the anti-nostalgic part of the SFF spectrum (for my theory of the three fractions of speculative fiction, see this post).

On Twitter, Ian Sales had this to say about the 2017 Hugo finalists in the short fiction categories:

Also on Twitter, Jonathan McCalmont shares his thoughts about the 2017 Hugo finalists:

McCalmont’s issues with Campbell nominee Laurie Penny stem from the fact that Laurie Penny knows internet troll Milo Yiannopoulos from way back and uses those connections and the fact that Milo considers her a friend to get an inside look at the so-called alt-right movement and uses this access to write revealing articles about them. Here is an older article from The Guardian where she follows Milo and friends around the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, during last year’s presidential campaign, and here is a more recent article from Pacific Standard Magazine written during Milo’s fall from grace.

Now I’ve been quite critical myself of the flood of “We must understand how the white rustbelt Trump voter thinks, so I visited Dogshit, Ohio*, to interview a few of them” thinkpieces or the German variant, “We must understand how the white East German AfD voter thinks, so I visited Klein Ostkotzski in Saxony** and interviewed a few them”, because a lot of those articles and thinkpieces can be reduced to “Wah, won’t someone think of the widdle white man” whining. However, Laurie Penny’s articles are not like that. For starters, the Milo and Trump supporters she looks at are not unemployed steelworkers in the rustbelt, but young white middle class men from a generally privileged background. And she reveals these characters for what they are, pathetic and whiny little boys. And unlike the many “Wah, won’t someone think of the poor widdle white man” articles, I don’t see those artices as an apologia, but rather as a scathing look at what those people are truly like. Because that’s what journalists do, go to dark places, so we don’t have to.

Besides, Laurie Penny is nominated for a Campbell Award not for her journalistic work, but for her fiction, i.e. the short story “You Orisons May Be Recorded” and the novella Everything Belongs to the Future. Besides, she is one of six nominees in a very strong category, so those who disagree with Laurie Penny’s nomination still have five other nominees (well, four organic nominees and one puppy) to vote for.

Others have issues with works that did not make the Hugo shortlist. Here is someone named Will Ellwood complaining that Dave Hutchinson’s Fractured Europe trilogy did not make the shortlist. Which I’m actually grateful for, because I do not like those novels. And besides, a lot of my favourites did not make the shortlist either.

I’ve also seen grumblings about the fact that the Fireside Fiction report on the state of black science fiction is missing from the best related work shortlist and indeed it would have been a most worthy nominee. Though I suspect that when the extended nomination lists come out in August, we’ll see that it narrowly missed the nomination threshold. And given the trashfire that the best related work category was these past two years, I guess we’re all just glad to have something decent to vote for.

But in general, the British contingent of the anti-nostalgic fraction seems to have decamped to the Clarke Award Shadow Jury project, which not just generates some interesting reviews, but is also a lot more productive than what the majority of puppies are doing.

And while we’re on the subject, let’s hear what the puppies, both sad and rabid, have to say (all links go to archive.is):

Vox Day lists all the rabid picks he managed to get onto the ballot, predictably chuckles a bit over Alien Stripper Boned from Behind by the T-Rex and grumbles about the best novel (unsurprisingly, he still hates N.K. Jemisin, though he urges his fans to vote for The Obelisk Gate, because… well, I guess it makes sense to him, if not to anybody else) and best series finalists (he hates everything except for the Vorkosigan saga). In short, nothing new or even overly shocking from the Supreme Lord of Darkness or however he refers to himself these days. He also seems to be a lot more interested in the latest US political scandal.

Declan Finn, an indie writer who attached himself to the puppies, is not at all happy about the 2017 Hugo ballot and declares that it has been swamped by crap. Besides, there are way too many women on the ballot for his tastes and that’s just not possible without interference by the shadowy SJW cabal that meets every Wednesday in the basement of the Flatiron building, cause women can’t possibly be any good, can they? Plus, the one woman he really wanted to see there, Toni Weisskopf of Baen, is missing from the ballot (good point, actually. I suspect her status as a puppy cause celebre cost her organic nominations). He also claims that he hasn’t heard of most of the nominees in the series and novel categories, though he knows they are inferior to his personal favourites, because those sell so much better. Coincidentally, I had to google what Black Tide Rising even was (a series by John Ringo, it turns out). Though I’m stunned that Finn missed The Expanse (written by two white men at that), even though everybody is talking about the TV series based on the books these days. Oh yes, and the Dragon Awards are much better, so would you please vote for him? In short, Finn manages to fill the whole puppy bingo card in one post (with bonus misgendering and transphobia in the comments), which takes some doing.

ETA: Declan Finn also chose to take issue with some commenters at File 700 picking apart his post, so he made a follow-up point declaring that he totally doesn’t care about the Hugos, and besides, Honor Harrington totally was eligible for best series (yes, it was. Hugo voters still chose not to nominate it. They also chose not to nominate four of my five best series nominees. It happens). Finn also can’t grasp that File 770 commenters make fun of Terry Goodkind. Now I’ve never read Goodkind, since extruded fantasy product is not my thing, but I’ve also never heard of anybody over the age of fourteen who genuinely liked his books. Finally, Finn still feels the need to whiteknight for Toni Weisskopf and is apparently really upset that last year’s all-female Ghostbusters film got a Hugo nod. Though I’m surprised he believes it will win, considering it’s up against the massively popular and critically acclaimed Arrival and Hidden Figures (but then, he’d probably hate Hidden Figures, too) as well as against the nostalgia appeal of Stranger Things.

Jon Del Arroz, a newish puppy recruit (he joined their ranks after complaining that a con was discriminating against him for voting for Donald Trump), insists on pointing out that the number of Hugo nominations in 2017 (coincidentally the second highest number of nominations ever after 2016) means that WorldCon is dying, because it discriminates against “real fans” (TM) who are conservative and Christian. The Superversive SF blog makes the same point, nominations are down from an all-time high in 2016, so that means the Hugos and WorldCon are dying. Aw, puppy math! I guess it makes sense in some parallel universe.

Meanwhile, the editor of Cirsova magazines is just happy to be nominated in the best semiprozine category and manages to express his joy without any swipes at Tor, social justice warriors and other nominees. He also offers some links to interviews about the magazine from around the web for those who are interested in learning more.

At Every Day Should be Tuesday, a Castalia House blogger named H.P. declares that the 2017 Hugo Award shortlist does not interest him enough to purchase a supporting membership for WorldCon 75, so he can vote. However, he does like some of the finalists and is looking forward to reading/watching some of the others and not just the rabid puppy picks, too. So it is possible for puppy sympathisers to write about the Hugos without getting rude about it.

Larry Correia, the man who started it all when he was angry about losing the Campbell Award to Lev Grossman back in 2011, has emerged from his mountain top retreat, where he paints miniatures and writes Monster Hunter books, to remind people to nominate and vote for the Dragon Awards where wrongfuns are still allowed to have wrongfun (and voting controls are non-existent), since the Hugos seem to have fallen back to the Tor SJW cabal. Aw, and I’d thought Larry Correia had gotten tired of the whole puppy thing and decided to focus on his career rather than piss off a whole genre.

John C. Wright is happy that his novel Iron Chamber of Memory placed third in the 2017 Conservative Libertarian Fiction Alliance Book of the Year Awards (the winner was Peter Grant – the writer, not the protagonist of Ben Aaronovitch’s Hugo-nominated series) and also notes that he was nominated for a best short story Hugo as the token white dude in that category. I guess he has finally realised that he can’t win that one and focusses on the awards he can win. Good for him.

Meanwhile, Brad Torgersen and the Mad Geniuses are conspicuously silent on the 2017 Hugos beyond some of the usual “Traditional publishing is dying and we are the future”.

Comments are still off – Puppies poop elsewhere.

*Town totally fictional

**Town totally fictional as well

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The Obligatory Hugo Nominations Reaction Post 2017 – and the first ever Nommo Awards

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Cora

So the finalists for the 2017 Hugo Awards were announced today. And since the good folks of WorldCon 75 in Helsinki were kind enough to warn us ahead of time that they were planning to announce the Hugo shortlist today, we even had time to prepare for the inevitable discussion and dissection. And so I finished the massive space opera post yesterday, so I could fully focus on the annual Hugo nomination commentary today.

Of course, the Hugos weren’t the only SFF award that announced its finalists today. The 2017 Nommo Awards for African speculative fiction also announced their finalists today and they certainly look worth checking out. Two nominees that will be familiar even beyond the circle of those interested in African speculative fiction are the novel Rosewater by Tade Thompson (who also has a story nominated in the novella category) and Nnedi Okorafor’s Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella Binti. This is the first year for the Nommo Awards, by the way, and I for one will be very interested to see how they develop in the future.

The Hugos, on the other hand, already have a sixty plus year history of recognising usually worthy works. So, without further ado, here are the Hugo finalists for 2017. The link goes to File 770, where there also is a lot of discussion going on in the comments.

At first, second and third glance, this looks like a very fine Hugo shortlist, especially given the shenanigans of the past three years. There is still a bit of residual puppy poo on the shortlist – once that stuff gets stuck under your shoes, it’s very difficult to get rid of it completely. But Vox Day is clearly suffering from Dead Elk attrition and besides, EPH and the six nominees per category rule dealt just fine with his manipulation attempts, so the occasional turd in a category is bearable. File 770 has attempted to measure the rabid puppy impact on the 2017 Hugo shortlist and found that 13 of the finalists were on Vox Day’s (much reduced) rabid puppies slate, while a further three were declared ineligible, the Supreme Dark Lord not being all that great at vetting his nominees. But then, several of the rabid puppy nominees are so-called hostages, works that are generally popular and would probably have made the ballot anyway. China Mieville, Neil Gaiman and Deadpool don’t need Vox Day’s help to make the Hugo ballot.

What is more, in spite of the puppies’ efforts, the diversity count is also great this year. The 2017 Hugo shortlist is full of women, people of colour, LGBT people, international writers and artists and yes, there are straight white men, too. I don’t think there is a single category that is entirely male. Compare that to the almost all male Hugo shortlists of the early to mid 2000s and the puppy-infested shortlists of the past three years.

So let’s take a look at the individual categories: Continue reading →

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