I just found a new wrinkle that is both enlightening and saddening.
Author Connie Willis has just put up a post titled "Why I Won't Be A Presenter At The Hugo Awards This Year." It certainly is a must-read.
She was asked to be the presenter for the John W. Campbell award, but has declined. She has declined because she wants nothing to do with adding any semblance of legitimacy to the slate of stories and persons nominated by bloc voting. This is not from a fit of pique, but a reasoned and thoughtful response to an expressed threat to the Hugo awards selection itself, far into the future. Theodore Beale, also known as "Vox Day," and, by a more descriptive set of initials, "VD," has declared that if "No Award" (the Hugo equivalent of "none of the above") is the choice for any of the fiction categories that he will ensure (presumably by more bloc voting) that the Hugo's will be toast.
If No Award takes a fiction category, you will likely never see another award given in that category again. The sword cuts both ways, Lois. We are prepared for all eventualities.
To me, Willis' stance seems perfectly reasonable.
VD's proclamation reminds me of the Serbian barge captains who declared that if they were not allowed to run the UN forces blockade they would dump their entire cargoes of oil and chemicals into vulnerable waterways and then say that they were forced to do so by the UN forces. In other words, they were terrorists.
Comments are welcome, but will be moderated.
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