2015 Hugo Awards Discussion

[I'm Murrin]

Hard sci fi is a specific term for sci fi that uses real science to back it up. Tends to include explanations of how the technology works within the text.

[SerScot]

Murrin,

So, Dune which uses real ecology and cultural ideas but hand waves the science is...?

[ussusimiel]

Which means, for me at least, it comes down to how much conspiracy there actually was prior to the advent of the Puppies. It is the nature of conspiracies that they are poo-pooed, especially by those who participate in them. So I guess the most reliable guide is the statistics.

There have been some interesting changes over the last number of years: a significant increase in the number of women being nominated, a marked increase in the diversity of the nominees and a noticeable pattern of awards going to less popular works. That this is likely a natural phenomenon ( as outlined upthread) hasn't stopped the Puppies from see it as a conspiracy.

Have the Hugo awards changed over time to disfavor the science in the sci-fi, and the fantasy in the fantasy?

There has been a bit of a move towards the more 'literary' end of the genre, more especially in the short fiction (e.g 'If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love' by Rachel Swirsky). Again, this can be seen as a natural effect of a genre that is expanding rapidly, with dedicated readers looking for innovation and variety rather than some form of disparagement towards the more mainstream.*

u.

* Ann Leckie's, Ancillary Justice may come across as a book with an agenda, but if there's a better science fiction novel in the last decade then I want to read it!

[Vraith]

Murrin,

So, Dune which uses real ecology and cultural ideas but hand waves the science is...?

Is the sign of a great author.
Honestly, he straddles the line...and does it on purpose with full knowledge.
And the way such works almost always depends on what SRD is talking about...integrity.

But let's not get confused here...the Puppies are NOT in any way siding with "hard" SF.
They're saying:
The field of Nautical Historical fiction is being ruined because stories about honorable pirates with all their teeth who demonstrate manliness, swordplay, and the adventurous spirit [that happen to have only two sorts of women...one snooty rich virgin who comes around to the pirate way, and whores] don't get any awards.
All the awards go to stories that happen to mention that large groups of men at sea tend to stink, look bad, and...ahem...relieve each others needs...and that they manhandle [and worse] women all the time.
Now, I'm more than willing, depending on mood, to read some rousing good pirate adventures and ARRRGH along with them.
The chances that the best story of any given year is going to BE one of those? In the modern world/with modern readers?

Hard SF does very well [though it's always been only part of the genre, and its "share" of audience varies] IF THE AUTHOR IS ANY GOOD.
[[[and when it is good, when it really holds together on the science side AND YET has people that matter to us...it is second to nothing in Literature.
And it is, I'd say, the rarest feat of all in Lit. All lit. All genres.
BUT:
That ain't anything like what the Rabid folk are fighting for...not for one instant, not in any universe.
Any framing or re-framing [on purpose or just drift] that contains even the germ of the idea that the conflict has to do with the scientific content/accuracy of the works is lethally off-target.