Explain the Sad Puppies (Science Fiction Controversy)

Cafe Society
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“Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family”. The titular protagonist finds out that a male ancestor’s “Portuguese” wife was actually a Congolese “white ape.” There is a bit of nastiness in the implicit comparison of a Portuguese to an ape, and the story can certainly be read as a horror of miscegenation. But I think a more plausible reading is as a horror of family secrets and tainted family blood, rather than racial pollution per se.

There’s also “The Rats in the Walls”, where a solidly WASPish protagonists finds out that his ancestors apparently interbred with rats…or something even worse. It’s definitely a recurring trope in his fiction.

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But without context, you can’t interpret those numbers at all. Is 58th in “Space Opera” “hugely popular,” “popular,” “average” or “obscure”? What more popular book should have been under consideration?

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No, since total sales are what I was talking about.
Middle game= Best Sellers Rank: #104,694 in Books
Ready Player Two: A Novel = Best Sellers Rank: #17 in Books

Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Jaymin Eve Best Sellers Rank: #3 in Kindle Store

Bestsellers arent getting awards while the ones that are getting awards are Best Sellers Rank: #18,760 in Books .

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Both those books came out this year. Neither was eligible to compete against Middlegame for the Hugo.

Furthermore, book sales generally peak when a book is first released. What was Middlegame’s rating when it was first released.

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Back in the good old days (1992) one of the bestselling books of the year was Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash. A great book that got onto the NYT bestseller list (not the top but still on the list). It still sells very well. The Hugos ignored it.

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Go ahead and research that if you like. I can tell you that it didnt hit the Best seller list, but that is about it.