The Hugo’s do, considering how they’re hysterically changing the rules based on all the “unwanted” voters.
Anything to say about post #54?
I was there, and I can assure you - the embarrassment was more of the “uh oh, grandpa’s off his meds again” type. The panel was about automation replacing jobs, and Jerry proved that the conservative position has no idea how to deal with the resulting job loss.
…the Hugos are an award and are incapable of actually doing anything. The World Science Fiction Society are changing the rules: but there is nothing hysterical about the way they are changing them. And those “unwanted” voters are actually still able to vote, they will still be free to vote for whomever they want to win.
That would be Scalzi’s fault. He’ll let anyone in. 
I haven’t followed it closely, but was part of a conversation with the other members of the video crew after the Hugos about new voting methods being explored. Each year they determine the rules for the next year. Every type of voting method proposed for representative democracy either has been or will be adopted by past or future WorldCons, and if the puppies wish to continue pooping on the carpet, they’ll have to make their way to the actual event and sit in on several days of boring meetings about voting methodologies. That will get them to move on to other targets.
I think what you’re missing is that it’s HYSTERICAL! And FUNNY! and aliensshow is laughing a LOT! In case you still don’t get it, HAW HAW HAW!
Meh–if you’re easily amused, it means you get to be amused a lot. Cool beans.
aliensshow, I’m still waiting. Look at my post (# 54). Tell me exactly how each of those books espouses a far-left ideology. Tell me explicitly which of those novels you haven’t read.
Wow. Dave Truesdale is Jerry Pournelle! That re-explains everything!
I also reviewed for Tangent for a long time and worked with Dave when he was Editor of the SFWA Bulletin and I was Business Manager. Never had any issues with him about opinions, even though we had lots of discussions about differing views of sf.
Jerry, on the other hand. “Grandpa’s off his meds again” has been his posting style for the last decade.
My own total is 13/19, which makes me wanna go completionist. Among Others, Rainbow’s End, Blackout, Paladin’s Soul, Hominid, and A Deepness in the Sky–worth reading?
I suspect that alienshow’s count is lower than 2, which makes him not wanna answer the question.
I have no evidence to buttress this suspicion, of course; I’m just naturally suspicious :).
Which is why I want to know aliensshow’s answer to my question and not anyone else’s.
Maybe we should start a separate thread on the books then, because now I want to answer LHOD’s question. 
Not quite. The rules for voting for Hugos, and pretty much everything else required to happen at a Worldcon, are set and don’t change from year to year. You can find them at the World Science Fiction Society site. In order to change the rules, they need to be purposed and discussed one year, then get passed on to the next year, where they are again discussed and debated, then voted on. Or maybe passed on again.
A couple of proposals were made last year, and voted on this year, so they will take effect for next year’s convention and stay in effect until the entire process is repeated. I don’t know how well they will work, and I believe a couple of other things are still being debated to lessen the power of slate voting, that might get voted on next year. Or not.
Too bad they won’t get rid of the “Australian rules” voting hierarchy. :rolleyes:
10/19 here. Of those you list, I’ve read Rainbow’s End and didn’t care for it because I found most of the characters unlikeable. Stross’s Accelerando deals with some similar ideas (in the first stories, at least) and I disliked it for similar reasons.
My mistake. I tried to read about the administrative process of WorldCon once and fell sound asleep. That stuff is more effective than chloroform.
Fine, I give in.
Paladin of Souls is awesome fantasy. If you like fantasy, I would recommend it. There are actually 3 books (and some short stories I think) set in this world. They raise some interesting philosophical questions about gods, religion, morality, souls, and redemption. Or you can just read them for the magic and sword fighting. 
I totally get that, but at some point the lack of an answer is the only answer you’re going to get. I think we’ve reached that point, and I think that if aliensshow had actually read a bunch of those books, by now he would have told us about it.
An opinion that’s not rooted in familiarity with the texts is not an opinion I’m going to spend much time on.
Meanwhile, I definitely appreciate the recommendations, both in this thread and in PMs, for individual books among those I haven’t read. Since I’m not particularly concerned about whether alienshow will ever show back up, here are my comments on those I’ve read:
N. K. Jemisin The Fifth Season. Pretty good, but not amazing. I like Jemisin a lot, but nothing she’s written has ever shaken my world. She’s one of those authors whose new books I’ll yoink from the library shelves, but I won’t expect to have my mind blown.
Cixin Liu The Three-Body Problem. Boring characters, dense prose. AbsofuckingLUTEly incredible mindfuckery science scenes. It’s got like three or four crazy science ideas any one of which would be enough to elevate yer normal hard SF to a classic. Read this! The history is pretty interesting too.
Ann Leckie Ancillary Justice. God I loved this one! The gender stuff that made the puppies so sad was exactly the sort of thing I like seeing in science fiction: it was constantly unsettling, in the best possible way. And the central character was among the most interesting SF characters I’ve read in many years.
John Scalzi Redshirts. I think Scalzi is a stand-up guy. Old Man’s War was a lot of fun. All his books are a lot of fun. The main character is always a wisecracking guy (or rarely girl) who comes up with clever and tricky solutions to problems. I’ve kind of burnt out on Scalzi’s schtick, but I like him as a person.
Paolo Bacigalupi The Windup Girl. I remember enjoying this. I remember very little else about it.
China Miéville The City & the City. I’m generally a Mieville fan, despite his unevenness. This is one of his best. It’s goddamn amazing. Saying anything about it will ruin it, but it’s amazing. Read it!
Neil Gaiman The Graveyard Book. Gaiman’s another one like Scalzi, who other folks like a lot more than I do. I think he’s a cool dude, but his fiction is only good.
Michael Chabon The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. An interesting choice–good fiction, I’m glad SF has such broad criteria, but not exactly a life-changer of a book.
Robert Charles Wilson Spin. This one is second only to Three-Body Problem in terms of the excellence of its SF concepts; it had a few breathtaking sequences, and I recommend it for all who love hard SF.
Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Oh, how fun! A slow burn, but totally worth it. Understand that the style is self-conscious and satirical; the whole thing is well worth reading.
Neil Gaiman American Gods. See above re: Gaiman.
J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I wish I liked Rowling more than I do. Fine, but there is a shitload of children’s fantasy that’s better than hers IMO.
Connie Willis To Say Nothing of the Dog. Fun stuff, complex time-travel shenanigans. To be honest, I read it aloud with my wife (before we were married), and for some reason, maybe alcohol, we always read the name “Jabez” in a ridiculous voice, and since it was the name of a major character, that’s my main memory of the book. That’s kind of a shit review, isn’t it? Sorry.
This is probably too harsh. The characters weren’t exactly boring, they just weren’t the best part of the book. And I read it in translation, and it’s very hard for a translation to be anything other than dense; perhaps in the original it’s lyrical.
I was at the ceremonies when Rowling got the Hugo. When it was over I bumped into a friend of mine, an award-winning author himself, and all he could say was “Harry FUCKING Potter!”
The Hugos can never get things “right” any more than any other creative award ever gets it “right.”