A Medley of Extemporanea

I had a great time watching the Hugo awards last night. I wished I could attend, but this worked for me. Good job to the techies that set it up! The provided stream glitched on me only a couple of times, and while I had to bear ads every once in a while (that ate into the live broadcast, for shame!), the system would let me choose when to show them. Sorry Jay Lake and Ken Scholes, but I chose you. You had enough screen time anyway.

Highlights of the broadcast:

• GRRM intoning “Fuck Me Ray Bradbury” during the BDP, Short Form presentation
• Chris Garcia completely losing his composure when he won for Best Fanzine. I’m not sure I wouldn’t do the same in his position. He got it together in the end, though. It really shows how much these awards mean.
• Bob Silverberg dragging, and dragging, and dragging out the Novella category, just because he could.
• Lou Anders’ acceptance speech for Best Editor came from the heart, and had some quotable lines, such as, “Editors are the first fans a book ever has”
• Tara O’Shea’s glee at receiving her award. “It’s a Hugo. I have a Hugo now. Hugos are cool!”

all in all, everyone’s enthusiasm really struck me. I wished that I could be there sharing it with them.

So, here are the winners, taken from the Renovation website. There is also a PDF on site that gives more detailed information about how the vote panned out (remember that this is an AV style system, and not first past the post). I’ve used this data to make my inline comments:

2011 Hugo Award Winners

2100 valid voting ballots were counted, 2086 electronic and 14 by postal mail.

Best Novel (1813 ballots)
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)

I picked this as number two, while my number one came last. Too bad, it’s a really good story.

Best Novella (1467 ballots)
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)

Again my number two. At least this time my number one came in second!

Best Novelette (1469 ballots)
“The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010)

I intended on putting this as my number one, but something stopped me. I don’t know what. It ended up in my three-spot, while my number one ended up in fourth

Best Short Story (1597 ballots)
“For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)

A complete swap here: I had Mary’s story in third, with Peter Watts’ “The Things” in first.

Best Related Work (1220 ballots)
Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian)

Another second placer for me. It seems that I’m just on the edge of current popular opinion! I had Writing Excuses in first, but I guess it wasn’t the year of the WE crew, as they never managed to walk the boards last night.

Best Graphic Story (1263 ballots)
Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)

I’m actually disappointed in this one. I thought at least this year, someone would get past the mighty Foglio family. I guess not. On a brighter note, on accepting their award, they stated that they’d excuse themselves from the ballot next year so someone else could have a go. The Unwritten, which I found the most compelling of all the nominees, came a dismal last. Too bad.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (1755 ballots)
Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)

Given. I didn’t vote for this one myself only because of the CanCon in Scott Pilgrim, and I figured it would need all the votes it could get. I figured correctly, as it came in last as well.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (1466 ballots)
Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)

Disappointed that “Fuck Me Ray Bradbury” didn’t make it, but my number two did, so hey.

Best Editor, Short Form (983 ballots)
Sheila Williams

Didn’t vote, as it would have been a shot in the dark.

Best Editor, Long Form (898 ballots)
Lou Anders

Ditto.

Best Professional Artist (1304 ballots)
Shaun Tan

I took a shot in the dark here, didn’t come up with Shaun Tan, though.

Best Semiprozine (1112 ballots)
Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker

The only Semipro that I read at the moment, namely Ansible, just missed the cut this year. Had it not, I might have voted for it. As it is, I skipped this one too.

Best Fanzine (870 ballots)
The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon

Drink Tank is awesome. Chris Garcia is awesome. I debated just putting in a vote for them, but I changed my mind. Didn’t matter in the end. Click the link and read all of them RIGHT NOW!!!

Best Fan Writer (814 ballots)
Claire Brialey

Again no vote for me, as I’m not familiar enough with everyone on the ballot.

Best Fan Artist (993 ballots)
Brad W. Foster

Interestingly enough, I picked everyone but first and third place “correctly” in this category. Next year, Mo.

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (1138 ballots)
Lev Grossman

I’ve actually started looking at The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. Really good so far. I didn’t vote in this one either, since I thought, “hey, maybe Lev and Lauren Beukes deserve consideration, too!” Turned out that everyone else thought so, since they finished one-two.

So, hopefully they stream again next year, as I know I can’t able to make it, and I really enjoyed this! Jay (possibly Ken) joked that next year’s BDP:Short Form ballot should include Chris Garcia’s acceptance speech, and if they save the stream, I’m sure it will end up there. :).

(ED: whew, long post! Hopefully you stayed to the end!)