2015 Hugos

There are a lot of things I could say on this topic. I won’t say all of them.

I’ll start here: Thanks so very much to all the people I ran into over the weekend who either told me they were rooting for Ancillary Sword, or told me they were sorry it didn’t win. I love you all.

But the fact is, it never was going to win. If it seemed even briefly as though it might this year, it was because of this year’s…unusual aspects. Had the final ballot been what it ought to have been, I think ideas about AS winning would have been pretty easily dismissable. I find this pretty ironic, actually.

I knew from the start that a lot of voters were going to be thinking that I already got mine last year. And you know what? They’re right. Last year, my book did not just win a couple of awards. It stomped all over Award City making Godzilla roars as bullets bounced off its chest. That’s enough Win to last me for quite a while, and I am entirely happy to see other books and other writers get the acclaim and attention they deserve. The nomination was my win–I knew that going in, and was perfectly happy with that.

So I went to the Hugos as a nominee, with all the validation that brings, but also without any nervousness or suspense, so I could actually enjoy all of that validation. And it was awesome.

Yeah, there were some skunks at that picnic. The voters gave their very clear opinion of those skunks. And Mithras willing, E Pluribus Hugo will pass for the second time next year and in 2017 we’ll be back to ballots that are full of works the voters love. That will doubtless include some skunk favorites, but that’s as it should be. I just don’t think anyone should be able to make the Hugo ballot nothing but their own choices.

I thought the ceremony itself was great, very entertaining, and the results just all around excellent. Three Body is a fabulous winner, absolutely deserving, and I couldn’t be more happy for Cixin Liu. And Ken Liu, but I got a chance to congratulate Ken in person.

If you care about the Hugos–not everyone does, and that’s cool–remember that you can have a voice. Read, talk about the works you love, and why you love them. Nominate the ones you love best. If you’re a new Hugo voter–welcome! Please nominate next year, and let others know that they, too can nominate and vote. It’s fun! Although, you know, I may just have a voting kink.

Anyway. I had a great time at the Hugos!

16 thoughts on “2015 Hugos

  1. I was rooting for you, but even if I could’ve afforded to vote I didn’t for one minute imagine my single vote would make any difference in the storm going on around the Hugos.

    1. Ann says:

      Thank you! And…yeah.

  2. Well, you had my vote and my support! Glad you had a good time – I watched the live stream and thought it was a lovely ceremony.

    1. Ann says:

      Thank you! And yes, it was a lovely ceremony! I thought David Gerrold and Tananarive Due did a fabulous job.

  3. C
    Cat says:

    I loved your book, and TBH it swapped places with Goblin Emperor so many times on my ballot I no longer remember which one I had in first place at final call.

    But I would have loved to see City of Stairs on that ballot also. We don’t always get what we want, and that’s particularly likely in asterisk years. (And really, *two* of the books I nominated and a book I was very interested in reading but hadn’t gotten to made the ballot, so I shouldn’t complain.)

    And I also hope EPH passes the business meeting next year.

    1. Ann says:

      Thank you! And I loved TGE too, and would have been just as thrilled to see it win as I am that TBP won.

  4. Allie says:

    Ancillary Sword had my voting support, too, though many of the novel nominees were also deserving of the recognition. At least in this reader’s opinion, your novels are among the best of current science fiction. Here’s hoping for more Godzilla rampages through Award City in future years!

    1. Ann says:

      Thank you!

  5. Robert Jenner says:

    Longtime lurker, first-time poster, just wanted to say I’m a huge fan of the Ancillary series! I picked up A-Justice last year on impulse in an Amazon eBook deal for $2.99 while I was looking for a good space opera to read on an airport layover. Got one and then some. I promptly hit Barnes & Noble the next day and bought the print versions of both Justice and Sword.

    I was rooting hard for A-Sword in this year’s awards, though your remarks about how you’ve already been recognized make sense to me. And now that 3BP has won, it’s piqued my interest, and I’m thinking another trip to the bookstore is in order, so…. mission accomplished, Hugo’s? I guess? It’ll tide me over until Mercy hits, anyway. 🙂

  6. FWIW, you had my #1 vote, with the winner at #2. Really looking forward to Mercy.

  7. Mike Glyer says:

    The Hugos helped me find your work and now that I have I enthusiastically await each new book.

    1. Ann says:

      Thank you! And may I say, thanks also for all your work at File 770!

  8. B
    Bob says:

    First time voter this year. But not the last time. I bought my supporting membership for MidAmeriCon II, and will vote from now on. I was woefully ignorant on how the Hugos were voted on my entire life, and if the puppies did any good deed it was galvanizing the fanbase, I think.
    My first WorldCon, and I hope it was a memorable one if anything. If not for the puppies debacle, than for Smokane at least!

  9. R
    Rick Moen says:

    May I say, this is several kinds of awesome and a class act?

    Second what you said about the 2015 Hugo Ceremony. At first, speaking as both a Worldcon congoer and Sasquan staffer, I was reminded of the Churchillism that ‘Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.’ Then, I started to appreciate the grace and deftness with which the whole thing, IMO, was handled. I think the evening will be long remembered — in a good way.

    Rick Moen
    rick@linuxmafia.com

    1. Ann says:

      Thank you.

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