A group of right-wing Internet users calling themselves “Sad Pupping” have hijacked the Hugo Award ballot this year, buying voter-only memberships to the World Science Fiction Convention in order to fill the ballot with stories aligned with their political agenda, including one published by “Patriarchy Press,” calling on Gamergate supporters to join in with them in seizing control of the award.
Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin wrote an excellent series of posts about the activity, which is indisputably within Hugo voting rules, but which is also indisputably a shitty thing to do, and also indisputably based on easily disproved lies about an alleged takeover of the Hugo Awards by “social justice warriors” bent on excluding white men and extolling “boring literary fiction”.
Another excellent post on the Sad Puppies awfulness is Bruce Schneier’s essay and its followup on constructing hard-to-game voting systems.
By the way, the DVDs of Season One George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones are two-thirds off right now: DVD, Blu-Ray.
Besides, this is a nasty, nasty fight, and anyone who speaks up, on either side of this, risks being savaged. It is no fun being savaged. It raises one’s blood pressure, and brings out the urge to savage back.
A wiser man would probably just keep quiet, and let this storm pass him by.
But no… that’s the path of cowardice. Much as I do not relish what is to come, I have been a part of science fiction fandom most of my life, and the Hugo Awards and worldcon are very important to me, and I cannot and will not stand by and keep silent while they are under attack.
So I am going to say a few things.
Some of you reading this will not like what I am going to say. I expect I will get the usual rash of “I am never reading your books again” emails and posts. Fine, go ahead, I am used to those. They come in every time I say anything of substance.
I suspect I may get those sorts of emails from both sides of the Puppygate wars. I have my own views on all of this, and they don’t line up precisely what what either camp is saying.
So be it. My views are my views. I do not speak for any clique or slate or movement.
Puppygate [George RR Martin/Not a Blog]
On voting systems: a guest post from Bruce Schneier [Making Light]
Discussing Specific Changes to the Hugo Nomination Election: Another Guest Post By Bruce Schneier [Making Light]
(via Wil Wheaton)