Ansible logo Home/Links: 2015

This page is the final repository for 2015 links from the ever-scrolling sidebar column at the right of the Ansible Links page. The editor has no intention of running regular checks on their continued validity.

2015 Hugo Ructions permalink

December 2015
"Sir Terry Pratchett remembered by his daughter, Rhianna Pratchett"
US Star Trek stamps in 2016; Paramount and CBS move against crowdfunded fan film Axanar
Cli-fi, so dramatically different from boring old sf
"Tor.com Will Be Closed to Unsolicited Short Fiction Submissions"
HTTP error [Fahrenheit] 451 now official
Almond Press: not a class act
Peter Dickinson 1927-2015
Author who stalked and attacked a reviewer now jailed
BSFA Award nominations close 31 December
2016 TAFF voting begins; online ballot form
The horror of fake Star Wars toys: will there be an Emperor Daft Serious in your Christmas stocking?
Peter Beagle's lawsuit; some background; the full complaint; fan support site; another
Could this be the same Nottingham-based games company that laid claim to the term "space marine"?

November 2015
Whither Eastercon? The questionnaire is back
2024 UK Worldcon bid? Discussion begins
New awards named for the late Bill Kunkel
Call for new World Fantasy Award design; Artists Beware! says John Picacio
Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame: Beatrix Potter, Richard Powers
The Man in the High Castle – still controversial!; likewise on the New York subway
2016 Hugo Award Base Competition
New imprint: John Joseph Adams Books
World Fantasy Awards Winners 2015; goodbye to the controversial HPL trophy; S.T. Joshi has hissy fit; new trophy poll!; Guardian
LOTR film music wins all-time popularity poll again
Strange doings at Samhain Publishing
Judge Dredd uncensored at last
Crossed Genres to close
TAFFWorld #4 with fuller details of the 2016 TAFF race (nominations now open)
Jon Langford Wins Book Cover Design Award, Fails To Tell Ansible; also in The Bookseller
How to Win Friends and Influence Editors, part 5,271,009

October 2015
Hallowe'en Crossword: Linus and the Great Pumpkin
Wired on Puppygate (again)
"The Owners of the Real House The Conjuring Is Based on Are Suing Warner Bros."
2015 British Fantasy Awards
Tolkien's annotated Middle-earth map
TAFF race East to West in 2016
David Mitchell on Earthsea; also Salon interview
Wanted: Barbican assistant curator with SF knowledge (though not of books)
"Buck Rogers and the Copyright Trolls"
"John Carpenter Wins Plagiarism Case Against Luc Besson Over 'Lockout'"
Big sellout story!
2016 GUFF result
"Game of Thrones sex scenes are 'sexplanations' to distract from boring exposition", says disinterested author behind rival series
SF/fantasy prosthetic hands for children
"Star Wars composer John Williams to receive film honour"
Princess Leia slave bikini auctioned for vast sum; and original Tintin artwork for vaster sum
False Captain Kirk detected
"Beano domain name to be handed to DC Thomson"
Tom Purdom hospitalized
Gender Discrimination in SFF Awards

September 2015
James Sallis "quits over loyalty oath"
The Red Potato of Mars
The Future of Eastercon
Don West (1945-2015); his illustrations for Ansible; cartoon sequence on the joy of fanzine publishing in Twll-Ddu 18; memorial group on Facebook
Blade Runner sequel title revealed, or not
Women, it is asserted, can't write space opera
Bill Finger to get official Batman credit at last
Oh dear, Star Wars stamps
SF² Concatenation Autumn 2015 Newscast
US National Medal of Arts for Stephen King; more after presentation
"Hitch in Sasquan Nominating Data Turnover"
C-3PO on The Force Awakens: "The secrecy has been ludicrous"
Christopher Eccleston: "I never watched Doctor Who when I was a child... I never watched myself as Doctor Who!"

August 2015
Pissing on Pratchett; a response in the same paper on the same day; Chris Priest comments
Suzette Haden Elgin's Papers
Hugo Ceremony Video Posted
Other Awards Presented at the Hugo Ceremony; 2015 Black Hole Awards
2015 Hugo results; as-it-happened commentary at File 770; "Memories of Tonight’s Hugo Ceremony"; Locus; detailed voting statistics [PDF]; "What the alternate Hugo Ballot would likely have been"; similarly, "Alternate Timeline Hugo Awards"; looking at the statistics; "The Hugo Awards, and Some Thoughts Thereon"; "What The Complete Puppy Shutout Means And Doesn’t Mean"; Wired; Wall Street Journal; io9; NPR; The Mary Sue; Guardian; Guardian again; Blastr; "Being a Jerk About the Hugos: Not as Effective a Strategy as You Might Think"; LA Times; "The Hugo Results—Don’t Be A Dick"; Slate.com; Charlie Stross; "Talkin’ About The Puppies"; George R.R. Martin Caught!; GRRM "Hugo Aftermath"; Alexandra Erin; Gary K. Wolfe/Chicago Tribune; Ann Leckie; "Who Really Runs the Hugo Awards?"; New Republic; James Worrad; Amazing Stories news and links; Melinda Snodgrass; Eric Flint on "The Divergence Between Popularity and Awards in Fantasy and Science Fiction"; Craig Engler; Lawyers, Guns & Money; io9.
Helsinki Wins 2017 Site Selection Vote; the convention name is Worldcon 75
"The Hugo Awards ceremony drinking game"
No zombies on the Underground
A.L. Kennedy on the Doctor's gender
Sidewise Awards winners
Game of Thrones child names infest UK
Yes! magazine on Puppygate
"The Whispering Swarm by Michael Moorcock – digested read"
Pixels copyright trolling
Gemmell Awards: 2015 Winners
Brian Aldiss interviewed
Lou Antonelli, major fuckwit (see also File 770; again; more fallout; a summary; Antonelli not banned from Worldcon)
Mythopoeic Awards: 2015 Winners
Record-breaking Hugo voting figures

July 2015
GUFF 2016 voting is now open
US fugitive caught after starring in horror film
"Was Pixar's Inside Out inspired by The Beano?"
"Are You Going to the WSFS Business Meeting? "
Stephen Baxter interviewed
New Statesman Moorcock interview; Our man's afterthoughts
"George R.R. Martin's turn to die horrifically"
British Fantasy Awards shortlist
"Sympathetic Sci-Fi" (New Yorker)
"Star Wars themed Amy Schumer GQ shoot 'not approved'"
Sidewise Awards shortlist
New UK sf magazine: Shoreline of Infinity
George Lucas honoured
"Nosferatu director's skull believed stolen"
"Even Obama is upset about Jon Snow's death"
"Disney wins starwars.co.uk net domain battle"; appeal follows
Welsh Klingon UFO Politics
World Fantasy Awards shortlist
World Fantasy Life Achievement: Ramsey Campbell, Sheri S. Tepper
Rhysling Awards winners

June 2015
Locus Awards winners
WSFS New Business (with anti-slate Hugo fixes!); Best Saga proposal revised
Chesley Awards finalists
Christopher Lee (1922-2015)
2014 Nebula winners
Mythopoeic Awards shortlist
GUFF 2016: nominations deadline extended
Deadmau5/Disney dispute settled
Gemmell Awards shortlists
Inscribed Hobbit first edition fetches lots at auction; proves to have been wrongly described

May 2015
As Others See Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Margaret Atwood and Future Library
John Scalzi? Big deal
Tanith Lee (1947-2015)
Cheryl Morgan on "The Wages of Sin"
"Conan Doyle Estate Sues Miramax Over 'Mr. Holmes'"
SWFA election results
2015 Hugo Voter Packet Download
Free ebooks at the TAFF site
John W.Campbell Award finalists
Sturgeon Award finalists
Bram Stoker Awards
Shirley Jackson Awards finalists
Simon Pegg worries about superhero blockbusters
Clarke Award
Locus Award finalists
Talking George R.R. Martin Doll
Ursa Major Awards (furry)
Doctor Who at Durham cop shop

2015 Hugo Ructions

Hugo shortlist; Amended Hugo Shortlist; two late withdrawals; Re-Amended Hugo Shortlist; another withdrawal, but too late; and yet another; Hugo voting page; Hugo Voter Packet Download.

How it all worked out at Sasquan, and after: 2015 Hugo results; as-it-happened commentary at File 770; Hugo Ceremony Video Posted;"Memories of Tonight’s Hugo Ceremony"; Locus; detailed voting statistics [PDF]; "What the alternate Hugo Ballot would likely have been"; similarly, "Alternate Timeline Hugo Awards"; looking at the statistics; "The Hugo Awards, and Some Thoughts Thereon"; "What The Complete Puppy Shutout Means And Doesn’t Mean"; Wired; Wall Street Journal; io9; NPR; The Mary Sue; Guardian; Guardian again; Blastr; "Being a Jerk About the Hugos: Not as Effective a Strategy as You Might Think"; LA Times; "The Hugo Results—Don’t Be A Dick"; Slate.com; Charlie Stross; "Talkin’ About The Puppies"; George R.R. Martin Caught!; Alexandra Erin; Gary K. Wolfe/Chicago Tribune; Ann Leckie; "Who Really Runs the Hugo Awards?"; New Republic; James Worrad; Amazing Stories news and links; Melinda Snodgrass; Eric Flint on "The Divergence Between Popularity and Awards in Fantasy and Science Fiction"; Craig Engler; Lawyers, Guns & Money; io9; Wired on Puppygate (again).

The long back-story: File 770 has further posts and link roundups; more 11/4; 12/4; 13/4; 14/4; 15/4; 15/4; Final Hugo Ballot Adds Novel, Short Story 16/4; 16/4; Measuring The Slates' Impact on the Final Hugo Ballot 17/4; 17/4; 18/4; Black Gate Withdraws 19/4; Hugo Ballot Is Locked 19/4; 19/4; 20/4; 21/4; 22/4; 23/4; 24/4; 25/4; 26/4; Edmund R. Schubert Withdraws 27/4; 27/4; 28/4; 29/4; 30/4; 1/5; 2/5; An Account of Juliette Wade's Withdrawal from Sad Puppies 3, 2/5; 2/5; 3/5; 4/5; 5/5; 6/5; 7/5; 8/5; 9/5; 10/5; 11/5; 12/5; 13/5; 14/5; Wall Street Journal on Sad Puppies 15/5; 15/5; 16/5; 17/5; 18/5; 19/5; 20/5; Voting Expert Asks Help To Attend Sasquan 21/5; 21/5; 22/5; 23/5; 24/5; 25/5; 26/5; 27/5; 28/5; 29/5; 30/5; 31/5; 1/6; Tracks of the Puppy 2/6; 2/6; 3/6; 4/6; 5/6; 6/6; 7/6; 8/6; 9/6; 10/6; 11/6; 12/6; 13/6; 14/6; 15/6; 16/6; 17/6; 18/6; 19/6; 20/6; 21/6; 22/6; 23/6; 24/6; 25/6; 26/6; 27/6; 28/6; 29/6; 30/6; 1/7; 2/7; 3/7; 4/7; 5/7; 6/7; A Puppy Epilogue 6/7. Starting again after the Hugos: 25/8 "Talkin’ About The Puppies"; 25/8 "Puppies In Perpetual Motion"; 26/8 "Enriching Your Puppy Vocabulary"; 27/8 "Dogs With A Blog"; 28/8 "When The Puppies Come Marching Home"; 29/8 "Chapter Five Esk 8/29 Ancillary Doghouse"; 30/8 "Need Less Bow, More Wow"; 3/9 "Sad Puppies 4 Begins"; 7/9 "Hitch in Sasquan Nominating Data Turnover"; A Proposal for a New Award with Protection against Voters Who Vote Wrong.

Guardian; io9; Adam Roberts; Salon; Telegraph; Scott Edelman, Strange Horizons; Atlantic; Foster on Film; Mary Robinette Kowal; Nicholas Whyte; Kari Sperring; Daily Beast; Daily Kos; Connie Willis; Jason Sanford; Eric Flint; New Republic; New Statesman; Guardian again and again; Alastair Reynolds; Obsidian Wings; Philip Sandifer; Cheryl Morgan; Melinda Snodgrass; Jim C. Hines; New York Review of SF; io9's "Eight Books You Need To Know About To Understand The Hugo Awards Snafu".

Various proposed remedies emerge; Bruce Schneier on possible rules changes; a fervent endorsement of the No Award response; "we’d better all be ready to go to the business meeting"; a parody site; proposed anti-slate reform "E Pluribus Hugo: Out of Many, A Hugo"; E Pluribus Hugo: final polishing, FAQ etc; WSFS New Business: proposed Hugo changes.

Sad Puppies Speak (see also Failfandomanonwiki); What Puppies Most Hate; Mr Business Meeting.

George R.R. Martin: "Puppygate"; "Me and the Hugos"; "Tone"; "Blogging for Rockets"; "Where's the Beef?"; "What Now?"; (comment at Independent); "Hatespeech"; "Reading for Rockets"; "A Reply to Larry Correia"; "Meanwhile, Back at the War"; "Larry Correia, Once Again"; "On the Darkling Plain"; "Joining Sasquan"; "Once More, Into the Kennels"; "Black Gate Withdraws"; "Fanageddon"; "Puppy Whines"; "No On NO AWARD"; "More Hugo Musings"; "Reading for Hugos"; "Wars, Woes, Work"; "Hugo Voting Continues"; "Buy Tor Now"; "Speaking of Awards ..."; "A Family Reunion"; "Six Days Left "; "Sasquan and Beyond"; "Worldcon: Winning and Losing"; "Handicapping the Hugos"; "Handicapping the Hugos, Part the Second"; [After Worldcon:] "Hugo Aftermath"; "The Hugo Losers Party"; "What's It All About, Alfie?"; "The Alfies"; "Next Year’s Hugos"; "Awards, Awards, and More Awards".

Post-File 770 (whose heroic daily roundups ceased on 6 July): Pups all bark, no bite as Tor boycott fails, 11/7; Adam Roberts; Lou Antonelli, major fuckwit (see also File 770; again; more fallout; a summary; Antonelli not banned from Worldcon); Map of the 2015 Puppy Kerfuffle; Yes! magazine; io9: "How The Hugo Awards Saboteurs Actually Disproved Their Own Best Argument"; "The Hugo Awards ceremony drinking game"; see "How it all worked out ..." above; Adam Roberts, on the day of the Hugo ceremony, looks back.

Post-Hugo additions

April 2015
"Malcolm Edwards to step down at Orion"
The New Yorker on Gene Wolfe
2017 Worldcon site selection
2015 Prometheus shortlist
"Lost Pages of A Wrinkle in Time Unearthed"
Goldie Awards shortlist (see genre categories)
2016 GUFF nominations announcedwith FAQ
2015 ESFS Awards
K.J. Parker = Tom Holt
Ramsey Campbell, Jolly Good Fellow
"Flesh eating plant named after Alien creature creator H R Giger"
SF² Concatenation Summer 2015 Newscast
"Top Ten Most Common Short Story Names"
TAFF result and figures
Gemmell Awards longlists
Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist
Tiptree Award
BSFA Awards
Philip K. Dick Award
Ditmar Awards
Terry Pratchett tribute graffiti
SFWA Solstice Awards
Foolery: Nature; National Trust; Charlie Stross; "Hobbits are all bastards, claims Daily Mail"; CERN researchers confirm existence of the Force; Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet Now on Display; A Good Thing

March 2015
Pre-Hugo shortlist rumblings; more
Clarke Award: full submissions list
Writer Beware on Omni Reboot "rights grab"
John Scalzi, Prognostication Master
Rowling on Dumbledore yet again
The Bookseller YA Book Prize
W. Heath Robinson saved for the nation
Coming soon: Triffid Alley, London
Holly Lisle: "Open Letter to SFWA Upon My Resignation"
Ursa Major Awards voting opens
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015); Guardian; Telegraph; New York Times; The Register; more links in SF Encyclopedia post
Justina Robson: "Women, give science fiction a chance"
Kazuo Ishiguro strikes back: "I am on the side of the pixies and dragons"
Lambda Awards SF/Fantasy/Horror shortlist
"Sigourney Weaver slams the Oscars: Sci-fi films don't get enough respect "
The Pope recommends SF
British Library: The Gothic
Ursula K. Le Guin on Kazuo Ishiguro
SFWA Grand Master: Larry Niven
A new home for the VATMOSS horror page

February 2015
Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015)
"Dracula deserts Shropshire"
More about L. Ron Hubbard
First Edition Fever: The Iliad
Bram Stoker Awards shortlist
Nebula Awards shortlist
Grand Master William F. Nolan
BSFA Awards shortlist
Kitschies shortlist
Arthur Machen Collection update
"SFWA Welcomes Self-Published and Small Press Authors!"
2014 Locus Recommended Reading List

January 2015
After Colleen McCullough's death: how would your Australian obituary read?
George Lucas confesses
The new editor of F&SF
More Lovecraftian disputation
Sasquan (Worldcon 2015) membership rates to rise on 1 February
2016 Cardiff Eastercon bid withdrawn
Hugo Award nominations are open
SF² Concatenation Spring 2015 Newscast
1926 vision of London in 2026
Philip K. Dick Award shortlist
FAAn Awards voting is open
Loncon 3 post-mortem: final attendance, very very small surplus
What J.G. Ballard's drafts looked like
2015 TAFF race opens: vote here; PDF ballot form
"The Virtues of Know-Nothing Criticism"