🖖 #StarTrekDiscovery S02E12 Klingons that didn’t annoy me (L’Rell’s dress was great)! The time crystals are a bit too magic-y (much like the dark matter that seems able to do whatever the plot needs), but okay. Pike’s vision was a pleasant surprise. And Control is a T-1000 now?
Book twenty-nine of 2019: Double Star, by Robert Heinlein. ⭐️⭐️1/2 1956 Hugo Best Novel 📚
Still too much early-Heinlein manly men and weepy women characterizations, and I saw the end coming, but at least I didn’t roll my eyes through the entire thing. An improvement!
Hugo Awards Norwescon Representation
This year’s slate of nominees for the Hugo Award were announced yesterday, and there are a lot of past and present connections to Norwescon!
This year’s NWC Writer Guest of Honor, Mary Robinette Kowal, is nominated for Best Novel for The Calculating Stars.
This year’s Honored Professional, Neil Clarke, is nominated for Best Professional Editor, Short Form.
This year’s Spotlight Publisher, Subterranean Press, has published two of this year’s nominations: Aliette de Bodard for Best Novella for The Tea Master and the Detective, and Aliette de Bodard for Best Series for The Universe of Xuya.
NWC31 Special Guest of Honor Naomi Novik is nominated for Best Novel for Spinning Silver.
NWC37 Special Guest of Honor Seanan McGuire is nominated for Best Novella for Beneath the Sugar Sky, and for Best Series for the October Daye series.
NWC35 Artist Guest of Honor John Picacio is nominated for Best Related Work for The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76, and for Best Professional Artist.
NWC36 Special Guest of Honor Gardner Dozois is nominated for Best Professional Editor, Short Form.
NWC29, 35, and 39 Spotlight Publisher DAW Books Representative Shiela Gilbert is nominated for Best Professional Editor, Long Form.
NWC24 and 38 Spotlight Publisher Representative (for Bantam Dell and Random House, respectively) Anne Lesley Groell is nominated for Best Professional Editor, Long Form.
NWC41 Artist Guest of Honor Galen Dara is nominated for Best Professional Artist.
NWC38 Artist Guest of Honor Julie Dillon is nominated for Best Art Book for Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon.
NWC20 Guest of Honor A.E. van Vogt is nominated for 1944 Retro Hugo Best Novel for The Weapon Makers.
Some of our past pros and panelists are nominated as well:
Tina Connolly for Best Novelette for The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections.
Elsa Sjunneson-Henry for Best Semiprozine — twice! — for Fireside Magazine and Uncanny Magazine’s Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction, and for Best Fan Writer.
Tanya DePass for Best Semiprozine for Fireside Magazine.
And longtime dealer Spring Schoenhuth is nominated for Best Fan Artist.
I think that covers everyone NWC-related, but if I missed anyone, let me know! Congratulations to all the nominees, and good luck!
A thought I’ve had on occasion, and has resurfaced thanks to India’s anti-satellite test threatening the ISS: What if the reason we’ve never heard from an alien race is that they all ended up with so much orbital junk that they can’t safely leave their planet anymore?
Book twenty-eight of 2019: My Life as a White Trash Zombie, by Diana Rowland. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚
An enjoyable bit of modern zombie fun. Superficial similarities to I, Zombie (recently dead 20-something woman works in a morgue for easy access to brains), but goes its own way.
NIN Strobe Light is Out!
Hot damn — ten years after being announced, Nine Inch Nails’ “Strobe Light” has been released!
Since the next book in my Hugo reading project is an early Heinlein, and I’ve already disliked the last two of his that have come up in this project, it’s time for a fluff break. For which, the irresistible title My Life as a White Trash Zombie should do just fine.
Book twenty-seven of 2019: The Forever Machine, by Mark Clifton & Frank Riley ⭐️⭐️ 1955 Hugo Best Novel 📚
Odd mix of early postulation about how AI might affect society and almost new-age “woo” of psychoanalysis rejuvenating the physical body to youth. Not very engaging.
Another ST:DIS Theory
After watching tonight’s episode of Discovery (S02E11), Prairie and I came up with what we think is a very possible theory about where this season might go in the next few episodes, and it’s one that impacts a fair amount of the future Trek universe.
Details behind the cut, as this will be in definite spoiler territory, both for tonight’s episode, and potentially for the next three episodes if we’re right (though my last theory didn’t pan out, so keep that in mind).
🖖 #StarTrekDiscovery S02E11 Another solid episode. Glad they didn’t drag out the Burnham family reunion drama over multiple episodes, but the scenes with Michael and her mom were really good. Spock continues to evolve nicely. And we have theories about ties to future series….