Not sure why you’re quoting me in your giant wall of text there. Can you explain what your problem is with my post and I’d be more than happy to help out? Humour doesn’t always translate well…
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Yeah none of that is “hatred”. Ironically, VD IS full of hate. And it’s clear from his writings. And you’re defending him. Yikes.
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I think you’re right. It started off as a quicky colour change which took longer than I anticipated, and I was tempted to meddle with her face to make her less European-looking (Scandinavian, even), but I wasn’t sure what to do, exactly, and I don’t think I’m skilled enough not to muck it up anyway. So I left it as is.
Looking at it now, I guess I could broaden and flatten her nose a bit, maybe suggest a bit of epicanthic fold? The challenge is to suggest a hybrid of all races without being particularly one or another, and also staying close to Whelan’s template.
The Hugos are supposed to be about good science fiction, about recognizing authors who write books the fans want to read, not just authors who are politically compatible with a tiny subset of fandom.
Everybody talks about what they want to believe is the Sad Puppy agenda, but if you read Larry’s blog (http://monsterhunternation.com/), the claims don’t match up with what he actually says. Larry is not the monster the puppy haters want him to be.
I don’t think I ever said it was all a Social Justice conspiracy, and if I did, I was probably being flippant. I said it was politically biased. SJWs are just the loudest. The bias comes in a few forms …
If you actually want to know what Sad Puppies was about, go back before the huge blowup, take a look at the discussion about the previous round of Hugo awards and SP2.
What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is pretty classic example of Zalophus, otherwise known as a Sealion.
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Oh? Who are these fans, what exactly do they want to read, and what sort of politics of what “tiny subset of fandom” are you referring to, exactly? Be specific, and include examples of past winners, and why the “sad puppies” (mostly straight, white men…) believe that their interests are not being represented (in other words: LOLOL LOLOL).
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Wasn’t it Spider Robinson who said there were no women in Heinlein’s fiction, just “boy scouts with breasts”?
[Utterly nothing to do with the racial issue, here. But the cover reminded me]
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I’m sure I read an essay by Asimov years ago (an editorial from his magazine?) about covers on SF books, and why it didn’t matter that they didn’t reflect the story.
In Gold, I think.
Edit, yep:
Metaphor: I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM A FAN THE other day, one who had
bought a copy of Agent of Byzantium by Harry Turtledove, which
appeared in a series entitled “Isaac Asimov Presents.” (That’s why he
wrote to me.)
The cover shows a man dressed, says my correspondent, “in a
Romanesque military uniform, holding a Roman helmet in his left
hand.” He also carried “a very large, very modern, very lethal-looking
blaster rifle” and “an electronic scanning device.”
My correspondent was intrigued by the anachronism, bought
the book, read it, and “enjoyed the book.” However, he found no place
in the story where a man was holding such a rifle and scanning device,
and he felt cheated. He had been lured into buying and reading the
book by an inaccurate piece of cover art, and he wrote to complain.
…
This brings us to the cover illustration of Agent of Byzantium. It
is clearly the intent of the artist to illustrate the nature of the story,
not the story itself. Constantinople is in the background, identified by
the gilded dome of Hagia Sophia. In the foreground is a soldier who
has Byzantine characteristics. So far we have an historical novel. But
he also possesses objects of high technology associated with modern
western culture. Clearly it is an historical novel set in an alternate
reality. And that is what the book deals with. The cover is precise, it
tells us what we need to know, it satisfies the artist’s own cravings,
and if the details of the technology are not precisely met in any
incident in the book, that matters not a whit.
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No argument from me; I’m talking about the text.
Not sure your healing your cause. Anybody who uses the phrase Social Justice Warrior in a serious argument has already lost the argument. And his use of the phrase says do much about his little world.
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The biases in the Hugo winners/nominees in recent years are well documented, if you want research, hit up Google yourself. And feel free to keep telling the lie that this is all about straight white men, eventually with repetition maybe it will stick.
OTOH, you seem want to argue with Larry, so why not go argue with him on his site?
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Well documented? By whom? What documentation? You haven’t even bothered to answer my questions. I don’t want to argue with Larry. I’m talking to you. You’re the one with the claims – the onus is on you to back them up. Otherwise, I am going to keep on thinking you’re full of shit.
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What are the biases? I can see steampunk maybe had a peak (thankfully), but don’t see anything else.
So… you can’t have both good literature that has political content? come on now, don’t be so lazy… Are you really saying that Octavia Butler and Sam Delaney are substandard writing because they happen to write from their perspectives in this world?
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And then there’s Charlie Stross’ rant about covers, here:
The book cover is not the author’s job. In fact, the major imprints all have in-house book design departments with art directors to commission paintings, external contracts with professional photographers to commission back-flap author photos, and so on. […]
The job of the cover is to make a shopper pick the product up. Retail psychology studies indicate that shoppers are more likely to buy a product if they physically handle it, and this is as true in bookstores as it is in grocery or electronics stores. The cover design will therefore ideally be distinctive (to stand out from the crowd), colourful (to contrast with the crowd), and aesthetically appealing (ditto).
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Pithy, but it doesn’t account for Podkayne of Mars.
And yet, the Sundry Puppies (a tiny subset of fandom) are trying to do just that!
Also, looking at that last wall of text from @murph …
Because he can’t fucking be for real!?!?
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Oh, but see, the puppies are the REAL fandom… duh! /s
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