Vik-Thor's Journal

I am working my way through the Hugo shortlist and voting. Basically, anything put out by Castalia House and Vox Day is getting placed under the No Award Option. The only exception to that may be Jerry Pournelle as editor of There May Be War Vol. 10. I would like to know if he just lent his name, or if he actually did some editing work/selection. Everything else is getting ranked according to merit. (yes, even Chuck Tingle's work is getting rated above no award and the two items from Castalia/Vox. Especially since one of the nominees, If You Were An Award, My Love did not get included in the Hugo packet, and I can't find it on Mr. Day's website. Not that I looked very hard.)

I am going to WorldCon/MidAmeriCon 2 next month. Taking the Amtrak over to KC, since we only have one vehicle, and taur10 needs it to get to work while I'm gone. Since I decided to actually go so late, I wasn't able to find a room-mate in one of the hotels. (Of course, they don't seem to have any type of roomshare site set up, like several of the furry cons do. ) I'm booked at an AirBnB in easy bus distance from the KC Convention center. This will be my first time doing an AirBnB. Of course, I don't do much travelling…

taur10 and I will be going down to Mephit Fur Meet over Labour Day weekend. Planning on doing the caravan down to Memphis from Saint Louis. Hopefully this year, we will get with them at the start, rather than catching up to them down near Cape. :)

I have been cleared to return to work, and drive! :) Went back on Thursday. It's nice not having to rely on Seph to drive me places. Have an appointment Monday with my cardiologist, which will probably be an every 6 months ritual for the rest of my life. No real restrictions, other than weight, and to be somewhat careful to not put a lot of stress on the sternum. Need to see if the 2 medications I am still on are contraindicated with alcohol. I will be glad to start drinking beer again. And Mtn Dew. (they wanted me off caffeine also, with all the blood pressure medicines I was on. The caffeine free diet Mtn Dew just isn't the same.)

I bought a supporting membership so this year's WorldCon, Sasquan, early in April. A couple days after the Hugo nominations had been announced, but before a lot of the Puppygate stuff had blown up. I am currently working my way through the various nominated works.

I grabbed an ebook from Castalia House that has the nominated works by John C. Wright. After reading it, I know I will be voting No Award above the works by Mr. Wright. My biggest issue with them is the fact that they are Christian fiction first, and science fiction/fantasy second. They pound it over your head. Where C.S. Lewis alludes and hints, Mr. Wright SHOUTS it in your face. That may be to some peoples taste, but not me.

I picked up a copy of Sex Criminals Volume One: One Weird Trick at Free Comic Book Day. (Newcastle Comics was having a Buy 2 graphic Novels, Get 1 Free sale. I was already getting 2, so I grabbed Sex Criminals for free.) Haven't started reading it yet.

I am on the waiting list at the St. Louis County Library for a copy of Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu). I had actually heard about it before the nominations were announced, on a spot on NPR. (If this wins, I wonder if both the author and translator will get Hugos?)

javarod/Seph has a copy of Skin Game, by Jim Butcher. I have not read all of the other books in the Dresden Files, so it will be interesting to see how it handles as a stand-alone work.

I actually grabbed the wrong book by Ann Leckie at the library. I grabbed Ancillary Justice, but the nominated work is Ancillary Sword. Justice is interesting so far.


I'm going to have to start a list for works I want to nominate for next year's Hugo. Haven't decided if I want to go to MidAmericon II in Kansas city next year. Not sure if I would enjoy going to such a big con. Archon is even a bit much for me. Will definitely get a Supporting Membership.