Readers favor Blue Mars, Babylon 5 in unofficial Hugo poll
lue Mars and Babylon 5 were the overwhelming favorites in the second annual Science Fiction Weekly Unofficial Hugo Poll, which ended at midnight, Aug. 25. The poll was based on the ballot for the actual Hugo Awards* but is not affiliated with the Hugos or the World Science Fiction Society*.
This year the number of votes in our poll ranged widely per category, with a high of 1,265 individual votes in the Best Dramatic Presentation category and a low of 335 votes in the Best Fan Artist category. And although the voting wasn't always one-sided, our readers had some definite ideas about who they think will win the Hugo Awards this year.
Below is a wrap-up of the first- and second-place finishers in each category. Complete voting results are also available.
- Best Novel (813 votes)
- Kim Stanley Robinson's Blue Mars took an early lead and never looked back, eventually garnering 327 votes, although Lois McMaster Bujold's Memory was a respectable second with 171 votes.
- Best Novella (623 votes)
- "Time Travelers Never Die" by Jack McDevitt traded the lead several times with George R. R. Martin's "Blood of The Dragon" before eventually winning out with 176 votes. Martin was voted a solid second place with 148 votes.
- Best Novelette (609 votes)
- In the final days of the poll, Ursula K. Le Guin's "Mountain Ways" added to a tenuous lead and eventually won this category with 189 votes. Bruce Sterling's "Bicycle Repairman" was never far behind and finished with 144 votes.
- Best Short Story (559 votes)
- Michael Swanwick's "The Dead" seemed like an early favorite, but its final 141 votes were not enough to overcome Connie Willis's "The Soul Selects Her Own Society . . .," which received 162 votes.
- Best Non-Fiction Book (510 votes)
- Look at the Evidence by John Clute--who is a columnist for Science Fiction Weekly--took an early lead but slowly succumbed to Time & Chance by L. Sprague de Camp, which finished first with 142 votes. Clute ended up as the second-place favorite with 97 votes.
- Best Dramatic Presentation (1,265 votes)
- This was easily the most popular category with our readers, and Babylon 5 was easily the winner with a whopping 713 votes. Star Trek: First Contact finished in second with 201 votes.
- Best Editor (602 votes)
- Gardner Dozois has won the Hugo for best editor more times than most people can remember, and if our readers are correct he'll be adding another one to his collection this year. He won the category with 170 votes, followed by Kristine Kathryn Rusch with 141 votes.
- Best Professional Artist (626 votes)
- Michael Whelan--seemingly a perennial fan favorite--was the unquestioned leader from day one in our poll, eventually finishing with 285 votes. Bob Eggleton ended up in second place with 132 votes.
- Best Semiprozine (655 votes)
- Locus is another regular winner in the actual Hugo Awards, and it looks like our readers think it will win again in 1997. It won the category with a final tally of 241 votes, followed by Science Fiction Chronicle with 181 votes.
- Best Fanzine (444 votes)
- In what looks like the only real upset in our poll, voters abandoned early favorite Ansible--yet another regular Hugo winner--for newcomer Tangent. The final votes had Tangent finishing in first with 119 votes and Ansible second with 103.
- Best Fan Writer (376 votes)
- Ansible editor Dave Langford probably isn't too upset about losing the Best Fanzine category in our poll since he handily won Best Fan Writer with 123 votes, well ahead of second place finisher Evelyn C. Leeper, who had 76 votes.
- Best Fan Artist (335 votes)
- Although this category wasn't an upset, it was certainly a surprise as our readers chose "No Award" over the nominees. "No Award," as opposed to simply not voting, means our readers feel no award should be given in this category. The final voting saw "No Award" finish with 73 votes while William Rotsler--the early favorite--came in second with 61 votes.
- John W. Campbell Award (469 votes)
- Although this is not a Hugo Award, we included it in our poll since it appears on the Hugo Ballot form. And for the second year in a row writer Michael A. Burstein won our poll in this category, racking up 118 votes to second place finisher Sharon Shinn's 106 votes.
The actual Hugo Awards will be presented on Saturday, Aug. 30, at the 55th World Science Fiction Convention in San Antonio, Texas. Science Fiction Weekly and The Dominion will provide online coverage of the convention--including a live chat from the Hugo Awards ceremony with guest emcee Robert Silverberg--at our @Worldcon Web site.
*The Hugo Awards and the World Science Fiction Society are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary body.
-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
Mars headed for the small screen
ars, Ben Bova's futuristic book about an ill-fated expedition to the Red Planet, is being developed as a television series by the interactive media company Threshold Entertainment. The series will "take a realistic look at the first manned mission and continued exploration of the Mars surface," according to Threshold.
"With the current exploration of Mars by NASA, a story like this couldn't be more timely for the television audience," said Larry Kasanoff, Threshold's chairman and CEO. "In addition to being actively involved with space exploration since its inception, Ben Bova's style of writing is what he calls 'historical fiction that hasn't happened yet.'"
This is not Threshold's first venture into genre entertainment: the
company is perhaps best known for its box-office hit Mortal Kombat, which spawned TV and movie sequels.
-- Patrick Lee
Miles O'Brien to ship off Deep Space Nine?
ime was, a Star Fleet officer signed on for life. Not so anymore. First came word that Jennifer Lien (Kes) was bailing out of Star Trek: Voyager. Now come Internet rumors that acclaimed Irish character actor Colm Meaney is calling it quits from his longtime role as Chief Miles O'Brien, first on Star Trek: The Next Generation and now on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Fans tell Science Fiction Weekly that word of Meaney's
departure, supposedly in the middle of DS9's next season, leaked out during a Trek convention in San Diego this month. For its part, Paramount Studios, which produces the lucrative franchise, could not be reached to comment on the rumors.
Of course, Paramount kept mum about the departure of Lien too. But don't fret for her: she's got a new SF gig of sorts--doing voice-over work for the animated version of this summer's hit film Men in Black on the WB Network this fall, according to TV Guide.
-- P.L.
Now you can help SETI hunt for aliens
f you loved the movie Contact, in which Jodie Foster
receives the first signals from intelligent aliens on her laptop computer, you'll love this: a new project aims to harness the power of personal computers to aid the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, otherwise known as SETI.
SETI said next spring it will launch SETI@home, a service that will take
data gathered by the independent research project and distribute it to PC users for at-home analysis. The data will be gathered from the radio telescope in Point Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
The project will help SETI analyze more of the data it gathers, since it currently receives more information than it has the computing power to process. Home users who volunteer for the project will receive a software application that will function like a screen-saver on their computers, which will process a batch of SETI data when the PC is not otherwise in use, and then return it to scientists.
-- P.L.
Space launch delayed until Oct. 17
he launch of the new Canadian SF channel Space: The Imagination Station has been pushed back from Sept. 26 to Oct. 17. The delay reportedly stems from a tiff between Canadian cable operators and the services that hoped to debut seven new specialty channels, including Space.
The delay will not affect the line-up of Space shows reported in our last issue.-- C.E.E.
Armin Mueller-Stahl opens an X-File
scar-nominated German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl (Shine) has reportedly joined the cast of the untitled X-Files feature film now shooting in Los Angeles, joining Oscar-winner Martin Landau and the cast of the TV series.
Other noted actors in the cast include Blythe Danner, Glenne Headly and Lucas Black (Sling Blade).
In other X-Files news:
- The cable network FX scored huge ratings with the first of its daily rebroadcasts of The X-Files reruns at 8 p.m. With fewer than half as many subscribers as other cable networks, FX's debut of The X-Files drew more adult viewers than any other basic cable network, according to FX figures based on Nielsen Media Research.
- The third episode of the fifth season of the acclaimed Fox series, entitled Unusual Suspects, will reportedly tell the story of the Lone Gunmen, the three zany conspiracy theorists who backstop Special Agent Fox Mulder, according to actor Dean Haglund's Web site.
- The Hollywood Entertainment Museum in Los Angeles this month added a new X-Files exhibit, featuring props, documents and wardrobe from the show's first three seasons. Included in the exhibit, titled From The X-Files: the Erlenmeyer flask from the episode of the same name; circus paraphernalia from the episode Humbug, and rubber weapons.
-- P.L.
In marketing, all's fair in love and Star Wars
eorge Lucas, who pioneered the lucrative business of movie
merchandising with his original Star Wars trilogy, is reportedly going one better for the new series of films. His company Lucasfilm is considering unprecedented deals with toy makers including taking an equity stake, according to published reports.
In exchange for the coveted licensing rights to toys for the highly
anticipated prequel, sources said Lucasfilm is asking toy manufacturers for a record-setting 20 percent royalty fee from merchandise sales, as well as looking for guaranteed fees totaling $400 - $600 million over seven years. Lucasfilm declined to comment on the story.
-- P.L.
Norman Spinrad: Take my manuscript...please
riters frustrated at the bottom-line mentality of book publishing
may sympathize with a unique ploy by veteran SF writer Norman Spinrad. He has sent mass e-mails offering to sell the rights to his new novel He Walked Among Us for $1 to any publisher who persuades him that they will "publish it properly."
Spinrad, author of 20 books, said he is taking the step to get around
financial objections to the publication of his new manuscript: "As copiously detailed in various sections of my Web page, the current bottom-line thinking in the publishing industry, combined with what happened to my last published novel, Pictures at 11, have placed me in such a situation. The sales figures were sufficiently low so that I have been told that my name is a guarantee that the major bookstore chains will not order sufficient copies of
whatever my next novel might be--regardless of content or quality--for any
publisher to bring it out."
He added: "I will go out on an even more outrageous limb by saying that
I believe that there are more important things than money."
-- P.L.
Ken Mulder? Barbie Scully?
nternet speculation continues to swirl about the circumstances of next year's feature film version of The X-Files. Now, there is some reason to believe that Mattel, the nation's largest toy maker, has considered the ultimate promotional tie-in: Ken and Barbie collectible versions of Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
In response to rumors on an X-Files mailing list, Sara Rosales, a spokeswoman for Mattel in El Segundo, Calif., confirmed for Science Fiction Weekly that initial talks were held between the toy maker and Fox, producers of the show, about producing such dolls. Mattel currently produces several limited edition Ken and Barbie versions of popular TV and movie characters.
So far, however, there is no deal to produce trench-coated plastic Mulders and Scullys. "We're not even sure it's going anywhere," she said. The hangup? "It's up to Fox."
-- P.L.
Animated Iron Giant headed for theaters
eaturing the voices of rock star Pete Townshend and Britain's poet
laureate Ted Hughes, the animated fantasy feature Iron Giant is headed for production by Warner Bros., according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Iron Giant tells the story of a lonely young boy who
befriends an iron giant who rises from the sea and devours metal objects.
-- P.L.
The NightMan cometh to TV
ightMan, based on the 21st century Malibu Comic series, comes to television this fall as a syndicated series featuring TV veteran Earl Holliman (Police Woman), according to The Hollywood Reporter
Holliman plays Frank Dominus, a retired police officer and father of the series' lead character, played by Matt McColm.
-- P.L.
G.I. Jane writer, director head for SF and fantasy
projects
F auteur Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) returns to genre films after this month's premiere of G.I. Jane and will direct the supernatural thriller Cry Havoc, based on a screenplay by G.I. Jane writer David Twohy, Daily Variety reports.
Twohy (The Arrival), meanwhile, will write and direct
another SF movie, Nightfall, about a futuristic expedition that crash-lands on a planet with multiple suns and no signs of life--until the suns set.
-- P.L.
World Fantasy Award nominees announced
ominees have been announced for the World Fantasy Awards. The awards will be announced in November at the World Fantasy Convention banquet in London.
The nominees:
Best Novel
- Terence M. Green, Shadow of Ashland
- William Kotzwinkle, The Bear Went Over the Mountain
- Marc Laidlaw, The 37th Mandala
- George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
- Rachel Pollack, Godmother Night
- Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson & Kate Elliott, The Golden Key
- Mark Sumner, The Devil's Tower
Best Novella
- Suzy McKee Charnas, "Beauty and the OpEra or The Phantom Beast"
- Mark Helprin, "A City in Winter"
- George R. R. Martin, "Blood of the Dragon"
- Susan Palwick, "GI Jesus"
- Michael Marshall Smith, "Hell Hath Enlarged Herself"
Best Short Fiction
- James P. Blaylock, "Thirteen Phantasms"
- Dennis Etchison, "The Dead Cop"
- Graham Masterton, "Underbed"
Best Anthology
- Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, Eds., The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Ninth Annual Collection
- Katherine Kerr and Martin H. Greenberg, Eds., The Shimmering Door
- Stephen Jones & David Sutton, Eds., Dark Terrors 2: The Gollancz Book of Horror
- Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Ed., Starlight 1
Best Collection
- Richard Chizmar, Midnight Promises
- Terry Lamsley, Conference With the Dead
- Jonathan Lethem, The Wall of the Sky, The Wall of the Eye
- Thomas Ligotti, The Nightmare Factory
- James Morrow, Bible Stories for Adults
- Norman Partridge, Bad Intentions
- S. P. Somtow, The Pavilion of Frozen Women
Best Artist
- Thomas Canty
- H. R. Giger
- Moebius (Jean Giraud)
- J. K. Potter
Best Professional
- Diana Wynne Jones, for The Tough Guide to Fantasyland
- Stephen Jones, for editing and anthologies
- David Pringle, for contributions to the genre
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch, for editing
- Mike Weldon, for The Psychotronic Video Guide to Film
Best Non-Professional
- Fedogan & Bremer, for book publishing
- Paula Guran, for Dark Echo
- Barbara and Christopher Roden, for Ash-Tree Press
-- P.L.
Briefly Noted
- Screenwriter Joss Whedon, who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer and who also wrote Alien Resurrection, is close to signing a four-year, $16 million deal with Fox, Daily Variety reported. The deal calls for Whedon to create his own production company, which would handle TV and movie properties for Fox. Fox is also in talks with Whedon about a fifth installment of the Alien franchise.
- Showtime's Stargate SG-1 has only just debuted, but Fox-owned stations have already agreed to pick up the series for a two-year deal starting in fall, 1998, Daily Variety reported.
- Sabrina Lloyd announced she was leaving the cast of the former Fox TV series Sliders and will not be onboard when the show moves to The Sci-Fi Channel next season. A spokesperson for her agency said, "She loved her experience on the show and is looking forward to doing other things."
- The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Inc. hired Sharon Lee to serve as the organization's first full-time executive director. Effective Aug. 18, SFWA can be contacted at: SFWA Inc., PO Box 171, Unity, ME 04988-0171; 1-207-861-8071; execdir@sfwa.org.
- Publisher Michael Walsh reports that his limited edition reprints of E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen books--the first of which he had hoped to have ready by this year's World Science Fiction Convention--have fallen slightly behind schedule. Readers can expect the first two books to appear in about six weeks, he said, with the remaining four following sometime in the fall.
- Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh (Die Hard with a Vengeance, Jumanji) makes his directorial debut with Hulk, the latest incarnation of the popular Marvel Comics character.
- Wesley Snipes's Amen Ra production company sued to free Snipes from acting in the futuristic TV movie Futuresport. Amen Ra argues that Snipes only agreed to executive produce the film, and to co-star only if he approved the script.
- Oscar- and Emmy-winning composer Jerry Goldsmith (Star Trek: First Contact) has been signed to score New Line Cinema's Lost in Space. His latest film score was L.A. Confidential.
- Tom Clancy's Net Force, a thriller about electronic-based terrorism, will be developed into a four-hour miniseries for ABC to air in 1998. Set in the future, Net Force focuses on an elite, military-style division of the FBI that is granted extraordinary powers to combat technology-based crime and terrorism.
- Newcomer Aly Dunne (The Red Shoe Diaries) is reportedly set to star opposite Ralf Moeller in the syndicated TV series Conan the Adventurer. Dunne will play Karela, the Queen of Thieves.
