Robinson, Sterling top 1997 Hugo winners
he 44th Annual Hugo Awards were announced at the 55th World Science Fiction Convention in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, Aug. 30, during a standing-room-only ceremony hosted by local SF writer Neal Barrett Jr. The awards were
presented by a variety of SF celebrities, ranging from the "Queen of cyberpunk" Pat Cadigan to the gentleman of SF, Robert Silverberg.
The consensus among the professionals in attendance was that there were no surprise winners this year, but everyone was pleased to see hometown hero Bruce Sterling win one of the Texas-shaped Hugos for his novelette "Bicycle Repairman." Below is a list of this year's Hugo Award winners, as well as excerpts from their acceptance speeches:
- Best Novel
- Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
- "Thanks very much. A long time ago Lucius Shepherd taught me a thing about thank yous. He said, 'Stan, if you write a story about the Spanish Armada and win an award, you don't have to thank Philip the Second of Spain.' Thanks very much to all who voted for me for the award."
- Best Novella
- "Blood of the Dragon" by George R. R. Martin
- "I'm very pleased to have this. Many years ago when I was a high school kid, in the early part of the '60s, I sold my very first stories to a Texas fanzine called Star Studded Comics...that was really my beginning. I'm very pleased, considering this ancient tie line to Texas, to win this at a Texas convention."
- Best Novelette
- "Bicycle Repairman" by Bruce Sterling
- "How great of you to give me my own Texas-shaped Hugo. I'll treasure it the rest of my life, ladies and gentleman. I'd like to thank my friends at the Sycamore Hill Writer's Workshop who would not let me in the door of their conclave without a piece of short fiction. And thank you also for my friends at the workshop for mercilessly beating the story into shape. Thank you."
- Best Short Story
- "The Soul Selects Her Own Society..." by Connie Willis
- "I know that some of you think that I have too many of these, but, see, I need as many as I can get because I'm saving up to trade them in on Harrison Ford, and I don't think this will quite do it. Thank you so much...I have to thank all of you because, I don't know why, but you guys are so terrific to me. Thank you so much."
- Best Non-Fiction Book
- Time & Chance by L. Sprague de Camp
- Accepting the award on de Camp's behalf, agent Eleanor Wood said, "This autobiography has been many years in the making...and this is just a wonderful culmination of his work and life."
- Best Dramatic Presentation
- Babylon 5 "Severed Dreams"
- "First off, this is dedicated to the fans more than anything else, who kept this show going when I thought it was going to fall apart. Second thing...I wanted to do a show that said who are you, what do you want, where are you going, and why are you here, because those answers aren't easily defined. And they said at the networks, 'Who wants to watch a show like that?' Thank you for answering that question far more eloquently than I ever could."
- Best Professional Editor
- Gardner Dozois
- "I'd like to thank all of you. It's been a rough few years for the magazine business in general, but by God we're still here and we all work very hard on Asimov's and we're pleased that you enjoy it. And we intend to keep bringing you the best SF we can find for many years to come. Thank you all very much."
- Best Professional Artist
- Bob Eggleton
- "Cool! I just want to thank everybody for this. This is so amazing. Thanks so much. This is a great category and it's a great group of people to be nominated with. Every single one of them is a good friend, and I'm just very proud to be here. Thank you so much."
- Best Semiprozine
- Locus
- Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Charles Brown thanked his staff for doing more and more work every year, making his job easier and easier.
- Best Fanzine
- Mimosa
- Co-editors Dick and Nicki Lynch said, "This is a real surprise. We'd like to thank the contributors first and foremost, because without them we wouldn't have Mimosa."
- Best Fan Writer
- Dave Langford
- As has become a Hugo tradition, Martin Hoare accepted the award on behalf of the U.K.-based Langford, who was unable to attend the ceremony. "Dave sends a very big thank you for this Hugo Award," Hoare said.
- Best Fan Artist
- William Rotsler
- Rotsler could not attend the ceremony but had a spokesperson thank the audience on his behalf.
- John W. Campbell Award
- Michael A. Burstein
- In an acceptance speech read by Analog Editor Stan Schmidt, Burstein offered thanks to his wife, "who reintroduced me to the world of science fiction and to my family, especially my late father, who first introduced me to the wonders of science fiction. I wish he could be alive to see this."
Continuing a longstanding tradition, the foreign winners of the Japanese Seiun Award--known as the Japanese Hugo Award--were also announced at the ceremony. Robert J. Sawer won in the Best Novel category for his book End of an Era, while Greg Bear won in the Best Short Story category for "Heads."
Another Hugo tradition is the presentation of Forrest J Ackerman's Big Heart Award, which this year went to John L. Coker III. Ackerman also mentioned that Hal Clement (a.k.a. Harry Stubbs) won the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award, even though First Fandom did not give a presentation during this year's Hugo ceremony (see related story below).
The Hugo Awards--named in honor of Hugo Gernsback, "The Father of Magazine Science Fiction"--are presented annually by the World Science Fiction Society. Both the nominees and winners are chosen by a popular vote of the WSFS. The Hugo Awards are also known by their more formal name, the Science Fiction Achievement Awards.
-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
First Fandom splits from Hugo Award ceremony
he First Fandom Hall of Fame Award was conspicuously absent from this year's Hugo Award ceremony, and it looks like the split between the two prominent SF honors may be permanent. First Fandom Secretary-Treasurer Mark Schulzinger said that next year's Hall of Fame Award will be given out at DragonCon, and that First Fandom has no plans to rejoin the Hugo Award ceremony.
"We got tired of the commercialization of the Hugo, pure and simple," Schulzinger said. " We realize that they would like to devote as much time as possible to [the Hugos], and they allot a certain amount of time to it. As a result, the Hall of Fame Awards only get three minutes."
Schulzinger said the First Fandom organization as a whole decided that it was not reasonable for men and women who were being honored for a lifetime devotion to SF to receive only three minutes on stage, so they voted to change the award venue. Traditionally First Fandom has presented its Hall of Fame Award during the Hugo Ceremony, which also hosts Forrest J Ackerman's Big Heart Award and the presentation to the foreign winners of the Japanese Seiun Award.
This year First Fandom presented their award at Name That Con. First Fandom is an organization of individuals who have been active in science fiction as writers, editors, publishers, artists, and fans, for at least 30 years.
-- C.E.E.
Scoggins to play Lochley on B5
racy Scoggins will play the newly created role of Capt. Elizabeth Lochley when the fifth season of Babylon 5 premieres in January 1998. The Lochley character replaces that of Susan Ivanova, which was written out of the show following a minor controversy that involved Claudia Christian, the actor who played Ivanova for B5's first four seasons.
B5 creator J. Michael Stracyznski also said there will be major developments with some of the show's other mainstay characters in the next season. And he confirmed that Turner Network Television had ordered a third B5 TV movie, and that Warner Bros. had put "a deal on the table" for the Babylon 5 spin-off series, Babylon 5: Crusade.
-- C.E.E.
"Home" is too scary for The X-Files,
but the time is right for accessorizing
ox has reportedly decided against rerunning The X-Files episode "Home" due to its graphic content, which includes incest, inbreeding and a particularly nasty bludgeoning scene. "Home" ran with a parental warning advisory when it first aired and, for good or ill, quickly became one of the most talked about episodes in a widely talked about series.
Meanwhile, other reports say that Fox has finally decided to open up The X-Files for licensing and merchandising as part of its push for the X movie due out next year.
-- C.E.E.
Avon to launch Eos imprint in 1998
von Books used the 55th World Science Fiction Convention to announce the launch of a new F&SF book imprint called Eos. The new line will begin publication in February 1998 and is designed to "redefine and heighten" Avon's profile in the F&SF community.
"The SF and fantasy field has been perceived as somewhat stagnant in the past few years," said Lou Aronica, senior vice president and publisher of Avon. "Outside of 'star' writers and big books at the very top of the genre, it has been dominated by media-related books. It's time to bring new voices and established writers to the forefront again, time for the literature itself to stir up most of the excitement and controversy."
In an effort to introduce new readers to new authors, each month one of the Eos mass market titles will be priced at $3.99, and a number of titles published in hardcover will be priced at $14.00. Avon also said Eos books will feature "distinctive and exciting packaging" that will be type and design driven.
Eos will launch with a number of well-known authors in its stable, including Ben Bova, Gregory Benford and Raymond E. Feist. The imprint is named after the Greek goddess of the dawn and "signifies rebirth and the renaissance of an existing entity."
-- C.E.E.
Perry Rhodan returns to the U.S.
ector Enterprises is bringing the German space opera series Perry Rhodan back to the United States in the form of a monthly magazine that will sell for $1.95. Perry Rhodan is the title of the series and also the name of the main character, a "hero in the classic sense, a positive force in a galaxy of strange and occasionally hostile enemies."
The U.S. version of the series picks up with no. 1800 called "Time Lapse," the first in a "Great Cycle" that will continue for 200 issues. "When a mysterious planet appears in the very heart of the Solar System, Perry Rhodan and the crew of the incredible flagship Gilgamesh must return to his home to deal with the newest threat to Earth," a Vector press release stated.
The Rhodan series--which has been running continuously in Germany for 36 years--will eventually move to a weekly format in the U.S. and will be distributed through bookstores. Rhodan was first published in the U.S. almost two decades ago by the legendary SF fan Forrest J Ackerman, but it has not been seen in the U.S. since 1979.
-- C.E.E.
ASFA presents Chesley Awards at Worldcon
he Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists presented
the 12th Annual Chesley Awards at the 55th World Science Fiction Convention in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday, Aug. 29. Many of the award winners were also Hugo nominees, including Bob Eggleton, who went on to win the Hugo the next evening.
The winners of the Chesley Awards were:
- Best Art Director
- Jamie Warren Youll, for Bantam Spectra Books
- Best Three-Dimensional Art
- Clayburn Moore and Frank Frazetta, for Princess (bronze)
- Best Monochrome Work, Unpublished
- Davette Shands, for Waiting for Anthony
- Best Color Work
- Rob Alexander, for Sinja's World
- Best Interior Illustration
- Todd Lockwood, for Death Loves Me by Tanith Lee
- Best Cover Illustration
- Bob Eggleton, for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,
May 1996
- Best Cover Illustration, Hardback Book
- Michael Whelan for The Golden Key (Daw Books)
- Best Cover Illustration, Paperback Book
- Donato Giancola, for Eggheads (Roc Books)
- Award for Contribution to ASFA
- Don Maitz for "Art Director Interviews," published in the ASFA
Quarterly, Volume 14, No. 2/3
- Award for Artistic Achievement
- Don Maitz
The Chesley, named for the great astronomical artist Chesley
Bonestell, was started by ASFA in 1985 as a means for the SF and Fantasy
art community to recognize individual works and achievements during a
given year.
-- C.E.E.
Baxter and Williams earn Sidewise Awards
tephen Baxter and Walter Jon Williams earned this year's Sidewise Awards for alternate history stories, which were presented at the 55th World Science Fiction Convention, held Aug. 28-Sept. 1 in San Antonio, Texas. Baxter's novel Voyage was honored for best "long form" work, while Williams' story "Foreign Devils" was honored for "short form."
For further information, visit the Sidewise Award Web site.
-- C.E.E.
Chicago wins bid for 2000 Worldcon,
1999 NASFiC to be held in Anaheim
he 58th World Science Fiction Convention will be called Chicon 2000 and will be held in Chicago from Aug. 31-Sept. 4, 2000. Chicago won the bid by garnering 1,293 of 1,469 votes in the site selection process, which was completed at the 55th World Science Fiction Convention held Aug. 28-Sept. 1 in San Antonio, Texas.
Chicon has announced its author guest of honor will be Ben Bova, its artist guest of honor will be Bob Eggleton, its fan guests will be Bob and Anne Passevoy, and its toastmaster will be Harry Turtledove. For further information, visit the Chicon 2000 Web site at www.chicon.org.
The bid for the 1999 North American Science Fiction Convention--such conventions are known as NASFiCs--was won by Conucopia and will be held Aug. 26-29 in Anaheim, Calif., in 1999. A NASFiC is held in North America in any year where the Worldcon is outside of North America.
-- C.E.E.
Universal buys Earth Dick from British playwright
niversal Pictures has purchased the awkwardly named SF detective script Earth Dick from British playwright Michael Cooney, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The story purportedly deals with a Humphrey Bogart-esque detective who travels to another planet to solve a case.
Joe Singer, Susan Solomon, Vicki Slotnick and Jeremy Paige are attached to produce the dick flick, which reportedly drew the interest of Paramount and DreamWorks SKG, among others.
-- C.E.E.
Briefly Noted
- Men in Black will be released on video Nov. 25 for a suggested retail price of $22.95, and Columbia TriStar Home Video expects it to outsell last year's home video hit, the box office smash Independence Day. But MiB will have to fight for shelf space with Universal Studios Home Video's The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which will hit stores on Nov. 4.
- The Andromeda Strain may be headed for the small screen according to reports in TV Guide. The magazine says that Universal and ABC are mulling over a TV movie and possible spin-off series based on Michael Crichton's popular book of the same name, which was made into a big screen movie back in 1971.
- Acclaimed SF&F artist Kelly Freas reported that $25,000 worth of his artwork was stolen from a rental car in Los Angeles, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 28. The art was en route to the airport, where it was to be flown to San Antonio, Texas, for the 55th World Science Fiction Convention. (Note: A correction was made to this news item on Monday, Sept. 15.)
- The University of Liverpool, which hosts the Science Fiction Foundation Collection, has put in a lottery bid to purchase the archive of British science fiction writer John Wyndham, author of The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos, etc. The Foundation is looking for help in raising the L100,000 it will need to purchase the collection.
- Award winning author James Morrow now has an official Web site, according to a Usenet news posting by Marlin May.
- Rob Zombie, best known as the frontman for his rock group White Zombie, will make his directorial debut with The Crow: 2037, the third installment of The Crow series. The Crow is based on James O'Barr's graphic novel of the same name.
