tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post6193547980656563265..comments2023-07-08T08:33:50.710+01:00Comments on Speculative Horizons: Kim Stanley Robinson attacks the Booker prizeJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07763695390241432518noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-2669550673470835682009-09-23T18:53:36.985+01:002009-09-23T18:53:36.985+01:00Yup, my understanding is that some years ago the B...Yup, my understanding is that some years ago the Bookers let it be informally known that submitting SF&F was a waste of time, and as a result a lot of publishers didn't bother.<br /><br />Unfortunately, for this particular judge, he's just given the publishers the green light to nominate shedloads of SF again in the future. So let's see if that changes things.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-49043096204391016002009-09-22T14:22:19.182+01:002009-09-22T14:22:19.182+01:00Lets not worry about the booker prize lets worry a...Lets not worry about the booker prize lets worry about the way that Scifi and fantasy is judeged for the hugos etc.There is a snobism involved in scifi and fantasy that is stagering and if your not in the incrowd then you have no chance no matter how good you are as a writer.Prizes are for those who need them.Let the readers decide who is the best by the volume sold and we can all read reviews from a cross section online.I personally stay clear from books that have won awards because I know that its all hype nothing else.Pretentious bulls**t.Lets not be naive enough to think that book prizers and awards are for the best books.If your an individual wrtiter and have something unique then the last thing you would want is to be in a shortlist for a prize that is voted on by a select few.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-36524914920044954142009-09-22T13:02:01.290+01:002009-09-22T13:02:01.290+01:00"That judge's comment was stupid, but you..."That judge's comment was stupid, but you can't really blame the Booker panel for not choosing an SF title when no SF titles were submitted for their consideration."<br /><br />That's a fair point, though I feel that this is just an excuse from the judges. The publishers could submit more SF, but it would all most likely still be ignored. This is probably why they don't bother in the first place.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07763695390241432518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-18505854770078230482009-09-22T11:11:30.819+01:002009-09-22T11:11:30.819+01:00Shocking response from Mullan. As if a Professor ...Shocking response from Mullan. As if a Professor of English is likely to have more of a life than you or me?<br /><br />I read a fair amount of sci-fi (Orson Scott Card, Arthur C Clarke, Asimov, Bova, Greg Bear), although not a lot as fantasy is my preferred genre. I've never, ever, been to a convention or dressed as an elf. <br /><br />But if I had, so what? The Booker is about the writers and the writing, not the readers.Tom Weaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09826363154548294515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-39341276333141872202009-09-22T05:56:24.067+01:002009-09-22T05:56:24.067+01:00If we're talking all Speculative Fiction, then...If we're talking all Speculative Fiction, then let's not forget Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, which not only won the prize, but is considered the Booker of Bookers, the best novel to ever win the Booker.Myshkinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-48327046400514342952009-09-22T04:48:52.941+01:002009-09-22T04:48:52.941+01:00Brian Aldiss was a Booker judge in 1981 for exampl...Brian Aldiss was a Booker judge in 1981 for example and the list then was of the same kind as now, with another sff by Doris Lessing this time (Sirian Experiments) shortlisted<br /><br />Never Let Me Go, Number9Dream Cloud Atlas all got shortlisted and there was big outcry when Never Let Me Go considered a big favorite lost and all of the above are sff, ok Cloud Atlas is 1/3 so since only 2 of the 6 interlinked stories are but still...<br /><br /> Life of Pi did win, Blind Assassin did win and these two have significant fantastic components too<br /><br /> Little Stranger is on the shortlist this year and is a ghost story...<br /> <br /> Personally if I were to have an outcry about quality sff I would rather target the Hugos or the Nebulas, not the Booker which provides great books year after year...Liviuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615405766065227026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-20224559060473134552009-09-21T21:26:25.787+01:002009-09-21T21:26:25.787+01:00Yeah, why bother submitting when we could bitch ab...Yeah, why bother submitting when we could bitch about not getting recognition instead. Maybe if publishers, you know, actually submitted SF books to the Booker panel SF would get more recognition. Or maybe it wouldn't, but at least then we could have a real reason to complain. That judge's comment was stupid, but you can't really blame the Booker panel for not choosing an SF title when no SF titles were submitted for their consideration.Myshkinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-71059917479217474912009-09-21T21:20:47.534+01:002009-09-21T21:20:47.534+01:00I'd suggest force reading SF and F to these pe...I'd suggest force reading SF and F to these people and then reading the most depth exploratory reviews ever written to begin and prompt a change in attitude that SF is not meant for 'special' people. The arrogance is inspiring some very vile remarks on my behalf.Harry Markovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09140305922494369576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5411517893000706576.post-5825847704974758222009-09-21T19:39:50.443+01:002009-09-21T19:39:50.443+01:00Quite right James. No point in submitting when you...Quite right James. No point in submitting when you have an arrogant bunch of arses as the judges.<br /><br />The same authors are nominated year in, year out. Waterstone's run a merciless campaign before and after the event to artificially inflate the sales and we wait another eleven months for it to begin all over again. Anne Enright, who won for The Gathering, sold a pitiful number of hardbacks before the dreary tome picked up the prize.<br /><br />Anyway Prof Mullan wants wrong with wierd?Iainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02071546979497176969noreply@blogger.com