Games

As a paid-up member of Loncon 2014, I was able to participate in the nominating process for this year's Hugo Awards (though not the final vote). Here's what I have nominated so far, although I'm still mulling over a few other categories: Best Novel Existence by David Brin 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson Dark Eden by Chris Beckett Kings of Morning by Paul Kearney Railsea by China Mieville Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form Game of Thrones : Season 2* The Walking Dead: The Episodic Adventure Game XCOM The Dark Knight Rises The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form Game of Thrones Episode 209: Blackwater * Game of Thrones Episode 210: Valar Morghulis * The Walking Dead Episode 210: 18 Miles Out The Walking Dead Episode 213: Beside the Dying Fire Merlin Episode 513: Diamond of the Day, Part II * Game of Thrones is eligible in both categories, but if it receives more votes in one category than the other, it will be disqualified from the o...

Game of Thrones has won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long-Form) at the Hugo Awards, given out in Chicago last night. Ned Stark approves of this news. Other winners include the Doctor Who episode The Doctor's Wife , written by Neil Gaiman, for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short-Form); John Picacio for Best Professional Artist; Betsy Wollheim for Best Editor (Long-Form); and The Encyclopedia of Science-Fiction, Third Edition for Best Related Work. The Best Novel category was the toughest in some years, with George R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons duking it out with James S.A. Corey's Leviathan Wakes , Mira Grant's Deadline and China Mieville's Embassytown . However, Jo Walton's Among Others eventually took home the prize. Almost 2,000 people voted in the awards, slightly down on last year's 2,100, but considerably higher than the traditional 500-1,000 of previous years. Whilst questions remain over whether such a small number votes sho...

The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention will be held in London in August 2014. The decision was announced earlier tonight at the 70th Worldcon, currently underway in Chicago, Illinois. This will be the first Worldcon to be held in the UK since 2005, when Glasgow played host to the con. It is unclear if a rocket will actually fly around the Gherkin as part of Loncon 2014. The convention will be held at the Excel Conference Centre in the London Docklands from Thursday 14 to Monday 18 August 2014. As well as numerous panels and programme items, the convention will also play host to the Hugo Awards. Guests of honour at the convention will include novelists Iain M. Banks and Robin Hobb. There is a new website for the convention here , if accessible (it had crashed from weight of traffic the last time I checked it).

This weekend I attended Eastercon 2012, the largest annual British science fiction and fantasy convention. This year it was held at a hotel adjoining Heathrow Airport. For the first time in its history, the convention was sold out in advance, likely due to the presence of George R.R. Martin (although having authors such as Joe Abercrombie, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Chris Wooding, Lisa Tuttle, Pat Cadigan and Cory Doctorow didn't hurt either). Finally! Time and budgetary constraints meant I could only attend for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, though I did manage to catch the Game of Thrones TV panel, featuring actors Miltos Yerolemou (Syrio Forel) and John Bradley West (Samwell Tarly). Gethin Anthony (Renly Baratheon) and Natalia Tena (Osha) could also be found around the convention, though they didn't take part in the panels. This was followed by a Wild Cards panel where GRRM talked about the long-running shared world setting with John Jos. Miller, Pat Cadigan, Paul...