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August 13, 2005

Fiction scientifique
Posted by Patrick at 12:25 PM * 10 comments

Paul McAuley: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen…

Kim Newman: Bon soir, mesdames et messieurs…

Paul: …and welcome to the 63rd annual Hugo Awards for Superior Achievement in the field of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Kim: …et bienvenue a le soixante-troisieme Prix Hugo pour achèvement plus-plus-grande dans le champ de Fiction-Scientifique et Fantastique.

Paul: As you know, the Hugo Awards are named for the father of modern science fiction—that tireless self-promoter, prolific journalist, pioneering inventor of television and the steam-driven automatic pencil, and editor of the world’s first real F-S magazine: Victor Hugo.

Read the rest for the full script of McAuley and Newman’s mastering-of-ceremonies at the Best Hugo Awards Ceremony Ever…including Jules Verne’s Three Laws of Automata, the sad tale of Arthur C. Doyle and his Kirk of Spiritology, and the chain of orbital satellites that enforce today’s Pax Francais upon a grateful globe.

Comments on Fiction scientifique:
#1 ::: Jasper Janssen ::: (view all by) ::: August 13, 2005, 02:33 PM:

So are you saying the Hugos are not usually that brilliant? I sure had fun, but I have nothing to compare this one to. Even at 90 minutes, though, there were a few points where it could have been shorter, I think. Maybe shorter or just less video fragments for the DP awards.

#2 ::: Jonathan Vos Post ::: (view all by) ::: August 13, 2005, 03:05 PM:

This was the Swiftest and funniest Hugo Awards ceremony I have seen, based on attending most worldcons since 1982. I sincerely hope that it is nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) in time for voting in L.A. next year. It was a well thought-through Alternate History (a la Alternate Worldcons, ed. M. Resnick). The presentations were clever even in the commentary on nominees (viz. George R. R. Martin on presenting the short story nominees on the basis of the shortness of his own work) and discussion of "the big one." Arguably Susanna Clarke's acceptance of the Best Novel (in which she thanked Patrick) made good point in embracing "Fantasy" as opposed to "Literature of the Fantastic," which was a subtle dig at J. K. Rowling, perhaps.

#3 ::: David ::: (view all by) ::: August 13, 2005, 05:46 PM:

But they forgot about the dissident members of the Kirk of Spiritology who broke away to form Wee Free Zones...

#4 ::: A.R.Yngve ::: (view all by) ::: August 14, 2005, 04:52 AM:

Vraiment, a ceremony très jolie!
Reading the "Three Laws of French Robotics" had me rolling on the floor...

Seems, all in all, that this year's Worldcon has set a standard of excellence which will be hard to match. (What in the word will they come up with for next year's Hugo Awards? )
:)

#5 ::: Serge ::: (view all by) ::: August 14, 2005, 06:48 AM:

Meanwhile, did you realize that last year's Hugo ceremony in Boston was held where the Democractic Party's convention had been, only a few weeks before? The same thing happened in 1980.

#6 ::: Alex Cohen ::: (view all by) ::: August 14, 2005, 08:06 AM:

did you realize that last year's Hugo ceremony in Boston was held where the Democractic Party's convention had been, only a few weeks before?

Do you just mean the same city? The DNC was held in the FleetCenter (now the "TD Banknorth Garden"), WorldCon in the Sheraton & Hynes Convention Center.

#7 ::: Patrick Nielsen Hayden ::: (view all by) ::: August 14, 2005, 09:32 AM:

Whereas the dealer's room/exhibit area at the 2001 Philadelphia Worldcon was in the exact same space where George W. Bush accepted the Republican nomination a year earlier. If you knew where to sniff, you could still smell the brimstone.

#8 ::: NelC ::: (view all by) ::: August 16, 2005, 08:55 PM:

My second WorldCon*, but my first Hugo ceremony. I can only hope the next one I go to is as fun. I'm going to Yokohama in '07, but I wonder if my Japanese by then will be good enough to tell....

*My second convention ever, in fact. And my second in Glasgow, funnily enough.

#9 ::: Marilee ::: (view all by) ::: August 16, 2005, 09:47 PM:

A picture of Charlie Stross in formal kilt at the Hugo ceremony.

#10 ::: Stefan Jones ::: (view all by) ::: August 16, 2005, 11:53 PM:

" . . . you could still smell the brimstone"

I would think b******t would be more appropriate. Particularly smooth, fiber-free b******t.

Unless Karl Rove was standing behind him, of course.

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