Readers— It’S Awards Season, and Yes, We Will Be Talking About It on the Blog, and in Future Podcasts

Contents (Under Extreme Pressure) Editor’s Note —3— The Awards Season By Laura Burns —4— EP275: Schrodinger’s Cat Lady By Marjorie James —6— Movie Review: Tangled By Josh Roseman —13— EP276: On a Blade of Grass By Tim Pratt —15— Book Review: Monster Hunter International By Sarah Frost —19— EP277: Rejiggering The Thingamajig By Eric James Stone —21— Superheroes II: Metropolis, we have a problem by Adam Christopher —29— Escape Pod Publisher: Ben Phillips – ben @ escapeartists.net Founder: Steve Eley – steve @ escapeartists.net Editor: Mur Lafferty – editor @ escapepod.org Assistant Editor: Bill Peters – bill @ escapeartists.net The Soundproof Escape Pod and all works within are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. All works are copyright their respective authors. To our lovely readers— It’s awards season, and yes, we will be talking about it on the blog, and in future podcasts. Even as SF authors all over are posting on their blogs about their 2010 award-eligible work, others are discussing whether this is blatantly trolling for votes. I can see how a constant barrage of VOTE FOR ME OMG could be irritating and tacky. I certainly find it so when it’s podcast award season, and one award allows listeners to vote daily, so the constant vote requests tend to be cacophonous. However, I’m spreading out the awards information for one main reason: don’t forget the podcasts. Until recently, people didn’t even think about nominating a podcast (or any web content) for a Hugo. Heck, it was ground-breaking when webzines started to win. But last year, Catherine Valente self-published a book on her site, and it went on to win the Andre Norton award for best YA novel. Clarkesworld, an online magazine, won the Hugo for best semi-pro zine. And as we’ve mentioned several times (because it’s still SO FREAKING COOL) Starship Sofa won the Hugo for best fanzine. I had an uncomfortable panel discussion at last year’s NASFiC (North American Science Fiction Conven- tion). We had a panel on podcasting and a very bitter fanzine author showed up (I’d politely say they shall remain nameless, but honestly I never did catch their name), This person expressed anger that these new methods of reaching fans were getting all their friends to vote for them, as if new fans, or listeners to SF instead of readers, were less worthy to vote for the Hugos. What gets me is that the new is considered unworthy, not paying its dues, and the fans are similarly unworthy, and their votes just don’t mean as much. I find that incredibly offensive, as our fans are worldwide, and many have been dedicated to us since we launched five years ago. Others are new to the genre, just trying it out, and loving it, and I sure as hell don’t want to take a new fan of the genre and tell them they aren’t worthy. You, the readers and listeners, don’t give a crap about this infighting in SF. You want a good story. We try to deliver it to you. As does LightSpeed and Clarkesworld and Starship Sofa and Pseudopod and Podcastle and Drabblecast and Asimov’s and Analog and F&SF and Weird Tales... and so on. You want SF content. We give it to you. And that’s the end of story. (Until next week, anyway.) I had not planned on going on such an impassioned rant. I just want to say that a new fan is worth just as much as an old fan, and a new way to experience shot stories is not a reason to discount it. And whether the Internet-wary veterans like it or not, if you’re eligible to vote for these awards (WorldCon member for Hugos, SFWA member for Nebulas, and HWA member for Stokers) then your vote counts just as much as theirs does. I wanted to use this letter to remind you that many, many podcasts are now eligible for the major awards. Starship Sofa broke it open last year, and now we just need to let the listeners know. When you make your Hugo or Nebula or World Fantasy or Stoker ballots, consider Escape Pod, Pseudopod, and Podcastle. Don’t forget Starship Sofa and Drabblecast. Remember also your favorite podcast novels, novellas, and short stories that were released last year. I’m not telling you who to vote for, in any of the categories, just wanting to remind you that we — the online content providers — are here are here, delivering weekly content, and if you enjoy it, consider us when you make your nominations. Yours, ——Mur Mur Lafferty Editor, Escape Pod —30— 3 The SF Awards Season By Laura Burns In Hollywood it is Awards season. With the constant coverage of the Golden Globes and Oscar nominations, it is hard not to know about what is going on in sunny Southern California. In the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror world, awards season has also started, but with much less pomp and circumstance. The two big awards for genre fiction are the Hugos and the Nebulas. The Nebulas are determined by mem- bers of the Science Fiction Writer’s Association, but the Hugos.. the Hugos are determined by the fans. That means you. Or at least it could. And your favorite podcasters hope you take the challenge. First, a bit of history. The Hugo awards are managed by the World Science Fiction Society (http://www. wsfs.org/) and awarded at the World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon). The awards honor professional and fan contributions to the community. The first WorldCon was in 1936, but the first awards weren’t given out in 1953. Isaac Asamov was the Toastmaster and Philip Jose Farmer won for “Best New SF Author or Artist”. Even then, there was a Fan aspect to the awards as Forrest J. Ackerman won for “#1 Fan Personality”. Over the years the categories have evolved with the times. The 2011 Categories are as follows: (http://www.renovationsf.org/hugo-intro.php) (http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-categories/) * Best Novel * Best Novella * Best Novelette * Best Short Story * Best Related Work * Best Graphic Story (Trial Award) * Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form * Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form * Best Editor (Long Form) * Best Editor (Short Form) * Best Professional Artist * Best SemiProzine * Best Fanzine * Best Fan Writer * Best Fan Artist Historically, the Hugo award is a literary award, and thus the nominees are based on printed, ink on paper works. This is changing. In 2006 podcast Novella “Burn” (http://www.jimkelly.net/index. php?Itemid=45&id=15&option=com_content&task=blogcategory) by James Patrick Kelly was nominated for the Hugo and won the Nebula in 2007. At the 2010 ceremony, the podcast Starship Sofa (http://www. starshipsofa.com/) won the Hugo award for best Fanzine. Having been at WorldCon and NASFic (North American Science Fiction Convention held since WorldCon was outside North America), I can tell you that this caused a bit of a stir. From what I can determine, your favorite podcasts, stories, authors and editors are eligible for the follow- 4 ing categories. * Best Novel * Best Novella * Best Novelette * Best Short Story * Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form * Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form * Best SemiProzine * Best Fanzine * Best Fan Writer Web content is also eligible for * Best Graphic Story (Trial Award) * Best Professional Artist * Best Fan Artist The story must have been first published in 2010. You can find out more details regarding eligibilty and the specific awards here (http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-categories/). Since the Hugo awards are determined by the fans, you have the power to make an impact. All of the statistics on the number of nominations and votes are posted online. (http://www.thehugoawards. org/2010/09/2010-hugo-award-statistics-posted/) Historically, fan involvement has been very low. Last year was a record year for Hugo Nominations with less than 900 ballots. (http://www.thehugoawards. org/2010/04/a-little-data/) Some of the short story finalists made the cut with only 23 nomination otes.v So, how do you nominate and vote? First, you need to “join” the World Science Fiction Society by pur- chasing a membership to the World Science Fiction Convention. (http://www.renovationsf.org/member- ships.php) There are several different membership levels. A supporting member, someone not planning on attending the convention, costs $50 until February 28, 2011. A supporting member has the right to Hugo Award and Site Selection voting rights. Receives any materials relating to that voting. In 2010, the voting packet included free digital access to the nominees. If you later decide to upgrade to an attending member, you will do so at a discount. (http://www.renovationsf.org/register.php#types) The Hugos are arguably the most prestigious award given for genre fiction. Far too few people get involved in the nomination and selection process. This is your chance. Nominations are open until March 26, 2011, but you need to have purchased your membership on or before January 31, 2011. If you were an attending or supporting member of the 2010 WorldCon (Aussiecon 4), you are automatically eligible to nominate, but not to vote. There are a lot of nuances to the Hugo awards, and I have not covered all of the details here, but if you are interested, please follow the links and get involved. There are some frequently asked questions here (http:// www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-faq/). —30— Laura Burns, aka @moonrangerlaura or @scifilaura, is a NASA Contractor and a science fiction and podcasting fan.

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