Thanks for reading it, Doc. In my world, your two cents is worth a buck and a quarter. Now if you could be so kind to allow me a portion of your journal.
The owner and master of ceremonies for Diabolical Plots, Dave Steffen, has informed me that on at least one site there has been a discussion on my review and a few thought my comments were a personal attack. I was afraid that might happen.
The last half of my review was based on two authors and their stories. The winner and one story I think deserves further consideration for an additional award (Hugo, Nebula, Campbell).
Now as far as Emery Huang's story, I do not think it didn't deserve the gold award. It wasn't my call to make. The judges had their reasons and Emery deserved the prize for meeting their criteria but I am puzzled by their decision. You may be right that aspect of the story that I didn't like was the reason that bowled them over, but I hope that you are wrong. I'd rather think that I missed what made it special. When I read one authors journal during the workshop portion of the contest, it appeared that it was a forgone conclusion that 'The Garden of Tain Zi' was going to win. No explanation why (leak from the judges, a consensus among the writers, a lucky guess).
I didn't hate Emery's story (if I did I would have gave it a D grade), in fact I liked his future world. I thought it was cool when he created a world without national governments yet still had a thriving global economy. Well thought out. The only reason I was so harsh with it was because it won. He didn't just beat out 3 strong entries but thousands. A story that does that should have left me saying 'Wow'!
As I eluded to in my review, I can't remember my personal favorite ever winning the top prize. In fact, I can recall a past issue or two where I couldn't finish 'the best' one. What I did discover, when researching others opinions on WOTF 25, was practically no one was 'wow'ed by it. The only one that thought it was the best in the anthology was (ironically) Jordan Lapp.
So I have no ax to grind, feel no ill will, or believe a miscarriage of justice occurred, when it comes to Emery Huang. Instead I offer my congratulations to him. As you said in your review, Well done.
no subject
The owner and master of ceremonies for Diabolical Plots, Dave Steffen, has informed me that on at least one site there has been a discussion on my review and a few thought my comments were a personal attack. I was afraid that might happen.
The last half of my review was based on two authors and their stories. The winner and one story I think deserves further consideration for an additional award (Hugo, Nebula, Campbell).
Now as far as Emery Huang's story, I do not think it didn't deserve the gold award. It wasn't my call to make. The judges had their reasons and Emery deserved the prize for meeting their criteria but I am puzzled by their decision. You may be right that aspect of the story that I didn't like was the reason that bowled them over, but I hope that you are wrong. I'd rather think that I missed what made it special. When I read one authors journal during the workshop portion of the contest, it appeared that it was a forgone conclusion that 'The Garden of Tain Zi' was going to win. No explanation why (leak from the judges, a consensus among the writers, a lucky guess).
I didn't hate Emery's story (if I did I would have gave it a D grade), in fact I liked his future world. I thought it was cool when he created a world without national governments yet still had a thriving global economy. Well thought out. The only reason I was so harsh with it was because it won. He didn't just beat out 3 strong entries but thousands. A story that does that should have left me saying 'Wow'!
As I eluded to in my review, I can't remember my personal favorite ever winning the top prize. In fact, I can recall a past issue or two where I couldn't finish 'the best' one. What I did discover, when researching others opinions on WOTF 25, was practically no one was 'wow'ed by it. The only one that thought it was the best in the anthology was (ironically) Jordan Lapp.
So I have no ax to grind, feel no ill will, or believe a miscarriage of justice occurred, when it comes to Emery Huang. Instead I offer my congratulations to him. As you said in your review, Well done.