to play the game or change the game: fanauthors in profic, my ongoing fascination

So I just finished League of Dragons, the final book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, and Carry On, Rainbow Rowell's version of the final book of a YA fantasy series she originally invented as a Harry Potter analogue for Fangirl, although this is not, in fact, the series as it existed in Fangirl, this is the book it actually is, a book in our world. Novik is still active in fandom and I'm a big fan of her fanwork (as well as prowork); I don't know who Rowell is but there is *no way* she wasn't in HP fandom and I would love to know who she was if someone ever wanted to slip me that secret under the table. I'm just really fascinated by the whole business of having that context, as a reader, although it also feels like a delicate subject, maybe partly because SRB has been vocal about disliking people talking about it in her case? But, argh, this is too interesting to be too taboo to talk about! Novik and Rowell are doing really different projects but are doomed to end up on the same syllabus when someone gets to teach a class on this stuff in 2035 or whatever; I suppose you could consider this a sketch of a paper for that class.

(If you just want to know if I'd rec them, without spoilers, then yes, both; the Temeraire series is fantasy alt-history done excellently, and I think Carry On would be interesting to anyone who ever thought much about Harry Potter. (I would love to know whether it makes any sense outside of that context, but who on earth is going to want to read it who doesn't know Harry Potter?))

Under the cut there are spoilers about shipping, for the very end of League of Dragons, and for earlier books in the Temeraire series, but I've tried to avoid other references to plot events in both books.

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some things I read for the Hugo ballot

Folding Beijing, Hao Jingfang trans. Ken Liu, novelette. I thought this was awesome - vivid and substantive - and I'm not willing to not vote for it on account of the assholes having nominated it.

Space Raptor Butt Invasion, Chuck Tingle, short story. Speaking of assholes. (ba-dum.) I read a fair bit of m/m pwp, and this did not strike me as particularly great for that genre. I don't mean to knock the genius of "Slammed In The Butt By My Hugo Award Nomination" or "Pounded By The Pound: Turned Gay By The Socioeconomic Implications Of Britain Leaving The European Union" or "Living Inside My Own Butt For Eight Years, Starting A Business And Turning A Profit Through Common Sense Reinvestment And Strategic Targeted Marketing" but... enh.

Perfect State, Brandon Sanderson, novella. Interesting-enough MLP: Friendship Is Optimal-esque scenario, but I was bothered by Sanderson's uncritical use of a reproductive coercion storyline to further the plot. (Like, really? brains in jars, living otherwise-idealized lives, but they still have to *what*? I feel like maybe this is a place where a woman author might have noticed how deeply icky and violating that is, while a dude author like Sanderson just thought it was funny?) Also Melhi is Molly, yeah?

Slow Bullets, Alastair Reynolds, novella. A bunch of interesting elements here but somehow it didn't quite hang together for me.

Sandman Overture, Neil Gaiman + artists, graphic. Duuuuude. We'd had this on the bookshelf for awhile and I finally read it and you know how sometimes you're just like, man, authors should not try to revisit their works, stop poking it, it was good but you're making it worse? Not the case here. Gaiman & his team still have the juice, what a fucking capstone.

my Hugo ballot, part 1

A couple of things I believe to be true: no matter what happens with the Hugos, some assholes are going to say it was exactly what they wanted, and claim it as an excuse to do more assholish things. No matter what I do with my voting, someone I respect would think I was doing the wrong thing, since there are reasonable competing schools of thought on this. No matter what happens with the Hugos, for a lot of people any results from this year are always going to have a little implicit asterisk by them. No matter what I do with my voting, I will be happier if the outcomes I hope for in my heart of hearts come true than if something else happens.

Partial ballot and some reasoning behind the cut.
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