An essay titled “George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun” has been nominated for a Hugo Award—and unlike most rageblogs about him, it isn’t actually about how he's taking his sweet time with A Song of Ice and Fire, or the backlash to the Game of Thrones finale.
Incidentally, the blog post in question was written about Martin’s hosting skills (or lack thereof) displayed during the 2020 Hugo Awards. In the piece, author Natalie Luhrs criticizes Martin for a multitude of things, such as mispronouncing the names of nominees and going on irrelevant tangents.
The mispronunciations were made especially bizarre considering the show was pre-recorded, suggesting a lack of care on Martin’s part.
Luhrs does not hold back in the criticism, reaching the conclusion that both Martin and fellow author Robert Silverberg should be “shot into the sun where they shall bother us no longer.”
Both Martin and Silverberg are criticized for repeatedly referring to late author John W. Campbell, as he held many racist beliefs on slavery and segregation.
The 2021 Hugo Award nominations make for an interesting read. “George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun” will be up against “The Last Bronycon: a fandom autopsy"—a video essay documenting the rise and fall of the brony fandom—for the Best Related Word award.
George R.R. Martin is yet to respond to the essay, or the fact that it could potentially win an award at the very show he hosted last year.
Outside of rageblogs, the 2021 Hugo Awards also platforms pieces of work that got us through the tumultuous year that was 2020. For the video game nominations, there’s big AAA hits such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and The Last of Us Part 2, alongside indie gems like Hades, Spiritfarer and Blaseball.
The hosts this time around are Sheree Renée Thomas and Malka Older. The winners will be announced in a ceremony which will take place at DisCon III, Washington, December 15-19.
Source: The Hugo Awards 2021