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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | I have been rereading some Anne McCaffrey books recently,in a sort of tribute after her death,and when I joined this site,I was pleased to see her named a Grand Master,yet also,frankly a bit surprised.Dont get me wrong,I am a long time McCaffrey reader,I have read 45 of her books! But somehow it seemed a bit surprising to see her there,perhaps she seemed a bit lightweight.So I was wondering if anyone has any insight into how the Masters are actually chosen.Does a large body of very very popular work influence decisions? I personally have always been on McCaffrey's side in the debate as to whether she is fantasy not SF,but I wish I knew more about how these masters are picked. | |
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Uber User
Posts: 263
Location: Gunnison, Colorado | From the Locus Index to SF Awards: "Award recipients are determined by SFWA officers, not by general membership. Though there was an initial rule that no more than six awards would be made in any decade, recently this has been relaxed, with a Grand Master Award given almost every year since 1995, perhaps in recognition of the number of senior writers still living who are deserving." Only living writers can be honored, and they give out one award per year (at most) at the Nebula banquet. Presumably, the SFWA officers get together each year and try to pick the most deserving living author who hasn't been awarded yet. Judging by the list, they're looking for some combination of importance to the field, quality work, and writing output over a pretty long time frame. There was a discussion of this recently on the Coode Street podcast, where Strahan and Wolfe bemoaned the lack of women on the list (they're advocating for C. J. Cherryh), as well as the fact that the one-award-per-year and living author rule creates the likelihood that many deserving authors will never get the award. The list on the Locus site of deceased writers who now can never become Grand Masters is pretty shocking: J.G. Ballard; James Blish; John Brunner; Algis Budrys; Thomas M. Disch; Philip K. Dick; Frank Herbert; C.L. Moore; Robert Sheckley; Theodore Sturgeon; Roger Zelazny. As for McCaffrey, she hasn't really gotten the critical acclaim, but was a big influence on the field, and extremely popular, being one of the first SF writers to make the best-seller list. She's also highly respected for pushing open doors for female writers in the field, and mentoring lots of younger writers... | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Thanks for your help,Scott.I didnt realize the living author rule,that certainly is one heck of a list of people not qualifying.
I have been a reader of McCaffrey since her very early books,especially Restoree.Later beloved for her dragon books,which seem so cozy and many look upon them as fantasy,she was a pretty uncompromising SF writer in the early days.Dragonflight has a stubborn heroine who ends up killing her usurper after holding onto a grudge for a decade.Nothing cozy about the Impressing ceremony.terrified kids maimed or kiiled by the dragonets.Dragonriders despised and denigrated,weak and thought irrelevant,and a pretty nasty threat from theThread.What disappointed me about McCaffrey though is that she couldnt help tinkering with the premise of a story,in later books softening it,mitigating the harshness,till we end up with people patting the eggs,and feeding the babies,and the series dropped away to YA.I could never accept either that a mediaeval type society could ,in about a decade or so advance to a much higher tech stage,especially in biology-even with the convenient help of a master computer.
Again,look at the pretty heart- wrenching premise of the Brain Ships.a totally crippled person is walled into a ship as a cyborg>That degenerated too.In the Crystal Singer we have a group who have lost their long term memory.Oh well,by book 3 all their memories are back.
Oops,sorry for the rant,I just think this pleasant author could have been a much more gritty and more interesting author.if she didnt tinker! | |
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Uber User
Posts: 263
Location: Gunnison, Colorado | I believe McCaffrey herself alwasy insisted that the Pern books were science fiction. I've heard that The Ship Who Sang is also of interest. I've never read her, so maybe I'll try that or Dragonflight for the challenge... | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Sorry,I assumed you had read her,so this whole rant didnt make a bit of sense! Are there any McCaffrey readers on this forum who would like to give their view? | |
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Uber User
Posts: 237
Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | I wasn't aware of the living rule either. That means they have to hurry with Gene Wolfe  | |
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Member
Posts: 6
| I have read some of the Pern books and I would have to agree that she is too limited to be a Grandmaster but her peers chose her so it is a fait accompli. | |
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Member
Posts: 6
| I have read some of the Pern books and I would have to agree that she is too limited to be a Grandmaster but her peers chose her so it is a fait accompli. | |
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Anne McCaffrey-a Grand Master?