Amy Dillwyn was my third cousin once removed

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I’ve been passing the time over the summer evenings by delving a bit more deeply into genealogy, and was delighted to discover that I am related to Amy Dillwyn, Welsh lesbian campaigner, novelist and industrialist, who was my third cousin once removed.

Even though she was born in 1845 and my father in 1928, a combination of young parents on her side and older fathers on mine makes them the same generation of descendants from our common ancestors, John Whyte (1752-1814) and his wife Letitia (1755-?). To be specific:

Amy Dillwyn was born in 1845 (the third child of four) when her mother, Louisa Dillwyn née de la Beche was 27 and her father, later MP for Swansea, 34; my own father was born 83 years later, in 1928, the first child of a later marriage, when my grandfather was 48;

Louisa de la Beche was born in 1819 when her mother, Letitia de la Beche née Whyte, was only 18 (and starting an unhappy marriage to Sir Henry de la Beche, the geologist); 61 years later, my grandfather was born in 1880, the tenth child of thirteen from his father’s second marriage; his father was 53 when he was born;

Letitia Whyte was born in 1801 when her father, Charles John Whyte, was 24 (he had been disinherited for marrying a Protestant – things have changed, thank heavens – and died just a couple of years later leaving his younger wife pregnant with their third child); 25 years later, my great-grandfather was born in 1826 when his father was 42, again the first child of a later marriage;

Charles John Whyte was seven years older than his brother, my great-great-grandfather, born in 1777 and 1784 respectively. John and Letitia Whyte had eight sons (and two daughters); six of the eight sons died during the Napoleonic wars, including Charles John.

So I am the same generation as Amy Dillwyn’s nephews and nieces, born in the 1860s and 1870s, a hundred years before me.

Yugoslavia’s Implosion: The Fatal Attraction of Serbian Nationalism, by Sonja Biserko

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Second and third paragraphs of third chapter:

The Kosovo myth played a significant part in the creation of the modern Serbian state in the early twentieth century. St. Vitus' Day, which had been instituted in the nineteenth century in the belief that the Battle of Kosovo had been lost precisely on that day, was first celebrated as a national religious holiday in 1913, after the Turks had been decisively beaten. The holiday was said to honor the "chivalrous contest and the conquest of evil," and to symbolize a bloody, unsparing revenge against Turks and Muslims in general. The possibility of using St. Vitus' Day to abuse the Kosovo myth was pointed out in the 1970s by Miodrag Popović, who wrote:

The cult of St. Vitus' Day, which confuses historical and mythical reality, a genuine struggle for freedom and enduring pagan propensities (revenge, throat-slitting, oblation, worship of a heroic ancestor), contains potentially all the characteristics of environments marked by unbridled mythical impulses. As a phase in the development of national thought, it was historically necessary. But as a permanent state of the spirit, the cult of St. Vitus' Day can prove detrimental for those who are unable to disentangle themselves from its pseudo-mythical and pseudo-historical entanglements. In them, modern thought and man's spirit may experience a new Kosovo, an intellectual and ethical defeat.310

310 Miodrag Popović, Vidovdan i časni krst: ogled iz književne arheologije (St. Vitus' Day and the Holy Cross, an essay on literary archaeology), Belgrade 1976, pp. 131-32.

Detailed and carefully researched, by one of Serbia's most lucid human rights activists, this chronicles the sad history of how Serbian nationalism disintegrated Yugoslavia (more than once), and the ideological threads connecting the Yugoslav Army, the Orthodox church and Serbian nationalists both inside and outside the old Communist Party – three groups which were not automatically allies, but aligned themselves brutally to cause destruction.

Some will say that it's all the fault of the Slovenes and Croats for breaking away, but the record clearly shows that the concentration of power in the hands of Serbian leaders happened first, destroying the grand bargain which had sustained the old federation. It's particularly enlightening to read this account from a Serbian analyst, rather as the pages of Ha-Aretz provide the most interesting commentary on Israel.

I sort-of pop up between the lines on page 262, where Biserko writes:

Having sought but failed to persuade Belgrade to enageg in talks about Kosovo's final status, the international community decided to discuss the subject without Belgrade. A message to this effect, delivered in 2005 via the International Crisis group's (ICG) report on Kosovo's final status, raised a great hue and cry on the Serbian political scene.

Well, we weren't ever instructed by anyone to send a message to Belgrade; we were simply reporting the situation as we saw it, and also describing the only likely solution, which was to find a pathway to regularising Kosovo's situation (it was de facto already independent in 2005). Of course those of us working in the organisation all had our views, but what we were trying to do was to match the situation on the ground to the grand thrust of international diplomacy, and I think we did it rather well. The message we delivered to Belgrade was from reality, rather than from any particular capital city.

The book ends on an outdated note of optimism – when it was published in 2012, it seemed possible that Serbia was heading in a more democratic direction. That's no longer a sustainable view, with President Vučić and the Progressive Party dominating the political scene and crushing voices of dissent. Sonja Biserko remains uncrushed, and long may she remain so. You can get the book here.

This was the non-fiction book that had lingered longest unread on my shelves. Next up is (again) Felicitas Corrigan's biography of Helen Waddell.

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Whoniversaries 8 August: George Cormack, John Baker, Terry Nation, Tom Georgeson, Pooja Shah

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i) births and deaths

8 August 1907: birth of George Cormack, who played King Dalios of Atlantis in The Time Monster (Third Doctor, 1972) and K'Anpo Rinpoche, Time Lord disguised as Buddhist abbot, in Planet of the Spiders (Third Doctor, 1974)

8 August 1917: birth of John Baker, who played a Time Lord in Colony in Space (Third Doctor, 1972) and Ralph the servant, one of several characters killed off early in the first episode of The Visitation (Fifth Doctor, 1982).

8 August 1930: birth of Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, writer of The Daleks (1963-64), The Keys of Marinus (1964), The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964), The Chase (1965), Mission to the Unknown (1965), The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-66, with Dennis Spooner who always claimed to have done most of the work), Planet of the Daleks (1973), Death to the Daleks (1974), Genesis of the Daleks (1975), The Android Invasion (1976) and Destiny of the Daleks (1979), as well as the Peter Cushing films Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks – Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966). Not to mention Blake's 7.

A couple of years ago, a woman who I had just hired to work in my office spotted that I was a Doctor Who fan, and told me that she had grown up close to Nation in Kent, and had actualy played with the "real" Daleks as a child. If she had put that on her application letter, we could have skipped the rest of the interviewing process. (She has long since gone on to greater things.)

8 August 1937: birth of Tom Georgeson, who played Kaled scientist Kavell in Genesis of the Daleks (Fourth Doctor, 1975) and the hapless detective inspector in Logopolis (Fourth Doctor, 1981).

8 August 1979: birth of Pooja Shah, who played history teacher Miss Shah in two episodes of Class (2016).

8 August 1980: death of Simon Lack, who played the Master's sidekick Professor Kettering in The Mind of Evil (Third Doctor, 1971) and Swordmaster Zadek in The Androids of Tara (Fourth Doctor, 1978).

ii) broadcast anniversaries

8 August 1964: broadcast of "A Land of Fear", first episode of the story we now call The Reign of Terror. The Tardis lands in a quiet wood and the Doctor relents slightly from kicking Ian and Barbara off the Tardis; the team goes off to explore and enter an abandoned farmhouse. They realise that they have landed in Revolutionary France; the Doctor is knocked unconscious and the other three are captured by revolutionary militia, who set the building on fire as they leave, the Doctor trapped inside…

8 August 1985: broadcast of episodes 3 and 4 of Slipback on BBC radio. Peri lands safely on a pair of detectives, with whom she bickers for the next two episodes. Meanwhile the Doctor bickers with the computer for two episodes. And Eric Saward still thinks he is Douglas Adams.

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George Eliot, by Tim Dolin

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Second paragraph of third chapter:

Eliot's journals also tell us a great deal about the everyday cultural lives of well-off, educated Victorians, the vital centres of Victorian high culture, the social networks in which it was produced, and the close relationship between cultural production and Victorian society. Eliot attends a performance of a Handel oratorio with a stalwart of the artistic establishment (Frederic Burton s portrait of Eliot was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1867). She views neoclassical paintings by Frederic Leighton (who had illustrated Romola) in a studio in Kensington fitted out to resemble a Turkish palace. She accompanies the architect Owen Jones (who designed the interior of the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition, and the interior of the Leweses' new house, The Priory) to a show of archetypal English daily-life scenes by an Irish-born painter, William Mulready, showing in a museum founded by Prince Albert (whose idea the Great Exhibition was) and devoted to the celebration of Victorian industrial and cultural progress. While there they also visit the India Courts, interior spaces that, like Leighton's studio, replicate the architectural forms of Greater Britain (Jones, whose Grammar of Ornament (1856) incorporated design motifs from around the world, was the leading orientalist and functionalist among Victorian theorists of architecture and design). And like others of their class, they entertain, and they travel. She and Lewes take a short trip to Scotland—travelling first class on the train, no doubt—and Lewes retires into the countryside for a week or so before they regroup to spend the remainder of spring in Italy, where it was cheap, and where so many culturally acquisitive Victorians made their version of the Grand Tour, the cultural journey through Europe taken by generations of the wealthy English.

Good short readable survey of Eliot's life, work and influences, with chapters on politics, gender, religion and science. The last chapter looks at film and TV adaptations, concentrating on the 1994 BBC dramatisation (which maybe I should have a look at; Rosamund is played by my twin Trevyn McDowell). Am still not convinced that The Mill on the Floss is any good, but I might give Romola and Felix Holt a try (Middlemarch is in my medium-term plan anyway). You can get it here.

This was my top unread book acquired in 2013. Next on that pile is Felicitas Corrigan's biography of Helen Waddell.

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Whoniversaries 7 August: Kenneth Kendall, Alexei Sayle, Shobna Gulati, Ric Felgate

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i) births and deaths

7 August 1924: birth of Kenneth Kendall, who appeared as a newsreader in The War Machines (1966), the first celebrity to portray himself on Doctor Who (unless you count the Beatles). He's also in 2001: A Space Odyssey in a similar role.

7 August 1952: birth of Alexei Sayle, who plays the DJ in Revelation of the Daleks (1986). 'Allo John, got a new motor? Is there life on Mars? Is there life in Peckham?

7 August 1966: birth of Shobna Gulati, who plays Yaz's mother Najia Khan in several Thirteenth Doctor stories (2018 and 2020).

7 August 1999: death of Ric Felgate, who appeared in three stories all directed by his brother-in-law Michael Ferguson. He was Roy Stone, an American journalist in The War Machines (First Doctor, 1966), Brent, killed by the Ice Warriors in The Seeds of Death (1969) and astronaut Charles Van Lyden, the first person seen on screen in The Ambassadors of Death (Third Doctor, 1970).

7 August 2014: death of Michael Kerrigan, who directed Battlefield (Seventh Doctor, 1989) and also the 2008 Sarah Jane Adventures stories The Day of the Clown and Secrets of the Stars.

ii) broadcast anniversaries

None.

iii) dates specified in-canon

7 August 1941: setting of the WW2 bit of the Torchwood comic story Overture, published in the 25th and last issue of Torchwood Magazine, by Gary Russell with art by John Ridgway and letters by John Workman.

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Thursday reading

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Current
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
Jerusalem, by Alan Moore

Last books finished
Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens
From Barrows to Bypass: Excavations at West Cotton, Raunds, Northamptonshire, 1985-1989, by Dave Wendell, Andy Chapman and Jo Woodwiss
The Secret in Vault 13, by David Solomons

Next books
The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel
East West Street, by Philippe Sands

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Whoniversaries 6 August: Ron Jones, Tom Macrae, Heritage

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i) births and deaths

6 August 1945: birth of Ron Jones, who directed Black Orchid (Fifth Doctor, 1982), Time-Flight (Fifth Doctor, 1982), Arc of Infinity (Fifth Doctor, 1983), Frontios (Fifth Doctor, 1984), Vengeance on Varos (Sixth Doctor, 1985) and Mindwarp (Sixth Doctor, 1986).

6 August 1980: birth of Tom Macrae, writer of Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel (Tenth Doctor, 2006) and The Girl Who Waited (11th Doctor, 2011).

ii) broadcast anniversaries

6 August 1966: the BBC announced that William Hartnell would leave the role of the Doctor.

iii) dates specified in-universe

6 August 6048: setting of all but the last two chapters of Dale Smith’s 2002 Seventh Doctor novel, Heritage.

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July 2007 books

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July 2007 was a fairly dramatic month. My mother-in-law came to stay with us to help with B, whose behaviour was becoming more and more challenging. She stayed in Belgium while the rest of us went on our usual holiday, taking in the two Roald Dahl museums in Buckinghamshire and Paul Cornell's birthday party. See also speculation on the future of Latveria, and local megaliths. Paul Cornell was not the only person to have a birthday that month.

Because of long journeys (also a work trip to Cyprus with crazy flight connections) and sleepless nights, I managed to read no less than 46 books that month.

Non-fiction 12 (YTD 47)
Vicious Circles and Infinity: An Anthology of Paradoxes, by Patrick Hughes and George Brecht
The Medieval Cookbook, by Maggie Black
The Making of Doctor Who, by Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks
The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks, translated and with an Introduction by Benedicta Ward
The Desert Fathers: Translations from the Latin with an Introduction by Helen Waddell
The Megalith Builders of Western Europe, by Glyn Daniel
Asteroids: A History, by Curtis Peebles
The Nobel Prizes, by Burton Feldman
The Discovery of the Germ, by John Waller
George and Sam, by Charlotte Moore
The Republic, by Plato
Presidents I've Known and Two Near Presidents, by Charles Willis Thompson

Non-genre 5 (YTD 23)
Once in a Blue Moon, by Magnus Mills
Three To See the King, by Magnus Mills
Faith, by Joanna Trollope
Wilt in Nowhere, by Tom Sharpe (DNF)
The Successor, by Ismail Kadarë

SF (non-Who) 17 (YTD 56)
Something Rotten, by Jasper Fforde
The Mind of Mr Soames, by Charles Eric Maine
The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen, translated and edited by Jeffrey Frank and Diana Crone Frank
Harpist in the Wind, by Patricia A. McKillip
The Sharing Knife: Legacy, by Lois McMaster Bujold
What Ifs?™ of American History, edited by Robert Cowley
Earth is Room Enough, by Isaac Asimov
City of Illusions, by Ursula Le Guin
The Afterblight Chronicles: Kill or Cure, by Rebecca Levene
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Deathbird Stories, by Harlan Ellison
Coyote Dreams, by C.E. Murphy
The Guardians, by John Christopher
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon
The Female Man, by Joanna Russ

Doctor Who 8 (YTD 23)
Doctor Who: the Visual Dictionary, by Andrew Darling, Kerrie Dougherty, David John, Simon Beecroft, and Amy Junor
Doctor Who – the Caves of Androzani, by Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin, by Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders, by Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who and the Leisure Hive, by David Fisher
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, by Christopher Bulis
City at World's End, by Christopher Bulis
Doctor Who [The Novel of the Film], by Gary Russell

Comics 3 (YTD 15)
Pussey!, by Daniel Clowes
Doctor Who: The Iron Legion
Albion, by Alan Moore, Leah Moore and John Reppion

11,000 pages (YTD 49,000)
14/46 by women (YTD 44/167)
None by PoC (YTD 4/167)

If I have to pick two of these as particularly good, my choice is feminist sf classic The Female Man by Joanna Russ, which you can get here, and a mother's account of living with two autistic sons, George and Sam by Charlotte Moore, which you can get here. Wooden spoon to Wilt in Nowhere which bored and repelled me in the first 100 pages, but you can get it here.


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Whoniversaries 5 August: Wanda Ventham, Matt Jones, Paul Kasey, Brian Minchin,

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i) births and deaths

5th August 1935: birth of Wanda Ventham, who played Jean Rock in The Faceless Ones (1967), Thea Ransome and the Fendahl Core in Image of the Fendahl (1977) and Faroon in Time and the Rani (1987), a nice regular spacing of her appearances over the decades.

5th August 1968: birth of Matt Jones, author of TV stories The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit (Doctor Who, 2006) and Dead Man Walking (Torchwood, 2008), as well as the excellent Bernice Summerfield story Beyond The Sun (novel, 1997; audio play, 1998).

5th August 1973: birth of Paul Kasey, who has played literally dozens of short monsters in New Who and its spinoffs, and has appeared in 70 episodes of Doctor Who, Torchwood and the Sarah jane Adventures, which I think may be more than anyone else..

Last but by no means least, 5th August 1978 saw the birth of Brian Minchin, script editor for the first two series of Torchwood and for eight episodes of New Who, assistant producer of Torchwood: Children of Earth last year, and producer of the next series of Sarah Jane Adventures. He is also my first cousin. Happy birthday, Brian!

He'll probably kill me for this, but here he is, aged 15, at my wedding in 1993.

ii) broadcast and cinema dates:

5th August 2011: broadcast of The Categories of Life (Torchwood). One of the most horrific moments of the Whoniverse as new-ish character Vera Juarez gets burnt to a crisp.

iii) date specified in-universe

5th August 1975: birth of Jack Harkness's daughter Alice Carter (as revealed in Torchwood: Children of Earth ep 3 in 2009). I'm sure it's pure coincidence that that is also assistant producer Brian Minchin's birthday.

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Listen to the Moon, by Michael Morpurgo

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Second paragraph of third chapter:

Never had it taken so long to row up Tresco Channel, Alfie thought. He was quite sure by now that the girl must be dead, so much so that he could hardly bring himself to look at her. Close to tears all the time, he did not trust himself to speak. He kept catching his father’s eye, then looking away fast. He could not tell him how cold she was in his arms, how still, that she was gone.

A lovely children's book set on the Scilly Islands during the first world war. A young girl is found alive on the shore, but unable to talk. A hospitable family takes her in, but there is hostility from some in the community who think that she is German. Meanwhile the war continues to exact a horrible toll on the islands. No big surprise – the ending is signalled very far in advance – but well told. You can get it here.

This was my top unread book acquired in 2014. Next on that pile is The Inside of the Cup, by the other Winston Churchill.

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Whoniversaries 4 August: Martin Jarvis, Fenella Woolgar, Maurice Colbourne, the Twelfth Doctor

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i) births and deaths

4th August 1941: birth of Martin Jarvis who played Hilio in The Web Planet (1963), Butler in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974), and the Governor in Vengeance on Varos (1985).

4th August 1971: birth of Fenella Woolgar who played Agatha Christie in The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008).

4th August 1989: death of Maurice Colbourne who played Lytton in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984) and Attack of the Cybermen (1985).

ii) broadcast anniversary

4th August 2016: Peter Capaldi is announced as the Twelfth Doctor.

iii) date specified in-universe

From Paul Cornell's (excellent) 1992 Seventh Doctor novel Love and War, which introduced Bernice "Benny" Summerfield:

 Benny pulled a thick volume from the stuffed bookshelf behind the Doctor. Resting it on her lap, she found a place with her finger and began to read. 'August the fourth. This is my diary, by the way . . .'
   'Is this relevant?'
   'Oh yes, very. This is from a year when I had a tremendous crush on a young research assistant. "Dear Diary, I hate myself. And I'm afraid that means I hate you too. Those who read this will just have to get used to a deterioration in our relationship" '
   The Doctor was smiling. 'Do you often stage readings?'
   'Yes, and I annotate all over the place, and sometimes I go back and stick notes over the bits I don't like. I don't want to erase them, so you can peel off the note, but I want to offer a . . . a new version, I suppose. This is one of those pieces. Here's where we get on to the note. This is the new version.' Benny peeled off a scrap of pink paper and read it out. 'I took Ian out dancing, to the Elderstrasse Ballroom, and it was great. He told me that I was like a sister to him, which was very flattering.' She sighed, and crumpled the note up. 'History is written by the winning side. That's why nobody in this century has ever heard of Exeter City.'
   'Ah . . . ' The Doctor looked puzzled once more.
   'This, however, is what really happened. I took Ian dancing, had a few too many glasses of wine, told him that I loved him and got real y hurt when he told me he thought of me as a sister. I ran out down the steps and ruined a perfectly good dress in the fall. A Styhian beggar helped me out of the gutter. I told him that we were both looking at the stars, and gave him most of my cash.' Benny thumped the book closed. 'So what do you think?'
   'The real version's better.'

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Guban, by Abdi Latif Ega

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Second paragraph of third chapter:

In this spirit, Tusmo went immediately to a prominent member of weight in the affairs of the clan in the dislocation of the city. Somal’s clan system was based on patrilineal blood relationships, complemented differently by matrilineal blood relations. The male blood line, however, and thus the male, dominated clan affairs. Though Tusmo was particularly aggrieved in the case of her husband’s sudden arrest, Hoagsaday’s clan could never be represented by her.

Last year, I had a brief foray into Somali politics, and bought this book to get myself in the zone. It's a detailed portrayal of Somali politics and society. The protagonists, Haogsaday and Tusmo, are separated by Hoagsaday's sudden and unexplained arrest; the two of them take different odysseys through the Horn of Africa, intersecting with the bigger political story of their country (the date is not given but I an guessing late 1980s). The disruption of the family unit matches the disruption of their nation, though the point is not belaboured too heavily. I was certainly educated.

I'm afraid that I was deterred at first by the poor editing and formatting. The book needed a thorough proof-reading in English – too many homophones or near-homophones used. And the Kindle format includes page breaks for each print page, complete with header and footer, which is very disruptive to the flow of the reading process. As far as I can tell the book was self-published, and the author is apparently working on a second book – I hope he brings in another pair of eyes next time. Anyway, you can get it here.

This was my top unread book by a non-white author. Next on that pile is Palestine +100, edited by Basma Ghalayini.

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Whoniversaries 3 August: Denis Carey, Carmen Silvera, the end of Old Who

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i) births and deaths

3rd August 1909: birth of Denis Carey, who played Professor Chronotis in Shada (unbroadcast but would have been 1980), the Keeper in The Keeper of Traken (1981), and the Old Man (the front identity for the Borad) in Timelash (1985).

3rd August 2002: death of Carmen Silvera, who played several parts in The Celestial Toymaker (1966) and also Ruth in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974), better known in later years as René Artois's long-suffering wife Edith in 'Allo! 'Allo!.

ii) production anniversary

3rd August 1989: I don't usually do anniversaries of the often tediously well-documented process of making Who, but this one is special: the final day of filming of Ghost Light, the last scene ever made of Old Who being the one where Gwendoline and her mother are turned to stone. And that, as it turned out, was the end, save the final voiceover for the last episode of Survival.

iii) date specified in-universe

3 August 1975: Setting of chapter 3 of Oli Smith's 2010 Eleventh Doctor novel Nuclear Time. (Most of the rest is set on 28 August 1981.)

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The Overstory, by Richard Powers

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Second paragraph of third chapter:

“Where’s Daddy?” his mother asks.

I loved this book, a brilliant (maybe a little long) story of environmental activism in the USA, with eight central characters whose paths into and out of each other's lives and the protection of America's forests weave together to make a really gripping tale. There's also a computer game designer working on the future of humanity. The real heroes of the book, as Barbara Kingsolver said, are centuries old and very very tall… Not really sfnal, but very relevant for anyone who cares about the future of the planet. Won the Pulitzer Prize. You can get it here.

This was my top book acquired in 2019 and my top non-genre fiction book. Next on the first pile was Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw (which I already read and reviewed), next on the other is Tono-Bungay by H.G. Wells.

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Gaze of the Medusa, by Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby and Brian Williamson

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Second frame of third chapter:

A comic with the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith encountering mosters rooted in Greek mythology in Victorian England (and elsewhere). Well put together and a careful homage to the Hinchcliffe/Holmes years. You can get it here. Was actually at the top of my pile of unread comics in English. Next on that list is Chronin, by Alison Wilgus.

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Whoniversary 2 August: Edwin Richfield, Greg Austin, Terence Bayler, Real Time #1, Algebra of Ice

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i) births and deaths

2 August 1990: death of Edwin Richfield, who played Captain John Hart in The Sea Devils (Third Doctor, 1972) – not the Captain John Hart of later Torchwood! – and also Mestor in The Twin Dilemma (Sixth Doctor, 1984). I think it's reasonably clear which part required more make-up…

2 August 1992: birth of Greg Austin, who played Charlie in Class (2016). Again, to avoid confusion, he is not the same person as my former colleague Greg Austin.

2 August 2016: death of Terence Bayler, who played Yendom, a doomed human slave, in The Ark (First Doctor, 1966) and mesmerised soldier Major Barrington in The War Games (Second Doctor, 1969).

ii) webcast anniversary

2nd August 2002: release of the first episode of Real Time on the BBC website. The Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe land on a deserted planet to investigate rumours of Cybermen. One of the scientists who they encounter there closely resembles Chang Lee from The Movie because they are both played by Yee Jee Tso.

iii) date specified in-universe

From Lloyd Rose's 2004 Seventh Doctor novel The Algebra of Ice, year unspecified:

 ‘Now, what was that other information you wanted? Oh yes.’ He picked up another file. ‘ “U” working on entropy. That must have been Pat Unwin. Not a strong character, our Pat.’
   ‘Where did he study?’
   ‘Warwick. Should have warned us. Still, a triple first at Oxford. He was a damn fine mathematician and we’d have kept him on if he hadn’t gone alcoholic on us.’
   ‘I understand you’re generally tolerant of. . . that sort of thing.’
   ‘Within reason. Very high-strung a lot of these chaps. Have to make allowances. But as soon as they become unusual, we ship them off to a doctor or a rest home with an AA program. Unwin wasn’t having any of that. Took to reeling through the halls muttering. All right. Not the first one. We could deal with that. But when he started sneaking into people’s offices and erasing their files it was a bit much. When we called him on it, he began ranting about how useless the work here was and how his ideas were going to change the world. We got in the lads in the white coats pronto, I can tell you.’
   The Doctor nodded sympathetically. ‘So he did go to a “rest home”.’
   ‘Should have thrown him in an institution. Drying-out place we have near Dover; he just walked away. We’ve been searching for him ever since. The things he has in his head. Classified, you know. Don’t want them showing up in the hands of people who aren’t our friends. Though for all I know, he might write them on the wall of a toilet, or publish them on that cyber place, space, what’s it called?’
   ‘The Internet.’
   ‘That’s it.’
   ‘But so far he doesn’t seem to have said anything. Exactly how long ago was this?’
   ‘Hasn’t been seen since 2 August.’

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Houston, Houston, Do You Read? and The Bicentennial Man

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It seems kind of timely to go back to 1977 and review the two works of written fiction that won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards that year, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”, by James Tiptree, Jr. and “The Bicentennial Man”, by Isaac Asimov. Somehow I'm in the mood for looking at moments when there was a clash of visions of what science fiction should be about.

Interestingly, Best Dramatic Presentation also had the same winner for both Hugo and Nebula that year, which was No Award, beating Logan's Run and The Man Who Fell to Earth in both cases. (Harlan! Harlan Ellison Reads Harlan Ellison, an LP, was also on the Nebula final ballot, while Hugo voters also rejected Carrie and Futureworld.) I guess in the year of Star Wars, the previous year's works paled into insignificance.

The Hugo for Best Novel that year went to Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, by Kate Wilhelm, and the Nebula to Man Plus, by Fredrik Pohl, which is interesting as I would rate the former as the more literary, and certainly the more feminist. Both novels were on both final ballots, as was Shadrach in the Furnace by Robert Silverberg. Hugo voters also had the choice of Children of Dune, by Frank Herbert, and Mindbridge, by Joe Haldeman; the Nebula list also included Inferno, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, Islands, by Marta Randall (Pyramid) and Triton, by Samuel R. Delany. I haven't read the last three; of the others, I'm unfashionably fond of Mindbridge.

In the Short Story category, the Hugo went to "Tricentennial", by Joe Haldeman, and the Nebula to “A Crowd of Shadows”, by Charles L. Grant; both were on both ballots, but there were no other shared nomniations. I'm pretty sure I have read the former but not the latter, though I have no clear memory of doing so.

OK. I can't put this off any longer. “The Bicentennial Man” is an awful piece of writing. Here's the second paragraph of the third section:

Andrew did not understand any of this at the time. But in later years, with greater learning, he could review that early scene and understand it in its proper light.

It is about an Asimovian Three Laws robot who wants to become human, and gradually acquired the legal rights of a human and the body of a human so that he can die as a human. I hate cute robot stories anyway, I hate the Three Laws as a concept and I hate Asimov's writing style. Collodi did "wanting to be a real boy" better in Pinocchio, and indeed Anderson did "wanting to be a real girl" better in "The Little Mermaid". (See TV Tropes on Pinocchio Syndrome as to why this plot is so unoriginal.) I wrote about its flaws at greater length here.

On top of that, it's particularly nauseating to read the story in the context of Black Lives Matter, and it surely must have been equally clunky with regard to the 1976 Zeitgeist in the immediate wake of the Civil Rights movement. Asimov is clearly invoking Black American experience in the character of Andrew, who starts out as a house servant with an artistic gift that his owners exploit (and kindly allow him to profit from), and then gets his own way through a succession of legal challenges and political initiatives. But the parallel is so offensive that I had better stop making it. I will note, however, that Andrew pulls the ladder up after him.

The story won the Hugo and Nebula not so much on literary merit as on Asimov's reputation and stature within the community (despite his well-known record as a serial harasser of women), and also because of Ursula Le Guin's protest against Cold War politics. For the Hugo, it beat “The Diary of the Rose”, by Ursula K. Le Guin, “Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance”, by John Varley and “The Phantom of Kansas”, also by John Varley. For the Nebula, the losing stories were “Custer's Last Jump”, by Steven Utley & Howard Waldrop, “His Hour Upon the Stage”, by Grant Carrington and “In the Bowl”, John Varley. “The Diary of the Rose” was also originally on the Nebula shortlist, but Le Guin withdrew it in protest at SFWA's expulsion of Stanisław Lem.

The SFWA called me to plead with me not to withdraw it, since it had, in fact, won. I couldn’t do that. So—with the perfect irony that awaits anybody who strikes a noble pose on high moral ground—my award went to the runner-up: Isaac Asimov, the old chieftain of the Cold Warriors.

I have to admit I was startled as I sat down to write this piece and discovered that “The Bicentennial Man” won Best Novelette and “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” won Best Novella. Asimov's prose drags, and Tiptree's engages, and I really thought it was the other way around. But history is clear. “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” is not formally broken up into sections (though there are clear blocks of narrative int he text). The third paragraph is:

Bud Geirr's loud chuckle breaks in on him. Bud is joking with some of them, out of sight around a bulkhead. Dave is visible, though. Major Norman Davis on the far side of the cabin, his bearded profile bent toward a small dark woman Lorimer can't quite focus on. But Dave's head seems oddly tiny and sharp, in fact the whole cabin looks unreal. A cackle bursts out from the ceiling—the bantam hen in her basket.

This is a very different kettle of fish. Once again, we have a very old trope (TV Tropes as ever has a good section on Lady Land) but Tiptree takes it in new directions: three male astronauts from our near future are warped far forward in time to a solar system where men have died out and only women (and non-binary enbies) are left, reproducing by cloning and living an eco-friendly lifestyle (with space travel). The men are interviewed by the women, having been lightly drugged to lose their inhibitions; and it's strongly implied that as the story ends, they are about to be killed off as a danger to humanity. It's chilling but also very subtle, and I wonder how many of those who voted for it in 1977 actually understood the full point. It's also very clearly a story about the future, whereas Asimov, despite the centrality of the robot character, is clearly rewriting the past.

There was possibly also a non-literary factor operating to help “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” win. In the months between its publication, in May 1976, and voting on the awards (the Nebulas were presented on 30 April 1977 and the Hugos on 4 September) Tiptree's identity as Alice Sheldon had become public, a few people having worked it out by November 1976 and Locus breaking the story as the first item of the front page of its January 1977 issue. Both fans and pros were apparently ready to forgive and even reward the deception.

“Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” won the Hugo jointly with Spider Robinson's “By Any Other Name”. The other two stories on the Hugo ballot were also up for the Nebula; they were “Piper at the Gates of Dawn”, by Richard Cowper, and “The Samurai and the Willows”, by Michael Bishop. The other story on the Nebula ballot was “The Eyeflash Miracles”, by Gene Wolfe. I can't remember having read any of them.

Both of these stories are available in many many collections. Indeed, it may be worth noting that both were originally published in anthologies rather than magazines – Tiptree in Aurora: Beyond Equality, edited by Vonda N. McIntyre and Susan Janice Anderson, and Asimov in Stellar #2, edited by Judy-Lynn Del Rey. (Hmm, just noticed that all the editors were women.) “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” was the first short fiction by a woman to win both Hugo and Nebula (Ursula Le Guin had already done it for two novels).

Next in this series of posts: three joint winners published in 1977, and awarded in 1978 – Gateway, by Frederik Pohl; “Stardance”, by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson; and “Jeffty Is Five”, by Harlan Ellison.

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Whoniversaries 1 August: John Flint, Gertan Kauber, The Sensorites #6, Unnatural History

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births and deaths

1 August 1929: birth of John Flint, who played William des Preaux, a knight loyal to King Richard, in the story we now call The Crusade (First Doctor, 1965) and also Urquhart, the Concorde pilot in Time-Flight (Fifth Doctor, 1982).

1 August 2008: death of Gertan Kauber, who played the dimly seen galley-master in the story we now call The Romans (First Doctor, 1965) and Ola in The Macra Terror (Second Doctor, 1967).

ii) broadcast anniversary

1st August 1964: broadcast of "A Desperate Venture", the sixth and final episode of the series we now call The Sensorites. Barbara reappears (after several weeks' holiday) and sorts out the Sensorites; meanwhile the Doctor and Ian have tracked down the deranged astronauts in the tunnels. So everyone's a winner! Except the Second Elder and the Engineer, of course. This is the episode where Susan says, of her home planet,

at night the sky is a burnt orange, and the leaves on the trees a bright silver.

Ends on a dramatically sour note as the Doctor takes offence at Ian and promises to put him and Barbara off at the next landing.

iii) date specified in-universe

From the 1999 Eighth Doctor novel Unnatural History, by Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman:

Dad sighed his I-know-Tm-right-sweetheart sigh. ‘We thought it was a practical joke at first. But they kept coming.’

‘What?’ Sam stared at the stack of cards in his lap. ‘How many?’

He handed her another card, and another, postmarked from all around the world. San Francisco. Auckland. A letter dated London 1894, with ‘Do not deliver until 1 August 1997’ written on it.

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2020 Hugos in detail

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1584 votes cast at nominations phase, 2221 on the final ballot. Lower than any year since 2013, higher than any year up to 2013. As expected for a smaller worldcon in difficult times. Full stats here.

The closest result was for Best Fanzine, where the winner had a margin of 4 votes on the final count. Best Graphic Story or Comic was decided by 11 votes.
The following also received enough nominating votes to reach the final ballot:
  • Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie (Best Novel – declined nomination)
  • Watchmen (Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form – two episodes, with more nominating votes, had also qualified for the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category)
  • Good Omens: “Hard Times” (Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form – the entire series, with more nominating votes, had also qualified for the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form category)
  • Navah Wolfe (Best Professional Editor, Short Form – not eligible)
  • Tamsyn Muir (Astounding Award for Best New Writer – not eligible)
The winners of Best Graphic Story or Comic and of Best Professional Editor, Short Form were the last to qualify for the final ballot in their categories.

Best Novel

A Memory Called Empire surged from second place, starting 57 votes behind Middlegame but eventually beating it by 88, 880 to 792, on transfers (getting more from eliminated candidates in every single round). Middlegame came a convincing second over Gideon the Ninth, which came an even more convincing third over The City in the Middle of the Night. But fourth place was taken by The Light Brigade in a close contest with The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and The City in the Middle of the Night took fifth place by only 1 vote over The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which came sixth.

At nominations stage, Ann Leckie declined nomination for The Raven Tower which had come third. A Memory called Empire and Gideon the Ninth topped the poll on votes and points respectively. The City in the Middle of the Night qualified thanks to The Raven Tower's removal. Tiamat’s Wrath, by James S.A. Corey, would have needed 27 more votes or in excess of 12.65 more points to qualify for the final ballot. It was actually ahead of The City in the Middle of the Night on points, but way behind on votes – seven other nominees had an equal or larger number of nominations (but did less well on points).

Best Novella

This is How You Lose the Time War was ahead at all stages but needed to go to the sixth count to win over In An Absent Dream, by 994 to 634. In An Absent Dream started 62 votes ahead for second place, but scraped in by only two votes over To Be Taught if Fortunate. To Be Taught if Fortunate beat "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom" handily for third place, and although "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" started with the most votes for fourth place, it was beaten by The Haunting of Tram Car 015 on transfers from The Deep. However, "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" secured a solid enough fifth place against The Deep, which got a convincing sixth.

At nominations stage, This is How You Lose the Time War was far ahead of the field, and "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" the last to qualify. Silver in the Wood, by Emily Tesh, needed another 11 votes worth 8.25 points to qualify for the final ballot.

Best Novelette

Emergency Skin was ahead at all stages and beat "Omphalos" by 776 to 550 on the sixth count. "Omphalos" beat "Away with the Wolves" similarly convincingly for second place, and "Away with the Wolves" came from behind to beat "For He Can Creep" for third. "For He Can Creep" beat "The Blur in the Corner of your Eye" by only 17 votes for fourth place, but "The Blur in the Corner of your Eye" beat "The Archronology of Love" convincingly for fifth place and "The Archronology of Love" took sixth even more convincingly.

Emergency Skin was only fourth at nomination stage, with "Omphalos" first, "For He Can Creep" second and "Away with the Wolves" third. "The Archronology of Love" was the last to qualify; "Nice Things" by Ellen Klages needed only 2 more votes to get on the ballot.

Best Short Story

"As the Last I May Know" was ahead at all stages but needed the sixth round to beat "Do Not Look Back My Lion" by 720 to 513. The other places went convincingly to "Do Not Look Back My Lion", "And Now His Lordship Is Laughing", "A Catalog of Storms", "Blood Is Another Word for Hunger" and "Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island" which came sixth despite having the third highest number of first preferences. I guess some people didn't like its format; myself I thought it was inventive and interesting.

At nominations stage, "Do Not Look Back My Lion" topped the poll and the eventual winner, "As the Last I May Know", was in fourth place. "And Now His Lordship is Laughing" was the last to qualify; "Give the Family My Love", by A. T. Greenblatt, would have qualified with another two votes or 0.83 points, and "Articulated Restraint", by Mary Robinette Kowal, was also close behind.

Best Series

More drama here as The Expanse, starting 72 votes behind InCryptid, pulled ahead on transfers to win by 22 votes, 683 to 661. InCryptid not surprisingly crushed the opposition to come second, Planetfall beat The Wormwood Trilogy convincingly for third place, and the Winternight Trilogy scraped into fourth place by four votes, again over The Wormwood Trilogy, which however convincingly beat Luna for fifth place, and Luna then came a solid sixth.

InCryptid was well in the lead at nominations, with The Wormwood Trilogy (just) second on votes but fourth on points, and The Expanse second on points but third on votes. The Winternight Trilogy had the fewest votes among the finalists, but Luna was the last to qualify, and the Alliance-Union series by C.J. Cherryh needed another 2 votes or in excess of 0.25 more points to get on the ballot.

Best Related Work

Jeannette Ng's Campbell Award acceptance speech was well ahead at all stages, eventually beating Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin by 606 to 540. Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin came second; The Lady from the Black Lagoon came third narrowly, 14 votes ahead of Becoming SupermanBecoming Superman came a strong fourth, The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein beat Joanna Russ by 20 points for fifth place, and Joanna Russ came sixth.

Jeannette Ng's speech had the fewest nomination votes of any of the finalists, but was not the last to qualify – the last place on the ballot was taken by Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, whose eligibility had been specifically extended by the 2019 Business Meeting. The last nominee eliminated was Monster, She Wrote, by Lisa Kröger & Melanie R. Anderson, which would have needed another 13 votes worth at least 6.33 points, or 6.42 points from fewer than 13 votes, to qualify for the ballot

Best Graphic Story or Comic

Laguardia started 22 votes in the lead and ended winning by 11, 410 to 399 for Monstress v4. Monstress v4 took second place, Mooncakes third, Paper Girls fourth, The Wicked + The Divine won fifth by 7 votes from Die: Fantasy Heartbreaker, which came sixth.

At nominations stage, Monstress v4 topped the poll and The Wicked + The Divine came a strong second, with the winner, Laguardia, the last to qualify (though Mooncakes had fewer votes). Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 1, by G. Willow Wilson would have needed 9 more votes worth 3.34 points, or fewer votes worth 5.59 more points, to qualify.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Good Omens was far ahead from the beginning, and won with 946 votes to 413 for Captain Marvel and 392 for Russian Doll. The other places were all pretty clear, Captain Marvel second, Russian Doll third, Avengers: Endgame fourth, Us fifth and Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker sixth.

At nominations stage, Watchmen gained enough votes to qualify in this category, but two individual episodes also qualified for the Short Form category, with more votes collectively. The Administrators therefore removed Watchmen from this category. Captain Marvel topped the poll, with Good Omens second. The removal of Watchmen allowed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker to take the last place on the ballot; Spider-man: Far from Home would have taken that place with 1 more vote.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

The Good Place: The Answer was well ahead from the start, winning by 720 votes to 520 for Watchmen: A God Walks Into Abar, which then tied for second place with The Mandalorian: Redemption. Cibola Burn, which started the run for second place in a tie for the lead, took fourth place easily, with Watchmen: This Extraordinary Being in fifth and Doctor Who: Resolution in sixth.

At nominations stage, Good Omens: Hard Times gained enough votes to qualify in this category – in fact, it topped the poll – but the entire series of Good Omens also qualified for the Long Form category, with more votes. The Administrators therefore removed Good Omens: Hard Times from this category. Doctor Who: Resolution therefore took the last place on the ballot. The last nominee eliminated was another episode of The Good Place, Pandemonium, which needed another 6 votes to qualify.

Best Professional Editor, Short Form

Ellen Datlow was in the lead from the beginning, winning by 453 to 265 for Lynne M Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas. The Thomases started in the lead for second place, but transfers pulled Jonathan Strahan to finish 18 votes ahead. The Thomases also started in the lead for third place, but transfers pulled Sheila Williams to finish 12 votes ahead. The Thomases also started in the lead for fourth place, but transfers pulled Neil Clarke to finish level with them in another tie. C.C. Finlay took sixth place.

Neil Clarke topped the poll at nominations. Navah Wolfe got enough votes to qualify for the ballot in this category, but is not eligible (she made up for it elsewhere). The last place on the ballot was taken by Ellen Datlow, who went on to win the award. Lee Harris would have qualified for the ballot with three more votes.

Best Professional Editor, Long Form

Navah Wolfe was in the lead from the beginning, winning with 389 votes to 239 for Sheila Gilbert. Gilbert started in the lead for second place, but transfers pulled Diana M. Pho ahead by 2 in the end. Gilbert won third place clearly, and Devi Pillai likewise solidly won fourth place. Miriam Weinberg beat Brit Hvide by just 7 votes for fifth place, and Hvide won sixth place comfortably.

Navah Wolfe also topped the poll at the nominations stage. Miriam Weinberg was the last finalist to qualify; Gillian Redfearn, with a lot fewer votes, would still have qualified if she had had in excess of 2.37 more points. Others were also close – difficult to be sure, but Nivia Evans would have had a good chance with 3 more votes, and Priyanka Hrishnan with 2.

Best Professional Artist

John Picacio was ahead at all stages, winning by 445 votes to 392 for Yujo Shimizu. Galen Dara, who was fourth in the first round, took second place very narrowly, 9 votes ahead of Shimizu who led at a couple of stages. Shimizu won third place, Rovina Cai fourth, Tommy Arnold fifth and Amyssa Winans sixth.

Tommy Arnold topped the poll at nominations stage, John Picacio coming second. It was very tight at the lower end of the qualification stage; Will Staehle would certainly have qualified with 3 more votes, and Jaime Jones was also not far off.

Best Semiprozine

Uncanny Magazine started 21 votes ahead of FIYAH, and finished 34 votes ahead, winning by 434 to 400. FIYAH took second place 18 votes ahead of Strange Horizons, which came a very comfortable third. Escape Pod took fouth place, Beneath Ceaseless Skies fifth and Fireside Magazine sixth,

Uncanny Magazine also topped the poll at nominations stage. Fireside Magazine was the last to qualify; Interzone, the last to be eliminated, needed 7.15 more points to qualify, and also PodCastle would probably have qualified with 4 more votes worth 2.02 points.

Best Fanzine

In the closest result of the night, The Book Smugglers started 8 votes ahead of nerds of a feather, briefly lost the lead and then regained it to win by 243 to 239, a margin of 4. The other results were much clearer, nerds of a feather coming second, Journey Planet third, Galactic Journey fourth, Quick Sip Reviews fifth and The Rec Center sixth.

nerds of a feather topped the poll at nominations stage. Galactic Journey was the last to qualify; the Hugo Book Club Blog needed another 5 votes.

Best Fancast

Our Opinions Are Correct was ahead from the start and won by 371 votes to 211 for the Coode Street Podcast. The Coode Street Podcast led at all stages but the last in the count for second place, losing to Galactic Suburbia by 14 points. Coode Street won third place handily, The Skiffy and Fanty Show (which got the fewest first preferences in the first round) took fourth place also comfortably, and Be The Serpent beat Claire Rousseau for fifth place by 20 votes; Claire Rousseau came sixth.

Be the Serpent topped the poll at nominations stage, with The Coode Street Podcast second and Our Opinions Are Correct third. The Skiffy and Fanty Show was the last to qualify; Verity! and Kalanadi would each have qualified with another 6 votes.

Best Fan Writer

Bogi Takács was ahead from the start, and won by 284 votes to 263 for Cora Buhlert, who won second place by a good margin. Alasdair Stuart beat James David Nicoll by 11 points for third place, Nicoll came fourth, Paul Weimer fifth and Adam Whitehead sixth.

Alasdair Stuart and Paul Weimer jointly got the most nominating votes, James David Nicoll getting the most points and Bogi Takács not far behind. Cora Buhlert was the last to qualify for the ballot; Charles Payseur would have qualified with 5 more votes.

Best Fan Artist

Elise Matthesen was ahead from the start and won by 371 votes to 339 for Iain Clark, who then lost to Sara Felix for second place by only 14 votes, but comfortably won third place. Meg Frank beat Grace P. Fong by 19 votes for fourth place; Fong took fifth place and Ariela Housman sixth.

Sara Felix got the most votes and Elise Matthesen the most points at nominations stage. The last finalist to qualify was Meg Frank, with the late Steve Stiles the last eliminated nominee; he would have needed at least another 10 votes of 6.59 points to qualify. Anna Steinbauer, however, would have qualified with just 1 more vote.

Lodestar Award

Catfishing on Catnet was ahead from the start, beating Minor Mage by 435 to 403. The other places were clear, Minor Mage winning second, Dragon Pearl third, Riverland fourth, Deeplight fifth and The Wicked King sixth.

Catfishing on Catnet was also well ahead at nominations stage, with Dragon Pearl and then Minor Mage in second and third place and the other three very close to each other. Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth nneded 3 more votes to qualify. The Ten thousand Doors of January was the second last to be eliminated, but of course also qualified in Best Novel.

Astounding Award

R.F. Kuang was far in the lead and won the first Astounding Award by 421 votes to 213 for Nibedita Sen and 194 for Tasha Suri. Sen won second place and Suri third. Emily Tesh beat Sam Hawke by 19 votes for fourth place, and Kawke then beat Jenn Lyons by five points for fifth place; Lyons came sixth.

R.F. Kuang was also far ahead at nominations stage. Tamsyn Muir got enough votes to qualify but is not eligible, with several pre-2018 professional publication. The last place on the ballot was then taken by Sam Hawke. The last nominee eliminated was Arkady Martine, who would have mathematically qualified with 2.20 more points, but was also ineligible due to pre-2018 professional publications. Alexandra Rowland would have qualified with 7 more votes worth 3.93 more points (her first novel came out in 2012, but was self-published and so does not count for Astounding eligibility). At least one of the other "long-listed" nominees was also ineligible.

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July books

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Non-fiction: 5 (YTD 37)
EU Lobbying Handbook, by Andreas Geiger
The Complete Secret Army: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Classic TV Drama Series by Andy Priestner
George Eliot, by Tim Dolin
Yugoslavia's Implosion: The Fatal Attraction of Serbian Nationalism, by Sonja Biserko
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, by Mary Trump

Fiction (non-sf): 3 (YTD 18)
The Overstory, by Richard Powers
Guban, by Abdi Latif Ega
Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo

sf (non-Who): 5 (YTD 76)
City of Lies, by Sam Hawke
Tooth & Claw, by Jo Walton
TOR: Assassin Hunter, by Billy Bob Buttons (did not finish)
“Houston, Houston, do you read?” by James Tiptree Jr
The Ruin of Kings, by Jenn Lyons
“The Bicentennial Man” by Isaac Asimov

Comics: 6 (YTD 27)
The Wicked + The Divine vol 6: Imperial Phase Part 2, by Kieron Gillen etc
The Wicked + The Divine vol 7: Mothering Invention, by Kieron Gillen etc
Gaze of the Medusa, by Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby and Brian Williamson
The Wicked + The Divine vol 8: Old is the New New, by Kieron Gillen etc
The Wicked + The Divine vol 9: "Okay", by Kieron Gillen etc
The 1945 Retro Hugo finalists for Best Graphic Story or Comic

Doctor Who 2 (YTD 8)
Doctor Who Annual 2020
Doctor Who and the Cybermen, by Gerry Davis

5,700 pages (YTD 44,200)
7/21 (YTD 54/165) by women (Biserko, Trump, Hawke, Walton, Tiptree, Lyons, Beeby)
1/21 (YTD 18/165) by PoC (Ega)
4/21 reread (YTD 21/165) – "Houston, Houson, Do You Read?", "The Bicentennial Man", The Wicked + The Divine vol 9: "Okay", Doctor Who and the Cybermen

Current
Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens
The Secret in Vault 13, by David Solomons
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
Jerusalem, by Alan Moore

Coming soon (perhaps)
The Conqueror's Child, by Suzy McKee Charnas
The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel
Shadow Scale, by Rachel Hartman
East West Street, by Philippe Sands
Chronin Volume 1: The Knife at Your Back, by Alison Wilgus
Beren and Luthien, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Darwin's Island: The Galapagos in the Garden of England, by Steve Jones
Barcelona, Catalonia: A View from the Inside, by Matthew Tree
"Stardance" by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson
Palestine 100: Stories from a century after the Nakba, by Mazen Maarouf
Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos, by M. Mitchell Waldrop
Helen Waddell, by Felicitas Corrigan
Survivants, Tome 3, by Leo
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig
SS-GB, by Len Deighton
Tono-Bungay, by H. G. Wells
The Inside of the Cup, by Winston S. Churchill
This Must be the Place, by Maggie O'Farrell

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Whoniversaries 31 July

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This is the end of the first month of my new Whoniversary post series. I am going to stick with it – I’m enjoying filling out my own work from ten years ago, and the feedback has not been huge but has been very positive. I normally try and write the week after next’s entries at the weekend – I am behind at the moment, and this was written last Sunday.

i) births and deaths

31 July 1999: death of Ric Felgate, who appeared in three stories all directed by his brother-in-law Michael Ferguson. He was Roy Stone, an American journalist in The War Machines (First Doctor, 1966), Brent, killed by the Ice Warriors in The Seeds of Death (1969) and astronaut Charles Van Lyden, the first person seen on screen in The Ambassadors of Death (Third Doctor, 1970).

31 July 2000: death of Roy Purcell, Chief Prison Officer Powers in The Mind of Evil (Third Doctor, 1971) and President of the Council of the Time Lords in The Three Doctors (Third Doctor, 1972-73)

31 July 2004: death of Robert James, who played gullible scientist Lesterson in The Power of the Daleks (Second Doctor, 1966) and the High Priest in The Masque of Mandragora (Fourth Doctor, 1976)

ii) broadcast anniversaries

31 July 1963: Announcement that the new TV series, Doctor Who, would star William Hartnell with Carole Ann Ford, William Russell and Jacqueline Hill.

iii) date almost specified in canon

31 July 1977: the latter part of episode 3 and all of episode 4 of Image of the Fendahl (1977) are set on a day specified as ‘Lammas Eve’ (the day before 1 August, ie 31 July) by Mrs Tyler. There is no reason to suppose that the year is other than 1977.

31 July 1988: birth of the Eighth Doctor’s audio compainion Lucie Miller, played by Sheridan Smith. Do give her plays a listen – the chemistry with McGann is great.