Enter: The Dragon (Awards)

DragonCon's Dragon Awards are almost upon us.

It’s June. We have only one or two Dragon Awards posts to go. Thank God, because the work is starting to pile up.

And we have to redo this post for another reason: because all the review links are toast. In case you hadn’t heard (or figured it out) our UpstreamReview.com site was infested with malware, and Wordpress decided to hold us ransom—pay them $180, they’ll clean the site AND protect us from future incidents. Which is funny, even the mafia is less explicit with their protection racket. We moved to Substack in about ten minutes.

We’ve talked about the Dragon Awards around here for the same reason there is an Upstream Reviews: We want to impact the culture. And since DragonCon is one of the biggest conventions in existence, with more people voting on it than in any five years of the Hugo awards, we figure it’s kinda important.

And as they’re the largest fan-voted awards out there. It’s free to vote on. You don’t even have to register or attend the convention.

It will only cost you time. And if you want to vote, trust me, we’ve already invested WAY more time assembling this post than you will while voting.

These are the awards in the first year. Shiny, huh?

Yes, the nominations are already open!

Yes, we have a list.

If the categories are blank, it means we STILL have nothing in the slot.

If you wonder why Upstream didn’t host a full, massive, months-long discussion, gathering up every eligible author and product? It’s been tried. Been there, done that. It wasn’t a discussion as much as people coming in, dropping a link to their own novel, screaming ME ME ME, and disappearing. It was a train wreck.

But we seriously want a discussion possible. Why do this? Because if we don’t try, who will?

And again, the nominations **are already open.**

Voting happens here.

Please remember that eligible nominees came out AFTER 7/1/21, up to 6/30/22. So we’re good up to the end of this month. Please double check before throwing something into the ring.

So... here... we ... go.

Best SF

White Ops

The first review.

The second review

It could also be Military SF, but since it’s a space opera, it’s genre fluid.

Then again, this is one of the few SF novels we know came out in the eligibility window (and reviewed).

Yes, for the record, White Ops is written by a member of our review staff.

However, there are other books in the category that we know are supposed to come out within the eligibility.

One is a book by Michael Z Williamson, That Was Then, This is Now. Don’t even ask about it, no one on staff has read it yet.

The same for Abbott in Darkness by D.J. Butler.

Right now, they’re both in the To be Read pile. We’ve been busy

Best Fantasy (Paranormal)

Right now, the closest we can get is Tim Powers' Stolen Skies.

Why?

Because book 1 was read and reviewed here, and it was awesome.

Otherwise … that might be the best we can get on short notice.

Best YA

Sworn to the Light, the Avatar Wizard Book 1, by Denton Salle.

The Review.

Good God, this was just plain FUN. We do recommend you at least check out the review over here. It’s where we did most of our gushing.

Best Military SFF Novel

Karl Gallagher, Seize What’s Held Dear.

The review.

Imagine if Honor Harrington were fighting 1984 and not the French Revolution. You’d get this. We’re not exaggerating how good this is in the review.

Best Alternate History Novel

The Romanov Rescue, by Tom Kratman, Kacey Ezell, et al.

Review here.

Second review here

This was awesome. That’s the short version.

Best Media Tie-In Novel

We know that Timothy Zahn released a Thrawn book called Lesser Evil.

We’ll see if we can read it in time to get back to you.

Best Horror Novel

Summer Storm, Morgon Newquist

Best Comic Book

I’ve been told that "Finnian and the Seven Mountains #5" is good.

No, I haven’t read it. I haven't read a comic book since Straczynski left Amazing Spider Man nearly 20 years ago.

However, I’m told that Demon Slayer outsold the entire American Comic book industry last year. And the English run finished in in August 2021. So it’s eligible.

I’m told Kamen America is good.

Any other suggestions?

Best Graphic Novel

Black Tide Rising, Volume 1 by Chuck Dixon, Brett R. Smith & John Ringo (Baen)? I read the books, and they were fun. And Chuck Dixon did the entire Knightfall saga back in the 90s. I can’t see how they can fail.

Best SFF TV Series, TV or Internet

We here at upstream hope someone comes up with something, or a lot of Disney shills are going to just vote in Book of Boba Fett, and it’s difficult to find even one person who likes it … except for when it's an episode of Mandalorian.

Similarly, there are few fans for what’s been done to The Witcher.

There are mixed opinions here about The Expanse.

However, I’m told that Resident Alien is pretty good.

Best SFF Movie

While I haven’t seen anything that came out last year, I’m told the following were good.

~Ghostbusters: Afterlife?

~Dune?

~Spider-Man: No Way Home?

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game

Even the gamers around here are busy. But we have heard of some games of slight interest.

~Halo: Infinite, 343 Games?

~Demon Slayer?

~Horizon: Forbidden West?

~Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous has been suggested

And now, the "We have no f***ing idea" categories.

Best SFF...

• Mobile Game?

• Board Game?

• Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game?

  • New edition of the Twilight 2000 RPG, from Free League Publishing (suggested)

Good luck with those, I have no clue.

So that’s it. Those are my best guesses for right now. I'd throw in hashtags or tag people, but most of the ones who I'd want to bring in either don't care, or are so self-aggrandizing, it wouldn’t be a discussion, it'd be nothing but "ME ME ME."

Trust me, been there, done that. Never again.

So, please go to the Dragon Awards, look over the website, and consider voting. Again, it’s free.