The host Hu Gang and the two guests were in a good mood. The ceremony had not officially started yet, so they were chatting more relaxedly.
Compared with last year's Nebula Award, this year's advantages for China, or Zhang Zhong personally, are much greater.
This year, Zhang Zhong has seven books shortlisted for the Nebula Award. This has never happened since the Nebula Award was founded.
Putting aside everything else, just writing seven books of science fiction nonsense in two years is not something that ordinary people can do.
Of course, there are loopholes that can be exploited. If a certain author's works have not been sold locally in the United States, if you save them for a few years and then focus on selling them, you can still have several books a year.
But this kind of loophole is simply unrealistic, and no well-known writer would be able to do such a thing.
Besides, most of the writers originally shortlisted for the Nebula Award were from the United States.
"Teacher Li, there are seven books shortlisted by Zhang Zhong for this year's Nebula Award. Which ones are you more optimistic about?" Hu Gang, as the host, began to guide the topic.
Li Qin said with a smile, "I personally prefer the two books in the Three-Body series, and I am also very optimistic about "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and "Ender's Game." But the one I am most confident about is "The Wandering Sea Ball"
, I think this book should win this year’s short story award.”
"Oh? Teacher Li, are you so optimistic about "The Wandering Sea Ball"?"
"The reason why I am optimistic about it is from the off-market analysis. After all, this is a book from the year before last. The jury should not shortlist this book again for no reason." Li Qin said.
Hu Gang said with a smile, "Many netizens hold the same opinion as Teacher Li. Yes, as a novel published the year before last, it was still shortlisted for the Nebula Award once, so we have no choice but to go.
I guess this time the jury may want to re-examine this legacy."
Feng He continued, "I think there are fewer of the seven shortlisted items this year."
"Less?" host Hu Gang said in surprise, "Does Teacher Feng He think that "Flowers for Alger" that was shortlisted last year should also be shortlisted?"
Feng He shook his head, "That's not true, I just think "The Adventures of Chun Yufen" should have a place."
"The Adventures of Chun Yufen?"
Hu Gang and Li Qin were both a little surprised, because most people would not associate this book with the Nebula Award.
But if you think about it carefully, it would be understandable if "The Adventures of Chun Yufen" is really shortlisted for the Nebula Award, because the Nebula Award is not just for science fiction works, it is also for some outstanding fantasy novels.
However, it is not easy for fantasy novels to win the Nebula Award. Even fantasy master Linde has only won one Nebula Award trophy so far.
After hearing what Feng He said, many netizens who were watching also agreed.
[Yes, I have always been thinking about "The Adventures of Chun Yufen". How come such a good novel has so little attention. 】
[Indeed, it’s okay to be a finalist, even if you can’t win the award.]
[I hope Zhang Zhong can pay attention to the film and television adaptation of "The Adventures of Chunyufen". I am very optimistic about this IP.]
[What are you thinking? There are already an unprecedented seven shortlisted works. Is there still room for another work?]
[If Zhang Zhong publishes one more science fiction novel every year, will the Nebula Awards become his only stage?]
…
Hu Gang did not continue to talk about the topic of "The Adventures of Chun Yufen", but began to introduce the general situation of this Nebula Award to the audience.
"The camera just caught Linde. He is a frequent attendee at the Nebula Awards ceremony..."
The award ceremony took a long time, and just when the audience no longer wanted to hear the host speak, the award ceremony began.
The first award is the Outstanding Screenplay Award. This award is relatively insignificant compared to the Nebula Award, and most people don't pay much attention to it.
This year’s recipient of this award is last year’s hit movie “2020”, which was also the science fiction movie with the highest box office last year.
After awarding the screenplay award, the next step is the short story award.
The famous beautiful science fiction writer Penny Austin is standing on the stage. She is about to give an award for short stories.
Penny Austin is dressed sexy and charming. She specially dyed her sky blue hair tonight, and she is particularly eye-catching when she stands on the stage.
"The names of the winners are written on the card in my hand. Let me see who can finally win..." Penny Austin opened the card in her hand as she spoke. She suddenly raised her eyebrows and laughed.
"This is someone I know."
This is obviously nonsense. As a famous socialite in the literary world, Penny Austin has a wide range of friends. I am afraid she knows everyone here.
Moreover, she only said that she knew him, and did not say what their relationship was.
The authors shortlisted for the Short Story Award are at least somewhat famous, and even more experienced science fiction fans may recognize them all.
Hu Gang seemed to be familiar with Penny Austin's routine and was not nervous at all. Instead, he joked, "It seems it will take a while before we know the name of the winner."
However, this time Penny Austin did not follow the routine. She just passed the test and said with a smile, "Let us congratulate pz. The winner of the short story award is his "The Wandering Sea Ball"."
She gave the answer so directly, and the audience was stunned for a moment. It was too fast, and it was not Penny Austin's style at all. She always had a lot of foreplay.
Even Hu Gang was a beat slower.
After a pause of more than a second, he remembered his responsibilities, patted the table and said, "Congratulations to "The Wandering Sea Ball", and congratulations to Zhang Zhong. After a year, he finally made up for last year's regrets and won the best short story."
He is also the only writer who has won three awards in two years, and the only writer who has won the Nebula Award for two consecutive years at the age of thirty-one..."
There are all kinds of flowers and congratulations on the barrage.
Zhang Zhong was not present, and Chen Qing accepted the award on his behalf.
Chen Qing's words of thanks are of course very simple, thank you to the jury, thank you to the readers...
The following short and medium-length novel Zhang Zhong was not shortlisted and passed by quickly.
As for the novella, Zhang Zhong has two books shortlisted, namely "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "Three-Body One: Past Events on Earth".
In fact, the further we go, the greater the chance that Zhang Zhongneng will win the award, because there are a total of six short-listed works for the novella, and Zhang Zhong alone has two of them. The probability reaches one-third, which is higher than others.
.
Although everyone knows that this is not the case, they can't help but think so.
Besides, compared to these two novels, the other four have received little attention at all.