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Space Raptor Butt Invasion wins major literary award!

If you think that sounds like science fiction, you’d be right. But it could happen.

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The finalists have just been announced for the 2016 Hugo Awards, science fiction and fantasy’s top prizes. Included on the list of nominees is the short story Space Raptor Butt Invasion, by Chuck Tingle — a self-publishing phenomenon also responsible for such bestsellers as Professor T-Rex Teaches Me Gayness, Bigfoot Pirates Haunt My Balls, I’m Gay for My Living Billionaire Jet Plane, and many, many more.

Nor is this the only, uh, odd title on the list. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic got the nod for best dramatic presentation, short form, and SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day made the list for best related work, along with Safe Space as Rape Room by Daniel Eness.

So what exactly is going on here?

In short, the Hugo Awards are being trolled. For the past few years, a number of writers and fans have led campaigns to combat what they see as a dominating left-wing, “social justice warrior” (or SJW for short) presence in the science fiction and fantasy community, particularly when it comes to the Hugo Awards. It all started with bestselling writer Larry Correia of Monster Hunter fame, who started his Sad Puppies campaign to disrupt the perceived order. Sad Puppies was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it took on a life of its own and spawned Sad Puppies 2 and then Sad Puppies 3, which was run by another writer, Brad Torgersen. There’s even a Sad Puppies 4 for 2016, run by writer Kate Paulk. Each of the Puppies campaigns put forward a list of suggested works to be nominated for the Hugos, and many people followed those suggestions when voting.