Hey, Wanna Know Who Won This Year’s Robert A. Heinlein Award?

Posted on January 24, 2023    Posted by      72 Comments

It’s me, hi, I’m the winner, it’s me.
John Scalzi

And as you might expect, I’m pretty damn happy about it. Not only because it’s an award named for Heinlein, who is an undeniable influence on me (you may recall that the Publishers Weekly review of Old Man’s War said “Though a lot of SF writers are more or less efficiently continuing the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein, Scalzi’s astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master”), but because so many of the previous winners are writers whose work I admire and are people I consider friends: Joe Haldeman, Spider Robinson, Connie Willis, David Gerrold, Geoff Landis, Elizabeth Moon and Alan Steele, to name just a few names. This is a hell of a lineage to be placed in, and I am, honestly, a bit flabbergasted about it.

In other news, guess who’s going to Balticon this year? That would also be me! I’ll be there for this award presentation and also to do other stuff at the convention. It’s going to be fun. If you’re anywhere near Maryland on Memorial Day weekend, come be part of the convention and come say hello. I’m really looking forward to it.

— JS

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72 Comments on “Hey, Wanna Know Who Won This Year’s Robert A. Heinlein Award?”

  3. Congratulations!. Grew up on Heinlein, Norton, Asimov, and Brown. You are deserving to be in such company.
    And, of course, I love this book.

  6. Wow, what a morning full of good news for you and your friend! Huge, huge congratulations on the Heinlein award. He was one of my favorites, too, and you are among great company with the prior winners. Remember to let your feet touch the ground if you go outside today—we don’t want you floating away on the sheer joy

  8. Congratulations! Incidentally was a grand master of SF an official or unofficial title?
    Used to see it lot up until the early nineties, now it doesn’t seem to refer to any current authors.

  11. Have fun in Charm City! And be careful wandering about outside the harbor. It can be a bit rough only a few blocks away.

    If the weather is bad I might make it out there from Reston. If the weather is good I’ll be riding my bike on the W&OD trail.

  13. Congratulations! How perfect, and utterly well deserved.

    I remember when I picked up Old Man’s War, several months after it came out, being thrilled because someone finally wrote a tale that – while unquestionably solidly original, and with a perfectly distinct voice – somehow nevertheless eased the longing I’d felt for a new Heinlein novel since his passing. Your books have been on my “purchase as soon as available” list ever since, and are always eagerly awaited. How wonderful for my current favorite author to receive an award named for my favorite Golden Age author!

    Truly, heartiest congratulations. Have a celebratory burrito!

  15. Congratulations from me too! The news release sent to Ansible included a couple of mentions in later paragraphs of David Scalzi, leading me to suspect that it had been insufficiently edited from last year’s about David Gerrold.

  16. Congrats. Well deserved, for the novels alone. Your advocacy for s.f. has led me to dozens of new authors. So, thanks.

  17. Ooooh, Balticon, so you are visiting the Baltic! Wonderful, finally an appearance on this side of the Atlantic!

    checks traveling arrangements to Balticon

    “Well f**k”, as Kiva Lagos would have said.

  20. Congratulations! Well-deserved.
    I’m glad that your work is being honored to such a high degree and that you can enjoy the conference where you’ll receive it.

  24. Is Memorial Day crab season? Because if you’re in Baltimore during crab season you need to eat all the crab.

  28. Congratulations, John. As a Board member for the Heinlein Society let me extend a dinner invite to you and Kristy from the Society. We always try to take the winner to dinner and I figured this was the easiest way to let you you know. We (THS) we be in touch later
    Betsey Wilcox
    Secretary, The Heinlein Society

  33. Since the mid eighties there has never been a doubt in my mind that you would be winning all these awards.

    It’s equally obvious that Athena has found her niche writing reviews and will soon be doing that professionally… just like her old man was doing when he visited me in Santa Barbara in the nineties.

  35. Congratulations. Well deserved.

    I gave a bunch of your books to my adult son, who usually didn’t read for recreation. But he got hooked.

  36. Congratulations, well done, and well deserved! One of the favorite authors of my . . ., um, “mature years” receiving an award named after the favorite author of my youth — nice circularity!

  37. Also, congratulations on crashing the Balticon site. ;)

    Hope to see you there if I’m able to get to the registration page…

  38. Well-earned! Not worth my time to dive into an internet cesspool, but I imagine there’s a certain group loudly bemoaning how this documents the end of the science fiction world as we know it and the lonely few remaining true believers have been relegated to crying out in the wilderness to only those holdouts who will listen.

  43. Congratulation! I really want to say congratulations on your major award but then I think you might think I’m finishing your accomplishment. But I’m not. It IS a big deal. And I’m glad for you. So again, congratulations.

  44. Fantastic news! Well deserved! The “other” John Scalzi here is thrilled for your continued success.

  47. Congratulations Mr S !! Well-deserved. The awards shelf grows heavier! The cats probably won’t be impressed, but that’s on them.

  55. Yay, congratulations! I find myself surprised that you had not ALREADY won this very apt award. Thanks for continuing to make science fiction accessible, fun, and all-around awesome.

  56. Please consider growing a Heinlein mustache to honor the award’s name sake. Should we put it to a vote even though the outcome is obvious?

  57. Wow – how utterly awesome and totally appropriate! Huge congratulations, sir, it is richly deserved!

  59. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing you receive the award at Balticon. Since I stepped down as head of accessibility in June, I will have more time to attend panels and maybe make the opening ceremony.

  60. Congratulations! As a past president of The Heinlein Society, who funds 1/2 of this award, I’m heartily in agreement (tho not on the award committee, which is independent, even tho THS Vice President sits on it).

    Best. Geo Rule

  62. Congratulations! The Taylor Swift joke was really funny!

    Well, And algo congrats on the award. Well deserved!

  67. Wow~!~ Just Wow!

    So glad for you. Grew up on Robert A. Heinlein’s work which was in my Jr High library, believe it or not. Small coal town in southern WV. Love Baltimore and the Inner Harbor. Probably too late to book high end rooms in the area.

    Take care. Enjoy the winter.

  68. Congratulations! I really liked the The Collapsing Empire novels and the Little Fuzzy novel. I had read the original Little Fuzzy when it came out back in the 1960’s. I was prepared to not like yours nearly as much as the original. But, your new version was at least as good. Liked the Kiva Lagos character but I have to admit that I got a bit tired of all the f-words.

  70. Congratulations! I’m late to the game, but allow me to add my kudos! These days, I recommend your site as well as your books to all the SF lovers I know.

  71. Congratulations!

    I will definitely see you at Balticon. It’s my home convention (even though I live closer to DC than Baltimore), and I run the music track.

  72. Dear John,

    Congratulations and well-deserved, but…

    Where is the usual comment of obligatory whining about how this is clear evidence that Dem Libs have subverted THS? Somehow the thread feels… incomplete!

    Someone out there is falling down on the job.

    pax / Ctein

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Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS
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