Best EP episode of 2009 Poll

[Swamp]

Above are the Sweet Sixteen Seventeen, out of 28 nominated stories, presented for your vote.  These stories received 2 or more nominations.  Since a couple of the stories received a significantly large number of nods, I figured it might be more interesting to determine the top five stories of the year:

Here is a list of nominated stories that did not make the poll:

EP192: Sumo21 by Daniel Braum
EP193: Article of Faith by Mike Resnick
EP197: From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled… by Micheal Swanwick
EP199: Elvis in the Attic by Catherine M. Morrison
EP204: The Fifth Zhi by Mercurio D. Rivera
EP206: Rogue Farm by Charles Stross
EP208: An Almanac for the Alien Invaders by Merrie Haskell
EP211: Carthago Delenda Est by Genevieve Valentine
EP219: Sleepy Joe by Marc Laidlaw
EP224: The Ghost in the Death Trap by Marjorie James
EP226: Pirate Solutions by Katherine Sparrow
EP229: Littleblossom Makes a Deal With the Devil by S. Hutson Blout

[Scattercat]

Is "A Monkey Will Never Be Rid of Its Black Hands" supposed to be "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss"?  Cause the latter got nominated at least three times that I recall...

[eytanz]

I was also wondering what happened to 26 monkeys.

[Scattercat]

I was also wondering what happened to 26 monkeys.

Yes, because I am going to vote the HECK out of it.  I'm going to vote it to DEATH.

[eytanz]

You know, I'm also not sure about giving us the same number of votes as we had nominations. Aren't most people just going to vote for their own nominees? I know I am...

[Swamp]

Is "A Monkey Will Never Be Rid of Its Black Hands" supposed to be "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss"?  Cause the latter got nominated at least three times that I recall...

Completely my fault.  I have added "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" to the poll, and enabled the votes to be changed.  There were only 4 voters in the poll at the time so I don't think I need to reset anything.  I would ask the first four voters to consider 26 Monkeys and change or add this to their vote if they wish.  I would PM the voters if I knew who they were, but...

BTW, "A Monkey Will Never Be Rid of Its Black Hands" also earned a spot on the poll, so there are actually 17 stories to choose from.

[Swamp]

You know, I'm also not sure about giving us the same number of votes as we had nominations. Aren't most people just going to vote for their own nominees? I know I am...

Well, I considered that.  The poll itself is kind of redundant since I could have just tallied up the results and declared the winners, but I did say there would be a poll.  But there may be people who did not nominate, but could pop in for a quick vote in the poll.  I also considered making the poll a battle for 3rd place since two of the stories dominated the nominations.  We'll see how it goes. 

[eytanz]

You know, I'm also not sure about giving us the same number of votes as we had nominations. Aren't most people just going to vote for their own nominees? I know I am...

Well, I considered that.  The poll itself is kind of redundant since I could have just tallied up the results and declared the winners, but I did say there would be a poll.  But there may be people who did not nominate, but could pop in for a quick vote in the poll.  I also considered making the poll a battle for 3rd place since two of the stories dominated the nominations.  We'll see how it goes. 

It also occured to me after I posted that some people nominated stories that did not make the poll and they'd have to choose another story.

[Heradel]

You know, I'm also not sure about giving us the same number of votes as we had nominations. Aren't most people just going to vote for their own nominees? I know I am...

Well, I considered that.  The poll itself is kind of redundant since I could have just tallied up the results and declared the winners, but I did say there would be a poll.  But there may be people who did not nominate, but could pop in for a quick vote in the poll.  I also considered making the poll a battle for 3rd place since two of the stories dominated the nominations.  We'll see how it goes. 

It also occured to me after I posted that some people nominated stories that did not make the poll and they'd have to choose another story.

I don't know, I gave three votes for the PC poll, because while most wouldn't have all five make it through the cull, I figured that restricting it further would get people to choose the ones that really mattered to them. Also, I'm having fun looking at the differences between the list I made up of the top five PC nominees and the ones that are getting votes now — the top vote getter in nominations is fairly far behind the current poll leader.

[kibitzer]

I had to choose slightly differently because one of mine didn't make it. I found the fifth choice very tough because for different reasons, they're all great stories. It cam down to my memory of how they made me feel.

[Talia]

Holy crap, the leading contender changed. I didnt see that coming.

[Swamp]

Holy crap, the leading contender changed. I didnt see that coming.

Wow, and 3rd place is up for grabs now, too

[Ocicat]

We could always do a further runoff.  Take the top five, have a vote for one poll.