1979 Campbell Award Nominees

Location: Campbell Conference Awards Banquet in Lawrence, Kansas.

Comments: At this point it should not surprise anyone that the ballot for the Campbell Awards in 1979 was quirky and unlike any prior ballot that had been produced. The ever-changing nature of the Campbell Awards seems to be the only thing about them that was constant over its early years. Having established a practice of listings the winners, second place finishers, and third place finishers in previous years, the Campbell Award judges decided to take a left turn this year and just list the non-winning novels as having been given an "honorable mention". As with the other odd changes that had taken place over the years, there seems to have been no particular reason for this alteration to the way the results were reported, nor was this to be a permanent change.

Best Novel

Winner:

Gloriana by Michael Moorcock

Honorable Mention:

Altered States by Paddy Chayefsky

. . . And Having Writ . . . by Donald R. Bensen

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1980

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1979 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Providence, Rhode Island.

Comments: 1979 was a banner year for women at the World Fantasy Awards. Well, comparatively speaking it was. Yes there were only three women nominated across the categories, and only one award was won by a woman. But the sad fact is that these three nominations and one win served to double the recognition that women had been given during the lifetime of the World Fantasy Awards. It is somewhat depressing to realize that Avram Davidson, by himself, received as many nominations and wins in 1979 as the entire female half of the human race. For Davidson, this was a fantastically successful year, but for women, as usual, they were mostly ignored as the World Fantasy Awards continued their embarrassing run of rampant sexism.

Best Novel

Winner:
Gloriana by Michael Moorcock

Other Nominees:
The Black Castle by Les Daniels
Night's Master by Tanith Lee
The Sound of Midnight by Charles L. Grant
The Stand by Stephen King

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
Naples by Avram Davidson

Other Nominees:
A Good Night's Sleep (aka Sleep Well of Nights) by Avram Davidson
Hear Me Now, My Sweet Abbey Rose by Charles L. Grant
The Magic Goes Away by Larry Niven
Within the Walls of Tyre by Michael Bishop

Best Anthology or Collection

Winner:
Shadows edited by Charles L. Grant

Other Nominees:
Heroes and Horrors by Fritz Leiber
Night Shift by Stephen King
Night Winds by Karl Edward Wagner
The Redward Edward Papers by Avram Davidson
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series VI edited by Gerald W. Page

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Jorge Luis Borges

Other Nominees:
John Collier
L. Sprague de Camp
H. Warner Munn
John Myers Myers
Manly Wade Wellman

Best Artist

Winner:
(tie) Alicia Austin
(tie) Dale Enzenbacher

Other Nominees:
Stephen Fabian
Michael Whelan

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
Donald M. Grant

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Donald H. Tuck

Other Nominees:
Paul C. Allen
Pat Cadigan and Arnie Fenner
W. Paul Ganley
Stuart David Schiff

Special Convention Award

Winner:
Glen Lord

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1980

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1979 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Libertarian Party National Convention in Los Angeles, California.

Comments: It seems somewhat fitting that the first Prometheus Awards were an ad hoc affair handed out at the political convention of a party that has never had any real chance at impacting U.S. politics in any substantial manner. The haphazard nature of the Prometheus Awards is further highlighted by the fact that it would take a further three years before the organizers got around to handing out a second round of gold coins. This chaotic approach seems quite apropos for an award designed by and for writers who espouse libertarian principles, and consequently were probably about as easy to organize as a herd of cats.

Best Novel

Winner:

Wheels Within Wheels by F. Paul Wilson

Other Nominees:

The Avatar by Poul Anderson

The Genesis Machine by James P. Hogan

Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1982

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1979 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: Seacon '79 in Brighton, England.

Comments: After the explosion that was Star Wars, it seems inevitable that big budget blockbusters would start to show up more often in the Hugo winner rolls, and with the high dollar splash of Superman, that prediction was confirmed. But 1979 was significant for a more substantial reason: not only did a woman win the Best Novel category, two of the other four nominees were also women. When one stops to realize that James Tiptree, Jr. was actually a pen name for Alice B. Sheldon, it turns out that all but one of the Best Novel nominees were women. Certainly this was a big step forward from the days when science fiction was an exclusively boys club.

One can make too much of this however, and this must be put into proper perspective. While four of the five Best Novel nominees were in fact women, one of them was writing under a male pen name and carefully guarded her actual identity because she thought that if science fiction fans knew her true gender it would hurt her commercial viability. A slightly lesser form of this can be found in one of the other nominees, as C.J. Cherryh went by her initial and added the "h" to the end of her name to obscure the fact that she was a woman, once again, out of the fear that if her gender was widely known, her book sales would suffer. While women had come a long way by 1979, there was clearly still a long way to go.

Best Novel

Winner:
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Other Nominees:
Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh
The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
Up the Walls of the World by James Tiptree, Jr.

Best Novella

Winner:

The Persistence of Vision by John Varley

Other Nominees:
Enemies of the System by Brian W. Aldiss
Fireship by Joan D. Vinge
Seven American Nights by Gene Wolfe
The Watched by Christopher Priest

Best Novelette

Winner:

Hunter's Moon by Poul Anderson

Other Nominees:
The Barbie Murders by John Varley
Devil You Don't Know by Dean Ing
The Man Who Had No Idea by Thomas M. Disch
Mikal's Songbird by Orson Scott Card

Best Short Story

Winner:

Cassandra by C.J. Cherryh

Other Nominees:
Count the Clock that Tells the Time by Harlan Ellison
Stone by Edward Bryant
The Very Slow Time Machine by Ian Watson
View From a Height by Joan D. Vinge

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Superman

Other Nominees:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio drama)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Lord of the Rings (Ralph Bakshi version)
Watership Down

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Ben Bova

Other Nominees:
Jim Baen
Terry Carr
Edward L. Ferman
George Scithers

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Vincent Di Fate

Other Nominees:
Steve Fabian
David Hardy
Boris Vallejo
Michael Whelan

Best Fanzine

Winner:

Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis

Other Nominees:
Janus edited by Janice Bogstad and Jeanne Gomoll
Maya edited by Rob Jackson
Mota edited by Terry Hughes
Twll-Ddu edited by Dave Langford

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Bob Shaw

Other Nominees:
Richard E. Geis
Leroy Kettle
Dave Langford
D. West

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Bill Rotsler

Other Nominees:
Jim Barker
Harry Bell
Alexis Gilliland
Stu Shiffman

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Stephen R. Donaldson

Other Nominees:
Cynthia Felice
James P. Hogan
Barry B. Longyear
Elizabeth A. Lynn
Charles Sheffield

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
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1979 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Westercon 32 in San Francisco, California.

Comments: After the oddity of the 1978 Locus Award ballot, the 1979 slate is a comforting return to normality. The Best Novel category returned for one last year before the slip into Best Science Fiction Novel and Best Fantasy Novel was made permanent. The Best Novelette category returned after a year long absence, as did the Best Single Author Collection and Best Anthology categories. The Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work category was reinstated, and the Best Art or Illustrated Book was as well. In effect, almost all of the changes made in 1978 were reversed in 1979, which makes the strangeness of the 1978 Locus Award ballot all the more puzzling.

Best Novel
Winner:
1.   Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Other Nominees:
2.   Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
3.   The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
4.   The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh
5.   Colony by Ben Bova
6.   Stormqueen! by Marion Zimmer Bradley
7.   The Far Call by Gordon R. Dickson
8.   The Avatar by Poul Anderson
9.   The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny
10. Strangers by Gardner Dozois
11. The Stars In Shroud by Gregory Benford
12. Up the Walls of the World by James Tiptree, Jr.
13. The Outcasts of Heaven's Belt by Joan D. Vinge
14. Sight of Proteus by Charles Sheffield
15. The Stand by Stephen King
16. Journey by Marta Randall
17. Gloriana by Michael Moorcock
18. Saint Camber by Katherine Kurtz
19. The Faded Sun: Shon'jir by C.J. Cherryh
20. Stardance II by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson
21. (tie) The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin
      (tie) Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
23. Masters of Solitude by Marvin Kaye and Parke Godwin
24. A Different Light by Elizabeth A. Lynn
25. Kalki by Gore Vidal

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   The Persistence of Vision by John Varley

Other Nominees:

2.   The Watched by Christopher Priest

3.   Seven American Nights by Gene Wolfe
4.   Old Folks at Home by Michael Bishop
5.   Fireship by Joan D. Vinge
6.   The Doctor of Death Island by Gene Wolfe
7.   The Renewal by Pamela Sargent
8.   Insects in Amber by Tom Reamy
9.   The Treasure of Odirex by Charles Sheffield
10. A Chinese Perspective by Brian W. Aldiss

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   The Barbie Murders by John Varley

Other Nominees:
2.   Hunter's Moon by Poul Anderson
3.   Mikal's Songbird by Orson Scott Card
4.   Swanilda's Song by Frederik Pohl
5.   Devil You Don't Know by Dean Ing
6.   In Alien Flesh by Gregory Benford
7.   The Nuptial Flight of Warbirds by Algis Budrys
8.   (tie) The Gunslinger by Stephen King
      (tie) The Man Who Had No Idea by Thomas M. Disch
10. Shipwright by Donald M. Kingsbury
11. Black Glass by Fritz Leiber
12. Starswarmer by Gregory Benford
13. A Good Night's Sleep (aka Sleep Well of Nights) by Avram Davidson
14. The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck by Hilbert Schenck
15. Selenium Ghosts of the Eighteen Seventies by R.A. Lafferty
16. Within the Walls of Tyre by Michael Bishop

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Count the Clock that Tells the Time by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:

2.   View From a Height by Joan D. Vinge

3.   Stone by Edward Bryant
4.   Virra by Terry Carr
5.   A Hiss of Dragon by Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw
6.   Cassandra by C.J. Cherryh
7.   Drink Me, Francesca by Richard Cowper
8.   A Thousand Deaths by Orson Scott Card
9.   (tie) SQ by Ursula K. Le Guin
      (tie) Whores by Christopher Priest
11. The Very Slow Time Machine by Ian Watson
12. Gotcha! by Ray Bradbury
13. A Quiet Revolution for Death by Jack Dann

Best Single Author Collection
Winner:

1.   The Persistence of Vision by John Varley

Other Nominees:
2.   Strange Wine by Harlan Ellison
3.   Still I Persist in Wondering by Edgar Pangborn
4.   The Earth Book of Stormgate by Poul Anderson
5.   Infinite Dreams by Joe Haldeman
6.   Fireship by Joan D. Vinge
7.   The Best of L. Sprague de Camp by L. Sprague de Camp
8.   Night Shift by Stephen King
9.   Somerset Dreams and Other Fictions by Kate Wilhelm
10. The Best of Eric Frank Russell by Eric Frank Russell
11. Blood and Burning by Algis Budrys
12. Night Winds by Karl Edward Wagner
13. (tie) The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard by J.G. Ballard
      (tie) Born to Exile by Phyllis Eisenstein
15. The Redward Edward Papers by Avram Davidson

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   The Best Science Fiction of the Year #7 edited by Terry Carr

Other Nominees:

2.   The 1978 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

3.   Universe 8 edited by Terry Carr
4.   New Dimensions 8 edited by Robert Silverberg
5.   Stellar #4 edited by Judy-Lynn del Rey
6.   Year's Finest Fantasy edited by Terry Carr
7.   Chrysalis 2 edited by Roy Torgeson
8.   Orbit 20 edited by Damon Knight
9.   Anticipations edited by Christopher Priest
10. Swords Against Darkness III edited by andrew j. offutt
11. Immortal edited by Jack Dann
12. Millennial Women edited by Virginia Kidd
13. Shadows edited by Charles L. Grant
14. Nebula Winners Twelve edited by Gordon R. Dickson
15. Alpha 9 edited by Robert Silverberg
16. The Best of Analog edited by Ben Bova
17. Study War No More edited by Joe Haldeman

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1.   The Way the Future Was by Frederik Pohl

Other Nominees:
2.   The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol. 2 by Donald H. Tuck
3.   Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections by William G. Contento
4.   Science Fiction and Heroic Fantasy Index by Stuart W. Wells III
5.   Fantasms: A Jack Vance Bibliography by Daniel J.H. Levack and Tim Underwood

6.   A History of the Hugo, Nebula, and International Fantasy Awards by Donald Franson and Howard DeVore

7.   The Complete Guide to Middle Earth by Richard Foster
8.   The International Science Fiction Yearbook by Colin Lester
9.   The Hills of Faraway: A Guide to Fantasy by Diana Waggoner
10. The American Shore by Samuel R. Delany
11. Speaking of Science Fiction by Paul Walker

Best Art or Illustrated Book
Winner:

1.   Tomorrow and Beyond edited by Ian Summers

Other Nominees:
2.   Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee
3.   The Magic Goes Away by Larry Niven, illustrated by Esteban Maroto
4.   The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo by Boris Vallejo
5.   The Illustrated Roger Zelazny by Roger Zelazny, illustrated by Gray Morrow
6.   Age of Dreams by Alicia Austin
7.   The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by Robert Holdstock
8.   Empire by Samuel R. Delany, illustrated by Howard Chaykin
9.   Fantasy by Fabian by Stephen Fabian
10. Frank Frazetta, Book III by Frank Frazetta
11. The Second Book of Virgil Finlay by Virgil Finlay
12. The Flight of Icarus by Donald Lehmkuhl, edited by Martyn Dean and Roger Dean
13. Beauty and the Beast by Chris Achilleos

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
2.   Locus edited by Charles N. Brown
3.   Analog edited by Stanley Schmidt
4.   Asimov's edited by George Scithers
5.   Omni edited by Ben Bova
6.   Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
7.   Algol/Starship edited by Andrew Porter
8.   Galileo edited by Charles C. Ryan
9.   Destinies (Ace) edited by James Baen
10. Starlog edited by Howard Zimmerman
11. Unearth edited by Jonathon Ostrowsky-Lantz and John M. Landsberg
12. Galaxy edited by J.J. Pierce
13. Asimov's SF Adventure edited by George Scithers
14. (tie) Future Life edited by Ed Naha and L.N. Nelson
      (tie) Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Boris Vallejo

Other Nominees:
2.   Michael Whelan
3.   Stephen Fabian
4.   Vincent Di Fate
5.   Frank Kelly Freas
6.   Rick Sternbach
7.   George Barr
8.   Frank Frazetta
9.   Tim Kirk
10. David Hardy
11. Darrell Sweet
12. Alicia Austin
13. Brian Froud
14. Richard Powers
15. The Brothers Hildebrandt
16. William Rotsler
17. Jack Gaughan
18. Alexis Gilliland

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1980

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1979 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Hotel Warwick, New York City, New York.

Comments: Having shed the Best Dramatic Presentation category for the time being, the 1979 Nebula Awards were back to an entirely literary affair. But this modest change to the categories wasn't the only new development in the Nebula Awards, as the winners for this year were mostly people who had never won a Nebula before. Not only that, many of the nominees were faces that hadn't previously been seen much in the world of science fiction awards. In short, the wins by Vonda N. McIntyre, John Varley, Charles L. Grant, and Edward Bryant seem to indicate that the science fiction field was undergoing something of a changing of the guard. It's not a huge change, as most of the authors had been working for quite a while before 1979, but it was a change in that the field was entirely lacking in any offerings from writers such as Asimov, Lieber, Clarke, Heinlein, Niven, Le Guin, Silverberg or any of the other usual suspects.

Best Novel

Winner:
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Other Nominees:
Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh
Kalki by Gore Vidal
Strangers by Gardner Dozois

Best Novella

Winner:

The Persistence of Vision by John Varley

Other Nominees:
Seven American Nights by Gene Wolfe

Best Novelette

Winner:

A Glow of Candles, a Unicorn's Eye by Charles L. Grant

Other Nominees:
Devil You Don't Know by Dean Ing
Mikal's Songbird by Orson Scott Card

Best Short Story

Winner:
Stone by Edward Bryant

Other Nominees:
Cassandra by C.J. Cherryh
A Quiet Revolution for Death by Jack Dann

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1980

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