1989 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Seattle, Washington.

Comments: In 1989, the World Fantasy awards recognized Evangeline Walton, one of my favorite authors, for her lifetime achievement. Her adaptation of the Mabinogion into a set of four fantasy novels was one of the formative reading experiences of my life, and after Tolkien was one of the biggest influences that sparked my love of mythology, in her case, my love of Celtic and Welsh mythology. Consequently, I believe that her award here was not only well-deserved, but long overdue.

In the other award categories, the winners seem to generally be well-deserved, although I have always been quite surprised that George R.R. Martin's The Skin Trade, as good as it is, was able to beat out Jane Yolen's harrowing The Devil's Arithmetic for the Best Novella award.

Best Novel

Winner:
Koko by Peter Straub

Other Nominees:
The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale
Fade by Robert Cormier
The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Sleeping In Flame by Jonathan Carroll

Best Novella

Winner:
The Skin Trade by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:
The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
The Gardener by Sheri S. Tepper
The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter by Lucius Shepard

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
Winter Solstice, Camelot Station by John M. Ford

Other Nominees:
Life of Buddha by Lucius Shepard
Metastasis by Dan Simmons
Night They Missed the Horror Show by Joe R. Lansdale

Best Anthology

Winner:
The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Other Nominees:
Night Visions 6 edited by Paul J. Mikol
Prime Evil edited by Douglas E. Winter
Silver Scream edited by David J. Schow

Best Collection

Winner:
(tie) Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison
(tie) Storeys from the Old Hotel by Gene Wolfe

Other Nominees:
The Blood Kiss by Dennis Etchison
Cabal by Clive Barker
Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories by Charles Beaumont, edited by Roger Anker
The Knight and Knave of Swords by Fritz Leiber

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Evangeline Walton

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Edward Gorey

Other Nominees:
Jill Bauman
Thomas Canty
Don Maitz
Harry O. Morris
Phil Parks

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
(tie) Robert Weinberg
(tie) Terri Windling

Other Nominees:
Ellen Datlow
Dean R. Koontz
Paul Mikol and Scot Stadalsky

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith

Other Nominees:
Carl T. Ford
Peggy Nadramia
Paul F. Olson

Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990

Book Award Reviews     Home

1989 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 1989 the Locus awards added the Best Horror Novel category to the voting lists, a decision about which I have mixed opinions. On the one hand, horror can, and often does include a supernatural element, aligning the genre with fantasy to some degree, especially in novels and other media where zombies, vampires, and werewolves are featured. And sometimes horror and and science fiction can be mixed together, as in the classic science fiction movie Alien. But on the other hand, although Alien and The Silence of the Lambs are both in the horror genre, they scratch very different itches, and the itch that The Silence of the Lambs scratches is decidedly different from anything related to fantasy or science fiction. Both science fiction and fantasy are more or less substitutes for one another - many science fiction authors also write fantasy, and vice versa, something that one sees much less often with horror writers. When choosing a science fiction book to read or fantasy movie to watch, for the most part I feel not real loss if I have to switch to the other genre. But I never go to the movie theater and choose to go to a horror film because the science fiction offerings were sold out. Although horror is often lumped in with science fiction and fantasy, it is simply too distinct a genre to mesh well with the other two.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

Other Nominees:
2.   Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
3.   Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling
4.   Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov
5.   The Gold Coast by Kim Stanley Robinson
6.   Eternity by Greg Bear
7.   Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey
8.   Deserted Cities of the Heart by Lewis Shiner
9.   Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
10. Araminta Station by Jack Vance
11. Alternities by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
12. Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler
13. Catspaw by Joan D. Vinge
14. At Winter's End by Robert Silverberg
15. Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold
16. Ivory by Mike Resnick
17. Wetware by Rudy Rucker
18. Crazy Time by Kate Wilhelm
19. Venus of Shadows by Pamela Sargent
20. Orphan of Creation by Roger MacBride Allen
21. The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper
22. The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
23. Neon Lotus by Marc Laidlaw
24. Hellspark by Janet Kagan
25. Chronosequence by Hilbert Schenck
26. Children of the Thunder by John Brunner
27. Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson
28. Terraplane by Jack Womack
29. Starfire by Paul Preuss
30. An Alien Light by Nancy Kress
31. The Company Man by Joe Clifford Faust

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card

Other Nominees:
2.   The Paladin by C.J. Cherryh
3.   There Are Doors by Gene Wolfe
4.   Unicorn Mountain by Michael Bishop
5.   King of the Murgos by David Eddings
6.   The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock
7.   The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart
8.   Greenmantle by Charles de Lint
9.   Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock
10. (tie) The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
      (tie) Wyvern by A.A. Attanasio
12. The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
13. Druid's Blood by Esther M. Friesner
14. The White Serpent by Tanith Lee
15. (tie) Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen
      (tie) Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
17. Who's Afraid of Beowulf? by Tom Holt
18. The Changeling Sea by Patricia A. McKillip
19. The Reindeer People by Megan Lindholm
20. Sleeping in Flame by Jonathan Carroll
21. The White Raven by Diana L. Paxson
22. Walkabout Woman by Michaela Roessner
23. Silk Roads and Shadows by Susan Shwartz
24. The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey
25. Death in the Spirit House by Craig Strete

Best Horror Novel
Winner:
1.   Those Who Hunt the Night (aka Immortal Blood) by Barbara Hambly

Other Nominees:
2.   The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
3.   Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist
4.   Koko by Peter Straub
5.   Stinger by Robert R. McCammon
6.   The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
7.   The Empire of Fear by Brian Stableford
8.   The Influence by Ramsey Campbell
9.   The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale
10. Bloodlinks by Lee Killough
11. The Scream by John Skipp and Craig Spector
12. Antibodies by David J. Skal
13. In Darkness Waiting by John Shirley
14. The Kill Riff by David J. Schow

Best First Novel
Winner:
1.   Desolation Road by Ian McDonald

Other Nominees:
2.   Walkabout Woman by Michaela Roessner
3.   Metrophage by Richard Kadrey
4.   Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon
5.   The Armageddon Blues by Daniel Keys Moran
6.   Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn
7.   Moon of Ice by Brad Linaweaver
8.   Neverness by David Zindell
9.   Four Hundred Billion Stars by Paul J. McAuley
10. Journey to Fusang by William Sanders
11. Resurrection, Inc. by Kevin J. Anderson
12. Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff
13. Demon of Undoing by Andrea I. Alton
14. The Blind Knight by Gail Van Asten
15. The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West by Mary Stanton
16. Molly Dear: The Autobiography of an Android by Stephen Fine
17. Dreams of Flesh and Sand by W.T. Quick
18. Maiden Flight by Eric Vinicoff
19. The Fairy of Ku-She by M. Lucie Chin
20. Inner Eclipse by Richard Paul Russo
21. The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit by Storm Constantine
22. Tower to the Sky by Phillip C. Jennings
23. Through a Brazen Mirror by Delia Sherman

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter by Lucius Shepard

Other Nominees:

2.   The Last of the Winnebagos by Connie Willis

3.   Journals of the Plague Years by Norman Spinrad
4.   Surfacing by Walter Jon Williams
5.   The Color of Neanderthal Eyes by James Tiptree, Jr.
6.   We Are For the Dark by Robert Silverberg
7.   The Skin Trade by George R.R. Martin
8.   Cabal by Clive Barker
9.   The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians by Bradley Denton
10. Noman's Land by Lucius Shepard
11. Backward, Turn Backward by James Tiptree, Jr.
12. Wires by F. Paul Wilson
13. Waiting for the Olympians by Frederik Pohl
14. Oddkins by Dean R. Koontz
15. Trapping Run by Harry Turtledove
16. The Blabber by Vernor Vinge
17. La Vie Continué by Norman Spinrad
18. The Flies of Memory by Ian Watson
19. Dancing Among Ghosts by Jim Aikin
20. Fatal Statistics by Pauline Ashwell

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   The Function of Dream Sleep by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:
2.   Dowser by Orson Scott Card
3.   Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance? by Howard Waldrop
4.   Glacier by Kim Stanley Robinson
5.   Schrödinger's Kitten by George Alec Effinger
6.   The Earth Doth Like a Snake Renew by James Tiptree, Jr.
7.   The Hob by Judith Moffett
8.   The Lunatics by Kim Stanley Robinson
9.   Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr.
10. Two by Pat Cadigan
11. Hannibal's Elephants by Robert Silverberg
12. The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady by Brian Stableford
13. The Last Article by Harry Turtledove
14. Peaches for Mad Molly by Steven Gould
15. Madame Two Swords by Tanith Lee
16. My Year with the Aliens by Lisa Goldstein
17. Love in Vain by Lewis Shiner
18. The Courts of Xanadu by Charles Sheffield
19. The Calling of Paisley Coldpony by Michael Bishop
20. Sunrise by Jack McDevitt
21. The Dragon Line by Michael Swanwick
22. Under the Covenant Stars by John Barnes
23. Sanctuary by James White
24. Once in a Lullaby by Fred Bals
25. Gut Feelings by Elizabeth Moon
26. Unfinished Portrait of the King of Pain by Van Gogh by Ian McDonald
27. Remember'd Kisses by Michael F. Flynn
28. Fogarty & Fogarty by Elizabeth Engstrom
29. Tea by Jack Dann

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Eidolons by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:

2.   Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick

3.   Wild, Wild Horses by Howard Waldrop
4.   The Giving Plague by David Brin
5.   Youthful Folly by Lucius Shepard
6.   A Midwinter's Tale by Michael Swanwick
7.   At the Double Solstice by Gregory Benford
8.   House of Bones by Robert Silverberg
9.   Voices of the Kill by Thomas M. Disch
10. Our Neural Chernobyl by Bruce Sterling
11. Ripples in the Dirac Sea by Geoffrey A. Landis
12. The Quiet Monk by Jane Yolen
13. The Fort Moxie Branch by Jack McDevitt
14. Stairs by Neal Barrett, Jr.
15. Slow, Slow Burn by George Alec Effinger
16. Last Contact by Jack McDevitt
17. Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner by John Kessel
18. Lily Red by Karen Joy Fowler
19. The Dead Man's Eyes by Robert Silverberg
20. Home Front by James Patrick Kelly
21. Moments of Clarity by Elissa Malcohn
22. Philippa's Hands by Nancy Kress
23. The Circus Horse by Amy Bechtel
24. In Memoriam by Nancy Kress
25. It Was the Heat by Pat Cadigan
26. Stable Strategies for Middle Management by Eileen Gunn
27. Dark Night in Toyland by Bob Shaw
28. Craps by Nancy Kress
29. Dying in Hull by D. Alexander Smith
30. After the Master by Lisa Goldstein
31. Death Is Different by Lisa Goldstein
32. The Girl Who Loved Animals by Bruce McAllister
33. Transients by Carter Scholz
34. The Thing Itself by Michael Blumlein

Best Collection
Winner:

1.   Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:
2.   Crown of Stars by James Tiptree, Jr.
3.   The Knight and Knave of Swords by Fritz Leiber
4.   Other Americas by Norman Spinrad
5.   John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman
6.   Empire Dreams by Ian McDonald
7.   Cabal by Clive Barker
8.   Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories by Charles Beaumont, edited by Roger Anker
9.   Memories of the Space Age by J.G. Ballard
10. The Day the Martians Came by Frederik Pohl
11. The Toynbee Convector by Ray Bradbury
12. Dance Band on the Titanic by Jack Chalker
13. The Best of John Brunner by John Brunner
14. Threats. . .And Other Promises by Vernor Vinge
15. The Book of the Damned by Tanith Lee
16. Minds, Machines, & Evolution by James P. Hogan
17. The Selected Stories of Robert Bloch (3 Volumes) by Robert Bloch
18. The Blood Kiss by Dennis Etchison
19. The Hidden Side of the Moon by Joanna Russ
20. Time Bomb and Zahndry Others by Timothy Zahn

21. A Rendezvous in Averoigne: The Best Fantastic Tales of Clark Ashton Smith by Clark Ashton Smith

22. Blood and Water and Other Tales by Patrick McGrath

23. Busy About the Tree of Life (aka The Heat Death of the Universe) by Pamela Zoline

24. Best Science Fiction Stories of Brian W. Aldiss by Brian W. Aldiss
25. The Wine-Dark Sea by Robert Aickman

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   Full Spectrum edited by Lou Aronica and Shawna McCarthy

Other Nominees:

2.   The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

3.   Terry's Universe edited by Beth Meacham
4.   The Man-Kzin Wars edited by Larry Niven

5.   The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

6.   Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad edited by George R.R. Martin
7.   Prime Evil edited by Douglas E. Winter
8.   Silver Scream edited by David J. Schow
9.   Sword and Sorceress V edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Blood Is Not Enough edited by Ellen Datlow

11. The 1988 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim, with Arthur W. Saha

12. (tie) Night Visions 5 edited by Douglas E. Winter

      (tie) Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine: Issue One: Fall 1988 edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

14. Other Edens II edited by Christopher Evans and Robert Holdstock
15. Synergy: New Science Fiction, Number 2 edited by George Zebrowski

16. Weird Tales: 32 Unearthed Terrors edited by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, and Martin H. Greenberg

17. Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories: 18 (1956) edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg

18. Masterpieces of Fantasy and Enchantment edited by David G. Hartwell
19. Night Visions 6 edited by Anonymous

20. Interzone: The 3^rd Anthology edited by John Clute, David Pringle, and Simon Ounsley

21. L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume IV edited by Algis Budrys
22. Spell Singers edited by Alan Bard Newcomer
23. Tropical Chills edited by Timothy Sullivan
24. The Year's Best Horror Stories: XVI edited by Karl Edward Wagner
25. Haunting Women edited by Alan Ryan
26. Nebula Awards 22 edited by George Zebrowski
27. Unknown edited by Stanley Schmidt

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1.   First Maitz by Don Maitz

Other Nominees:

2.   The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village 1957-1965 by Samuel R. Delany

3.   The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by James E. Gunn

4.   Bare Bones: Conversations on Terror with Stephen King edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller

5.   Bio of an Ogre: The Autobiography of Piers Anthony by Piers Anthony
6.   Strokes: Essays and Reviews 1966-1986 by John Clute
7.   Imagination: The Art & Technique of David A. Cherry by David A. Cherry

8.   Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror: 1987 by Charles N. Brown and William G. Contento

9.   Women of Vision by Denise Dupont
10. Horror: 100 Best Books by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman
11. Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard by Russell Miller

12. A Biographical Dictionary of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists by Robert Weinberg

13. Fantasy: The 100 Best Books by James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock
14. Philip K. Dick by Douglas A. Mackey
15. In the Chinks of the World Machine by Sarah Lefanu
16. Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels by David Pringle
17. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

18. Dune Master: A Frank Herbert Bibliography by Daniel J.H. Levack and Mark Willard

Best Editor
Winner:
1.   Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:
2.   Edward L. Ferman
3.   David G. Hartwell
4.   Ellen Datlow
5.   Stanley Schmidt
6.   Lou Aronica
7.   Charles N. Brown
8.   Shawna McCarthy
9.   Charles C. Ryan
10. Beth Meacham
11. Douglas E. Winter
12. Jim Baen
13. George R.R. Martin
14. (tie) Martin H. Greenberg
      (tie) Brian Thomsen

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Asimov's

Other Nominees:
2.   Fantasy & Science Fiction
3.   Analog
4.   Aboriginal SF
5.   Omni
6.   (tie) Amazing Stories
      (tie) Interzone
8.   Twilight Zone
9.   Science Fiction Chronicle
10. Weird Tales
11. Thrust
12. The Horror Show
13. Science Fiction Eye
14. The New York Review of Science Fiction

Best Publisher
Winner:
1.   Tor/St. Martin's

Other Nominees:
2.   Bantam/Doubleday/Dell
3.   Ballantine/Del Rey/Fawcett
4.   Putnam/Berkley/Ace
5.   Baen
6.   DAW
7.   Avon/Arbor House/Morrow
8.   Warner/Popular Library
9.   Dark Harvest
10. Gollancz
11. Mark V. Ziesing
12. Underwood-Miller
13. Arkham House
14. NAL/Signet
15. Donald M. Grant
16. Simon & Schuster/Pocket
17. Scream/Press

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
2.   Don Maitz
3.   J.K. Potter
4.   David A. Cherry
5.   Tom Canty
6.   Jim Burns
7.   Carl Lundgren
8.   Boris Vallejo
9.   Bob Eggleton
10. Rowena Morrill
11. Frank Kelly Freas
12. Darrell K. Sweet
13. Frank Frazetta
14. W.J. Hodgson
15. David Mattingly
16. Thomas Kidd
17. Vincent Di Fate

Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990

Book Award Reviews     Home

1989 Campbell Award Nominees

Location: Campbell Conference Awards Banquet at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.

Comments: In 1989, both the winning novel, Islands in the Net, and the runner up novel, The Gold Coast, seem to touch on much of the same themes, both featuring an alternate future that is dominated by inimical political forces. On the other hand, the third place finisher, Dragonsdawn, is a prehistory of the earlier published books in the Pern series. What this demonstrates, I think, is the eternal flux within the field of science fiction - even though the dystopian themes apparent in Sterling's and Robinson's books were responding to common concerns among the science fiction community at the time, there was still room for McCaffrey's book about planetary exploration and settlement to have a place at the table.

Best Novel

Winner:

Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling

Second Place:

The Gold Coast by Kim Stanley Robinson

Third Place:

Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey

Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990

Book Award Reviews     Home

1989 Clarke Award Nominees

Location: United Kingdom.

Comments: In the third years of the Clarke Award's existence, the judges on the selection panel decided to change things up a bit and recognize a third place finisher as well as a winner, runner-up, and mass of shortlisted finalists. I'm not sure why so many awards seem to think it is a good idea to fiddle with how they report their results. I simply can't figure out what need designating a third place finisher serves here. Did the judges think that authors and publishers would start proudly placing an announcement on third place finishers' books saying "Third Place Finisher in the Clarke Awards!" Did they think that this would be a more impressive piece of cover text than "Shortlisted for the Clarke Award!" Neither seem incredibly enticing, but to be perfectly honest, the shortlist designation seems slightly more impressive. At least that version doesn't sound quite so desperate.

Winner
Unquenchable Fire by Rachel Pollack

Runner-Up
The Empire of Fear by Brian Stableford

Third Place
Rumours of Spring by Richard Grant

Shortlist
Kairos by Gwyneth Jones
Life During Wartime by Lucius Shepard
Philip K. Dick Is Dead, Alas by Michael Bishop
Whores of Babylon by Ian Watson

What Are the Arthur C. Clarke Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990

Book Award Reviews     Home

1989 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 1989, the Libertarian Futurist Society decided to make the listing of the non-winning Hall of Fame Award nominees a permanent part of their reporting. The problem is that in many cases it seems that this reporting serves only to highlight how mediocre the winning entry seems when compared to the competition. There's nothing particularly wrong with Schulman's Alongside Night, but when lined up beside Le Guin's The Dispossessed and Zamyatin's We, it suffers in comparison. Not only that, the inclusion on the nominee list of non-science fiction works like Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest serves only to highlight how thin the ranks of "libertarian science fiction" actually is.

Best Novel

Winner:

Moon of Ice by Brad Linaweaver

Other Nominees:

Brightsuit MacBear by L. Neil Smith

David's Sling by Marc Stiegler
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
Final Circuit by Melinda Snodgrass
To Sail Beyond the Sunset by Robert A. Heinlein

Hall of Fame

Winner:

Alongside Night by J. Neil Schulman

Other Nominees:
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
We the Living by Ayn Rand

Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990

Book Award Reviews     Home

1989 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 1989 the Scholarship Award went to J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumously published book The Return of the Shadow. I've said this before, but I think that handing Mythopoeic Awards to honor works written by actual members of the Inklings seems little bit like self-dealing to me. In the case of The Return of the Shadow, there is at least the fact that Christopher Tolkien edited his father's work into a publishable form to mitigate the apparent conflict of interest, but Christopher's involvement also raises the specter of nepotism, so it doesn't actually improve the situation much.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Unicorn Mountain by Michael Bishop

Other Nominees:

The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock

The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey
Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card
Walkabout Woman by Michaela Roessner
The White Raven by Diana L. Paxson

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The Return of the Shadow by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990

Book Award Reviews     Home

1989 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: Noreascon III in Boston, Massachusetts.

Comments: 1989 was a year of some controversy for the Hugo Awards. Two nominations - one for Best Novel for The Guardsman by P.J. Beese and Todd Cameron Hamilton, and one for Best Professional Artist for Todd Cameron Hamilton - were removed from the ballot due to apparent irregularities in the nominating process. The "irregularity" was bloc voting on the part of some enthusiastic New York area fans. Although I am generally in favor of maintaining the integrity of the Hugo Awards, they are a fan voted award. Given that reality, it seems somewhat hypocritical to me for the Hugo committee to remove a particular nomination because they don't like the way a group of fans decided to exercise their vote. Either the Hugo Awards are fan voted, or they aren't. In 1989, it seems, at least to a certain extent they were not.

The Guardsman had no realistic chance of winning the Best Novel award anyway, so removing it seems pointless and meddlesome. And if it had been left on the ballot and had won, then those who nominated it would have been vindicated, which means the only reason it was removed was because the Hugo committee had a fit of pique and decided to eliminate a novel just on the off-chance that they would look bad because some fans got their way. In the end, the Hugo Award went to C.J. Cherry's Cyteen, which was a fine winner, although I have always been partial to Lois McMaster Bujold's Falling Free. But the whole Guardsman fracas, and the pettiness of removing it from the ballot just made this year's Hugo committee look bad.

Best Novel

Winner:
Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

Other Nominees:
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Guardsman by P.J. Beese and Todd Cameron Hamilton [nomination deleted]
Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling
Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card

Best Novella

Winner:

The Last of the Winnebagos by Connie Willis

Other Nominees:
The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians by Bradley Denton
Journals of the Plague Years by Norman Spinrad
The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter by Lucius Shepard
Surfacing by Walter Jon Williams

Best Novelette

Winner:

Schrödinger's Kitten by George Alec Effinger

Other Nominees:
Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance? by Howard Waldrop
The Function of Dream Sleep by Harlan Ellison
Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr.
Peaches for Mad Molly by Steven Gould

Best Short Story

Winner:

Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick

Other Nominees:
The Fort Moxie Branch by Jack McDevitt
The Giving Plague by David Brin
Our Neural Chernobyl by Bruce Sterling
Ripples in the Dirac Sea by Geoffrey A. Landis
Stable Strategies for Middle Management by Eileen Gunn

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:

The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village 1957-1965 by Samuel R. Delany

Other Nominees:
A Biographical Dictionary of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists by Robert Weinberg

A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes by Stephen W. Hawking [unclear whether this was ineligible or withdrawn]

First Maitz by Don Maitz
The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by James E. Gunn

Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror: 1987 by Charles N. Brown and William G. Contento

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Other Nominees:
Alien Nation
Beetlejuice
Big
Willow

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:
Edward L. Ferman
David G. Hartwell
Charles C. Ryan
Stanley Schmidt

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
Thomas Canty
David A. Cherry
Bob Eggleton
Todd Cameron Hamilton [nomination deleted]
Don Maitz

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:

Locus edited by Charles N. Brown

Other Nominees:
Aboriginal SF edited by Charles C. Ryan [ineligible]
Interzone edited by David Pringle and Simon Ounsley

The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by David G. Hartwell, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Susan Palwick, and Kathryn Cramer

Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew I. Porter
Thrust edited by D. Douglas Fratz

Best Fanzine

Winner:

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Other Nominees:
FOSFAX edited by Timothy Lane
Lan's Lantern edited by George "Lan" Laskowski
Niekas edited by Edmund R. Meskys, Mike Bastraw, and Anne Braude
OtherRealms edited by Chuq Von Rospach

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Dave Langford

Other Nominees:
Avedon Carol
Mike Glyer
Arthur D. Hlavaty
Guy H. Lillian, III
Chuq Von Rospach

Best Fan Artist

Winner:
(tie) Brad W. Foster

(tie) Diana Gallagher Wu

Other Nominees:
Teddy Harvia
Merle Insinga
Stu Shiffman
Taral Wayne

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Michaela Roessner

Other Nominees:
P.J. Beese and Todd Cameron Hamilton
Christopher Hinz
Elizabeth Moon [ineligible]
Daniel Keys Moran [ineligible]
Melanie Rawn
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
William Sanders
Delia Sherman

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990

1989 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home

1989 Nebula Award Nominees

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

Comments: In 1989, Lois McMaster Bujold won the Best Novel Nebula for her brilliant book Falling Free. Although the competition, including William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive and Gene Wolfe's Urth of the New Sun, was composed of first rate novels, Bujold's win was well-deserved.

In the Best Novella category, on the other hand, the wrong story won. While there is nothing wrong with Connie Willis' The Last of the Winnebagos, it was simply a criminal miscarriage of justice for any story to win over Jane Yolen's holocaust time travel story The Devil's Arithmetic.

Best Novel

Winner:
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

Other Nominees:
Deserted Cities of the Heart by Lewis Shiner
Drowning Towers by George Turner
Great Sky River by Gregory Benford
Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card
The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

Best Novella

Winner:

The Last of the Winnebagos by Connie Willis

Other Nominees:
The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians by Bradley Denton
The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
Journals of the Plague Years by Norman Spinrad
The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter by Lucius Shepard
Surfacing by Walter Jon Williams

Best Novelette

Winner:

Schrödinger's Kitten by George Alec Effinger

Other Nominees:
Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance? by Howard Waldrop
Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr.
The Hob by Judith Moffett
Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick
Peaches for Mad Molly by Steven Gould
Unfinished Portrait of the King of Pain by Van Gogh by Ian McDonald

Best Short Story

Winner:
Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge by James Morrow

Other Nominees:
The Color Winter by Steven Popkes
Dead Men on TV by Pat Murphy
The Fort Moxie Branch by Jack McDevitt
Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner by John Kessel
Voices of the Kill by Thomas M. Disch

Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990

Book Award Reviews     Home