1990 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: There seems to be a pattern at the Prometheus Awards in which a mediocre book wins the award over a collection of nominees consisting of much better books. In 1990, this happened in both categories, although the disparity in quality between the winner and the competition was, as usual, most apparent in the Hall of Fame category where F. Paul Wilson's book Healer emerged victorious over Le Guin's The Dispossessed, Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Levin's This Perfect Day, and Zamyatin's We.

Best Novel

Winner:

Solomon's Knife by Victor Koman

Other Nominees:

The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson

Henry Martyn by L. Neil Smith
Infinity Hold by Barry B. Longyear
The Mirror Maze by James P. Hogan

Hall of Fame

Winner:

Healer by F. Paul Wilson

Other Nominees:
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Go to previous year's nominees: 1989
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1991

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1990 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Schaumburg, Illinois.

Comments: In 1990, The Year's Best Fantasy: Second Annual Collection, edited by the formidable team of Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology. This win was surely deserved, but I have always been somewhat less than enthusiastic when such types of anthologies win awards. The World Fantasy award for Best Anthology has never been dominated by a single "Best of" series in the same way that the Locus Award Best Anthology award has been dominated by Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction series, but it almost seems anticlimactic when collections like this win. Aren't they supposed to be a compilation of the best genre fiction of the year? Given that the guiding principle of other anthologies is usually something other than "compile all of the best stories from this year into one volume", it almost seems unfair for them to be competing with these "Best of" anthologies. On the other hand, these volumes do usually represent the best genre fiction of the year, so excluding or handicapping them also seems unfair. So we're left with what seems to me to be an ultimately unsatisfying situation that has no real solution. The other anthologies at least get the benefit of a nomination, which is something.

Best Novel

Winner:
Lyonesse: Madouc by Jack Vance

Other Nominees:
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll
In a Dark Dream by Charles L. Grant
Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe
The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers

Best Novella

Winner:
Great Work of Time by John Crowley

Other Nominees:
Apartheid, Superstrings, and Mordecai Thubana by Michael Bishop
A Dozen Tough Jobs by Howard Waldrop
The Father of Stones by Lucius Shepard
On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks by Joe R. Lansdale

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
The Illusionist by Steven Millhauser

Other Nominees:
The Edge of the World by Michael Swanwick
Mr. Fiddlehead by Jonathan Carroll
A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned by Edward Bryant
Varicose Worms by Scott Baker
Yore Skin's Jes's Soft 'n Purty . . . He Said. by Chet Williamson

Best Anthology

Winner:

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

Other Nominees:
Blood Is Not Enough edited by Ellen Datlow
Book of the Dead edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector
Razored Saddles edited by Joe R. Lansdale and Pat LoBrutto

Best Collection

Winner:
Richard Matheson: Collected Stories by Richard Matheson

Other Nominees:
Blue World and Other Stories by Robert R. McCammon
By Bizarre Hands by Joe R. Lansdale
Harlan Ellison's Watching by Harlan Ellison
Novelty by John Crowley

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
R.A. Lafferty

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Thomas Canty

Other Nominees:
James Christensen
Don Maitz
J.K. Potter

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Mark V. Ziesing

Other Nominees:
Ellen Datlow
Paul Mikol and Scot Stadalsky
Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Peggy Nadramia

Other Nominees:
Richard T. Chizmar
David B. Silva
Joe Stefko and Tracy Cocoman

Go to previous year's nominees: 1989
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1991

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1990 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: There are few things that will make you realize how little science fiction you have read more than cataloging all of the genre awards that have been handed out over the years. I have read a lot of science fiction over the years, and yet I have not only not read any of the three books that earned places in the voting for the 1990 Campbell Award, I haven't read any other books by any of these three authors. I am sure they are all fine authors and these are all fine books, I just haven't gotten to them yet, which is my failing and not theirs.

Best Novel

Winner:

The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman

Second Place:

Farewell Horizontal by K.W. Jeter

Third Place:

Good News from Outer Space by John Kessel

Go to previous year's nominees: 1989
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1991

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1990 Clarke Award Nominees

Location: United Kingdom.

Comments: There is a kind of inevitability in the results for the 1990 Clarke Awards. I'm not talking about Geoff Ryman winning for The Child Garden, or even Jonathan Carroll winning for A Child Across the Sky. No, I am referring to the tie for third place, which was almost assured after the judges saw fit to include a third place ranking in 1989. Once a new result category is added, it is almost a certainty that it will quickly result in a tie, and in 1990, the Clarke Awards provided yet another example of this phenomenon.

Winner
The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman

Runner-Up
A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll

Third Place
(tie) Desolation Road by Ian McDonald
(tie) A Mask for the General by Lisa Goldstein

Shortlist
Ivory by Mike Resnick
Neverness by David Zindell
Soldiers of Paradise by Paul Park

What Are the Arthur C. Clarke Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1989
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1991

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1990 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 1990 the ridiculousness of awarding the Mythopoeic Award for Scholarship to works by Inklings seems to have reached its apex with the award going to Tolkien's Hobbit, albeit an annotated version. Even if one considers the annotations by Douglas Anderson to be the "scholarship" being honored, the primary element of the work in question is Tolkien's fiction, meaning that the Mythopoeic Society essentially gave an award for scholarship about Tolkien to a work of fiction by Tolkien. This gives the appearance, at the very least, of an incestuous decision making process.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers

Other Nominees:

The Changeling Sea by Patricia A. McKillip

The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy
Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff
Prentice Alvin by Orson Scott Card

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The Annotated Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, annotated by Douglas A. Anderson

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1989
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1991

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1990 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: The 1990 Locus Awards were very good for Dan Simmons. Not only did he win the award for Best Science Fiction novel, but he also had another novel place in that same category and had a third novel win in the Best Horror Novel category. Orson Scott Card also had an impressive showing with two wins and a couple of other nominations.

But I think that the most interesting thing about the 1990 Locus Awards is that Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses was nominated in the Best Fantasy Novel category. For anyone who doesn't think that fantasy fiction has anything meaningful to say, this is the ultimate riposte. Not only did Rushdie's novel have something important to say, his saying it enraged vast numbers of people.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Other Nominees:
2.   Rimrunners by C.J. Cherryh
3.   Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
4.   Tides of Light by Gregory Benford
5.   A Fire in the Sun by George Alec Effinger
6.   The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson
7.   Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee
8.   Falcon by Emma Bull
9.   Phases of Gravity by Dan Simmons
10. The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy
11. Imago by Octavia E. Butler
12. A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt
13. Good News from Outer Space by John Kessel
14. The Third Eagle by R.A. MacAvoy
15. Buying Time (aka The Long Habit of Living) by Joe Haldeman
16. Homegoing by Frederik Pohl
17. Being Alien by Rebecca Ore
18. Farewell Horizontal by K.W. Jeter
19. Out on Blue Six by Ian McDonald
20. Orbital Decay by Allen M. Steele
21. The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman
22. Sugar Rain by Paul Park
23. Eden by Stanislaw Lem
24. Dawn's Uncertain Light by Neal Barrett, Jr.
25. Black Milk by Robert Reed
26. On My Way to Paradise by Dave Wolverton
27. The Renegades of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
28. The Queen of Springtime (aka The New Springtime) by Robert Silverberg

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   Prentice Alvin by Orson Scott Card

Other Nominees:
2.   The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers
3.   Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe
4.   Rusalka by C.J. Cherryh
5.   Dream Baby by Bruce McAllister
6.   Lyonesse: Madouc by Jack Vance
7.   White Jenna by Jane Yolen
8.   The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
9.   Sorceress of Darshiva by David Eddings
10. A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll
11. Tourists by Lisa Goldstein
12. The Fortress of the Pearl by Michael Moorcock
13. The Stone Giant by James P. Blaylock
14. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
15. Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia C. Wrede
16. A Heroine of the World by Tanith Lee
17. Marianne, the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse by Sheri S. Tepper
18. Ars Magica by Judith Tarr
19. Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light by Tanya Huff
20. Apocalypse by Nancy Springer
21. Queen's Gambit Declined by Melinda Snodgrass
22. Arthur by Stephen R. Lawhead
23. The Coachman Rat by David Henry Wilson
24. Tours of the Black Clock by Steve Erickson
25. The Cockroaches of Stay More by Donald Harington

Best Horror Novel
Winner:
1.   Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

Other Nominees:
2.   The Dark Half by Stephen King
3.   The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
4.   Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
5.   Midnight by Dean R. Koontz
6.   The Wolf's Hour by Robert R. McCammon
7.   Ancient Images by Ramsey Campbell
8.   In the Land of the Dead by K.W. Jeter
9.   Mystery by Peter Straub
10. Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins
11. Nightshade by Jack Butler
12. Owl Light by Michael Paine
13. John Dollar by Marianne Wiggins

Best First Novel
Winner:
1.   Orbital Decay by Allen Steele

Other Nominees:
2.   Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins
3.   On My Way to Paradise by Dave Wolverton
4.   The Tides of God by Ted Reynolds
5.   Strange Invasion by Michael Kandel
6.   Laying the Music to Rest by Dean Wesley Smith
7.   The Gate of Ivory by Doris Egan
8.   Petrogypsies by Rory Harper
9.   Twistor by John Cramer
10. The Grotesque by Patrick McGrath
11. Silk Road by Jeanne Larsen
12. The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein
13. Child of Saturn by Teresa Edgerton
14. Julian's House by Judith Hawkes
15. Mermaid's Song by Alida Van Gores
16. After Sundown by Randall Boyll
17. Bad Voltage by Jonathan Littell
18. Contrarywise by Zohra Greenhalgh
19. Empire's Horizon by John Brizzolara

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   The Father of Stones by Lucius Shepard

Other Nominees:

2.   A Dozen Tough Jobs by Howard Waldrop

3.   Labyrinth by Lois McMaster Bujold
4.   The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold
5.   Pageant Wagon by Orson Scott Card (reviewed in The Folk of the Fringe)
6.   Time-Out by Connie Willis
7.   Tiny Tango by Judith Moffett
8.   The Originist by Orson Scott Card
9.   Great Work of Time by John Crowley
10. In Another Country by Robert Silverberg
11. The True Nature of Shangri-La by Kim Stanley Robinson
12. No Spot of Ground by Walter Jon Williams
13. A Touch of Lavender by Megan Lindholm
14. Marîd Changes His Mind by George Alec Effinger
15. The Ends of the Earth by Lucius Shepard
16. The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks
17. Destroyer of Worlds by Charles Sheffield
18. Children of the Wind by Kate Wilhelm
19. Apartheid, Superstrings, and Mordecai Thubana by Michael Bishop
20. Red Planet Blues by Allen M. Steele
21. The Egg by Steven Popkes
22. Re: Generations by Mike McQuay
23. Nanoware Time by Ian Watson

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   Dogwalker by Orson Scott Card

Other Nominees:
2.   Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another by Robert Silverberg
3.   At the Rialto by Connie Willis
4.   For I Have Touched the Sky by Mike Resnick
5.   Sisters by Greg Bear
6.   The Price of Oranges by Nancy Kress
7.   Bound for Glory by Lucius Shepard
8.   Surrender by Lucius Shepard
9.   Everything But Honor by George Alec Effinger
10. War Fever by J.G. Ballard
11. Steel Dogs by Ray Aldridge
12. Just Another Perfect Day by John Varley
13. A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned by Edward Bryant
14. The Loch Moose Monster by Janet Kagan
15. Sleepside Story by Greg Bear
16. Silver Lady and the Fortyish Man by Megan Lindholm
17. The Gentle Seduction by Marc Stiegler
18. The Part of Us That Loves by Kim Stanley Robinson
19. A Sleep and a Forgetting by Robert Silverberg
20. Varicose Worms by Scott Baker
21. Listen by Ian McDonald
22. Fast Cars by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
23. (tie) Not Without Honor by Judith Moffett
      (tie) The Sin-Eater of the Kaw by Bradley Denton
25. Misbegotten by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
26. Miss Carstairs and the Merman by Delia Sherman
27. The Third Sex by Alan Brennert
28. Snow Angels by Michael Swanwick
29. To the Promised Land by Robert Silverberg
30. On the Wings of a Butterfly by Michael F. Flynn
31. Faith by James Patrick Kelly

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card

Other Nominees:

2.   The Power and the Passion by Pat Cadigan

3.   Privacy by David Brin
4.   The Edge of the World by Michael Swanwick
5.   Boobs by Suzy McKee Charnas
6.   Dori Bangs by Bruce Sterling
7.   Dilemma by Connie Willis
8.   Abe Lincoln in McDonald's by James Morrow
9.   The Happy Turnip by Thomas M. Disch
10. Remaking History by Kim Stanley Robinson
11. Bible Stories for Adults, No. 31: The Covenant by James Morrow
12. Tales from the Venia Woods by Robert Silverberg
13. Mozart on Morphine by Gregory Benford
14. Game Night at the Fox and Goose by Karen Joy Fowler
15. The Enormous Space by J.G. Ballard
16. Computer Friendly by Eileen Gunn
17. Soul of the City by Michael F. Flynn
18. Unidentified Objects by James P. Blaylock
19. The Steel Valentine by Joe R. Lansdale
20. Prescience by Pat Murphy
21. Alphas by Gregory Benford
22. His Powder'd Wig, His Crown of Thornes by Marc Laidlaw
23. Mosquito by Richard Calder
24. Points of View by Kathe Koja
25. Out of Copyright by Charles Sheffield
26. (tie) Icicle Music by Michael Bishop
      (tie) Useful Life by Kevin O'Donnell, Jr.
28. (tie) Malheur Maar by Vonda N. McIntyre
      (tie) Yore Skin's Jes's Soft 'n Purty . . . He Said. by Chet Williamson
30. Steam Engine Time by Lewis Shiner
31. Solace by Gardner Dozois
32. What Befell Mairiam by Algis Budrys
33. Little Worker by Paul Di Filippo
34. (tie) Kaddish by Jack Dann
      (tie) Skin Deep by Kathe Koja

Best Collection
Winner:

1.   Patterns by Pat Cadigan

Other Nominees:
2.   Crystal Express by Bruce Sterling
3.   Tangents by Greg Bear
4.   The Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card
5.   Endangered Species by Gene Wolfe
6.   Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold
7.   Frost and Fire by Roger Zelazny
8.   Escape from Kathmandu by Kim Stanley Robinson
9.   Novelty by John Crowley
10. Heatseeker by John Shirley
11. By Bizarre Hands by Joe R. Lansdale
12. Richard Matheson: Collected Stories by Richard Matheson
13. Children of the Wind: Five Novellas by Kate Wilhelm
14. The Asimov Chronicles by Isaac Asimov
15. Wizards' Worlds by Andre Norton
16. Blue World and Other Stories by Robert R. McCammon
17. Author's Choice Monthly Issue 1: The Old Funny Stuff by George Alec Effinger
18. Women as Demons by Tanith Lee
19. The Brains of Rats by Michael Blumlein
20. (tie) Antique Dust by Robert Westall
      (tie) Salvage Rites and Other Stories by Ian Watson

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:

2.   Full Spectrum 2 edited by Lou Aronica, Shawna McCarthy, Amy Stout, and Patrick LoBrutto

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

4.   What Might Have Been? Vol. 1: Alternate Empires edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg

5.   Foundation's Friends edited by Martin H. Greenberg
6.   Blood Is Not Enough edited by Ellen Datlow

7.   What Might Have Been? Vol. 2: Alternate Heroes edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg

8.   Razored Saddles edited by Joe R. Lansdale and Pat LoBrutto
9.   Book of the Dead edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector

10. The 1989 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

11. The World Treasury of Science Fiction edited by David G. Hartwell

12. Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories: 19 (1957) edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg

13. Nebula Awards 23 edited by Michael Bishop
14. The New Hugo Winners edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg

15. (tie) Interzone: The 4^th Anthology edited by John Clute, David Pringle, and Simon Ounsley

      (tie) Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine: Issue Three: Spring 1989 edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

17. Stalkers edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg
18. The Year's Best Horror Stories: XVII edited by Karl Edward Wagner

19. The Best from Fantasy & Science Fiction: A 40^th Anniversary Anthology edited by Edward L. Ferman

20. Zenith edited by David S. Garnett

21. Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine: Issue Five: Fall 1989 edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

22. L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume V edited by Algis Budrys
23. The Best of the Nebulas edited by Ben Bova
24. The Orbit Science Fiction Yearbook Two edited by David S. Garnett

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1.   Grumbles from the Grave by Robert A. Heinlein

Other Nominees:

2.   The World Beyond the Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence by Alexei Panshin and Cory Panshin

3.   Astounding Days by Arthur C. Clarke
4.   Dancing at the Edge of the World by Ursula K. Le Guin
5.   Giger's Alien by H.R. Giger
6.   Divine Invasions by Lawrence Sutin

7.   Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror: 1988 by Charles N. Brown and William G. Contento

8.   To the High Castle Philip K. Dick: A Life 1928-1962 by Gregg Rickman
9.   The Dark-Haired Girl by Philip K. Dick
10. Harlan Ellison's Watching by Harlan Ellison
11. The Way to Ground Zero by Martha A. Bartter
12. Enchanted Drawings by Charles Solomon
13. When Worldviews Collide by John J. Pierce

Best Editor
Winner:
1.   Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:
2.   Edward L. Ferman
3.   Ellen Datlow
4.   David G. Hartwell
5.   Charles N. Brown
6.   Stanley Schmidt
7.   Kristine Kathryn Rusch
8.   Lou Aronica
9.   Martin H. Greenberg
10. Charles C. Ryan
11. Terri Windling
12. Beth Meacham
13. Donald A. Wollheim
14. Jim Baen
15. Shawna McCarthy

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Asimov's

Other Nominees:
2.   Fantasy & Science Fiction
3.   Analog
4.   Aboriginal SF
5.   Interzone
6.   Omni
7.   Science Fiction Chronicle
8.   Weird Tales
9.   Amazing Stories
10. The New York Review of Science Fiction
11. Science Fiction Eye
12. Thrust
13. Midnight Graffiti
14. File 770

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

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

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
2.   Tom Canty
3.   Don Maitz
4.   Jim Burns
5.   Gary Ruddell
6.   J.K. Potter
7.   Richard Hescox
8.   James Gurney
9.   W.J. Hodgson
10. H.R. Giger
11. Frank Kelly Freas
12. Darrell K. Sweet
13. David A. Cherry
14. Rowena Morrill
15. Bob Eggleton
16. Janet Aulisio
17. David Mattingly
18. Steve Youll and Paul Youll

Go to previous year's nominees: 1989
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1991

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