Comments: One of the benefits of cataloging the Locus Awards year by year in this manner is that one notices odd little corners of science fiction history. Sometimes these corners make the science fiction community look good. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they are just odd. In 1996, Pamela Sargent edited three books that made it on to the Best Anthology list of nominees. Despite this, somehow Sargent was overlooked when the time came to nominate people for the Best Editor award. I'd like to believe this was merely an oversight, and not the result of sexism, but sadly, the track record of the science fiction community makes that belief somewhat difficult to maintain.
Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Other Nominees:
2. Brightness Reef by David Brin
3. Invader by C.J. Cherryh
4. Legacy by Greg Bear
5. The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
6. Sailing Bright Eternity by Gregory Benford
7. Chaga (aka Evolution's Shore) by Ian McDonald
8. Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams
9. Worldwar: Tilting the Balance by Harry Turtledove
10. Slow River by Nicola Griffith
11. Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem
12. Kaleidoscope Century by John Barnes
13. Fairyland by Paul J. McAuley
14. The Ganymede Club by Charles Sheffield
15. The Killing Star by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski
16. Gaia's Toys by Rebecca Ore
17. The Stone Garden by Mary Rosenblum
18. Testament by Valerie J. Freireich
19. The Golden Nineties by Lisa Mason
20. Shadow Man by Melissa Scott
21. The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer
22. An Exaltation of Larks by Robert Reed
Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1. Alvin Journeyman by Orson Scott Card
Other Nominees:
2. Waking the Moon (revised) by Elizabeth Hand
3. Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh
4. The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
5. Resurrection Man by Sean Stewart
6. The Silent Strength of Stones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
7. The Book of Atrix Wolfe by Patricia A. McKillip
8. Blood by Michael Moorcock
9. Storm Rising by Mercedes Lackey
10. City of Bones by Martha Wells
11. Crown of Shadows by C.S. Friedman
12. Maskerade by Terry Pratchett
13. Zod Wallop by William Browning Spencer
14. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
15. Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind
16. The Tower of Beowulf by Parke Godwin
17. A Sorcerer and a Gentleman by Elizabeth Willey
18. World Without End by Sean Russell
19. Harp of Winds by Maggie Furey
Best Horror or Dark Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1. Expiration Date by Tim Powers
Other Nominees:
2. Travelling with the Dead (aka Traveling with the Dead) by Barbara Hambly
3. Rose Madder by Stephen King
4. The Bloody Red Baron by Kim Newman
5. Paint it Black (aka Midnight Blue) by Nancy A. Collins
6. All the Bells on Earth by James P. Blaylock
7. The Off Season by Jack Cady
8. Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice
9. Vanitas by S.P. Somtow
10. Desmodus by Melanie Tem
11. Vivia by Tanith Lee
12. Night Magic by Tom Tryon
Best First Novel
Winner:
1. The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata
Other Nominees:
2. The Shape-Changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn
3. Lethe by Tricia Sullivan
4. Dead Girls by Richard Calder
5. Door Number Three by Patrick O'Leary
6. The Baker's Boy by J.V. Jones
7. Quasar by Jamil Nasir
8. Humility Garden by Felicity Savage
9. Genellan: Planetfall by Scott G. Gier
10. Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro
11. Legacies by Alison Sinclair
12. The Printer's Devil by Chico Kidd
Best Novella
Winner:
1. Remake by Connie Willis
Other Nominees:
2. A Man of the People by Ursula K. Le Guin
3. A Woman's Liberation by Ursula K. Le Guin4. Fault Lines by Nancy Kress
5. Harvest the Fire by Poul Anderson
6. The Death of Captain Future by Allen M. Steele
7. The Ziggurat by Gene Wolfe
8. Mortimer Gray's History of Death by Brian Stableford
9. Hottentots by Paul Di Filippo
10. Bibi by Mike Resnick and Susan Shwartz
11. We Were Out of Our Minds With Joy by David Marusek
12. Human History by Lucius Shepard
13. At the Eschaton by Charles Sheffield
14. Hot Times in Magma City by Robert Silverberg
15. Looking for Kelly Dahl by Dan Simmons
16. Inherit the Earth by Brian Stableford
17. The City of God by Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick
18. Death in the Promised Land by Pat Cadigan
19. Hypocaust & Bathysphere by Rebecca Ore
20. De Secretis Mulierum by L. Timmel Duchamp
21. The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires by Brian Stableford
22. You Could Go Home Again by Howard Waldrop
23. In Forests Afloat Upon the Sea by Daniel Hatch
Best Novelette
Winner:
1. When the Old Gods Die by Mike Resnick
Other Nominees:
2. Ether OR by Ursula K. Le Guin
3. Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly
4. Wang's Carpets by Greg Egan
5. Evolution by Nancy Kress
6. Coming of Age in Karhide by Sov Thade Tage em Ereb, of Rer, in Karhide, on Gethen by Ursula K. Le Guin
7. For White Hill by Joe Haldeman8. I, Iscariot by Michael Bishop
9. The Good Rat by Allen M. Steele
10. A Worm in the Well by Gregory Benford
11. The Ant-Men of Tibet by Stephen Baxter
12. Luminous by Greg Egan
13. Must and Shall by Harry Turtledove
14. Judgment Engine by Greg Bear
15. Lunch at the Gotham Café by Stephen King
16. TAP by Greg Egan
17. Starship Day by Ian R. MacLeod
18. Recording Angel by Paul J. McAuley
19. Gone to Glory by R. Garcia y Robertson
20. Silver Fire by Greg Egan
21. Waging Good by Robert Reed
22. The Red Blaze is the Morning by Robert Silverberg
Best Short Story
Winner:
1. The Lincoln Train by Maureen F. McHugh
Other Nominees:
2. Gossamer by Stephen Baxter
3. High Abyss by Gregory Benford4. A Birthday by Esther M. Friesner
5. The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker by Roger Zelazny
6. Walking Out by Michael Swanwick
7. Life on the Moon by Tony Daniel
8. The Lens of Time by James E. Gunn
9. There Are No Dead by Terry Bisson
10. Olders by Ursula K. Le Guin
11. The Day the Aliens Came by Robert Sheckley
12. The Age of Innocence by Brian Stableford
13. Into the Tunnel! by Brian W. Aldiss
14. Home by Geoff Ryman
15. Alice's Asteroid by G. David Nordley
16. The Beautiful, the Damned by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
17. The Promise of God by Michael F. Flynn
Best Collection
Winner:
1. Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Other Nominees:
2. Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson by Zenna Henderson
3. Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler
4. The Ultimate Egoist: Volume I: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon by Theodore Sturgeon, edited by Paul Williams
5. The Steampunk Trilogy by Paul Di Filippo6. Axiomatic by Greg Egan
7. The Ivory and the Horn by Charles de Lint
8. Georgia on My Mind and Other Places by Charles Sheffield
9. Strange Highways by Dean Koontz
10. The Panic Hand by Jonathan Carroll
11. Our Lady of Chernobyl by Greg Egan
12. Tales of Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith
13. A Flush of Shadows by Kate Wilhelm
14. Lunching with the Antichrist by Michael Moorcock
15. The Secret of This Book (aka Common Clay) by Brian W. Aldiss
16. Fabulous Harbours by Michael Moorcock
17. Blue Shifting by Eric Brown
Best Anthology
Winner:
1. The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twelfth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
Other Nominees:
2. New Legends edited by Greg Bear
3. The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
4. Far Futures edited by Gregory Benford5. Full Spectrum 5 edited by Jennifer Hershey, Tom Dupree, and Janna Silverstein
6. Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
7. Women of Wonder: The Classic Years edited by Pamela Sargent
8. Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn edited by Peter S. Beagle and Janet Berliner
9. Dark Love edited by Nancy A. Collins, Edward E. Kramer, and Martin H. Greenberg
10. Nebula Awards 29 edited by Pamela Sargent
11. The Armless Maiden and Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors edited by Terri Windling
12. Women of Wonder: The Contemporary Years edited by Pamela Sargent13. Tombs edited by Peter Crowther and Edward E. Kramer
14. How To Save the World edited by Charles Sheffield
15. Killing Me Softly edited by Gardner Dozois
16. Xanadu 3 edited by Jane Yolen
17. Best New Horror 6 edited by Stephen Jones
18. Peter Straub's Ghosts edited by Peter Straub
19. Chicks in Chainmail edited by Esther M. Friesner
Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:
1. Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia by John Clute
Other Nominees:
2. Anatomy of Wonder 4 edited by Neil Barron
3. The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, Second Edition by David Pringle
4. The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick: Selected Literary and Philosophical Writings edited by Lawrence Sutin
5. The Detached Retina by Brian W. Aldiss
6. St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers: 4th Edition edited by Jay P. Pederson and Robert Reginald
7. To Write Like a Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction by Joanna Russ8. Our Vampires, Ourselves by Nina Auerbach
9. Future Perfect: American Science Fiction of the Nineteenth Century - An Anthology edited by H. Bruce Franklin
Best Art Book
Winner:
1. Spectrum 2: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Burnett and Arnie Fenner
Other Nominees:
2. Dinotopia: The World Beneath by James Gurney
3. Alien Horizons: The Fantastic Art of Bob Eggleton by Bob Eggleton
4. The Alien Life of Wayne Barlowe by Wayne Douglas Barlowe
5. A Hannes Bok Showcase edited by Stephen D. Korshak; art by Hannes Bok
6. Electric Dreams: The Art of Barclay Shaw by Barclay Shaw
7. Stephen E. Fabian's Women & Wonders by Stephen E. Fabian
Best Editor
Winner:
1. Gardner Dozois
Other Nominees:
2. Kristine Kathryn Rusch
3. Ellen Datlow
4. Stanley Schmidt
5. Terri Windling
6. David G. Hartwell
7. David Pringle
8. Martin H. Greenberg
9. Scott Edelman
10. Robert K.J. Killheffer
11. Algis Budrys
Best Magazine
Winner:
1. Asimov's
Other Nominees:
2. Fantasy & Science Fiction
3. Analog
4. Science Fiction Age
5. Interzone
6. Realms of Fantasy
7. Century
8. Science Fiction Chronicle
9. Omni
10. The New York Review of Science Fiction
11. Crank!
12. Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine
13. Tomorrow Speculative Fiction
Best Publisher
Winner:
1. Tor/St. Martin's
Other Nominees:
2. Bantam/Doubleday/Dell
3. Ballantine/Del Rey/Random House
4. HarperCollins US
5. DAW
6. Putnam/Berkley/Ace
7. Baen
8. Avon/Morrow
9. Gollancz
10. White Wolf
11. Mark V. Ziesing
12. Penguin/Roc/Viking
13. Warner Aspect
Best Artist
Winner:
1. Michael Whelan
Other Nominees:
2. Bob Eggleton
3. Don Maitz
4. Thomas Canty
5. James Gurney
6. Wayne Douglas Barlowe
7. Jim Burns
8. Barclay Shaw
9. W.J. Hodgson
10. David A. Cherry
11. Janny Wurts
Go to previous year's nominees: 1995
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1997
Book Award Reviews Home