Comments: You can often discern the concerns of an era by looking at the science fiction that its authors produce. The 2008 Clarke Awards were focused on militarism, as reflected in Richard Morgan's novel Black Man, terrorism as reflected in Ken MacLeod's novel The Execution Channel, and fear of nuclear holocaust, as reflected in Stephen Baxter's The H-Bomb Girl. The unifying theme of the genre fiction that appears on this year's ballot appears to be fear of our neighbors and fear of our own creations. Science fiction has always had an undercurrent of fear of technology and fear of the other, starting with Frankenstein, and that undercurrent rises and falls seemingly in time with the mood of the society around it, and in 2008, the mood of the society was decidedly fearful and that is reflected in the fiction that was produced.
Winner
Black Man by Richard Morgan
Shortlist
The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall
The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod
The H-Bomb Girl by Stephen Baxter
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
The Red Men by Matthew de Abaitua
What Are the Arthur C. Clarke Awards?
Go to previous year's nominees: 2007
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2009
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