1982 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: Once again, the Campbell Awards did something strange. Not the fact that Russell Hoban's novel Riddley Walker won the award, even though it is a very quirky book. No, the strangeness for 1982 was that, breaking with previous practice, neither the second or third place novels, or any of the other non-winning books were identified in the results. I suppose at this point it should not really be a surprise that the Campbell Awards made a seemingly inexplicable change.

However, there is almost no way to quibble with the winning novel Riddley Walker, which is simply a brilliant piece of post-apocalyptic fiction. It is a difficult novel to read, because of the very odd language used by the author, but without the altered language - a kind of debased pidgin English - then the novel simply would not work as well.

Best Novel

Winner:

Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

Go to previous year's nominees: 1981
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1983

Book Award Reviews     Home

1982 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Claremont Resort Hotel, Oakland California.

Comments: For the second year in a row the Nebula Awards had controversy. While the controversy in 1981 was merely the result of an ineligible entry making the final ballot before being removed from consideration, in 1982 Lisa Tuttle removed her own story from the ballot and refused the award due to what she believed was unseemly behavior from one of her fellow nominees. George Florance-Guthridge sent a copy of his nominated story The Quiet to all SFWA members along with an endorsement from Fantasy & Science Fiction, the magazine that published it. Although this seems to have become common practice in more recent years, at the time it was considered somewhat gauche, and Tuttle objected on the grounds that it was inappropriate.

Tuttle requested that her story be withdrawn from consideration for the award as a protest against Florance-Guthridge's campaigning, but by the time she informed the SFWA, her story had already been voted the winner of the Nebula. Tuttle declined the award, stating that she had already withdrawn her story from consideration, asking that her reasons be explained when the award was to be presented, but her publisher accepted the award on her behalf at the ceremony with no mention of her protest. As a result of the fracas, Florance-Guthridge stopped writing for years, and stopped writing science fiction altogether. While I respect that Tuttle felt she had to make a stand, I can only mourn the loss of the fiction that might have been.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe

Other Nominees:
Little, Big by John Crowley
The Many-Colored Land by Julian May
Radix by A.A. Attanasio
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas

Best Novella

Winner:

The Saturn Game by Poul Anderson

Other Nominees:
Amnesia by Jack Dann
In the Western Tradition by Phyllis Eisenstein
Swarmer, Skimmer by Gregory Benford
True Names by Vernor Vinge
The Winter Beach by Kate Wilhelm

Best Novelette

Winner:

The Quickening by Michael Bishop

Other Nominees:
The Fire When It Comes by Parke Godwin
Lirios: A Tale of the Quintana Roo by James Tiptree, Jr.
Mummer Kiss by Michael Swanwick
Sea Changeling by Mildred Downey Broxon
The Thermals of August by Edward Bryant

Best Short Story

Winner:
The Bone Flute by Lisa Tuttle [award declined]

Other Nominees:
Disciples by Gardner Dozois
Going Under by Jack Dann
Johnny Mnemonic by William Gibson
The Pusher by John Varley
The Quiet by George Florance-Guthridge
Venice Drowned by Kim Stanley Robinson
Zeke by Timothy R. Sullivan

Go to previous year's nominees: 1981
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1983

Book Award Reviews     Home

1981 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown

Comments: After a four year hiatus, the Mythopoeic Society resurrected the Mythopoeic Awards and then bestowed them in what seems to be the most incestuous way possible, honoring J.R.R. Tolkien's book Unfinished Tales with their Best Fantasy Literature Award, and handing the Scholarship Award to Christopher Tolkien. When you are a society dedicated to honoring and celebrating scholarship related to a specific group of authors, it seems almost like self-dealing to bring a particular sets of awards back into circulation and then give one award to one of those authors and, even more of a conflict of interest to, at the same time, give another one to that author's son.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien

Other Nominees:
The Beginning Place by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Grey Mane of Morning by Joy Chant
Lion of Ireland: The Legend of Brian Boru by Morgan Llywelyn
The Wounded Land by Stephen R. Donaldson

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:
Christopher Tolkien

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1976
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1982

Book Award Reviews     Home

1981 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: There is an old adage that the golden age of science fiction is twelve. I have some quibbles with this - I think that the term was coined when science fiction was regarded as "kid stuff" and older readers were expected to have left it behind, an assumption that I don't think has held true for quite some time. But leaving that aside, 1981 was the year I turned twelve, which means that the 1981 Locus Award ballot is a reasonable snapshot of the landscape of science fiction and fantasy during the year that I "came of age" so to speak. And the science fiction represented here is, for the most part, the kind of science fiction I tend to gravitate towards. But I think that for me the most important thing on these lists is in the Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work category, where Carl Sagan's Cosmos appears. It didn't win a Locus Award in 1981, but of all the books listed here, it probably did more to shape who I am now than any other.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

Other Nominees:
2.   Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl
3.   The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven
4.   Wizard by John Varley
5.   Timescape by Gregory Benford
6.   Mockingbird by Walter S. Tevis
7.   Serpent's Reach by C.J. Cherryh
8.   Firestarter by Stephen King
9.   The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein
10. The Magic Labyrinth by Philip José Farmer
11. Two to Conquer by Marion Zimmer Bradley
12. Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler
13. Golem¹⁰⁰ by Alfred Bester
14. Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
15. Dangerous Games by Marta Randall
16. Songs from the Stars by Norman Spinrad
17. Songmaster by Orson Scott Card
18. Eyes of Fire by Michael Bishop
19. (tie) The Gardens of Delight by Ian Watson
      (tie) Molly Zero by Keith Roberts
21. Thrice Upon a Time by James P. Hogan
22. Waves by M.A. Foster
23. First Channel by Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lichtenberg
24. City Come A-Walkin' by John Shirley

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg

Other Nominees:
2.   The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
3.   The Wounded Land by Stephen R. Donaldson
4.   Changeling by Roger Zelazny
5.   The Northern Girl by Elizabeth A. Lynn
6.   Split Infinity by Piers Anthony
7.   The Beginning Place by Ursula K. Le Guin
8.   The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
9.   Shadowland by Peter Straub
10. The Mist by Stephen King
11. Ariosto by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
12. Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee
13. Thorn by Fred Saberhagen
14. Sabella by Tanith Lee
15. After Dark by Manly Wade Wellman
16. A Storm of Wings by M. John Harrison
17. The Orphan by Robert Stallman
18. Duncton Wood by William Horwood
19. All Darkness Met by Glen Cook
20. (tie) Firelord by Parke Godwin
      (tie) Necropolis by Basil Copper
22. Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy

Best First Novel
Winner:
1.   Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward

Other Nominees:
2.   The Orphan by Robert Stallman
3.   Sundiver by David Brin
4.   Beyond Rejection by Justin Leiber
5.   The Gates of Heaven by Paul Preuss
6.   Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy
7.   Hawk of May by Gillian Bradshaw
8.   Still Forms on Foxfield by Joan Slonczewski
9.   Yearwood by Paul Hazel
10. Scavengers by David J. Skal
11. Web of Angels by John M. Ford
12. White Light by Rudy Rucker
13. The Man in the Darksuit by Dennis R. Caro
14. One On Me by Tim Huntley
15. A Lost Tale by Dale Estey

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   Nightflyers by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:

2.   The Patchwork Girl by Larry Niven

3.   The Web of the Magi by Richard Cowper
4.   The Autopsy by Michael Shea
5.   Dangerous Games by Marta Randall
6.   Unicorn Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
7.   Slow Music by James Tiptree, Jr.
8.   Lost Dorsai by Gordon R. Dickson
9.   All the Lies that Are My Life by Harlan Ellison
10. Buoyant Ascent by Hilbert Schenck

11. There Beneath the Silky-Trees and Whelmed in Deeper Gulphs Than Me by Avram Davidson

12. Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat by Glen Cook
13. One-Wing by Lisa Tuttle and George R.R. Martin
14. Le Croix (The Cross) by Barry N. Malzberg
15. On the North Pole of Pluto by Kim Stanley Robinson
16. Anasazi by Dean Ing
17. Tell Us a Story by Zenna Henderson

Best Novelette
Winner:

1.   The Brave Little Toaster by Thomas M. Disch (reviewed in Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume 116, Nos. 4 & 5 (April/May 2009))

Other Nominees:
2.   Beatnik Bayou by John Varley
3.   The Way Station by Stephen King
4.   Strata by Edward Bryant
5.   The Ugly Chickens by Howard Waldrop
6.   The Lordly Ones by Keith Roberts
7.   Feesters in the Lake by Bob Leman
8.   Saving Face by Michael Bishop
9.   Variation on a Theme from Beethoven by Sharon Webb
10. Tutor by J. Ray Dettling
11. The Feast of Saint Janis by Michael Swanwick
12. Apotheosis of Myra by Walter S. Tevis
13. The Cloak and the Staff by Gordon R. Dickson
14. Billy Big-Eyes by Howard Waldrop
15. Savage Planet by Barry B. Longyear
16. Scorched Supper on New Niger by Suzy McKee Charnas
17. Earth and Stone by Robert Holdstock
18. Raising the Green Lion by Janet Morris
19. Ginungagap by Michael Swanwick
20. Have You Heard the One . . . ? by Spider Robinson
21. The Curse of the Mhondoro Nkabele by Eric Norden

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Grotto of the Dancing Deer by Clifford D. Simak

Other Nominees:

2.   Bug House by Lisa Tuttle

3.   Our Lady of the Sauropods by Robert Silverberg
4.   Window by Bob Leman
5.   The Last Answer by Isaac Asimov
6.   The Detective of Dreams by Gene Wolfe
7.   Saint Amy's Tale by Orson Scott Card
8.   Frozen Journey by Philip K. Dick
9.   The World Science Fiction Convention of 2080 by Ian Watson
10. Prairie Sun by Ed Bryant
11. Prime Time by Norman Spinrad
12. Secrets of the Heart by Charles L. Grant
13. A Sunday Visit with Great-Grandfather by Craig Strete
14. Rautavaara's Case by Philip K. Dick
15. Men Like Us by David Drake
16. Lindsay and the Red City Blues by Joe Haldeman
17. War Beneath the Tree by Gene Wolfe
18. Child of Darkness by P.C. Hodgell
19. The Confession of Hamo by Mary Pangborn
20. The Fear that Men Call Courage by James Patrick Kelly
21. Some of My Best Friends by François Camoin
22. Antithesis by Michael Kube-McDowell
23. Spidersong by Susan C. Petrey

Best Single Author Collection
Winner:

1.   The Barbie Murders by John Varley

Other Nominees:
2.   Shatterday by Harlan Ellison
3.   The Last Defender of Camelot by Roger Zelazny
4.   The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe
5.   San Diego Lightfoot Sue and Other Stories by Tom Reamy
6.   The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury
7.   Expanded Universe by Robert A. Heinlein
8.   Antinomy by Spider Robinson
9.   Fundamental Disch by Thomas M. Disch
10. Out There Where the Big Ships Go by Richard Cowper
11. The Best of Walter M. Miller, Jr. by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
12. Lost Dorsai by Gordon R. Dickson
13. Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
14. The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick, edited by Mark Hurst
15. Lore of the Witch World by Andre Norton
16. Wave Rider by Hilbert Schenck
17. The Man Who Loved the Midnight Lady by Barry N. Malzberg
18. Manifest Destiny by Barry B. Longyear

19. The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton by Mark Clifton, edited by Barry N. Malzberg and Martin H. Greenberg

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: A 30 Year Retrospective edited by Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
2.   The Best Science Fiction of the Year #9 edited by Terry Carr
3.   Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn edited by Robert Lynn Asprin

4.   The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction edited by Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg

5.   Dark Forces edited by Kirby McCauley
6.   Universe 10 edited by Terry Carr
7.   What If? Vol. 1 edited by Richard A. Lupoff

8.   Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction edited by Frederik Pohl, Martin H. Greenberg, and Joseph D. Olander

9.   New Dimensions 11 edited by Robert Silverberg and Marta Randall
10. New Voices III edited by George R.R. Martin

11. The 1980 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

12. The Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year #2 edited by Terry Carr
13. Basilisk edited by Ellen Kushner
14. Orbit 21 edited by Damon Knight

15. The Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels edited by Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg

16. Nebula Winners Thirteen edited by Samuel R. Delany
17. Dragons of Light edited by Orson Scott Card
18. Their Immortal Hearts edited by Anonymous
19. The Best of All Possible Worlds edited by Spider Robinson

20. Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Ninth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

21. Nebula Winners 14 edited by Frederik Pohl
22. Stellar #5 edited by Judy-Lynn del Rey
23. Interfaces edited by Ursula K. Le Guin and Virginia Kidd

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1.   In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 by Isaac Asimov

Other Nominees:
2.   Dream Makers by Charles Platt
3.   Cosmos by Carl Sagan

4.   Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction and Selected Nonfiction by L.W. Currey

5.   Jack Vance edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller
6.   Teaching Science Fiction: Education for Tomorrow edited by Jack Williamson
7.   Robert A. Heinlein: America as Science Fiction by H. Bruce Franklin
8.   Giger's Alien by H.R. Giger

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

10. Unbuilding by David Macaulay
11. The Science Fictionary by Ed Naha
12. The Sixth Book of Virgil Finlay edited by Gerry de la Ree

13. Science Fiction in Old San Francisco, Vol. 1: History of the Movement by Sam Moskowitz

14. The Literature of Fantasy by Roger C. Schlobin
15. The Cybernetic Imagination in Science Fiction by Patricia S. Warrick

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction

Other Nominees:
2.   Locus
3.   Analog
4.   Omni
5.   Asimov's
6.   Science Fiction Review
7.   Fantasy Newsletter
8.   Destinies (Ace)
9.   Starship
10. Amazing/Fantastic
11. Thrust
12. Science Fiction Chronicle
13. Starlog
14. Future Life
15. Questar
16. Janus
17. File 770
18. Cinefantastique

Best Publisher
Winner:
1.   Ballantine/Del Rey

Other Nominees:
2.   Ace
3.   Pocket/Simon & Schuster
4.   DAW
5.   Berkley/Putnam
6.   Science Fiction Book Club
7.   Doubleday
8.   Dell/Dial
9.   Bantam
10. Gregg Press
11. Phantasia
12. Underwood-Miller
13. Harper & Row
14. Donald M. Grant
15. Avon
16. (tie) St. Martin's
      (tie) Viking
18. Gollancz
19. Houghton Mifflin
20. Atheneum

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
2.   Don Maitz
3.   Boris Vallejo
4.   Vincent Di Fate
5.   Stephen Fabian
6.   Rowena Morrill
7.   Frank Kelly Freas
8.   Paul Lehr
9.   Alicia Austin
10. Tim Kirk
11. Alexis Gilliland
12. Rick Sternbach
13. Frank Frazetta
14. (tie) Carl Lundgren
      (tie) Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
16. Darrell Sweet
17. (tie) H.R. Giger
      (tie) Ron Walotsky
19. George Barr
20. John Schoenherr
21. William Rotsler
22. Victoria Poyser
23. Wayne Barlowe
24. (tie) Ralph McQuarrie
      (tie) David Hardy
26. H.R. Van Dongen
27. Barclay Shaw

Go to previous year's nominees: 1980
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1982

Book Award Reviews     Home

1981 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Berkley, California.

Comments: In 1981, although no one knew it at the time, the World Fantasy Awards became an example of the limitations of genre when the judging panel bestowed the Best Novel award on Gene Wolfe's Shadow of the Torturer.  This is not to say that Wolfe's novel was not deserving of recognition, as it is a magnificent piece of speculative fiction, but it isn't fantasy fiction. In fairness, this fact wasn't readily apparent in 1981, with only the first book in the Book of the New Sun series having been published by that point, but as the succeeding volumes were released, it became clear that despite having some of the superficial trappings of fantasy, Severian's story was actually a science fiction story, and not a fantasy story.

But this is illustrative of a larger issue in genre fiction, which is that the borders between different genres such as science fiction and fantasy are blurry and indistinct. There are some books, such as Stephen Baxter's Ring, that are clearly science fiction, and could never be mistaken as an example of any other genre, and others, such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, that are unmistakable as anything other than fantasy. But there are vast numbers of works that exist in a nether region between the two genres, and many others that live in the shadowy space between science fiction and horror or fantasy and horror. Trying to set clear guidelines around the various speculative fiction genres is a fool's errand, and someone who claims to love science fiction but turns their nose up at fantasy is doing themselves a disservice. Genre is fluid, and should be treated as such.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

Other Nominees:
Ariosto by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Firelord by Parke Godwin
The Mist by Stephen King
Shadowland by Peter Straub

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
The Ugly Chickens by Howard Waldrop

Other Nominees:
Cabin 33 by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Children of the Kingdom by T.E.D. Klein
Unicorn Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas

Best Anthology or Collection

Winner:
Dark Forces edited by Kirby McCauley

Other Nominees:
Dragons of Light edited by Orson Scott Card
Mummy! A Chrestomathy of Crypt-ology edited by Bill Pronzini
New Terrors 1 edited by Ramsey Campbell
Shadows 3 edited by Charles L. Grant
Shatterday by Harlan Ellison

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
C.L. Moore

Other Nominees:
Joseph Payne Brennan
Avram Davidson
L. Sprague de Camp
Andre Norton
Jack Vance

Best Artist

Winner:
Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
Alicia Austin
Thomas Canty
Don Maitz
Rowena Morrill
Gahan Wilson

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Donald A. Wollheim

Other Nominees:
Terry Carr
Lester del Rey
Edward L. Ferman
David G. Hartwell
Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Pat Cadigan and Arnie Fenner

Other Nominees:
Charles de Lint and Charles R. Saunders
W. Paul Ganley
Stephen Jones and David Sutton

Special Convention Award

Winner:
Gahan Wilson

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1980
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1982

Book Award Reviews     Home

1981 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: Denvention Two in Denver, Colorado.

Comments: After a modest absence, Robert Silverberg returned to the ranks of Hugo nominees in 1981, with both a novel and a short story nominated, although neither won. The ranks of the nominees for Best Novel were also filled out by two sequels to novels that had both previously won Hugo Awards, which I'm sure had never happened before. Neither won, as the Best Novel trophy was taken by Joan D. Vinge for her novel Snow Queen.

In the Best Dramatic Presentation category I am sure no one was surprised by the fact that The Empire Strikes Back took home the rocket statue. But the interesting part of the ballot in 1981 was actually the losing nominees. Leaving aside the schlock-fest of the Dino de Laurentis Flash Gordon, the remaining nominees were all brilliant, but the most notable fact was that two of them - The Lathe of Heaven and Cosmos - were produced for and appeared on public television. This was a decidedly good year for Carl Sagan at the Hugo Awards: Not only did his miniseries Cosmos get nominated in the Best Dramatic Presentation category, the companion book he authored for the series, also named Cosmos, won the Best Nonfiction Book award.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

Other Nominees:
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl
Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg
The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven
Wizard by John Varley

Best Novella

Winner:

Lost Dorsai by Gordon R. Dickson

Other Nominees:
All the Lies That Are My Life by Harlan Ellison

The Brave Little Toaster by Thomas M. Disch (reviewed in Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume 116, Nos. 4 & 5 (April/May 2009))

Nightflyers by George R.R. Martin
One-Wing by Lisa Tuttle and George R.R. Martin

Best Novelette

Winner:

The Cloak and the Staff by Gordon R. Dickson

Other Nominees:
The Autopsy by Michael Shea
Beatnik Bayou by John Varley
The Lordly Ones by Keith Roberts
Savage Planet by Barry B. Longyear
The Ugly Chickens by Howard Waldrop

Best Short Story

Winner:

Grotto of the Dancing Deer by Clifford D. Simak

Other Nominees:
Cold Hands by Jeff Duntemann
Guardian by Jeff Duntemann
Our Lady of the Sauropods by Robert Silverberg
Spidersong by Susan C. Petrey

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book

Winner:

Cosmos by Carl Sagan

Other Nominees:
Di Fate's Catalog of Science Fiction Hardware by Vincent Di Fate and Ian Summers
Dream Makers by Charles Platt
In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 by Isaac Asimov
Warhoon 28 by Walter A. Willis, edited by Richard Bergeron

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
The Empire Strikes Back

Other Nominees:
Cosmos (television series)
Flash Gordon
The Lathe of Heaven (television movie)
The Martian Chronicles (television series)

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
Jim Baen
Terry Carr
Stanley Schmidt
George H. Scithers

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
Vincent Di Fate
Steve Fabian
Paul Lehr
Don Maitz

Best Fanzine

Winner:

Locus edited by Charles N. Brown

Other Nominees:
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew Porter
Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
Starship edited by Andrew Porter

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Susan Wood

Other Nominees:
Richard E. Geis
Mike Glyer
Arthur D. Hlavaty
Dave Langford

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Victoria Poyser

Other Nominees:
Alexis Gilliland
Joan Hanke-Woods
Bill Rotsler
Stu Shiffman

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Somtow Sucharitkul

Other Nominees:
Kevin Christensen
Diane Duane
Robert L. Forward
Susan C. Petrey
Robert Stallman

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1980
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1982

Book Award Reviews     Home

1981 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: I have something of an academic connection to the 1981 Campbell Award winner Timescape by Gregory Benford. When I was a student at the University of Virginia I took a course on cosmology, and one of the assigned readings for the class was this novel involving the use of tachyons to communicate with the past and change history. This wasn't the only science fiction novel that I ever read as part of my academic career, but it was the only one that was assigned to me.

The third place novel in 1981 was Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe, which was the first in his Urth of the New Sun series. Given the adulation that this series has generated since its publication, it is interesting to see it place comparatively low in the ballot here, behind the now almost forgotten book The Dreaming Dragons by Damien Broderick.

Best Novel

Winner:

Timescape by Gregory Benford

Second Place:

The Dreaming Dragons by Damien Broderick

Third Place:

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

Go to previous year's nominees: 1980
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1982

Book Award Reviews     Home

1981 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, New York.

Comments: This Nebula award winner for Best Novel in 1981 is the only Nebula award winning book that I was assigned to read as part of a class when I was a student at the University of Virginia. As part of the required reading for the course "Introduction to Cosmology", I read this book, which was my first exposure to Benford's writing. I've read other books by Benford since then, but Timescape will always hold a special place for me as the science fiction book I read for college credit.

In 1981 the Nebula awards had a mild controversy when Craig Strete's short story A Sunday Visit with Great-Grandfather was removed from the ballot as ineligible due to its publication in Strete's 1977 collection The Bleeding Man and Other Stories. This was only a mild controversy, as the rules for eligibility are pretty clear, and Strete's story clearly didn't meet them. On the other hand, one has to wonder how the story managed to get all the way to the final ballot before someone thought to check and see if it qualified.

Best Novel

Winner:
Timescape by Gregory Benford

Other Nominees:
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl
Mockingbird by Walter S. Tevis
The Orphan by Robert Stallman
The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

Best Novella

Winner:

Unicorn Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas

Other Nominees:
The Autopsy by Michael Shea

The Brave Little Toaster by Thomas M. Disch (reviewed in Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume 116, Nos. 4 & 5 (April/May 2009))

Dangerous Games by Marta Randall
Lost Dorsai by Gordon R. Dickson

There Beneath the Silky-Trees and Whelmed in Deeper Gulphs Than Me by Avram Davidson

Best Novelette

Winner:

The Ugly Chickens by Howard Waldrop

Other Nominees:
Beatnik Bayou by John Varley
The Feast of Saint Janis by Michael Swanwick
Ginungagap by Michael Swanwick
Strata by Edward Bryant
The Way Station by Stephen King

Best Short Story

Winner:
Grotto of the Dancing Deer by Clifford D. Simak

Other Nominees:
Secrets of the Heart by Charles L. Grant
War Beneath the Tree by Gene Wolfe
Window by Bob Leman
A Sunday Visit with Great-Grandfather by Craig Strete [nomination withdrawn]

Go to previous year's nominees: 1980
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1982

Book Award Reviews     Home

1980 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: 1980 was a great year for George R.R. Martin who garnered a a win for Sandkings in the Best Novelette category and a win for The Way of the Cross and Dragon in the Best Short Story category. Martin was also nominated for editing the New Voices II anthology. Because of the immense success of the Song of Ice and Fire series, some people forget just how accomplished a writer Martin had proved himself to be in the 1970s and 1980s, and the 1980 Locus Award results are a testament to this fact.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   Titan by John Varley

Other Nominees:
2.   Jem by Frederik Pohl
3.   The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
4.   Stardance by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson
5.   On Wings of Song by Thomas M. Disch
6.   The Faded Sun: Kutath by C.J. Cherryh
7.   The Road to Corlay by Richard Cowper
8.   Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey
9.   Engine Summer by John Crowley
10. The Face by Jack Vance
11. Juniper Time by Kate Wilhelm
12. Transfigurations by Michael Bishop
13. Roadmarks by Roger Zelazny
14. Kinsman by Ben Bova
15. SS-GB by Len Deighton
16. Catacomb Years by Michael Bishop
17. The Web Between the Worlds by Charles Sheffield
18. Mayflies by Kevin O'Donnell, Jr.
19. The Unlimited Dream Company by J.G. Ballard
20. A Planet Called Treason by Orson Scott Card
21. A World Between by Norman Spinrad
22. The Two Faces of Tomorrow by James P. Hogan
23. The Day of the Klesh by M.A. Foster
24. The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven
25. Janissaries by Jerry Pournelle

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   Harpist in the Wind by Patricia A. McKillip

Other Nominees:
2.   The Dead Zone by Stephen King
3.   Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany
4.   Castle Roogna by Piers Anthony
5.   The Merman's Children by Poul Anderson
6.   Fires of Azeroth by C.J. Cherryh
7.   Watchtower by Elizabeth A. Lynn
8.   The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart
9.   Malafrena by Ursula K. Le Guin
10. Death's Master by Tanith Lee
11. The Palace by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
12. The Dancers of Arun by Elizabeth A. Lynn
13. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
14. Daughter of the Bright Moon by Lynn Abbey
15. The Door Into Fire by Diane Duane
16. Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein
17. The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear

Other Nominees:

2.   Songhouse by Orson Scott Card

3.   Palely Loitering by Christopher Priest
4.   Mars Masked by Frederik Pohl
5.   The Battle of the Abaco Reefs by Hilbert Schenck
6.   The Tale of Gorgik by Samuel R. Delany
7.   The Moon Goddess and the Son by Donald M. Kingsbury
8.   Ker-Plop by Ted Reynolds
9.   Fireship by Joan D. Vinge
10. The Story Writer by Richard Wilson
11. Far Rainbow by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky
12. Silver Shoes for a Princess by James P. Hogan
13. Spirals by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
14. The Dancer in the Darkness by Thomas F. Monteleone
15. The Napoli Express by Randall Garrett

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   Sandkings by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:
2.   Options by John Varley
3.   Fireflood by Vonda N. McIntyre
4.   Out There Where the Big Ships Go by Richard Cowper
5.   Galatea Galante by Alfred Bester
6.   Camps by Jack Dann
7.   The Pathways of Desire by Ursula K. Le Guin
8.   The Angel of Death by Michael Shea
9.   The Button Molder by Fritz Leiber
10. The Things That Are Gods by John Brunner
11. Phoenix by Mark J. McGarry
12. The Relic by Gary Jennings
13. The Ancient Mind at Work by Suzy McKee Charnas
14. Down and Out on Ellfive Prime by Dean Ing
15. Prose Bowl by Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg
16. The Locusts by Larry Niven and Steve Barnes
17. Indifference by Brian W. Aldiss
18. The Ways of Love by Poul Anderson
19. Some Events at the Templar Radiant by Fred Saberhagen

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   The Way of Cross and Dragon by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:

2.   giANTS by Edward Bryant

3.   Quietus by Orson Scott Card
4.   War Beneath the Tree by Gene Wolfe
5.   Redeemer by Gregory Benford
6.   Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card
7.   Wave Rider by Hilbert Schenck
8.   (tie) Blood Sisters by Joe Haldeman
      (tie) In Trophonius's Cave by James P. Girard
10. Daisy, In the Sun by Connie Willis
11. The Crate by Stephen King
12. Rent Control by Walter Tevis
13. The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand by Joanna Russ
14. The Exit Door Leads In by Philip K. Dick
15. Vernalfest Morning by Michael Bishop
16. Red as Blood by Tanith Lee
17. The Rooms of Paradise by Ian Watson
18. Can These Bones Live? by Ted Reynolds
19. All the Birds Came Home to Roost by Harlan Ellison

20. 'You're Welcome,' Said the Robot, and Turned to Watch the Snowflakes by Alan Ryan

21. The View from Endless Scarp by Marta Randall

Best Single Author Collection
Winner:

1.   Convergent Series by Larry Niven

Other Nominees:
2.   Eyes of Amber and Other Stories by Joan D. Vinge
3.   The Stars Are the Styx by Theodore Sturgeon
4.   Riverworld and Other Stories by Philip José Farmer
5.   Fireflood and Other Stories by Vonda N. McIntyre
6.   The Best of James Blish by James Blish, edited by Robert A.W. Lowndes
7.   An Infinite Summer by Christopher Priest
8.   Green Magic: The Fantasy Realms of Jack Vance by Jack Vance
9.   The Star-Spangled Future by Norman Spinrad
10. The Best of Hal Clement by Hal Clement, edited by Lester del Rey
11. Ship of Shadows by Fritz Leiber
12. The Best of Avram Davidson by Avram Davidson
13. The Change War by Fritz Leiber
14. Vectors by Charles Sheffield
15. The Very Slow Time Machine by Ian Watson
16. The Science Fiction Stories of Walter M. Miller, Jr. by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
17. Ladies from Hell by Keith Roberts

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   Universe 9 edited by Terry Carr

Other Nominees:
2.   The Best of New Dimensions edited by Robert Silverberg
3.   The Best Science Fiction of the Year #8 edited by Terry Carr
4.   Amazons! edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
5.   Chrysalis 3 edited by Roy Torgeson
6.   The Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year #1 edited by Terry Carr
7.   New Voices II edited by George R.R. Martin

8.   The 1979 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

9.   Whispers II edited by Stuart David Schiff
10. Shadows 2 edited by Charles L. Grant
11. Thieves' World edited by Robert Asprin
12. Nightmares edited by Charles L. Grant
13. Rooms of Paradise edited by Lee Harding

14. The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh

15. The Year's Finest Fantasy, Volume 2 edited by Terry Carr
16. The Road to Science Fiction #3: From Heinlein to Here edited by James E. Gunn
17. The Edge of Space edited by Robert Silverberg

18. Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Eighth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1. The Science Fiction Encyclopedia edited by Peter Nicholls

Other Nominees:
2. In Memory Yet Green by Isaac Asimov

3. A Reader's Guide to Science Fiction by Baird Searles, Martin Last, Beth Meacham, and Michael Franklin

4. The Language of the Night by Ursula K. Le Guin, edited by Susan Wood
5. The World of Science Fiction: 1926-1976 by Lester del Rey
6. The 80s: A Look Back edited by Tony Hendra, Christopher Cerf, and Peter Elbling
7. The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter
8. Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature edited by R. Reginald
9. Fantasy Literature by Marshall B. Tymn, Robert H. Boyer, and Kenneth J. Zahorski

Best Art or Illustrated Book
Winner:

1.   Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials by Wayne Douglas Barlowe, Ian Summers, and Beth Meacham

Other Nominees:
2.   H.R. Giger's Necronomicon by H.R. Giger
3.   Alien Landscapes by Robert Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards
4.   Wonderworks by Michael Whelan
5.   The Illustrated Harlan Ellison edited by Byron Preiss
6.   21^st Century Foss by Chris Foss
7.   Giants edited by David Larkin
8.   The Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson, illustrated by Wayne Anderson
9.   The Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt edited by Ian Summers
10. Dragonworld by Byron Preiss and J. Michael Reaves, illustrated by Joseph Zucker
11. Morreion by Jack Vance, illustrated by Steve Fabian
12. More Fantasy by Fabian by Steve Fabian
13. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, illustrated by Howard Chaykin

14. The Demon of Scattery by Poul Anderson and Mildred Downey Broxon, illustrated by Alicia Austin

15. Urshurak by Jerry Nichols, illustrated by The Brothers Hildebrandt
16. Planet Story by Harry Harrison, illustrated by Jim Burns
17. The Illustrated Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, illustrated by Ian Miller

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction

Other Nominees:
2.   Locus
3.   Analog
4.   Asimov's
5.   Omni
6.   Science Fiction Review
7.   Destinies (Ace)
8.   Galileo
9.   Starship
10. Fantasy Newsletter
11. Asimov's SF Adventure
12. Thrust
13. Whispers
14. Starlog
15. Janus

Best Publisher
Winner:
1.   Ballantine/Del Rey

Other Nominees:
2.   Ace
3.   Berkley/Putnam
4.   DAW
5.   Science Fiction Book Club
6.   Dell/Dial
7.   Doubleday
8.   St. Martin's
9.   Pocket
10. Bantam
11. Underwood-Miller
12. Atheneum
13. Gregg Press
14. Donald M. Grant
15. Harper & Row
16. Avon

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
2.   Stephen Fabian
3.   Boris Vallejo
4.   Vincent Di Fate
5.   Frank Kelly Freas
6.   Don Maitz
7.   H.R. Giger
8.   Paul Lehr
9.   Darrell Sweet
10. Alicia Austin
11. Tim Kirk
12. Alexis Gilliland
13. Rowena Morrill
14. Chris Foss
15. George Barr
16. Wayne Douglas Barlowe
17. (tie) Rick Sternbach
      (tie) Carl Lundgren
19. The Brothers Hildebrandt
20. David Hardy
21. Jack Gaughan
22. Connor Freff Cochran
23. Dean Ellis
24. Ron Walotsky

Go to previous year's nominees: 1979
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1981

Book Award Reviews     Home

1980 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Baltimore, Maryland.

Comments: After mostly ignoring women for the first several years of its existence, the World Fantasy Awards seem to have decided to try to make up for lost time in a single year. Not only did Elizabeth A. Lynn win in the Best Novel category, she shared a victory in the Best Short Fiction category, and the Jessica Amanda Salmonson edited anthology Amazons! won in the Best Anthology or Collection category.

But the real sea change was down ballot. Of the six nominees for Best Novel, five of them were authored by women. The other categories were still overwhelmingly dominated by men, with the Lifetime Achievement, Best Artist, and Special Professional Award categories being exclusively male affairs, but at least the World Fantasy Awards had finally noticed half of the human race.

Best Novel

Winner:
Watchtower by Elizabeth A. Lynn

Other Nominees:
The Dancers of Arun by Elizabeth A. Lynn
The Dark Bright Water by Patricia Wrightson
Harpist in the Wind by Patricia A. McKillip
The Last Call of Mourning by Charles L. Grant
The Palace by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
(tie) Mackintosh Willy by Ramsey Campbell
(tie) The Woman Who Loved the Moon by Elizabeth A. Lynn

Other Nominees:
The Button Molder by Fritz Leiber
Petey by T.E.D. Klein
Saturday's Shadow by William F. Nolan

Best Anthology or Collection

Winner:
Amazons! edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

Other Nominees:
Nightmares edited by Charles L. Grant
Shadows 2 edited by Charles L. Grant
Thieves' World edited by Robert Asprin
Whispers II edited by Stuart David Schiff
The Year's Finest Fantasy, Volume 2 edited by Terry Carr

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Manly Wade Wellman

Other Nominees:
Avram Davidson
L. Sprague de Camp
H. Warner Munn
Jack Vance

Best Artist

Winner:
Don Maitz

Other Nominees:
Stephen Fabian
Boris Vallejo
Michael Whelan

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Donald M. Grant

Other Nominees:
Lester del Rey
Pat LoBrutto
James Turner
Donald A. Wollheim

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Paul C. Allen

Other Nominees:
Pat Cadigan and Arnie Fenner
Harry O. Morris, Jr.
Stuart David Schiff

Special Convention Award

Winner:
Stephen King

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1979
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1981

Book Award Reviews     Home

1980 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: Noreascon II in Boston, Massachusetts.

Comments: In 1980 the "Best Related Work" category (technically, the "Best Nonfiction Book" category) was added to the slate of Hugo Awards, and it promptly took its amorphous undefined shape with a slate of nominees that included an encyclopedia, two art books, a memoir, and an essay collection. The encyclopedia won. This category has always been something of a conundrum. The sorts of related books that reflect on the field of science fiction and fantasy, but are not themselves fiction, do deserve recognition. But having them all in one category seems to create a hodgepodge slate of unrelated kinds of books requiring the voters to essentially compare apples and oranges and decide which is better. On the other hand, I can understand the desire to avoid a proliferation of too specific categories, resulting in (as has happened with some Locus Award categories) a single series, editor, or author dominating the award.

In the Best Dramatic Presentation category the science fiction horror film Alien won, beating out some decent competition including Star Trek: The Motion Picture. However, the most important thing about the 1980 Best Dramatic Presentation ballot is that The Muppet Movie was nominated for the award. Because of this nomination, I can declare that the Muppets, and all things they appear in, are science fiction or fantasy, and hence are suitable for review on a science fiction and fantasy blog.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke

Other Nominees:
Harpist in the Wind by Patricia A. McKillip
Jem by Frederik Pohl
On Wings of Song by Thomas M. Disch
Titan by John Varley

Best Novella

Winner:

Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear

Other Nominees:
The Battle of the Abaco Reefs by Hilbert Schenck
Ker-Plop by Ted Reynolds
The Moon Goddess and the Son by Donald M. Kingsbury
Songhouse by Orson Scott Card

Best Novelette

Winner:

Sandkings by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:
Fireflood by Vonda N. McIntyre
Homecoming by Barry B. Longyear
The Locusts by Larry Niven and Steve Barnes
Options by John Varley
Palely Loitering by Christopher Priest

Best Short Story

Winner:

The Way of Cross and Dragon by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:
Can These Bones Live? by Ted Reynolds
Daisy, In the Sun by Connie Willis
giANTS by Edward Bryant
Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book

Winner:

The Science Fiction Encyclopedia edited by Peter Nicholls

Other Nominees:

Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials by Wayne Douglas Barlowe, Ian Summers, and Beth Meacham

In Memory Yet Green by Isaac Asimov
The Language of the Night by Ursula K. Le Guin edited by Susan Wood
Wonderworks by Michael Whelan

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Alien

Other Nominees:
The Black Hole
The Muppet Movie
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Time After Time

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
George H. Scithers

Other Nominees:
Jim Baen
Ben Bova
Edward L. Ferman
Stanley Schmidt

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
Vincent Di Fate
Steve Fabian
Paul Lehr
Boris Vallejo

Best Fanzine

Winner:

Locus edited by Charles N. Brown

Other Nominees:
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Janus edited by Janice Bogstad and Jeanne Gomoll
Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
Thrust edited by Doug Fratz

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Bob Shaw

Other Nominees:
Richard E. Geis
Mike Glyer
Arthur D. Hlavaty
David Langford

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Alexis Gilliland

Other Nominees:
Jeanne Gomoll
Joan Hanke-Woods
Victoria Poyser
Bill Rotsler
Stu Shiffman

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Barry B. Longyear

Other Nominees:
Lynn Abbey
Diane Duane
Karen Jollie
Alan Ryan
Somtow Sucharitkul

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1979
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1981

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