2008 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: Denvention 3 in Denver, Colorado.

Comments: In 2008, the alternate history novel The Yiddish Policeman's Union won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. The novel, which posits that the United States established a refuge for Jews fleeing Europe in Alaska in 1941, has no science fiction element other than the changed course of history. I like alternate history, and writers like Harry Turtledove are among my favorite authors, but alternate history, without more, is simply not science fiction. And it seems like a shame to waste an award aimed at honoring science fiction and fantasy upon a book that is simply not within those genres. I don't dislike The Yiddish Policeman's Union, I just don't think it should have won the Hugo Award over the various actual science fiction novels that were nominated against it.

In other categories, a Neil Gaiman property returned to the Hugo winner's circle as the movie adaptation of Stardust won the Best Long Form Dramatic Presentation category, and Doctor Who continued its domination of the Short Form category with a win for its episode Blink. Doctor Who dominated the category, garnering a second nomination for its two part story Human Nature and The Family of Blood, while the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood took up one of the remaining three nomination slots with its episode Captain Jack Harkness. I've said this before, but having a single property dominate an award category the way Doctor Who has dominated the Short Form Dramatic Presentation Hugo is not healthy, either for the award, or for televised science fiction.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Other Finalists:
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Halting State by Charles Stross
The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer

Best Novella

Winner:

All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis

Other Finalists:
The Fountain of Age by Nancy Kress
Memorare by Gene Wolfe
Recovering Apollo 8 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Stars Seen Through Stone by Lucius Shepard

Best Novelette

Winner:

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang

Other Finalists:
The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics by Daniel Abraham
Dark Integers by Greg Egan
Finisterra by David Moles
Glory by Greg Egan

Best Short Story

Winner:

Tideline by Elizabeth Bear

Other Finalists:
Distant Replay by Mike Resnick
Last Contact by Stephen Baxter
A Small Room in Koboldtown by Michael Swanwick
Who's Afraid of Wolf 359? by Ken MacLeod

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:

Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher

Other Finalists:
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Breakfast in the Ruins: Science Fiction in the Last Millennium by Barry N. Malzberg

The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Emshwiller: Infinity x Two by Luis Ortiz

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Winner:
Stardust

Other Finalists:
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Heroes, Season 1

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Winner:
Doctor Who: Blink

Other Finalists:
Battlestar Galactica: Razor
Doctor Who: Human Nature and The Family of Blood
Star Trek New Voyages: World Enough and Time
Torchwood: Captain Jack Harkness

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Winner:
Gordon van Gelder

Other Finalists:
Ellen Datlow
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Sheila Williams

Best Professional Editor: Long Form

Winner;
David G. Hartwell

Other Finalists:
Lou Anders
Ginjer Buchanan
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Beth Meacham

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Stephan Martiniere

Other Finalists:
Bob Eggleton
Phil Foglio
John Harris
John Picacio
Shaun Tan

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:

Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, and Liza Groen Trombi

Other Finalists:
Ansible edited by Dave Langford
Helix SF edited by William Sanders and Lawrence Watt-Evans
Interzone edited by Andy Cox

The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kristine Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, and Kevin J. Maroney

Best Fanzine

Winner:

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Other Finalists:
Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian, III
Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia
Plokta edited by Steve Davies, Alison Scott, and Mike Scott

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

John Scalzi

Other Finalists:
Chris Garcia
Dave Langford
Cheryl Morgan
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Brad Foster

Other Finalists:
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Mary Robinette Kowal

Other Finalists:
Joe Abercrombie
Jon Armstrong
David Anthony Durham
David Louis Edelman
Scott Lynch

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's finalists: 2007
Go to subsequent year's finalists: 2009

2008 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home

2008 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Seattle, Washington.

Comments: One of the more difficult things to do is to write something about every annual set of award nominees for the major genre fiction awards that I am tracking on this blog. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that in many cases I haven't read many of the books on the list - reading and reviewing all of these books being the point of this blog after all. As a result, sometimes I simply don't have anything to say about a set of nominees. And this is one of those times.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Other Nominees:
2.   Spook Country by William Gibson
3.   Halting State by Charles Stross
4.   Brasyl by Ian McDonald
5.   The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman
6.   Axis by Robert Charles Wilson
7.   Black Man (aka Thirteen) by Richard Morgan
8.   The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod
9.   Ha'penny by Jo Walton
10. Sixty Days and Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson
11. Undertow by Elizabeth Bear
12. Mainspring by Jay Lake
13. Queen of Candesce by Karl Schroeder
14. The Sons of Heaven by Kage Baker
15. The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds
16. Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
17. Shelter by Susan Palwick
18. HARM by Brian W. Aldiss
19. In War Times by Kathleen Ann Goonan

20. Engineer Trilogy (Devices and Desires, Evil for Evil, The Escapement) by K.J. Parker

21. The Last Colony by John Scalzi
22. Conqueror by Stephen Baxter
23. Till Human Voices Wake Us by Mark Budz

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Other Nominees:
2.   Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
3.   Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe
4.   Territory by Emma Bull
5.   Endless Things by John Crowley
6.   The White Tyger by Paul Park
7.   Softspoken by Lucius Shepard
8.   Ink by Hal Duncan
9.   Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente
10. Whiskey and Water by Elizabeth Bear
11. The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson
12. A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham
13. The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
14. Titans of Chaos by John C. Wright
15. Daughter of Hounds by Caitlín R. Kiernan
16. The Spiral Labyrinth by Matthew Hughes
17. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
18. Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt
19. Bone Song by John Meaney

Best Young Adult Book
Winner:
1.   Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

Other Nominees:
2.   Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin
3.   The H-Bomb Girl by Stephen Baxter
4.   Extras by Scott Westerfeld
5.   Magic's Child by Justine Larbalestier
6.   Ironside by Holly Black
7.   The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
8.   Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey
9.   Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
10. Verdigris Deep (aka Well Witched) by Frances Hardinge
11. The Dream Quake (aka Dreamquake) by Elizabeth Knox
12. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Best First Novel
Winner:

1.    Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Other Nominees:
2.   The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
3.   Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce
4.   One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak
5.   City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
6.   Grey by Jon Armstrong
7.   The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe
8.   Breakfast with the One You Love by Eliot Fintushel
9.   Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
10. Maledicte by Lane Robins

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   After the Siege by Cory Doctorow

Other Nominees:

2.   Memorare by Gene Wolfe

3.   All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis
4.   Stars Seen through Stone by Lucius Shepard
5.   Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons
6.   The Master Miller's Tale by Ian R. MacLeod
7.   Fountain of Age by Nancy Kress
8.   Illyria by Elizabeth Hand
9.   Recovering Apollo 8 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
10. The Emperor and the Maula by Robert Silverberg
11. Dagger Key by Lucius Shepard
12. Hormiga Canyon by Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling
13. Dead Money by Lucius Shepard
14. The Lees of Laughter's End by Steven Erikson
15. The Game by Diana Wynne Jones
16. Awakening by Judith Berman
17. Of Love and Other Monsters by Vandana Singh
18. Womb of Every World by Walter Jon Williams

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   The Witch's Headstone by Neil Gaiman

Other Nominees:
2.   The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
3.   Dark Integers by Greg Egan
4.   We Never Talk About My Brother by Peter S. Beagle
5.   Trunk and Disorderly by Charles Stross
6.   Wikiworld by Paul Di Filippo
7.   The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics by Daniel Abraham
8.   Urdumheim by Michael Swanwick
9.   Cryptic Coloration by Elizabeth Bear
10. The Magic Animal by Gene Wolfe
11. Kiosk by Bruce Sterling
12. Glory by Greg Egan
13. Against the Current by Robert Silverberg
14. Winter's Wife by Elizabeth Hand (reviewed in Errantry: Strange Stories)
15. Light by Kelly Link
16. Hellfire at Twilight by Kage Baker
17. The Skysailor's Tale by Michael Swanwick
18. Finisterra by David Moles
19. The Constable of Abal by Kelly Link
20. A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil's Ninth Question by Andy Duncan
21. The Surgeon's Tale by Jeff VanderMeer and Cat Rambo
22. An Ocean is a Snowflake, Four Billion Miles Away by John Barnes
23. The Bone Man by Frederic S. Durbin
24. Holly and Iron by Garth Nix
25. The Sky is Large and the Earth is Small by Chris Roberson
26. Dance of Shadows by Fred Chappell

27. The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change by Kij Johnson

28. The Forest by Laird Barron
29. Safeguard by Nancy Kress
30. Wizard's Six by Alex Irvine
31. Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon by Theodora Goss
32. Crossing the Seven by Jay Lake

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   A Small Room in Koboldtown by Michael Swanwick

Other Nominees:

2.   The Last and Only, or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French by Peter S. Beagle

3.   Who's Afraid of Wolf 359? by Ken MacLeod
4.   Tideline by Elizabeth Bear
5.   Last Contact by Stephen Baxter
6.   Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse by Andy Duncan
7.   Art of War by Nancy Kress
8.   Jesus Christ, Reanimator by Ken MacLeod
9.   The Dreaming Wind by Jeffrey Ford
10. Pirates of the Somali Coast by Terry Bisson
11. Barrens Dancing by Peter S. Beagle
12. The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer
13. The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford
14. Always by Karen Joy Fowler
15. Artifice and Intelligence by Tim Pratt
16. Magic with Thirteen-Year-Old Boys by Robert Reed
17. Among Strangers by Pat Cadigan
18. Orm the Beautiful by Elizabeth Bear
19. Mrs. Zeno's Paradox by Ellen Klages
20. Verthandi's Ring by Ian McDonald
21. The Ruby Incomparable by Kage Baker
22. Memoir of a Deer Woman by M. Rickert
23. Osama Phone Home by David Marusek
24. Stone and the Librarian by William Browning Spencer
25. Sanjeev and Robotwallah by Ian McDonald
26. The Manticore Spell by Jeffrey Ford
27. Holiday by M. Rickert
28. (tie) The Lost Boy: A Reporter at Large by Maureen F. McHugh
      (tie) Under the Bottom of the Lake by Jeffrey Ford
30. Three Days of Rain by Holly Phillips
31. Soul Case by Nalo Hopkinson
32. By Fools Like Me by Nancy Kress
33. Singing of Mount Abora by Theodora Goss
34. Fragrant Goddess by Paul Park
35. The Lustration by Bruce Sterling
36. Electric Rains by Kathleen Ann Goonan
37. A Plain Tale from Our Hills by Bruce Sterling
38. Graduation Afternoon by Stephen King
39. Clockmaker's Requiem by Barth Anderson
40. Catherine and the Satyr by Theodora Goss
41. Molly and the Red Hat by Benjamin Rosenbaum
42. C-Rock City by Jay Lake and Greg Van Eekhout

Best Collection
Winner:

1.   The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories by Connie Willis

Other Nominees:

2.   The Jack Vance Treasury by Jack Vance

3.   Overclocked by Cory Doctorow
4.   The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick

5.   Things Will Never Be the Same: Selected Short Fiction 1980-2005 by Howard Waldrop

6.   New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear
7.   Gods and Pawns by Kage Baker
8.   Ascendancies: The Best of Bruce Sterling by Bruce Sterling
9.   Dagger Key and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard
10. Portable Childhoods by Ellen Klages

11. The Nail and the Oracle: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume XI by Theodore Sturgeon

12. Hart & Boot & Other Stories by Tim Pratt
13. Getting to Know You by David Marusek
14. Past Magic by Ian R. MacLeod
15. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron
16. The Fate of Mice by Susan Palwick
17. Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
18. The Guild of Xenolinguists by Sheila Finch
19. The Girl Who Loved Animals and Other Stories by Bruce McAllister
20. Rynemonn by Terry Dowling

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   The New Space Opera edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan

Other Nominees:

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

3.   The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

4.   The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2007: Twentieth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin J. Grant

5.   The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant

6.   Wizards edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
7.   Logorrhea edited by John Klima
8.   Eclipse One: New Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Jonathan Strahan
9.   Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge edited by Lou Anders
10. Inferno edited by Ellen Datlow
11. Year's Best SF 12 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
12. The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction edited by George Mann

13. Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel

14. The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume One edited by Jonathan Strahan

15. Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine 30^th Anniversary Anthology edited by Sheila Williams

16. Best Short Novels: 2007 edited by Jonathan Strahan
17. The SFWA European Hall of Fame edited by James Morrow and Kathryn Morrow

18. The Best of the Best, Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels edited by Gardner Dozois

19. Year's Best Fantasy 7 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer

20. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Eighteen edited by Stephen Jones

21. Worlds Apart: An Anthology of Russian Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Alexander Levitsky

22. Fantasy: The Best of the Year: 2007 Edition edited by Rich Horton
23. Science Fiction: The Best of the Year: 2007 Edition edited by Rich Horton

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1.   Breakfast in the Ruins by Barry N. Malzberg

Other Nominees:

2.   Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction edited by Jeff Prucher

3.   The Country You Have Never Seen by Joanna Russ

4.   Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1970 to 1980 by Mike Ashley

5.   Shadows of the New Sun: Wolfe on Writing/Writers on Wolfe by Peter Wright
6.   Sides by Peter Straub

7.   Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares edited by S.T. Joshi

8.   Anne McCaffrey: A Life with Dragons by Robin Roberts
9.   Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia by Brian Stableford
10. Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction by Gary Westfahl

11. The Cultural Influences of William Gibson, the "Father" of Cyberpunk Science Fiction edited by Carl B. Yoke and Carol L. Robinson

Best Art Book
Winner:

1.   The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Other Nominees:

2.   Spectrum 14: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner

3.   Emshwiller: Infinity x Two edited by Luis Ortiz

4.   Dreamscape: The Best of Imaginary Realism edited by Claus Brusen and Marcel Salome

5.   Mervyn Peake: The Man and His Art compiled by Sebastian Peake and Alison Eldred, edited by G. Peter Winnington

6.   Fantasy Art Now: The Very Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art & Illustration edited by Martin McKenna

7.   Beowulf: A Tale of Blood, Heat, and Ashes retold by Nicky Raven, illustrated by John Howe

8.   Worlds of Amano by Yoshitaka Amano
9.   The Adventuress by Audrey Niffenegger
10. Women: Motifs and Variations by Rafal Olbinski

Best Editor
Winner:
1.   Ellen Datlow

Other Nominees:
2.   Gardner Dozois
3.   Gordon van Gelder
4.   David G. Hartwell
5.   Patrick Nielsen Hayden
6.   Jim Baen
7.   Jonathan Strahan
8.   Gavin Grant and Kelly Link
9.   Lou Anders
10. Sheila Williams
11. Jeff VanderMeer
12. Terri Windling
13. Peter Crowther
14. Teresa Nielsen Hayden
15. Stanley Schmidt
16. Robert Silverberg
17. Stephen Jones
18. Shawna McCarthy
19. Beth Meacham
20. Martin H. Greenberg
21. Toni Weisskopf
22. Ginjer Buchanan
23. Sharyn November
24. William K. Schafer
25. Betsy Wollheim
26. Andy Cox
27. Susan Marie Groppi
28. Deborah Layne and Jay Lake
29. Juliet Ulman
30. Betsy Mitchell

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction

Other Nominees:
2.   Asimov's
3.   Analog
4.   Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
5.   Subterranean
6.   Interzone
7.   Realms of Fantasy
8.   Jim Baen's Universe
9.   Strange Horizons
10. The New York Review of Science Fiction
11. Weird Tales
12. Postscripts
13. Ansible
14. Clarkesworld Magazine
15. SF Site
16. Fantasy Magazine
17. SF Weekly
18. Cemetery Dance
19. Electric Velocipede
20. Black Gate
21. SFRevu
22. Internet Review of Science Fiction
23. Talebones

Best Book Publisher or Imprint
Winner:
1.   Tor

Other Nominees:
2.   Subterranean Press
3.   Night Shade Books
4.   Baen
5.   Bantam Spectra
6.   Ace
7.   DAW
8.   Del Rey
9.   Gollancz
10. Pyr
11. PS Publishing
12. Small Beer Press
13. Golden Gryphon
14. Tachyon
15. Eos
16. Roc
17. Orbit
18. NESFA Press
19. Firebird
20. St. Martin's
21. MonkeyBrain
22. SF Book Club
23. Arkham House
24. Meisha Merlin
25. Prime
26. Luna
27. Wheatland

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Charles Vess

Other Nominees:
2.   Michael Whelan
3.   Shaun Tan
4.   John Picacio
5.   Stephan Martiniere
6.   Bob Eggleton
7.   Dave McKean
8.   Donato Giancola
9.   John Jude Palencar
10. Kinuko Y. Craft
11. Jim Burns
12. Thomas Canty
13. Yoshitaka Amano
14. J.K. Potter
15. Frank Wu
16. Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
17. Frank Frazetta
18. Clive Barker
19. Boris Vallejo
20. Vincent Di Fate
21. Tom Kidd
22. Michael Kaluta
23. Paul Kidby
24. David Cherry
25. Don Maitz
26. Luis Royo
27. Brom
28. Les Edwards
29. Julie Bell
30. Stephen Youll

Go to previous year's nominees: 2007
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2009

Book Award Reviews     Home

Random Thought - Magazines

I'm usually a fairly forward leaning guy. I grew up with computers in the house, I think it is a travesty that we aren't farming the oceans like in The Deep Range, and that there is really no excuse for abandoning the moon after Apollo and so on. But in some ways, I think I'm a dinosaur. While sending in a subscription for Realms of Fantasy today, I realized that one of those areas is definitely magazines.

One thing that is certain is that magazine readership is on the decline. Magazine subscriptions are down. The print magazine business has been on the decline for quite a while, certainly it is much smaller now than it was in the 1940s and 1950s. Dozens of magazine titles have gone out of business, and almost all of the others have seen their volumes decline precipitously.

And yet, I subscribe to and read seven different magazines: The Economist, National Geographic, Science News, Locus, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and Asimov's Science Fiction. As of today, with the addition of Realms of Fantasy, the total is up to eight. Note that not only do I subscribe to them, I said "and read" - I think this is important. I know a lot of people who subscribe to one or another magazine and never read the issues. I used to subscribe to the daily Washington Post, but I realized I never read it, so I discontinued it.

But still, eight magazine subscriptions. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Can you hear the crashing footsteps of a dinosaur?

Random Thoughts     Home

Biased Opinion - No Squid Faced Aliens Need Apply

Following up on my last entry, I decided to put together a short list of science fiction that doesn't meet Margaret Atwood's definition of science fiction. If you recall, according to her, Oryx and Crake isn't science fiction because it has "no intergalactic space travel, no teleportation, no Martians". To expand on her statements, apparently science fiction is "when you have rockets and chemicals". Also, according to Ms. Atwood, science fiction is about "talking squids in outer space". It certainly isn't about a dystopian future in which religious zealots have taken over the U.S. government and forced women into concubinage (like her other science fiction story, The Handmaid's Tale, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award).

All of which is pretty much just a list of reasons why some writers should never be allowed to give interviews, because they will just embarrass themselves by exposing their ignorance.

But, just for fun, I figured I'd come up with a list of books that are clearly science fiction, but that manage to avoid these elements. But, just to see how far I can push the definition, I decided to make the terms a little more restrictive than even Ms. Atwood does.

1. No intergalactic space travel. This definition wouldn't actually exclude many science fiction books at all, primarily because there aren't all that many stories featuring intergalactic space travel; that is, space travel between galaxies. David Brin's second Uplift series has travel between galaxies, as does E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series (read review), but not many others do. Even Isaac Asmiov's Foundation series (read review) and Frank Herbert's Dune series, which feature galaxy spanning empires don't have intergalactic space travel. I think Ms. Atwood meant to say interstellar or interplanetary space travel (or maybe even just space travel at all, but that prevents people from writing about stuff that people have actually done, so that is probably too restrictive). Just for grins, I'll say that she meant interplanetary space travel, and exclude from my list anything that involves travel between planets, stars, or galaxies.

2. No teleportation. This actually doesn't exclude much of anything. Very few science fiction works actually involve teleportation. Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination gets eliminated from my list by this restriction, as does a fair amount of Larry Niven's Known Space books, since they include teleportation plates. Some relatively minor works like Jumper also have teleportation. On the whole, though, unless you think Star Trek with its transporters is the core of science fiction, not many works actually feature this element.

3. No Martians. This specific definition doesn't affect many science fiction works either, since comparatively few feature actual Martians. Robert A. Heinlein's Red Planet, and Podkayne of Mars feature Martians, as does Isaac Asimov's David Starr, Space Ranger. Of course, a lot of older pulp stories like Burrough's Barsoom series feature Martians too. But let's not limit ourselves to Martians, let's exclude from my list all books that involve aliens - that is - all books that feature intelligent life from planets other than Earth. That certainly takes care of any books involving "talking squids in outer space". To tell the truth, I'm not sure how many science fiction stories actually feature talking squids, maybe The Human Pets of Mars, or maybe War of the Worlds would qualify, but the list of books with that specific element seems to be pretty small.

I've also decided to not list science fiction short stories, or else the list would become ridiculously long without really even having to try - The Roads Must Roll, The Nine Billion Names of God, If This Goes On-, Coventry, and so on just seem to be too much like absurdly low-hanging fruit. So, what sort of list do we have once we exclude interplanetary space travel, teleportation, and aliens from our list? Quite a bit actually.

(Side note: I make no claims as to the quality of any particular work listed here. I also don't pretend that this is anything like a comprehensive list of books that are science fiction, but don't have the elements that Ms. Atwood thinks characterize the genre. This is simply an off the top of my head list of books that I remember that meet the stated criteria. I'm sure that any number of people could easily add works I forgot to this list.)

Without further ado, here's the list, arranged by author, in no particular order.

Robert A. Heinlein: The Door Into Summer, I Will Fear No Evil, Farnham's Freehold, and Sixth Column (also titled The Day After Tomorrow)

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle: Lucifer's Hammer, Inferno, and Oath of Fealty

Larry Niven and Steven Barnes: Dream Park, The California Voodoo Game (read review), and The Barsoom Project

Arthur C. Clarke: The Ghost from the Grand Banks

Brian Aldiss: Greybeard

Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451

Richard Cowper: The Road to Corlay, A Dream of Kinship, and A Tapestry of Time

William Gibson: Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Count Zero

Robert Sheckley: Immortality, Inc.

Alfred Bester: The Demolished Man (read review)

Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon

John Varley: Millennium

Russell Hoban: Riddley Walker

H.G. Wells: The Invisible Man, and The Island of Dr. Moreau

Aldous Huxley: Brave New World

Yevgeny Zamyatin: We

Robert Mason: Weapon

Nancy Kress: Beggars in Spain

John Brunner: Stand on Zanzibar

David Brin: Earth and The Postman

Greg Egan: Permutation City

Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Prey, and The Andromeda Strain

Andre Norton: No Night Without Stars

I could go on and on, but I figure this is enough to prove my point. Science fiction gets along just fine without space travel, aliens, and teleportation. In point of fact, many of the most influential works of science fiction feature none of these elements, and yet, somehow, despite Ms. Atwood's claims, they remain science fiction.

As does a story about a dystopian future that deals extensively with the results of genetic engineering. She can twist, dodge, and play semantic games all she wants, but Ms. Atwood has written two books that are clearly science fiction, whether she wants to admit it or not.

Biased Opinions     Home

Biased Opinion - Been a While

Well, it's been a while since I updated this. I blame fantasy baseball - I got talked into rejoining the Internet Simulated Baseball League (which I had left several years ago) and, since I don't do much of anything halfway, I spent a lot of time researching for the league auction and setting my roster and so on. That is now back to a moderate time waster for me now though, I just have to make sure to get my games in on time for the rest of the season.

Onward.

I have found it amusing recently to read about the various "serious" authors who have, to their horror, discovered that they have written science fiction, and then seen their frantic attempts to explain that their books are not actually science fiction. Actually, let me rephrase that: their ludicrous, unconvincing, and incredibly juvenile attempts to explain that their books are not science fiction.

The most famous would be Margaret Atwood. She's written not one, but two works of science fiction: The Handmaid's Tale (for which she won a, gasp, science fiction award), and Oryx and Crake. However, despite the fact that Oryx and Crake is about a dystopian future with a plot that heavily features the results of widespread genetic engineering, according to Ms. Atwood, it isn't science fiction. In her words it "is a speculative fiction, not a science fiction proper." Apparently this is because, "it contains no intergalactic space travel, no teleportation, no Martians." That's about as convincing as saying that the thing I'm wearing on my upper body isn't a shirt, because it is red, and shirts are blue. It is the sort of semantic dodge that only a child would consider sensible, and it is really unworthy of someone who is capable of writing publishable fiction.

I suppose I could be more charitable and assume that Ms. Atwood simply hasn't actually read much science fiction, and thus doesn't know that her definition of the term makes no sense. That makes her seem a little less childish, but it instead results in the conclusion that Ms. Atwood is simply poorly educated on the subject. In other words, she is a writer who simply doesn't know anything about the genre she has written in. This is just one of the more obvious examples of writers and critics doing everything in their power to explain how a work written by one of the "literati" that is clearly science-fiction (or fantasy) really isn't.

For example, P.D. James' Children of Men, about a future in which women have lost the ability to have children, according to the New York Times, apparently isn't science fiction. it is, "a trenchant analysis of politics and power that speaks urgently to this social moment". Which apparently means it, by definition, cannot be a work of science fiction. I suppose one could also say that the movie Chariots of Fire isn't about people who are competitive runners, but that it is about people who "move their legs really fast while trying to go around a track faster than anyone else." It would make about as much sense.

The list goes on. Apparently Douglas Adams didn't write science fiction, he wrote books that happened to be about space and time. Steven Fry, who used time travel in one of his novels, never wrote a science fiction novel either. The common theme is that these authors simply define science fiction as "something other than what I wrote" using some of the most transparently poorly thought out semantic dodges I have ever seen.

I think that the fact that I was looking at a bunch of these semantic dodges at the same time I was looking at some material debunking a host of creationist claims about the origins of life brought home to me that the "literati" really are a lot like creationists. Because they can't teach creationism in public schools (because it is religion, and not science), its advocates have tried to use the semantic dodge of calling their theories "intelligent design". Of course, they fool no one (in point of fact, when tested in court, "intelligent design" has been correctly determined to simply be creationism renamed). Similarly, authors like Ms. Atwood don't fool anyone with their silly semantic arguments. A shovel is still a shovel, even if you call it an "human powered earth moving tool". Trying to argue that the shovel is, in fact, not a shovel based upon this sort of renaming would just make someone look ridiculous.

And, in the end, all the people who posture, protest, and deny that what they have produced is actually science fiction but "an examination of the impact of technology on humans in the future" or some such semantic nonsense - all they really do is make themselves look ridiculous. We aren't fooled. No one is. In the end, they only expose their own prejudices and lack of education.

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2008 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Austin, Texas.

Comments: The 2008 Nebula Awards were more or less as uninteresting as the 2007 Nebula awards had been, with nominations for and wins by the books and authors that one would expect to win. Even the win for Best Script that Pan's Labyrinth earned is only surprising because it managed to beat a Doctor Who episode for the prize. No single person received more than one nomination. None of the winners were undeserving, in fact, the very predictable nature of the ballots this year is because all of the winners were deserving selections. The very uninteresting nature of this year's array of ballots and winners is probably the most interesting thing about it. Even in terms of gender equality 2008 was a fairly ordinary year, with women nominated for, and winning a decent share of the awards. I don't know why 2008 turned out to be so bland, perhaps the SFWA is simply becoming predictable, but the fact remains that it did.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Other Nominees:
The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman
The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson
Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
Ragamuffin by Tobias S. Buckell

Best Novella

Winner:

Fountain of Age by Nancy Kress

Other Nominees:
Awakening by Judith Berman
The Helper and His Hero by Matt Hughes
Kiosk by Bruce Sterling
Memorare by Gene Wolfe
Stars Seen through Stone by Lucius Shepard

Best Novelette

Winner:

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang

Other Nominees:
Child, Maiden, Mother, Crone by Terry Bramlett
The Children's Crusade by Robin Wayne Bailey

The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs Of North Park After the Change by Kij Johnson

The Fiddler of Bayou Teche by Delia Sherman
Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy) by Geoff Ryman
Safeguard by Nancy Kress

Best Short Story

Winner:
Always by Karen Joy Fowler

Other Nominees:
Captive Girl by Jennifer Pelland
Pride by Mary A. Turzillo
The Story of Love by Vera Nazarian
Titanium Mike Saves the Day by David D. Levine
Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse by Andy Duncan

Best Script

Winner:

Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro

Other Nominees:

Children of Men by Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby

Doctor Who: Blink by Steven Moffat

The Prestige by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan (based on the novel by Christopher Priest)

Star Trek - New Voyages: World Enough and Time by Marc Scott Zicree and Michael Reaves

V for Vendetta by Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski

Andre Norton Award

Winner:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Other Nominees:
Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
The Lion Hunter by Elizabeth Wein
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman

Ray Bradbury Award

Winner:

Joss Weedon

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 2007
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2009

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Biased Opinion - Taxes

So, it is political season, and it is starting to hit Virginia in earnest. Campaign ads are all over the television and radio, we have gotten campaign calls pretty much every day for a while now and so on. And, of course, I watched the candidates lie a lot.

If you didn't gather this before, in my my day job I work for a federal agency as a fiscal law attorney. Most people look at me when I tell them that with this puzzled look on their face wondering what the heck that means. Basically, my job is to advise people who I work with concerning the legalities of spending that portion of federal money allocated to our agency. I also look at the budget when it is being developed in order to see if there is anything we need to know about ahead of time, or think we need to ask Congress to change for various reasons. Although not strictly necessary for my job, this has also given me some contact with the tax code that brings the revenue in to the government.

Knowing this, I am never surprised when candidates for federal office display a shocking ignorance of the federal budget when they talk about what they intend to do in office. When people running for Congress or the Senate for the first time do this, I usually excuse it and figure they might learn if and when they get there. But when candidates for the nomination for President, who have served in the Congress and are touting their experience or their skill in managing legislation do this, I worry. It comes down to this: Passing the various appropriations bills is almost always the most important thing that Congress accomplishes in most years. In some years it is the only important thing Congress accomplishes.

More often, I worry about silly tax code pronouncements. Usually they talk about providing a "middle-class tax cut", because that sounds nice and egalitarian, and everyone pretty much universally thinks it is a good idea (because the vast majority of people in the country think that they are middle-class, and any middle-class tax cut will, by definition, apply to them). The problem is that such pronouncements are usually little more than lies.

The problem is that for just about any income tax cut, the bulk of the benefits will go to the very highest income earners, almost by default. The secret to income taxes in this country is that the wealthy pay almost all of them. The top 50% of income earners pay about 97% of the income taxes. The top 5% of income earners pay about 57% of the income taxes. The top 1% of income earners pay about 37% of the income taxes. Even if you define "middle-class" as being income earners between the 50^th percentile and the 95^th percentile, they only pay about 40% of the total income taxes paid. This reality makes it very difficult to create a tax cut that doesn't end up with most of the benefits accruing to the top of the income barrel - because that's where most of the money comes from. This, of course, gets people up in arms about how the tax cuts which were sold as being for the middle-class have ended up in the hands of the wealthy.

Now, this isn't a call for reducing taxes on the "wealthy", and I am not making any assessment as to how much taxes should be overall. But the reality is that after deductions and adjustments, the typical middle-class family probably only pays 4-5% of their income in income taxes as it is. There just aren't a lot of ways to drive that number down. If a politician was really serious about a middle-class tax cut, he'd look at some of the other taxes everyone pays, taxes that hit middle-class (and lower-class) individuals harder than their wealthy counterparts. The social security tax is "capped", meaning that if you make a lot of money, there comes a point where you can stop paying more into the system. The social security tax is also about 6% paid by the employee and 6% "paid" by the employer (and the reality is that the employee effectively pays the tax, he just doesn't know it), which is a much higher rate than most people end up paying in income taxes. That would be a place that the burden could be shifted "up" and the burden placed more squarely on higher income earners. It would also be a perfect place to reduce taxes on the middle-class. Of course, it would be political suicide for anyone to propose this - social security is called the third rail of American politics for a reason.

The federal government also taxes a lot of things directly at the point of sale as excise taxes. The most obvious is gas - every gallon of gas sold nets the government 18 cents (24 cents for every gallon of diesel sold). This is a lot more per gallon than the oil companies make in profit on that same gas. While the income tax is designed to be progressive, an excise tax like this is regressive - in other words, it hits those with lower income more, since it is a flat amount of money that has to be paid any time a gallon of gas is purchased. Any politician that was truly serious about reducing the tax burden on the middle-class would reduce the gas tax. Although they are taxes imposed by the states, the various sales taxes are also regressive - if a presidential candidate came up with a way to reduce the burden these sales taxes impose I would be impressed (on the converse, I was amazed when Clinton proposed a national value added tax, a hugely regressive type of tax; the proposal was, thankfully, widely ridiculed, and soundly rejected). Property taxes are also imposed by the states, and mostly hit middle-class homeowners, although you can take a credit on your income taxes.

So, the upshot of my rambling is that I have yet to see a candidate who actually has proposed any kind of tax system that will change the tax burden on the middle-class in a meaningful way. Ever. In any election. As long as they keep tinkering with the income tax system as their exclusive playing field, I don't think anyone ever will.

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Random Thought - Superbowl Sunday

So we watched the Superbowl today. I didn't really care who won, and I've never been one of those guys who can watch football for its own sake. My father can watch football all weekend, no matter who is playing, no matter if he cares who wins or not. Often, he is just hoping to see a "good game", which really means a "close game". I just can't. A game between two teams I don't care about is usually pretty much boring as far as I am concerned. So why did I sit down with my family, tune the TV to the Superbowl, and leave it on all the way through?

I suppose people do it for the commercials, and this year some of the commercials were funny, but that's probably not enough. Mostly, we did it because it was an excuse to have friends over, cook a bunch of food that was unhealthy, and talk all evening. Shrimp, sausage, and chicken gumbo, homemade dip, and homemade doughnuts were on the menu. Our neighbors are Giants fans, and my son's teacher is too (so he was pulling for them too), but we mostly ignored the game and did other stuff.

So why is it that we, like so many other people, need an excuse to get together with neighbors and friends and do sociable things together? Why is it that we only have parties around holidays like Christmas and New Year's, or the Superbowl? Why do we never just say "Hey, let's have a party next week"? I don't know. Maybe we should change that.

Random Thoughts     Home

Getting Started

Well, this is my first entry here. I predict that over time having a blog will be a headache and a burden. I'll suffer from writer's block. I'll probably post things I wish I hadn't. To top it off, almost nobody will probably ever read this.

So, why am I bothering?

Mostly to push myself to actually do what I've said I wanted to do for several years.

I have been a speculative fiction fan for most of my life. Science-fiction, fantasy, alternate history, historical fiction, and so on have always been on my bookshelf. That's not the limit of my interests though - I have books on politics, classics, books about law, history, and science piled up too. I go through books at a rapid pace - and there is always something else I want to read.

But I have always wanted to write myself. So, the basic thrust of this blog will be me keeping a record of my attempts to put thoughts on paper and get them published while balancing those efforts with my family and my work. I read that Stephen King once advised someone who asked him how to be a writer that he should "read five hours a day, and write five hours a day". I don't think I can hope to do either of those right now, but if I can aim to do each two hours a day, I think that would be a start.

"I cannot live without books" - Thomas Jefferson

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2007 Clarke Award Nominees

Location: Sci-Fi London at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus in London, United Kingdom.

Comments: As I get to the more recent Clarke Award years, one would think that I would be more familiar with the authors and works that have been nominated. After all, these are books that have been published in the very recent past by authors who are often my contemporaries. And yet, in most cases I haven't read anything by the authors who are nominated for the recent awards, or if I have it has been short fiction that I haven't mentally connected to the author in question. The landscape of recent science fiction is so vast, that even someone like me, who reads books at a rate of more than a hundred per year, simply can't keep up with all of it.

Winner
Nova Swing by M. John Harrison

Shortlist
End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Gradisil by Adam Roberts
Hav by Jan Morris
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet
Streaking by Brian Stableford

What Are the Arthur C. Clarke Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 2006
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2008

Book Award Reviews     Home

Biased Opinions

This is the list of all of the Biased Opinion posts that I have written. I call them biased opinions because I make no pretense of being an unbiased observer. I have certain leanings on various subjects that are informed by my education, background, and other factors. I think most Congress people are incompetent at their primary job of dealing with the Federal budget. I think creationists are idiots, and that actual science is mostly correct. I think that women should be treated as equals. I think copyright holders should generally have their property rights respected. And so on. If you are looking for some sort of detached "objective" analysis on a subject, this isn't the place to get it. If you are looking for the opinion of a reasonably well-educated and fairly experienced government appropriations lawyer and science fiction aficionado, you've come knocking on the correct door.

03/01/19: The Destructiveness of Voting Slates in Book Awards
11/14/18: I'm Done With Twitter
07/08/18: The Wailing Ignorance of the Star Wars Fanboys
09/28/16: Stopping Harassment After the Fact Just Isn't Good Enough
09/13/16: 2016 Hugo Awards Post Mortem
02/25/16: Why Sad Puppy Complaints Aren't Taken Seriously
08/25/15: 2015 Hugo Awards Post Mortem
04/16/15: No, You Probably Can't Separate a Work from Its Author
04/07/15: Sad Puppy Falsehoods, Tantrums, and Failures
04/02/15: Another Sad Puppy Fails History

03/08/15: The Empty Complaints of a Sad Puppy

02/26/15: Inventing a Science Fiction Past to Complain About the Science Fiction Present

02/10/15: Gender and the Hugo Awards
10/09/14: The Screaming Temper Tantrum of "GamerGate"
02/05/14: 22 Responses to 22 Creationist Questions
09/05/13: Value Does Not Exist
06/19/13: There Are No Fake Geek Girls, Only Jerk Geek Guys
06/09/13: Unkillable Characters
02/12/13: Lena Dunham and Aphrodite
02/05/13: A Good Man Steps Down and a Vile Lump of Crap Runs to Take His Place
11/23/12: A Rant About Holiday Posts
10/04/12: Typing With a Splint On Is Slow, Plus Thoughts About Public Television
03/01/11: The Top Ten Science Fiction Television Shows
02/25/11: Senator Reid Chases a Red Herring, Ignores His Actual Responsibilities
01/20/11: Cyberpunk, Neuromancer, Brooke Taylor, and Facebook
12/27/10: Margaret Atwood Makes a Fool Out of Herself, Again
12/06/10: A Defense of (and Farewell to) Confidentiality
11/22/10: Dairy Goat Journal Does the Right Thing
11/18/10: Real Trials Sometimes Result in Acquittals
11/17/10: An Open Letter to Judith Griggs
11/13/10: Thomas Jefferson, Still Not on the Side of Religion in Government
11/10/10: Was Dairy Goat Journal Simply Not Paying Attention This Week?
11/10/10: The United States Is Not Built on a Religious Foundation
11/09/10: Cooks Source Just Doesn't Get It
11/08/10: A Senator Lies to You and Me
11/04/10: Cooks Source, Judith Griggs, and Copyright
11/03/10: Marsha Blackburn and the Federal Budget
10/20/10: Glen Beck Reaches for the Stupid, and Succeeds
10/18/10: Watching Sister Wives and Wondering
01/30/09: Nitpicking Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings
09/16/08: Not All Opinions Matter
08/25/08: What Is a Sport?
08/24/08: Olympic Fraud and Disillusionment
05/07/08: No Squid Faced Aliens Need Apply
05/07/08: Been a While
02/05/08: Taxes

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2007 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: A year after the Alan Moore graphic novel V for Vendetta was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the film version of the story was given a special award by the Libertarian Futurist Society. As I have said before, this sort of ad hoc method of honoring current works that are not novels seems to me to be indicative of the limitations of the Prometheus Awards as they stand today. Quite simply, while the Hall of Fame permits the Prometheus Awards to honor works of fiction from the past no matter the medium they appeared in, the only way for the Prometheus awards to honor current works of fiction that are not novels is to give them a special award. The frequency with which special awards have been handed out in recent years appears to indicate that the Prometheus Awards may be due for an overhaul.

Best Novel

Winner:

Glasshouse by Charles Stross

Other Nominees:

Empire by Orson Scott Card

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
Harbingers by F. Paul Wilson
Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge

Hall of Fame

Winner:

(tie) It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

(tie) True Names by Vernor Vinge

Other Nominees:
Animal Farm by George Orwell
As Easy as A.B.C. by Rudyard Kipling
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King) by J.R.R. Tolkien

Special Award

Winner:

V for Vendetta directed by James McTeigue, screenplay by Larry and David Wachowski

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 2006
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2008

Book Award Reviews     Home

2007 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Saratoga Springs, New York.

Comments: 2007 was a banner year for fantasy author Mary Rickert, who writes under the name "M. Rickert". She won two World Fantasy Awards in the categories of Best Short Fiction and Best Collection, and earned another nomination in the Best Novella category. Mary Rickert is clearly one of the elite of the fantasy fiction writing world, capable of turning out high quality and marketable work. And yet, the name she writes under is an indication of the lingering sexism of the publishing world. As a rule of thumb, whenever a woman uses her initials in place of her full name, she is doing it because her publisher thinks that having a woman's name on the cover of a book will depress sales. The use of initials by C.J. Cherryh, A.S. King, C.S. Friedman, P.D. James, and yes, M. Rickert, are a testament to this sad reality.

Best Novel

Winner:
Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe

Other Nominees:
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Lisey's Story by Stephen King
The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

Best Novella

Winner:
Botch Town by Jeffrey Ford

Other Nominees:
Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
The Lineaments of Gratified Desire by Ysabeau S. Wilce
The Man Who Got Off the Ghost Train by Kim Newman
Map of Dreams by M. Rickert

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
Journey Into the Kingdom by M. Rickert

Other Nominees:
Another Word for Map is Faith by Christopher Rowe
Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy) by Geoff Ryman
A Siege of Cranes by Benjamin Rosenbaum
The Way He Does It by Jeffrey Ford

Best Anthology

Winner:

Salon Fantastique edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Other Nominees:

Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard edited by Scott A. Cupp and Joe R. Lansdale

Firebirds Rising edited by Sharyn November
Retro Pulp Tales edited by Joe R. Lansdale
Twenty Epics edited by David Moles and Susan Marie Groppi

Best Collection

Winner:

Map of Dreams by M. Rickert

Other Nominees:
American Morons by Glen Hirshberg
The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke
Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Betty Ballantine
Diana Wynne Jones

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Shaun Tan

Other Nominees:
Jon Foster
Edward Miller
John Picacio
Jill Thompson

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Ellen Asher

Other Nominees:
Mark Finn
Deanna Hoak
Greg Ketter
Leonard S. Marcus

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Gary K. Wolfe

Other Nominees:
Leo Grin
Susan Marie Groppi
Leslie Howle
John Klima

Go to previous year's nominees: 2006
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2008

Book Award Reviews     Home