1979 Campbell Award Nominees

Location: Campbell Conference Awards Banquet in Lawrence, Kansas.

Comments: At this point it should not surprise anyone that the ballot for the Campbell Awards in 1979 was quirky and unlike any prior ballot that had been produced. The ever-changing nature of the Campbell Awards seems to be the only thing about them that was constant over its early years. Having established a practice of listings the winners, second place finishers, and third place finishers in previous years, the Campbell Award judges decided to take a left turn this year and just list the non-winning novels as having been given an "honorable mention". As with the other odd changes that had taken place over the years, there seems to have been no particular reason for this alteration to the way the results were reported, nor was this to be a permanent change.

Best Novel

Winner:

Gloriana by Michael Moorcock

Honorable Mention:

Altered States by Paddy Chayefsky

. . . And Having Writ . . . by Donald R. Bensen

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1980

Book Award Reviews     Home

1979 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Providence, Rhode Island.

Comments: 1979 was a banner year for women at the World Fantasy Awards. Well, comparatively speaking it was. Yes there were only three women nominated across the categories, and only one award was won by a woman. But the sad fact is that these three nominations and one win served to double the recognition that women had been given during the lifetime of the World Fantasy Awards. It is somewhat depressing to realize that Avram Davidson, by himself, received as many nominations and wins in 1979 as the entire female half of the human race. For Davidson, this was a fantastically successful year, but for women, as usual, they were mostly ignored as the World Fantasy Awards continued their embarrassing run of rampant sexism.

Best Novel

Winner:
Gloriana by Michael Moorcock

Other Nominees:
The Black Castle by Les Daniels
Night's Master by Tanith Lee
The Sound of Midnight by Charles L. Grant
The Stand by Stephen King

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
Naples by Avram Davidson

Other Nominees:
A Good Night's Sleep (aka Sleep Well of Nights) by Avram Davidson
Hear Me Now, My Sweet Abbey Rose by Charles L. Grant
The Magic Goes Away by Larry Niven
Within the Walls of Tyre by Michael Bishop

Best Anthology or Collection

Winner:
Shadows edited by Charles L. Grant

Other Nominees:
Heroes and Horrors by Fritz Leiber
Night Shift by Stephen King
Night Winds by Karl Edward Wagner
The Redward Edward Papers by Avram Davidson
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series VI edited by Gerald W. Page

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Jorge Luis Borges

Other Nominees:
John Collier
L. Sprague de Camp
H. Warner Munn
John Myers Myers
Manly Wade Wellman

Best Artist

Winner:
(tie) Alicia Austin
(tie) Dale Enzenbacher

Other Nominees:
Stephen Fabian
Michael Whelan

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
Donald M. Grant

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Donald H. Tuck

Other Nominees:
Paul C. Allen
Pat Cadigan and Arnie Fenner
W. Paul Ganley
Stuart David Schiff

Special Convention Award

Winner:
Glen Lord

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1980

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1979 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Libertarian Party National Convention in Los Angeles, California.

Comments: It seems somewhat fitting that the first Prometheus Awards were an ad hoc affair handed out at the political convention of a party that has never had any real chance at impacting U.S. politics in any substantial manner. The haphazard nature of the Prometheus Awards is further highlighted by the fact that it would take a further three years before the organizers got around to handing out a second round of gold coins. This chaotic approach seems quite apropos for an award designed by and for writers who espouse libertarian principles, and consequently were probably about as easy to organize as a herd of cats.

Best Novel

Winner:

Wheels Within Wheels by F. Paul Wilson

Other Nominees:

The Avatar by Poul Anderson

The Genesis Machine by James P. Hogan

Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1982

Book Award Reviews     Home

1979 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: Seacon '79 in Brighton, England.

Comments: After the explosion that was Star Wars, it seems inevitable that big budget blockbusters would start to show up more often in the Hugo winner rolls, and with the high dollar splash of Superman, that prediction was confirmed. But 1979 was significant for a more substantial reason: not only did a woman win the Best Novel category, two of the other four nominees were also women. When one stops to realize that James Tiptree, Jr. was actually a pen name for Alice B. Sheldon, it turns out that all but one of the Best Novel nominees were women. Certainly this was a big step forward from the days when science fiction was an exclusively boys club.

One can make too much of this however, and this must be put into proper perspective. While four of the five Best Novel nominees were in fact women, one of them was writing under a male pen name and carefully guarded her actual identity because she thought that if science fiction fans knew her true gender it would hurt her commercial viability. A slightly lesser form of this can be found in one of the other nominees, as C.J. Cherryh went by her initial and added the "h" to the end of her name to obscure the fact that she was a woman, once again, out of the fear that if her gender was widely known, her book sales would suffer. While women had come a long way by 1979, there was clearly still a long way to go.

Best Novel

Winner:
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Other Nominees:
Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh
The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
Up the Walls of the World by James Tiptree, Jr.

Best Novella

Winner:

The Persistence of Vision by John Varley

Other Nominees:
Enemies of the System by Brian W. Aldiss
Fireship by Joan D. Vinge
Seven American Nights by Gene Wolfe
The Watched by Christopher Priest

Best Novelette

Winner:

Hunter's Moon by Poul Anderson

Other Nominees:
The Barbie Murders by John Varley
Devil You Don't Know by Dean Ing
The Man Who Had No Idea by Thomas M. Disch
Mikal's Songbird by Orson Scott Card

Best Short Story

Winner:

Cassandra by C.J. Cherryh

Other Nominees:
Count the Clock that Tells the Time by Harlan Ellison
Stone by Edward Bryant
The Very Slow Time Machine by Ian Watson
View From a Height by Joan D. Vinge

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Superman

Other Nominees:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio drama)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Lord of the Rings (Ralph Bakshi version)
Watership Down

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Ben Bova

Other Nominees:
Jim Baen
Terry Carr
Edward L. Ferman
George Scithers

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Vincent Di Fate

Other Nominees:
Steve Fabian
David Hardy
Boris Vallejo
Michael Whelan

Best Fanzine

Winner:

Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis

Other Nominees:
Janus edited by Janice Bogstad and Jeanne Gomoll
Maya edited by Rob Jackson
Mota edited by Terry Hughes
Twll-Ddu edited by Dave Langford

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Bob Shaw

Other Nominees:
Richard E. Geis
Leroy Kettle
Dave Langford
D. West

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Bill Rotsler

Other Nominees:
Jim Barker
Harry Bell
Alexis Gilliland
Stu Shiffman

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Stephen R. Donaldson

Other Nominees:
Cynthia Felice
James P. Hogan
Barry B. Longyear
Elizabeth A. Lynn
Charles Sheffield

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
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Book Award Reviews     Home

1979 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Westercon 32 in San Francisco, California.

Comments: After the oddity of the 1978 Locus Award ballot, the 1979 slate is a comforting return to normality. The Best Novel category returned for one last year before the slip into Best Science Fiction Novel and Best Fantasy Novel was made permanent. The Best Novelette category returned after a year long absence, as did the Best Single Author Collection and Best Anthology categories. The Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work category was reinstated, and the Best Art or Illustrated Book was as well. In effect, almost all of the changes made in 1978 were reversed in 1979, which makes the strangeness of the 1978 Locus Award ballot all the more puzzling.

Best Novel
Winner:
1.   Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Other Nominees:
2.   Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
3.   The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
4.   The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh
5.   Colony by Ben Bova
6.   Stormqueen! by Marion Zimmer Bradley
7.   The Far Call by Gordon R. Dickson
8.   The Avatar by Poul Anderson
9.   The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny
10. Strangers by Gardner Dozois
11. The Stars In Shroud by Gregory Benford
12. Up the Walls of the World by James Tiptree, Jr.
13. The Outcasts of Heaven's Belt by Joan D. Vinge
14. Sight of Proteus by Charles Sheffield
15. The Stand by Stephen King
16. Journey by Marta Randall
17. Gloriana by Michael Moorcock
18. Saint Camber by Katherine Kurtz
19. The Faded Sun: Shon'jir by C.J. Cherryh
20. Stardance II by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson
21. (tie) The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin
      (tie) Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
23. Masters of Solitude by Marvin Kaye and Parke Godwin
24. A Different Light by Elizabeth A. Lynn
25. Kalki by Gore Vidal

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   The Persistence of Vision by John Varley

Other Nominees:

2.   The Watched by Christopher Priest

3.   Seven American Nights by Gene Wolfe
4.   Old Folks at Home by Michael Bishop
5.   Fireship by Joan D. Vinge
6.   The Doctor of Death Island by Gene Wolfe
7.   The Renewal by Pamela Sargent
8.   Insects in Amber by Tom Reamy
9.   The Treasure of Odirex by Charles Sheffield
10. A Chinese Perspective by Brian W. Aldiss

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   The Barbie Murders by John Varley

Other Nominees:
2.   Hunter's Moon by Poul Anderson
3.   Mikal's Songbird by Orson Scott Card
4.   Swanilda's Song by Frederik Pohl
5.   Devil You Don't Know by Dean Ing
6.   In Alien Flesh by Gregory Benford
7.   The Nuptial Flight of Warbirds by Algis Budrys
8.   (tie) The Gunslinger by Stephen King
      (tie) The Man Who Had No Idea by Thomas M. Disch
10. Shipwright by Donald M. Kingsbury
11. Black Glass by Fritz Leiber
12. Starswarmer by Gregory Benford
13. A Good Night's Sleep (aka Sleep Well of Nights) by Avram Davidson
14. The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck by Hilbert Schenck
15. Selenium Ghosts of the Eighteen Seventies by R.A. Lafferty
16. Within the Walls of Tyre by Michael Bishop

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Count the Clock that Tells the Time by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:

2.   View From a Height by Joan D. Vinge

3.   Stone by Edward Bryant
4.   Virra by Terry Carr
5.   A Hiss of Dragon by Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw
6.   Cassandra by C.J. Cherryh
7.   Drink Me, Francesca by Richard Cowper
8.   A Thousand Deaths by Orson Scott Card
9.   (tie) SQ by Ursula K. Le Guin
      (tie) Whores by Christopher Priest
11. The Very Slow Time Machine by Ian Watson
12. Gotcha! by Ray Bradbury
13. A Quiet Revolution for Death by Jack Dann

Best Single Author Collection
Winner:

1.   The Persistence of Vision by John Varley

Other Nominees:
2.   Strange Wine by Harlan Ellison
3.   Still I Persist in Wondering by Edgar Pangborn
4.   The Earth Book of Stormgate by Poul Anderson
5.   Infinite Dreams by Joe Haldeman
6.   Fireship by Joan D. Vinge
7.   The Best of L. Sprague de Camp by L. Sprague de Camp
8.   Night Shift by Stephen King
9.   Somerset Dreams and Other Fictions by Kate Wilhelm
10. The Best of Eric Frank Russell by Eric Frank Russell
11. Blood and Burning by Algis Budrys
12. Night Winds by Karl Edward Wagner
13. (tie) The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard by J.G. Ballard
      (tie) Born to Exile by Phyllis Eisenstein
15. The Redward Edward Papers by Avram Davidson

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   The Best Science Fiction of the Year #7 edited by Terry Carr

Other Nominees:

2.   The 1978 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

3.   Universe 8 edited by Terry Carr
4.   New Dimensions 8 edited by Robert Silverberg
5.   Stellar #4 edited by Judy-Lynn del Rey
6.   Year's Finest Fantasy edited by Terry Carr
7.   Chrysalis 2 edited by Roy Torgeson
8.   Orbit 20 edited by Damon Knight
9.   Anticipations edited by Christopher Priest
10. Swords Against Darkness III edited by andrew j. offutt
11. Immortal edited by Jack Dann
12. Millennial Women edited by Virginia Kidd
13. Shadows edited by Charles L. Grant
14. Nebula Winners Twelve edited by Gordon R. Dickson
15. Alpha 9 edited by Robert Silverberg
16. The Best of Analog edited by Ben Bova
17. Study War No More edited by Joe Haldeman

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1.   The Way the Future Was by Frederik Pohl

Other Nominees:
2.   The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol. 2 by Donald H. Tuck
3.   Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections by William G. Contento
4.   Science Fiction and Heroic Fantasy Index by Stuart W. Wells III
5.   Fantasms: A Jack Vance Bibliography by Daniel J.H. Levack and Tim Underwood

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

7.   The Complete Guide to Middle Earth by Richard Foster
8.   The International Science Fiction Yearbook by Colin Lester
9.   The Hills of Faraway: A Guide to Fantasy by Diana Waggoner
10. The American Shore by Samuel R. Delany
11. Speaking of Science Fiction by Paul Walker

Best Art or Illustrated Book
Winner:

1.   Tomorrow and Beyond edited by Ian Summers

Other Nominees:
2.   Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee
3.   The Magic Goes Away by Larry Niven, illustrated by Esteban Maroto
4.   The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo by Boris Vallejo
5.   The Illustrated Roger Zelazny by Roger Zelazny, illustrated by Gray Morrow
6.   Age of Dreams by Alicia Austin
7.   The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by Robert Holdstock
8.   Empire by Samuel R. Delany, illustrated by Howard Chaykin
9.   Fantasy by Fabian by Stephen Fabian
10. Frank Frazetta, Book III by Frank Frazetta
11. The Second Book of Virgil Finlay by Virgil Finlay
12. The Flight of Icarus by Donald Lehmkuhl, edited by Martyn Dean and Roger Dean
13. Beauty and the Beast by Chris Achilleos

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
2.   Locus edited by Charles N. Brown
3.   Analog edited by Stanley Schmidt
4.   Asimov's edited by George Scithers
5.   Omni edited by Ben Bova
6.   Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
7.   Algol/Starship edited by Andrew Porter
8.   Galileo edited by Charles C. Ryan
9.   Destinies (Ace) edited by James Baen
10. Starlog edited by Howard Zimmerman
11. Unearth edited by Jonathon Ostrowsky-Lantz and John M. Landsberg
12. Galaxy edited by J.J. Pierce
13. Asimov's SF Adventure edited by George Scithers
14. (tie) Future Life edited by Ed Naha and L.N. Nelson
      (tie) Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Boris Vallejo

Other Nominees:
2.   Michael Whelan
3.   Stephen Fabian
4.   Vincent Di Fate
5.   Frank Kelly Freas
6.   Rick Sternbach
7.   George Barr
8.   Frank Frazetta
9.   Tim Kirk
10. David Hardy
11. Darrell Sweet
12. Alicia Austin
13. Brian Froud
14. Richard Powers
15. The Brothers Hildebrandt
16. William Rotsler
17. Jack Gaughan
18. Alexis Gilliland

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1980

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1979 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Hotel Warwick, New York City, New York.

Comments: Having shed the Best Dramatic Presentation category for the time being, the 1979 Nebula Awards were back to an entirely literary affair. But this modest change to the categories wasn't the only new development in the Nebula Awards, as the winners for this year were mostly people who had never won a Nebula before. Not only that, many of the nominees were faces that hadn't previously been seen much in the world of science fiction awards. In short, the wins by Vonda N. McIntyre, John Varley, Charles L. Grant, and Edward Bryant seem to indicate that the science fiction field was undergoing something of a changing of the guard. It's not a huge change, as most of the authors had been working for quite a while before 1979, but it was a change in that the field was entirely lacking in any offerings from writers such as Asimov, Lieber, Clarke, Heinlein, Niven, Le Guin, Silverberg or any of the other usual suspects.

Best Novel

Winner:
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Other Nominees:
Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
The Faded Sun: Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh
Kalki by Gore Vidal
Strangers by Gardner Dozois

Best Novella

Winner:

The Persistence of Vision by John Varley

Other Nominees:
Seven American Nights by Gene Wolfe

Best Novelette

Winner:

A Glow of Candles, a Unicorn's Eye by Charles L. Grant

Other Nominees:
Devil You Don't Know by Dean Ing
Mikal's Songbird by Orson Scott Card

Best Short Story

Winner:
Stone by Edward Bryant

Other Nominees:
Cassandra by C.J. Cherryh
A Quiet Revolution for Death by Jack Dann

Go to previous year's nominees: 1978
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1980

Book Award Reviews     Home

1978 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: The best description one can use for the 1978 Locus Award ballot is aberrant. The first change from previous practice is the split of the Best Novel category into two: The Best Science Fiction Novel category and the Best Fantasy Novel category. This split would not be repeated in 1979, but would become the standard thereafter.

But the other omissions from the list of categories are perplexing. The Best Collection and Best Anthology categories were both left off the ballot. The Best Fanzine category was merged into the Best Magazine category, resulting in a situation in which radically different kinds of publications were competing against one another. The Best Critic and Best Artist categories also vanished. There seems to have been no real reason for Locus to have taken a machete to their award categories, and most were restored in 1979, but they did and it is entirely inexplicable.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Other Nominees:
2.   In the Ocean of Night by Gregory Benford
3.   The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley
4.   Time Storm by Gordon R. Dickson
5.   Michaelmas by Algis Budrys
6.   A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
7.   The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert
8.   Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
9.   Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
10. Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin
11. The Forbidden Tower by Marion Zimmer Bradley
12. Hunter of Worlds by C.J. Cherryh
13. Mirkheim by Poul Anderson
14. The Dark Design by Philip José Farmer
15. A Heritage of Stars by Clifford D. Simak
16. Cirque by Terry Carr
17. Moonstar Odyssey by David Gerrold
18. Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker
19. Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan
20. All My Sins Remembered by Joe Haldeman
21. The Martian Inca by Ian Watson
22. A Little Knowledge by Michael Bishop
23. If the Stars Are Gods by Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Other Nominees:
2.   Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber
3.   The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
4.   The Shining by Stephen King
5.   The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
6.   Sword of the Demon by Richard A. Lupoff
7.   Heir of Sea and Fire by Patricia A. McKillip
8.   The Book of Merlyn by T.H. White
9.   A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony
10. The Grey Mane of Morning by Joy Chant
11. Cry Silver Bells by Thomas Burnett Swann
12. Trey of Swords by Andre Norton
13. Queens Walk in the Dusk by Thomas Burnett Swann
14. Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   Stardance by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson

Other Nominees:

2.   A Snark in the Night by Gregory Benford

3.   Aztecs by Vonda N. McIntyre
4.   Auk House by Clifford D. Simak
5.   The Mars Ship by Robert Thurston
6.   In the Hall of the Martian Kings by John Varley
7.   The Family Monkey by Lisa Tuttle
8.   Cold Cash War by Robert Asprin
9.   Joelle by Poul Anderson
10. The Wonderful Secret by Keith Laumer
11. Growing Boys by Robert Aickman
12. Equinoctial by John Varley
13. Heretic in a Balloon by L. Sprague de Camp

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Jeffty Is Five by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:

2.   The Screwfly Solution by Raccoona Sheldon

3.   Air Raid by Herb Boehm
4.   A Rite of Spring by Fritz Leiber
5.   Eyes of Amber by Joan D. Vinge
6.   The Kugelmass Episode by Woody Allen
7.   The Stone City by George R.R. Martin
8.   Particle Theory by Edward Bryant
9.   Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
10. The Bagful of Dreams by Jack Vance

11. The Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven and Other Lost Songs by Carter Scholz

12. The House of Compassionate Sharers by Michael Bishop
13. The Big Fans by Keith Roberts
14. The Detweiler Boy by Tom Reamy
15. Prismatica by Samuel R. Delany
16. Good-bye, Robinson Crusoe by John Varley
17. Camera Obscura by Thomas F. Monteleone
18. Dog Day Evening by Spider Robinson
19. (tie) Bitterblooms by George R.R. Martin
      (tie) Pinnocchio by Stanley Schmidt
21. A Rain of Pebbles by Stephen Leigh

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
2.   Locus edited by Charles N. Brown
3.   Analog edited by Ben Bova
4.   Asimov's edited by George H. Scithers
5.   Galaxy edited by James Baen and J.J. Pierce
6.   Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
7.   Cosmos edited by David G. Hartwell
8.   Algol edited by Andrew Porter
9.   Galileo edited by Charles G. Ryan
10. Starlog edited by Howard Zimmerman
11. Amazing Stories edited by Ted White
12. Unearth edited by Jonathon Ostrowsky-Lantz and John M. Landsberg
13. Fantastic edited by Ted White
14. Universe edited by Terry Carr
15. Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff
16. Delap's F&SF Review edited by Richard Delap
17. Cinefantastique edited by Frederick S. Clarke
18. Orbit edited by Damon Knight
19. SF Commentary edited by Bruce Gillespie

Best Publisher
Winner:
1.   Ballantine/Del Rey

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

Go to previous year's nominees: 1977
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1979

Book Award Reviews     Home

1978 Campbell Award Nominees

Location: Campbell Conference Awards Banquet in Lawrence, Kansas.

Comments: In 1978, the Campbell Awards made what is possibly the easiest choice ever to confront the judges and gave the Best Novel honor to Frederik Pohl's magnificent novel Gateway, a novel that also won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. Despite the strong competition provided this year by the Strugatsky brothers and Philip K. Dick, whose books would probably have been front-runners for the award in almost any other year, there was never any real question as to who the ultimate winner should be.

Best Novel

Winner:

Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Second Place:

Roadside Picnic and Tale of the Troika Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky

Third Place:
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

Go to previous year's nominees: 1977
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1978 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Fort Worth, Texas.

Comments: Four years in, and the lack of recognition for women was getting to be a little bit ridiculous. Thirty-four nominations. One woman nominated. Sort of. Judy-Lynn del Rey was nominated as half of a nominated team along with her husband Lester del Rey. Over the first four years of the World Fantasy Award, there were only three nominations for women - and two of those nominations were shared with a male partner. To the modern eye this not only appears to be ridiculously sexist, but it is also surprising, as fantasy fiction has now come to be associated with large numbers of female authors. But when the World Fantasy Award was created, it is obvious that fantasy fiction was an almost entirely male preserve. Unfortunately, the World Fantasy Award, by failing to recognize any of the handful of excellent contributions to the genre made by women, seems to have helped compound this gender disparity.

Best Novel

Winner:
Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber

Other Nominees:
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Hour of the Oxrun Dead by Charles L. Grant

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
The Chimney by Ramsey Campbell

Other Nominees:
The Bagful of Dreams by Jack Vance
Jeffty Is Five by Harlan Ellison
Loveman's Comeback by Ramsey Campbell
Manatee Gal Ain't You Coming Out Tonight by Avram Davidson
When All the Children Call My Name by Charles L. Grant

Best Anthology or Collection

Winner:
Murgunstrumm and Others by Hugh B. Cave

Other Nominees:
Cold Chills by Robert Bloch
Swords and Ice Magic by Fritz Leiber
Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series V edited by Gerald W. Page

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Frank Belknap Long

Other Nominees:
Jorge Luis Borges
John Collier
Roald Dahl
Richard Matheson
Manly Wade Wellman

Best Artist

Winner:
Lee Brown Coye

Other Nominees:
Stephen Fabian
Tim Kirk
Michael Whelan

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Everett F. Bleiler

Other Nominees:
Judy-Lynn del Rey and Lester del Rey
Edward L. Ferman
Donald A. Wollheim

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Robert Weinberg

Other Nominees:
Jonathan Bacon
W. Paul Ganley
Stephen Jones
Gary Hoppenstand
Harry O. Morris, Jr.

Special Convention Award

Winner:
Kirby McCauley

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1977
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1978 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: IguanaCon II in Phoenix, Arizona.

Comments: 1978 is the year that Star Wars won a Hugo award. The world of science fiction film can be split into two parts: before Star Wars, and after Star Wars. Before Star Wars science fiction movies were usually low-budget, and almost always regarded as throwaway filler by movie studios made only to mollify the minority of movie goers who enjoyed that sort of movie. And then George Lucas came along and changed the game with an homage to the old Flash Gordon movie serials. From 1978 forward, science fiction films would be touted as summer blockbusters. Just compare the production values of Star Wars to the "best" of the 1977 nominees - Logan's Run - and the shift is apparent. And while Star Wars' $11 million budget was comparable to the $9 million budget for Logan's Run, the box office for the two movies was radically different. Logan's Run did well, with a box office run of $25 million, making back its production costs plus a modest profit. Star Wars, on the other hand, earned $410 million during its initial theatrical run (when one includes the box office from its international release). After Star Wars, nothing in filmed science fiction would be the same.

The rest of the Hugo's were fairly normal. Frederik Pohl won the Best Novel award for his brilliant novel Gateway. Spider and Jeane Robinson won for Stardance, and Harlan Ellison won yet another Hugo for Jeffty Is Five. Perhaps the most interesting development in the fiction awards was that Joan D. Vinge won a Hugo for her story Eyes of Amber, which when coupled with Jeanne Robinson's shared victory for Stardance, means that women won in two of the four written fiction categories in a single year. Another interesting bit of trivia is that Alice B. Sheldon was nominated for two different Hugo awards under two different names: Once in the Novelette category as Raccoona Sheldon for The Screwfly Solution, and another in the Short Story category as James Tiptree, Jr. for Time-Sharing Angel.

Best Novel

Winner:
Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Other Nominees:
Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin
The Forbidden Tower by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Time Storm by Gordon R. Dickson

Best Novella

Winner:

Stardance by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson

Other Nominees:
Aztecs by Vonda N. McIntyre
In the Hall of the Martian Kings by John Varley
A Snark in the Night by Gregory Benford
The Wonderful Secret by Keith Laumer

Best Novelette

Winner:

Eyes of Amber by Joan D. Vinge

Other Nominees:
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven and Other Lost Songs by Carter Scholz

Prismatica by Samuel R. Delany
The Screwfly Solution by Raccoona Sheldon

Best Short Story

Winner:

Jeffty Is Five by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:
Air Raid by Herb Boehm
Dog Day Evening by Spider Robinson
Lauralyn by Randall Garrett
Time-Sharing Angel by James Tiptree, Jr.

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Star Wars

Other Nominees:
Blood! The Life and Future Times of Jack the Ripper (album)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Hobbit (television movie)
Wizards

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
George Scithers

Other Nominees:
Jim Baen
Ben Bova
Terry Carr
Edward L. Ferman

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Rick Sternbach

Other Nominees:
Vincent Di Fate
Steve Fabian
Frank Kelly Freas
Michael Whelan

Best Fanzine

Winner:

Locus edited by Charles Brown and Dena Brown

Other Nominees:
Don-O-Saur edited by Don C. Thompson
Janus edited by Janice Bogstad and Jeanne Gomoll
Maya edited by Rob Jackson
Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Richard E. Geis

Other Nominees:
Charles Brown
Don D'Ammassa
Don C. Thompson
Susan Wood

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Phil Foglio

Other Nominees:
Grant Canfield
Alexis Gilliland
Jeanne Gomoll
Jim Shull

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Orson Scott Card

Other Nominees:
Jack L. Chalker
Stephen R. Donaldson
Elizabeth A. Lynn
Bruce Sterling

What Are the Hugo Awards?

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1978 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco, California.

Comments: Despite the fact that for organizational purposes I have the Nebula Award bestowed on Star Wars listed as an award for Dramatic Presentation, it is not. The award given to the movie was actually a Special Award, created specifically to honor Star Wars, and for which no other nominees were considered. After dabbling in honoring filmed or spoken science fiction for a couple of years, the SFWA stopped doing so, and this Special Award for Star Wars was the last award given by the SFWA to honor this type of artistic endeavor until 1992 when the SFWA bestowed the Ray Bradbury Award on Terminator 2. But the Ray Bradbury Award is not actually a Nebula Award, and the next time a Nebula Award for Dramatic Presentation was handed out was in 2000, when it was bestowed upon The Sixth Sense.

Best Novel

Winner:
Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Other Nominees:
Cirque by Terry Carr
In the Ocean of Night by Gregory Benford
Moonstar Odyssey by David Gerrold
Sword of the Demon by Richard A. Lupoff

Best Novella

Winner:

Stardance by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson

Other Nominees:
Aztecs by Vonda N. McIntyre

Best Novelette

Winner:

The Screwfly Solution by Raccoona Sheldon

Other Nominees:
The Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven and Other Lost Songs by Carter Scholz
Particle Theory by Edward Bryant
A Rite of Spring by Fritz Leiber
The Stone City by George R.R. Martin

Best Short Story

Winner:
Jeffty Is Five by Harlan Ellison

Other Nominees:
Air Raid by Herb Boehm
Camera Obscura by Thomas F. Monteleone
The Hibakusha Gallery by Edward Bryant
Tin Woodman by Dennis R. Bailey and Dave Bischoff

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:

Star Wars [technically a Special Award]

Other Nominees:

None

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1977 Campbell Award Nominees

Location: Campbell Conference Awards Banquet in Lawrence, Kansas.

Comments: One interesting thing about looking back at genre fiction awards is that you can see how some winners and nominees have aged well, and how others have not. For the field of 1977 Campbell Award nominees, the enduring appeal of the work seems to have an inverse relationship to its finishing order. Kate Wilhelm's Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang remains a well-regarded landmark in science fiction, Frederik Pohl's Man Plus is still somewhat notable and read on occasion, and Kingley Amis' The Alteration languishes in relative obscurity. This is not a comment on the quality of the novels, just how well they have endured in the eyes of fans.

Best Novel

Winner:

The Alteration by Kingsley Amis

Second Place:

Man Plus by Frederik Pohl

Third Place:
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm

Go to previous year's nominees: 1976
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1977 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: 1977 seems to have been the year for Best of collections. This year saw the publication of The Best of John W. Campbell, The Best of Damon Knight, The Best of Frederic Brown, The Best of Poul Anderson, The Best of Robert Silverberg, The Best of C.M. Kornbluth, and The Best of Jack Vance. If you were a science fiction fan in 1977 and wanted to peruse the best short fiction produced by any of these authors, this was your year to celebrate.

The other notable developments in the 1977 Locus Awards is the elimination of the Best Associational Item category, and the merger of Best Hardback Publisher and Best Paperback Publisher into the single category of Best Publisher. The Associational Item category had appeared for the first time in 1976, and there is no indication why the category was dropped. It seems to me to be almost inexplicable that such a category would be eliminated when it seems clear that many books that fit into it were being published, but it would return in 1979. The merger of the two publisher categories, on the other hand, was a good idea. The distinction between "Best Paperback Publisher" and "Best Hardback Publisher" is one that I am certain is important in industry circles, but is probably almost irrelevant to the concerns of the bulk of the Locus voters.

Best Novel
Winner:
1.   Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm

Other Nominees:
2.   Mindbridge by Joe Haldeman
3.   Man Plus by Frederik Pohl
4.   Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
5.   A World Out of Time by Larry Niven
6.   Shadrach in the Furnace by Robert Silverberg
7.   Imperial Earth by Arthur C. Clarke
8.   Millennium by Ben Bova
9.   The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny
10. Brothers of Earth by C.J. Cherryh
11. The Shattered Chain by Marion Zimmer Bradley
12. Maske: Thaery by Jack Vance
13. Michaelmas by Algis Budrys
14. Triton by Samuel R. Delany
15. The Clewiston Test by Kate Wilhelm
16. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
17. Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
18. The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson
19. Cloned Lives by Pamela Sargent
20. The End of All Songs by Michael Moorcock
21. Floating Worlds by Cecelia Holland
22. Time of the Fourth Horseman by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   The Samurai and the Willows by Michael Bishop

Other Nominees:

2.   Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Richard Cowper

3.   Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree, Jr.
4.   The Anvil of Jove by Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund
5.   The Eyeflash Miracles by Gene Wolfe
6.   Weather War by William E. Cochrane
7.   Media Man by Joan D. Vinge
8.   Birthdays by Fred Saberhagen
9.   By Any Other Name by Spider Robinson
10. The Greenhouse Effect by andrew j. offutt
11. A Thrust of Greatness by Stanley Schmidt
12. Plutonium by Arsen Darnay
13. The Crystal Ship by Joan D. Vinge

Best Novelette
Winner:

1.   The Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov

Other Nominees:
2.   The Diary of the Rose by Ursula K. Le Guin
3.   Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance by John Varley
4.   The Phantom of Kansas by John Varley
5.   The Hertford Manuscript by Richard Cowper
6.   The Psychologist Who Wouldn't Do Awful Things to Rats by James Tiptree, Jr.
7.   Custer's Last Jump by Steven Utley and Howard Waldrop
8.   Meathouse Man by George R.R. Martin
9.   Bagatelle by John Varley
10. Overdrawn at the Memory Bank by John Varley
11. Woman Waiting by Lisa Tuttle

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Tricentennial by Joe Haldeman

Other Nominees:

2.   I See You by Damon Knight (reviewed in TV: 2000)

3.   Custom Fitting by James White
4.   The Death of Princes by Fritz Leiber
5.   A Crowd of Shadows by Charles L. Grant
6.   Seeing by Harlan Ellison
7.   Paradise Beach by Richard Cowper
8.   This Tower of Ashes by George R.R. Martin
9.   Mary Margaret Road-Grader by Howard Waldrop
10. Appearance of Life by Brian W. Aldiss
11. From A to Z, In the Chocolate Alphabet by Harlan Ellison
12. The Never Ending Western Movie by Robert Sheckley
13. Stone Circle by Lisa Tuttle
14. An Infinite Summer by Christopher Priest
15. Con Artist by P.J. Plauger

Best Author Collection
Winner:
1.   A Song for Lya and Other Stories by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:
2.   Star Light, Star Bright by Alfred Bester
3.   The Worlds of Fritz Leiber by Fritz Leiber
4.   The Light Fantastic by Alfred Bester
5.   The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov
6.   The Best of Damon Knight by Damon Knight
7.   The Best of Robert Silverberg by Robert Silverberg
8.   The Best of Jack Vance by Jack Vance
9.   Alyx by Joanna Russ
10. Capricorn Games by Robert Silverberg
11. The Best of C.M. Kornbluth by Cyril M. Kornbluth, edited by Frederik Pohl
12. The Best of John W. Campbell by John W. Campbell, Jr., edited by Lester del Rey
13. The Best of Poul Anderson by Poul Anderson
14. The Best of Fredric Brown by Fredric Brown, edited by Robert Bloch
15. The Custodians and Other Stories by Richard Cowper

Best Anthology
Winner:
1.   The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5 edited by Terry Carr

Other Nominees:
2.   Stellar #2 edited by Judy-Lynn del Rey
3.   Future Power edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
4.   Universe 6 edited by Terry Carr
5.   Orbit 18 edited by Damon Knight
6.   New Dimensions 6 edited by Robert Silverberg

7.   The 1976 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

8.   The Crystal Ship edited by Robert Silverberg
9.   Science Fiction Discoveries edited by Carol Pohl and Frederik Pohl
10. Nebula Award Stories 11 edited by Ursula K. Le Guin
11. Frights edited by Kirby McCauley
12. Andromeda 1 edited by Peter Weston
13. More Women of Wonder edited by Pamela Sargent
14. Aurora: Beyond Equality edited by Vonda N. McIntyre and Susan Anderson
15. Analog Annual edited by Ben Bova
16. Bio-futures edited by Pamela Sargent

Best Magazine
Winner:
1. Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Edward L. Ferman

Other Nominees:
2. Analog edited by Ben Bova
3. Galaxy edited by James Baen
4. Amazing Stories edited by Ted White
5. Fantastic edited by Ted White
6. Universe edited by Terry Carr
7. Galileo edited by Charles G. Ryan
8. Orbit edited by Damon Knight
9. New Dimensions edited by Robert Silverberg

Best Fanzine
Winner:
1.   Locus edited by Charles Brown and Dena Brown

Other Nominees:
2.   Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
3.   Algol edited by Andrew Porter
4.   Outworlds edited by Bill Bowers
5.   Delap's F&SF Review edited by Richard Delap
6.   SF Commentary edited by Bruce Gillespie
7.   Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff
8.   Mythologies edited by Don D'Ammassa
9.   Don-O-Saur edited by Don Thompson
10. Scintillation edited by Carl Bennett
11. Rune edited by Fred Haskell
12. Karass edited by Linda Bushyater
13. Maya edited by Rob Jackson

Best Critic
Winner:
1.   Spider Robinson

Other Nominees:
2.   Lester del Rey
3.   Algis Budrys
4.   Richard E. Geis
5.   Richard Lupoff
6.   Charles N. Brown
7.   Baird Searles
8.   Richard Delap
9.   Joanna Russ
10. Susan Wood
11. Fred Patten
12. Darrell Schweitzer

Best Publisher
Winner:
1.   Ballantine

Other Nominees:
2.   DAW
3.   Science Fiction Book Club
4.   Doubleday
5.   Ace
6.   Berkley/Putnam
7.   Harper & Row
8.   Pocket
9.   Bantam
10. St. Martin's
11. Pyramid
12. Avon

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Rick Sternbach

Other Nominees:
2.   Steve Fabian
3.   Frank Kelly Freas
4.   Vincent Di Fate
5.   George Barr
6.   Tim Kirk
7.   Frank Frazetta
8.   Jack Gaughan
9.   John Schoenherr
10. Boris Vallejo
11. Michael Whelan
12. Darrell Sweet
13. Mike Hinge
14. Richard Corben
15. Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
16. The Brothers Hildebrandt
17. Jeff Jones

Go to previous year's nominees: 1976
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