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Saturday, December 31, 2005

2005 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: Once again, the Libertarian Futurist Society pulled the Special Award category out of its closet so that they could honor a pair of short fiction anthologies and a graphic novel. This indicates to me that the Prometheus Awards probably should have more award categories than the current "Best Novel" and "Hall of Fame" options. However, contrary to what one might think, it appears that libertarians are extremely conservative and hidebound, and they would rather give away special awards on an ad hoc basis rather than actually making the categories match the state of the media in the world around them.

Best Novel

Winner:
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson

Other Nominees:
Anarquia by Brad Linaweaver and Kent J. Hastings
Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon
Newton's Wake by Ken MacLeod
State of Fear by Michael Crichton

Hall of Fame

Winner:
The Weapon Shops of Isher by A.E. van Vogt

Other Nominees:
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King) by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

Special Award

Winner:
Give Me Liberty edited by Mark Tier and Martin H. Greenberg
The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel by L. Neil Smith, illustrated by Scott Bieser
Visions of Liberty edited by Mark Tier and Martin H. Greenberg

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 2004
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2006

Book Award Reviews     Home

2005 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: The rules of the Mythopoeic Awards allow for an entire series to be nominated for the award in the year that the last installment in that series is published. Given the fact that the primary works of fiction produced by the two most famous Inklings were published as series, this eligibility rule seems fitting. But in some years, like 2005, in which three of the five nominees in the Best Children's Fantasy Literature category were trilogies, this rule can seem to be the root cause of some rather ridiculous looking results.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Other Nominees:
Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip
The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker
Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand
The Wizard Knight (The Knight and The Wizard) by Gene Wolfe

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett

Other Nominees:
The Abhorsen Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen) by Garth Nix
Arthur Trilogy (The Seeing Stone, At the Crossing Places, and King of the Middle March) by Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
Wise Child Trilogy (Wise Child, Juniper, and Colman) by Monica Furlong

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:
War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Janet Brennan Croft

Other Nominees:
Bareface: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's Last Novel by Doris T. Myers
Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings edited by Matthew Dickerson
Tolkien in the Land of Heroes by Anne C. Petty
Tolkien the Medievalist edited by Jane Chance

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:
Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography by Stephen Thomas Knight

Other Nominees:
Diana Wynne Jones: An Exciting and Exacting Wisdom edited by Teya Rosenberg
The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook by Jerry Griswold
Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture: What Becomes a Legend Most by William Patrick Day

Go to previous year's nominees: 2004
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2006

Book Award Reviews     Home