1985 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 1985, two things happened that were more or less unprecedented for the Mythopoeic Awards. First, 1985 appears to be the first year in which women didn't make up at least half of the total nominees. Second, this appears to be the first time that a work written by J.R.R. Tolkien was nominated but did not win. I'm not sure if the occurrence of either event is particularly significant, but it was the first time for either.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen

Other Nominees:
The Book of Lost Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Damiano Trilogy (Damiano, Damiano's Lute, and Raphael) by R.A. MacAvoy

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Moonheart by Charles de Lint

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Reason and Imagination in C.S. Lewis by Peter J. Schakel

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1984
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1986

Book Award Reviews     Home

1985 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: 1985 was the first, and as far as I know, only, year in which the Libertarian Futurist Society returned a "No Winner" result for any category of the Prometheus Awards.There doesn't appear to be any discernible reason for the lack of a winner, as there appear to have been several quite worthy nominees - Prometheus Award regulars L. Neil Smith and F. Paul Wilson both had books nominated, while Vernor Vinge, Lee Correy, and Gordon R. Dickson all had good books make the finalist list as well. Maybe the judges were too busy reminiscing over the Poul Anderson and Eric Frank Russell books that were selected for the Hall of Fame to spend any time judging the then-current entries for the Best Novel category.

Best Novel

Winner:

No Award

Other Nominees:

The Final Encyclopedia by Gordon R. Dickson

Manna by Lee Correy
The Peace War by Vernor Vinge
Tom Paine Maru by L. Neil Smith
The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson

Hall of Fame

Winner:

The Great Explosion by Eric Frank Russell

Trader to the Stars by Poul Anderson

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1984
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1986

Book Award Reviews     Home

1985 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: 1985 is another year in which the Campbell Award result, in retrospect, seem wrong, mostly because we now know what a pervasive influence William Gibson's novel Neuromancer has had upon the field of science fiction. Essentially heralding the coming of age of the "cyberpunk" subgenre, Gibson's work inspired and shaped the way science fiction developed from the day it was published forward. It is now almost impossible to find a science fiction novel that doesn't draw upon the ideas found in Neuromancer. And yet, in 1985, it came in third in the Campbell Awards, behind two good novels that have simply not turned out to be turning points in the history of science fiction.

Best Novel

Winner:

The Years of the City by Frederik Pohl

Second Place:

Green Eyes by Lucius Shepard

Third Place:

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Go to previous year's nominees: 1984
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1986

Book Award Reviews     Home

1985 World Fantasy Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Tuscon, Arizona.

Comments: 1985 saw not one, but two different ties in the World Fantasy Awards, with Barry Hughart and Robert Holdstock sharing the award for Best Novel, and Alan Ryan and Scott Baker tying for Best Short Story. 1985 was also a good year for Clive Barker, who won in the Best Anthology or Collection category and garnered another nomination in the Best Novella category. This was also the year that the World Fantasy Awards finally got around to recognizing Theodore Sturgeon for his illustrious career.

But this year also seems like something of a step backwards. The only women who received nominations this year were Diane Wynne Jones and Shawna McCarthy. Evangeline Walton won the Special Convention Award, which I am happy to see, given that she's one of my favorite fantasy authors. But the fact remains that one win and two other nominations seems to me to be a rather thin representation for half of the human race.

Best Novel

Winner:
(tie) Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
(tie) Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock

Other Nominees:
Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones
The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein
The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

Best Novella

Winner:
The Unconquered Country by Geoff Ryman

Other Nominees:
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet by Stephen King
In the Sumerian Marshes by Gerald Pearce
Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament by Clive Barker
The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule by Lucius Shepard

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
(tie) The Bones Wizard by Alan Ryan
(tie) Still Life with Scorpion by Scott Baker

Other Nominees:
Bad Medicine by Jack Dann
Nightcrawlers by Robert R. McCammon

Best Anthology or Collection

Winner:
Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volumes I-III by Clive Barker

Other Nominees:
The Fire When It Comes by Parke Godwin
Masques edited by J.N. Williamson
Night Visions 1 edited by Alan Ryan
The Songbirds of Pain by Garry Kilworth
Viriconium Nights by M. John Harrison

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Theodore Sturgeon

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Edward Gorey

Other Nominees:
Thomas Canty
Alan Lee
J.K. Potter
Michael Whelan

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Chris van Allsburg

Other Nominees:
Robert H. Boyer and Kenneth J. Zahorski
T.E.D. Klein
Pat LoBrutto
Shawna McCarthy
Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Stuart David Schiff

Other Nominees:
Jeff Conner
W. Paul Ganley
Paul Mikol and Scot Stadalsky

Special Convention Award

Winner:
Evangeline Walton

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1984
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1986

Book Award Reviews     Home

1985 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: Aussiecon Two in Melbourne, Australia.

Comments: Cyberpunk crashed into the Hugo Awards in full force in 1985, with William Gibson's novel Neuromancer, the most famous, and probably the best example of the subgenre taking home the Best Novel prize. And not only did Gibson storm the gates of the Hugo establishment with his novel, he climbed over long time Hugo stalwarts Robert A. Heinlein and Larry Niven to get there.

This year's Best Dramatic Presentation field was an odd collection. With two light and fluffy comic pieces in Ghostbusters and The Last Starfighter, the bloated monstrosity of David Lynch's Dune, and the somewhat turgid 2010, the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, as competition, this seems like it should have been the year that Star Trek III: The Search for Spock broke through with a victory for Star Trek movies. But even though they embraced cyberpunk in the Best Novel category, Hugo voters are somewhat conservative, and they selected 2010 as the winner instead, probably as an homage to Arthur C. Clarke.

Best Novel

Winner:
Neuromancer by William Gibson

Other Finalists:
Emergence by David R. Palmer
The Integral Trees by Larry Niven
Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein
The Peace War by Vernor Vinge

Best Novella

Winner:

PRESS ENTER[] by John Varley

Other Finalists:
Cyclops by David Brin
Elemental by Geoffrey A. Landis
Summer Solstice by Charles L. Harness
Valentina by Joseph H. Delaney and Marc Stiegler

Best Novelette

Winner:

Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler

Other Finalists:
Blued Moon by Connie Willis
The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule by Lucius Shepard
Return to the Fold by Timothy Zahn
Silicon Muse by Hilbert Schenck
The Weigher by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin

Best Short Story

Winner:

The Crystal Spheres by David Brin

Other Finalists:
The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything by George Alec Effinger
Ridge Running by Kim Stanley Robinson
Rory by Steven Gould
Salvador by Lucius Shepard
Symphony for a Lost Traveler by Lee Killough

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:

Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction by Jack Williamson

Other Finalists:
The Dune Encyclopedia edited by Dr. Willis E. McNelly
The Faces of Science Fiction by Patti Perret
In the Heart or in the Head: An Essay in Time Travel by George Turner
Sleepless Nights in the Procrustean Bed by Harlan Ellison

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
2010

Other Finalists:
Dune
Ghostbusters
The Last Starfighter
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Terry Carr

Other Finalists:
Edward L. Ferman
Shawna McCarthy
Stanley Schmidt
George Scithers

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Michael Whelan

Other Finalists:
Vincent Di Fate
Tom Kidd
Val Lakey Lindahn
Barclay Shaw

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:

Locus edited by Charles N. Brown

Other Finalists:
Fantasy Review edited by Robert A. Collins
Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew I. Porter
Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff

Best Fanzine

Winner:

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Other Finalists:
Ansible edited by Dave Langford
Holier Than Thou edited by Marty Cantor and Robbie Cantor
Mythologies edited by Don D'Ammassa
Rataplan edited by Leigh Edmonds

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Dave Langford

Other Finalists:
Leigh Edmonds
Richard E. Geis
Mike Glyer
Arthur Hlavaty

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Alexis Gilliland

Other Finalists:
Brad W. Foster
Steven Fox
Joan Hanke-Woods
William Rotsler
Stu Shiffman

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Lucius Shepard

Other Finalists:
Bradley Denton
Geoffrey A. Landis
Elissa Malcohn
Ian McDonald
Melissa Scott

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1984
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1986

Book Award Reviews     Home

1985 Nebula Award Nominees

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

Comments: The cyberpunk subgenre arrived in force in 1985 with William Gibson's Neuromancer, a brilliant book that promptly won the Hugo Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Nebula Award. Meanwhile, in the short story category Gardner Dozois won for the second year in a row for his story Morning Child. Although Dozois has since come to be known mostly as an editor, his writing is also top notch, and it is kind of unfortunate that it has been so overshadowed by his editing.

But all was not rosy for the SFWA in 1985. The science fiction field seems to have been sliding backwards rather than forwards with respect to its treatment of women. After the shameful ballots of 1983 and 1984 in which only four nominees in each year were for works penned by female authors, 1985 was even worse, with only two nominations for stories written by women.

Best Novel

Winner:
Neuromancer by William Gibson

Other Nominees:
Frontera by Lewis Shiner
The Integral Trees by Larry Niven
Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein
The Man Who Melted by Jack Dann
The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson

Best Novella

Winner:

PRESS ENTER[] by John Varley

Other Nominees:
The Greening of Bed-Stuy by Frederik Pohl
Marrow Death by Michael Swanwick
A Traveler's Tale by Lucius Shepard
Trinity by Nancy Kress
Young Doctor Eszterhazy by Avram Davidson

Best Novelette

Winner:

Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler

Other Nominees:
Bad Medicine by Jack Dann
The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule by Lucius Shepard
Saint Theresa of the Aliens by James Patrick Kelly
Trojan Horse by Michael Swanwick

Best Short Story

Winner:
Morning Child by Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:
The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything by George Alec Effinger
A Cabin on the Coast by Gene Wolfe
The Eichmann Variations by George Zebrowski
Salvador by Lucius Shepard
Sunken Gardens by Bruce Sterling

Go to previous year's nominees: 1984
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1986

Book Award Reviews     Home

1984 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: One side effect of award lists is placing stories into context by lining them up with other, contemporaneous;y published stories. And sometimes, in comparison, stories don't seem to hold up all that well. As an example, I would contrast David Brin's Startide Rising, this year's Best Science Fiction novel winner with Norman Spinrad's The Void Captain's Tale, which appears in the same category a few places down the list. Startide Rising is pretty much eactly what I would expect of mid-1980s science fiction - a dynamic story of a discovery by the human and dolphin crew of the starship Streaker and the galactic upheaval that ensues. The Void Captain's Tale, on the other hand, seems like a novel from the early 1970s, replete with sexual politics that seem drawn directly from the 1960s. That these two novels were published in the same year seems almost impossible, and yet there they are.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   Startide Rising by David Brin

Other Nominees:
2.   The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
3.   Millennium by John Varley
4.   Helliconia Summer by Brian W. Aldiss
5.   The Void Captain's Tale by Norman Spinrad
6.   Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
7.   Thendara House by Marion Zimmer Bradley
8.   Against Infinity by Gregory Benford
9.   Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson
10. The Nonborn King by Julian May
11. Superluminal by Vonda N. McIntyre
12. Welcome, Chaos by Kate Wilhelm
13. The Crucible of Time by John Brunner
14. Worlds Apart by Joe Haldeman
15. Valentine Pontifex by Robert Silverberg
16. Gods of Riverworld by Philip José Farmer
17. The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
18. Forty Thousand in Gehenna by C.J. Cherryh
19. A Matter for Men by David Gerrold
20. The Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica by John Calvin Batchelor
21. Wall Around a Star by Jack Williamson and Frederik Pohl
22. Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle
23. Broken Symmetries by Paul Preuss
24. Roderick at Random by John Sladek
25. There Is No Darkness by Joe Haldeman and Jack C. Haldeman II
26. Code of the Lifemaker by James P. Hogan
27. Tik-Tok by John Sladek
28. Transformer by M.A. Foster

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Other Nominees:
2.   The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
3.   The Armageddon Rag by George R.R. Martin
4.   Lyonesse by Jack Vance
5.   White Gold Wielder by Stephen R. Donaldson
6.   Christine by Stephen King
7.   Pet Sematary by Stephen King
8.   The Dreamstone by C.J. Cherryh
9.   Damiano by R.A. MacAvoy
10. Neveryóna by Samuel R. Delany
11. Dragon on a Pedestal by Piers Anthony
12. Hart's Hope by Orson Scott Card
13. (tie) Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance
      (tie) The Sword of Winter by Marta Randall
14. Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy
15. Magician's Gambit by David Eddings
16. The Tree of Swords and Jewels by C.J. Cherryh
17. On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
18. Floating Dragon by Peter Straub
19. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
20. Anackire by Tanith Lee
21. The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
22. Sung in Shadow by Tanith Lee
23. 'Ware Hawk! by Andre Norton
24. The Silent Gondoliers by S. Morgenstern
25. The Sword Is Forged by Evangeline Walton

Best First Novel
Winner:
1.   Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy

Other Nominees:
2.   The Blackcollar by Timothy Zahn
3.   A Rumor of Angels by M. Bradley Kellogg
4.   King's Blood Four by Sheri S. Tepper
5.   Starrigger by John DeChancie
6.   The Shadow of the Ship by Robert W. Franson
7.   Harpy's Flight by Megan Lindholm
8.   Anvil of the Heart by Bruce T. Holmes
9.   The Forest of App by Gloria Rand Dank
10. Ratha's Creature by Clare Bell

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   Her Habiline Husband by Michael Bishop

Other Nominees:

2.   Cascade Point by Timothy Zahn

3.   Seeking by David R. Palmer
4.   Homefaring by Robert Silverberg
5.   Hardfought by Greg Bear
6.   Hurricane Claude by Hilbert Schenck
7.   The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis by Michael Bishop
8.   The Lord of the Skies by Frederik Pohl
9.   The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars by Fritz Leiber
10. In the Face of My Enemy by Joseph H. Delaney
11. Gilpin's Space by Reginald Bretnor
12. Aquila Meets Bigfoot by Somtow Sucharitkul
13. Eszterhazy and the Autogóndola-Invention by Avram Davidson

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   The Monkey Treatment by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:
2.   Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
3.   Slow Birds by Ian Watson
4.   Blood Music by Greg Bear
5.   Street Meat by Norman Spinrad
6.   The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis
7.   Multiples by Robert Silverberg
8.   (tie) The Black Current by Ian Watson
      (tie) The Invasion of the Church of the Holy Ghost by Russell Kirk
10. The Final Report on the Lifeline Experiment by Timothy Zahn
11. The Monkey's Bride by Michael Bishop
12. The Mind of Medea by Kate Wilhelm
13. Blind Shemmy by Jack Dann
14. And the Marlin Spoke by Michael Bishop
15. Remembering Siri by Dan Simmons
16. Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling
17. Into Whose Hands by Karl Edward Wagner
18. Belling Martha by Leigh Kennedy
19. Red Star, Winter Orbit by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson
20. (tie) In Whose Name Do We Seek the Quark? by Thomas Dulski
      (tie) Nunc Dimittis by Tanith Lee
      (tie) A Simple Case of Suicide by Marc Stiegler
23. The Hills Behind Hollywood High by Avram Davidson and Grania Davis
24. Deep Song by Reginald Bretnor
25. Life on the Tether by Mark Wheeler
26. A Day in the Life of Justin Argento Morrell by Greg Frost

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   Beyond the Dead Reef by James Tiptree, Jr.

Other Nominees:

2.   The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois

3.   Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair by Frederik Pohl
4.   Servant of the People by Frederik Pohl
5.   Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler
6.   Spook by Bruce Sterling
7.   The Geometry of Narrative by Hilbert Schenck
8.   Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu
9.   Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy
10. Brothers by Richard Cowper
11. Amanda and the Alien by Robert Silverberg
12. Solitario's Eyes by Lucius Shepard
13. Needle in a Timestack by Robert Silverberg
14. Stone Eggs by Kim Stanley Robinson
15. Golden Gate by R.A. Lafferty
16. Potential by Isaac Asimov
17. Man-Mountain Gentian by Howard Waldrop
18. La Ronde by Damon Knight
19. Revisions by Gordon Eklund
20. Basileus by Robert Silverberg
21. The Man Outside by O. Niemand
22. $CALLLINK4(CATHY) by Cherie Wilkerson

Best Single Author Collection
Winner:

1.   Unicorn Variations by Roger Zelazny

Other Nominees:
2.   Red as Blood by Tanith Lee
3.   The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke
4.   The Wind From a Burning Woman by Greg Bear
5.   The Zanzibar Cat by Joanna Russ
6.   Hoka! by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson
7.   The 57^th Franz Kafka by Rudy Rucker
8.   (tie) Midas World by Frederik Pohl
      (tie) The Saint-Germain Chronicles by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
10. The Worlds of H. Beam Piper by H. Beam Piper, edited by John F. Carr
11. Sector General by James White
12. The Winds of Change and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov
13. Time Patrolman by Poul Anderson
14. Ringing Changes by R.A. Lafferty
15. Golden Gate and Other Stories by R.A. Lafferty
16. Fire from the Wine-Dark Sea by Somtow Sucharitkul

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   The Best Science Fiction of the Year #12 edited by Terry Carr

Other Nominees:
2.   The Face of Chaos edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey
3.   Universe 13 edited by Terry Carr

4.   The 1983 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

5.   Whispers IV edited by Stuart David Schiff
6.   Heroic Visions edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
7.   Magic for Sale edited by Avram Davidson
8.   Changes edited by Michael Bishop and Ian Watson
9.   Shadows 6 edited by Charles L. Grant

10. Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories: 10 (1948) edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg

11. Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories: 9 (1947) edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg

12. New Worlds edited by Michael Moorcock

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

14. The Fantasy Hall of Fame edited by Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg

15. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 9 edited by Arthur W. Saha
16. Nebula Award Stories 17 edited by Joe Haldeman
17. The Nebula Awards #18 edited by Robert Silverberg

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1.   Dream Makers, Volume II by Charles Platt

Other Nominees:

2.   The High Kings by Joy Chant

3.   The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol. 3 by Donald H. Tuck
4.   The Fantastic Art of Rowena by Rowena Morrill
5.   Staying Alive: A Writer's Guide by Norman Spinrad

6.   Worlds Beyond: The Art of Chesley Bonestell by Frederick C. Durant III and Ron Miller; art by Chesley Bonestell

7.   Philip K. Dick edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander
8.   Amber Dreams: A Roger Zelazny Bibliography by Daniel J.H. Levack
9.   The Science Fiction Book of Lists by Maxim Jakubowski and Malcolm Edwards
10. The Guide to Supernatural Fiction by Everett F. Bleiler

11. Uranian Worlds: A Reader's Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy by Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo

12. De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography by Charlotte Laughlin and Daniel J.H. Levack

13. The Entropy Exhibition: Michael Moorcock and the British 'New Wave' in Science Fiction by Colin Greenland

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Locus

Other Nominees:
2.   Fantasy & Science Fiction
3.   Analog
4.   Asimov's
5.   Amazing Stories
6.   Omni
7.   Science Fiction Review
8.   Twilight Zone
9.   Science Fiction Chronicle
10. Starlog
11. Fantasy Newsletter/Fantasy Review
12. Whispers
13. File 770
14. Fantasy Book
15. Interzone

Best Publisher
Winner:
1.   Ballantine/Del Rey

Other Nominees:
2.   Pocket/Timescape
3.   DAW
4.   Ace
5.   Berkley
6.   Bantam
7.   Tor
8.   Doubleday
9.   Underwood-Miller
10. Donald M. Grant
11. Phantasia
12. Science Fiction Book Club
13. Atheneum
14. Arkham House
15. Houghton Mifflin

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
2.   Rowena Morrill
3.   Don Maitz
4.   Barclay Shaw
5.   Boris Vallejo
6.   Darrell Sweet
7.   Victoria Poyser
8.   Val Lakey Lindahn
9.   Frank Kelly Freas
10. Carl Lundgren
11. Alicia Austin
12. Vincent Di Fate
13. Jim Burns
14. David Mattingly
15. Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
16. Stephen Fabian
17. Frank Frazetta
18. Tom Kidd
19. Phil Foglio
20. (tie) Alexis Gilliland
      (tie) Kevin Johnson

Go to previous year's nominees: 1983
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1985

Book Award Reviews     Home

1984 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: In 1984, the Campbell Award judges rectified their previous error by handing the Best Novel award to Gene Wolfe's Citadel of the Autarch, the stellar concluding volume of the magnificent Urth of the New Sun series. It seems almost criminal that the Campbell Award judges gave so little attention to the previous books in the series, with only Shadow of the Torturer getting any recognition at all, but at least they recognized the quality of Wolfe's achievement in the end.

Best Novel

Winner:

The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe

Second Place:

The Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica by John Calvin Batchelor

Third Place:

Tik-Tok by John Sladek

Go to previous year's nominees: 1983
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1984 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 1984 Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 was honored by the Libertarian Futurist Society as a Hall of Fame selection for the Prometheus Awards. This seems to me to highlight one of the inherent tensions contained in the Prometheus Awards. Bradbury's novel is thought by many to express an anti-censorship theme (although Bradbury seems to have had different ideas), which is more or less in line with libertarian thought, but it is by no means a view that is exclusive to libertarians, and is held by large numbers of people who are not only not friendly to libertarians, they are actively hostile to them. But in order to have worthwhile honorees, the Prometheus Awards have to cast their net so broadly that they catch not only works of libertarian fiction, but works that are so tangentially related to libertarian fiction that the paucity of high quality work in the subgenre is revealed.

Best Novel

Winner:

The Rainbow Cadenza by J. Neil Schulman

Other Nominees:

Double Crossing by Erika Holzer

The Nagasaki Vector by L. Neil Smith
Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson
Thendara House by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Hall of Fame

Winner:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1983
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1985

Book Award Reviews     Home

1984 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: Although the Mythopoeic Society had an established track record of refusing to list the non-winning nominees for the Scholarship Award, they had always listed all of the non-winning nominees in the Fantasy Literature category. In 1984, for no particularly apparent reason, the Society opted not to supply outsiders with a list of also-ran nominees and only revealed the winning entry - Joy Chant's When Voiha Wakes. As has so often been the case when these sorts of curve balls are thrown in genre awards, I have no idea why the Mythopoeic Society chose to do this, and I suspect that I never will.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
When Voiha Wakes by Joy Chant

Other Nominees:
None

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The Road to Middle-earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology by Tom Shippey

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1983
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1985

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1984 World Fantasy Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Ottowa, Ontario.

Comments: The 1984 World Fantasy Awards saw two developments. First, after deciding to stop publishing the names of the non-winning nominees for the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1983, the World Fantasy Awards decided to hand out a pile of Lifetime Achievement Awards rather than just one, as had been the previous practice. I'm not sure why they decided to make this change - perhaps the judges were concerned that some worthy nominees would pass away before they were recognized if they continued honoring just one nominee per year - but the decision resulted in five co-winners for the award this year.

Second, Tanith Lee blossomed into a force to be reckoned with in fantasy. She had already won a World Fantasy Award in 1983, but in this year not only did the author win another, but she was nominated for two more. It took the World Fantasy Awards several years to notice that women wrote excellent fantasy fiction, but once they did, the prodigious talent of women like Tanith Lee ensured that they would not be overlooked again.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford

Other Nominees:
The Armageddon Rag by George R.R. Martin
Lyonesse by Jack Vance
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy
The Wandering Unicorn by Manuel Mujica Lainez

Best Novella

Winner:
Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson

Other Nominees:
The Lurking Duck by Scott Baker
The Monkey's Bride by Michael Bishop
Nunc Dimittis by Tanith Lee
The Red Hawk by Elizabeth A. Lynn

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
Elle Est Trois, (La Mort) by Tanith Lee

Other Nominees:
The Hundred-Year Christmas by David Morrell
Into Whose Hands by Karl Edward Wagner
The Silent Cradle by Leigh Kennedy
Solitario's Eyes by Lucius Shepard
Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu

Best Anthology or Collection

Winner:
High Spirits by Robertson Davies

Other Nominees:
The Dodd, Mead Gallery of Horror edited by Charles L. Grant
Red as Blood by Tanith Lee
Shadows 6 edited by Charles L. Grant
Tales of Wonder by Jane Yolen

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
L. Sprague de Camp
Richard Matheson
E. Hoffmann Price
Jack Vance
Donald Wandrei

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Stephen Gervais

Other Nominees:
Jill Bauman
Edward Gorey
Robert Gould
Don Maitz
Rowena Morrill

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Ian Ballantine, Betty Ballantine, Joy Chant, George Sharp, and David Larkin

Other Nominees:
Everett F. Bleiler
L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine Crook de Camp, and Jane Whittington Griffin
Edward L. Ferman
Pat LoBrutto

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Stephen Jones and David Sutton

Other Nominees:
Robert A. Collins
W. Paul Ganley
Robert M. Price
Douglas E. Winter

Special Convention Award

Winner:
Donald M. Grant

Other Nominees:
None

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1984 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: LAcon II in Anaheim, California.

Comments: In 1984 Return of the Jedi won the third Hugo Award in the Best Dramatic Presentation category for the Star Wars saga. Each of the first three Star Wars movies coasted to Hugo award victories in this category. But with this victory, the Star Wars saga's time in the spotlight was ended. Not only did none of the later-produced prequel movies not win any Hugo Awards, they weren't even nominated for any. This was partially the result of the increased quality of the competition faced by the movies, but it was also traceable to the fact that Lucas burned a lot of bridges with his many revisions of the original trilogy, as well as the generally poor level of storytelling represented by the prequel trilogy. There are few things sadder than seeing a strong story disintegrate into a mess, but that is what happened with Star Wars, and their history at the Hugo Awards reflects this dismal truth.

On a happier note, this is also the year that the best Semi-Prozine category was introduced, separating those magazines that turned a profit and paid their writers from the Fanzines that mostly do not do either of those things. Locus, the most prominent of the magazines that fit into the new category, promptly won the award, and it has dominated the category ever since.

Best Novel

Winner:
Startide Rising by David Brin

Other Finalists:
Millennium by John Varley
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy

Best Novella

Winner:

Cascade Point by Timothy Zahn

Other Finalists:
Hardfought by Greg Bear
Hurricane Claude by Hilbert Schenck
In the Face of My Enemy by Joseph H. Delaney
Seeking by David R. Palmer

Best Novelette

Winner:

Blood Music by Greg Bear

Other Finalists:
Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Monkey Treatment by George R.R. Martin
The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis
Slow Birds by Ian Watson

Best Short Story

Winner:

Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler

Other Finalists:
The Geometry of Narrative by Hilbert Schenck
The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois
Servant of the People by Frederik Pohl
Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol. 3 by Donald H. Tuck

Other Finalists:
Dream Makers, Volume II by Charles Platt
The Fantastic Art of Rowena by Rowena Morrill
The High Kings by Joy Chant
Staying Alive: A Writer's Guide by Norman Spinrad

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Return of the Jedi

Other Finalists:
Brainstorm
The Right Stuff
Something Wicked This Way Comes
WarGames

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Shawna McCarthy

Other Finalists:
Terry Carr
Edward L. Ferman
David G. Hartwell
Stanley Schmidt

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Michael Whelan

Other Finalists:
Val Lakey Lindahn
Don Maitz
Rowena Morrill
Barclay Shawt

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:

Locus edited by Charles N. Brown

Other Finalists:
Fantasy Newsletter/Fantasy Review edited by Robert A. Collins
Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew Porter
Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff

Best Fanzine

Winner:

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Other Finalists:
Ansible edited by Dave Langford
Holier Than Thou edited by Marty Cantor and Robbie Cantor
Izzard edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Teresa Nielsen Hayden
The Philk Fee-Nom-Ee-Non edited by Paul J. Willett

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Mike Glyer

Other Finalists:
Richard E. Geis
Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Arthur Hlavaty
Dave Langford

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Alexis Gilliland

Other Finalists:
Brad W. Foster
Joan Hanke-Woods
William Rotsler
Stu Shiffman

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
R.A. MacAvoy

Other Finalists:
Joseph H. Delaney
Lisa Goldstein
Warren Norwood
Joel Rosenberg
Sheri S. Tepper

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1983
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1984 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home

1984 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Queen Mary, Long Beach, California.

Comments: 1984 was a banner year for Greg Bear, who took home the Nebula Award for both the Best Novella and the Best Novelette. This year was also a great year for David Brin, who won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for his Upilift novel Startide Rising.

Unfortunately, it wasn't such a banner year for women, as there were only four nominations out of twenty-five that went to works written by female authors. After making gains on the gender equity front through much of the 1970s, the push towards equality in the field of science fiction sadly seems to have stalled in the 1980s.

Best Novel

Winner:
Startide Rising by David Brin

Other Nominees:
Against Infinity by Gregory Benford
The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
Lyonesse by Jack Vance
Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy
The Void Captain's Tale by Norman Spinrad

Best Novella

Winner:

Hardfought by Greg Bear

Other Nominees:
Eszterhazy and the Autogóndola-Invention by Avram Davidson
The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis by Michael Bishop
Her Habiline Husband by Michael Bishop
Homefaring by Robert Silverberg
Transit by Vonda N. McIntyre

Best Novelette

Winner:

Blood Music by Greg Bear

Other Nominees:
Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
Blind Shemmy by Jack Dann
Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling
The Monkey Treatment by George R.R. Martin
The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis
Slow Birds by Ian Watson

Best Short Story

Winner:
The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:
Cryptic by Jack McDevitt
The Geometry of Narrative by Hilbert Schenck
Ghost Town by Chad Oliver
Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy
Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu

Go to previous year's nominees: 1983
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1983 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 1983 the Libertarian Futurist Society added the Hall of Fame category to the Prometheus Awards in order to honor works of libertarian science fiction that for the most part predated the entire concept of "libertarian science fiction". The newly created category was, fairly predictably, promptly won by The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, a pretty good book by Robert A. Heinlein and Atlas Shrugged, a pretty lousy book by Ayn Rand. This pair of wins seems to have set the template for the future of the Hall of Fame, which more or less seems to exist in order to allow members of the Libertarian Futurist Society to pay homage to their childhood book crushes.

Best Novel

Winner:

Voyage from Yesteryear by James P. Hogan

Other Nominees:

Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell

Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
The Many-Colored Land by Julian May
Oath of Fealty by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Hall of Fame

Winner:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1982
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1983 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: So, after excising all results but the identity of the winner from the 1982 Campbell Awards, the judges for the 1983 Campbell Awards decided to go back to reporting on who came in second place in the voting. At this point I'm prepared to simply give up trying to figure out why the judges for the Campbell awards do any of the things they do.

Best Novel

Winner:

Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss

Second Place:

No Enemy but Time by Michael Bishop

Go to previous year's nominees: 1982
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