2001 Clarke Award Nominees

Location: United Kingdom.

Comments: In 2001 China Miéville won his first Clarke Award for his brilliant novel Perdido Street Station. As Miéville is the most decorated author in the history of the Clarke Award, the only thing that is surprising about his win this year is that it took so long. Between 2001 and the present, Miéville would go on to win the Clarke Award two more times, once in 2005, and once in 2010. If he continues this pattern, and given his talent there's no reason to think he won't, then we should look for Miéville to also win the Clarke Award in 2015.

Winner
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

Shortlist
Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle
Cosmonaut Keep by Ken MacLeod
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
Salt by Adam Roberts

What Are the Arthur C. Clarke Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 2000
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2002

Book Award Reviews     Home

2001 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: In 2001 the Campbell Award judges decided to change things up yet again, eliminating the "honorable mention" category that had been included in 2000, and turning in ballots that resulted in a three way tie for second place. Somewhat lost in the flux is the fact that Poul Anderson won the award for his novel Genesis, which was a nice send-off for the author who sadly died this year. As with many awards that are handed to authors who are in the twilight of their career, it is impossible to tell if this award was handed out for the quality of the book or as a means of honoring an author for his past works. In this case, Genesis was a good book, so it is entirely plausible that the voters were merely honoring the novel itself, although Anderson's publishing history probably didn't hurt.

Best Novel

Winner:

Genesis by Poul Anderson

Second Place:

(tie) Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle

(tie) Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
(tie) Infinity Beach by Jack McDevitt

Third Place:

The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper

Go to previous year's nominees: 2000
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2002

Book Award Reviews     Home

2001 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Montreal, Canada.

Comments: With two wins and another nomination, 2001 was Andy Duncan's year at the World Fantasy Awards. Despite this, a lot of people who consider themselves to be fantasy fiction fans probably have no idea who Andy Duncan is, in all likelihood because Duncan has not published any novels. This simple fact clearly illustrates the primacy of novels in the modern publishing world, and is, I think, one of the primary reasons that fiction publishing is having difficulties. In the 1950s and 1960s, a writer could make a decent living and achieve a fair amount of fame simple by publishing a lot of short fiction. This allowed many writers to hone their craft while still earning enough money to pay their bills while devoting themselves to writing full time. In more recent years, unless you can churn out a publishable novel or two while you are holding down a "day job", you simply aren't going to ever have a viable career as an author. As a case in point, more than a decade after his stellar year of 2001, Andy Duncan's primary job is teaching English at Frostburg State University. I don't begrudge Andy the opportunity to teach a subject that he loves, but the fact that he hasn't published more due to his need to hold down a "paying" job is something of a tragedy.

Best Novel

Winner:
(tie) Declare by Tim Powers
(tie) Galveston by Sean Stewart

Other Nominees:
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky
Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

Best Novella

Winner:
The Man on the Ceiling by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem

Other Nominees:
Blue Kansas Sky by Michael Bishop
Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol by Elizabeth Hand
Mr Dark's Carnival by Glen Hirshberg
Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower by Susanna Clarke
Pelican Cay by David Case
Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
The Pottawatomie Giant by Andy Duncan

Other Nominees:
Down Here in the Garden by Tia V. Travis
Is There Anybody There? by Kim Newman
Lincoln in Frogmore by Andy Duncan
The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O by Michael Swanwick
The Saltimbanques by Terry Dowling
Shoe and Marriage by Kelly Link

Best Anthology

Winner:

Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora edited by Sheree R. Thomas

Other Nominees:
Dark Terrors 5 edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton
Shadows and Silence edited by Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden
Vanishing Acts edited by Ellen Datlow

Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction edited by Nalo Hopkinson

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Best Collection

Winner:

Beluthahatchie and Other Stories by Andy Duncan

Other Nominees:
Blackwater Days by Terry Dowling
Magic Terror: Seven Tales by Peter Straub
Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories by Neal Barrett, Jr.
The Perseids and Other Stories by Robert Charles Wilson
Travel Arrangements by M. John Harrison

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Philip José Farmer
Frank Frazetta

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Shaun Tan

Other Nominees:
Jim Burns
Kinuko Y. Craft
Les Edwards
Daniel Merriam
John Jude Palencar

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Tom Shippey

Other Nominees:
Ellen Datlow
Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner
William K. Schafer
Gary Turner and Marty Halpern

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Bill Sheehan

Other Nominees:
Benjamin Cossel, Jeremy Lassen, and Jason Williams
Peter Crowther
Philip J. Rahman and Dennis E. Weiler
Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden
Raymond Russell and Rosalie Parker

Go to previous year's nominees: 2000
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2002

Book Award Reviews     Home

2001 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Worldcon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Comments: In the book and the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke envisioned that by the year 2001 humanity have orbital colonies, regular passenger flights to Earth orbit, and a somewhat permanent manned presence on the Moon. The reality was slightly less impressive - 2001 was the year in which we finally got reliable public information concerning where and when the Prometheus Awards were bestowed. Although I'm pleased that the Prometheus Awards data is available, I think I'd rather have orbital colonies.

Best Novel

Winner:

Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith

Other Nominees:

Eagle Against the Stars by Steve White

Lodestar by Michael F. Flynn
The Sky Road by Ken MacLeod
The Truth by Terry Pratchett

Hall of Fame

Winner:

The Survival of Freedom edited by Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr

Other Nominees:
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson
Star Trek - The Next Generation: The Measure of a Man by Melinda Snodgrass
The Wardove by L. Neil Smith

Special Award

Winner:

Poul Anderson

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 2000
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2002

Book Award Reviews     Home

2001 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: The Millennium Philcon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Comments: J.K. Rowling's Best Novel win for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the 2001 Hugo awards provoked a minor storm of controversy. Many people in the science fiction fan community were outraged that a young adult fantasy could take home the top science fiction award. Apparently they had never bothered to read the actual description of the Hugo Award, which makes it clear that it is to be bestowed upon the most notable works of science fiction or fantasy published in the prior year. Outrage over the fact that a fantasy about a boy wizard at a magical boarding school won an award that specifically says it can be won by fantasy fiction seems to me to be a bit misplaced.

However, one can justifiably argue that the win for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was undeserved, and that some of the other nominees were superior options. If the voters were intent on picking a fantasy novel, why award Rowling's decidedly mediocre offering instead of George R.R. Martin's excellent book A Storm of Swords? Or for that matter, why choose Goblet of Fire over Sawyer's, Hopkinson's, and MacLeod's work? The problem with the Hugo Award for Best Novel wasn't that it went to a juvenile fantasy, but rather that it went to a Milquetoast juvenile fantasy when other, better books were in the running as well.

Jumping down to the Best Dramatic Presentation category one finds a different issue. While the winning movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, was the right choice, one has to wonder how in the world Chicken Run got on the ballot. Sure, Chicken Run is a fun movie, but how in the world could it be considered one of the best science fiction or fantasy dramatic presentations of the year is beyond me.

Best Novel

Winner:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Other Finalists:
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
The Sky Road by Ken MacLeod
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

Best Novella

Winner:

The Ultimate Earth by Jack Williamson

Other Finalists:
Oracle by Greg Egan
Radiant Green Star by Lucius Shepard
The Retrieval Artist by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
A Roll of the Dice by Catherine Asaro
Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang

Best Novelette

Winner:

Millennium Babies by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Other Finalists:
Agape Among the Robots by Allen M. Steele
Generation Gap by Stanley Schmidt
On the Orion Line by Stephen Baxter
Redchapel by Mike Resnick

Best Short Story

Winner:

Different Kinds of Darkness by David Langford

Other Finalists:
The Elephants on Neptune by Mike Resnick
The Gravity Mine by Stephen Baxter
Kaddish for the Last Survivor by Michael A. Burstein
Moon Dogs by Michael Swanwick

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:

Greetings from Earth: The Art of Bob Eggleton by Bob Eggleton and Nigel Suckling

Other Finalists:
Concordance to Cordwainer Smith, Third Edition by Anthony R. Lewis
Putting It Together: Turning Sow's Ear Drafts into Silk Purse Stories by Mike Resnick
Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion by James Gifford

Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature by Andrew M. Butler, Edward James, and Farah Mendlesohn

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Other Finalists:
Chicken Run
Frank Herbert's Dune (miniseries)
Frequency
X-Men

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Gardner Dozois

Other Finalists:
Ellen Datlow
David G. Hartwell
Stanley Schmidt
Gordon van Gelder

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Bob Eggleton

Other Finalists:
Jim Burns
Frank Kelly Freas
Donato Giancola
Michael Whelan

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:

Locus edited by Charles N. Brown

Other Finalists:
Interzone edited by David Pringle

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

Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew I. Porter

Speculations edited by Denise Lee and Susan Fry, published by Kent Brewster

Best Fanzine

Winner:

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Other Finalists:
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III
Mimosa edited by Nicki Lynch and Richard Lynch
Plokta edited by Alison Scott, Steve Davies and Mike Scott
STET edited by Dick Smith and Leah Zeldes Smith

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Dave Langford

Other Finalists:
Bob Devney
Mike Glyer
Evelyn C. Leeper
Steven H. Silver

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Teddy Harvia

Other Finalists:
Sheryl Birkhead
Brad Foster
Sue Mason
Taral Wayne

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Kristine Smith

Other Finalists:
James L. Cambias
Thomas Harlan
Douglas Smith
Jo Walton

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 2000
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2002

2001 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home

1951 Retro Hugo Award Finalists (awarded in 2001)

Location: Millennium Philcon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Comments: In 2001, a second set of "Retro Hugos" were handed out, this time for the year 1951. And these awards, I think, illustrate why these awards are somewhat controversial. While I'm as big a Heinlein fan as they come, I just can't see how Farmer in the Sky won the Best Novel award other than the name of the author attached to it. Farmer in the Sky is a perfectly serviceable juvenile novel, with the added cachet of having been serialized in Boys' Life magazine, but it isn't a particularly substantial novel, and isn't particularly noteworthy even if one were to only consider Heinlein's oeuvre. How it won in place of books like The Dying Earth and First Lensman is a mystery only explainable if one assumes that the voters recognized his name and none of the others (and also happened to overlook Asimov's Pebble in the Sky - perhaps some of the voters got confused by the word "sky" in both titles and thought they were voting for the Asimov book).

In any event, Heinlein won both the Best Novel and Best Novella categories, although to be fair, The Man Who Sold the Moon was a deserving victor, and the usual suspects won the more obscure categories. The whole process of handing out "Retro Hugos" just seems to combine an impetus for blind voting, favoring those works whose authors went on to do more substantial things later in their careers, rather than an assessment of the work of that year. For example, it seems unclear whether the Retro Hugo for Best Short Story was bestowed upon Damon Knight's To Serve Man because it was a compelling short story in and of itself, or because the voters remembered the Twilight Zone episode based upon it. One has to wonder how many "Retro Hugos" are needed to give John W. Campbell, Jr. his due as Best Professional Editor, or whether a substantial number of the voters actually ever heard of the Skyhook, Quandry, or Slant fanzines before they sat down with their ballot.

Best Novel

Winner:
Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein

Other Finalists:
The Dying Earth by Jack Vance
First Lensman by E.E. "Doc" Smith
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov

Best Novella

Winner:
The Man Who Sold the Moon by Robert A. Heinlein

Other Finalists:
. . . And Now You Don't by Isaac Asimov
The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon
The Last Enemy by H. Beam Piper
To the Stars by L. Ron Hubbard

Best Novelette

Winner:

The Little Black Bag by Cyril M. Kornbluth (reviewed in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume I, 1929-1964)

Other Finalists:
Dear Devil by Eric Frank Russell
The Helping Hand by Poul Anderson
Okie by James Blish

Scanners Live in Vain by Cordwainer Smith (reviewed in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume I, 1929-1964)

Best Short Story

Winner:
To Serve Man by Damon Knight

Other Finalists:

Born of Man and Woman by Richard Matheson (reviewed in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume I, 1929-1964)

Coming Attraction by Fritz Leiber (reviewed in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume I, 1929-1964)

The Gnurrs Come from the Voodvork Out by Reginald Bretnor
A Subway Named Mobius by A.J. Deutsch

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Destination Moon

Other Finalists:
Cinderella
Harvey
Rabbit of Seville
Rocketship X-M

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
John W. Campbell, Jr.

Other Finalists:
Anthony Boucher
Groff Conklin
H.L. Gold
J. Francis McComas

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Frank Kelly Freas

Other Finalists:
Hannes Bok
Chesley Bonestell
Edd Cartier
Virgil Finlay

Best Fanzine

Winner:
Science Fiction Newsletter edited by Wilson (Bob) Tucker

Other Finalists:
The Fanscient
Quandry
Skyhook
Slant
Spacewarp

Best Fan Writer

Winner:
Robert Silverberg

Other Finalists:
Lee Hoffman
Wilson (Bob) Tucker
James White
Walt Willis

Best Fan Artist

Winner:
Jack Gaughan

Other Finalists:
Lee Hoffman
Ray Nelson
Bill Rotsler
James White

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's finalists: 1946 (awarded in 1996)
Go to subsequent year's finalists: 1953

Book Award Reviews     Home

2001 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Westercon in Portland, Oregon.

Comments: 2001 was yet another good year for Ursula K. Le Guin, who not only had two works win Locus Awards, but had two more nominated. It is no secret how much I love Le Guin and her work, because there are few authors who have demonstrated the consistent brilliance that she has over a prolonged period of time. There is a danger, however, of Le Guin's manifest greatness drowning out the other female voices in science fiction. This isn't Le Guin's fault, but rather the fault of every editor who, when compiling an anthology, throws in a Le Guin story and figures that he's checked off the "story by a woman" box. It is the fault of every aficionado who, when assembling a list of "great" science fiction novels, picks a Le Guin novel and figures he's got female written science fiction covered. Le Guin is a powerful female voice in the field of science fiction, but she's not the only one. There are so many excellent female science fiction writers both past and present that should be listened to as well.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin

Other Nominees:
2.   Eater by Gregory Benford
3.   Zeitgeist by Bruce Sterling
4.   The Coming by Joe Haldeman
5.   In Green's Jungles by Gene Wolfe
6.   The Sky Road by Ken MacLeod
7.   Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks
8.   Space: Manifold 2 (aka Manifold: Space) by Stephen Baxter
9.   Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
10. Probability Moon by Nancy Kress
11. Crescent City Rhapsody by Kathleen Ann Goonan
12. The Collapsium by Wil McCarthy
13. Marrow by Robert Reed
14. The Fountains of Youth by Brian Stableford
15. Genesis by Poul Anderson
16. The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper
17. Shrine of Stars by Paul J. McAuley
18. Ventus by Karl Schroeder
19. Candle by John Barnes
20. Hunted by James Alan Gardner
21. Colony Fleet by Susan R. Matthews
22. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
23. (tie) The Jazz by Melissa Scott
      (tie) The Miocene Arrow by Sean McMullen
25. Outlaw School by Rebecca Ore
26. Mars Crossing by Geoffrey A. Landis
27. Distance Haze by Jamil Nasir
28. Ashes of Victory by David Weber
29. Infinity Beach by Jack McDevitt

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

Other Nominees:
2.   Declare by Tim Powers
3.   The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
4.   Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
5.   Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle
6.   Galveston by Sean Stewart
7.   Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay
8.   Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint
9.   The Truth by Terry Pratchett
10. Fortress of Dragons by C.J. Cherryh
11. The Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
12. Daemonomania by John Crowley
13. A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton
14. Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan
15. White as Snow by Tanith Lee
16. Prophecy by Elizabeth Haydon
17. Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
18. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
19. (tie) Canyons by P.D. Cacek
      (tie) King Kelson's Bride by Katherine Kurtz
21. Empire of Unreason by J. Gregory Keyes
22. (tie) Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
      (tie) Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones
24. Knight of the Demon Queen by Barbara Hambly
25. The Gate of Fire by Thomas Harlan
26. The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky

Best First Novel
Winner:
1.    Mars Crossing by Geoffrey A. Landis

Other Nominees:
2.   Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
3.   Ceres Storm by David Herter
4.   Wheelers by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen
5.   House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
6.   Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
7.   The King's Peace by Jo Walton
8.   Salt by Adam Roberts
9.   The Glasswright's Apprentice by Mindy L. Klasky
10. Soulsaver by James Stevens-Arce
11. Growing Wings by Laurel Winter

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   Radiant Green Star by Lucius Shepard

Other Nominees:

2.   Oracle by Greg Egan

3.   Path of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin
4.   Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang
5.   Blue Kansas Sky by Michael Bishop
6.   Savior by Nancy Kress
7.   Fly-by-Night by Larry Niven
8.   The Ultimate Earth by Jack Williamson
9.   Reality Dust by Stephen Baxter
10. One-Eyed Jacks and Suicide Kings by R. Garcia y Robertson
11. Making History by Paul J. McAuley
12. Watching Trees Grow by Peter F. Hamilton
13. The Retrieval Artist by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
14. Great Wall of Mars by Alastair Reynolds
15. The Forest Between the Worlds by G. David Nordley
16. Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol by Elizabeth Hand
17. Heart of Glass by William Barton
18. Crux by Albert E. Cowdrey
19. Tendeléo's Story by Ian McDonald
20. The Suspect Genome by Peter F. Hamilton
21. A Place So Foreign by Cory Doctorow
22. Naming of Parts by Tim Lebbon
23. The Enclave by Lois Tilton
24. To Leuchars by Rick Wilber

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   The Birthday of the World by Ursula K. Le Guin

Other Nominees:
2.   On the Orion Line by Stephen Baxter
3.   Snowball in Hell by Brian Stableford
4.   Bloody Bunnies by Bradley Denton
5.   The Elephants of Poznan by Orson Scott Card
6.   The Other Side by James P. Blaylock
7.   Lincoln in Frogmore by Andy Duncan
8.   Merlin's Gun by Alastair Reynolds
9.   The Rift by Paul J. McAuley
10. Primes by Lewis Shiner
11. Millennium Babies by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
12. Chitty Bang Bang by Ian R. MacLeod
13. The Pottawatomie Giant by Andy Duncan
14. Feel the Zaz by James Patrick Kelly
15. Auspicious Eggs by James Morrow
16. Wetlands Preserve by Nancy Kress
17. The Cloud Man by Eleanor Arnason
18. Bird Herding by R. Garcia y Robertson
19. The Juniper Tree by John Kessel
20. (tie) The Gulf by Robert Reed
      (tie) Open Loops by Stephen Baxter
22. In Shock by Joyce Carol Oates
23. Hideaway by Alastair Reynolds
24. The Prophet Ugly by Robert Reed
25. Hybrid by Robert Reed
26. The Dryad's Wedding by Robert Charles Wilson
27. Reef by Paul J. McAuley
28. Tenebrio by Brian Stableford
29. Chanterelle by Brian Stableford
30. The Alien Abduction by James L. Cambias

Best Short Story
Winner:

1.   The Missing Mass by Larry Niven

Other Nominees:

2.   Moon Dogs by Michael Swanwick

3.   Silver Ghost by Stephen Baxter
4.   The Royals of Hegn by Ursula K. Le Guin
5.   Sheena 5 by Stephen Baxter
6.   The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O by Michael Swanwick
7.   Interstitial by Paul J. McAuley
8.   Winter Quarters by Howard Waldrop
9.   The Fantasy Writer's Assistant by Jeffrey Ford
10. Lucy by Terry Bisson
11. (tie) The Art of Fugue by Charles Sheffield
      (tie) Fenneman's Mouth by Andy Duncan
13. Patient Zero by Tananarive Due
14. Our Mortal Span by Howard Waldrop
15. The War of the Worlds by James P. Blaylock
16. (tie) The Mandrake Garden by Brian Stableford
      (tie) Partial Eclipse by Graham Joyce
18. The Eye in the Heart by Tanith Lee
19. (tie) The Flyers of Gy: An Interplanetary Tale by Ursula K. Le Guin
      (tie) Greedy Choke Puppy by Nalo Hopkinson
21. Under the Hill by Jane Yolen
22. Reality Check by David Brin
23. Madame Bovary, c'est moi by Dan Simmons
24. The Neon Heart Murders by M. John Harrison
25. The Reluctant Book by Paul Di Filippo
26. Malthusian's Zombie by Jeffrey Ford
27. (tie) Catching Crumbs from the Table by Ted Chiang
      (tie) Fidelity: A Primer by Michael Blumlein
29. Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen
30. How Beautiful With Banners by Michael Bishop
31. The Foster Child by William Browning Spencer
32. The Millennial Express by Robert Silverberg
33. Steppenpferd by Brian W. Aldiss
34. Colours of the Soul by Sean McMullen

Best Collection
Winner:

1.   Tales of Old Earth by Michael Swanwick

Other Nominees:

2.   Saucer of Loneliness: Volume VII: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon by Theodore Sturgeon

3.   Telzey Amberdon by James H. Schmitz
4.   Beluthahatchie and Other Stories by Andy Duncan
5.   Strange Travelers by Gene Wolfe

6.   Major Ingredients: The Selected Short Stories of Eric Frank Russell by Eric Frank Russell

7.   Blue Kansas Sky by Michael Bishop
8.   Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories by Jane Yolen
9.   Worlds Vast and Various by Gregory Benford
10. High Cotton: Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale
11. The Essential Hal Clement, Volume 2: Music of Many Spheres by Hal Clement
12. Sailing to Byzantium by Robert Silverberg
13. Triskell Tales by Charles de Lint
14. Moon Dogs by Michael Swanwick
15. The Perseids and Other Stories by Robert Charles Wilson
16. In the Upper Room and Other Likely Stories by Terry Bisson
17. Selected Stories by Theodore Sturgeon
18. Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories by Neal Barrett, Jr.
19. In the Stone House by Barry N. Malzberg
20. Magic Terror: Seven Tales by Peter Straub
21. Mixed Magics: The Worlds of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones
22. Terminal Visions by Richard Paul Russo
23. The Death Artist by Dennis Etchison
24. Punktown by Jeffrey Thomas
25. Travel Arrangements by M. John Harrison
26. Kafka Americana by Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz

Best Anthology
Winner:

1.   The Year's Best Science Fiction: Seventeenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:

2.   The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

3.   Year's Best SF 5 edited by David G. Hartwell
4.   Vanishing Acts edited by Ellen Datlow

5.   Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora edited by Sheree R. Thomas

6.   Black Heart, Ivory Bones edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
7.   The SFWA Grand Masters: Volume Two edited by Frederik Pohl
8.   Nebula Awards Showcase 2000 edited by Gregory Benford
9.   The Furthest Horizon: SF Adventures to the Far Future edited by Gardner Dozois
10. Arkham's Masters of Horror edited by Peter Ruber
11. Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons edited by Gardner Dozois

12. October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween edited by Richard Chizmar and Robert Morrish

13. Skylife: Space Habitats in Story and Science edited by Gregory Benford and George Zebrowski

14. Dark Terrors 5 edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton
15. Star Colonies edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers

16. Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction edited by Nalo Hopkinson

17. A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

18. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Eleven edited by Stephen Jones
19. Foursight edited by Peter Crowther

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:

1.   On Writing by Stephen King

Other Nominees:

2.   Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion by James Gifford

3.   Algernon, Charlie and I by Daniel Keyes
4.   Jack Vance: Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography by A.E. Cunningham
5.   Science Fiction Culture by Camille Bacon-Smith
6.   J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey

7.   Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics by Julius Schwartz, with Brian M. Thomsen

8.   Lord of a Visible World: An Autobiography in Letters by H.P. Lovecraft, edited by S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz

9.   Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature edited by Andrew M. Butler, Edward James, and Farah Mendlesohn

10. The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales edited by Jack Zipes
11. The Strange Case of Edward Gorey by Alexander Theroux
12. Critical Theory and Science Fiction by Carl Freedman

13. French Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Pulp Fiction by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier

14. American Science Fiction and the Cold War by David Seed

15. Transrealist Fiction: Writing in the Slipstream of Science by Damien Broderick

16. At the Foot of the Story Tree: An Inquiry into the Fiction of Peter Straub by Bill Sheehan

17. Vast Alchemies: The Life and Work of Mervyn Peake by G. Peter Winnington

Best Art Book
Winner:

1.   Spectrum 7: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner

Other Nominees:

2.   Frank Kelly Freas: As He Sees It by Frank Kelly Freas and Laura Brodian Freas

3.   Greetings from Earth: The Art of Bob Eggleton by Bob Eggleton and Nigel Suckling

4.   Horror of the 20^th Century: An Illustrated History by Robert Weinberg
5.   Comic Book Culture by Ron Goulart

6.   20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, illustrated by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon

7.   Inner Visions: The Art of Ron Walotsky by Ron Walotsky
8.   The Art of Rowena by Doris Vallejo and Rowena Morrill
9.   Dreams: The Art of Boris Vallejo by Boris Vallejo

10. The Frank Collection: A Showcase of the World's Finest Fantastic Art by Jane Frank and Howard Frank

11. Vertigo Visions: Artwork from the Cutting Edge of Comics by Alisa Kwitney
12. Josh Kirby: A Cosmic Cornucopia by David Langford; artist Josh Kirby
13. Journeyman: The Art of Chris Moore by Chris Moore and Stephen Gallagher

Best Editor
Winner:
1.   Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:
2.   Ellen Datlow
3.   Gordon van Gelder
4.   David G. Hartwell
5.   Stanley Schmidt
6.   David Pringle
7.   Terri Windling
8.   Patrick Nielsen Hayden
9.   Martin H. Greenberg
10. Scott Edelman
11. Stephen Jones
12. Shawna McCarthy

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Asimov's

Other Nominees:
2.   Fantasy & Science Fiction
3.   Analog
4.   Interzone
5.   Realms of Fantasy
6.   The New York Review of Science Fiction
7.   Cemetery Dance
8.   Science Fiction Chronicle
9.   Science Fiction Age
10. Weird Tales
11. Science Fiction Weekly
12. Spectrum SF
13. Ansible
14. Century
15. Sci Fiction
16. Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine
17. Amazing Stories
18. Aboriginal SF

Best Book Publisher or Imprint
Winner:
1.   Tor

Other Nominees:
2.   HarperCollins/Eos Prism
3.   Bantam Spectra
4.   Baen
5.   Del Rey
6.   Ace
7.   DAW
8.   Golden Gryphon Press
9.   NESFA Press
10. Subterranean Press
11. Voyager
12. Gollancz/Millennium
13. St. Martin's
14. Warner Aspect
15. Roc
16. Science Fiction Book Club
17. (tie) Cemetery Dance Publications
      (tie) Meisha Merlin
19. Pocket
20. Wildside Press

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Bob Eggleton

Other Nominees:
2.   Michael Whelan
3.   Frank Kelly Freas
4.   Jim Burns
5.   Thomas Canty
6.   Don Maitz
7.   Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
8.   Boris Vallejo
9.   Ron Walotsky
10. Donato Giancola
11. Vincent Di Fate
12. David Cherry
13. J.K. Potter
14. Luis Royo
15. Alan M. Clark
16. (tie) Rowena Morrill
      (tie) Frank Frazetta
18. Stephen Youll

Go to previous year's nominees: 2000
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2002

Book Award Reviews     Home

2001 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California.

Comments: In the second year in a row that the Nebula Award for Best Script was given out, the movie Galaxy Quest won the prize. It is perhaps a mark of how influential the Star Trek franchise is that a parody that pokes fun at it would win a Nebula award. What is really interesting about the selection of Galaxy Quest as the Nebula winner is that the original source material that inspired it was never even nominated for a Nebula Award. Not the original show, not the Next Generation spin-off. Not the Deep Space Nine or Voyager spin-offs. Certainly not the often overlooked but still quite good animated series. And not any of the movies, either featuring the classic cast or cast members of more recent vintage. Star Trek, it seems, is strong enough to engender a Nebula-winning parody, but not strong enough on its own to even get a nomination.

As is typical in many Nebula years, the Best Novel category was fairly uninteresting, as a good book won the award over a collection of other good books. In the Best Novella category, the most interesting thing for me wasn't the winner, but rather the story Ninety Percent of Everything, a title that was clearly an homage to Theodore Sturgeon who famously opined that "Ninety percent of everything is crud". The thing that I wonder about the story is why it took three authors to write a single novella. It seems like a little bit of overkill to have three authors on a story that, by definition, is less than 40,000 words. Then again, I'm not a published author, so maybe there was a good reason they needed to do that.

Best Novel

Winner:
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear

Other Nominees:
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
Crescent City Rhapsody by Kathleen Ann Goonan
Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint
Infinity Beach by Jack McDevitt
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

Best Novella

Winner:

Goddesses by Linda Nagata

Other Nominees:
Argonautica by Walter Jon Williams
Crocodile Rock by Lucius Shepard
Fortitude by Andy Duncan
Hunting the Snark by Mike Resnick

Ninety Percent of Everything by Jonathan Lethem, James Patrick Kelly, and John Kessel

Best Novelette

Winner:

Daddy's World by Walter Jon Williams

Other Nominees:
A Day's Work on the Moon by Mike Moscoe
Generation Gap by Stanley Schmidt
How the Highland People Came to Be by Bruce Holland Rogers
Jack Daw's Pack by Greer Gilman
A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows by Gardner Dozois
Stellar Harvest by Eleanor Arnason

Best Short Story

Winner:
macs by Terry Bisson

Other Nominees:
The Fantasy Writer's Assistant by Jeffrey Ford
Flying Over Water by Ellen Klages
The Golem by Severna Park
Scherzo with Tyrannosaur by Michael Swanwick

You Wandered Off Like a Foolish Child To Break Your Heart and Mine by Pat York

Best Script

Winner:
Galaxy Quest by David Howard and Robert Gordon

Other Nominees:
Being John Malkovich by Charlie Kaufman
Dogma by Kevin Smith
The Green Mile by Frank Darabont
Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki and Neil Gaiman
Unbreakable by M. Night Shyamalan

Ray Bradbury Award

Winner:
2000X - Tales of the Next Millennia

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 2000
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2002

Book Award Reviews     Home

2000 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: After four years of "normal" (or what passes for normal for the Campbell Awards), the judges decided they were not content with just reporting the first, second, and third place finishers, but that they needed to throw yet another procedural curveball and add a category of "honorable mentions". Why? I have no idea. The two novels that appear in this reinstated category are both decent, but neither is compelling enough that it's existence would demand a change to how the award results are reported. I can only chalk this change up to the judges deciding that it is yet again time to screw with everyone's head.

Best Novel

Winner:

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

Second Place:

Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear

Third Place:

Greenhouse Summer by Norman Spinrad

Honorable Mention:

The Silicon Dagger by Jack Williamson

Starfish by Peter Watts

Go to previous year's nominees: 1999
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2001

Book Award Reviews     Home

2000 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 2000 the Mythopoeic Awards reached a new height in incestuous self-referential nominations when not one, but two works by J.R.R. Tolkien were nominated in the Inklings Studies category. Granted, the Mythopoeic Society exists to honor the members of the Inklings and to award scholarship about their work and their lives, but it always seems to me like a massive conflict of interest when they nominate works that are actually written by members of the Inklings, even if they include some amount of scholarly commentary by other authors.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle

Other Nominees:

The Book of Knights by Yves Meynard

Dark Cities Underground by Lisa Goldstein
Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice by A.S. Byatt
The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley

Other Nominees:

The Circle of Magic (Sandry's Book, Tris's Book, Daja's Book, and Briar's Book) by Tamora Pierce

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Kingdom (Jackaroo, On Fortune's Wheel, The Wings of a Falcon, and Elske) by Cynthia Voigt

Skellig by David Almond

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

Other Nominees:
C.S. Lewis: Writer, Dreamer & Mentor by Lionel Adey

Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

Tolkien: Man and Myth - A Literary Life by Joseph Pearce

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness by Carole G. Silver

Other Nominees:

King Arthur in America by Alan Lupack and Barbara Tepa Lupack

Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum by Michael O. Riley
The Quest for the Grail: Arthurian Legend in British Art 1840-1920 by Christine Poulson
When Dreams Came True: Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition by Jack Zipes

Go to previous year's nominees: 1999
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2001

Book Award Reviews     Home

2000 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Comments: Gender equity is a slippery thing. An array of nominees can look, at first glance, to be somewhat equitable, but as we've been conditioned to see actual equality as domination by women, appearances can be deceiving. The 2000 World Fantasy Award ballot is a case in point. Twenty-nine different people were nominated for fiction awards in this year, but only eight of those people were women. Granted, Terry Windling and Ellen Datlow were nominated twice, so one might argue that the proper ratio of women nominees to total nominees is actually ten and thirty-one. Either way, this ratio should have embarrassed the World Fantasy Awards. There had certainly been improvement from the dark days of the 1970s when the entire female sex would often be represented by a single nomination, but when women only make up one-quarter to one-third of your nominees in the year 2000, you still have a way to go.

Best Novel

Winner:
Thraxas by Martin Scott

Other Nominees:
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
The Rainy Season by James P. Blaylock
A Red Heart of Memories by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
A Witness to Life by Terence M. Green

Best Novella

Winner:
(tie) Sky Eyes by Laurel Winter
(tie) The Transformation of Martin Lake by Jeff VanderMeer

Other Nominees:
Crocodile Rock by Lucius Shepard
Scarlet and Gold by Tanith Lee
The Winds of Marble Arch by Connie Willis
The Wizard Retires by Michael Meddor

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
The Chop Girl by Ian R. MacLeod

Other Nominees:
Amerikanski Dead at the Moscow Morgue by Kim Newman
The Dynasters Vol. 1: On the Downs by Howard Waldrop
The Grammarian's Five Daughters by Eleanor Arnason
Human Bay by Robert Reed
Naming the Dead by Paul J. McAuley
The Parwat Ruby by Delia Sherman

Best Anthology

Winner:

Silver Birch, Blood Moon edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Other Nominees:
999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense edited by Al Sarrantonio
Dark Detectives: Adventures of the Supernatural Sleuths edited by Stephen Jones
Northern Frights 5 edited by Don Hutchison

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Best Collection

Winner:

(tie) Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint

(tie) Reave the Just and Other Tales by Stephen R. Donaldson

Other Nominees:
Deep Into That Darkness Peering by Tom Piccirilli
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

Necromancies and Netherworlds: Uncanny Stories by Darrell Schweitzer and Jason van Hollander

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Michael Moorcock

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Jason van Hollander

Other Nominees:
Les Edwards
Bob Eggleton
Stephen E. Fabian

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Gordon van Gelder

Other Nominees:
John Betancourt
Seamus Heaney
Stephen Jones
Warren Lapine
Kim Newman

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
The British Fantasy Society

Other Nominees:
Ken Abner
Rosemary Pardoe
Philip J. Rahman and Dennis E. Weiler
R.B. Russell
William K. Schafer

Go to previous year's nominees: 1999
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2001

Book Award Reviews     Home

2000 Clarke Award Nominees

Location: United Kingdom.

Comments: One interesting thing about the Clarke Awards is how much the nominees lists seem to favor hard science fiction. Stephen Baxter, one of the hardest of hard science fiction authors, holds the record for the most nominations. This year's nominee's include Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, a hard science fiction story about code breakers, and Vernor Vinge's hard science fiction space opera A Deepness in the Sky. This year's winner - Bruce Sterling's Distraction - is also an example of hard science fiction. I suppose this is fitting, as much of Clarke's work can best be described as being part of this subgenre.

Winner
Distraction by Bruce Sterling

Shortlist
The Bones of Time by Kathleen Ann Goonan
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
Silver Screen by Justina Robson
Time: Manifold 1 by Stephen Baxter

What Are the Arthur C. Clarke Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1999
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2001

Book Award Reviews     Home

2000 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 2000 the Libertarian Futurist Society reached further back than it ever had before and inducted the Hans Christian Andersen story The Emperor's New Clothes into its Hall of Fame. The oddity here is that, due to its longevity, Andersen's story has been subjected to so many different interpretations that asserting that it supports a libertarian view is not particularly illuminating - as the story has, for example, been cited as an example of the labor theory of value, a basic underpinning of Marxism. When a story is open to numerous different interpretations, it seems like something of a desperate stretch to try and formally claim it as supporting one's own.

Best Novel

Winner:

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

Other Nominees:

The Cassini Division by Ken MacLeod

Cradle of Saturn by James P. Hogan
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
The Martian Race by Gregory Benford

Hall of Fame

Winner:

The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen

Other Nominees:
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
The Mirror Maze by James P. Hogan
Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson
The Wardove by L. Neil Smith

Go to previous year's nominees: 1999
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2001

Book Award Reviews     Home