Monday, December 31, 2007

2007 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

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

Best Novel

Winner:
Glasshouse by Charles Stross

Other Nominees:
Empire by Orson Scott Card
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
Harbingers by F. Paul Wilson
Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge

Hall of Fame

Winner:
(tie) It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
(tie) True Names by Vernor Vinge

Other Nominees:
Animal Farm by George Orwell
As Easy as A.B.C. by Rudyard Kipling
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King) by J.R.R. Tolkien

Special Award

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

Other Nominees:
None

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

Book Award Reviews     Home

Sunday, November 4, 2007

2007 World Fantasy Award Nominees

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

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

Best Novel

Winner:
Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe

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

Best Novella

Winner:
Botch Town by Jeffrey Ford

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

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
Journey Into the Kingdom by M. Rickert

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

Best Anthology

Winner:
Salon Fantastique edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Other Nominees:
Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard edited by Scott A. Cupp and Joe R. Lansdale
Firebirds Rising edited by Sharyn November
Retro Pulp Tales edited by Joe R. Lansdale
Twenty Epics edited by David Moles and Susan Marie Groppi

Best Collection

Winner:
Map of Dreams by M. Rickert

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

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Betty Ballantine
Diana Wynne Jones

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Shaun Tan

Other Nominees:
Jon Foster
Edward Miller
John Picacio
Jill Thompson

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Ellen Asher

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

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Gary K. Wolfe

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

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

Book Award Reviews     Home

Saturday, October 13, 2007

2007 WSFA Small Press Award Nominees

Location: CapClave in Rockville, Maryland.

Comments: Some time in 2006 or 2007, the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association sat down and decided that what the speculative fiction genre needed was an award to honor short fiction published by small presses. A call for submissions went out, eight stories were chosen for the short list, the members of WSFA voted, and by the time the 2007 Capclave rolled around, a winner had been chosen.

In this inaugural year of the WSFA Small Press Award the honor immediately gained a fair measure of credibility when Peter S. Beagle took home the prize. Even though he was unable to attend the ceremony, Beagle offered a beautiful acceptance speech in which he extolled the virtues of the printed word in general, and small presses specifically.

WSFA Small Press Award

Winner:
El Regalo by Peter S. Beagle

Other Nominees:
Ivy and Thorn by Stephanie Burgis
Moon Does Run by Edd Vick
A Penny a Word by Rick Klaw and Paul Miles
Port Custodial Blues by Vera Nazarian
Queen of Stars by Bryn Sparks
Through the Cooking Glass by Vylar Kaftan
Tonino and the Incubus by Peg Robinson

Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2008

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Sunday, September 2, 2007

2007 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: Nippon 2007 in Yokohama, Japan.

Comments: 2007 was a fairly ordinary year for the Hugo awards. Vernor Vinge won the Best Novel Hugo, an episode of Doctor Who won the Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form award. In the other categories, a collection of the usual suspects were nominated for, and won the various awards. In fact, the only really interesting thing that happened in this year was that the Best Professional Editor award was split into a pair of awards for Long Form and Short Form. This was probably a decent idea, as the list of nominees for Best Professional Editor had become rather static over the course of the previous few years, with the same names being nominated repeatedly. With the split award, the field was opened up a bit allowing for a wider array of people to get a shot at the Hugo. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is a matter of opinion, and I tend to think having a wider field, within reason, is a good thing.

Best Novel

Winner:
Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge

Other Finalists:
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Eifelheim by Michael F. Flynn
Glasshouse by Charles Stross
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

Best Novella

Winner:
A Billion Eves by Robert Reed

Other Finalists:
Inclination by William Shunn
Julian: A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson
Lord Weary's Empire by Michael Swanwick
The Walls of the Universe by Paul Melko

Best Novelette

Winner:
The Djinn's Wife by Ian McDonald

Other Finalists:
All the Things You Are by Mike Resnick
Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth by Michael F. Flynn
Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy) by Geoff Ryman
Yellow Card Man Paolo Bacigalupi

Best Short Story

Winner:
Impossible Dreams by Tim Pratt

Other Finalists:
Eight Episodes by Robert Reed
The House Beyond Your Sky by Benjamin Rosenbaum
How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman
Kin by Bruce McAllister

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:
James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips

Other Finalists:
About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, and Five Interviews by Samuel R. Delany
Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio by John Picacio
Heinlein's Children: The Juveniles by Joseph T. Major
Worldcon Guest of Honor Speeches edited by Mike Resnick and Joe Siclari

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Winner:
Pan's Labyrinth

Other Finalists:
Children of Men
The Prestige
A Scanner Darkly
V for Vendetta

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Winner:
Doctor Who: Girl in the Fireplace

Other Finalists:
Battlestar Galactica: Downloaded
Doctor Who: School Reunion
Doctor Who: Army of Ghosts and Doomsday
Stargate SG-1: 200

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Winner:
Gordon van Gelder

Other Finalists:
Gardner Dozois
David G. Hartwell
Stanley Schmidt
Sheila Williams

Best Professional Editor: Long Form

Winner;
Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Other Finalists:
Lou Anders
James Patrick Baen
Ginjer Buchanan
David G. Hartwell

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Donato Giancola

Other Finalists:
Bob Eggleton
Stephan Martiniere
John Jude Palencar
John Picacio

Best Semi-Prozine

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

Other Finalists:
Ansible edited by Dave Langford
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet edited by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link
The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, David G. Hartwell, and Kevin J. Maroney

Best Fanzine

Winner:
Science-Fiction Five-Yearly edited by Randy Byers, Lee Hoffman, and Geri Sullivan

Other Finalists:
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian, III
The Drink Tank edited by Christopher J. Garcia
Plokta edited by Steve Davies, Alison Scott, and Mike Scott

Best Fan Writer

Winner:
Dave Langford

Other Finalists:
Christopher J. Garcia
John Hertz
John Scalzi
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Other Finalists:
Brad W. Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Naomi Novik

Other Finalists:
Scott Lynch
Sarah Monette
Brandon Sanderson
Lawrence M. Schoen

What Are the Hugo Awards?

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

2007 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home

Monday, August 6, 2007

2007 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon XXXVIII in Berkeley, California.

Comments: Although the Mythopoeic Society's primary mission is to promote the works of and scholarship about the members of the Inklings, in most years the Myth and Fantasy Studies category is comprised of a set works that appear to be far more interesting than the set of works nominated for the Inklings Studies category. The cause is, I think, the narrowness of the Inklings Studies category which in 2007 consisted of four works about Tolkien, which seems quite limited when compared with the breadth of topics addressed by the nominees in the Myth and Fantasy category - Arthurian mythology, Vampires, Beauty and the Beast, Owen Barfield, and a foursome of English fantasy authors.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip

Other Nominees:
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke
The Line Between by Peter S. Beagle
The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
Three Days to Never by Tim Powers

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Corbenic by Catherine Fisher

Other Nominees:
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones
Spirits that Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:
The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide by Christina Schull and Wayne G. Hammond

Other Nominees:
Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology by Verlyn Flieger
Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-Earth by Marjorie Burns
The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, and Edmund Weiner

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:
Gemstone of Paradise: The Holy Grail in Wolfram's Parzival by G. Ronald Murphy

Other Nominees:
Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper by Charles Butler
The Lure of the Vampire: Gender, Fiction, and Fandom from Bram Stoker to Buffy by Milly Williamson
The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook by Jerry Griswold
Owen Barfield: Romanticism Come of Age: A Biography by Simon Blaxland-de Lange

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

Book Award Reviews     Home

Saturday, July 7, 2007

2007 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: The 2007 Campbell Awards seem to be yet another case of the science fiction establishment honoring one of its long-time members not for the actual work being awarded, but rather for the author's overall body of work. This is not because Ben Bova's Titan is a particularly bad book, but rather because the book doesn't seem to be particularly notable when compared to his other books. It seems that in 2007 the Campbell Award judges said to themselves, "Hey, Bova has never won a Campbell Award, and he's written a lot of pretty good books; we should give him the award" rather than "Hey, Bova's book is really fantastic, let's choose that one." This seems to happen frequently in science fiction awards, and seems to be one of the things that perpetuates the exclusion of women from being adequately recognized for their contributions to the genre.

Best Novel

Winner:
Titan by Ben Bova

Second Place:
The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow

Third Place:
(tie) Blindsight by Peter Watts
(tie) Farthing by Jo Walton

Finalists:
Dry by Barbara Sapergia
Glasshouse by Charles Stross
Infoquake by David Louis Edelman
Living Next Door to the God of Love by Justina Robson
Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge
A Small and Remarkable Life by Nick DiChario
Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder

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

Book Award Reviews     Home

Saturday, June 16, 2007

2007 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Seattle, Washington.

Comments: In 2007, John Scalzi managed to hold the last spot in the list of nominees for Best Science Fiction Novel for the second year in a row. I'm not sure, but that has to be some sort of unprecedented accomplishment. Of course, Scalzi had not one, but two novels nominated for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2007, which probably makes having one of them rank as the last nominee in the poll seem to be not so bad.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge

Other Nominees:
2.   Glasshouse by Charles Stross
3.   Blindsight by Peter Watts
4.   Carnival by Elizabeth Bear
5.   Farthing by Jo Walton
6.   The Clan Corporate by Charles Stross
7.   The Road by Cormac McCarthy
8.   Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon
9.   Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
10. Mathematicians in Love by Rudy Rucker
11. Eifelheim by Michael F. Flynn
12. Nova Swing by M. John Harrison
13. End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
14. Matriarch by Karen Traviss
15. The Armies of Memory by John Barnes
16. Polity Agent by Neal Asher
17. Emperor by Stephen Baxter
18. Keeping It Real by Justina Robson
19. The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
20. Horizons by Mary Rosenblum
21. Babylon by Richard Calder
22. The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

Other Nominees:
2.   The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross
3.   Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe
4.   Three Days to Never by Tim Powers
5.   The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow
6.   Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer
7.   Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
8.   Forest Mage by Robin Hobb
9.   The Vengeance of Rome by Michael Moorcock
10. Lisey's Story by Stephen King
11. (tie) The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker
      (tie) The Tourmaline by Paul Park
13. The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
14. The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes
15. Trial of Flowers by Jay Lake
16. The Demon and the City by Liz Williams
17. The Virtu by Sarah Monette
18. Fugitives of Chaos by John C. Wright
19. Ilario: The Lion's Eye by Mary Gentle
20. Majestrum by Matthew Hughes
22. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Best Young Adult Book
Winner:
1.   Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

Other Nominees:
2.   Voices by Ursula K. Le Guin
3.   Magic Lessons by Justine Larbalestier
4.   Spirits That Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
5.   The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 4: Sir Thursday by Garth Nix
6.   The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones
7.   Specials by Scott Westerfeld
8.   Do the Creepy Thing by Graham Joyce
9.   A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve
10. The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld
11. Midnighters, Book Three: Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld

Best First Novel
Winner:

Other Nominees:
2.   The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
3.   Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell
4.   The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages
5.   The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
6.   A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
7.   Summer of the Apocalypse by James Van Pelt
8.   Scar Night by Alan Campbell
9.   The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
10. The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
11. The Burning Girl by Holly Phillips
12. The Patron Saint of Plagues by Barth Anderson

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   Missile Gap by Charles Stross

Other Nominees:
2.   The Mars Girl by Joe Haldeman
3.   Lord Weary's Empire by Michael Swanwick
4.   Botch Town by Jeffrey Ford
5.   Map of Dreams by M. Rickert
6.   A Billion Eves by Robert Reed
7.   The Siege of Earth by Stephen Baxter
8.   Julian: A Christmas Story by Robert Charles Wilson
9.   The Plurality of Worlds by Brian Stableford
10. The Voyage of Night Shining White by Chris Roberson
11. Where the Golden Apples Grow by Kage Baker
12. Riding the Crocodile by Greg Egan
13. The Walls of the Universe by Paul Melko
14. Nightingale by Alastair Reynolds
15. Blackburn and the Blade by Bradley Denton
16. 'The Night is Fine,' the Waldrus Said by John Barnes
17. The Good Kill by Barry B. Longyear
18. Hallucigenia by Laird Barron
19. Inclination by William Shunn
20. The Revivalist by Albert E. Cowdrey
21. Good Mountain by Robert Reed
22. Rococo by Robert Reed
23. The Lineaments of Gratified Desire by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow

Other Nominees:
2.   Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy) by Geoff Ryman
3.   I, Row-Boat by Cory Doctorow
4.   The Night Whiskey by Jeffrey Ford
5.   The Singularity Needs Women! by Paul Di Filippo
6.   Salt Wine by Peter S. Beagle
7.   In the House of the Seven Librarians by Ellen Klages
8.   The Djinn's Wife by Ian McDonald
9.   Yellow Card Man by Paolo Bacigalupi
10. A Soul in a Bottle by Tim Powers
11. El Regalo by Peter S. Beagle
12. Counterfactual by Gardner Dozois
13. Wane by Elizabeth Bear
14. Kansas, She Says, Is the Name of the Star by R. Garcia y Robertson
15. Lessons with Miss Gray by Theodora Goss
16. Signal to Noise by Alastair Reynolds
17. The Cartesian Theater by Robert Charles Wilson
18. The Pacific Mystery by Stephen Baxter
19. What Used to Be Good Still Is by Emma Bull
20. Jack o'Lantern by Patricia A. McKillip
21. Bow Shock by Gregory Benford
22. Shambhala by Alex Irvine
23. Okanoggan Falls by Carolyn Ives Gilman
24. Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth by Michael F. Flynn
25. Dead Men Walking by Paul J. McAuley
26. Tiger, Burning by Alastair Reynolds
27. Chandail by Peter S. Beagle
28. Incarnation Day by Walter Jon Williams
29. Journey into the Kingdom by M. Rickert
30. Femaville 29 by Paul Di Filippo
31. The Highway Men by Ken MacLeod
32. A Flight of Numbers Fantastique Strange by Beth Bernobich
33. Every Hole Is Outlined by John Barnes
34. Sunlight or Rock by John Kessel
35. A Siege of Cranes by Benjamin Rosenbaum
36. . . . the darkest evening of the year . . . by Candas Jane Dorsey
37. Home Movies by Mary Rosenblum
38. I'll Give You My Word by Diana Wynne Jones
39. Dead Man by Alexander Jablokov
40. The Christmas Witch by M. Rickert

Best Short Story
Winner:
1.   How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman

Other Nominees:
2.   Nano Comes to Clifford Falls by Nancy Kress
3.   Sob in the Silence by Gene Wolfe
4.   In the Abyss of Time by Stephen Baxter
5.   Tin Marsh by Michael Swanwick
6.   The Way He Does It by Jeffrey Ford
7.   Impossible Dreams by Tim Pratt
8.   The American Dead by Jay Lake
9.   Eight Episodes by Robert Reed
10. The Saffron Gatherers by Elizabeth Hand
11. Another Word for Map Is Faith by Christopher Rowe
12. Killers by Carol Emshwiller
13. Chu and the Nants by Rudy Rucker
14. The Secret Paths of Rajan Khanna by Jeff VanderMeer
15. A Fine Magic by Margo Lanagan
16. World of No Return by Carol Emshwiller
17. The House Beyond Your Sky by Benjamin Rosenbaum
18. Preemption by Charlie Rosenkranz
19. Taking Good Care of Myself by Ian R. MacLeod
20. Under Hell, Over Heaven by Margo Lanagan
21. The Age of Ice by Liz Williams
22. Cup and Table by Tim Pratt
23. Kyle Meets the River by Ian McDonald
24. You Have Never Been Here by M. Rickert
25. Revelation by Albert E. Cowdrey
26. Kin by Bruce McAllister
27. Winkie by Margo Lanagan
28. To Measure the Earth by Jedediah Berry
29. Lighthouse by Michael Shara and Jack McDevitt
30. The Small Astral Object Genius by James Van Pelt
31. The League of Last Girls by Christopher Rowe
32. The Town on Blighted Sea by A.M. Dellamonica

Best Collection
Winner:
1.   Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Other Nominees:
2.   The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford
3.   The Best of Philip José Farmer by Philip José Farmer
4.   The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories by Susanna Clarke
5.   Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds
6.   The Line Between by Peter S. Beagle
7.   A Separate War and Other Stories by Joe Haldeman
8.   Zima Blue and Other Stories by Alastair Reynolds
9.   In the Forest of Forgetting by Theodora Goss
10. Resplendent by Stephen Baxter
11. Visionary in Residence by Bruce Sterling
12. Outbound by Jack McDevitt
13. Map of Dreams by M. Rickert
14. The Man from the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman
15. Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories by Elizabeth Hand
16. Shuteye for the Timebroker by Paul Di Filippo
17. Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
18. Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead: Stories by Alan DeNiro
19. Alabaster by Caitlín R. Kiernan
20. Pictures from an Expedition by Alexander C. Irvine
21. The Ocean and All Its Devices by William Browning Spencer
22. Streetcar Dreams by Richard Bowes
23. The Butterflies of Memory by Ian Watson
24. Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear by Terry Dowling
25. American Morons by Glen Hirshberg

Best Anthology
Winner:
1.   The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-third Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois

Other Nominees:
2.   The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2006: Nineteenth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin J. Grant
3.   Salon Fantastique edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
4.   One Million A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois
5.   Year's Best SF 11 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
6.   Firebirds Rising edited by Sharyn November
7.   Futureshocks edited by Lou Anders
8.   Forbidden Planets edited by Peter Crowther
9.   Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel
10. Best Short Novels: 2006 edited by Jonathan Strahan
11. Polyphony, Volume 6 edited by Deborah Layne and Jay Lake
12. Year's Best Fantasy 6 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
13. Escape from Earth: New Adventures in Space edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
14. Twenty Epics edited by David Moles and Susan Marie Groppi
15. The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction edited by Mike Ashley
16. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Seventeen edited by Stephen Jones
17. Nebula Awards Showcase 2006 edited by Gardner Dozois
18. Science Fiction: The Very Best of 2005 edited by Jonathan Strahan
19. Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005 edited by Jonathan Strahan
20. Futures Past edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
21. Paraspheres: Fabulist and New Wave Fabulist Stories edited by Rusty Morrison and Ken Keegan
22. Science Fiction: The Best of the Year: 2006 Edition edited by Rich Horton
23. The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy edited by Johanna Sinisalo
24. Fantasy: The Best of the Year: 2006 Edition edited by Rich Horton
25. Eidolon 1 edited by Jonathan Strahan and Jeremy G. Byrne

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:
1.   James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips

Other Nominees:
2.   About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, and Five Interviews by Samuel R. Delany
3.   Myths for the Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe edited by Win Scott Eckert
4.   Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard by Mark Finn
5.   The Darkening Garden: A Short Lexicon of Horror by John Clute
6.   Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century edited by Justine Larbalestier
7.   The History of Science Fiction by Adam Roberts
8.   Heinlein's Children: The Juveniles by Joseph T. Major
9.   Worldcon Guest of Honor Speeches by Mike Resnick and Joe Siclari
10. The Long and the Short of It: More Essays on the Fiction of Gene Wolfe by Robert Borski
11. The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy edited by Leonard S. Marcus
12. The Freedom of Fantastic Things: Selected Criticisms on Clark Ashton Smith edited by Scott Connors
13. Visions and Re-Visions: [Re]constructing Science Fiction by Robert M. Philmus

Best Art Book
Winner:
1.   Spectrum 13: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner

Other Nominees:
2.   Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio by John Picacio
3.   Amphigorey Again by Edward Gorey
4.   The Fabulous Women of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell
5.   Origins: The Art of John Jude Palencar by John Jude Palencar
6.   Mommy? by Maurice Sendak
7.   James Bama: American Realist by James Bama
8.   RGK: The Art of Roy G. Krenkel edited by Barry Klugerman and J. David Spurlock
9.   Fairies by Yoshitaka Amano
10. Kiddography: The Art & Life of Tom Kidd by Tom Kidd
11. Wally's World: The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of Wally Wood, The World's Second-Best Comic Book Artist by Steve Starger and J. David Spurlock
12. Coffin: The Art of Vampire Hunter D by Yoshitaka Amano
13. r/evolution: The Art of Jon Foster by Jon Foster
14. The Art of Michael Parkes by Michael Parkes

Best Editor
Winner:
1.   Ellen Datlow

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

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction

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

Best Book Publisher or Imprint
Winner:
1.   Tor

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

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   John Picacio

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

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

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Saturday, May 12, 2007

2007 Nebula Award Nominees

Location: New York City, New York

Comments: In 2007 the Nebula Awards went to New York and did absolutely nothing much that was interesting. This isn't to say that the collection of winners were undeserving or uninteresting, but nothing much that was surprising happened, and no one seems to have had a particularly outstanding year. The only person to get more than one nominee was Scott Westerfeld, who was nominated twice for the Andre Norton Award, but no one else got more than a single nomination. I suppose one might be somewhat surprised that the juggernaut that is Doctor Who only got one nomination in the Best Script category, but after the sparse nominations in 2006, it was just surprising to see a fleshed out field this year.

Best Novel

Winner:
Seeker by Jack McDevitt

Other Nominees:
Farthing by Jo Walton
From the Files of the Time Rangers by Richard Bowes
The Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
To Crush the Moon by Wil McCarthy

Best Novella

Winner:

Other Nominees:
Inclination by William Shunn
Sanctuary by Michael A. Burstein
The Walls of the Universe by Paul Melko

Best Novelette

Winner:
Two Hearts by Peter S. Beagle

Other Nominees:
Journey into the Kingdom by M. Rickert
The Language of Moths by Christopher Barzak
Little Faces by Vonda N. McIntyre
Walpurgis Afternoon by Delia Sherman

Best Short Story

Winner:
Echo by Elizabeth Hand

Other Nominees:
An End to All Things by Karina Sumner-Smith
Helen Remembers the Stork Club by Esther M. Friesner
Henry James, This One's for You by Jack McDevitt
Pip and the Fairies by Theodora Goss
The Woman in Schrödinger's Wave Equations by Eugene Mirabelli

Best Script

Winner:
Howl's Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki, Cindy Davis Hewitt, and Donald H. Hewitt

Other Nominees:
Batman Begins by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer
Battlestar Galactica: Unfinished Business by Michael Taylor
Doctor Who: The Girl in the Fireplace by Steven Moffat

Andre Norton Award

Winner:
Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier

Other Nominees:
Devilish by Maureen Johnson
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
Life As We Know It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Midnighters, Book Two: Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

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

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Saturday, November 4, 2006

2006 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Austin, Texas.

Comments: Looking at the 2006 World Fantasy Award nominees, I am struck by the fact that there have been so few works of young adult fantasy nominated for this award. For example, despite their immense popularity, none of the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson novels were even nominated for a World Fantasy Award. One thing that jumps out is that unlike the Nebula Awards, which have the Andre Norton Award attached to them, and the Locus Awards, the World Fantasy awards have no category for honoring young adult fiction. Given the large volume of young adult fantasy fiction that is published every year, this seems to me to be something of a missed opportunity for the World Fantasy Awards.

Best Novel

Winner:
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Other Nominees:
The Limits of Enchantment by Graham Joyce
Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
Od Magic by Patricia A. McKillip
A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park
Vellum by Hal Duncan

Best Novella

Winner:
Voluntary Committal by Joe Hill

Other Nominees:
Another War by Simon Morden
The Imago Sequence by Laird Barron
In the Machine by Michael Cunningham
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
UOUS by Tanith Lee

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
CommComm by George Saunders

Other Nominees:
Best New Horror by Joe Hill
The Other Grace by Holly Phillips
La Peau Verte by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Two Hearts by Peter S. Beagle

Best Anthology

Winner:
The Fair Folk edited by Marvin Kaye

Other Nominees:
Adventure, Vol. 1 edited by Chris Roberson
Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction edited by Neil Williamson and Andrew J. Wilson
Polyphony, Volume 5 edited by Deborah Layne and Jay Lake
Weird Shadows Over Innsmouth edited by Stephen Jones

Best Collection

Winner:
The Keyhole Opera by Bruce Holland Rogers

Other Nominees:
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
In the Palace of Repose by Holly Phillips
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
To Charles Fort, with Love by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Stephen Fabian
John Crowley

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
James Jean

Other Nominees:
Kinuko Y. Craft
Dave McKean
Edward Miller (aka Les Edwards)
John Jude Palencar

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Sean Wallace

Other Nominees:
Susan Allison and Ginjer Buchanan
Lou Anders
S.T. Joshi and Stefan Dziemianowicz
Peter Lavery
Chris Roberson and Allison Baker

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
David Howe and Stephen Walker

Other Nominees:
The Friends of Arthur Machen
Leo Grin
Jess Nevins
Rodger Turner, Neil Walsh, and Wayne MacLaurin

Go to previous year's nominees: 2005
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2007

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Sunday, August 27, 2006

2006 Prometheus Award Nominees

Location: LAcon IV in Anaheim, California.

Comments: Yet again, when confronted with a situation indicating that their award structure was inadequate to the task of honoring the full range of libertarian works that their members thought worthy, the Libertarian Futurist Society resorted to the ad hoc means of handing out a special award rather than actually trying to fix the categories of the Prometheus Awards to keep them current with the realities of modern media. I suppose that this isn't unexpected for the reactionary organization that the Libertarian Futurist Society seems to have become, and handing out ad hoc awards reflect the chaotic nature of the libertarian ideology to a certain extent. This does, however, expose the Prometheus Awards as being something of a disorganized mess.

Best Novel

Winner:
Learning the World by Ken MacLeod

Other Nominees:
47 by Walter Mosley
The Black Arrow by Vin Suprynowicz
Chainfire by Terry Goodkind
The Hidden Family by Charles Stross
RebelFire: Out of the Gray Zone by Claire Wolfe and Aaron Zelman

Hall of Fame

Winner:
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

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

Special Award

Winner:
Serenity by Joss Whedon

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 2005
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2007

Book Award Reviews     Home

Saturday, August 26, 2006

2006 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: L.A. Con IV in Anaheim, California.

Comments: Partially making up for its woefully short run on network television, and its snubbing in previous Hugo ceremonies, the Firefly universe got a nod in 2006 when the movie Serenity won the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form. While I am sure that most Browncoats would have preferred a long run as a broadcast program, the nod from the Hugo voters was nice.

Meanwhile, over in the Short Form category, the revamped Doctor Who show began its run of dominating the award with a win for the two part story The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances. Over the next six years, Doctor Who would go on to win five of the Short Form Hugo Awards, a run interrupted only by Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Granted, Doctor Who is a very good show, but it seems to me to be quite unhealthy for the Hugo Awards, and for science fiction as a televised genre, to have a single program dominating an award category like this.

Best Novel

Winner:
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Other Finalists:
Accelerando by Charles Stross
A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Best Novella

Winner:
Inside Job by Connie Willis

Other Finalists:
Burn by James Patrick Kelly
Identity Theft by Robert J. Sawyer (reviewed in Red Planet Blues)
The Little Goddess by Ian McDonald
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

Best Novelette

Winner:
Two Hearts by Peter S. Beagle

Other Finalists:
The Calorie Man by Paolo Bacigalupi
I, Robot by Cory Doctorow
The King of Where-I-Go by Howard Waldrop
TelePresence by Michael A. Burstein

Best Short Story

Winner:
Tk'tk'tk by David D. Levine

Other Finalists:
The Clockwork Atom Bomb by Dominic Green
Down Memory Lane by Mike Resnick
Seventy-Five Years by Michael A. Burstein
Singing My Sister Down by Margo Lanagan

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:
Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop by Kate Wilhelm

Other Finalists:
Science Fiction Quotations by Gary Westfahl
The SEX Column and Other Misprints by David Langford
Soundings: Reviews 1992-1996 by Gary K. Wolfe
Transformations: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970 by Mike Ashley

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Winner:
Serenity

Other Finalists:
Batman Begins
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Winner:
Doctor Who: The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances

Other Finalists:
Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus
Doctor Who: Dalek
Doctor Who: Father's Day
Jack-Jack Attack
Lucas Back in Anger
Prix Victor Hugo Awards Ceremony: Opening Speech and Framing Device

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
David G. Hartwell

Other Finalists:
Ellen Datlow
Stanley Schmidt
Gordon van Gelder
Sheila Williams

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Donato Giancola

Other Finalists:
Jim Burns
Bob Eggleton
Stephan Martiniere
John Picacio
Michael Whelan

Best Semi-Prozine

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

Other Finalists:
Ansible edited by David Langford
Emerald City edited by Cheryl Morgan
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kevin Maroney, and David G. Hartwell

Best Fanzine

Winner:
Plokta edited by Steve Davies, Alison Scott, and Mike Scott

Other Finalists:
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian, III
Chunga edited by Randy Byers, Andy Hooper, and Carl Juarez
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Best Fan Writer

Winner:
Dave Langford

Other Finalists:
Claire Brialey
John Hertz
Cheryl Morgan
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Other Finalists:
Brad Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
John Scalzi

Other Finalists:
K.J. Bishop
Sarah Monette
Chris Roberson
Brandon Sanderson
Steph Swainston

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 2005
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2007

2006 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home

Monday, August 7, 2006

2006 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon XXXVII in Norman, Oklahoma.

Comments: In 2006 the date and location of the Mythopoeic Awards finally became permanently publicly available. As I have noted before, I suspect that  the Mythopoeic Awards were handed out at the annual Mythcon run by the Mythopoeic Society in previous years, but as I cannot find any confirmation of this, I am hesitant to list the annual ballot of nominees with this information. However, in 2006 and later years, this fact has been made explicit, and as a result, I can include the data.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Other Nominees:
The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold
Metallic Love by Tanith Lee
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
The Bartimaeus Trilogy (The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's Gate) by Jonathan Stroud

Other Nominees:
By These Ten Bones by Clare B. Dunkle
Valiant by Holly Black
Wizards at War by Diane Duane

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:
The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

Other Nominees:
Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology by Verlyn Flieger
The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs
Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-Earth by Marjorie Burns
Smith of Wootton Major: Expanded Edition edited by Verlyn Flieger

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:
National Dreams: The Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth-Century England by Jennifer Schacker

Other Nominees:
The Dharma of Dragons and Daemons: Buddhist Themes in Modern Fantasy by David R. Loy and Linda Goodhew
The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook by Jerry Griswold
Readers in Wonderland: The Liberating Worlds of Fantasy Fiction from Dorothy to Harry Potter by Deborah O'Keefe

Go to previous year's nominees: 2005
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2007

Book Award Reviews     Home

Friday, July 7, 2006

2006 Campbell Award Nominees

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

Comments: Sometimes modern science fiction fans forget just what an abundance of riches they have access to. Some people hearken back to older years when a dedicated science fiction fan could basically read everything noteworthy that was published every year, and as a result, fandom had a single common language that bound them tightly together. These people mourn the fact that the genre has expanded and splintered to such an extent that this simply isn't possible now. But what such people forget is that having such a focused genre comes at the price of having a substantially constricted range of voices available to be read. What the list of nominees for the 2006 Campbell Award demonstrates is that science fiction readers now have an overflowing cup of good fiction to enjoy, and that this cup is very slowly (very, very slowly)  being expanded by including more viewpoints into its mixture.

Best Novel

Winner:
Mindscan by Robert J. Sawyer

Second Place:
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Third Place:
The Summer Isles by Ian R. MacLeod

Finalists:
Accelerando by Charles Stross
Child of Earth by David Gerrold
Counting Heads by David Marusek
Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
The Meq by Steve Cash
Mind's Eye by Paul J. McAuley
Seeker by Jack McDevitt
Transcendent by Stephen Baxter
The World Before by Karen Traviss

Go to previous year's nominees: 2005
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2007

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