2016 World Fantasy Award Nominees

(Via Tor.com)

Below are the nominees for the 2016 World Fantasy Awards. Congratulations to all of the finalists!

Novel

• Kazuo Ishiguro, The Buried Giant (Knopf/Faber & Faber)
• N. K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season (Orbit)
• Naomi Novik, Uprooted (Del Rey Books/Macmillan UK)
• K. J. Parker, Savages (Subterranean Press)
• Anna Smaill, The Chimes (Sceptre)
• Paul Tremblay, A Head Full of Ghosts (William Morrow & Co.)

Long Fiction

• Kelly Barnhill, The Unlicensed Magician (PS Publishing)
• Usman T. Malik, “The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn” (Tor.com, Apr. 22, 2015)
• Kim Newman, “Guignol” (Horrorology, edited by Stephen Jones, Jo Fletcher Books)
• Kelly Robson, “Waters of Versailles” (Tor.com, June 10, 2015)
• Bud Webster, “Farewell Blues” (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan./Feb. 2015)

Short Fiction

• Selena Chambers, “The Neurastheniac” (Cassilda’s Song, ed. Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. Chaosium Inc)
• Amal El-Mohtar, “Pockets” (Uncanny Magazine, Jan.-Feb. 2015)
• Sam J. Miller, “The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History” (Uncanny Magazine, Jan.-Feb. 2015)
• Tamsyn Muir, “The Deepwater Bride” (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/Aug. 2015)
• Alyssa Wong, “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” (Nightmare magazine, Oct. 2015)

Anthology

• Ellen Datlow, ed., The Doll Collection (Tor Books)
• S. T. Joshi, ed., Black Wings IV: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror (PS Publishing)
• Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles, eds., She Walks in Shadows (Innsmouth Free Press)
• Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., ed., Cassilda’s Song: Tales Inspired by Robert W. Chambers’ King in Yellow Mythos (Chaosium Inc.)
• Simon Strantzas, ed., Aickman’s Heirs (Undertow Publications)

Collection

• C. S. E. Cooney, Bone Swans (Mythic Delirium Books)
• Leena Krohn, Leena Krohn: Collected Fiction (Cheeky Frawg Books)
• V. H. Leslie, Skein and Bone (Undertow Publications)
• Kelly Link, Get in Trouble (Random House)
• James Morrow, Reality by Other Means: The Best Short Fiction of James Morrow (Wesleyan University Press)
• Mary Rickert, You Have Never Been Here (Small Beer Press)

Artist

• Richard Anderson
• Galen Dara
• Julie Dillon
• Kathleen Jennings
• Thomas S. Kuebler

Special Award – Professional

• Neil Gaiman, Dave Stewart, and J. H. Williams III, The Sandman: Overture (Vertigo)
• Stephen Jones, for The Art of Horror (Applause Theatre Book & Cinema Book Publishers)
• Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons, The Wheel of Time Companion: The People, Places and History of the Bestselling Series (Tor Books)
• Joe Monti, for contributions to the genre
• Heather J. Wood, for Gods, Memes and Monsters: A 21st Century Bestiary (Stone Skin Press)

Special Award – Nonprofessional

• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies: Literary Adventure Fantasy
• Jedediah Berry and Eben Kling, for The Family Arcana: A Story in Cards (Ninepin Press)
• John O’Neill, for Black Gate: Adventures in Fantasy Literature
• Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein, for Letters to Tiptree (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, for Uncanny Magazine
• Helen Young, for Tales After Tolkien Society

Books Read: June 2016

Now that another month has come and gone, let's take a look at the books I read last month.

1. The Unlicensed Magician, by Kelly Barnhill
2. Child of Flame, by Kate Elliott
3. A Song for No Man's Land, by Andy Remic
4. In the Hand of the Goddess, by Tamora Pierce
5. Penric's Demon, by Lois McMaster Bujold
6. There Will Be War: Volume X, by Jerry Pournelle (editor)
7. Zero K, by Don DeLillo
8. East Side Stories, by Joseph Rodriguez
9. The Emperor's Railroad, by Guy Haley
10. The Fireman, by Joe Hill
11. I Know What I'm Doing, by Jen Kirkman
12. End of Watch, by Stephen King
13. Rise of the Rocket Girls, by Nathalia Holt

Best Book of the Month: Have you read the new Joe Hill novel? I didn't want The Fireman to end.

Disappointment of the Month: I've generally been a huge fan of Tor.com Publishing's novella line, and even the misses were solid efforts, but I just could not get into A Song for No Man's Land. WWI set trench warfare with werewolves should be something I'd dig into, but not this one. Despite my desire to read the entire line, I might be passing on Remic's forthcoming sequels.

Discovery of the Month: Nathalia Holt's look at the women who were doing the work of computers before there were actually computers at Jet Propulsion Labs before NASA was even a glimmer and rocketry was almost fringe science is something I want more of. I loved reading the stories of these women who helped build the space program through their work.

Worth Noting: Though he is noted for finishing otherwise great novels with endings that sort of fizzle out, Stephen King nailed a fairly note perfect conclusion to both End of Watch the novel as well as the overall Bill Hodges trilogy.

Gender Breakdown:  6 of the 13 books I read in June were written by women, which brings me to a perfectly even 43 out of 86 for the year. That sticks me right at 50%, which is a nice percentage to have. Since the only real goal that I have is to keep the number near a 50/50 split, I have finished the first six months of the year holding that line.


Previous Reads
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