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

2015 World Fantasy Award Winners

Via SF Signal

Below is a list of the winners of the 2015 World Fantasy Awards. Congratulations to all of the winners!

• NOVEL: The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (Random House; Sceptre)
• NOVELLA: We Are All Completely Fine, Daryl Gregory (Tachyon)
• SHORT FICTION: Do You Like to Look at Monsters?, Scott Nicolay (Fedogan & Bremer)
• ANTHOLOGY: Monstrous Affections, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant, ed. (Candlewick)
• COLLECTION (TIE):
  • Gifts for the One Who Comes After, Helen Marshall (ChiZine)
  • The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Angela Slatter (Tartarus)
• ARTIST: Samuel Araya
• SPECIAL AWARD – PROFESSIONAL: Sandra Kasturi & Brett Alexander Savory, for ChiZine Publications
• SPECIAL AWARD – NONPROFESSIONAL: Ray B. Russell & Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press

2015 World Fantasy Award Nominees

The nominees for the 2015 World Fantasy Awards have been announced. This has long been one of my favorite awards to follow, so I'm looking forward to reading the nominees I have not yet encountered.

Congratulations to all of the nominees.

7/14/2015 edit: Kai Ashante Wilson's story has been moved to Novella, Ursula Vernon's story has been added to Short Story.


Novel
Katherine Addison, The Goblin Emperor (Tor Books)
Robert Jackson Bennett, City of Stairs (Broadway Books/Jo Fletcher Books)
David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks (Random House/Sceptre UK)
Jeff VanderMeer, Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Originals)
Jo Walton, My Real Children (Tor Books US/Corsair UK)

Novella
Daryl Gregory, We Are All Completely Fine (Tachyon Publications)
Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, "Where the Trains Turn" (Tor.com, Nov. 19, 2014)
Michael Libling, "Hollywood North" (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nov./Dec. 2014)
Mary Rickert, "The Mothers of Voorhisville" (Tor.com, Apr. 30, 2014)
Rachel Swirsky, “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)” (Subterranean Press magazine, Summer 2014)
Kai Ashante Wilson, "The Devil in America" (Tor.com, April 2, 2014)

Short Story
Kelly Link, "I Can See Right Through You" (McSweeney's 48)
Scott Nicolay, Do You Like to Look at Monsters? (Fedogan & Bremer, chapbook)
Ursula Vernon, "The Jackalope Wives" (Apex Magazine, January 2014)
Kaaron Warren, "Death's Door Café" (Shadows & Tall Trees 2014)

Alyssa Wong, "The Fisher Queen," (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2014)

Anthology
Ellen Datlow, ed., Fearful Symmetries (ChiZine Publications)
George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, eds., Rogues (Bantam Books/Titan Books)
Rose Fox and Daniel José Older, eds., Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History (Crossed Genres)
Michael Kelly, ed. Shadows & Tall Trees 2014 (Undertow Publications)
Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, eds., Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales (Candlewick Press)

Collection
Rebecca Lloyd, Mercy and Other Stories (Tartarus Press)
Helen Marshall, Gifts for the One Who Comes After (ChiZine Publications)
Robert Shearman, They Do the Same Things Different There (ChiZine Publications)
Angela Slatter, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (Tartarus Press)
Janeen Webb, Death at the Blue Elephant (Ticonderoga Publications)

Artist
Samuel Araya
Galen Dara
Jeffrey Alan Love
Erik Mohr
John Picacio

Special Award—Professional
John Joseph Adams, for editing anthologies and Lightspeed and Nightmare magazines
Jeanne Cavelos, for Odyssey Writing workshops
Sandra Kasturi and Brett Alexander Savory, for ChiZine Publications
Gordon Van Gelder, for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Jerad Walters, for Centipede Press

Special Award—Non-professional
Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies: Literary Adventure Fantasy
Matt Cardin, for Born to Fear: Interviews with Thomas Ligotti (Subterranean Press)
Stefan Fergus, for Civilian Reader
Ray B. Russell and Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press
Patrick Swenson, for Fairwood Press

Novel:

• The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Tor)
• City of Stairs, Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway; Jo Fletcher)
• The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (Random House; Sceptre)
• Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy, Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• My Real Children, Jo Walton (Tor; Corsair)

Novella:

• We Are All Completely Fine, Daryl Gregory (Tachyon)
• “Where the Trains Turn”, Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (Tor.com 11/19/14)
• “Hollywood North”, Michael Libling  (F&SF 11-12/14)
• “The Mothers of Voorhisville”, Mary Rickert (Tor.com 4/30/14)
• “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)”, Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer ’14)

Short Fiction:

• “I Can See Right Through You”, Kelly Link,  (McSweeney’s 48)
• Do You Like to Look at Monsters?, Scott Nicolay (Fedogan & Bremer)
• “Death’s Door Café”, Kaaron Warren (Shadows & Tall Trees 2014)
• “The Devil in America”, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com, 4/2/14)
• “The Fisher Queen”, Alyssa Wong (F&SF 5-6/14)

Anthology:

• Fearful Symmetries, Ellen Datlow, ed. (ChiZine)
• Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, Rose Fox & Daniel José Older, eds. (Crossed Genres)
• Shadows & Tall Trees 2014, Michael Kelly, ed. (Undertow)
• Monstrous Affections, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant, ed. (Candlewick)
• Rogues, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Bantam; Titan)

Collection:

• Mercy and Other Stories, Rebecca Lloyd (Tartarus)
• Gifts for the One Who Comes After, Helen Marshall (ChiZine)
• They Do the Same Things Different There, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
• The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Angela Slatter (Tartarus)
• Death at the Blue Elephant, Janeen Webb (Ticonderoga)

Artist:

• Samuel Araya
• Galen Dara
• Jeffrey Alan Love
• Erik Mohr
• John Picacio

Special Award – Professional:

• John Joseph Adams, for editing anthologies and Nightmare and Fantasy magazines
• Jeanne Cavelos, for Odyssey writing workshops
• Sandra Kasturi & Brett Alexander Savory, for ChiZine Publications
• Gordon Van Gelder, for F&SF
• Jerad Walters, for Centipede Press

Special Award – Nonprofessional:

• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Matt Cardin, for Born to Fear: Interviews with Thomas Ligotti (Subterranean)
• Stefan Fergus, for Civilian Reader (civilianreader.wordpress.com)
• Ray B. Russell & Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press
• Patrick Swenson, for Fairwood Press

- See more at: http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/07/2015-world-fantasy-awards-ballot/#sthash.QNfCxq5G.dpuf

Novel:

• The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Tor)
• City of Stairs, Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway; Jo Fletcher)
• The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (Random House; Sceptre)
• Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy, Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• My Real Children, Jo Walton (Tor; Corsair)

Novella:

• We Are All Completely Fine, Daryl Gregory (Tachyon)
• “Where the Trains Turn”, Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (Tor.com 11/19/14)
• “Hollywood North”, Michael Libling  (F&SF 11-12/14)
• “The Mothers of Voorhisville”, Mary Rickert (Tor.com 4/30/14)
• “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)”, Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer ’14)

Short Fiction:

• “I Can See Right Through You”, Kelly Link,  (McSweeney’s 48)
• Do You Like to Look at Monsters?, Scott Nicolay (Fedogan & Bremer)
• “Death’s Door Café”, Kaaron Warren (Shadows & Tall Trees 2014)
• “The Devil in America”, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com, 4/2/14)
• “The Fisher Queen”, Alyssa Wong (F&SF 5-6/14)

Anthology:

• Fearful Symmetries, Ellen Datlow, ed. (ChiZine)
• Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, Rose Fox & Daniel José Older, eds. (Crossed Genres)
• Shadows & Tall Trees 2014, Michael Kelly, ed. (Undertow)
• Monstrous Affections, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant, ed. (Candlewick)
• Rogues, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Bantam; Titan)

Collection:

• Mercy and Other Stories, Rebecca Lloyd (Tartarus)
• Gifts for the One Who Comes After, Helen Marshall (ChiZine)
• They Do the Same Things Different There, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
• The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Angela Slatter (Tartarus)
• Death at the Blue Elephant, Janeen Webb (Ticonderoga)

Artist:

• Samuel Araya
• Galen Dara
• Jeffrey Alan Love
• Erik Mohr
• John Picacio

Special Award – Professional:

• John Joseph Adams, for editing anthologies and Nightmare and Fantasy magazines
• Jeanne Cavelos, for Odyssey writing workshops
• Sandra Kasturi & Brett Alexander Savory, for ChiZine Publications
• Gordon Van Gelder, for F&SF
• Jerad Walters, for Centipede Press

Special Award – Nonprofessional:

• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Matt Cardin, for Born to Fear: Interviews with Thomas Ligotti (Subterranean)
• Stefan Fergus, for Civilian Reader (civilianreader.wordpress.com)
• Ray B. Russell & Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press
• Patrick Swenson, for Fairwood Press

- See more at: http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/07/2015-world-fantasy-awards-ballot/#sthash.QNfCxq5G.dpuf

Novel:

• The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Tor)
• City of Stairs, Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway; Jo Fletcher)
• The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (Random House; Sceptre)
• Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy, Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• My Real Children, Jo Walton (Tor; Corsair)

Novella:

• We Are All Completely Fine, Daryl Gregory (Tachyon)
• “Where the Trains Turn”, Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (Tor.com 11/19/14)
• “Hollywood North”, Michael Libling  (F&SF 11-12/14)
• “The Mothers of Voorhisville”, Mary Rickert (Tor.com 4/30/14)
• “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)”, Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer ’14)

Short Fiction:

• “I Can See Right Through You”, Kelly Link,  (McSweeney’s 48)
• Do You Like to Look at Monsters?, Scott Nicolay (Fedogan & Bremer)
• “Death’s Door Café”, Kaaron Warren (Shadows & Tall Trees 2014)
• “The Devil in America”, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com, 4/2/14)
• “The Fisher Queen”, Alyssa Wong (F&SF 5-6/14)

Anthology:

• Fearful Symmetries, Ellen Datlow, ed. (ChiZine)
• Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, Rose Fox & Daniel José Older, eds. (Crossed Genres)
• Shadows & Tall Trees 2014, Michael Kelly, ed. (Undertow)
• Monstrous Affections, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant, ed. (Candlewick)
• Rogues, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Bantam; Titan)

Collection:

• Mercy and Other Stories, Rebecca Lloyd (Tartarus)
• Gifts for the One Who Comes After, Helen Marshall (ChiZine)
• They Do the Same Things Different There, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
• The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Angela Slatter (Tartarus)
• Death at the Blue Elephant, Janeen Webb (Ticonderoga)

Artist:

• Samuel Araya
• Galen Dara
• Jeffrey Alan Love
• Erik Mohr
• John Picacio

Special Award – Professional:

• John Joseph Adams, for editing anthologies and Nightmare and Fantasy magazines
• Jeanne Cavelos, for Odyssey writing workshops
• Sandra Kasturi & Brett Alexander Savory, for ChiZine Publications
• Gordon Van Gelder, for F&SF
• Jerad Walters, for Centipede Press

Special Award – Nonprofessional:

• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Matt Cardin, for Born to Fear: Interviews with Thomas Ligotti (Subterranean)
• Stefan Fergus, for Civilian Reader (civilianreader.wordpress.com)
• Ray B. Russell & Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press
• Patrick Swenson, for Fairwood Press

- See more at: http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/07/2015-world-fantasy-awards-ballot/#sthash.QNfCxq5G.dpuf

Novel:

• The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Tor)
• City of Stairs, Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway; Jo Fletcher)
• The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (Random House; Sceptre)
• Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy, Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• My Real Children, Jo Walton (Tor; Corsair)

Novella:

• We Are All Completely Fine, Daryl Gregory (Tachyon)
• “Where the Trains Turn”, Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (Tor.com 11/19/14)
• “Hollywood North”, Michael Libling  (F&SF 11-12/14)
• “The Mothers of Voorhisville”, Mary Rickert (Tor.com 4/30/14)
• “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)”, Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer ’14)

Short Fiction:

• “I Can See Right Through You”, Kelly Link,  (McSweeney’s 48)
• Do You Like to Look at Monsters?, Scott Nicolay (Fedogan & Bremer)
• “Death’s Door Café”, Kaaron Warren (Shadows & Tall Trees 2014)
• “The Devil in America”, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com, 4/2/14)
• “The Fisher Queen”, Alyssa Wong (F&SF 5-6/14)

Anthology:

• Fearful Symmetries, Ellen Datlow, ed. (ChiZine)
• Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, Rose Fox & Daniel José Older, eds. (Crossed Genres)
• Shadows & Tall Trees 2014, Michael Kelly, ed. (Undertow)
• Monstrous Affections, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant, ed. (Candlewick)
• Rogues, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Bantam; Titan)

Collection:

• Mercy and Other Stories, Rebecca Lloyd (Tartarus)
• Gifts for the One Who Comes After, Helen Marshall (ChiZine)
• They Do the Same Things Different There, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
• The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Angela Slatter (Tartarus)
• Death at the Blue Elephant, Janeen Webb (Ticonderoga)

Artist:

• Samuel Araya
• Galen Dara
• Jeffrey Alan Love
• Erik Mohr
• John Picacio

Special Award – Professional:

• John Joseph Adams, for editing anthologies and Nightmare and Fantasy magazines
• Jeanne Cavelos, for Odyssey writing workshops
• Sandra Kasturi & Brett Alexander Savory, for ChiZine Publications
• Gordon Van Gelder, for F&SF
• Jerad Walters, for Centipede Press

Special Award – Nonprofessional:

• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Matt Cardin, for Born to Fear: Interviews with Thomas Ligotti (Subterranean)
• Stefan Fergus, for Civilian Reader (civilianreader.wordpress.com)
• Ray B. Russell & Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press
• Patrick Swenson, for Fairwood Press

- See more at: http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/07/2015-world-fantasy-awards-ballot/#sthash.QNfCxq5G.dpuf

2014 World Fantasy Award Winners

Via Tor.com

Congratulations to all the winners.

Novel

• Winner: Sofia Samatar, A Stranger in Olondria (Small Beer Press)
• Richard Bowes, Dust Devil on a Quiet Street (Lethe Press)
• Marie Brennan, A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent (Tor Books)
• Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane (William Morrow/Headline)
• Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni (Harper/Blue Door)
• Gene Wolfe, The Land Across (Tor Books)

Novella

• Winner: Andy Duncan & Ellen Klages “Wakulla Springs” (Tor.com, 10/13)
• Caitlín R. Kiernan Black Helicopters (Subterranean Press)
• KJ Parker “The Sun and I” (Subterranean magazine, Summer 2013)
• Veronica Schanoes “Burning Girls” (Tor.com, 6/13)
• Catherynne M. Valente, Six-Gun Snow White (Subterranean Press)

Short Story

• Winner: Caitlín R. Kiernan, “The Prayer of Ninety Cats” (Subterranean magazine, Spring 2013)
• Thomas Olde Heuvelt, “The Ink Readers of Doi Saket” (Tor.com, 4/13)
• Yoon Ha Lee, “Effigy Nights” (Clarkesworld, 1/13)
• Sofia Samatar, “Selkie Stories Are for Losers” (Strange Horizons, 1/13)
• Rachel Swirsky, “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” (Apex Magazine, 3/13)

Anthology

• Winner: George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, eds. Dangerous Women (Tor Books/Voyager UK)
• Kate Bernheimer, ed., xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths (Penguin Books)
• Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, eds. Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy (Tor Books)
• Stephen Jones, ed. Flotsam Fantastique: The Souvenir Book of World Fantasy Convention 2013 (Smith & Jones/PS Publishing)
• Jonathan Oliver, ed., End of the Road: An Anthology of Original Short Stories (Solaris Books)
• Jonathan Strahan, ed., Fearsome Journeys: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy (Solaris Books)

Collection

• Winner: Caitlín R. Kiernan, The Ape's Wife and Other Stories (Subterranean Press)
• Nathan Ballingrud, North American Lake Monsters: Stories (Small Beer Press)
• Laird Barron, The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and Other Stories (Night Shade Books)
• Reggie Oliver, Flowers of the Sea (Tartarus Press)
• Rachel Swirsky, How the World Became Quiet: Myths of the Past, Present, and Future (Subterranean Press)

Artist

• Winner: Charles Vess
• Galen Dara
• Zelda Devon
• Julie Dillon
• John Picacio

Special Award—Professional

• Winner: Irene Gallo, for art direction of Tor.com
• Winner: William K. Schafer, for Subterranean Press
• John Joseph Adams, for magazine and anthology editing
• Ginjer Buchanan, for editing at Ace Books
• Jeff VanderMeer & Jeremy Zerfoss, for Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction (Abrams Image)
  

Special Award—Non-professional

• Winner: Kate Baker, Neil Clarke & Sean Wallace, for Clarkesworld
• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Marc Aplin, for Fantasy-Faction
• Leslie Howle, for Clarion West administration
• Jerad Walters, for Centipede Press     

Winners of the Life Achievement Award were anounced last night:

• Ellen Datlow
• Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

2014 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Via SF Signal

Below are the nominees for the 2014 World Fantasy Awards.  Congratulations to all of the nominees.

Novel 

Dust Devil on a Quiet Street by Richard Bowes (Lethe) 

A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan (Tor) 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Headline Review) 

A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar (Small Beer) 

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (Harper) 

The Land Across by Gene Wolfe (Tor)

Long Fiction

“Wakulla Springs” by Andy Duncan & Ellen Klages (Tor.com 10/2/13) 

Black Helicopters by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean)

“The Sun and I” by K.J. Parker (Subterranean Summer ’13)

“Burning Girls” by Veronica Schanoes (Tor.com 6/19/13)

Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente (Subterranean)

Short Fiction

“The Ink Readers of Doi Saket” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Tor.com 4/24/13)

“The Prayer of Ninety Cats” by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean Spring ’13)

“Effigy Nights” by Yoon Ha Lee (Clarkesworld 1/13)

“Selkie Stories Are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons 1/7/13)

“If You Were a Dinosaur by My Love” by Rachel Swirsky (Apex 3/13)

Anthology 

xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths edited by Kate Bernheimer (Penguin) 

Queen Victoria’s Book of Spellsedited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. (Tor) 

Flotsam Fantastique: The Souvenir Book of World Fantasy Convention 2013 edited by Stephen Jones (Smith & Jones/PS Publishing) 

Dangerous Women edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois (Tor; Voyager)

The End of the Road edited by Jonathan Oliver (Solaris US; Solaris UK) 

Fearsome Journeys: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy edited by Jonathan Strahan (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Collection 

North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud (Small Beer) 

The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and Other Stories by Laird Barron (Night Shade) 

The Ape’s Wife and Other Stories by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean) 

Flowers of the Sea by Reggie Oliver (Tartarus Press) 

How the World Became Quiet by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean)

Artist

Galen Dara

Zelda Devon

Julie Dillon

John Picacio

Charles Vess

Special Award – Professional

John Joseph Adams, for magazine and anthology editing

Ginjer Buchanan, for editing at Ace Books

Irene Gallo, for art direction of Tor.com

William K. Schafer, for Subterranean Press

Jeff VanderMeer & Jeremy Zerfoss, for Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction (Abrams Image)

 

Special Award – Nonprofessional

Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Marc Aplin, Jennie Ivins & Paul Wiseall, for Fantasy-Faction

Kate Baker, Neil Clarke & Sean Wallace, for Clarkesworld

Leslie Howle, for Clarion West administration

Jerad Walters, for Centipede Press

World Fantasy Award Nominee: "Swift, Brutal Retaliation"

“Swift, Brutal Retaliation”

Meghan McCarron

Tor.com

Nominated for 2013 World Fantasy Award: Short Story

***

This is the second time I’ve read Meghan McCarron’s “Swift, Brutal Retaliation”, a story focused on the aftermath of the too young death of the brother of Sinead and Brigid with both their escalating war of pranks on each other as well as their desire to help the ghost of their dead brother find peace. 

That’s a gross simplification, of course, and when you get down to the heart of the story, what “Swift, Brutal Retaliation” seems to really be about is grief.  The grief of parents, the grief of sisters, the grief of the deceased, and how that grief and anger manifests throughout a family.  How losing that son and brother through a drawn out illness changes the dynamic, most likely irreparably.  

 “During Ian’s last few months, their mother was usually busy taking care of him. When he died, they had briefly hoped she would recover her interest in their well-being, but instead her caring engines shut down completely. She spent whole days in her room; the girls had no idea what she did in there. If they put their ears to the door, they heard the television, but they had the eerie feeling it wasn’t being watched.”

Told mostly from the third person perspective of the sisters, “Swift, Brutal Retaliation” is a story that begins a touch lighter than the subject matter would suggest, but simmers at a slow burn and has a powerful, explosive ending.  Explicitly, there is a touch of the supernatural with Ian’s ghost, but in this case it is one of the least important supernatural elements in a story and very well may just be a manifestation of the emotions of the family.  Regardless of that, this is a worthy story for the World Fantasy Award nomination.

2013 World Fantasy Award Finalists

(Via SF Signal)

The nominations for the 2013 World Fantasy Awards have been announced, and while I have been less active in the SFF scene this last year or two, this has long been my favorite of the genre awards.  Congratulations to all the nominees, and I can't wait to dive in to these.

Novel

• The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz; Doubleday)
• The Drowning Girl, Caitlin R. Kiernan (Roc)
• Crandolin, Anna Tambour (Chamu)
• Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson (Grove; Corvus)

Novella

• “Hand of Glory,” Laird Barron (The Book of Cthulhu II)
• “Let Maps to Others,” K.J. Parker (Subterranean Summer ’12)
• The Emperor’s Soul, Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon)
• “The Skull,” Lucius Shepard (The Dragon Griaule)
• “Sky,” Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls)

Short Story

• “The Telling,” Gregory Norman Bossert (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/29/12)
• “A Natural History of Autumn,” Jeffrey Ford (F&SF 7-8/12)
• “The Castle That Jack Built,” Emily Gilman (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/26/12)
• “Breaking the Frame,” Kat Howard (Lightspeed 8/12)
• “Swift, Brutal Retaliation,” Meghan McCarron (Tor.com 1/4/12)

Anthology

• Epic: Legends of Fantasy, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Tachyon)
• Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic, Eduardo Jimanez Mayo & Chris N. Brown, eds. (Small Beer)
• Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, Jonathan Oliver, ed. (Solaris)
• Postscripts #28/#29: Exotic Gothic 4, Danel Olson, ed. (PS Publishing)
• Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Random House)

Collection

• At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Kij Johnson (Small Beer)
• Where Furnaces Burn, Joel Lane (PS Publishing)
• The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volume One: Where on Earth and Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands, Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
• Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
• Jagannath, Karin Tidbeck (Cheeky Frawg)

Artist

• Vincent Chong
• Didier Graffet and Dave Senior
• Kathleen Jennings
• J.K. Potter
• Chris Roberts

Special Award-Professional

• Peter Crowther & Nicky Crowther for PS Publishing
• Lucia Graves for the translation of The Prisoner of Heaven (Weidenfeld & Nicholson; Harper) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• Adam Mills, Ann VanderMeer, & Jeff VanderMeer for the Weird Fiction Review website
• Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi for ChiZine Publications
• William K. Schafer for Subterranean Press

Special Award-Non-professional

• Scott H. Andrews for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• L. Timmel Duchamp for Aqueduct Press
• S.T. Joshi for Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction, Volumes 1 & 2 (PS Publishing)
• Charles A. Tan for Bibliophile Stalker blog
• Jerad Walters for Centipede Press
• Joseph Wrzos for Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration (Centipede Press)

The Life Time Achievement Award will go to Susan Cooper and Tanith Lee!

World Fantasy Award Nominees 2012

And now, the nominees for my favorite award of the year havebeen announced!  The best part about this list is that there is very little that I have actually read. 

 

World Fantasy Award Ballot

 

Novel
•  Those Across the River, Christopher Buehlman (Ace)
•  11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63)
•  A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)
•  Osama, Lavie Tidhar (PS Publishing)
•  Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor) 

I’ve read Among Others and still consider it to be my favorite novel published last year and I recently finished King’s 11/22/63.  I enjoyed the King, but Walton’s novel was better.  I am still on a GRRM moratorium until I catch up my re-read of A Song of Ice and Fire, so while I own A Dance With Dragons, I still prefer to reread A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows before I get around to his latest novel.  On the plus side, this hopefully gets me that much closer to finishing the book with less of a gap between that and the next novel.  We’ll see.

I’ve heard good things about Osama, but haven’t been all that keen on reading it.  Until now.  Those Across the River is a complete unknown to me.  

Novella
•  "Near Zennor", Elizabeth Hand (A Book of Horrors)
•  "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong", K.J. Parker (Subterranean Winter 2011)
•  "Alice Through the Plastic Sheet", Robert Shearman (A Book of Horrors)
•  "Rose Street Attractors", Lucius Shepard (Ghosts by Gaslight)
•  Silently and Very Fast, Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA Press; Clarkesworld)
The only novella I’ve read from this list is Valente’s Silently and Very Fast.  I didn’t appreciate it.  Shepard is consistently excellent.  I was delighted by Shearman’s World Fantasy nominated collection Tiny Deaths, so I’m excited to read this story.   

Short Fiction
•  "X for Demetrious", Steve Duffy (Blood and Other Cravings)
•  "Younger Women", Karen Joy Fowler (Subterranean Summer 2011)
•  "The Paper Menagerie", Ken Liu (F&SF 3-4/11)
•  "A Journey of Only Two Paces", Tim Powers (The Bible Repairman and Other Stories)
•  "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees", E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld 4/11) 

I’m a big fan of Yu’s “The Cartographer Wasps”, it was such an imaginative and inventive story and I’m glad to see it recognized across multiple awards.  Liu has likewise had an impressive year and if he maintains the level of quality and output that he has done thus far, I’ll expect to see him on ballots for years to come.  The other three stories are new to me.

Anthology
•  Blood and Other Cravings, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor)
•  A Book of Horrors, Stephen Jones, ed. (Jo Fletcher Books)
•  The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Harper Voyager US)
•  The Weird, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Corvus; Tor, published May 2012)
•  Gutshot, Conrad Williams, ed. (PS Publishing) 

Collection
•  Bluegrass Symphony, Lisa L. Hannett (Ticonderoga)
•  Two Worlds and In Between, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean Press)
•  After the Apocalypse, Maureen F. McHugh (Small Beer)
•  Mrs Midnight and Other Stories, Reggie Oliver (Tartarus)
•  The Bible Repairman and Other Stories, Tim Powers (Tachyon) 

The only collection here that was on my radar is After the Apocalypse.  It’s one of those that I’ve been *meaning* to get to and just haven’t.

Artist
•  John Coulthart
•  Julie Dillon
•  Jon Foster
•  Kathleen Jennings
•  John Picacio 

I like Foster and Picacio.  This is a good time to look at the other artists and see what they are all about.

Special Award Professional
•  John Joseph Adams, for editing - anthology and magazine
•  Jo Fletcher, for editing - Jo Fletcher Books
•  Eric Lane, for publishing in translation - Dedalus books
•  Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi, for ChiZine Publications
•  Jeff VanderMeer & S.J. Chambers, for The Steampunk Bible
 
Special Award Non-Professional
•  Kate Baker, Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan & Sean Wallace, for Clarkesworld
•  Cat Rambo, for Fantasy
•  Raymond Russell & Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press
•  Charles Tan, for Bibliophile Stalker blog
•  Mark Valentine, for Wormwood

2011 World Fantasy Award Winners

Via Twitter and Tor.com

Best Novel: Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor

Best Novella: “The Maiden Flight of McAuley's Bellerophon”, by Elizabeth Hand

Best Short Fiction: “Fossil-Figures”, by Joyce Carol Oates

Best Anthology: My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, by Kate Bernheimer

Best Collection: What I Didn't See, by Karen Joy Fowler

Best Artist: Kinuko Y. Craft

Special Award, Professional: Marc Gascoigne, for Angry Robot

Special Award, Non-Professional: Alisa Krasnostein, for Twelfth Planet Press

Congratulations to all the winners AND all the nominees. 

Now it's time to start catching up on all of the goodness I missed this year. 

2011 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Via Locus

It's that time of year again and the nominees for the World Fantasy Awards have been announced.  It's a good list.  If you're not sure what to read, the World Fantasy Awards are a great place to start.

Best Novel
Zoo City, Lauren Beukes (Jacana South Africa; Angry Robot)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
The Silent Land, Graham Joyce (Gollancz; Doubleday)
Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay (Viking Canada; Roc; Harper Voyager UK)
Redemption In Indigo, Karen Lord (Small Beer)
Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)

Best Novella
Bone and Jewel Creatures, Elizabeth Bear (Subterranean)
The Broken Man, Michael Byers (PS)
“The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon”, Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All-New Tales)
The Thief of Broken Toys, Tim Lebbon (ChiZine Publications)
“The Mystery Knight”, George R.R. Martin (Warriors)
“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window”, Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer 2010)

Best Short Fiction
“Beautiful Men” , Christopher Fowler (Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts)
“Booth’s Ghost”, Karen Joy Fowler (What I Didn’t See and Other Stories)
“Ponies”, Kij Johnson (Tor.com 11/17/10)
“Fossil-Figures”, Joyce Carol Oates (Stories: All-New Tales)
“Tu Sufrimiento Shall Protect Us”, Mercurio D. Rivera (Black Static 8-9/10)

Best Anthology
The Way of the Wizard, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Prime)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, Kate Bernheimer, ed. (Penguin)
Haunted Legends, Ellen Datlow & Nick Mamatas, eds. (Tor)
Stories: All-New Tales, Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio, eds. (Morrow; Headline Review)
Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, S.T. Joshi, ed. (PS)
Swords & Dark Magic, Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders, eds. (Eos)

Best Collection
What I Didn’t See and Other Stories, Karen Joy Fowler (Small Beer)
The Ammonite Violin & Others, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean)
Holiday, M. Rickert (Golden Gryphon)
Sourdough and Other Stories, Angela Slatter (Tartarus)
The Third Bear, Jeff VanderMeer (Tachyon)

Best Artist
Vincent Chong
Kinuko Y. Craft
Richard A. Kirk
John Picacio
Shaun Tan

Special Award, Professional
John Joseph Adams, for editing and anthologies
Lou Anders, for editing at Pyr
Marc Gascoigne, for Angry Robot
Stéphane Marsan & Alain Névant, for Bragelonne
Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi, for ChiZine Publications

Special Award, Non-Professional
Stephen Jones, Michael Marshall Smith, & Amanda Foubister, for Brighton Shock!: The Souvenir Book Of The World Horror Convention 2010
Alisa Krasnostein, for Twelfth Planet Press
Matthew Kressel, for Sybil’s Garage and Senses Five Press
Charles Tan, for Bibliophile Stalker
Lavie Tidhar, for The World SF Blog

2010 World Fantasy Award Winners

The winners of the 2010 World Fantasy Awards have been announced.  


Best Novel: The City & The City, by China Mieville
Best Novella: "Sea Hearts", by Margo Lanagan
Best Short Story: "The Pelican Bar", by Karen Joy Fowler
Best Anthology: American Fantastic Tales, by Peter Straub (editor)
Best Collection (tie): The Very Best of Gene Wolfe / There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby, by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Best Artist: Charles Vess
Special Award, Professional: Jonathan Strahan
Special Award, Non Professional: Susan Marie Groppi

Congratulations to all the winners, with special congrats to Jonathan Strahan and Susan Marie Groppi.  Strahan is a fantastic anthologist and Groppi is the editor of Strange Horizons, one of my favorite places to find short fiction. 

2010 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Via Pyromania and Locus Online

Nominees for the 2010 World Fantasy Awards.

As always with the World Fantasy Awards, there is some quality stuff nominated and this is generally my favorite nominee list of the three I pay the most attention to.  It's a great chance to discover stuff I never would have heard of. 

Congratulations to all the nominees, but I would like to also highlight Jeff VanderMeer, Genevieve Valentine, Jonathan Strahan, John Klima, Susan Groppi, and the Clarkesworld folks. Outstanding!

And double congratulations to Genevieve. That’s friggin cool!

Novel
Blood of Ambrose, James Enge (Pyr)
The Red Tree, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
The City & The City, China Miéville (Macmillan UK/ Del Rey)
Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland)  (review)
In Great Waters, Kit Whitfield (Jonathan Cape UK/Del Rey)

Novella
The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker (Subterranean)
“The Lion’s Den”, Steven Duffy (Nemonymous Nine: Cern Zoo)
The Night Cache, Andy Duncan (PS)
“Sea-Hearts”, Margo Lanagan (X6 )
“Everland”, Paul Witcover (Everland and Other Stories)

Short Story
“I Needs Must Part, the Policeman Said”, Richard Bowes (F&SF 12/09)
“The Pelican Bar”, Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse Three)
“A Journal of Certain Events of Scientific Interest from the First Survey Voyage of the Southern Waters by HMS Ocelot, As Observed by Professor Thaddeus Boswell, DPhil, MSc, or, A Lullaby”, Helen Keeble (Strange Horizons 6/09)
“Singing on a Star”, Ellen Klages (Firebirds Soaring)
“The Persistence of Memory, or This Space for Sale”, Paul Park (Postscripts 20/21: Edison’s Frankenstein )
“In Waiting”, R.B. Russell (Putting the Pieces in Place)
“Light on the Water”, Genevieve Valentine (Fantasy 10/09)

Anthology
Poe, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Solaris)
Songs of The Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Subterranean/Voyager)
Exotic Gothic 3: Strange Visitations, Danel Olson, ed. (Ash-Tree)
Eclipse Three, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade)  (review)
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny: From Poe to the Pulps/From the 1940s to Now, Peter Straub, ed. (Library of America)
The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology, Gordon Van Gelder, ed. (Tachyon)  (review)

Collection
We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S. Beagle (Tachyon)  (review)
Fugue State, Brian Evenson (Coffee House)
There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby: Scary Fairy Tales, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (Penguin)
Northwest Passages, Barbara Roden (Prime)
Everland and Other Stories, Paul Witcover (PS)
The Very Best of Gene Wolfe/The Best of Gene Wolfe, Gene Wolfe (PS /Tor)

Artist
John Jude Palencar
John Picacio
Charles Vess
Jason Zerrillo
Sam Weber

Special Award – Professional
Peter & Nicky Crowther for PS Publishing
Ellen Datlow for editing anthologies
Hayao Miyazaki for Ponyo
Barbara & Christopher Roden for Ash-Tree Press
Jonathan Strahan for editing anthologies
Jacob & Rina Weisman for Tachyon Publications

Special Award – Non-Professional
John Berlyne for Powers: Secret Histories
Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, & Sean Wallace for Clarkesworld
Susan Marie Groppi for Strange Horizons
John Klima for Electric Velocipede
Bob Colby, B. Diane Martin, David Shaw, and Eric M. Van for Readercon
Ray Russell & Rosalie Parker for Tartarus Press

2009 World Fantasy Award Winners

Thanks to Cheryl Morgan's live reporting, we have the winners of the 2009 World Fantasy Awards

Novel: The Shadow Year, by Jeffrey Ford AND Tender Morsels, by Margo Lanagan (tie)
Novella:"If Angels Fight", by Richard Bowes
Short Story: "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss", by Kij Johnson

Collection: The Drowning Life, by Jeffrey Ford
Anthology: Paper Cities, by Ekaterina Sedia (editor)

Artist: Shaun Tan
Special Award: Professional: Kelly Link & Gavin G. Grant for Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House
Special Award: Non Professional: Michael Walsh for Howard Waldrop Collections

Lifetime Achievement: Ellen Asher and Jane Yolen


Congratulations to all the winners (and extra yay to Kij Johnson)

Thoughts on 2009 World Fantasy Award Nominees: Novel

The House of the Stag, Kage Baker (Tor)
The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury)
Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory (Del Rey)
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin; Knopf)


We have to start with the one novel I haven’t read: The House of the Stag. I have mixed expectations about this, mostly because the last couple of Company novels from Kage Baker were disappointing and they’ve soured me just a bit on Baker. On the other hand, when Baker is on her game, she’s a damn fine storyteller. I can’t talk about The House of the Stag in comparison to the other nominated novels, but I can’t ignore it, either.


Out of the four nominated novels I was able to read before the World Fantasy Awards was given out, Tender Morsels was easily the most disappointing. Margo Lanagan’s story is a reimagining of “Snow White and Rose Red” and it is a brutal, brutal story. Nominally a YA novel, Tender Morsels features repeated abuse, rape, and incest in an intensely patriarchal society (not that women can’t have positions of prominence, but they also shouldn’t be caught alone with a male…the men have all the power). While the portrayals of these terrible are not graphic in terms of physical description, they are viscerally graphic and hang over the entire novel. I’m not sure exactly how to talk about Tender Morsels. It’s a novel that just failed to work for me in any way, that I had to force myself to continue to read because of the award nomination. Otherwise I would have put this book down after maybe fifty pages. The novel is perhaps too emotionally graphics, but it is also such a bleak story with many men who come across as one dimensional monsters. Simple because it is a fairy tale or not, it’s not something I ever want to read again. Very much not recommended.


The Shadow Year is an expansion of Ford’s critically acclaimed novella “Botch Town” and as such, I only reluctantly read The Shadow Year. I wasn’t a fan of “Botch Town” and that makes me the one person who wasn’t. So much moreso than Tender Morsels, I can see the craft and the skill in the storytelling in The Shadow Year. It’s a quiet novel of growing up and secrets in a smallish town / city, with just a hint of magic in the air. Only problem is that Jeffrey Ford is very much a hit or miss writer for me and despite his obvious skill, The Shadow Year was a miss. I don’t have a good reason for why, only a knowledge that it didn’t hit.


Thus far we’ve briefly looked at two novels I didn’t enjoy and one I haven’t read. Now we’re going to move onto the two novels I could appreciate.


The first of those two is Daryl Gregory’s debut novel Pandemonium. This is what I had to say about Pandemonium when I first reviewed it: The rest of the novel? It’s damn good. It’s a very strong debut. Based solely on Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory is an exciting new author and one to watch.


The second is The Graveyard Book. This is what I had to say about The Graveyard Book in my previous review: The Graveyard Book is the sort of book where you don’t talk about genre or publishing categories when you talk about it. You just hand it to a friend, your mother, your priest, your cabbie, a stranger and say “read this. It’s really good,” and expect them to thank you later.

Outstanding. Spectacular. Delightful. Wonderful. There are all sorts of adjectives to use when talking about The Graveyard Book. Choose one. I’ll probably have meant that one, too.


The Graveyard Book was a superior novel and one of the best of last year. It’s the class of the World Fantasy Award nomination novels. I can see The Shadow Year potentially winning this award, and I definitely appreciate Pandemonium, but I think the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel should go to The Graveyard Book. It’s really quite good and deserves all the acclaim it has received.

Thoughts on 2009 World Fantasy Award Nominees: Novella

“Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel”, Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
“If Angels Fight”, Richard Bowes (F&SF 2/08)
“The Overseer”, Albert Cowdrey (F&SF 3/08)
Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury; HarperCollins)
“Good Boy”, Nisi Shawl (Filter House)


Now it is time to look at the Novella nominees for the World Fantasy Award.


My thoughts on “If Angels Fight”: The story consists of the search for Mark Bannon, a long dead scion of a major political family...a man who the narrator has been able to find over the years, even though Mark really is dead. That would be impossible to explain. My main problem, though, is that every step of the search results in long digressions about that new person meeting Mark. It becomes tedious because there is no core story, just digressions. For me, the digressions don't work.


My thoughts on “Good Boy”: Regarding “Good Boy”…honestly, I don’t know. It’s a blending of tribal spiritual practices, computers, biology. It deals with medicine’s inability to cure a malady in a time and setting where futuristic medicine is quite powerful, and that older traditions may be able to cure the malady. It’s about mothers and daughters. It was good, but unremarkable. From reading Filter House, that is also the overall impression I have with Shawl’s fiction, which also suggests that as accomplished as Nisi Shawl is as a writer, her stories so far just do not work for me. No harm. No foul.


“Odd and the Frost Giants”: Originally published in the UK for World Book Day, “Odd and the Frost Giants” is a weaker entry from Neil Gaiman, especially in a year that we have the inevitable comparison of a YA novella to The Graveyard Book (or even just to the previously published “The Witch’s Headstone”). Most stories would come up wanting in such a comparison. “Odd and the Frost Giants” may be aimed at a slightly younger audience than The Graveyard Book is and that may explain some of the over-simplistic storytelling here. Odd is a young boy who doesn’t quite fit in, is not well liked by his step father (as is the case in many a story of this sort), and prefers to spend time by himself out in the woods. When he frees a bear’s paw Odd finds himself among exiled Norse gods and in an adventure he could scarcely have imagined. It’s an adventure that would change him forever. On one hand, “Odd and the Frost Giants” is a solid story for younger readers that can also be appreciated by older readers. On the other hand, it’s not *that* good. It’s a perfectly decent story and parents should feel at ease giving this to their kids to read. It’s a good story and age appropriate. It’s just not award-level work. Not this award.

I rank this above “If Angels Fight” and “Good Boy” simply because of an enjoyment factor that so significantly trumps those two stories that I can’t drop this one down farther.


My thoughts on “The Overseer”: “The Overseer” did not grip me from the start, but the deeper we got into the history of Lerner and the betrayals and the nastiness, the more engaged I became. Every notable character in this story, save two of them, is a fairly despicable human being. They aren’t good people, but watching the haunting and the paranoia unfold is a pleasure for this story.


My thoughts on “Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel”: There is nothing flash here, but we are left with something quite wonderful in the end. A story of grace and power and beauty, a story that ends just when it needed to and leaves the reader satisfied.


This was a disappointing category with only one true standout. If I had anything to say about it, which I do not, this award would go to Peter Beagle's story. I don't know if it will because "Good Boy" will likely offer a strong challenge. Hopefully the award will go to Beagle.

Thoughts on 2009 World Fantasy Award Nominees: Short Story

“Caverns of Mystery”, Kage Baker (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy)
“26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss”, Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 7/08)
“Pride and Prometheus”, John Kessel (F&SF 1/08)
“Our Man in the Sudan”, Sarah Pinborough (The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories)
“A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica”, Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 5/08)


Welcome to the first of the World Fantasy Award coverage posts. I’m going to take a look at the Short Story category today. If this is your first time reading one of my award wrap-ups, welcome. I list the stories out in reverse order of my esteem for them. The first story listed is, relatively speaking, in the place of dishonor. This year that dishonor goes to…

“Pride and Prometheus”.

My thoughts on "Pride and Prometheus": Kessel’s story is well written and there is a strong aspect of intellectual interest to the chronology of the story and working out the little clues as to what is going on. John Kessel works in the inherent horror of the situation perfectly. The main problem here is simply that because I am not a fan of the original source material, I am not the ideal reader for “Pride and Prometheus”. For me, the story only works on the “hey, Kessel’s doing something kind of cool here” level.

A counterpoint to "Pride and Prometheus" would come from a person who I recommended this story to. She is a fan of Jane Austen's work and is very familiar with the characters / setting. She loved the story. I can only appreciate the story on an intellectual level.


My thoughts on "Caverns of Mystery": The story features Baker's usual quietly graceful writing. Seldom is Baker ever flashy in her storytelling, but "Caverns of Mystery" fails to deliver...well, mystery, or wonder, or anything to compel readers to want to commit to the story. Obviously that statement cannot be entirely true given the World Fantasy Award nomination, but "Caverns of Mystery" isn't even the best story in Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, let alone one of the best five fantasy stories of 2008.

The struggle here is how to articulate this. "Caverns of Mystery" isn't bad, it's just ordinary. It's the sort of story that if I wasn't trying to talk about the World Fantasy Award nominations, or of it was not nominated (which it shouldn't have been), I would never have mentioned the story at all. It's just a story. Competent. Well written. Ordinary. Slightly boring.


My thoughts on "A Buyer's Guide to Maps of Antarctica": “A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica” has been recognized and praised by many and is being reprinted in Best of the Year anthologies, and the story deserves that praise. On its surface it is not a straightforward narrative going from Point A to Point B, but in a sense, it does. It features a hero, a villain, a conflict, and a resolution. Valente just tells the story in a non-traditional manner, one which serves the emotions of the story in a more authentic manner. The story works.


My thoughts on “Our Man in the Sudan”: The deeper level of spookiness that pervades the story, beyond what Stephen Jones said about it, is that for so much of the story the reader never knows what happened to Cartwright. The death is written off as just a death, but Fanshawe has very strange messages from Cartwright prior to his death. It’s that feeling of knowing something is around the corner, but you don’t know exactly what.

At the very least “Our Man in the Sudan” is a fascinating look at the environs of Khartoum, but there is more than that. There is atmosphere and there is *something* going on. There are hints of what it is, but Pinborough never comes right out and tells the reader. That’s okay, because the story works.


My thoughts on “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” from much earlier this year: The story is in turns clever, sweet, funny, and sad. After reading last year’s nominated story “The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change” I was quite impressed with Kij Johnson’s storytelling skill and was curious to read more of her work. “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” is a story of one woman’s healing among a show full of performing monkeys – monkeys that accepted her, not the other way around.

It’s good. It’s really good. Last year’s story was one of my favorite nominated stories and after reading this, I expect “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” will be one of this year’s favorites.



Sarah Pinborough’s story was an excellent one and well worth the nomination, but I’ve been enamored with “26 Monkeys” since it was nominated for the Nebula earlier this year. It’s just one of those stories that connected with me and grabbed me and didn’t let go. With that said, I have a feeling “Our Man in the Sudan” will win this award. I would much prefer if the John Kessel or the Kage Baker stories fail to win the award, and I don’t have a problem with Catherynne Valente winning, but if I was on the jury this would be a two horse race between Sarah Pinborough and Kij Johnson. You can’t go wrong with either.

returned and forthcoming

I'm back from a four day weekend trip to South Carolina and since I spent a fair amount of time in airports and on planes, I was able to do copious amounts of reading.

As such, I was able to finished five books.
Imaro, by Charles Saunders
Seven for a Secret, by Elizabeth Bear
Ace in the Hole, by George R. R. Martin (editor)
Jhereg, by Steven Brust
The Living Dead, by John Joseph Adams (editor)

I also expect to finish Robert Jordan's Knife of Dreams tonight. See, while I was away a little birdie dropped a copy of The Gathering Storm in my mailbox (the day I left for SC, no less), and even though I won't be reading it well before everyone else, I do plan to make a decent dent in it tonight.

I expect I may end up with one of the more gushing reviews Aidan pointed out recently. I'm a Wheel of Time fanboy at heart. This is one of the most formative series of my reading life and even the volumes that have serious flaws still provide me with hours of enjoyment. I may (or may not) notice some of the flaws which are likely in The Gathering Storm, but I will be as honest as possible in reviewing the book - which will also include a clear disclaimer of my bias. It's not going to be an impartial reading. It can't be. That's okay.

In other news, on vacation I picked up a copy of Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest. That's one of my more anticipated volumes of the year. Also, Barnes and Nobles had the two volumes of GRRM's Dreamsongs retrospective collection for $6 each. In hardcover. Yeah, I pounced on that and damn near doubled the weight of my luggage.

In terms of blogging this week, I've got a couple of ideas of how I want to proceed but nothing definite.

The World Fantasy Awards will be given out this weekend and I want do a bunch of posts about the nominees, but I'm a little behind on what I want to do. I can adequately cover the short fiction, but I don't know if I'll get The House of the Stag done before the awards are given. There's no chance to catch up on the anthologies and collections.

Otherwise, I've got a host of reviews lining up which should provide a couple weeks worth of content. After I write them, of course, but that's something to look forward to. Real content!!

World Fantasy Award Nominee: "The Overseer"

"The Overseer"
Albert E. Cowdrey
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 2008
Nominated for the World Fantasy Award: Best Novella

“The Overseer” moves back and time in telling the story of Nicholas Lerner. The “Present Day” of the story is 1903 with Lerner as an older man. He is a wealthy man living in New Orleans and working on his memoirs. Through the memoirs Lerner tells his own story as a younger man in the Civil War era. His father poorly ran a plantation until he hired an overseer to take over the daily running of the operation. Then profits came with the cruelty. For the rest of his life Lerner was haunted by the specter of the overseer, a man named Felix Marron. Eventually the story of the memoirs meets up with the “present day” story in an unexpected way, though it is only unexpected at the beginning of the tale.

So, here’s the thing. As much as any World Fantasy Award nominated story, I expected to appreciate this one the least. I was fairly sure I had read a previous story from Cowdrey (though on reflection, it may have been another author will a last name beginning with a C), and I was so not impressed that I almost avoided “The Overseer” altogether. In the end I ponied up the $5 for the March 2008 issue of F&SF from Fictionwise and was pleasantly surprised.

“The Overseer” did not grip me from the start, but the deeper we got into the history of Lerner and the betrayals and the nastiness, the more engaged I became. Every notable character in this story, save two of them, is a fairly despicable human being. They aren’t good people, but watching the haunting and the paranoia unfold is a pleasure for this story.

I had unconsciously maligned Cowdrey in my mind before I had read “The Overseer”, it was a reputation that may well have been built on someone else’s story (which makes it doubly embarrassing). Cowdrey reveals details slowly, but with each word and with each page he builds the atmosphere and character backstories to the point that by the end, Lerner inhabits a very real place – even though it is the same quiet room in which the story began.

Though the Novella category is a bit weak this year for the World Fantasy Awards, “The Overseer” is thus far one of the stronger stories with a nomination. It’s a good story, nothing that I’m unhappy to have read, but I am a little surprised it was held up as one of the year’s best.

World Fantasy Award Nominee: Pandemonium

Pandemonium
Daryl Gregory
Del Rey: 2008
Nominated for the World Fantasy Award: Best Novel

The world is just like our own, but with one notable difference. Possession is real. People can and do get possessed by demons, though usually for short bursts of time. There are particular demon identities which have been worked out: The Hellion, The Painter, Little Angel, Smokestack Johnny, and others.

Del Pierce was possessed when he was a child by The Hellion, a demon which causes the victim to act out as an angry child – except with much greater violence and a propensity towards shooting authority figures in the eyes with a slingshot. Ever since that possession, Del hasn’t been quite right. He’s been suffering the effects of that possession to a much greater level than most. He needs to tie himself down when he goes to bed or he’ll thrash and become violent at night. He’s had the occasional “episode” since that childhood possession. In short, something is wrong. Del believes the demon never left, which would be a rare thing indeed. Pandemonium is the story of Del trying to exorcise the demon within. This isn’t the Linda Blair style of possession and exorcism and the clichéd methods are unlikely to work, but Del needs to be free of the Hellion.

By grounding the story of Pandemonium in our world and only twisting just one little (important) thing, Daryl Gregory has made the impossible seem real. Though it isn’t understood and the origins aren’t known, possession in Pandemonium is accepted. There is even a fan culture built around possession. Del Pierce is a sympathetic lead character and his relationships with his brother and mother are exceptionally well written. There is a history there that is far beyond the characters being Mom and Brother. The character writing here is to be admired, and those relationships build far more tension than all of the demon possession combined. That’s because everything impacts a real person. It’s about how Del’s mother is impacted, the physical consequences to Del’s brother.

Gregory is heavily referential to science fiction authors A. E. Van Vogt and Philip K. Dick, so much so that Dick himself is a character in the novel (possessed by the archetype of one of his own characters). Not having read either Van Vogt or Dick, the one thing I cannot determine is whether knowledge of the works of those two authors would enhance the reading of Pandemonium. What I can state for sure is that not having a working knowledge of either author is no hindrance to engaging fully with Pandemonium. Gregory does an excellent job telling this story for all readers, not just initiates of Van Vogt and Dick.

Now, this whole fan-culture and self-referential science fiction detail may be a turn off for some (or many), and it is one of the weaker aspects of the novel. The weakest, though, is an otherwise out of place side story with The Human League. Not the band. Something to do with superheroes or secret agents, or something. It’s absurd and sticks out like a sore thumb.

The rest of the novel? It’s damn good. It’s a very strong debut. Based solely on Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory is an exciting new author and one to watch. His second novel, The Devil’s Alphabet will be published this year. I’ll be looking for it.


PS: I’ve done better reviews. I know. For as much as I enjoyed the novel, writing this was a struggle.