Saturday, June 21, 2008

2008 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Seattle, Washington.

Comments: One of the more difficult things to do is to write something about every annual set of award nominees for the major genre fiction awards that I am tracking on this blog. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that in many cases I haven't read many of the books on the list - reading and reviewing all of these books being the point of this blog after all. As a result, sometimes I simply don't have anything to say about a set of nominees. And this is one of those times.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Winner:
1.   The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Other Nominees:
2.   Spook Country by William Gibson
3.   Halting State by Charles Stross
4.   Brasyl by Ian McDonald
5.   The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman
6.   Axis by Robert Charles Wilson
7.   Black Man (aka Thirteen) by Richard Morgan
8.   The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod
9.   Ha'penny by Jo Walton
10. Sixty Days and Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson
11. Undertow by Elizabeth Bear
12. Mainspring by Jay Lake
13. Queen of Candesce by Karl Schroeder
14. The Sons of Heaven by Kage Baker
15. The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds
16. Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
17. Shelter by Susan Palwick
18. HARM by Brian W. Aldiss
19. In War Times by Kathleen Ann Goonan
20. Engineer Trilogy (Devices and Desires, Evil for Evil, The Escapement) by K.J. Parker
21. The Last Colony by John Scalzi
22. Conqueror by Stephen Baxter
23. Till Human Voices Wake Us by Mark Budz

Best Fantasy Novel
Winner:
1.   Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Other Nominees:
2.   Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
3.   Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe
4.   Territory by Emma Bull
5.   Endless Things by John Crowley
6.   The White Tyger by Paul Park
7.   Softspoken by Lucius Shepard
8.   Ink by Hal Duncan
9.   Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente
10. Whiskey and Water by Elizabeth Bear
11. The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson
12. A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham
13. The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
14. Titans of Chaos by John C. Wright
15. Daughter of Hounds by Caitlín R. Kiernan
16. The Spiral Labyrinth by Matthew Hughes
17. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
18. Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt
19. Bone Song by John Meaney

Best Young Adult Book
Winner:
1.   Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

Other Nominees:
2.   Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin
3.   The H-Bomb Girl by Stephen Baxter
4.   Extras by Scott Westerfeld
5.   Magic's Child by Justine Larbalestier
6.   Ironside by Holly Black
7.   The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
8.   Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey
9.   Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
10. Verdigris Deep (aka Well Witched) by Frances Hardinge
11. The Dream Quake (aka Dreamquake) by Elizabeth Knox
12. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Best First Novel
Winner:
1.    Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Other Nominees:
2.   The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
3.   Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce
4.   One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak
5.   City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
6.   Grey by Jon Armstrong
7.   The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe
8.   Breakfast with the One You Love by Eliot Fintushel
9.   Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
10. Maledicte by Lane Robins

Best Novella
Winner:
1.   After the Siege by Cory Doctorow

Other Nominees:
2.   Memorare by Gene Wolfe
3.   All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis
4.   Stars Seen through Stone by Lucius Shepard
5.   Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons
6.   The Master Miller's Tale by Ian R. MacLeod
7.   Fountain of Age by Nancy Kress
8.   Illyria by Elizabeth Hand
9.   Recovering Apollo 8 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
10. The Emperor and the Maula by Robert Silverberg
11. Dagger Key by Lucius Shepard
12. Hormiga Canyon by Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling
13. Dead Money by Lucius Shepard
14. The Lees of Laughter's End by Steven Erikson
15. The Game by Diana Wynne Jones
16. Awakening by Judith Berman
17. Of Love and Other Monsters by Vandana Singh
18. Womb of Every World by Walter Jon Williams

Best Novelette
Winner:
1.   The Witch's Headstone by Neil Gaiman

Other Nominees:
2.   The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
3.   Dark Integers by Greg Egan
4.   We Never Talk About My Brother by Peter S. Beagle
5.   Trunk and Disorderly by Charles Stross
6.   Wikiworld by Paul Di Filippo
7.   The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics by Daniel Abraham
8.   Urdumheim by Michael Swanwick
9.   Cryptic Coloration by Elizabeth Bear
10. The Magic Animal by Gene Wolfe
11. Kiosk by Bruce Sterling
12. Glory by Greg Egan
13. Against the Current by Robert Silverberg
14. Winter's Wife by Elizabeth Hand (reviewed in Errantry: Strange Stories)
15. Light by Kelly Link
16. Hellfire at Twilight by Kage Baker
17. The Skysailor's Tale by Michael Swanwick
18. Finisterra by David Moles
19. The Constable of Abal by Kelly Link
20. A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil's Ninth Question by Andy Duncan
21. The Surgeon's Tale by Jeff VanderMeer and Cat Rambo
22. An Ocean is a Snowflake, Four Billion Miles Away by John Barnes
23. The Bone Man by Frederic S. Durbin
24. Holly and Iron by Garth Nix
25. The Sky is Large and the Earth is Small by Chris Roberson
26. Dance of Shadows by Fred Chappell
27. The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change by Kij Johnson
28. The Forest by Laird Barron
29. Safeguard by Nancy Kress
30. Wizard's Six by Alex Irvine
31. Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon by Theodora Goss
32. Crossing the Seven by Jay Lake

Best Short Story
Winner:
1.   A Small Room in Koboldtown by Michael Swanwick

Other Nominees:
2.   The Last and Only, or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French by Peter S. Beagle
3.   Who's Afraid of Wolf 359? by Ken MacLeod
4.   Tideline by Elizabeth Bear
5.   Last Contact by Stephen Baxter
6.   Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse by Andy Duncan
7.   Art of War by Nancy Kress
8.   Jesus Christ, Reanimator by Ken MacLeod
9.   The Dreaming Wind by Jeffrey Ford
10. Pirates of the Somali Coast by Terry Bisson
11. Barrens Dancing by Peter S. Beagle
12. The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer
13. The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford
14. Always by Karen Joy Fowler
15. Artifice and Intelligence by Tim Pratt
16. Magic with Thirteen-Year-Old Boys by Robert Reed
17. Among Strangers by Pat Cadigan
18. Orm the Beautiful by Elizabeth Bear
19. Mrs. Zeno's Paradox by Ellen Klages
20. Verthandi's Ring by Ian McDonald
21. The Ruby Incomparable by Kage Baker
22. Memoir of a Deer Woman by M. Rickert
23. Osama Phone Home by David Marusek
24. Stone and the Librarian by William Browning Spencer
25. Sanjeev and Robotwallah by Ian McDonald
26. The Manticore Spell by Jeffrey Ford
27. Holiday by M. Rickert
28. (tie) The Lost Boy: A Reporter at Large by Maureen F. McHugh
      (tie) Under the Bottom of the Lake by Jeffrey Ford
30. Three Days of Rain by Holly Phillips
31. Soul Case by Nalo Hopkinson
32. By Fools Like Me by Nancy Kress
33. Singing of Mount Abora by Theodora Goss
34. Fragrant Goddess by Paul Park
35. The Lustration by Bruce Sterling
36. Electric Rains by Kathleen Ann Goonan
37. A Plain Tale from Our Hills by Bruce Sterling
38. Graduation Afternoon by Stephen King
39. Clockmaker's Requiem by Barth Anderson
40. Catherine and the Satyr by Theodora Goss
41. Molly and the Red Hat by Benjamin Rosenbaum
42. C-Rock City by Jay Lake and Greg Van Eekhout

Best Collection
Winner:
1.   The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories by Connie Willis

Other Nominees:
2.   The Jack Vance Treasury by Jack Vance
3.   Overclocked by Cory Doctorow
4.   The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick
5.   Things Will Never Be the Same: Selected Short Fiction 1980-2005 by Howard Waldrop
6.   New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear
7.   Gods and Pawns by Kage Baker
8.   Ascendancies: The Best of Bruce Sterling by Bruce Sterling
9.   Dagger Key and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard
10. Portable Childhoods by Ellen Klages
11. The Nail and the Oracle: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume XI by Theodore Sturgeon
12. Hart & Boot & Other Stories by Tim Pratt
13. Getting to Know You by David Marusek
14. Past Magic by Ian R. MacLeod
15. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron
16. The Fate of Mice by Susan Palwick
17. Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
18. The Guild of Xenolinguists by Sheila Finch
19. The Girl Who Loved Animals and Other Stories by Bruce McAllister
20. Rynemonn by Terry Dowling

Best Anthology
Winner:
1.   The New Space Opera edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan

Other Nominees:
2.   The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
3.   The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
4.   The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2007: Twentieth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin J. Grant
5.   The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
6.   Wizards edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
7.   Logorrhea edited by John Klima
8.   Eclipse One: New Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Jonathan Strahan
9.   Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge edited by Lou Anders
10. Inferno edited by Ellen Datlow
11. Year's Best SF 12 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
12. The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction edited by George Mann
13. Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel
14. The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume One edited by Jonathan Strahan
15. Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine 30th Anniversary Anthology edited by Sheila Williams
16. Best Short Novels: 2007 edited by Jonathan Strahan
17. The SFWA European Hall of Fame edited by James Morrow and Kathryn Morrow
18. The Best of the Best, Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels edited by Gardner Dozois
19. Year's Best Fantasy 7 edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
20. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Eighteen edited by Stephen Jones
21. Worlds Apart: An Anthology of Russian Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by Alexander Levitsky
22. Fantasy: The Best of the Year: 2007 Edition edited by Rich Horton
23. Science Fiction: The Best of the Year: 2007 Edition edited by Rich Horton

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Book
Winner:
1.   Breakfast in the Ruins by Barry N. Malzberg

Other Nominees:
2.   Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction edited by Jeff Prucher
3.   The Country You Have Never Seen by Joanna Russ
4.   Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1970 to 1980 by Mike Ashley
5.   Shadows of the New Sun: Wolfe on Writing/Writers on Wolfe by Peter Wright
6.   Sides by Peter Straub
7.   Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares edited by S.T. Joshi
8.   Anne McCaffrey: A Life with Dragons by Robin Roberts
9.   Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia by Brian Stableford
10. Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction by Gary Westfahl
11. The Cultural Influences of William Gibson, the "Father" of Cyberpunk Science Fiction edited by Carl B. Yoke and Carol L. Robinson

Best Art Book
Winner:
1.   The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Other Nominees:
2.   Spectrum 14: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner
3.   Emshwiller: Infinity x Two edited by Luis Ortiz
4.   Dreamscape: The Best of Imaginary Realism edited by Claus Brusen and Marcel Salome
5.   Mervyn Peake: The Man and His Art compiled by Sebastian Peake and Alison Eldred, edited by G. Peter Winnington
6.   Fantasy Art Now: The Very Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art & Illustration edited by Martin McKenna
7.   Beowulf: A Tale of Blood, Heat, and Ashes retold by Nicky Raven, illustrated by John Howe
8.   Worlds of Amano by Yoshitaka Amano
9.   The Adventuress by Audrey Niffenegger
10. Women: Motifs and Variations by Rafal Olbinski

Best Editor
Winner:
1.   Ellen Datlow

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

Best Magazine
Winner:
1.   Fantasy & Science Fiction

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

Best Book Publisher or Imprint
Winner:
1.   Tor

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

Best Artist
Winner:
1.   Charles Vess

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

Go to previous year's nominees: 2007
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2009

Book Award Reviews     Home

Monday, June 16, 2008

Random Thought - Magazines

I'm usually a fairly forward leaning guy. I grew up with computers in the house, I think it is a travesty that we aren't farming the oceans like in The Deep Range, and that there is really no excuse for abandoning the moon after Apollo and so on. But in some ways, I think I'm a dinosaur. While sending in a subscription for Realms of Fantasy today, I realized that one of those areas is definitely magazines.

One thing that is certain is that magazine readership is on the decline. Magazine subscriptions are down. The print magazine business has been on the decline for quite a while, certainly it is much smaller now than it was in the 1940s and 1950s. Dozens of magazine titles have gone out of business, and almost all of the others have seen their volumes decline precipitously.

And yet, I subscribe to and read seven different magazines: The Economist, National Geographic, Science News, Locus, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and Asimov's Science Fiction. As of today, with the addition of Realms of Fantasy, the total is up to eight. Note that not only do I subscribe to them, I said "and read" - I think this is important. I know a lot of people who subscribe to one or another magazine and never read the issues. I used to subscribe to the daily Washington Post, but I realized I never read it, so I discontinued it.

But still, eight magazine subscriptions. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Can you hear the crashing footsteps of a dinosaur?

Random Thoughts     Home