Recently the Locus Awards "Finalists" have been announced HERE. Note that "Finalists" means the top vote getters since the winner is already known and no further voting will take place.
The Award Ceremony will take place at the Science Fiction Awards Weekend in Seattle WA, June 26-27, 2009
We will present the novel choices and then Liviu's take including his vote. FBC congratulates all the Finalists and will include links to all FBC reviews available.
SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
Considering last year flap with the rule changing after the original vote since some winners under the old rules were not on Locus' editors taste I almost did not vote this year in protest. I was a subscriber for a while, though not recently but last year's flap was of the "cancel subscription" type and it *really annoyed me*.
Sure, Locus has the right to weigh the votes as it wishes, but changing the vote after the results since they did not conform to the "directives from above" is close to vote rigging in my book.
This year since the rules were announced before, I had no complaint so to speak, though the new weighing transformed the Locus Awards from THE most representative sff award to another old boys' club to some extent and it lessened its interest.
This being said, I did vote on the last day as follows:
SF
*SFNovel1st:* Stephenson, Anathem
*SFNovel2nd:* Jones, Spirit
*SFNovel3rd:* McAuley, The Quiet War
*SFnovel4th write-in:* Weber, By Schism Rent Asunder
*SFnovel5th write-in:* Hamilton, Temporal Void
Fantasy:
*FaNovel1st:* Heaney, Memoirs of a Master Forger [Joyce, How to Make
Friends..]
*FaNovel2nd write-in:* Stover, Caine Black Knife
*FaNovel3rd:* Phillips, The Engine's Child
*FaNovel4th write-in:* Weeks, The Way of Shadows
*FaNovel5th write-in:* Brett, Warded Man/Painted Man
YA
*YABook1st:* Goodman, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn [The Two Pearls of Wisdom]
*YABook2nd:* Cornish, Monster Blood Tattoo: Book Two: Lamplighter
*YABook3rd:* Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go
*YABook4th:* No Vote or Write-in
*YABook5th:* No Vote or Write-in
Debut
*FirstNovel1st:* Gilman, Thunderer
*FirstNovel2nd:* Redick, The Red Wolf Conspiracy
*FirstNovel3rd write-in:* Weeks, The Way of Shadows
*FirstNovel4th write-in:* Brett, Warded Man
*FirstNovel5th write-in:* Fenn, Principles of Angels
Short Fiction
*Novella1st:* McDonald, The Tear
*Novella2nd:* Reed, The Man with the Golden Balloon
*Novella3rd:* Gilman, Arkfall
*Novella4th:* Finlay, The Political Prisoner
*Novella5th:* No Vote or Write-in
*Novelette1st:* Egan, Crystal Nights
*Novelette2nd:* Reynolds, The Star Surgeon's Apprentice
*Novelette3rd:* Baxter, Turing's Apples
*Novelette4th:* Bacigalupi, The Gambler
*Novelette5th:* Bernobich, The Golden Octopus
*ShortStory1st:* Chiang, Exhalation
*ShortStory2nd:* McAuley, The Thought War
*ShortStory3rd:* Watts, The Eyes of God
*ShortStory4th:* Rajaniemi, His Master's Voice
*ShortStory5th:* Phillips, The Small Door
Magazines
*Magazine1st write-in:* Greatest Uncommon Denominator
*Magazine2nd write-in:* Escape Velocity
*Magazine3rd:* Postscripts
*Magazine4th:* Strange Horizons
*Magazine5th write-in:* Aeon
Publishers
*Publisher1st:* Gollancz
*Publisher2nd:* Baen
*Publisher3rd:* Pyr
*Publisher4th:* Solaris
*Publisher5th:* Orbit
Anth/Coll
*Anthology1st:* Dozois, Galactic Empires
*Anthology2nd:* Mann, The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Two
*Anthology3rd:* Strahan, Eclipse 2
*Anthology4th:* Anders, Fast Forward 2
*Anthology5th:* Anders, Sideways in Crime
*Collection1st:* Egan, Dark Integers and Other Stories
*Collection2nd:* Bacigalupi, Pump Six and Other Stories
*Collection3rd:* Kelly, The Wreck of the Godspeed
*Collection4th:* No Vote or Write-in
*Collection5th:* No Vote or Write-in
Editors
*Editor1st:* Lou Anders
*Editor2nd:* Jonathan Strahan
*Editor3rd:* Toni Weisskopf
*Editor4th:* Peter Crowther
*Editor5th write-in:* George Mann
Art/Non Fiction
*Artist1st:* Stephan Martiniere
*Artist2nd:* Jim Burns
*Artist3rd:* John Picacio
*Artist4th:* Julie Bell
*Artist5th:* Luis Royo
*Nonfiction1st:* Fenner/Fenner, Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary
Fantastic Art
The Award Ceremony will take place at the Science Fiction Awards Weekend in Seattle WA, June 26-27, 2009
We will present the novel choices and then Liviu's take including his vote. FBC congratulates all the Finalists and will include links to all FBC reviews available.
SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
- Matter, Iain M. Banks (Orbit UK)
- City at the End of Time, Greg Bear (Gollancz, Del Rey)
- Marsbound, Joe Haldeman (Ace)
- Anathem, Neal Stephenson (Atlantic UK, Morrow) - FBC review LS
- Saturn's Children, Charles Stross (Orbit, Ace)
FANTASY NOVEL
- The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)
- Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt)
- The Bell at Sealey Head, Patricia A. McKillip (Ace)
- The Dragons of Babel, Michael Swanwick (Tor)
- An Evil Guest, Gene Wolfe (Tor)
FIRST NOVEL
- Thunderer, Felix Gilman (Bantam Spectra) - FBC review RT
- Black Ships, Jo Graham (Orbit US) - FBC review RT
- Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory (Ballantine Del Rey)
- The Gone-Away World, Nick Harkaway (William Heinemann, Knopf) - FBC review LS
- Singularity's Ring, Paul Melko (Tor) - FBC review RT
YOUNG-ADULT NOVEL
- Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor) - FBC review RT
- The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins) - FBC rv 1 CH & Fbc rv 2 FF
- Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Knopf)
- Nation, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK, HarperCollins) - FBC review CH
- Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor)
Considering last year flap with the rule changing after the original vote since some winners under the old rules were not on Locus' editors taste I almost did not vote this year in protest. I was a subscriber for a while, though not recently but last year's flap was of the "cancel subscription" type and it *really annoyed me*.
Sure, Locus has the right to weigh the votes as it wishes, but changing the vote after the results since they did not conform to the "directives from above" is close to vote rigging in my book.
This year since the rules were announced before, I had no complaint so to speak, though the new weighing transformed the Locus Awards from THE most representative sff award to another old boys' club to some extent and it lessened its interest.
This being said, I did vote on the last day as follows:
SF
*SFNovel1st:* Stephenson, Anathem
*SFNovel2nd:* Jones, Spirit
*SFNovel3rd:* McAuley, The Quiet War
*SFnovel4th write-in:* Weber, By Schism Rent Asunder
*SFnovel5th write-in:* Hamilton, Temporal Void
Fantasy:
*FaNovel1st:* Heaney, Memoirs of a Master Forger [Joyce, How to Make
Friends..]
*FaNovel2nd write-in:* Stover, Caine Black Knife
*FaNovel3rd:* Phillips, The Engine's Child
*FaNovel4th write-in:* Weeks, The Way of Shadows
*FaNovel5th write-in:* Brett, Warded Man/Painted Man
YA
*YABook1st:* Goodman, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn [The Two Pearls of Wisdom]
*YABook2nd:* Cornish, Monster Blood Tattoo: Book Two: Lamplighter
*YABook3rd:* Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go
*YABook4th:* No Vote or Write-in
*YABook5th:* No Vote or Write-in
Debut
*FirstNovel1st:* Gilman, Thunderer
*FirstNovel2nd:* Redick, The Red Wolf Conspiracy
*FirstNovel3rd write-in:* Weeks, The Way of Shadows
*FirstNovel4th write-in:* Brett, Warded Man
*FirstNovel5th write-in:* Fenn, Principles of Angels
Short Fiction
*Novella1st:* McDonald, The Tear
*Novella2nd:* Reed, The Man with the Golden Balloon
*Novella3rd:* Gilman, Arkfall
*Novella4th:* Finlay, The Political Prisoner
*Novella5th:* No Vote or Write-in
*Novelette1st:* Egan, Crystal Nights
*Novelette2nd:* Reynolds, The Star Surgeon's Apprentice
*Novelette3rd:* Baxter, Turing's Apples
*Novelette4th:* Bacigalupi, The Gambler
*Novelette5th:* Bernobich, The Golden Octopus
*ShortStory1st:* Chiang, Exhalation
*ShortStory2nd:* McAuley, The Thought War
*ShortStory3rd:* Watts, The Eyes of God
*ShortStory4th:* Rajaniemi, His Master's Voice
*ShortStory5th:* Phillips, The Small Door
Magazines
*Magazine1st write-in:* Greatest Uncommon Denominator
*Magazine2nd write-in:* Escape Velocity
*Magazine3rd:* Postscripts
*Magazine4th:* Strange Horizons
*Magazine5th write-in:* Aeon
Publishers
*Publisher1st:* Gollancz
*Publisher2nd:* Baen
*Publisher3rd:* Pyr
*Publisher4th:* Solaris
*Publisher5th:* Orbit
Anth/Coll
*Anthology1st:* Dozois, Galactic Empires
*Anthology2nd:* Mann, The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Two
*Anthology3rd:* Strahan, Eclipse 2
*Anthology4th:* Anders, Fast Forward 2
*Anthology5th:* Anders, Sideways in Crime
*Collection1st:* Egan, Dark Integers and Other Stories
*Collection2nd:* Bacigalupi, Pump Six and Other Stories
*Collection3rd:* Kelly, The Wreck of the Godspeed
*Collection4th:* No Vote or Write-in
*Collection5th:* No Vote or Write-in
Editors
*Editor1st:* Lou Anders
*Editor2nd:* Jonathan Strahan
*Editor3rd:* Toni Weisskopf
*Editor4th:* Peter Crowther
*Editor5th write-in:* George Mann
Art/Non Fiction
*Artist1st:* Stephan Martiniere
*Artist2nd:* Jim Burns
*Artist3rd:* John Picacio
*Artist4th:* Julie Bell
*Artist5th:* Luis Royo
*Nonfiction1st:* Fenner/Fenner, Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary
Fantastic Art
With this being said my comments on the actual results are as follows:
1. SF novel - I read 4 of the 5 and rated one "million stars", one 4 1/2 stars and two 1 star; cannot see how Anathem loses; just genius with only Matter a contender in my book; but Matter is not top IM Banks, close but not there; outside of Haldeman which has style very divergent with my taste so I do not read hence cannot talk about, the other two novels are just way, way below in quality
2. Fantasy novel - I tried three from the list (Wolfe, LeGuin and Ford) and none matched my taste though I may revisit Evil Guest later; I would say Wolfe by default
3. First novel - I read 4 (Gilman, Graham, Harkaway, Melko) and tried the fifth (Gregory) which is so divergent from my tastes that I cannot rate in fairness. Gilman's work expanded in his second novel is just superb so I hope he wins; however I have a soft spot for Jo Graham's Black Ships which was a personal favorite, while Gone Away World is a very good book but lacks the editing to make it great; Singularity's Ring was a big disappointment, though Mr. Melko gets better in his second novel The Walls of the Universe
4. YA novel - the only two I looked at are Doctorow and Scalzi but both authors' style and my tastes are very divergent so I cannot rate any in fairness; I hope Lanagan wins
5. Misc - for the rest of the awards see my votes - I am very surprised that Gollancz which imho is reigning supreme in the sff publishing area in quality and success has not got there - maybe because it's UK - and I hope Baen wins; I am also surprised that Lou Anders who is the best sff editor working today imho did not get the nod, but I hope Jonathan Strahan who is also there on top and representing genre as it is not as it was wins, while in magazines I would take any but the ossified former big three (Asimov's, Analog, FSF) which are just wasting away and deservedly so for not keeping up with the times.
1. SF novel - I read 4 of the 5 and rated one "million stars", one 4 1/2 stars and two 1 star; cannot see how Anathem loses; just genius with only Matter a contender in my book; but Matter is not top IM Banks, close but not there; outside of Haldeman which has style very divergent with my taste so I do not read hence cannot talk about, the other two novels are just way, way below in quality
2. Fantasy novel - I tried three from the list (Wolfe, LeGuin and Ford) and none matched my taste though I may revisit Evil Guest later; I would say Wolfe by default
3. First novel - I read 4 (Gilman, Graham, Harkaway, Melko) and tried the fifth (Gregory) which is so divergent from my tastes that I cannot rate in fairness. Gilman's work expanded in his second novel is just superb so I hope he wins; however I have a soft spot for Jo Graham's Black Ships which was a personal favorite, while Gone Away World is a very good book but lacks the editing to make it great; Singularity's Ring was a big disappointment, though Mr. Melko gets better in his second novel The Walls of the Universe
4. YA novel - the only two I looked at are Doctorow and Scalzi but both authors' style and my tastes are very divergent so I cannot rate any in fairness; I hope Lanagan wins
5. Misc - for the rest of the awards see my votes - I am very surprised that Gollancz which imho is reigning supreme in the sff publishing area in quality and success has not got there - maybe because it's UK - and I hope Baen wins; I am also surprised that Lou Anders who is the best sff editor working today imho did not get the nod, but I hope Jonathan Strahan who is also there on top and representing genre as it is not as it was wins, while in magazines I would take any but the ossified former big three (Asimov's, Analog, FSF) which are just wasting away and deservedly so for not keeping up with the times.
1:37 AM | 
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3 comments:
Eon Dragoneye Warrior was an interesting read. And really was creative in its own right. I wish it had gotten more notice maybe it will :)
I love that Holly Phillips story. People can find it here: http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/?p=546
Thank you for the link.
There were lots of short stories that I liked last year so it was hard to choose, but Exhalation was one of a kind (imho of course)
I loved Engine's Child a lot and based on it I started following Ms. Phillip[s fiction much more closely than in the past