2016 Gemmell Awards Winners
The winners for the 2016 David Gemmel Legend and David Gemmel Morningstar awards have been announced.
The Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel:
WINNER:
- The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence (Harper Voyager)
FINALISTS:
- The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)
- Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia (Baen)
- Gotrek & Felix: Slayer by David Guymer (Black Library)
- Ruin by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan)
The Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer:
WINNER:
- The Vagrant by Peter Newman (Harper Voyager)
FINALISTS:
- Battlemage by Stephen Aryan (Orbit)
- The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (Pan Macmillan)
- The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig (Harper Voyager)
- Starborn by Lucy Hounsom (Pan Macmillan)
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Harper Voyager)
2016 British Fantasy Awards Winners
The winners for the 2016 August Derleth and Robert Holdstock awards have been announced at FantasyCon.
August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel:
WINNER:
- Rawblood by Catriona Ward (Weidenfeld & Nicholson)
SHORTLIST:
- A Cold Silence by Alison Littlewood (Jo Fletcher Books)
- The Death House by Sarah Pinborough (Gollancz)
- Lost Girl by Adam Nevill (Pan Books)
- The Silence by Tim Lebbon (Titan Books)
- Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (Orbit)
Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel:
WINNER:
- Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Macmillan)
SHORTLIST:
- Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor)
- Half a War by Joe Abercrombie (HarperVoyager)
- The Iron Ghost by Jen Williams (Headline)
- Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Solaris)
- Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (Macmillan)
Passengers – International Trailer
Every once in awhile a new SF film like this just seems to sneak up on you out of the blue. How the hype machine did not bring this to my attention earlier is a mystery but I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. Pratt and Lawrence are two of the biggest names in Hollywood and I like them both and the special effects look superb. And yeah, something going wrong with hyper-sleep is a classic trope but at least it’s not a remake.
SF v. Fantasy (1999 v. 2016)
I’m researching fan polls for favorite science fiction books for v. 4 of the Classics of Science Fiction list, and I came across something curious. In the “THE INTERNET TOP 100 SF/FANTASY LIST” there seems to be greater love for fantasy in 1999 than in the 2016 Goodreads poll “Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books.” Both polls involved thousands of voters, which is a good sample. Now I’m just looking at the top 100 books, so many of the popular fantasy titles from the Internet 100 list might show up further down on the Goodreads list. If you look at the second and third hundred books on Goodreads, fantasy starts appearing with greater frequency.
However, comparing just the most popular 100 books suggests that fantasy is less popular in 2016 than in 1999. Do you think that’s true? Both lists where voted on by people who like to use the internet. My hunch would be more males voted in 1999. Both systems allow for multiple ranked entries with the Internet 100 using 1-10 and Goodreads using 1-5. There’s no telling what the voter demographics are like for each. My guess is younger readers voted in the Internet 100, and Goodreads appeals to all ages. If that’s true, does that mean science fiction sticks with people as they get older?
Any other ideas?