Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels discussion

The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award in 1987. The book is chosen by a panel of judges from the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation, and a third organisation, which as of 2019 is the Sci-Fi-London film festival.The award has been described as "the UK's most prestigious science fiction prize".
Awarded for the best science fiction novel published in the United Kingdom in the prior calendar year. Any "full-length" science fiction novel written or translated into English is eligible for the prize, provided that it was first published in the United Kingdom during the prior calendar year. There is no restriction on the nationality of the author, and the publication history of works outside the United Kingdom is not taken into consideration.

The 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist:

Semiosis, Sue Burke (HarperVoyager)
Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
Frankenstein in Baghdad, Ahmed Saadawi (Oneworld)
The Electric State, Simon Stålenhag (Simon & Schuster)
Rosewater, Tade Thompson (Orbit)
The Loosening Skin, Aliya Whiteley (Unsung Stories)

“Our 6 shortlisted titles were selected from a record-breaking 124 eligible submissions, and as the imaginative breadth of SF publishing in the UK has grown so too has the challenge for our judges,” said Award Director Tom Hunter. “With this shortlist they have successfully melded multiple definitions of the genre into a celebratory whole that both upholds the best traditions of science fiction literature and beckons us towards exhilarating new futures.”

The winner of the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award will be announced at an awards ceremony at Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road, on July 17. The winner will receive a check for £2019 and the Clarke Award commemorative engraved bookend.

Ooh I have Frankenstein in Baghdad scheduled in July.
And I think I really need to read Rosewater.

Thanks Art for posting!

Update:
The winner of the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award is Rosewater by Tade Thompson. An interesting side note is that this book initially was indie-published in 2016, so formally it is not that new

I really enjoyed Rosewater. Original and fascinating and consistently mysterious and surprising.

Anthony wrote: "I really enjoyed Rosewater. Original and fascinating and consistently mysterious and surprising."

I also liked it. The second volume moves a little to superheroics, but still fun

I really liked it, too, except for confusing with the skipping around timewise. I haven't read the second yet. Maybe soon.

Oleksandr wrote: "Update:
The winner of the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award is Rosewater by Tade Thompson. An interesting side note is that this book initially was indie-published in 201..."

Cool, I can't wait to read it!

Kateblue wrote: "I really liked it, too, except for confusing with the skipping around timewise. I haven't read the second yet. Maybe soon."

I've just seen that the final third volume is planned this Fall

Goodie! Thanks for the info. I may just wait with the second until I can read the third right after.

The iconoclast fervor of re-naming reached Arthur C. Clarke Award.

The dean of hard SF is accused in pedophilia. Here is the story https://www.patreon.com/posts/30298650

While I agree that the insinuated crime is definitely serious, the proof is quite weak. There are some accusations by sensationalist press (which were refuted in court!) and a story of Peter Troyer from Sri Lanka - https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/bj...

The story says only that "a famous British science fiction novelist" made a painting of a naked 11 year old Peter, all this time the minor's grandpa was present and that are no mentioning of any touching or vulgar poses, etc.

In my teens I tried to draw. I wasn't very good at that, but then I thought differently. Despite being straight I liked to draw muscular male bodies (esp. after reading Conan) and I clearly distinguish a sexual urge and an aesthetic pleasure. I like to see well shaped, fit bodies, but it does not mean that I want to grab and fuck them, pardon my French. I think it will be very sad if the award is renamed based only on these accusations.

Oleksandr wrote: "The iconoclast fervor of re-naming reached Arthur C. Clarke Award."

Another one? I'm still mad at the discussions around the James Tiptree Award. There the proof is also very weak. Basically everyone who knew Alice and Ting personally claims that there was a suicide pact in place. But nope, there are now very vocal people screaming about murdering a disabled husband. Even if it was HIM that was taking care of HER in their last years...

From what you're saying, this case is similar. It's like people are trying very hard to miss the context and find excuses to rename ALL the awards...

Yeah, some people seem to think that the fastest way to gain recognition is to "call out" others - in this case, dead people, who are of course best targets, since they can't defend themselves. After the successful (and rightly so) campaign to rename Campbell Award, it was inevitable that someone would pop up and declare some other award "problematic" and demand it'd be renamed, as well.

I'd say the proof should be rather strong before renaming old awards, and if this is all the dirt there is on Clarke, it's rather weak. I doubt many people will be up in arms calling for renaming - I'd expect there will be a storm in a teacup for a while, but then everyone forgets about this one as some new controversy raises it's head.

Banshee wrote: "Another one? I'm still mad at the discussions around the James Tiptree Award."

I agree that there situation was far from clear and the rush to abandon the name was not decent.

Scott, LOL, unfortunately you are probably right. People! The internet has returned everyone to high school mentality, IMO.

I forgot to update in time the list of 2020 nominees. They are:
The City in the Middle of the Night
The Light Brigade
A Memory Called Empire
The Old Drift
Cage of Souls
The Last Astronaut

The list us here https://clarkeaward.com/

The wait for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction book of the year 2020 is almost over, and I'm delighted to say we'll be keeping with our informal tradition of inviting our previous year's winner Tade Thompson to make our announcement for us.

Given the continued need to stay safe and socially distanced, we have opted to only announce online this year, and Tade will officially reveal this year's winner via Twitter at 7pm GMT this Wednesday 23rd Sept #clarkeaward

Link to Twitter: @TadeThompson

The traditional Clarke Award ceremony is the highlight of our year, but not one we felt translated especially well to online channels, and instead we'll be looking to organise a future online event to properly celebrate this year's winning book and author - watch this space!

Speaking of celebrating, I would like to congratulate all of our shortlisted authors and their publishing teams one more time!

The City in the Middle of the Night - Charlie Jane Anders (Titan)
The Light Brigade - Kameron Hurley (Angry Robot)
A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine (Tor)
The Old Drift – Namwali Serpell (Hogarth)
Cage of Souls - Adrian Tchaikovsky (Head of Zeus)
The Last Astronaut - David Wellington (Orbit)

And a huge thank you too to our 2020 judging panel and their supporting organisations!
Stewart Hotston, British Science Fiction Association
Alasdair Stuart, British Science Fiction Association
Farah Mendlesohn, Science Fiction Foundation
Chris Pak, Science Fiction Foundation
Rhian Drinkwater, SCI-FI-LONDON film festival

Yayyy!!!

Oleksandr wrote: "The iconoclast fervor of re-naming reached Arthur C. Clarke Award.

The dean of hard SF is accused in pedophilia...."

I'm reading this very late. I notice that the article has disappeared from the Vice website. But I found the most relevant quotations from it elsewhere.

The guy states that when he was young, Clarke [not explicitly named] had him pose nude for a portrait. That is the full extent of the factual information. The rest is hearsay about what the boy's father thought about Clarke.

He did have a relationship with a man, Leslie Ekanayake, 30 years younger than himself. That age gap is weird to me, but not criminal. (I have a friend from high school who married someone 35 years older than himself. They were very happy together, though watching someone decline and die while you are still young must have been hard.)

Banshee wrote: "Oleksandr wrote: "The iconoclast fervor of re-naming reached Arthur C. Clarke Award."

Another one? I'm still mad at the discussions around the James Tiptree Award. There the proof is also very wea..."

I have been around since the beginning of this year only and see this first now, but I'm glad someone shares (well, shared) my indignation about the renaming of Tiptree with its current controversial name.

Ed wrote: "The guy states that ... The rest is hearsay"

I fully agree that if no new facts (seems unlikely) the story does not vilify Clarke. I hope it will be enough

Plamen 2.0 wrote: "but I'm glad someone shares (well, shared) my indignation about the renaming of Tiptree with its current controversial name.."

I share it too. If they as a couple had a pact as described, she cannot be blamed for following it

Oleksandr wrote: "I share it too. If they as a couple had a pact as described, she cannot be blamed for following it"

As far as I know there is ample evidence to confirm they did, so the renaming (in this specific case) is scandalous. I feel the history of science fiction is being rewritten as we speak.

I'm rooting for Cage of Souls because it was fantastic! But putting all the others on my TBR, as well.

I don't really care what the award is called.

With the exception of "The last astronout" I've read all of them and "Cage of Souls" is by far the best imho. (even if I weren't a die hard AT fan)

Definitely rooting for Cage of Souls, as well; brilliant!

To the surprise of everyone except perhaps Z, I absolutely root for Hurley. However, I've seen the jury there to either go for the most literary or the least likely to win of the nominations, so it might be something unexpected.

I want the awards to keep their current name, there has been enough renaming until now.

I was just looking up past winners, and it looks like China Miéville is the only author in the award's history to have multiple wins. Clarke voters really like him!

Kalin wrote: "I was just looking up past winners, and it looks like China Miéville is the only author in the award's history to have multiple wins. Clarke voters really like him!"

Being British and talented helps :)

Tade Thompson just announced the winner: The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell

https://twitter.com/tadethompson/stat...

This came as a surprise to me, but I'm delighted to see a rather unknown (and especially not so hyped for) author win. I guess I'm the only one here who read it?

So they went with least likely this time. Has anyone read it at all?

Congrats to Namwali Serpell! Still not sure if I'll read it, I'm not usually a huge magical realism fan, but it does sound interesting.

From the list of past winners, they seem to go for "most unique" and "most literary" usually, so it fits the trend.

Wow, I hadn't even heard of that one. Guess I'll look it up. It is really interesting to see how all these different awards shortlist and award some of the same books and very different books at the same time.

“.... about what it means to be human.” OMG, I could just puke when I read that phrase in a book description. It’s a red flag for me when the publisher couldn’t come up with something better than that. This particular description was pretty good....till that hit. I probably won’t read it just out of principle.

lol, yeah that's a bad one!
But you can't blame the author for what the publisher does in the marketing.

"Lesbian necromancers in space." Yeesh.

Allan, don't punish the poor author for publisher's decisions ;).

Allan wrote: "“.... about what it means to be human.” OMG, I could just puke when I read that phrase in a book description. "

Puking is human. You learn what it means to be human when you puke
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

LOL, Z! I’ll be boycotting your comments from now on!

I’m being facetious about boycotting the book, but not about that phrase. Maybe I’m being anal but so be it. It’s repeated so much in book descriptions, it’s just ridiculous, and it’s become very irritating. It’s a cheap stock phrase that signals “ok I need to wrap this blurb up in a way that sounds reflective and deep and philosophical”, but it’s actually shallow, stupid and insults the reader’s intelligence. It screams, “What is the meaning of life?” as if the book can answer that.

Ok, I’ve ranted enough on it, I think you probably get my point. Maybe I’ll compile a list whose blurbs include this. Maybe only then will I know what it means to be human.

Allan wrote: "Maybe I’ll compile a list whose blurbs include this."

That's a good idea, Allan!
I'm actually very curious how many you'll find 😉

Allan wrote: "Maybe only then will I know what it means to be human."

Lol
May I suggest you use this idea for the year challenge? 😋
"Only read books that will tell you what it means to be human"
I'm most curious what the discussions would look like 😄

Lol, this conversation is hilarious. I feel you Allen. I think a major part of the problem is that sci-fi very typically asks philosophical questions about the meaning of life and humanity. It is almost a genre definer. But I completely understand feeling like it is a cheap trick to include that phrase in every blurb. And there is plenty of sci-fi that isn’t that deep and doesn’t warrant such descriptions.

Oh man, just realized that I used that phrase in a review I wrote last night. 😂 Sorry, Allan! 🤣

Allan wrote: "LOL, Z! I’ll be boycotting your comments from now on!

I’m being facetious about boycotting the book, but not about that phrase. Maybe I’m being anal but so be it. It’s repeated so much in book des..."

Lol, couldn't agree more. It's just another way of saying "look, this is not *just* people going pew-pew with phasers, okay?

LOL Kristen! I think maybe you’ve read it so many times, it’s in your subconscious!

Kristen wrote: "Oh man, just realized that I used that phrase in a review I wrote last night. 😂 Sorry, Allan! 🤣"

Do you know that thát exact phrase made me think of Allan when I read your review, Kristen? 😄

Actually, Allan, I'm thinking about you almost all the time 😋
Because ever since you drew my attention to this, it seems that I come across this sentence a lot. Not to say daily.

Great ideas, Tau! I’m going to create a personal shelf for them and start reading some blurbs.

If anyone comes across a book that has this, let me know on by board or message, and I’ll put in on my shelf.

Allan wrote: "Great ideas, Tau!"

You're welcome, Allan 😉

Allan wrote: "I’m going to create a personal shelf for them and start reading some blurbs.
If anyone comes across a book that has this, let me know on by board or message, and I’ll put in on my shelf."

Yay!
For those who are interested to see how many books Allan already found, here's his 'What it means to be human'-shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

When I come across such a book, I'll certainly let you know, Allan 😊

I was looking for some and just found: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
When I saw you already put it on your list in the meantime 😋

Lol, don't forget books that even have it in the title:
What It Means To Be Human
Quicksand: What It Means to Be a Human Being
Humanity 2.0: What it Means to be Human Past, Present and Future
The Mind and the Machine: What It Means to Be Human and Why It Matters
Conversations on Consciousness: What the Best Minds Think about the Brain, Free Will, and What It Means to Be Human
You Are the Music: How Music Reveals What it Means to be Human
Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies -- and What It Means to Be Human
The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What it Means to Be an Educated Human Being
Super You: How Technology Is Revolutionizing What It Means to Be Human
The Zombie Gospel: The Walking Dead and What It Means to Be Human
and so on, and so on, and so on 😄

Btw do you want the exact phrase "What it means to be human"?
Or does "eight brilliant short works, each of which probes the essence of humanity" also fit the bill?