Best Of The Year (So far, anway)

[coalescent]

Following a couple of recent discussions, I've been reminded that I should start nominating things for the BSFA Awards. Being able to nominate all year is a bit of a two-edged sword. On the one hand, if you nominate a story you really like early on, it'll get listed on the website and in Matrix, and other people might be more likely to seek it out. On the other hand, there's no way of knowing whether the really good story you read in January will actually end up as one of the best of the year, and I can't shake the feeling that nominating too many pieces would devalue the process somewhat.

As a compromise, I've just worked out what I'd like to see on the shortlists if they were announced today, and submitted those. I'll repeat the process at the end of the year, so at most I'll nominate ten works in each category. I doubt I'll reach that limit, but even if I do it seems a reasonable limit to me.

So:

BEST SHORT FICTION

• Paolo Bacigalupi, 'The People of Sand and Slag' (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February)


• Peter F Hamilton, 'Footvote' (Postscripts 1)


• Daniel Kaysen, 'The Opposition' (The Third Alternative 38/summer)


• Christopher Rowe, 'The Voluntary State' (SCIFICTION 05/05/04)


• Kristine Kathryn Rusch, 'Collateral Damage' (Asimov's August)

My nominations are biased against novellas. Much as I love the form, I haven't nominated any; the award lumps all lengths of short fiction in together, which doesn't seem entirely fair to me, and I find that in compensation, almost, I'm leaning towards short stories and novellettes. And for all that I've been a little disappointed with most of the magazines this year, I still think all the stories here are deserving of recognition. I've written about Bacigalupi's story before, and I find that I still remember it vividly, which is a good sign. Similarly 'The Voluntary State' sparked and fizzed and burned itself into my brain as I read it. The other three stories are all more thoughtful pieces. Two of them, 'Footvote' and 'Collateral Damage' are political, although in different ways. And 'The Opposition' is a lyrical fantasy about the balance between light and dark in an urban landscape; the people and places that keep each other in check.

BEST ARTWORK

• Cover for Cowl by Neal Asher


• New cover for The Cassini Division by Ken Macleod


• Cover for the US edition of Newton's Wake by Ken Macleod


• Cover for The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston


• Cover for The Third Alternative #39 by Richard Marchand


• If eligible (it's a photo, so I'm not sure how that works): Cover for The Algebraist by Iain M Banks

There's not really anything to say here; I think the images speak for themselves, and you either agree with me or you don't.

BEST NOVEL

• Newton's Wake by Ken Macleod


• River of Gods by Ian McDonald


• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell


• The Snow by Adam Roberts


• Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson

By my reckoning, two of the novels here - Cloud Atlas and River of Gods - are ahead of the others by a leap and a bound. In some ways, I almost hope they don't both make the ballot, because trying to choose between them would be hellish. Both are broad, sprawling novels about the state of humanity, and the world. Forty Signs of Rain is the low-key, sober antidote to The Day After Tomorrow; Newton's Wake is a hugely fun space opera, if perhaps a little lightweight compared to the other titles here. I just finished The Snow last night, so I'm still assimilating everything it says, but I think it does a number of very impressive things, and more than any of the others it engages directly with the current political climate.

Agree? Disagree? A member of the BSFA? Get nominating yourself, then!

Comments

[ex-susumu64.livejournal.com]

'The People of Sand and Slag' sounds really interesting. Is that magazine reasonably available for people who only hear about such things months after the fact?

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Er, maybe. If you can get to Murder One/New Worlds on Charing Cross Road, they usually have the last few months' worth of all the magazines hanging around. They may have run out of february by now, though. There must be places online to pick up backissues easily (ie without ordering them direct from the publisher, 'cause transatlantic shipping's a pain), but I don't know of them.

Worst comes to the worst, I can photocopy the story and post it to you. ;-)

[ex-susumu64.livejournal.com]

Yep, that seems to have done the trick. Thanks for the tip :)

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Cool - hope you like it. Let me know what you think.

[chance88088.livejournal.com]

You could download it from Fictionwise in an eformat. It's cheaper than the cover price and no shipping. (Though obviously no paper goodness.)

[ex-susumu64.livejournal.com]

I'm not that keen on reading fiction on-screen, and I now have this one on paper, but I'll keep that in mind for next time. I guess short stories are easier to read that way than something longer.

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

I was very impressed by Newton's Wake and think its the best think Ken has written in a while. This will definitely be on my list.

I also was very impressed by Charlie Stross' Singularity Sky but am unsure of its elligibility since it was published in the US last year.

Not read any of the other ones on your list, but these are my stars of 2004 so far.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure whether Singularity Sky is eligible, either. 'Novel first published in the UK' is ambiguous; is it the first UK publication of the novel or that the first ever publication is in the UK which counts?

Mind you, even if it is eligible I won't be nominating it. I did enjoy it, but I don't think it's in the same class as the other books I've listed - it's clearly a first novel, with some really tedious battle scenes and too much repetition of background info. That said, I have Iron Sunrise waiting to be read now ... but that's definitely not eligible.

Tangentially, I'm not sure whether or not I want to nominate The Year of Our War, but I think it's bound to get onto the ballot without my help.

[gummitch.livejournal.com]

It's "first published in the UK in 2004", so Singularity Sky is eligible.

[fishlifter.livejournal.com]

'Novel first published in the UK' is ambiguous; is it the first UK publication of the novel or that the first ever publication is in the UK which counts?

It relates to the year in which the book is published in the UK, provided that it has not been published in the UK before.

[fishlifter.livejournal.com]

the award lumps all lengths of short fiction in together, which doesn't seem entirely fair to me

Well, when we have as many nominations for short fiction as, say, the Hugos, we'll need to consider having as many different categories; but I don't feel it's warranted at the moment. I do want to increase the number of nominations in all categories, so maybe that's where we'll end up; but I think this needs to be a one-step-at-a-time thing. For the 2003 awards there would definitely not have been enough nominations for different lengths of short fiction to have split the award, and I think it would be counter-productive to do so only to then have to decline to assemble a shortlist in some categories.

With more categories it also becomes much more of an industry to check that works are being nominated in the right category, or moving them otherwise. There's obviously a boundary between the novel and short fiction categories (which I moved one or two nominees between last year -- not shortlisted titles, and not ones that would have featured on the shortlist in the other category either) but I think that's a valid distinction. There weren't always different BSFA awards for fiction, though, so things do change. But slowly!

If eligible (it's a photo, so I'm not sure how that works)

The artwork eligibility is currently for a single image of sf or fantasy artwork, and personally I consider that the artistic image can be a photographic one. The medium isn't a distinguishing factor in eligibility terms.

What's more challenging -- and this may sometimes be another way of addressing the same issue -- is the question of whether a book or magazine cover nomination is for the 'artistic' image itself or for the whole cover design; I tend to work on the basis that it's the latter unless someone is able to specify otherwise. But usually more people will, of course, be able to see the book cover version anyway, and may vote on that basis. Actually, I suspect people are often voting for the artwork where the only added elements of 'design' appear to be the title and author's name, whereas some nominations are definitely made on the basis of the look of the whole cover. Seeing the comparison, at the BSFA meeting where Les Edwards/Edward Miller was guest speaker, between the original painting and the book jacket image for the cover of The Year of Our War was illuminating in this respect: I like both of them, and I think the way the original was adapted for the cover works better in that context. But the contrast in the colour of the sky, for instance, is remarkable.

Thanks for doing the right thing about nominations, though. I look forward to updating my records tonight! (The BSFA website will follow a little more slowly, though, since I gather the webmistress is out of contact for the next few days at least.) If I can't track down the details of the actual artists for any of the artwork nominations I may need to come back to you, though...

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Well, when we have as many nominations for short fiction as, say, the Hugos, we'll need to consider having as many different categories; but I don't feel it's warranted at the moment.

Yeah, I get that. And a single 'short fiction' category does have merit, making for interesting comparisons that otherwise would not get made. It's just my personal contrariness that makes me reluctant to put novellas in against short stories.

The artwork eligibility is currently for a single image of sf or fantasy artwork, and personally I consider that the artistic image can be a photographic one.

Woo!

If I can't track down the details of the actual artists for any of the artwork nominations I may need to come back to you, though...

That's fine ... next time I go into a bookshop I'll try to remember to note down the artists for Cowl and The Cassini Division. The Algebraist might be a little trickier, given that it's not published for two months. :)

[fishlifter.livejournal.com]

not published for two months

Aha. In that case I'd better warn you that I will note the nomination but not actually accept it until publication (and thus appearance of the artwork) has really happened. Just in case...

[ajshepherd.livejournal.com]

personally I consider that the artistic image can be a photographic one
Although in this case, getting the award out to the Cassini spacecraft may prove difficult!

[fishlifter.livejournal.com]

OK, any volunteers?

I think this case is one of those where I'll be looking for a designer of the whole cover...

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

You could always invite someone from the science team to accept the prize on its behalf... We actually have some Cassini peoploe here at IC, but i don't know what they think of SF...

[greengolux.livejournal.com]

I've emailed some short fiction nominations to you. I nominated some novels a bit ago too, but they're not up on the website. This might be because it's just taking some time for all the nominations to filter through, but I wanted it to check it wasn't because you didn't get my email?

[fishlifter.livejournal.com]

I've had your previous (novel-related) email and I know that I've logged those nominations in my spreadsheet; apologies, though, that I didn't email back to say I had them and thanks (I usually try to precisely so that everyone knows their nominations have not been lost).

I emailed a batch of website updates through yesterday, having submitted a then up-to-date list of nominations to the Matrix editors for the next edition; but as I was saying I think there will now be a short delay in getting more updates put up. My fault for waiting until I had a few changes to be made.

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

I have read exactly none of your nominations of the year so far, and so I suggest you lend me The Snow so I can judge for myself. :)

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Well, let's see ... I'd lend you River of Gods, but snowking has it. I'd lend you Cloud Atlas, but truecatachresis has it. I'd lend you Forty Signs of Rain, but colours has it. And I'd lend you Newton's Wake, but I don't own it.

So, yep, looks like The Snow it is. :)

BFSA

[(Anonymous)]

I would like to nominate 'The mystery of the vanishing man' as staged by Mr Niall Harrison.
Mr Harrison, do you not respond to your work email anymore, or do you just not work there? Very curious indeed...
Yes, well must get back to work now. But before I do I should ask you to drop me a few lines of text sometime and also to check out the very odd 'emergencies' section of www.savingsandclone.com. Much comedy to be found I think.
Hope things are good,

Marie
x

Re: BFSA

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Man, I suck. I've emailed you now.