Thursday, April 16, 2009

New Fantasy Award

Here's some good news for lovers of fantasy fiction. A new award has been set up to celebrate the genre, in memory of the late David Gemell (left).

Says Prize administrator Deborah J Miller :
All of the contenders continue in the same tradition of integrity as David's own work. Fantasy at its very best like this can both entertain and uplift the spirit. The strong characterisation often resonates in people's lives; people have strong empathy and passion for characters such as Sapkowski's Geralt or Week's Kylar (Azoth) Stern. It is very gratifying to see that the fans instinctively knew what we meant by our criteria and recognised the qualities we were seeking.
And here's the (very international) shortlist :
Joe Abercrombie - Last Argument of Kings
Juliet Marillier - Heir to Sevenwaters
Brandon Sanderson - The Hero of Ages
Andrzej Sapkowski- Blood of Elves
Brent Weeks - The Way of Shadows
The David Gemmell Legend Award website is here.

8 comments:

k0k s3n w4i said...

I've read the two book which preceeded Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings... waiting for a specific edition at the moment.

You don't write about speculative fiction a lot :(

bibliobibuli said...

and that's because i don't really read a lot of it (only the stuff like margaret atwood which is as much literary fiction as sc-fi)

if you ever feel like guest blogging a piece here, or letting me know of something you've written on the topic on yours, you would be more than welcome

marineko said...

Ursula le Guin writes literary sci-fi. So does Philip K. Dick. :D

Juliet Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy (no longer a trilogy now that "Heir to Sevenwaters" is out!) is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone. It's a bit depressing and the subject matters are heavy, though.

Well, all of the nominated books are popular fantasy fiction at Kino. Brent Weeks especially gets sold out within a day of the books arriving, EVERY SINGLE TIME. (it annoys me) But I'm rooting for Marillier I guess.

For more literary fantasy, nothing beats the World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award.

Anonymous said...

Yea that's the prob, all the good ones are taken hours after they are put on sale. What's left is a bookstore full of crap. Honestly books should be priced according to popularity.

Tunku Halim said...

I wish I had more time to read these surely "must read" fantasy books. Speculative fiction can be fun, Sharon. Don't you agree? :)

Anonymous said...

Are there any Malaysian science fiction writers?

There is a wealth of pleasure and relaxation to be found in that genre.

I have read science fiction works set in Malay culture written by Westerners.

Is it something people even read in Malaysia?

Is it translated into Malaysian?

There are so many fabulous and literary works of science fiction, works by authors such as Gardner Dozois, Connie Willis, Alfred Bester, and many others.

invanderkoeck said...

Wow, I'm rooting for Joe Abercrombie...I love his work!

Donnwyt said...

A great author of fantasy novels, David Gemmell RIP. Read his Troy trilogy and it was one of the best.

Hope that George RR Martin gets a mention. :)