The Dervish House nominated for the John W. Campbell Best Novel Award

The Center for the Study of Science Fiction have announced the 2011 John W. Campbell Memorial Award Finalists. I am thrilled to share the news that Ian McDonald's novel, The Dervish House, is among the finalists. This honor joins The Dervish House's Hugo nomination, Arthur C. Clarke nomination, Locus Award nomination, and BSFA win. At this point, I don't think it's even biased of me to say that if you haven't read The Dervish House yet, you really should.

Blood of Ambrose is a WFC Award Best Novel Nominee!!

Art by Dominic Harman

The 2009 World Fantasy Award nominees have just been posted. Words cannot express how it brightened my morning to wake up and discover that James Enge's debut book, Blood of Ambrose, is a nominee in the Best Novel category.

The full Best Novel shortlist:

Blood of Ambrose, James Enge (Pyr)
The Red Tree, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
The City & The City, China Miéville (Macmillan UK/ Del Rey)
Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland)
In Great Waters, Kit Whitfield (Jonathan Cape UK/Del Rey)

The awards will be presented on Sunday, October 31st at the World Fantasy Convention, (held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Columbus, Ohio, October 28-31). The Award Ceremony is open to all members and begins at approximately 2:30 PM. Congratulations to James and to all the nominees!

Three Chesley Award Nominations for Pyr

ASFA, the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, have announced the 2010 Chesley Award nominees for works eligible from 2009, and I am very honored to report that Pyr has made the ballot three times.

For Best Cover Illustration: Paperback:

David Palumbo for Stalking the Dragon by Mike Resnick (Pyr, August 2009)

John Picacio for World's End by Mark Chadbourn (Pyr, May 2009)

For Best Art Director:

Lou Anders (which is me). We are all very honored by these three nominations.

2010 is the 25th anniversary of the Chesley Awards. The awards will be presented at NASFiC: The 10th Occasional North American Science Fiction Convention, August 5th-8th, 2010, in Raleigh, NC.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Gambler" Nominated for Nebula

Wonderful news this morning. Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Gambler", which originally appeared in our anthology Fast Forward 2, has been nominated for a Nebula Award in the Novelette category. Congratulations to Paolo on this, and also on his nomination in the Novel category for The Wind-Up Girl (from Night Shade Books). 

"The Gambler" was previously a Hugo award and a Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award nominee. So if you haven't read it already, you might want to read "The Gambler" in its entirety on the Pyr Sample Chapters blog here.

And here is the full SFWA press release:

SFWA is proud to announce the nominees for the 2009 Nebula Awards.

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of  SFWA. The awards will be announced at the Nebula Awards Banquetthe evening of May 15 at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, just 20 minutes from the Kennedy Space Center in Fla. Other awards to be presented are the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Science Fiction or Fantasy for Young Adults, the Bradbury Award for excellence in screenwriting and the Solstice Award for outstanding contribution to the field.

 Short story

"Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela," Saladin Ahmed (Clockwork Phoenix 2, Norilana Press, Jul09)

"I Remember the Future," Michael A. Burstein (I Remember the Future, Apex Press, Nov08)

"Non-Zero Probabilities," N. K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld, Nov09)

"Spar," Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct09)

"Going Deep," James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jun09)

"Bridesicle," Will McIntosh (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jan09)

Novelette

"The Gambler," Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, Pyr Books, Oct08)

"Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage," Michael Bishop (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jul08)

"I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said," Richard Bowes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec09)

"Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast," Eugie Foster (Apex Online, Nov09)

"Divining Light," Ted Kosmatka (Asimov's Science Fiction, Aug08)

"A Memory of Wind," Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, Nov09)

Novella

The Women of Nell Gwynne's, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, Jun09)

"Arkfall," Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sep09)

"Act One," Nancy Kress (Asimov's Science Fiction, Mar09)

Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon, Feb09)

"Sublimation Angels," Jason Sanford (Jason Sanford, Nov09)

The God Engines, John Scalzi (Subterranean Press, Dec09)

Novel

The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Nightshade, Sep09)

The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam, Nov08)

Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman (Pocket, Oct09)

The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey, May09)

Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor, Sep09)

Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press, Oct09)

Bradbury Award

Star Trek, JJ Abrams (Paramount, May09)

District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug09)

Avatar, James Cameron (Fox, Dec 09)

Moon, Duncan Jones and Nathan Parker (Sony, Jun09)

Up, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar, May09)

Coraline, Henry Selick (Laika/Focus Feb09)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon, Jul09)

Ice, Sarah Beth Durst (Simon and Schuster, Oct09)

Ash, by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown & Company, Sep09)

Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, Jul09)

Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor Aug08)

When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, Jun09)

Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon, Oct09)

For more information, visit www.nebulaawards.com or www.sfwa.org

About SFWA

Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.

Since its inception, SFWA® has grown in numbers and influence until it is now widely recognized as one of the most effective non-profit writers' organizations in existence, boasting a membership of approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers as well as artists, editors and allied professionals.  Each year the organization presents the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

The Quiet War makes Clarke Shortlist

I'm thrilled for Paul McAuley, whose novel The Quiet War, just made the Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist. The Quiet War was one of my favorite reads of the past year. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I acquired US rights to it, and Pyr will be publishing it in September, with a new cover from the magnificent Sparth (who just turned in his illustration last week; I'll debut the cover on the Pyr blog in a few.)

Meanwhile, the prize of £2009, along with a commemorative engraved bookend, will be presented to the winner on Wednesday, April 29th, at an award ceremony held on the opening night of the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival. Congrats to all the nominees.

(And yes, those of you in the US should wait for our edition, as I'd really like to be able to publish the sequel, Gardens of the Sun, which I'm about to start reading shortly. If you can't wait, you could always read the UK edition, vote for it for the Hugo, then gift the US one when it comes out to that friend you're trying to get into smart, literate, award-calibre SF. It's just a suggestion...)