2013 Locus Award Finalists Include Iain M. Banks, John Scalzi, And More

By David Wharton | Published 11 years ago

The Hugo and the Nebula awards are the big two when it comes to recognizing quality science fiction on an annual basis, but they’re not the only game in town. Locus magazine also doles out the “Locus Awards” each year, and they’ve got one thing that makes them worth paying attention to if you’re a fan of literary science fiction. The winners are selected by polling the magazine’s readers, allowing fans to voice their opinions about the year’s best SF. Locus has just posted the finalists for this year’s awards, which will be announced during the Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle on June 28-30.

Here’s the rundown of the finalists below. I heartily agree with Caliban’s War making the list, but I’d imagine Iain M. Banks might be a favorite for the Science Fiction Novel category in light of his recent, tragic death. Do you see any of your favorites among the nominees? Sound off in the comments below.

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

• The Hydrogen Sonata, Iain M. Banks (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
• Caliban’s War, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• 2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• Redshirts, John Scalzi (Tor; Gollancz)

FANTASY NOVEL

• The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
• Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
• Hide Me Among the Graves, Tim Powers (Morrow; Corvus)
• The Apocalypse Codex, Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)

YOUNG ADULT BOOK

• The Drowned Cities, Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown; Atom)
• Pirate Cinema, Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen)
• Railsea, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan)
• Dodger, Terry Pratchett (Harper; Doubleday UK)
• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, Catherynne M. Valente (Feiwel and Friends; Much-in-Little ’13)

FIRST NOVEL

• Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW; Gollancz ’13)
• vN, Madeline Ashby (Angry Robot US; Angry Robot UK)
• Seraphina, Rachel Hartman (Random House; Doubleday UK)
• The Games, Ted Kosmatka (Del Rey; Titan)
• Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson (Grove; Corvus)

NOVELLA

• “In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns”, Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s 1/12)
• On a Red Station, Drifting, Aliette de Bodard (Immersion)
• After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, Nancy Kress (Tachyon)
• “The Stars Do Not Lie”, Jay Lake (Asimov’s 10-11/12)
• The Boolean Gate, Walter Jon Williams (Subterranean)

NOVELETTE

• “Faster Gun”, Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com 8/12)
• “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi”, Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity)
• “Close Encounters”, Andy Duncan (The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories)
• “Fake Plastic Trees”, Caitlín R. Kiernan (After)
• “The Lady Astronaut of Mars”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Rip-Off!)

SHORT STORY

• “The Deeps of the Sky”, Elizabeth Bear (Edge of Infinity)
• “Immersion”, Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 6/12)
• “Mantis Wives”, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld 8/12)
• “Elementals”, Ursula K. Le Guin (Tin House Fall ’12)
• “Mono No Aware”, Ken Liu (The Future Is Japanese)

ANTHOLOGY

• After, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. (Hyperion)
• The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-ninth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin; Robinson as The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 25)
• The Future Is Japanese, Nick Mamatas & Masumi Washington, eds. (Haikasoru)
• Edge of Infinity, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)
• The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Six, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade)

COLLECTION

• The Best of Kage Baker, Kage Baker (Subterranean)
• Shoggoths in Bloom, Elizabeth Bear (Prime)
• At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Kij Johnson (Small Beer)
• The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volume One: Where on Earth and Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands, Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
• The Dragon Griaule, Lucius Shepard (Subterranean)

MAGAZINE

• Asimov’s
• F&SF
• Tor.com
• Clarkesworld
• Subterranean

PUBLISHER

• Tor
• Subterranean Press
• Orbit
• Baen
• Angry Robot

EDITOR

• John Joseph Adams
• Ellen Datlow
• Gardner Dozois
• Jonathan Strahan
• Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

ARTIST

• Donato Giancola
• Stephan Martiniere
• John Picacio
• Shaun Tan
• Michael Whelan

NON-FICTION

• An Exile on Planet Earth, Brian Aldiss (Bodleian Library)
• Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010, Damien Broderick & Paul Di Filippo, eds. (NonStop)
• Distrust That Particular Flavor, William Gibson (Putnam)
• The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn, eds. (Cambridge University Press)
• Some Remarks, Neal Stephenson (Morrow)

ART BOOK

• Spectrum 19: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood)
• Trolls, Brian Froud & Wendy Froud (Abrams)
• Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration, Scott Tracy Griffin (Titan)
• J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull, eds. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Steampunk: An Illustrated History, Brian J. Robb (Aurum)