Congrats to the 2020 Dragon Award Winners/Finalists

There’s never enough time between the release of the ballot and the final result to read all the Dragon Finalists, but I’ll review the winners, and maybe a couple or three others that have caught my eye. Stay tuned!

Best Science Fiction Novel

• The Last Emperox by John Scalzi
• The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
• Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
• The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz
• The Rosewater Redemption by Tade Thompson
• Network Effect by Martha Wells
• Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)

• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
• Jade War by Fonda Lee
• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer
• The Burning White by Brent Weeks

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

• Finch Merlin and the Fount of Youth by Bella Forrest
• Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer
• The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
• Force Collector by Kevin Shinick
• The Poison Jungle by Tui T. Sutherland
• Cog by Greg van Eekhout

Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel

• Savage Wars by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
• Edge of Valor by Josh Hayes
• Aftershocks by Marko Kloos
• Defiance by Bear Ross
• Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio
• System Failure by Joe Zieja

Best Alternate History Novel

• Witchy Kingdom by D. J. Butler
• The Girl with No Face by M. H. Boroson
• Revolution by W. L. Goodwater
• As Our World Ends by Jack Hunt
• Up-time Pride and Down-time Prejudice by Mark H. Huston
• A Nation Interrupted by Kevin McDonald

Best Media Tie-In Novel

• Firefly – The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove
• Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack
• Star Trek: Discovery: The Enterprise War by John Jackson Miller
• Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Aliens: Phalanx by Scott Sigler

Best Horror Novel

• The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
• Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
• Scavenger Hunt by Michaelbrent Collings
• The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North
• The Toll by Cherie Priest

Best Comic Book

• Avengers by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness
• Bitter Root by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, Sanford Greene
• Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett
• Monstress by Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda
• Spider-Woman by Karla Pacheco, Pere Perez, Paulo Siqueira
• Undiscovered Country by Charles Soule, Scott Snyder, Daniele Orlandini, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Matt D. Wilson

Best Graphic Novel

• Battlestar Galactica Counterstrike by John Jackson Miller, Daniel HDR
• Batman Universe by Brian Michael Bendis, Nick Derington
• Black Bolt by Christian Ward, Frazier Irving, Stephanie Hans
• Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
• Mister Miracle by Tom King, Mitch Gerads
• Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series

• The Mandalorian– Disney+
• Altered Carbon– Netflix
• Lost In Space– Netflix Originals
• Star Trek: Picard– CBS All Access
• The Expanse– Amazon Prime
• The Witcher– Netflix
• Watchmen– HBO

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker by J. J. Abrams
• Ad Astra by James Gray
• Fast Colo rby Julia Hart
• Joker by Todd Phillips
• Terminator: Dark Fate by Tim Miller
• The Lion King by Jon Favreau

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game

• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order– Respawn Entertainment & Electronic Arts
• Borderlands 3– Gearbox Software & 2k Games
• Control– Remedy Entertainment & 505 Games
• Death Stranding– Kojima Productions & Sony Interactive
• Gears 5– The Coalition & Xbox Game Studios
• Half-Life: Alyx– Valve
• The Outer Worlds– Obsidian Entertainment & Private Division

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game

• Minecraft Earth– Mojang Studios & Xbox Game Studios
• Arknights– Hypergryph, Yostar
• Call of Duty: Mobile– TiMi Studios & Activision Games
• Grindstone – Capybara Games Inc.
• Manifold Garden– William Chyr Studio
• Mutazione– Die Gute Fabrik & Akupara Games

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game

• Tapestry– Stonemaier Games
• Forgotten Waters– Plaid Hat Games
• Jaws of the Lion– Cephalofair Games
• Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid– Renegade Game Studios
• The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine– Kosmos
• The King’s Dilemma– Horrible Guild Game Studio

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game

• Magic: The Gathering: Throne of Eldraine– Wizards of the Coast
• Alien RPG– Free League Publishing
• Battlestar Galactica – Starship Battles: Viper Mk. VII– Ares Games
• Pathfinder Second Edition– Paizo Publishing
• Spectaculars Core Game– Scratchpad Publishing
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Warcry– Games Workshop

Wrap-up of the 2019 Dragon Reviews

The Dragon Awards are pretty much impossible to review before the vote because of the short time between the announcement of the finalists and the end of the voting period. However, I don’t want to neglect them in any way, so this year I’ve gone on to review the 2019 fiction winners. For a look at the whole list of finalists, see my blog on it here.

First, here are the winners again:
Best SF Novel: A Star-Wheeled Sky, Brad R. Torgersen (Baen)
Best Fantasy Novel: House of Assassins, Larry Correia (Baen)
Best Young Adult Novel: Bloodwitch, Susan Dennard (Tor Teen)
Best Military SFF Novel: Uncompromising Honor by David Weber (Baen)
Best Alternate History Novel: Black Chamber by S.M. Stirling (Ace)
Best Horror Novel: Little Darlings by Melanie Golding (Crooked Lane)

As usual in my analysis, here the diversity count of the finalists:
Best SF Novel: 2 women, 5 men, 2 LGBTQ, 2 Jewish (Note: James S.A. Corey is 2 men)
Best Fantasy Novel: 3 women, 3 men, 1 LGBTQ, 2 Jewish, 1 Hispanic
Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel: 4 women, 3 men, 1 Jewish
Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel: 2 women, 6 men, 1 Hispanic
Best Alternate History Novel: 2 women, 4 men, 2 Jewish
Best Horror Novel: 2 women, 5 men, 1 Jewish.

Apologies if I missed anybody or mixed anybody up; it’s sometimes hard to tell about diversity from online biographies. There are other names in the list that look Jewish, for example, but I couldn’t confirm. The gender issue is complicated by the number of cowriters among the finalists, all men, as it turns out. Comparing on the numbers, the gender count works out to be 15/41 (37%) women and on the books 15/37 (41%). The minority count includes 3/41 (7%) LGBTQ, 8/41 (20%) Jewish and 2/41 (5%) Hispanic. I know there’s an argument about whether European Spanish/Portuguese should be considered Hispanic—this category in the US generally counts Latino writers, who are typically mixed race—but I’ve just noted the names here as Hispanic, as I’m not sure how they identify.

So, the ~40% gender count on female-written books isn’t bad, considering that the categories separate SF and fantasy and include a military SF category that you’d expect might skew the results. The LGBTQ count turns out very low compared to say, the Hugo Awards, but it’s actually sitting fairly close to the 4.5% self-identified US demographic. Like most of the awards this year, the count for Jewish writers is much higher than their US demographic of 2%. Other than this, the diversity count really sucks. I’ve had to really stretch for the Hispanic names, as Corriea and Cordova are both likely of European extraction, and there aren’t any apparent black, Arab, Asian, Native American, trans or non-binary writers in this list at all. It’s clear that white writers were strongly preferred by the voting population, leaning to men, especially in the winners (4/6 or 67%). This isn’t unexpected for a popular award; the Hugos, for example, also leaned heavily (75%) to white winners this year, only to women instead of men.

Because of the way the categories are set up, there’s more diversity in the subject matter and type of work in this award than some others, with science fiction getting equal standing against fantasy, and military SF, alternate history, young adult and horror each getting their own categories. There was more diversity in publishers in the Dragons than in some other awards I’ve looked at, too. Tor had the highest count of finalists 5/37 (14%), with Orbit and Baen coming in next, both at 3/37 (8%). Two of the finalists were self-published (5%). On the other hand, all three of the Baen publications came in as winners.

I notice there’s been discussion online about the “legitimacy” of the Dragon Awards, questions about how they are administered and suggestions they’re a vehicle for the Sad/Rabid Puppies faction of the SFF community. Although Vox Day and the Rabid Pups made a good showing in the first year (and actually brought greater diversity), at this point I don’t see any indication this group has any real control of the awards. The award administrators encourage campaigning and voting by avid fan groups, so organization by particular groups to try and vote their candidate in isn’t against the rules. The results strongly suggest a different audience is voting on this than the Hugos, Nebulas and World Fantasy Award, but given the nature of the convention and the categories of fiction, I think that’s pretty much to be expected. The Dragon Award does seem to be suffering from the widespread tendency of the awards voting populations to nominate the same names every year. James S.A. Corey, Chris Kennedy, Mark Wandrey, David Weber, Kacey Ezell and S.M. Stirling were also finalists in 2018. James S.A. Corey, Becky Chambers, Larry Corriea and Mark Wandrey were also finalists in 2017.

As far as literary quality of the work goes, my reviews noted the same kind of wide variation I’ve seen in other awards systems. These novels are popular favorites, fairly straightforward, and only Little Darlings has the kind of strong subtext that I’d consider “literary” writing, though Black Chamber might be satire. The repetition of names from year to year suggests the voting population tends to vote for their favorite author, and maybe not for the particular book that’s up for an award. The short time between announcement of the finalists and the final vote likely encourages this, as there’s not really enough time to read and evaluate all the candidates.

Dragon Award Finalists 2019

The Dragon Award final ballot is out, revealing the finalists. The awards will be presented the first week in September and there’s not much overlap with other awards. That means I won’t really be able to look at many of the finalists I’ve not already reviewed. I will try to review the fiction winners in September.

Interestingly, there does to be more intersection this year, which shows the fan groups that normally drive the Nebula and Hugo Awards are becoming more active in voting for the Dragon Awards. This is especially visible in the fantasy category. However, the Dragon still looks to be a heavily male-driven award.

P.S. On August 31 time to vote on the awards is getting short. I’m happy to see that various people have done some background work on the finalists. See a helpful rundown by Cora Buhlert here also includes links to other analyses.

Best Science Fiction Novel
Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson
Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
A Star-Wheeled Sky by Brad R. Torgersen
Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch
Deep Roots by Ruthanna Emrys
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
House of Assassins by Larry Correia

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
Armageddon Girls by Aaron Michael Ritchey
The Pioneer by Bridget Tyler
Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
Imposters by Scott Westerfeld
Archenemies by Marissa Meyer
The King’s Regret by Philip Ligon

Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel
Uncompromising Honor by David Weber
Order of the Centurion by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole
Marine by Joshua Dalzelle
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
Sons of the Lion by Jason Cordova
A Pale Dawn by Chris Kennedy, Mark Wandrey

Best Alternate History Novel
Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan
Black Chamber by S.M. Stirling
The World Asunder by Kacey Ezell
Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Iron Codex by David Mack

Best Media Tie-In Novel
Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn
Darkness on the Edge of Town by Adam Christopher
Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove, Nancy Holder
Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray
The Replicant War by Chris Kennedy
The Way to the Stars by Una McCormack

Best Horror Novel
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix
Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
Riddance by Shelley Jackson
100 Fathoms Below by Steven L. Kent, Nicholas Kaufmann
Zombie Airman by David Guenther
Cardinal Black by Robert McCammon

Best Comic Book
Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Dave Stewart
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
Mister Miracle by Tom King, Tony S. Daniel
The Batman Who Laughs by Scott Snyder, Mark Simpson
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky, Adam Kubert
Batman by Tom King, Tony S. Daniel

Best Graphic Novel
Berlin by Jason Lutes
On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
Hey, Kiddo by Jarret J. Krosoczka
X-Men: Grand Design – Second Genesis by Ed Piskor
I Am Young by M. Dean
Monstress Vol. 3 by Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series
Game of Thrones, HBO
Good Omens, Amazon Prime
The Umbrella Academy, Netflix
The Orville, Fox
Star Trek: Discovery, CBS All Access
Lucifer, Netflix

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie
Spider-Man: Far From Home by Jon Watts
Alita: Battle Angel by Robert Rodriguez
Aquaman by James Wan
Avengers: Endgame by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Captain Marvel by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game
Life is Strange 2 by Dontnod Entertainment
Apex Legends by Electronic Arts
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth by Blizzard
Assassin’s Creed: Odysssey by Ubisoft
Red Dead Redemption 2 by Rockstar Games
Outer Wilds by Mobius Digital

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game
Reigns: Game of Thromes by Nerial
Elder Scrolls: Blades by Bethesda Softworks
Cyber Hunter by NetEase
Grimvalor by Direlight
Sega Heroes: Puzzle RPG Quest by SEGA
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite by Niantic, WB Games San Francisco

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game
Nemesis by Awaken Realms
Root by Leder Games
Cryptid by Osprey Games
Everdell by Starling Games (II)
Betrayal Legacy by Avalon Hill Games
Architects of the West Kingdom by Garphill Games

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game
Fallout: Wasteland Warfare by Modiphius Entertainment
Magic: The Gathering War of The Spark by Wizards of the Coast
Keyforge: Call of the Archons by Fantasy Flight Games
Magic: The Gathering Ravnica Allegiance by Wizards of the Coast
Call of Cthulhu: Masks of Nyarlathotep Slipcase Set by Chaosium Inc.
Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team by Games Workshop

Identity politics bullies versus SFF Con management 2018

At the end of July, WorldCon became another in the list of SFF conventions that experienced partisan conflict this year about programming, guests or treatment of guests. Special interest groups have apparently moved on from insisting on strict Codes of Conduct for the conventions to insisting on excluding certain guests and demanding particular programming as part of the same agenda. The complaints flying around are the same ones honed for use in the Code of Conduct campaign, words like “unsafe,” “disrespected” and “harassment.” These loaded words are apparently based on such ordinary things as fiction releases and errors in biographies. It seems mostly a problem on the progressive left, but after conservative author Jon Del Arroz didn’t get what he wanted from a kerfluffle at BayCon, he filed suit for defamation—an indication of how far people will go to get their way.

Most of this problem is just victim/identity politics, where people maneuver for advantage through bullying tactics. If you’re a minority and want recognition, then the best way to do it these days is to make noise about being victimized and disrespected and otherwise causing a stink. Progressives are trained to respond with abject apologies and to jump to make adjustments that give you what you want. Because the cons have limited resources and can’t afford massive disturbances and bad press, most have folded to demands. This has led to complaints from other groups harmed by the changes, such as conservatives or older writers. This must have been a particularly aggressive group of activist bullies at WorldCon. See Mary Robinette Kowal comments on trying to work with them. The only failure of this strategy so far seems to have been DragonCon, which ignored guest withdrawals and fired agitators from their positions on staff.

Whatever, WorldCon management busily tried to accommodate the complaints and save their reputation as progressive. There was quite a scramble going on in the last weeks before the con, where the staff completely tore apart the programming and started over. Sensitive guests withdrew to make room for minorities. Teams were called in to help. But, the truth is, they can’t satisfy the demands because it’s not just about appearing on a panel. The progressive ground has moved out from WorldCon members’ feet. An article in the Daily Dot actually classifies their standard demographic as “overlapping” with the Sad Puppies. Who would have thought?

Next, interesting questions about the Hugo voting that emerged in the crisis.

2017 Dragon Award Winners

The Dragon Awards were presented at DragonCon in Atlanta this afternoon. Presenters included Jerry Pournelle, Kevin Anderson, Jim Vince, Larry Correia, Mercedes Misty Knight, Eric Flint, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and Gil Gerard. Congratulations to all the winners!

Best Science Fiction Novel
Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)
Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge by Larry Correia and John Ringo

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel
Iron Dragoons by Richard Fox

Best Alternate History Novel
Fallout: The Hot War by Harry Turtledove

Best Apocalyptic Novel
Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

Best Horror Novel
The Changeling by Victor LaValle

Best Comic Book
The Dresden Files: Dog Men by Jim Butcher, Mark Powers, Diego Galindo

Best Graphic Novel
Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Wild Card by Jim Butcher, Carlos Gomez

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series
Stranger Things, Netflix

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie
Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild by Nintendo

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game
Pokemon GO by Niantic

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game
Betrayal at House on the Hill: Widow’s Walk by Avalon Hill

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game
Magic the Gathering: Eldritch Moon by Wizards of the Coast

Update on the Dragon Awards Drama 2017

On August 10, officials at the Dragon Awards reconsidered their policy of not letting authors withdraw their names from the competition, which resulted in Littlewood and Jemisin withdrawing. Scalzi, after consulting with the officials, decided to stay in the competition, but can’t attend because he’s booked somewhere else for Labor Day weekend. Interestingly, Littlewood and Jemisin both released statements that they were withdrawing because they didn’t want to be used as political pawns.

Littlewood’s position is easy to understand, as her novel The Hidden People was on Vox Day’s list of recommendations for the award. (Can you still call it a Rabid Puppy slate when he calls it recommendations?) Appalled at being targeted, Littlewood jumped to make it clear she didn’t want to be tainted by Rabid Puppy support. This pretty much mirrors similar behavior from authors in the last couple of years. But Jemisin’s statement is more interesting. “There’s a nasty tendency on the part of some organizations to try and use tokens,” she says on her blog, “— most often women and people of color — as ornamentation and flak shielding. It’s a way of saying, ‘Hey! Look! We’re diverse. We’re fair. [Person X’s presence] proves it!’ when in fact the fairness may be an unearned veneer and the diversity a reluctant afterthought.”

This suggests even Jemisin is noticing how often her name appears on awards ballots when plenty of other talented and deserving writers-of-color are out there. Evidently she suspected the Dragon Awards committee might have inserted her name, but it turned out to be fans after all (described as “justice warriors” by President of Dragon Con, Pat Henry). Whatever, these withdrawals reduce the gender diversity of the award even further, leaving the ballot at approximately 82% men.

In light of yesterday’s Hugo results where all the fiction awards went to women, there seems to be a growing split between male and female interests during the SFF awards cycle. Is there any chance this might improve in the near future?

Review of “The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild” by Catherynne M. Valente

This story won the first Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction at DragonCon. Other finalists in the category included: “The Deepwater Bride” by Tamsyn Muir (F&SF, July/Aug 2015), “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong (Nightmare, Oct 2015), “Pocosin” by Ursula Vernon (Apex Magazine, Jan 2015) and “Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight” by Aliette De Bodard (Clarkesworld, Jan 2015). According to the website, the Eugie Foster Award “celebrates the best in innovative fiction.”

Violet Wild lives in Purple Country. She falls in love with Orchid Harm, but he’s eaten by time squirrels. Wearing the Sparrowbone Mask of the Incarnadine Fisherwomen, riding her mammoth Sorrow and carrying her watercolor unicorn, Violet leaves her home and sets off on a journey across several colors of countries in search of the Red Country of Death. Eventually she finds it, where she is reunited with Orchid.

I see this described elsewhere as “absurdist.” I also suspect it might be surrealist. I dunno. It’s a little too innovative for me. It reads like a bad LSD trip, with confusing images and metaphors and varying nonsensical descriptions for each color of country. I do have to say it’s an accomplishment to put together something like this, and I admire the work and the technique that went into it. I gather from the award there is an audience that very much appreciates it; however, I also suspect it’s a niche work. There was nothing about it that attracted me. It’s also quite long. I was skimming by the time I got done.

Two stars.

Congrats to the Dragon Award Winners!

The first annual Dragon Awards were presented Sunday night at DragonCon. Some of the usual suspects won in this case, including Martin’s ”Game of Thrones”, Weir’s ”The Martian”, Gaiman’s ”The Sandman” and Novik’s ”League of Dragons.”

It looks like this venue will be quite a bit more friendly to popular fiction than the Hugo or Nebula Awards. For one thing, a self-published novel won in the Best Horror genre. Also, Castalia House did well here with wins for John C. Wright and Nick Cole. Sad Puppy stalwart Larry Correia also won with Son of the Black Sword.

In other analysis, white men apparently turned out to vote their taste, as novel winners were 7 men/1 woman. Ethnic diversity was also low; out of 8 winners, only Correia is a minority writer.

Many congrats to the winners!

Best Science Fiction Novel
Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwithering Realm, John C. Wright (Castalia House)

Best Fantasy Novel
Son of the Black Sword, Larry Correia (Baen)

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
The Shepherd’s Crown, Terry Pratchett (Harper)

Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel
Hell’s Foundations Quiver, David Weber (Tor)

Best Alternate History Novel
League of Dragons, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

Best Apocalyptic Novel
Ctrl Alt Revolt!, Nick Cole (Castalia House)

Best Horror Novel
Souldancer, Brian Niemeier (Self-published)

Best Comic Book
Ms. Marvel

Best Graphic Novel
The Sandman: Overture, Neil Gaiman & J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series
Game of Thrones

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie
The Martian

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game
Fallout 4 by Bethesda Softworks

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game
Fallout Shelter by Bethesda Softworks

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game
Pandemic: Legacy by ZMan Games

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game
Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game (7th Edition) by Chaosium Inc.

Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction
” The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild” by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld, Jan & Mar 2015)

Cons are underway! Take care!

DragonCon got off to a good start, I gather, as I don’t see any crises from Atlanta in the news. Other conventions apparently didn’t fare quite so well. For example, I see a news article about Fan Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre which was also scheduled to start on Thursday. The kickoff was heralded by reports of firearms on the GO transit. As a result, police recommend that any cosplayers should keep their more realistic accouterments under wraps until they actually get to the con. This follows the arrest of a man dressed as Zorro Monday morning during the panic at LAX.

In the current climate, it seems important for people to remember that cosplay can easily be misunderstood. In September of 2014, cosplayer Darrien Hunt was shot and killed by police near a strip mall in Utah. According to the police report, Hunt “brandished” his replica samurai sword at them, but a witness took a picture that showed Hunt smiling and talking with the officers just before he was shot. Take care, folks!

Finalists for the Dragon Awards

While I’m looking at awards, here’s the new kid of the block. The Dragon Awards seems aimed to award fan favorites, and they’ve encouraged campaigning and fan initiatives in the nomination process. Although I understand the list below hasn’t been officially announced, it is out and about. So, we can have a look at the results and see 1) who’s popular and 2) who has a fan base that stepped up to nominate.

Clearly white men turned out to vote their taste on this one. Out of the forty-six nominees in the main fiction categories below, there are 12 women. That’s about 4 men for every woman that made the list of finalists. Of the forty-six, 4 were racial minorities (that I could identify). These include Larry Correia (Hispanic), N.K. Jemisin (African American) and R.R. Virdi (Asian). Jemisin is a finalist in two categories. Presumably this reflects the interests of attendees at DragonCon.

Interestingly, I’m seeing some different names in this list. If you normally watch just the Nebula Awards, the Locus Awards and the Hugo Awards, you get the idea that there is only a small group of people who are representing excellence in SF and fantasy fiction writing. However, looking at this group, you get the idea that these awards are only showing one side of the picture.

1. Best Science Fiction Novel (5 men/1 woman – 0 racial minorities)

Agent of the Imperium by Marc Miller
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Life Engineered by J-F Dubeau
Raising Caine by Charles E. Gannon
Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwitheriing Realm by John C. Wright

2. Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal) (6 men/1 woman – 3 racial minorities)

Asteroid Made of Dragons by G. Derek Adams
Blood Hound by James Osiris Baldwin
Changeling’s Island by Dave Freer
The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Grave Measures by R.R. Virdi
Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia

3. Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel (4 men/4 women – 0 racial minorities)

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Changeling’s Island by Dave Freer
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley
Trix and the Faerie Queen by Alethea Kontis
Updraft by Fran Wilde

4. Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel (6 men/1 woman – 0 racial minorities)

Allies and Enemies: Fallen by Amy J. Murphy
Blood in the Water by Taylor Anderson
Chains of Command by Marko Kloos
The End of All Things by John Scalzi
Hell’s Foundations Quiver by David Weber
The Price of Valor by Django Wexler
Wrath of an Angry God: A Military Space Opera by Gibson Michaels

5. Best Alternate History Novel (6 men/1 woman – 0 racial minorities)

1635: A Parcel of Rogues by Eric Flint & Andrew Dennis
1636: The Cardinal Virtues by Eric Flint & Walter H. Hunt
Bombs Away: The Hot War by Harry Turtledove
Deadlands: Ghostwalkers by Jonathan Maberry
Germanica by Robert Conroy
League of Dragons by Naomi Novik

6. Best Apocalyptic Novel (4 men/2 women – 1 racial minority

Chasing Freedom by Marina Fontaine
Ctrl Alt Revolt! by Nick Cole
Dark Age by Felix O. Hartmann
The Desert and the Blade by S.M. Stirling
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
A Time to Die by Mark Wandrey

7. Best Horror Novel (4 men/2 women – 0 racial minorities)

Alice by Christina Henry
Chapelwood by Cherie Priest
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay
Honor at Stake by Declan Finn
An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel
Souldancer by Brian Niemeier