*Yes, that’s a rule change: in the past, anyone could nominate but only members could vote. This year, you must be a member to nominate, as well.

***

Theodore Sturgeon

Ever heard of Sturgeon’s Law? It does not, as you might think at first glance, regulate the caviar industry in Russia; rather, it is a general description of the world around us. Formulated by the late science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, it is usually paraphrased as, “Of course 90 percent of science fiction is crap. Ninety percent of everything is crap!”

This poses a challenge to anyone who wishes to seek out the best of anything, whether movies, music…or science fiction. And if you’re just thinking of taking the plunge into the speculative fiction genres, the deluge of titles on display in bookstores, online or off, can be intimidating.

That’s where awards can be useful. Beyond making authors feel good when they win one (not that there’s anything wrong with that), they help bring worthwhile books to the attention of readers everywhere.

In science fiction and fantasy, as in literary, historical and other genres, there are a plethora of awards, but they are not all created equal: some are more respected and valued than others.

The granddaddy of all the science fiction awards, and the most coveted by writers, is the Hugo, presented continuously since 1955. It gets its name from Hugo Gernsback, considered the father of science fiction (although he called it “scientifiction”) because he founded the first magazine devoted to the genre, Amazing Stories, in 1926.  In movie-award terms, the Hugos are the People’s Choice Awards of the field: books are nominated for, and voted on, by members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention.

Categories include various short forms, dramatic presentation and fan writing, but the biggy is the award for best novel. The 2009 winner of the iconic rocket-ship trophy, presented in Montreal, was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, a YA fantasy about a boy raised by ghosts. Unusually, three of the five finalists were YA books: Little Brother by Canada’s own Cory Doctorow and Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi were also on the list. Rounding out the finalists were Anathem by Neal Stephenson (which I thought should have won) and Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross.

In Melbourne, Australia, in 2010, two novels tied for the Best Novel Hugo: The City & The City by China Miéville and The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Two Canadian books were among the finalists: Wake by Robert J. Sawyer and Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson. Rounding out the nominees were Boneshaker by Cherie Priest and Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente.

(Note: the print version of this column elided the 2009 and 2010 Hugo results. I’ve corrected that here and will put a correction into my next print column in Freelance.)

The second-most prestigious awards are the Nebulas. To continue the movie analogy, they’re like the Academy Awards, nominated for and voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Sometimes there’s quite a bit of overlap between Hugos and Nebulas, but not last year, when the Nebula for best novel went to The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Other nominees included The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak, Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman, The City & The City by China Miéville, Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, and Finch by Jeff VanderMeer.

One way to find good books is to look for those that appear on more than one award ballot, and the finalists for the World Fantasy Award, a juried award presented at the World Fantasy Convention every October, included a couple of Nebula nominees, one of which was the winner, The City & The City by China Miéville; the other was Jeff Vandermeer’s Finch. Other finalists were Blood of Ambrose by James Enge, The Red Tree by Caitlín R. Kiernan, and In Great Waters by Kit Whitfield.

But perhaps, as a patriotic Canadian, you are more interested in works by your fellow citizens. Well, Canada, too, has its science fiction and fantasy awards. The Sunburst Award is a juried award named after the 1964 novel by the late, great Canadian SF author Phyllis Gotlieb. I had the honor of serving on the Sunburst jury last year.

In the adult category, we chose Indigo Springs, by A.M. Dellamonica; in the young adult category, our choice was Half World, by Hiromi Goto. Other finalists in the adult category were The Mystery of Grace by Charles de Lint, Makers by Cory Doctorow, The Sunless Countries by Karl Schroeder and Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson. The YA finalists included one name very familiar to Saskatchewan readers: Arthur Slade, for The Hunchback Assignments. Other finalists were Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe, Amy By Any Other Name by Maureen Garvie and Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston.

Finally, there are the Prix Aurora Awards. Any Canadian resident or citizen can nominate for them, and they’re voted on by members of CanVention, the Canadian national SF convention. Last year’s English-language best novel winner was Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer. The other finalists were The Amulet of Amon-Ra, a YA book by Leslie Carmichael; Druids by Barbara Galler-Smith and Josh Langston; Steel Whispers by Hayden Trenholm, and Terra Insegura, by some guy named Edward Willett.

If you’re looking for a place to start reading science fiction and fantasy, the award-nominees I’ve listed offer everything from young adult fantasy-adventure to psychological adult horror, from alternative history to far-future space opera to near-future technological prognostication.

With these books, at least, Sturgeon’s Law does not apply.

It’s a good list to be on:

Eligible works that excited our staff in 2010 include: Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong, Tesseracts 14 edited by John Robert Colombo and Brett Alexander Savory, A Book of Tongues by Gemma Files, Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, Evolve edited by Nancy Kilpatrick, Sweet Tooth Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Jeff Lemire, Black Bottle Man by Craig Russell, Watch by Robert J. Sawyer, The Dark Deeps by Arthur Slade, Stealing Home by Hayden Trenholm, and Song of the Sword by Edward Willett.

And, yes, the 2011 Aurora Awards are now open for nominations from any Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Also, SF Canada, the association of Canadian speculative fiction professionals of which I am currently president, has announced that it will be providing the SF Canada Award, a $500 cheque, to the winners of the Best Novel categories in both French and English, beginning this year. Check out the press release on our website.

Now back to revising…

The photo: Sailboat just outside Nanaimo harbour, Vancouver Island

Here are this year’s nominees and winners. I’ve arranged the list with the winners at the top of each category, starred and bolded:

BEST NOVEL IN ENGLISH :

*WAKE, Robert J. Sawyer, Penguin Canada

THE AMULET OF AMON-RA, by Leslie Carmichael, CBAY Books

DRUIDS, by Barbara Galler-Smith and Josh Langston, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

STEEL WHISPERS, Hayden Trenholm, Bundoran Press

TERRA INSEGURA, Edward Willett, DAW Books

MEILLEUR ROMAN EN FRANÇAIS ( Best Novel In French ):

*Suprématie. Laurent McAllister, (Bragelonne)

Le protocole Reston. Mathieu Fortin, (Coups de tête)

La Quête de Chaaas (L’axe de Koudriss). Michèle Laframboise, Médiaspaul

Un tour en Arkadie. Francine Pelletier, Alire

Filles de lune 3. Le talisman de Maxandre. Élisabeth Tremblay, (De Mortagne)

BEST SHORT-FORM WORK IN ENGLISH:

*”PAWNS DREAMING OF ROSES”, Eileen Bell, Women of the Apocalypse. Absolute Xpress

“HERE THERE BE MONSTERS” Brad Carson, Ages of Wonder, (DAW) (story)

“LITTLE DEATHS” Ivan Dorin, Tesseracts Thirteen

“RADIO NOWHERE” Douglas Smith, Campus Chills

“THE WORLD MORE FULL OF WEEPING” Robert J. Wiersema, ChiZine Publications

MEILLEURE NOUVELLE EN FRANÇAIS ( Best Short-Form In French )

*« Ors blancs » Alain Bergeron, (Solaris 171)

« De l’amour dans l’air » Claude Bolduc, (Solaris 172)

« La vie des douze Jésus » Luc Dagenais, (Solaris 172)

« Billet de faveur » Michèle Laframboise, (Galaxies 41)

« Grains de silice » Mario Tessier, (Solaris 170)

« La mort aux dés » Élisabeth Vonarburg, (Solaris 171)

BEST WORK IN ENGLISH (OTHER) :

*WOMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (the Apocalyptic Four) Editor, Absolute Xpress

AGES OF WONDER Julie E. Czerneda, & Rob St. Martin, Editors, DAW Books

NEO-OPSIS MAGAZINE, Karl Johanson, Editor

ON SPEC MAGAZINE, Diane Walton, Managing Editor, The Copper Pig Writers’ Society

DISTANT EARLY WARNINGS: CANADA’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION Robert J. Sawyer, Editor, Robert J. Sawyer books

MEILLEUR OUVRAGE EN FRANÇAIS (AUTRE) / (Best Work In French (Other):

*Revue. Joel Champetier, éditeur, Solaris

Critiques. Jérôme-Olivier Allard, (Solaris 169-172)

Le jardin du general, Manga. Michele Laframboise, ,Fichtre, Montréal

Rien à voir avec la fantasy. Thibaud Sallé, (Solaris 169)

Chronique «Les Carnets du Futurible». Mario Tessier, (Solaris 169-171)

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT :

*Dan O’Driscoll, Cover of Steel Whispers, Bundoran Press

Kari-Ann Anderson, for cover of “Nina Kimberly the Merciless”,Dragon Moon Press

Jim Beveridge, “Xenobiology 101: Field Trip” Neo-opsis #16

Lar de Souza, “Looking for Group” online Comic

Tarol Hunt, “Goblins”. Webcomic

FAN ACCOMPLISHMENT (Fanzine):

*Richard Graeme Cameron,.WCFSAZine

Jeff Boman, The Original Universe

Dale Speirs, Opuntia

Guillaume Voisine, éd. Brins d’Éternité

Felicity Walker, BCSFAzine

FAN ACCOMPLISHMENT (Organization) :

*David Hayman, organization Filk Hall of Fame

Renée Benett, for “In Spaces Between” at Con-Version 25

Robbie Bourget, and René Walling, Chairs of “Anticipation”, the 67 th WorldCon

Roy Miles, work on USS Hudson Bay Executive

Kirstin Morrell, Programming for Con-Version 25

FAN ACCOMPLISHMENT (Other) :

*Ray Badgerow, Astronomy Lecture at USS Hudson Bay

Ivan Dorin, “Gods Anonymous” (Con-Version 25 radio play)

Judith Hayman and Peggi Warner-Lalonde organization, Filk track @Anticipation

Tom Jeffers and Sue Posteraro, Filk Concert, Anticipation

Lloyd Penney, Fanwriting

The other finalists are Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer, Steel Whispers by Hayden Trenholm, Druids by Barbara Galler-Smith and Josh Langston, and The Amulet of Amon-Ra by Leslie Carmichael. I know every one of these authors. It should be a great evening at KeyCon in Winnipeg in May when the winners are announced.

Voting will begin soon, once the complete shortlist has been announced. Keep on eye on the Aurora Award website.

The Aurora Awards, for the best Canadian works of science fiction and fantasy, are nominated and voted on by fans. Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident can nominate up to three works or individuals in a range of categories in both English and French. The five works with the most nominations go on the final ballot and are voted on by members of CanVention, the annual national SF convention. It costs nothing to nominate but there is a fee for voting on the final ballot. The mail-in and on-line nomination forms are here.

My novel Marseguro (DAW Books) won the Aurora Award for best long-form work in English last year, and its sequel, Terra Insegura, is eligible this year. You can read the first two chapters of Terra Insegura (or listen to me read them) online here.

If you consider my work worthy of a nomination this year, and you’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, I hope you’ll take the time to do so. But I hope you’ll also take the time to nominate others. There’s a partial list of other eligible work at the Canadian SF database.

Remember, nominating is free! And it only takes a couple of minutes.

The Hugos were rather predictable, but the Canadian Prix Aurora went to Edward Willett’s bleak and beautiful Marseguro, a novel which has not received the attention and acclaim it deserves.

I would never be so forward as to apply the phrase “bleak and beautiful” to my own work, but it’s nice to know Kari feels that way about it!

As for the part about Marseguro not receiving the attention and acclaim it deserves, well…every writer feels that way about his or her work, so I’d be obviously lying if I didn’t say I agreed with her about that! : )

Any Canadian citizen, whether or not they live in Canada, or any permanent resident of Canada may nominate for the Prix Aurora Awards. The categories have been re-named slightly and are now Best Novel In English, Best Novel In French, Best Short-Form Work In English,  Best Short-Form Work In French, Best Work In English (Other), Best Work In French (Other), Artistic Achievement, Fan Achievement (Fanzine), Fan Achievement (Organizational), and Fan Achievement (Other).

My novel Terra Insegura, sequel to Marseguro, is eligible this year in the Best Novel in English category, and I’d be honored if you think it worthy of nomination, but whether you do or not, if you read Canadian science fiction and fantasy, I hope you’ll consider nominating your favorite works from the past year.

You can do so online or via printed-and-mailed PDF form, here.

Still, I’ve grabbed a few minute this evening to post a few things.

First, here’s some video of me winning the Aurora Award for Marseguro, courtesy of of Neo-Opsis Science Fiction editor Karl Johanson (who won one himself that evening):

A couple of additional stories on the win showed up in the media in addition to the ones I mentioned in previous posts. Here’s the Regina LeaderPost‘s story (which got picked up Global TV and other components of the CanWest conglomerate), and here’s one from the weekly newspaper I once worked for as a reporter/photographer and eventually news editor, The Weyburn Review.

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there is also a sequel to Marseguro, entitled Terra Insegura. Oh, and look, here’s a review!

From Fantasy & SciFi Lovin’ News & Reviews:

Terra Insegura is an action-packed thrill-ride that outshines its predecessor…Plot twists, surprise characters, and well-drawn action make this novel both enjoyable and a prime example of why science fiction is still awesome. I find it difficult to complain about this novel, because I had problems putting it down. Terra Insegura has just enough action to keep me fixed to the page, and plenty of suspense (and even a little romance) to make this more than just another book of explosions and space battles. It’s a novel that knows it is good science fiction and isn’t afraid to show it…science fiction at its best.

I think the reviewer liked it.

Not sure that it means much in the big scheme of things, but I also discovered that Terra Insegura just missed making Locus Magazine‘s August bestsellers’ list; they mention it as “the new runner-up.” Maybe it’ll make it in September.

Meanwhile, some people are just now reading Marseguro. From the LiveJournal My Den:

This was an excellent read. It has action, murderous cultists, an airhead who becomes a resistance fighter and a brainwashed murderous clerk who becomes a hero. It is a fascinating universe that Willett has created and I intend to read the sequel as soon as possible.

Others prefer to judge a book by its cover. On the theory that all publicity is good publicity, here’s a link so you can listen in to the commentors at Good Show Sir! react to the Marseguro cover (which I still like. So there!).

Finally, as a reminder that I also write non-fiction, here’s a review of my book Disease-Hunting Scientist from the National Science Teachers’ Association NSTA Recommends website, by third-grade teacher Jacqueline Pfeiffer:

I couldn’t put this book down, and neither will your students. What an impetus to do more research and reading!…

The publishers say the book is for readers in grades five and up or ages 10 and up. The reading flows so easily that I believe younger students who have an interest in science would enjoy the book as well. I highly recommend this book for students who want to explore scientific fields.

Very nice!

Well, I just finished a doozy of a convention, the grandaddy of them all: the 67th annual World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal, a.k.a. Anticipation.

Yes, there were people in costumes (though I only saw one Star Trek costume—an original series one, at that—and not a single Klingon). And, yes, the media tended to focus on those people. Which is fine: they’re the eye-catching ones, and they’re an important part of science fiction fandom. (And as someone who loves performing in musical theatre, I am hardly one to disparage the wearing of costumes.)

But there is so much more at a World Science Fiction convention. In fact, it’s a veritable buffet of goodness for the intellectually curious: where else, for instance, could you listen to Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman in conversation with British science fiction writer Charles Stross?

To extend the buffet metaphor further, WorldCon is an all-you-can-eat-and-then-some buffet. At any given moment, there could be a couple of dozen choices of things to do.

For example, at 2 p.m. on Friday, among the offerings were a presentation by McGill students of science posters they had created; a panel on creating science fiction haiku; “My Parents Made Me Do It” (about growing up in science fiction fandom); “SF in French-Speaking America;” and “In Conversation with Tarl Wayne” (the fan artist guest of honor).

During that same time, the aforementioned Paul Krugman was giving a presentation on how reading science fiction led him into becoming an economist, and there was a panel on the “Greatest Fan Writer,” several author readings, a presentation on “Computing Before Computers,” a panel on “Food: Ancient, Modern, Future, Near and Far,” a writers’ workshop on creating alien languages, a panel on modern graphic design in publishing, and a costuming panel on embellishment techniques.

There were also panels in French, a look at the fiction of Neil Gaiman, this year’s Guest of Honour, a program for teens on how to present yourself in frontof an audience; a panel on “The Future of Gender,” a presentation by Prof. Gail Chmura, a climate-change specialist at McGill University, a panal on environmental issues in science fiction and fantasy, a discussion of who should win the Hugo Award (science fiction’s top fan-voted award) in the Short Form Dramatic Presentation category, a panel on what the people behind the camera do in television and movie production, and a panel introducing book binding, archiving and preservation.

That was just one hour to hour-and-a-half time frame—and I left a few things out.

See, here’s what people who rely on media stereotypes of science fiction fans (you know, can’t get a date, live in their mother’s basement, etc.) don’t realize: the kinds of people who are interested in science fiction are often the kinds of people who interested in everything.

Among the panels I personally attended were one on star maps from antiquity to today; a rather depressing discussion on the outlook for manned space flight in the U.S. post-shuttle; and a panel discussing the exploration of Mars from the persepective of the Canadian Space Agency.

At its heart, though, WorldCon is still focused on books. The premiere award of the weekend is the Hugo Award for Best Novel, which was won by Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book.

Among the other awards given out at WorldCon: the Aurora Awards for the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy…and I was honored to receive the Aurora for Best Long-Form Work in English for my novel Marseguro (DAW Books).

Obviously, that alone made the 67th annual World Science Fiction Convention the best in history, as far as I was concerned.

But if you’re interested enough to read this column every week, there’s a good chance you’d enjoy a science fiction convention even without winning an award.

Next time there’s one in your neck of the woods, why not give it a try?