Award Recommendations
Updated 19 January 2004
These recommendations for speculative fiction awards are based strictly on calendar year of publication. Unlike the last couple of years for the Hugo Awards, there is no additional eligibility for works that do not have a US edition; only first English-language publication matters. Although that extension is intended to "equalize" eligibility for awards, since the US population of fen is so much larger than that in the rest of the English-speaking world, it ignores one critical factor: The majority of fen are not reading for literary quality in the first place. In any event, five is not a magic number here; sometimes I recommend more as worthy, sometimes fewer. Within each category, works are listed alphabetically by author.
previous years:
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002
| Author | Recommended Work | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Novel (>40k) | ||
| Greg Bear | Darwin's Children | Del Rey |
| Angélica Gorodischer | Kalpa Imperial | Small Beer Press |
| Terry McGarry | The Binder's Road | Tor |
| Gregory Maguire | Mirror Mirror | HarperCollins |
| Elizabeth Moon | The Speed of Dark | Tor |
| Dan Simmons | Ilium | Eos |
| Kristine Smith | Contact Imminent | Eos |
| Other Books | ||
| Michael Bishop | Brighten to Incandescence: 17 Stories | Golden Gryphon |
| Nancy Kress, ed. | Nebula Awards Showcase 2003 | Roc |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | Changing Planes | Harcourt |
| Gary Turner & Marty Halpern, eds. | The Silver Gryphon | Golden Gryphon |
| Novella (17.5–40k) | ||
| Lucius Shepard | Jailwise | SciFiction (Jun) |
| Novelette (7.5–17.5k) | ||
| Octavia E. Butler | The Book of Martha | SciFiction (21 May) |
| John Morressy | The Artificer's Tale | F&SF (Oct/Nov) |
| Gary W. Shockley | The Lightning Bug Wars | F&SF (Apr) |
| Short Story (<7.5k) | ||
| Ursula K. Le Guin | Seasons of the Ansarac | F&SF (Feb) |
| Kit Reed | Incursions | F&SF (May) |
| Lucius Shepard | A Walk in the Garden | SciFiction (20 Aug) |
| Gene Wolfe | Castaway | SciFiction (05 Feb) |
| Gene Wolfe | Hunter Lake | F&SF (Oct) |
| Film and TV | ||
| The Return of the King | ||
| New Pro Author | ||
| Author | Recommended Work | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Novel (>40k) | ||
| Jonathan Carroll | White Apples | Tor |
| Naomi Kritzer | Fires of the Faithful and Turning the Storm | Bantam Spectra |
| Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman | The Fall of Kings | Bantam Spectra |
| Sean McMullen | Voyage of the Shadowmoon | Tor |
| China Miéville | The Scar | Del Rey |
| Kim Stanley Robinson | The Years of Rice and Salt | Bantam Spectra |
| Sean Russell | The Isle of Battle | Eos |
| Allen Steele | Coyote | Ace |
| Other Books | ||
| Kage Baker | Black Projects, White Knights: The Company Dossiers | Golden Gryphon |
| Ted Chiang | Stories of Your Life and Others | Tor |
| Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. | The Green Man: Tales From the Mythic Forest | Viking |
| Jeffrey Ford | The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories | Golden Gryphon |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | The Birthday of the World and Other Stories | Harcourt |
| Novella (17.5–40k) | ||
| Charles Coleman Finlay | The Political Officer | F&SF (Apr.) |
| Elizabeth Hand | The Least Trumps | Conjunctions 39 |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | Paradises Lost | The Birthday of the World and Other Stories |
| Novelette (7.5–17.5k) | ||
| A.S. Byatt | The Thing in the Forest | New Yorker (03 Jun.) |
| Midori Snyder | Charlie's Away | The Green Man: Tales From the Mythic Forest |
| Ian Watson | A Free Man | The Third Alternative (Spring) |
| Short Story (<7.5k) | ||
| Jeffrey Ford | Creation | F&SF (May) |
| Neil Gaiman | October in the Chair | Conjunctions 39 |
| Theodora Goss | The Rose in Twelve Petals | Realms of Fantasy (Apr.) |
| James Patrick Kelly | Candy Art | Asimov's (Dec.) |
| Gregory Maguire | Fee, Fie, Foe, et Cetera | The Green Man: Tales From the Mythic Forest |
| Patricia A. McKillip | Hunter's Moon | The Green Man: Tales From the Mythic Forest |
| Gene Wolfe | The Waif | F&SF (Jan.) |
| Film and TV | ||
| The Two Towers | ||
| New Pro Author | ||
| Charles Coleman Finlay | ||
| Author | Recommended Work | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Novel (>40k) | ||
| Jonathan Carroll | The Wooden Sea | Tor |
| Neil Gaiman | American Gods | Morrow |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | The Other Wind | Harcourt |
| Terry McGarry | Illumination | Tor |
| Sean McMullen | Eyes of the Calculor | Tor |
| Kristine Smith | Law of Survival | Ace |
| Ken Wharton | Divine Intervention | Ace |
| Connie Willis | Passage | Bantam |
| Gene Wolfe | Return to the Whorl | Tor |
| Other Books | ||
| Karen Haber, ed. | Meditations on Middle-Earth | St. Martin's |
| Patrick Nielsen Hayden, ed. | Starlight 3 | Tor |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | Tales From Earthsea | Harcourt |
| Al Sarrantonio, ed. | Redshift | Roc |
| Novella (17.5–40k) | ||
| Elizabeth Hand | Cleopatra in Brimstone | Redshift |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | The Finder | Tales From Earthsea |
| Kate Wilhelm | Yesterday's Tomorrows | F&SF (Sep.) |
| Gene Wolfe | Viewpoint | Redshift |
| Novelette (7.5–17.5k) | ||
| Richard Calder | Roach Motel | Interzone (Apr.) |
| Ted Chiang | Hell Is the Absence of God | Starlight 3 |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | On the High Marsh | Tales From Earthsea |
| Richard Russo | The Dread and Fear of Kings | SciFiction (24 Oct.) |
| Short Story (<7.5k) | ||
| Harlan Ellison | Incognita, Inc. | Hemispheres (Jan.); Realms of Fantasy (Aug.) |
| Maureen F. McHugh | Interview: On Any Given Day | Starlight 3 |
| Gene Wolfe | In Glory Like Their Star | F&SF (Oct.–Nov.) |
| Film and TV | ||
| Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, The Fellowship of the Ring | ||
| New Pro Author | ||
| Ken Wharton | ||
| Author | Recommended Work | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Novel (>40k) | ||
| Brenda Clough | Doors of Life and Death | Tor |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | The Telling | Harcourt |
| George R.R. Martin | A Storm of Swords | Bantam |
| Richard Powers | Plowing the Dark | FS&G |
| Philip Pullman | The Amber Spyglass | Knopf |
| Gene Wolfe | In Green's Jungles | Tor |
| Other Books | ||
| Michael Bishop | Blue Kansas Sky | Golden Gryphon |
| Ellen Datlow, ed. | Vanishing Acts | Tor |
| —, & Terri Windling, eds. | Black Heart, Ivory Bones | Eos |
| Gardner Dozois, ed. | Year's Best Science Fiction (17th Ed.) | St. Martin's |
| Daniel Keyes | Algernon, Charlie, and I | Challcrest Press |
| Tom Shippey | J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century | HarperCollins UK |
| Jane Yolen | Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories | Tor |
| Novella (17.5–40k) | ||
| Stephen Baxter | Reality Dust | PS Publishing |
| Michael Bishop | Blue Kansas Sky | Blue Kansas Sky |
| Elizabeth Hand | Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol | SciFiction (Dec) |
| Novelette (7.5–17.5k) | ||
| Keith Brooke | Liberty Spin | Interzone (Aug) |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | The Birthday of the World | F&SF (Jun) |
| James Morrow | Auspicious Eggs | F&SF (Oct-Nov) |
| Brian Stableford | Tenebrio | Vanishing Acts |
| Short Story (<7.5k) | ||
| Michael Bishop | How Beautiful With Banners | Century 6 |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | The Flyers of Gy | SciFiction (Nov) |
| Sean McMullen | Colours of the Soul | Interzone (Feb) |
| Charles Stross | Antibodies | Interzone (Jul) |
| Film and TV | ||
| New Pro Author | ||
| Mindy Klasky, Naomi Kritzer, Jo Walton | ||
| Author | Recommended Work | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Novel (>40k) | ||
| Greg Bear | Darwin's Radio | Del Rey |
| Orson Scott Card | Enchantment | Del Rey |
| Lisa Goldstein | Dark Cities Underground | Tor |
| Sean McMullen | Souls in the Great Machine | Tor |
| James Morrow | The Eternal Footman | Harcourt |
| J.K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Bloomsbury |
| Kristine Smith | Code of Conduct | Eos |
| Victoria Strauss | Garden of the Stone | Eos |
| Vernor Vinge | A Deepness in the Sky | Tor |
| Other Books | ||
| Gardner Dozois, ed. | Year's Best Science Fiction (16th ed.) | St. Martin's |
| Robert Silverberg, ed. | Far Horizons | HarperCollins |
| Novella (17.5–40k) | ||
| Kage Baker | Son Observe the Time | Asimov's (May) |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | Old Music and the Slave Woman | Far Horizons |
| Allen Steele | The Exile of Evening Star | Asimov's (Jan) |
| Connie Willis | The Winds of Marble Arch | Asimov's (Oct-Nov) |
| Novelette (7.5–17.5k) | ||
| Eleanor Arneson | Stellar Harvest | Asimov's (May) |
| Stephen Baxter | Huddle | F&SF (May) |
| Esther Friesner | How to Make Unicorn Pie | F&SF (Jan) |
| James Patrick Kelly | 1016 to 1 | Asimov's (Jun) |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | Darkrose and Diamond | F&SF (Oct-Nov) |
| Ian R. MacLeod | The Chop Girl | Asimov's (Dec) |
| Short Story (<7.5k) | ||
| Nick DiChario | Sarajevo | |
| Jonathan Carroll | Fish in a Barrel | F&SF (Oct-Nov) |
| Michael Swanwick | Ancient Engines | Asimov's (Feb) |
| Film and TV | ||
| Being John Malkovich, Galaxy Quest, The Iron Giant | ||
| New Pro Author | ||
| Thomas Harlan, Kristine Smith | ||
| Author | Recommended Work | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Novel (>40k) | ||
| Patricia Anthony | Flanders | Ace |
| Octavia Butler | Parable of the Talents | Seven Stories |
| Charles de Lint | Someplace to Be Flying | Tor |
| George R.R. Martin | A Clash of Kings | Voyager |
| Mary Doria Russell | Children of God | Villard |
| Robert Charles Wilson | Darwinia | Tor |
| Other Books | ||
| Jorge Luis Borges | Collected Fictions | Viking |
| Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. | Year's Best Fantasy & Horror (11th ed.) | St. Martin's |
| Gardner Dozois, ed. | Year's Best Science Fiction (15th ed.) | St. Martin's |
| Karen Joy Fowler | Black Glass | Holt |
| Patrick Neilsen Hayden, ed. | Starlight 2 | Tor |
| Novella (17.5–40k) | ||
| Ted Chiang | Story of Your Life | Starlight 2 |
| Greg Egan | Oceanic | Asimov's (Aug) |
| Ursula K. Le Guin | Dragonfly | Legends |
| Novelette (7.5–17.5k) | ||
| Esther Friesner | Brown Dust | Starlight 2 |
| Bruce Sterling | Taklamakan | Asimov's (Oct-Nov) |
| Jane Yolen | Lost Girls | Realms of Fantasy (Feb) |
| Short Story (<7.5k) | ||
| Stephen Dedman | Amendment | SF Age (Sep) |
| Thomas M. Disch | The First Annual Performance Arts Festival at the Slaughter Rock Battlefield | Interzone (May) |
| Nancy Kress | Steamship Soldier on the Information Front | Asimov's (Apr) |
| Kelly Link | The Specialist's Hat | Event Horizon (Dec) |
| Bruce Holland Rogers | Thirteen Ways to Water | Black Cats and Broken Mirrors |
| Norman Spinrad | The Year of the Mouse | Asimov's (Apr) |
| Michael Swanwick | The Very Pulse of the Machine | Asimov's (Feb) |
| Film and TV | ||
| Fuhgeddaboutit ("no award") | ||
| New Pro Author | ||
| Nalo Hopkinson | ||
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