Professional Awards – Best Novel Category
- The Shattered City (Creature Court 2) Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperCollins)
- Burn Bright, Marianne de Pierres (Random House Australia)
- Mistification, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot Books)
- The Courier’s New Bicycle, Kim Westwood (HarperCollins)
- Debris (The Veiled Worlds 1), Jo Anderton (Angry Robot Books)
In manually counting total number of entries listed as eligible for this category (approximately 180) it readily became apparent that there were quite a few books that could easily have held a spot above.
And I suppose this is comforting, because it says, to me at least, that speculative fiction in Australia is rockin’ it.
Those that could have
So what follows are books that I have read or have sufficient feedback about that I wouldn’t have been surprised to see above. So if you’re stuck for a reading list check out those above but these below here as well.
- Black Glass, Meg Mundell, Scribe Publications.
- Bus Stop on a Strange Loop, Shaune Lafferty Webb, Winterbourne Publishing.
- Roil, Trent Jamieson, Angry Robot Books.
- Stormlord's Exile, Glenda Larke, HarperCollins.
- The Undivided, Jennifer Fallon, HarperCollins.
- Thyla, Kate Gordon, Random House Australia.
- When We Have Wings, Claire Corbett, Allen & Unwin.
That eligibles list is worth checking through all in itself. Like I said the scene is pretty healthy and there’s some quality fiction for everyone’s tastes. There’s several not above that are still in my tbr pile.
Where’s my money?
If I was a betting man (I’m not) I’d not be putting money down. They are five utterly different books showcasing the diversity of the Genre. The Shattered City is surprise inclusion in that its a book two in a series, but it was a damn fine read and raised the bar on Roberts’ already unique take on fantasy. Burn Bright is mature YA with vampiric influences and it mixes dystopic elements with youth culture, and some social commentary – something fresh in the genre. Mistification I haven’t read but again some very good things have been said about this dark fantasy. The Courier’s New Bicycle, gives as near future dystopia with a tinge of cyberpunk plus genderqueer. Debris a debut novel gives a science fantasy, with a thread of dystopia and a smattering of steampunk.
This category is I think too close to call.
Edit: It might be obvious to some but checkout the gender breakdown 100% Female
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