Books(ish) - British Fantasy Awards

Susan Omand takes a quick look at the newly announced shortlists for the British Fantasy Awards...

Following two rounds of nomination and voting from the members of the British Fantasy Society and FantasyCon, The British Fantasy Awards has reached its jury stage. Looking at those listed, there are several names that are well known to us here at The DreamCage with Titan Books and Fox Spirit featuring as publishers in several of the categories. Fox Spirit also gets a nod in the Best Independent Press category. 

Another interesting group is the Best Audio category which sees podcasts go up against audio dramas (and a mention for Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs is always a good thing here) although I must admit that I know none of the names in the Best Comic/Graphic Novel category which surprised me.

Incongruous among all the book related categories, there's one for Best Film/TV and what a list. Any one of these could win and I wouldn't be too annoyed.

For 2018 the shortlisted entrants are:

Best Anthology
· 2084, ed. George Sandison (Unsung Stories)
· Dark Satanic Mills: Great British Horror Book 2, ed. Steve Shaw (Black Shuck Books)
· Imposter Syndrome, ed. James Everington & Dan Howarth (Dark Minds Press)
· New Fears, ed. Mark Morris (Titan Books)
· Pacific Monsters, ed. Margret Helgadottir (Fox Spirit)

Best Artist
· Ben Baldwin
· Jeffrey Alan Love
· Victo Ngai
· Daniele Sera
· Sophie E Tallis
· Sana Takeda

Best Audio
· Anansi Boys (by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Dirk Maggs for Radio 4)
· Brave New Words podcast (Ed Fortune and Starburst Magazine)
· Breaking the Glass Slipper podcast (Lucy Hounsom, Charlotte Bond & Megan Leigh)
· Ivory Towers (by Richard H Brooks, directed by Karim Kronfli for 11th Hour Audio Productions)
· PseudoPod podcast (Alasdair Stuart and Escape Artists)
· Tea & Jeopardy podcast (Emma & Peter Newman)

Best Collection
· Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury)
· Strange Weather, by Joe Hill (Gollancz)
· Tanith by Choice, by Tanith Lee (Newcon Press)
· Tender: Stories, by Sofia Samatar (Small Beer Press)
· You Will Grow Into Them, by Malcolm Devlin (Unsung Stories)

Best Comic / Graphic Novel
· Bitch Planet Vol 2: President Bitch, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Taki Soma & Valentine de Landro (Image)
· Grim & Bold, by Joshua Cornah (Kristell Ink)
· Monstress, Vol. 2, by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda (Image)
· Tomorrow, by Jack Lothian & Garry Mac (BHP Comics)
· The Wicked + The Divine Vol 5: Imperial Phase Part 1, by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie (Image)

Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award)
· Age of Assassins, by RJ Barker (Orbit)
· The Court of Broken Knives, by Anna Smith Spark (HarperVoyager)
· The Ninth Rain, by Jen Williams (Headline)
· Under the Pendulum Sun, by Jeanette Ng (Angry Robot)

Best Film / Television Production
· Black Mirror, Series 4, by Charlie Brooker (Netflix)
· Get Out, by Jordan Peele (Universal Pictures)
· The Good Place, Season 1, by Michael Schur (Netflix)
· Star Wars: The Last Jedi, by Rian Johnson (Lucasfilm)
· Stranger Things, Season 2, by Matt & Ross Duffer (Netflix)
· Twin Peaks: the Return, by Mark Frost & David Lynch (Sky Atlantic)
· Wonder Woman, by Zack Snyder, Allan Heinberg & Jason Fuchs (Warner Bros.)

Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award)
· Behind Her Eyes, by Sarah Pinborough (Harper Collins)
· The Boy on the Bridge, by MR Carey (Orbit)
· The Changeling, by Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau)
· The Crow Garden, by Alison Littlewood (Jo Fletcher Books)
· Relics, by Tim Lebbon (Titan Books)

Best Independent Press
· Fox Spirit
· Grimbold Books
· Newcon Press
· Salt Publishing
· Unsung Stories

Best Magazine / Periodical
· Black Static, ed. Andy Cox (TTA Press)
· Gingernuts of Horror, ed. Jim Mcleod
· Grimdark Magazine, ed. Adrian Collins
· Interzone, ed. Andy Cox (TTA Press)
· Shoreline of Infinity, ed. Noel Chidwick

Best Newcomer (the Sydney J Bounds Award)
· RJ Barker, for Age of Assassins (Orbit)
· SA Chakraborty, for The City of Brass (HarperVoyager)
· Ed McDonald, for Blackwing (Orion)
· Jeanette Ng, for Under the Pendulum Sun (Angry Robot)
· Anna Smith Spark, for The Court of Broken Knives (HarperVoyager)

Best Non-Fiction
· Gender Identity and Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. FT Barbini (Luna Press)
· Gingernuts of Horror, ed. Jim Mcleod
· Luminescent Threads, ed. Alexandra Pierce & Mimi Mondal (12th Planet Press)
· No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, by Ursula K Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
· Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of 70s and 80s Horror Fiction, by Grady Hendrix (Quirk)
· Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, by Maura McHugh (Electric Dreamhouse Press)

Best Novella
· Brother’s Ruin, by Emma Newman (Tor.com)
· Cottingley, by Alison Littlewood (Newcon Press)
· The Murders of Molly Southbourne, by Tade Thompson (Tor.com)
· Naming the Bones, by Laura Mauro (Dark Minds Press)
· Passing Strange, by Ellen Klages (Tor.com)
· A Pocketful of Crows, by Joanne Harris (Gollancz)

Best Short Story
· The Anniversary, by Ruth EJ Booth (in Black Static #61) (TTA Press)
· Four Abstracts, by Nina Allan (in New Fears) (Titan Books)
· Illumination, by Joanne Hall (in Book of Dragons) (Kristell Ink)
· The Little Gift, by Stephen Volk (PS Publishing)
· Looking for Laika, by Laura Mauro (in Interzone #273) (TTA Press)
· Shepherd’s Business, by Stephen Gallagher (in New Fears) (Titan Books)

The Award winners for each category will be announced on 21st October at FantasyCon 2018.

Image - BFS