This weekend saw assorted awards presented here in the UK, as part of Fantasycon by the Sea, in Scarborough.

The David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy –

RAVENHEART AWARD (Best cover art)
Jason Chan for The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence

MORNINGSTAR AWARD (Best debut)
The Vagrant by Peter Newman

LEGEND AWARD (Best novel)
The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence

The British Fantasy Society Awards –

Best anthology: The Doll Collection, ed. Ellen Datlow (Tor Books)

Best artist: Julie Dillon

Best collection: Ghost Summer: Stories, Tananarive Due (Prime Books)

Best comic/graphic novel: Bitch Planet, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Robert Wilson IV and Cris Peter (Image Comics) (#2–5)

Best fantasy novel (the Robert Holdstock Award): Uprooted, Naomi Novik (Macmillan)

Best film/television production: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Peter Harness (BBC One)

Best horror novel (the August Derleth Award): Rawblood, Catriona Ward (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

Best independent press: Angry Robot (Marc Gascoigne)

Best magazine/periodical: Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. Scott H. Andrews (Firkin Press)

Best newcomer (the Sydney J. Bounds Award): Zen Cho, for Sorcerer to the Crown (Macmillan)

Best non-fiction: Letters to Tiptree, ed. Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best novella: The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn, Usman T. Malik (Tor.com)

Best short fiction: Fabulous Beasts, Priya Sharma (Tor.com)

The Special Award (the Karl Edward Wagner Award): The FantasyCon redshirts, past and present

Something for everyone there, I’d say!

And apropos Zen Cho’s win for the excellent ‘Sorcerer to the Crown’, you can find my review of it here

You can find her guest post reflecting on life as a debut novelist here.

The new website for the David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy is now live!

Click on through and you’ll find this year’s nominations for the Legend, Morningstar and Ravenheart Awards.

Voting on the longlist opens tomorrow, 10th April and closes at midnight on Friday 15th May.

Voting on the shortlist opens on Monday 1st June and closes at midnight on Friday 17th July.

This year, the Awards presentations will take place at 8pm on Saturday 8th August at Nine Worlds Geekfest. This year’s choice of venue continues the Gemmell Awards’ ongoing quest to share enthusiasm for epic fantasy fiction as widely as possible, and to reach all those readers who’d like to join in and do the same.

Since I’m helping out with the Awards administration this year, and that brings a duty of impartiality with it, I won’t be commenting on any individual titles. Though regular readers of this blog will know pretty much where my personal tastes lie on the broad spectrum that our field now offers, and which I’m extremely pleased to say is very well represented in this year’s long list.

Regular readers will also know that if anyone else’s personal tastes are different to mine, that’s perfectly fine with me. I’ll make my case for what I like to read and I’m always interested to learn more about what other people see in, and get from, different styles of writing and types of story. We may or may not end up agreeing but on my side at least, I’m not going to fall out with someone for making different choices. It takes a broad field to make a horse race after all!

What I’m really hoping to see over the next few months is enthusiasm for all styles and types of epic fantasy fiction shared between keen readers. So head on over and if you see a book which you’ve read and enjoyed is listed, let your fellow fantasy fans know – about the book and about the Gemmell Awards. Check out the details of any books and authors you see listed who are new to you. Head for your local bookstore or library to try their work if you can. Have a look at the nominated authors’ and artists’ websites; that’s a great way to learn more about the wealth of talent currently working in our genre.

Most of all, go and vote. Everyone’s voice is equal and while our choices will differ, we’re united in our love for tales of epic adventure!