A glimpse of the Romanian speculative fiction market

The Top for 2009 of Cititor SF (SF Reader) is a top made by fans, for the fans and with the fans. It is not an official award, although it is a bit similar with the David Gemmell Award in terms of titles proposed, short listing and voting for the winners, all the process involving the fans of speculative fiction, but also writers, editors publishers and translators. The top takes into consideration all the works of speculative fiction available in 2009 in Romania, be they written by local authors or translated for the first time in Romanian. This is in my opinion a praiseworthy initiative and I would certainly love to see this top turned into an annual award for the Romanian speculative fiction scene. Until then though, here is a glimpse of what the fans from my country enjoyed last year from the speculative fiction:

Best translated SF novel: “Hyperion” by Dan Simmons (published by Nemira)

Best translated Fantasy novel: “A Storm of Swords” by George R.R. Martin (published by Nemira)

Best translated Horror novel: “The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft (published by Leda)

Best Romanian work: “Îngerul păzitor” (The Guardian Angel) by George Lazăr (published by Millennium Press)

Best anthology: “Wastelands” edited by John Joseph Adams (published by Nemira)

Best translated short fiction: “Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels” by George R.R. Martin (Wastelands, published by Nemira)

Best Romanian short fiction: “Epidemia” (The Epidemic) by Sebastian A. Corn (Millennium Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol.1, published by Millennium Press)

Best translation: Mihai Dan Pavelescu – “Hyperion” by Dan Simmons (published by Nemira)

Best graphic presentation: “The Drawing of the Three” by Stephen King (published by Nemira)