2013 Chesley Awards nominees

The nominees for the 2013 Chesley Awards, the 28^th edition of the award offered by The Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists in celebration of science fiction and fantasy art, have been announced. The winners will be announced at LoneStarCon 3, the 71^st World Science Fiction Convention taking place between August 29^th and September 2^nd, 2013 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. Galleries of the nominated works and suggestions that didn’t enter into the final selection can be found by following the links for each category.

BEST COVER ILLUSTRATION – PAPERBACK BOOK

Dehong He - Lance of Earth and Sky by Erin Hoffman, Pyr, April 2012

Todd Lockwood - The Dusk Watchman by Tom Lloyd, Pyr, August 2012

John Jude Palencar - The Palencar Project edited by David G. Hartwell, Tor ebook, February 2012

John Picacio - The Creative Fire by Brenda Cooper, Pyr, November 2012

Elena Vizerskaya - Flying in the Heart of the Lafayette Escadrille by James Van Pelt, Fairwood Press, November 2012

BEST COVER ILLUSTRATION – HARDBACK BOOK

J.K. Drummond - Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson, Subterranean Press, March 2012

Bob Eggleton - Gods of Opar by Philip José Farmer & Christopher Paul Carey, Subterranean Press, June 2012

Donato Giancola - Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear, Tor, March 2012

Todd Lockwood - The Wild Road by Jennifer Roberson, DAW, September 2012

John Picacio - Hyperion by Dan Simmons, Subterranean Press, April 2012

Sam Weber - Quantum Coin by E. C. Myers, Pyr, October 2012

BEST COVER ILLUSTRATION - MAGAZINE

Ken Barthelmey - Clarkesworld #74 November 2012

Julie Dillon - Clarkesworld #73 October 2012

Bob Eggleton - Famous Masters of Filmland #262 July/August 2012

Martin Faragasso - Clarkesworld #71 August 2012

David Palumbo - Creepy #9 Dark Horse, July 2012

Craig J. Spearing - Dragon #418 December 2012

BEST INTERIOR ILLUSTRATION

Brom - Krampus by Brom Harper, Voyager, Oct. 2012

Sam Burley - “Brother. Prince. Snake.” by Cecil Castellucci, Tor.com, July 2012

J. K. Drummond - Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson, Subterranean Press, Mar. 2012

Bob Eggleton - Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, MBI/Easton Press, Dec. 2012

William O'Connor - Dracopedia The Great Dragons: An Artist's Field Guide and Drawing Journal by William O'Connor, Impact, June 2012

BEST MONOCHROME – UNPUBLISHED

Larry Elmore - “By the River,” oil

Travis Lewis - “Deep,” oil & mixed media

Joāo Ruas - “Sides,” graphite

Raoul Vitale - “Last of His Kind,” pencil

Allen Williams - “Fawn,” graphite

BEST COLOR WORK – UNPUBLISHED

Julie Bell - “A Passion for the Future,” oil

Donato Giancola - “Joan of Arc,” oil

Lucas Graciano - “Guardianship,” oil

Michael C. Hayes - “Procession,” oil

Mark Poole - “Waiting on a Memory,” oil

Soutchay Sougpradith - “Peacock Prophecy,” oil

Raoul Vitale - “Safe,” oil

BEST THREE-DIMENSIONAL ART

Dan Chudzinski - “Gus Gets a Jetpack,” mixed

Michael Defeo - “Octopus,” resin

David Meng - “Sashimi,” mixed

Michael Parkes - “Startled Sky Nymph,” half life-size bronze

James Shoop - “Ramautar,” bronze

Vincent Villafranca - “Spaceman on the Verge,” bronze

Cindy Wynn - “Alien Chair,” steel

BEST GAMING-RELATED ILLUSTRATION

Lucas Graciano - “Dragon Swarm” (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Artifacts & Legends) Paizo, October 2012

D. Alexander Gregory - “Chandra the Firebrand” (2013 Core SetMagic card) WotC, July 2012

David Palumbo - “Ereshkigal, Death Mistress” (“Legend of the Cryptids”) Applibot Inc., April 2012

James Ryman - “Princess of the Underworld,” (“Legend of the Cryptids”) Applibot Inc., April 2012

Sverlin Velinov - “Thundermaw Hellkite” (2013 Core Set Magiccard) Wizards of the Coast, July 2012

BEST PRODUCT ILLUSTRATION

Jim Burns - “The Wanderers” (IlluXCon 5 promotional art) Munchkin Press, November 2012

Dan Dos Santos - “The Dragon Empress” (Dragon*Con promotional poster) August, 2012

John Harris - “The Search” (Illuxcon 5 promotional art) Munchkin Press, Nov. 2012

Iain McCaig - Concept and character design for John Carter, Disney, March 2012

John Picacio - La Sirena Loteria card 2012

BEST ART DIRECTOR

Lou Anders for Pyr Books

Irene Gallo for Tor

Lauren Panepinto for Orbit Books

William Schafer for Subterranean Press

Jon Schindehette for Wizards of the Coast

AWARD FOR LIFETIME ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

Brom

Larry Elmore

David Hardy

John Harris

Gary Lippincott

Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!

Title spotlight - "Terra Nova. An Anthology of Contemporary Spanish Science Fiction" edited by Mariano Villareal

At the end of last year one of the most interesting anthology projects was born in Spain, “Terra Nova. Antología de ciencia ficción contemporánea” (Terra Nova. Anthology of Contemporary Science-Fiction). A truly international project in the age of globalization the anthology was presented by the editors Mariano Villareal and Luis Pestarini as: Terra Nova: Anthology of Contemporary Science-Fiction, a cooperative project on an international scale, has arisen for these (*you can find all the reasons in the foreword page at the anthology's website) and several other reasons (among them the support of short narrative, of a kind of fiction that, with the right support, has the potential to become literature of reference). It is meant to be a new platform from which to promote the production of a kind of fiction characterized both by its speculative and its literary quality, of short stories that delve into the aforementioned topics without forgetting that narrative must be appealing for the reader. Besides focusing on authors who originally write in Spanish, Terra Nova will also publish translations of those stories that successfully share a common goal with this series of anthologies.

When Mariano Villareal and Luis Pestarini’s project started, three short stories, originally published in English, were selected, “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang, “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu and “A Day Without Dad” by Ian Watson, stories that have won or been finalists for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards. But that would not have been very original. The intention was to promote Spanish and Latin American writers of speculative fiction as well. So during a period of 5 months a submission period was open that ended with 188 stories received from more than 15 countries: Spain (83), Argentina (36), Mexico (16), Cuba (13), Chile (6), Colombia (5), Uruguay (5), Romania (4) (*I am surprised and very pleased to see submissions coming from my country too), the United States (3), Venezuela (3), Costa Rica (3), United Kingdom (2), France (2), Dominican Republic (2), El Salvador (2), Peru (1), Panama (1) and Puerto Rico (1). 5 of these stories made the final cut, 3 from Spain, “Deirdre” (Deirdre) by Lola Robles, “Enciende una vela solitaria” (Light a Solitary Candle) by Víctor Conde, “Cuerpos” (Bodies) by Juanfran Jiménez, 1 from Cuba, “Recuerdos de un país zombie” (Memories of a Zombie Country) by Erick J. Mota, and 1 from Argentina, “Memoria” (Memory) by Teresa P. Mira de Echeverría.

6 months later, “Terra Nova. Antología de ciencia ficción contemporánea”, one of the top sales of Sportula became available in English too, released by the same publishing house. Under the title of “Terra Nova: An Anthology of Contemporary Spanish Science Fiction”, the collection edited by Mariano Villareal features 6 stories translated by Sue Burke and Lawrence Schimel, the 5 originally published in the Spanish edition and a new one, “The Texture of Words” (La textura de las palabras) by Felicitad Martínez, first released in another anthology published by Sportula, “Akasa-Puspa de Aguilera y Redal”, a tribute collection to the Akasa-Puspa saga written by Juan Miguel Aguilera and Javier Redal.

“Terra Nova. An Anthology of Contemporary Spanish Science Fiction”, features also a foreword and an article, “Science Fiction from Spain”, by Mariano Villareal, the original cover made by Ángel Benito Gastañaga and can be purchased from Amazon in paperback (US, UK, ES) or Kindle edition (US, UK, ES) or from Smashwords in various ebook formats. And if you want a taste of this anthology, at Smashwords you can also find as free sample Felicidad Martínez’s story, “The Texture of Words”.

Six top Spanish-language authors prove that science fiction remains sharp and visionary, with stories about the deepest anxieties, challenges, and problems of our societies. Their speculations and metaphors analyze and dissect a reality in continuous change.

The Texture of Words, by Felicidad Martínez: women seek to lead despite being blind and dependent, while men fight constant wars.

Deirdre, by Lola Robles: in the future, robotics can create made-to-order lovers.

Greetings from a Zombie Nation, by Eric J. Mota: a stagnant society turns its citizens into the living dead.

Light a Single Candle, by Victor Conde: social networks want too much and never let go.

Bodies, by Juanfran Jiménez: in a globalized and pseudodemocratic Europe, the rich practice sex tourism by means of mind exchange.

Memory, by Teresa P. Mira de Echeverría: personal relationships and sex roles evolve in radical ways on a terraformed Mars in a relatively near future.

Is the David Gemmell Legend Award doing any good to the fantasy literature at the moment?

I reflected for a long time before making the yesterday’s post, but in the end went for it only to give this new post a starting point. There were a couple of discussions back in 2010, if I am not mistaken, that questioned the importance of the David Gemmell Legend Award for the fantasy genre. 3 years from then and looking over this year’s long lists it seems that nothing changed and nothing good came out of those talks.

The idea of an award dedicated entirely to the fantasy genre gives immense joy and when David Gemmell Legend Award came into existence thrilled me. And with mission statement such as “raise public awareness of the fantasy genre”, “celebrate the history and cultural importance of fantasy literature”, “appreciate and reward excellence in the field” and “commemorate the legacy of David Gemmell and his contribution to the fantasy genre” I believed that only the best of things could have come out of this. 5 years later I am not entirely sure that it would happen.

Let’s consider the 2013 long lists. There are only 9 publishers on the long lists and all are major ones. Nothing wrong with their presence here, but are these the only imprints “raising the awareness of the fantasy genre”? How about the small publishing houses and the amazing job they are doing in actually celebrating the history and cultural importance of fantasy literature? What struck me as even odder is the absence of any title published by The Black Library. After winning the Legend Award for Best Novel in 2010 through Graham McNeill’s “Empire”, the Morningstar Award for Best Newcomer through Darius Hinks’ “Warrior Priest” and the Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Cover Art through Raymond Swanland’s cover of “Blood of Aenarion” by William King it seems that Black Library stopped releasing suitable works for David Gemmell Legend Award.

What I loved at David Gemmell Legend Award even from its beginnings was that it considered all the fantasy works published in English. It was wonderful to see Andrezj Sapkowski winning the award in 2009 for “Blood of Elves” and Pierre Pevel recognized as Best Newcomer the following year for “The Cardinal’s Blades”. It is excellent to see all the Australian fantasy present on the long or short lists of the awards. But it saddens me to see so many great titles left outside the lists of the David Gemmell Legend Award because it is a sign of failing another of its mission statements, that of “appreciating and rewarding excellence in the field”. How can it not fail when Margo Lanagan’s “The Brides of Rollrock Island”, Lisa Hannett & Angel Slatter’s “Midnight and Moonshine”, Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey’s “The Steel Seraglio” (released in the UK this year under the title “The City of Silk and Steel”), Daniel Rabuzzi’s “The Indigo Pheasant”, K.J. Parker’s “Sharps”, Tim Lebbon’s “The Heretic Land”, Graham Joyce’s “Some Kind of Fairy Tale”, N.K. Jemisin’s “The Killing Moon” and “The Shadowed Sun”, Howard Andrew Jones’ “The Bones of the Old Ones”, Brom’s “Krampus, the Yule Lord” or Jeff Salyards’ “Scourge of the Betrayer”, just to name the 2012 favorites of mine that should have been at least on the long lists in my opinion, and the popular writers and titles like Robin Hobb’s “City of Dragons”, G. Willow Wilson’s “Alif the Unseen”, Mark Lawrence’s “King of Thorns”, Michael J. Sullivan’s “Percepliquis”, Bradley Beaulieu’s “The Straits of Galahesh”, Paul S. Kemp’s “The Hammer and the Blade”, Anne Lyle’s “The Alchemy of Souls” or Rachel Hartman’s “Seraphina” are nowhere to be found.

Of course, I am subjective in my choice, but that is a luxury the David Gemmell Legend Award doesn’t afford. When you want to promote, bring awareness and reward the excellence of the fantasy literature a long list of titles from a handful of publishers would not bring you any closer to your objectives. It is my opinion that it will actually lead you further away from them. As long as the David Gemmell Legend Award will fail to notice an important part of the books published around the fantasy literature I am afraid I will have no interest in following the events surrounding it. I didn’t’ reach this conclusion and do not make this statement with resentment, it is only with the disappointment in seeing such a promising, full of potential award failing heavily.

David Gemmell Legend Award 2013 long lists

David Gemmell Legend Award is preparing for its 5^th edition and the voting process on the long lists has already started. As usual, the three categories are the Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel, the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer and the Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Cover Art.

The Legend Award is the highlight of the nights events at our Award Ceremony where the winner of the book voted best release of the year is presented with a unique, scale model of Snaga (the legendary axe of Druss the Legend) from Raven Armoury. The blades of the axe are laser-etched with the winner's name & novel.

Readers vote for their favourite novel from the longlist nominated by publishers and the results of the first round of voting will be revealed this year at new event, Nine Worlds Geek Fest.

The Shortlist will then be open for voting until the end of September and the winner will be hailed the new champion of fantasy at our ceremony this year appearing at World Fantasy Con.

“Red Country” by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)

“The King's Blood” by Daniel Abraham (Orbit)

“Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed (Gollancz & DAW)

“Luck of the Draw” by Piers Anthony  (Tor)

“Range of Ghosts” by Elizabeth Bear (Tor)
“Queen's Hunt” by Beth Bernobich (Tor)

“Bard's Oath” by Joanne Bertin (Tor)

“Orion and King Arthur” by Ben Bova (Tor)

“Wards of Faerie” by Terry Brooks (Orbit)

“The Red Knight” by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)

“The Traitor Queen” by Trudi Canavan (Orbit)

“The Devil's Looking Glass” by Mark Chadbourn (Bantam Press)

“Trinity Rising” by Elspeth Cooper (Gollancz)
“Besieged” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
“Exile” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
“Sanctuary” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)

“Empire of the Saviours” by A.J. Dalton (Gollancz)

“The Black Mausoleum” by Stephen Deas (Gollancz)

“Forge of Darkness” by Steven Erikson (Bantam Press & Tor)
“Orb, Sceptre, Throne” by Ian C. Esslemont (Bantam Press & Tor)

“Dark Divide” by Jennifer Fallon (Harper Collins Australia)

“Seven Princes” by Jon R. Fultz (Orbit)

“Three Parts Dead” by Max Gladstone (Tor)

“Malice” by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan UK)

“Mage's Blood” by David Hair (Jo Fletcher Books)

“Irenicon” by Aidan Harte (Jo Fletcher Books)

“The Fate of the Dwarves” by Markus Heitz (Orbit)

“The Silvered” by Tanya Huff (DAW)

“Black Bottle” by Anthony Huso (Tor)
“Kings of Morning” by Paul Kearney (Solaris)

“Stormdancer” by Jay Kristoff (Pan Macmillan UK)

“Lord of Slaughter” by M.D. Lachlan (Gollancz)

“Crown of Vengeance” by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory (Tor)

“Bridge of Swords” by Duncan Lay (Harper Collins Australia)

“The Dusk Watchman” by Tom Lloyd (Gollancz)

“The Gathering of the Lost” by Helen Lowe (Orbit)
“Darkening Skies” by Juliet McKenna (Solaris)
“Defiant Peaks” by Juliet McKenna (Solaris)

“Scrivener’s Tale” by Fiona McIntosh (Harper Collins Australia)
“Greatshadow” by James Maxey (Solaris)

“Hush” by James Maxey (Solaris)

“Princeps” by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor)

“Shadow Blizzard” by Alexey Pehov (Tor)

“Touchstone” by Melanie Rawn (Tor)
“Babylon Steel” by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

“Winter Be My Shield” by Jo Spurrier (Harper Collins Australia)

“The Blinding Knife” by Brent Weeks (Orbit)

“Rage of the Dragon” by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Tor)

“Knife-Sworn” by Mazarkis Williams (Jo Fletcher Books)

The Morningstar Award is to celebrate the newcomers to the fantasy genre, whose first book published in English will fight it out amongst the other young bloods to be crowned the fans undisputed New Blood Fantasy Champion.

Our trophy for this comes from silvertrophy.com.

As with the Legend Award the winner will be crowned at the World Fantasy Con on 31st October 2013.

“Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed (Gollancz & DAW)

“The Red Knight” by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)

“Seven Princes” by John R. Fultz (Orbit)

“Three Parts Dead” by Max Gladstone (Tor)

“Malice” by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan UK)

“Irenicon” by Aidan Harte (Jo Fletcher Books)
“Stormdancer” by Jay Kristoff (Pan Macmillan UK)
“Babylon Steel” by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

“Winter Be My Shield” by Jo Spurrier (Harper Collins Australia)

The Ravenheart Award is to celebrate the hard working artists of the fantasy genre, whose covers tantalise and enchant readers. The award is open for any Fantasy book published in English in the year of nomination with the winner being crowned 'Ravenheart Fantasy Artist of the Year' for their work. With so many hours of hard work put into the book jackets that help make a title so special we felt that the artists deserve to be recognised.

Our trophy for this comes from silvertrophy.com and is a beautifully cut crystal award.

As with the Legend Award the winner will be crowned at our ceremony at this year’s World Fantasy Con.

Richard Anderson - “Seven Princes” by John R. Fultz (Orbit)

Kirk Benshoff – “The King’s Blood” by Daniel Abraham (Orbit)

Kerem Beyit – “The Red Knight” by Miles Cameron (Gollancz)

Jason Chan – “Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

Julie Dillon – “Luck of the Draw” by Piers Anthony (Tor)

Bob Eggleton – “Bard’s Oath” by Joanne Bertin (Tor)

Donato Giancola – “Range of Ghosts” by Elizabeth Bear (Tor)

Donato Giancola – “Princeps” by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor)

Didier Graffet & David Senior – “Red Country” by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)

Scott Grimando – “Queen’s Hunt” by Beth Bernobich (Tor)

Dominic Harman – “Trinity Rising” by Elspeth Cooper (Gollancz)
Dominic Harman – “The Legion of Shadow” - Michael J. Ward (Gollancz)
Dominic Harman – “The Heart of Fire” by Michael J. Ward (Gollancz)

Darren Holt – “Bridge of Swords” by Duncan Lay (Harper Collins Australia)

Darren Holt – “Scrivener’s Tale” by Fiona McIntosh (Harper Collins Australia)

Darren Holt – “Winter Be My Shield” by Jo Spurrier (Harper Collins Australia)

Todd Lockwood – “Crown of Vengeance” by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory (Tor)

Patrick Knowles – “Throne of the Crescent Moon” by Saladin Ahmed (Gollancz)

Michael Kormack – “Rage of the Dragon” by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Tor)

Kekai Kotaki – “Shadow Blizard” by Alexey Pehov (Tor)
Clint Langley – “Besieged” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
Clint Langley – “Exile” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)
Clint Langley – “Sanctuary” by Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris)

Bob Lea – “The Fate of the Dwarves” by Markus Heitz (Orbit)

Chris McGrath – “Three Parts Dead” by Max Gladstone (Tor)

Silas Manhood – “The Blinding Knife” by Brent Weeks (Orbit)

Cliff Neilsen – “The Silvered” by Tanya Huff (Daw)

Marek Okon – “Babylon Steel” by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

James Paick – “Black Bottle” by Anthony Huso (Tor)

Andreas Rocha – “Empire of the Saviours” by A.J. Dalton (Gollancz)

Larry Rostant – “Heir of Novron” by Michael J. Sullivan (Orbit)

Larry Rostant – “The Dusk Watchman” by Tom Lloyd (Gollancz)

John Stanko – “Orion and King Arthur” by Ben Bova (Tor)

Matt Stawicki – “Glass Thorns” by Melanie Rawn (Tor)

Steve Stone – “Forge of Darkness” by Steven Erikson (Bantam Press & Tor)

Steve Stone – “Orb, Sceptre, Throne” by Ian C. Esslemont (Bantam Press & Tor)

Steve Stone – “The Traitor Queen” by Trudi Canavan (Orbit)

Colin Thomas – “Stormdancer” by Jay Kristoff (Pan Macmillan UK)

Unknown – “The Gathering of the Lost” by Helen Lowe (Orbit)

Stephen Youll – “The Black Mausoleum” by Stephen Deas (Gollancz)

Stephen Youll – “The Wards of Faerie” by Terry Brooks (Orbit)

Paul Young – “Malice” by John Gwynne (Pan Macmillan UK)

Paul Young – “Lord of Slaughter” by M.D. Lachlan (Gollancz)