SCI-FI-LONDON is proud to be the hosts for the Arthur C Clarke Awards again this year and to announce the short list of this year’s finalists. The 2008 finalists include two first time novelists and three authors who have previously been nominated for the Award.
The six shortlisted books are:
The Red Men: Matthew de Abaitua — Snow Books
The H-Bomb Girl: Stephen Baxter – Faber & Faber
The Carhullan Army: Sarah Hall – Faber & Faber
The Raw Shark Texts: Steven Hall – Canongate
The Execution Channel: Ken MacLeod – Orbit
Black Man: Richard Morgan – Gollancz
Announcing the nominees, administrator for the, Tom Hunter, said, “The announcement of a new Clarke Award shortlist is always a highlight of the UK’s science fiction calendar, and this year’s list, featuring an all UK line-up of top authors, promises to continue this trend.
“Featuring visions as diverse as a dystopian Cumbria and a future Hackney, time-travel adventures in 1960’s Liverpool and an alternate world British Isles in the throes of terrorist attack, through to tech-noir thrillers and a trawl through subconscious worlds where memories fall prey to metaphysical sharks, the Clarke Award has never been so close to home and relevant to the British literary scene.
“The Clarke Award has always been about pushing at the speculative edges of its genre. It’s one possible map amongst many, never the whole territory, and this year’s shortlist stands as both the perfect introduction to the state of modern science fiction writing as well as a first tantalising glimpse of possible futures to come.”
A prize of £2008 will be awarded to the winner along with a commemorative engraved bookend.
The annual award is presented for the best science fiction novel of the year, and selected from a list of novels whose UK first edition was published in the previous calendar year.
The Awards will take place at an invitation only event on the opening of the SCI-FI-LONDON 7 on April 30.
All the shortlisted titles are available from Blackwell and Amazon, and other good booksellers.
For more information on the Arthur C Clarke Awards visit www.clarkeaward.com.