The David Gemmell Awards have been stoically celebrating great fantasy for eight years with some enviable (and very heavy) trophy cabinet fodder lovingly crafted by Raven Armoury. Past winners include Brent Weeks, Patrick Rothfuss, and Mark Lawrence. Most recently, Brandon Sanderson took home the replica Axe of Druss.
For those authors on the longlist, it’s more than merely owning a fabulous trophy. The awards honour the memory of one of Britain’s most prolific fantasy writers in a fitting way. It’s easy to be distracted from the recognition of being nominated by the work of both Lee Blair and Simon Fearnhamm. I’m sure there are plenty of fantasy authors salivating at the prospect of winning the Legend Award, the scaled model of Snaga. I’m told the axe is not sharpened, so editors you may breath once more!
Unlike many awards in the genre, the Gemmell Awards not only seek public nominations, but you can vote in the awards for free. You don’t need a group membership to vote, nor is it a complex form. This is partially due to the efforts of Newcon Press who have in the past released anthologies to raise funds for the awards, while other costs are covered in kind by the volunteers who contribute their time and skills.
The only thing you need to do is:
a) Read. (see longlist below!)
b) Vote.
It really is that simple. No catches, no follow up spam, no one trying to sell you last season’s fashion. Without doubt this open approach requires a huge amount of plotting and planning behind the scenes. However, the high quality and diverse pool of potential winners show that Stan and Anne Nicholls’ efforts as facilitators are well spent.
Last weekend (14th – 15th May) saw the release of the longlist for 2016. Consider it a call to arms. Savvy readers will notice that the list consists of a wide range of authors, artists and publishers, not just your usual big names.
To see your favourite book make the shortlist, you’ll need to cast your votes here: http://www.gemmellawards.com/award-voting-2016/ before midnight 24th June.
The winners will be determined by your votes and announced at Fantasycon in Scarborough, England.
If you’re undecided on who to vote for, there’s a discussion thread right here on SFFWorld. Congratulations to all the nominees.
Get voting!
The Longlist Nominees for 2016 are:
The Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel Nominees (2016 longlist)
Half a War by Joe Abercrombie
Twelve Kings by Bradley Beaulieu
The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett
The Darkling Child by Terry Brooks
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron
Angel of Storms by Trudi Canavan
Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia
The Cathedral of Known Things by Edward Cox
Skyborn by David Dalglish
The Silver Kings by Stephen Deas
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard
Knight’s Shadow by Sebastien de Castell
Black Wolves by Kate Elliott
Gotrek & Felix: Slayer by David Guymer
Ruin by John Gwynne
Ascendant’s Rite by David Hair
Spark and Carousel by Joanne Hall
Devastating Hate by Markus Heitz
Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb
Foreign Devils by John Hornor Jacobs
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
Chaos Unleashed by Drew Karpyshyn
Swords and Scoundrels by Julia Knight
Path of Gods by Snorri Kristjansson
Valkyrie’s Song by MD Lachlan
The Dagger’s Path by Glenda Larke
The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence
The Hunter’s Kind by Rebecca Levene
Old Man’s Ghosts by Tom Lloyd
A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall
War of Shadows by Gail Z. Martin
The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Boy Who Wept Blood by Den Patrick
Those Above by Daniel Polansky
The Heir to the North by Steven Poore
Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
Spinning Thorns by Anna Sheehan
The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley
Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis
Reign of Iron by Angus Watson
The Sword of the South by David Weber
The Price of Valour by Django Wexler
The Iron Ghost by Jen Williams
The Morningstar Award for Best Debut Fantasy Novel in English Nominees (2016 longlist)
Battlemage by Stephen Aryan
The Traitor by Seth Dickinson
The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig
Starborn by Lucy Hounsom
The Vagrant by Peter Newman
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Cover Art Nominees (2016 longlist)
James Annal for Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Tommy Arnold for Skyborn by David Dalglish
Kerem Beyit for The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron
Jason Chan for The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence
Wendy Chan for Swords and Scoundrels by Julia Knight
Alejandro Colucci for The Boy Who Wept Blood by Den Patrick
Bastien Lecouffe Deharme for The Darkling Child by Terry Brooks
Krzysztof Domaradzki for Old Man’s Ghosts by Tom Lloyd
Larry Elmore & Carol Russo Design for Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia
Mark Ferrari for The Flotsam Trilogy Omnibus by Peter M. Ball
Christopher Gibbs for The Cathedral of Known Things by Edward Cox
Sam Green for Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
Manuela Hackl for Knight’s Shadow by Sebastien de Castell
Mohamad Hani/Archangel Images for An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Teddy Eduardo Iglesias for The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard
Patrick Insole for The Iron Ghost by Jen Williams
Jaime Jones for The Vagrant by Peter Newman
Nik Keevil & Nick Castle for Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan
Patrick Knowles for Foreign Devils by John Hornor Jacobs
Laura B for Spinning Thorns by Anna Sheehan
Tim McDonagh for The Hunter’s Kind by Rebecca Levene
Chris McGrath for The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
Jackie Morris for Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb
Lauren Panepinto for The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
Lauren Panepinto, Gene Mollica & Michael Frost for The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
Rhett Podersoo for Those Above by Daniel Polansky
Larry Rostant for The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett
Larry Rostant for Black Wolves by Kate Elliot
Larry Rostant for War of Shadows by Gail Z. Martin
Larry Rostant for Reign of Iron by Angus Watson
Duncan Spilling for Angel of Storms by Trudi Canavan
Steve Stone for Battlemage by Stephen Aryan
Steve Stone for The Dagger’s Path by Glenda Larke
Raymond Swanland for Archaon: Lord of Chaos by Rob Sanders
Andrew Unangst for Twelve Kings by Bradley Beaulieu
Stephen Youll for The Silver Kings by Stephen Deas
Paul Young for Ruin by John Gwynne
Paul Young for Acendant’s Rite by David Hair
Paul Young for Valkyrie’s Song by MD Lachlan
*****
Interview by Shellie Horst – SFFWorld.com © 2016
*Article updated 11.59 GMT due to amended longlist nomination deadline.
