Arthur C Clarke Award - 2016 Shortlist Announced

[chitman13]

The shortlist for the 2016 Arthur C Clarke Award was announced last night, and here it is:

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet – Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton)
Europe at Midnight – Dave Hutchinson (Solaris)
The Book of Phoenix – Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton)
Arcadia – Iain Pears (Faber & Faber)
Way Down Dark – J.P. Smythe (Hodder & Stoughton)
Children of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor)

I'm really, really pleased to see Children of Time on this list - it was my favourite read from last year and one of the best science fiction books I've read in a long time. It's unique and compulsively readable. I've also read The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I did try and read Europe in Autumn when it was released, but stalled on it, so I'd need to read that before Europe at Midnight. I'd like to give them a go seeing as they're both showing up on best-of and award lists. I'm also going to check out the other three books - they each sound interesting for different reasons.

 

[Av Demeisen]

We should be so lucky Adrian Tchaikovsky doesn't take too long to return to science fiction. I'm not familiar with all the nominees, but I hope Children of Time wins.

 

[Westy]

Ah, now this is a bit better than the Hugo list!

Agree with Chitman that Children of Time and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet were great books; I'd be happy to see either of them win.

I started Europe in Autumn (the first book of the series) a little while ago but it didn't appeal, and have read one of Nnedi Okorafor's previous books (Lagoon) which I thought was OK.

Will have to check out the others, thanks for the post.

 

[chitman13]

Seems like we have similar opinions, Westsiyeed - Europe in Autumn didn't really appeal to me either (still doesn't, but I'm going to give it another shot). I also thought Lagoon was okay, nothing groundbreaking, but nice that it gave something different given the setting and culture.

Hodder seems to have pushed the shortlisting with deals on their books: Way Down Dark is £1.99 at the moment (it was 99p yesterday when I bought it, seems the shortlisting pushed up the price!), as is The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and The Book of Phoenix, while Europe at Midnight can be had for £2.99.

 

[Hobbit]

Quite pleased with this list. As expected, the Clarke usually has some unusual choices, and always something that surprises. Like chitman, I'm a big fan of Children of Time (was in my Top 5 of SF read last year) and Small Angry Planet's a lot of fun. Lots of fans out there for Dave Hutchinson's book as well, which I really like the sound of, but haven't read the first of (yet).

 

[JonLaidlow]

Huge fan of Europe at Midnight, and really hope it wins, but am looking forward to reading the others.

 

[chitman13]

I've now got them all lined up ready to read, though not sure where to start. Still undecided on whether or not to reread Children of Time and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet...

 

[Westy]

I've got both The Book of Phoenix and Arcadia (the two that I haven't read that sound interesting) from the library, now sitting in the pile ready...

 

[Ropie]

As usual I seem to be at least a year behind everybody else here! The ACC awards usually catch my interest (unlike the other major 'awards') so I shall have to check some of these out.

 

[Westy]

The Book of Phoenix – Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton)

I'm reading this now and it is very good so far...

 

[Av Demeisen]

Arthur C Clarke award goes to Adrian Tchaikovsky's novel of 'universal scale'

Tom Hunter, director of the award which was set up with a grant from science fiction giant Sir Arthur C Clarke in 1987, said the winning novel “has a universal scale and sense of wonder reminiscent of Clarke himself, combined with one of the best science fictional extrapolations of a not-so-alien species and their evolving society [that] I’ve ever read”

Guardian
Tor.com
The Clarke Award on Twitter

 

[Hobbit]

Thanks, Av. I've just put up the news item at SFFWorld (LINK). Both chitman and I are very pleased with this. I have just been saying that it's about the first time in the 30 years of the ACC Award that I've got the winner right!