Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

The shortlist for the 36th Arthur C. Clarke Award science fiction book of the year has been announced.

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 award was originally established by a generous grant from Sir Arthur C. Clarke with the aim of promoting science fiction in Britain, and is currently administered by the Serendip Foundation, a voluntary organisation created to oversee the on-going delivery and development of the award.

The titles this year are:

Deep Wheel Orcadia – Harry Josephine Giles (Picador)

Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber & Faber)

A Desolation Called Peace – Arkady Martine (Tor UK)

A River Called Time – Courttia Newland (Canongate)

Wergen: The Alien Love War – Mercurio D. Rivera (NewCon Press)

Skyward Inn – Aliya Whiteley (Solaris)

This year’s winner will be announced on 26th Oct 2022 at an award ceremony hosted by the Science Museum, London, in partnership with their exhibition Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination.

The winner will receive a trophy in the form of a commemorative engraved bookend and prize money to the value of £2022.00; a tradition that sees the annual prize money rise incrementally by year from the year 2001 in memory of Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

Chair of Judges, Dr Andrew M. Butler, said: “I always view the shortlist as a snapshot of the richness and variety of the genre – space operas and dystopias, debutants and veterans, page turners that you can swallow whole and books that make you want to linger on every sentence. We’re slowly seeing a wider range of authors getting published in the British sf market, so we get to see a wider range of ways of reimagining the world. If science fiction is a toolbox, then we need to keep our tools sharp by approaching the material from different angles.

“The judges also come to science fiction from different angles. We have reviewers, academics, archivists and more, but above all they are enthusiastic readers and fans who have the mammoth task of whittling over hundred submissions down to exactly six titles. There was passion and intelligence and emotion in abundance. I’m proud of how they were able to challenge and still respect each other and produce the shortlist we’re celebrating today. And they get to have the debates all over again, as they choose the single best science fiction novel of the year.”

Welcoming the award to the Science Museum, Dr Glyn Morgan, Lead curator for the exhibition said: “It’s really exciting to bring the Clarke Award back to the Science Museum as our landmark new science fiction exhibition prepares to launch. It feels like the genre is more relevant now than ever. Not only are the issues it grapples with routinely the topic of headlines and popular discussion, but the modern genre is also more energetic and vibrant with a diverse and more representative range of writers. Today could be science fiction’s most important era as it equips our global culture not only with blockbusters and bestsellers, but also with the tools to imagine the future and choose a path for ourselves, our societies and our world.”

Award Director Tom Hunter said:  “I am in awe of the work of our judges this year, reading over 100 titles submitted by 39 publishing imprints and independent authors, and for leading us to this moment. I am also delighted for the opportunity to return both to a live ceremony this year and for it to be held at the Science Museum as one of their Science Fiction exhibition events.

“Every Clarke Award shortlist is a voyage into the imagination, and an opportunity to seek out new authors, and new readers, as much as it is a moment to revisit our hopes and expectations for the genre. I couldn’t think of a better partner to take that journey with this year.”

The judging panel for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2022 are:

·      Phoenix Alexander and Dr Nicole Devarenne for the Science Fiction Foundation

·      Crispin Black and Stark Holborn for the British Science Fiction Association

·      Nick Hubble for the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival

Dr Andrew M. Butler represents the Arthur C. Clarke Award directors in a non-voting role as the Chair of the Judges.