The 2019 Sir Julius Vogel Awards nominees have been announced.

The awards recognize excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror by New Zealanders.

The winners will be decided by a vote of the members of SFFANZ, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand Inc., and of the national convention, GeyserCon, to be held May 31-June 2.

PROFESSIONAL AWARD NOMINEES

Best Novel

• The Kingfisher’s Debt by Kura Carpenter (IFWG Publishing)
• Restoration Day by Deborah Makarios (Oi Makarioi)
• Into the Sounds by Lee Murray (Severed Press)
• Teeth of the Wolf by Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
• The Voyage of the White Cloud by M. Darusha Wehm (In Portentia Press)

Best Youth Novel

• When Gina Pressed Enter by Elise De Silva (EDS Publishing)
• Ezaara, Riders of Fire, Book 1 by Eileen Mueller (Phantom Feather Press)
• Lutapolii – White Dragon of the South by Deryn Pittar (Junction Publishing)
• Quest by A.J. Ponder (Phantom Feather Press)
• The Suburban Book of the Dead by Jamie Sands

Best Novella / Novelette

• Where the Sun Does Not Shine by Paul Mannering (Adrenaline Press)
• Skin Deep by Violet Penrose (Griffon Press)
• The Glassblower’s Peace by James Rowland (Published in Aurealis #114, September 2018)
• The Martian Job by M. Darusha Wehm (Choice of Games)

Best Short Story

• “On the Run” by Kevin Berry in Te Korero Ahi K? (SpecFicNZ)
• “Girls Who do not Drown” by A.C. Buchanan (Apex Magazine, December 2018)
• “We Feed the Bears of Fire and Ice” by Octavia Cade (Strange Horizons)
• “A Devoted Husband” by Melanie Harding-Shaw (Breach Zine)
• “Dead End Town” by Lee Murray in Cthulu: Land of the Long White Cloud (IFWG Publishing)

Best Collected Work

• The Fairies of Down Under and other P?keha Fairy Tales by Geoff Allen (Makaro Press)
• Te Korero Ahi K? Edited by Grace Bridges, Lee Murray and Aaron Compton (SpecFicNZ)
• 80,000 Totally Secure Passwords that no Hacker Would Ever Guess by Simon Petrie
• Cthulu: Land of the Long White Cloud Edited by Steve Proposch, Christopher Sequiera and Bryce Stevens. (IFWG Publishing)

Best Professional Artwork

• Cover for Te Korero Ahi K?, Created by Evelyn Doyle (SpecFicNZ)
• Cover for Quest, Created by Craig Phillips (Phantom Feather Press)
• Cover for Capricious 9, Created by Laya Rose (Capricious)
• Cover for The Baker Thief, Created by Laya Rose (The Kraken Collective)

Best Professional Production/Publication

• Breach Magazine, volumes 5-9 Edited by Peter Kirk
• New Orbit Magazine Edited by Naomi Moore (New Orbit Productions)
• Writing from a Dark Place by Lee Murray (Victoria University Press)
• Overgrown by Laya Rose
• Info Text subtitles for Earthshock, on Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 19 Blu-ray Box Set (BBC, 2018) by Paul Scoones (BBC)
• Black Archive #15 by John Toon (Obverse Books)

Best Dramatic Presentation

• Wellington Paranormal, Directed by Jermaine Clement and Jackie van Beek (New Zealand Documentary Board)
• Mortal Engines, Directed by Christian Rivers (Universal Pictures)

FAN AWARD NOMINEES

Best Fan Artwork

• The Thirteenth Doctor by Laya Rose

Best Fan Production/ Publication

• The Future According to Mikey (Curdled Milk Productions)
• Star Trek in the Park – The Trouble with Tribbles (Enterprise Entertainment)
• Phoenixine Edited by John and Lynelle Howell (Phoenix Science Fiction Society)

Special Award Nominees

Best New Talent

(Nominations are numbered to aid clarity — the number has no other significance).

1. Kura Carpenter

The Kingfisher’s Debt is Kura Carpenter’s debut novel and very cleverly set in an Urban Fantasy world overlaying (or underlying, depending on your perspective) Dunedin, New Zealand. The writing is crisp, the plot excellently designed and executed. The work, I believe, clearly shows a writer who has taken the writing process seriously, from conception to drafting, to re-drafting, and producing a book that fits neatly into the Urban Fantasy genre while also having a strong Kiwi flavour.

2. Saf Davidson

With her unique and empathetic perspectives on disability, sexuality, and the human condition, Saf Davidson has quickly cemented herself as one of the foremost upcoming New Zealand SFF writers. Her work on serials “Tourist” and “Mountain Sound” has garnered broad praise, and as an award-winning comics writer and editor of games, it’s clear that she refuses to be put in a box—whether creatively or professionally.

3. M.W. Innes-Jones

As Concealment’s publisher, I nominate and highly recommend this fast paced, action packed and gripping Sci-Fi novel. The below precis speaks for itself.

Our genes: will they be our hope or our undoing?

Three centuries from now humanity has made its last stand – a city high in the Swiss Alps, a place of safety and security from a deadly past. This is the reality of Nathanial Paquette’s life and it has been this way for the whole of his sheltered twenty-three years. But with a knock at the family’s apartment door everything changes. Now he must face an uncertain future and unexpected truth – he is genetically altered, and what really matters is what lies hidden within his blood.

Together with eleven others, Nathanial discovers not only does he have to navigate the competing agendas of the city’s ruling council and a man of science but survive the rigorous training he and his fellow recruits are faced with.

It’s a world where friendships are forged, enemies are made, and death awaits – ever wanting to become everyone’s new best friend.

This is the first book of a six-book saga, I promise you, you will be on the edge of your seat from the beginning to the end. The author quickly draws you into the characters’ lives and their world and moves the story along at pace. Using compelling language, this new author reels you into the narrative and leaves you wanting for more.

4. Deborah Makarios

Deborah Makarios has produced a beautifully presented novel that is warm, laugh-out-loud funny, full of twists, and well-drawn characters. The fantasy has not only believable characters, but the land itself is a key character, possessing a magic of its own. She sticks to her genre, but the surprises are many along the way, and the ending is satisfyingly positive. Effortlessly woven into the fast-moving story, there are many current themes – the environment, justice, corporate greed and racism – even though the setting is old. I can’t wait to see what Makarios produces next.

The back-cover description of the novel is as follows:

“Princess Lily was born to be queen, but she leads a pawn’s existence in the shadow of her guardians’ control. She dreams of the day when she will take her rightful place in the world.

At last her chance arrives, with a quest for the three Requisites of Restoration Day, the royal rite which renews the life of the land. But she’s been hidden away too long, and Arcelia has changed.

Stripped of everything but the identity which has become a life-threatening liability, Lily will need to do more than cross the board if she is to emerge triumphant as the queen she knows she must be. The land she thought was hers becomes the field for a gripping game–and this time she’s playing for her life.”

5. Fraser Newman

6. Anna Ryan

Since writing and publishing her first novel (The Lady in the Coat) in 2017, Anna’s confidence of writing horror stories has been continually improving. She is a real enigma in the world of horror writing.

What astounds more than anything, is that Anna understands how the brain works; how we, as human beings cope/deal with fear, terror and paranoia.

After reading Deceptive Cadence, Anna’s collection of short stories, you will question the noises you hear as you drift off to sleep at night. Could there really be someone lurking outside you window, waiting?

And let’s not forget the monsters living in The Room at the End of the Hall. They cannot be real, can they?

You will seriously second guess yourself after you have read Deceptive Cadence. You will jump at every noise you hear.

Anna Ryan is an up and coming writer with imagination and writing skill to be a hugely successful horror writer