
Reddit’s r/Fantasy group has chosen the nominees for the Best of /r/Fantasy 2020 — the Stabby Awards.
The group has over 1.2 million members, although last year just 903 votes were cast.
Voting continues until January 4. The winners will be announced January 6.
There are many categories – the lists of nominees follow the jump.
Update: The r/Fantasy mods asked that File 770 remind everyone —
Rules surrounding vote brigading:
You are welcome and encouraged to share this voting thread, but links directly to the Google Form or shares of the voting thread that specifically ask folks to vote for you will be considering attempts to brigade. Share information about the Stabby Awards as a whole. Even if you’re not the original creator/nominee, but are sharing in support of someone, the same rules will apply. Don’t get your favorite creator disqualified by not following the rules. As in previous years, the moderator team reserves the right to determine winners in the event of hinky business.
Best Novel of 2020
- A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik
- A Time of Courage, John Gwynne
- Age of Empyre, Michael J. Sullivan
- Battleground, Jim Butcher
- Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse
- Call of the Bone Ships, R.J. Barker
- Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
- Kings of Heaven, Richard Nell
- Mexican Gothic, Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
- Network Effect, Martha Wells
- Peace Talks, Jim Butcher
- Piranesi, Susanna Clarke
- Shorefall, Robert Jackson Bennett
- The Brightest Shadow, Sarah Lin
- The Burning God, R.F. Kuang
- The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin
- The Empire of Gold, S.A. Chakraborty
- The Fires of Vengeance, Evan Winter
- The Girl and the Stars, Mark Lawrence
- The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab
- The Midnight Bargain, C.L. Polk
- The Once and Future Witches, Alix E. Harrow
- The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones
- The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal
- The Space Between Worlds, Micaiah Johnson
- The Torch That Ignites the Stars, Andrew Rowe
- The Trouble With Peace, Joe Abercrombie
- The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson
- The Unspoken Name, A.K. Larkwood
- The Vanished Birds, Simon Jimenez
- Unconquerable Sun, Kate Elliott
Best Self-Published/Independent Novel of 2020
- A Ghostly Request, Krista D. Ball
- Black Stone Heart, Michael R. Fletcher
- Children, Bjørn Larssen
- Fragment of Divinity, Jamey Sultan
- Half a Soul, Olivia Atwater
- Heart of Stone, Johannes T. Evans
- Kings of Heaven, Richard Nell
- Night Shift Dragons, Rachel Aaron
- Of Honey and Wildfires, Sarah Chorn
- The Brightest Shadow, Sarah Lin
- The Lost City of Ithos, John Bierce
- The Torch That Ignites the Stars, Andrew Rowe
- War of Gods, Dyrk Ashton
Best Debut Novel of 2020
- A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, Roseanne A. Brown
- Docile, K.M. Szpara
- Fragment of Divinity, Jamey Sultan
- Legendborn, Tracy Deonn
- Nophek Gloss, Essa Hansen
- Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko
- The Space Between Worlds, Michaiah Johnson
- The Unspoken Name, A.K. Larkwood
- The Vanished Birds, Simon Jimenez
Best Novella of 2020
- Blood Tally, Brian McClellan
- Come Tumbling Down, Seanan McGuire
- Drowned Country, Emily Tesh
- Finna, Nino Cipri
- In the Shadows of Men, Robert Jackson Bennett
- Princess Floralinda and the Forty Flight Tower, Tamsyn Muir
- Prosper’s Demon, K.J. Parker
- Ring Shout, P. Djeli Clark
- Sweet Harmony, Claire North
- Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi
- The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo
- The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, Zen Cho
- The Seventh Perfection, Daniel Polansky
- Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey
Best Short Fiction of 2020
- A Guide for Working Breeds, Vina Jie-Min Prasad https://bit.ly/3rB6MOU
- Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law, Lavie Tidhar https://bit.ly/38LCbW0
- Open House on Haunted Hill, John Wiswell https://bit.ly/3o0R8di
- St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid, C.L. Polk https://bit.ly/3nVV4fp
- The Case of the Somewhat Mythic Sword, Garth Nix https://bit.ly/2MbrBA1
- The Ransom of Miss Coraline Connelly, Alix E. Harrow https://bit.ly/3mRxWgR
- The Sycamore and the Sybil, Alix E. Harrow https://bit.ly/2WSKmdK
Best Serialized Fiction of 2020
- A Practical Guide to Evil, ErraticErrata https://bit.ly/2KLH4q5
- Mother of Learning, Nobody103 https://bit.ly/3mXArOq
- One Piece, EiIchiro Oda
- The Wandering Inn, pirateaba https://bit.ly/3nXCoMn
- Vainqueur the Dragon, Void Herald https://bit.ly/3o8yWOM
Best Anthology/Collection/Periodical of 2020
- A Phoenix First Must Burn, ed. Patrice Caldwell
- Best of British Fantasy 2019, ed. Jared Shurin
- FIYAH Literary Magazine, Executive Ed. DaVaun Sanders
- Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, ed. Jonathan Strahan
- Silk & Steel: A Queer Speculative Adventure Anthology, ed. Janine A. Southard
- The Book of Dragons, ed. Jonathan Strahan
- The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, Ken Liu
- Where the Wild Ladies Are, Aoko Matsuda
Best Artwork of 2020
Black Stone Heart, Felix Ortiz
Damnation, Seb McKinnon
Doom! Jazzy Kandra
Dragon Ketubah, Aaron Hodges and Noam Sienna
Enchanted Evening, Seb McKinnon
KUSHIEL’S AVATAR I by Tran Nguyen
naah dude, chill, i don’t wanna fight. just sat down to rest for a lil bit, Tomislav Jagnjic
Nightshade Harvester, Hugh Pindur
Pailiah, Magali Villeneuve
Red and Blue Entwined, Christy Duprey
Remnant of a Blessing, Randy Vargas
Rhythm of War, Michael Whelan
ROE, Satine Zillah
The Oathpact Ends, Micah Epstein
The Trouble With Peace, Tomás Almeida
Under the Whispering Door, Red Nose Studio
VALKYRIE HARBINGER, Tran Nguyen
Best Artist of 2020
- Alice X. Zhang, https://bit.ly/3pwDPSo
- Anne Stokes, https://bit.ly/3mXCbqY
- Bastien Jez, https://bit.ly/38GVgc7
- Ben McSweeney, https://bit.ly/3mVMcVB
- Dirk Leichty, https://bit.ly/3nWW7vA
- Felix Ortiz, https://bit.ly/37WTmog
- Flesh.png, https://bit.ly/2KHV5oS
- Jonathan Burton, https://bit.ly/34Qfwa4
- Luka Rejec, https://bit.ly/3psaQiv
- Magali Villeneuve, https://bit.ly/3hsO5s2
- NekroXIII, https://bit.ly/3mVkUiq
- Sam Hogg, https://bit.ly/3mWf5kG
- Sam Weber, https://bit.ly/34Qxuce
- Seb McKinnon, https://bit.ly/3rzZRVU
- Shimhaq, https://bit.ly/3nWcKYj
- Steve Argyle, https://bit.ly/3rDGriX
- Thibaud Pourplanche, https://bit.ly/3nWNEsk
- Tomislav Jagnjic, https://bit.ly/3mYenDv
- Tommy Arnold, https://bit.ly/38H2FrF
- Tran Nguyen, https://bit.ly/2M4QhtV
- Vashti Harrison, https://bit.ly/37RZlLb
- Yasen Stoilov, https://bit.ly/2KZZ6EU
Best Fantasy Site of 2020
- www.17thshard.com
- https://2e.aonprd.com/
- http://booknest.eu
- http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/
- https://elitistbookreviews.com/
- https://fanfiaddict.com/
- http://fantasy-faction.com/
- https://www.fiyahlitmag.com/
- http://locusmag.com/
- http://www.nerds-feather.com/
- http://novelnotions.net/
- https://pagesbelowvaultedsky.wordpress.com/
- https://starlitbook.com/
- https://spellsandspaceships.com
- http://strangehorizons.com/
- https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/
- https://thequietpond.com/
- https://uncannymagazine.com/
- https://undertheradarsffbooks.com/
- https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/
- https://www.whispersandwonder.com/
- www.worldswithoutend.com
- www.tarvalon.net
Best Game (Any Format) of 2020
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Destiny 2: Beyond Light
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Hades
- The Last of Us Part II
Best TV Series/Movie of 2020
- Dark
- Devs
- Doom Patrol
- His Dark Materials
- Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
- Lovecraft Country
- Onward
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
- Tenet
- The Boys
- The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
- The Haunting of Bly Manor
- The Expanse
- The Good Place
- The Magicians
- The Mandalorian
- The Old Guard
- Umbrella Academy
- What We Do In the Shadows
Best Audio Original Fiction of 2020
- Among the Stars and Bones, https://bit.ly/3mTOvbJ
- Critical Role, https://bit.ly/3ry16VD
- Stellar Firma, https://bit.ly/38JVYoO
- Not Another D&D Podcast, https://bit.ly/3o8RNJy
- Null/Void, https://bit.ly/3aVC7pD
- Old Gods of Appalachia, https://bit.ly/3o09FGw
- Poe Theatre on the Air, https://bit.ly/38DcuXI
- Primordial Deep, https://bit.ly/3aOsjxn
- The Adventure Zone: Graduation, https://bit.ly/3mW0AgD
- The Left Right Game, https://bit.ly/3aONNKB
- The Magnus Archives, https://bit.ly/3hnzJsT
- The Sea in the Sky, https://adbl.co/34TqMCm
- The White Vault, https://bit.ly/3aMujGw
- Twilight Histories, https://bit.ly/34Sq1JP
- Unseen, https://bit.ly/37UWYHy
Best Audio Original Nonfiction of 2020
- Coode Street Podcast, https://bit.ly/2KLtdQL
- Fantasy Book of the Month Podcast, https://bit.ly/3hnLuzv
- Glitchy Pancakes, https://bit.ly/38IKySf
- Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, https://bit.ly/3n0gq9X
- Octavia’s Parables, https://bit.ly/3mXUCf8
- Our Opinions are Correct, https://bit.ly/3aPZJM4
- Radio Drama Revival, https://bit.ly/3nVPdXj
- World Building for Masochists, https://bit.ly/3mUkFE7
Best Narrator of 2020
- Emily Woo Zeller
- James Marsters
- Jeffrey Kafer
- Julia Whelan
- Kate Reading
- Kevin R. Free
- Michael Kramer
- Moira Quirk
- Nick Podehl
- Robin Miles
- Steve West
- Steven Pacey
- Travis Baldree
Best Virtual Convention of 2020
- Augur Con
- CoNZealand Fringe
- FIYAH Con
- Jordan Con
- QuaranCon
- ReCONvene
- Sirens at Home
- WorldCon
Best Related Work of 2020
- #disneymustpay, https://www.sfwa.org/disney-must-pay/
- Daniel Greene’s Fantasy News, https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCw–xPGVVxYzRsWyV1nFqgg
- Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, http://sf-encyclopedia.com/
- Interactive Map of Roshar by 17thShard, https://roshar.17thshard.com/#/en-US
- Into the Omegaverse: How a Fanfiction Trope Landed in Federal Court, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhWWcWtAUoY
- Kitty G Books, https://youtu.be/7E6lEwfTg4g
- Sarah Gailey’s Personal Canons, https://sarahgailey.substack.com/p/personal-canons-on-endings
- Slowly Red, https://youtube.com/channel/UChrfl_dAGsoIXA3xUYnKE1g
- Soundtrack to the Where the Waters Turn Black by /u/towns_, https://soundcloud.com/nathan-towns/where-the-waters-turn-black
- SuperEyepatchWolf, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGoikgbxP4F3rgI9PldI9g/featured
- The Heroine’s Journey, by Gail Carriger, https://gailcarriger.com/books/the-heroines-journey-for-authors-book/
- Wheel of Time Liveblog – Neuxue, https://neuxue.tumblr.com/WoT-liveblog
Best r/Fantasy Contributor: Professional
- /u/ashearmstrong
- /u/BryceOConnor
- /u/CTPhipps
- /u/DjangoWexler
- /u/GeneralBattuta
- /u/JannyWurts
- /u/JohnBierce
- /u/KristaDBall
- /u/RAYMONDSTELMO
- /u/salaris
Best r/Fantasy Contributor: Community Member (Overall Redditor)
- /u/Anconab
- /u/barb4ry1
- /u/HeLiBeB
- /u/leftoverbrine
- /u/LOLtohru
- /u/RevolutionaryCommand
- /u/SeiShonagon
- /u/ski2read
- /u/tarvolon
- /u/Ungoliant1234
- /u/VictorySpeaks
Best r/Fantasy Essay in 2020
- Middle-Earth from Sauron’s Perspective, https://bit.ly/3hnEAKD
- Reading Diversely: No, we’re not saying you’re a Bad Person™, https://bit.ly/3rL5xN8
- Realism Isn’t Real: History and Fantasy, https://bit.ly/3rDoUr4
- The Moral Weight of Worldbuilding, https://bit.ly/3o8X8R6
- What Books r/fantasy Recommends (statistical analysis of 2000+ comments in June), https://bit.ly/3mTTZ6j
- What We Recommended, 2019 Edition, https://bit.ly/37U2aLD
Best r/Fantasy Review in 2020
- A spoiler review of “The Shadow Rising” by me, a guy with an opinion, https://bit.ly/3rA7745
- Book Review: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, https://bit.ly/3pu70W3
- Fear and Loathing in a Shitty, Ancient-Ass House: It’s Gideon the Ninth, Dickheads!, https://bit.ly/37UZSvM
- Guide for recommending Malazan, https://bit.ly/3pxmwAA
- I Read 150 Books This Year. Here are short reviews of 55 of my favorites, https://bit.ly/3mRFhwF
- I read The First Law Trilogy more than 10 years ago, and I am picking up where I left off with Best Served Cold (A Lapsed Fan’s Review), https://bit.ly/3mX0TrI
- Related reading: 3 bingo reviews and non-SFF pairings, bringing magic down to earth, https://bit.ly/3o0xZbp
- Related reading: 4 bingo reviews and non-SFF pairings, going Gothic, https://bit.ly/2L6s1qI
- Review: Fortune’s Fool by Angela Boord, https://bit.ly/34PWGjp
- Robin Hobb is a genius and you all should read her (A Farseer Trilogy Review), https://bit.ly/37Vofd5
- Sequence Complete: The Acts of Caine by Matt Woodring Stover, https://bit.ly/2JueKbi
- So, Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education is Accused of Being Problematic: a Non-White Reader’s Review, https://bit.ly/3nWEdc9
- Sword of Kaigen: The clumsiest masterpiece I’ve ever read, https://bit.ly/2L4W8iA
- The Boy Who Walked Too Far, https://bit.ly/38H6NIr
- The Origins of Birds in the Footsteps of Writing, https://bit.ly/3pz9PoC
- Under the Radar Book Reviews – The Vagrant by Peter Newman, https://bit.ly/3mPMy08
- What I love about The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie, https://bit.ly/3aPPnMo
Best r/Fantasy Original Post in 2020 (Anything Not an Essay or Review)
- 5 Great Fantasy Books I’ve Never Recommended, https://bit.ly/3o8YICw
- A challenge, a plea: Don’t recommend Malazan or Sanderson, I dare you!, https://bit.ly/2KIXM9F
- An Alternate 100 Best Fantasy Novels of All Time, https://bit.ly/2KXZR1g
- AskHistorians Enter Stage Right – Ask Them Anything!, https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/j3u7re/raskhistorians_enter_stage_right_ask_them_anything/
- Attack of the Audible Returns, https://bit.ly/3rL7w42
- Challenge: Create a nine person Quest Party (think Fellowship of the Ring), but with female characters ONLY (can be from any Fantasy book, show, film, game, etc), https://bit.ly/3ry9CUB
- Charlotte Writes Obsessive Lists: Where to Start with SFF by Women? https://bit.ly/2KBSSeK
- Crown of Stars Readalong, https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/i1vak9/reading_an_epic_fantasy_series_together_crown_of/
- Fantasy Draft, https://bit.ly/3mS0t5X
- Generic Fantasy Dwarven “beer” is carrot wine. Let me tell you why. https://bit.ly/3aSQcUy
- Guide for recommending Malazan, https://bit.ly/2L3FHTq
- Help Me, For I Have Read All the Good Fantasy Books, https://bit.ly/3aSQjiW
- If Patrick Rothfuss never writes another word, it will still have been worth it, https://bit.ly/3aR6ihI
- Jewish SFF Author Recs! https://bit.ly/2MfOe6x
- Some excellent fantasy books by Black authors, https://bit.ly/3aOAolH
- Suggest two fantasy books: One you thought was excellent, and one you thought was terrible, but don’t say which is which, https://bit.ly/38HeiPl
- The Definitive Scientific Guide to Eyebrow-Raising in Fantasy Fiction, https://bit.ly/34PYby3
- Thiefcraft Flowchart, https://bit.ly/3pIITDl
- What are your favorite first lines of fantasy books? https://bit.ly/3pA4yxp
- Yesterday, I asked you to hit me up with the best fantasy series you got. Today, I made a 17-page guide with all those series to help myself and other’s figure out if they want to read these series or not. https://bit.ly/37XLIdD
Best r/Fantasy Original Comment in 2020 (Anything Not an Essay or Review)
- Bernardito’s reply to AskHistorians AMA, https://bit.ly/2WVihCk
- GarrickWinter’s reply to Mentioning Authors by their First Name only, https://bit.ly/2KHx15u
- JW_BM’s reply to GRRM’s response and apology, https://bit.ly/3aLJBeF
- Raymond St Elmo’s reply to “Thank You To The Authors On Here” https://bit.ly/2WRK3jh
- u/Joe_Abercrombie to What is your controversial take on Fantasy? https://bit.ly/3pzbD0S
- u/Woodsman_Whiskey reply to A challenge, a plea: Don’t recommend Malazan or Sanderson, I dare you! https://bit.ly/34SyBIx
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Dang. I’ve read/watched very few of the nominees.
On the upside, the genre is apparently a healthy source of new material!
The includes of ConZealand Fringe but not ConZealand would appear to lend some modest support to the criticism of Fringe for semi-counterprogramming against the official con.
Regards,
Dann
Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, by whatever name it may be called and whether it professes to be enforcing the will of God or the injunctions of men. John Stuart Mill
CoNZealand = WorldCon is included.
Good heavens. And we think we’ve got a lot of Hugo nominees to wade through.
Bonnie McDaniel says Good heavens. And we think we’ve got a lot of Hugo nominees to wade through.
I’m not sure how they put you together their nomination lists but what I will say is they’re way, way too long. Now I did find stuff there to check out, so there is that too.
Now playing: Robert Plant’s cover of “Darkness, Darkness”
Hey, look there, Nerds of a Feather, a place I write for, is on their longlist
Bonnie McDaniel: Good heavens. And we think we’ve got a lot of Hugo nominees to wade through.
At least one of the art nominees is a 2021 work. And the artist links go to general websites for those artists, not to 2020 works. 😐
JJ notes At least one of the art nominees is a 2021 work. And the artist links go to general websites for those artists, not to 2020 works. ?
Though we may not be quite perfect, I think that we as a body do the matter of organising genre prizes better than anyone else.
Now playing: Pete Townsend ’s “Exquisitely Boredl”
I like the idea of having a category for best comment. It sounds odd at first — until you start reading them and realizing how much work went into most of them, etc.
Also, I’m having fun reading the nominated comments. They remind me that I should hang out on that group more often. (It will be less depressing than reading AITA posts.) And maybe I should even post stuff!
When I have more time, I’ll read the reviews and essays. And … books!
I’ve read 10 of the novel nominees so far, and I’m in the middle of an 11th.
Of the ones I’ve read, I’d consider two… maaaaaaybe three… worthy of Hugo long-listing (The Vanished Birds, The Once and Future Witches, maaaaaybe Black Sun), and three worthy of pop-sff novel awards (the Dresdens and Network Effect). But, of course, there’s still a bunch I haven’t read yet!
Woops, I screwed up the italics in my previous post. Sorry about that!
@GiantPanda
Indeed. TYVM.
Regards,
Dann
The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose. – Margaret Atwood
I’ve read Piranesi and Mexican Gothic. Both are good, but of the two, Piranesi would be my choice.
Hey Mike! One of the r/Fantasy mods here! Thanks so much for this excellent write-up! This was wonderful to see, and we’re so incredibly chuffed with the Stabby Award’s reception this year.
We do have a quick request. Would it be possible to update this article to include our rules surrounding voting and nomination announcements? We’ve had major issues in the past with vote brigading, and these are the steps we’ve taken to address it. For folks unfamiliar with Reddit, it’s been confusing that we do not allow people to explicitly ask for votes from their fans or on behalf of creators.
Thanks again! We’ve been so excited to see all the squee surrounding the Stabbies this year.
r/Fantasy Mod Team
Rules surrounding vote brigading:
You are welcome and encouraged to share this voting thread, but links directly to the Google Form or shares of the voting thread that specifically ask folks to vote for you will be considering attempts to brigade. Share information about the Stabby Awards as a whole. Even if you’re not the original creator/nominee, but are sharing in support of someone, the same rules will apply. Don’t get your favorite creator disqualified by not following the rules. As in previous years, the moderator team reserves the right to determine winners in the event of hinky business.
eriophora: Sure — I have added your text to the post.
Thank you so much! We really appreciate it.
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