With a lack of suitable volunteers to take on current committee roles, and insufficient manpower to deliver the wide range of tasks involved, the present team has been left with no choice but to wind up the awards.
There were three Gemmell awards,
the Legend for the year’s best fantasy novel, the Morningstar for the year’s
best debut in fantasy fiction, and Ravenheart for the creator of the year’s best
fantasy book cover art. The winners were chosen by open public vote.
Departing
Gemmell Awards Chair Stan Nicholls said: “This is a decision that has not been
taken lightly, and indeed is one that myself and my committee members make with
a heavy heart. It was always important to us to do things to a high standard,
and in the current situation I don’t think that we could deliver something
befitting the reputation the Gemmell Awards has. I hope that the awards will be
remembered for the good work they have done in supporting and championing the
cause of fantasy fiction over the last ten years, and that we’ve left a legacy behind
that people can look at fondly in years to come.”
Shortlists for The 2018 David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy — the Legend, Morningstar, and Ravenheart Awards — have been posted. The awards recognize the best in fantasy fiction and artwork. Open voting on the finalists has begun and will continue until midnight on June 1.
The awards will be presented July 14 at Edge-Lit 7 in Derby, UK.
LEGEND AWARD
The Legend Award is presented to the fantasy title judged the year’s best by open vote.
Miles Cameron: The Fall of Dragons, Book 5 of the Traitor Son Cycle (Gollancz)
Robin Hobb: Assassin’s Fate, Book 3 of Fitz and The Fool (HarperVoyager)
Mark Lawrence: Red Sister, Book 1 of Book of the Ancestor (HarperVoyager)
Steve McHugh: Scorched Shadows, Book 7 of The Hellequin Chronicles (47 North)
Brandon Sanderson: Oathbringer, Book 3 of The Stormlight Archive (Gollancz)
MORNINGSTAR AWARD
The Morningstar Award honors the author judged to have made the year’s best debut in fantasy fiction.
RJ Barker: Age of Assassins, Book 1 of The Wounded Kingdom (Orbit
Melissa Caruso: The Tethered Mage, Book 1 of the Swords and Fire Trilogy (Orbit)
Nicholas Eames: Kings of the Wyld, Book 1 of The Band (Orbit)
Ed McDonald: Blackwing, Book 1 of The Raven’s Mark (Gollancz)
Anna Smith-Spark: The Court of Broken Knives, Book 1 of The Empires of Dust (HarperVoyager)
RAVENHEART AWARD
The Ravenheart Award is given to the creator of the year’s best fantasy book cover art.
Richard Anderson for Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames (Orbit): Design by Lisa Marie Pompilio.
Kerem Beyit for The Fall of Dragons by Miles Cameron (Gollancz): Design by Sidonie Beresford-Browne, Abi Hartshorne, Sue Michniewicz and Jamie Tanner.
Sam Green for Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz): Design by Tomas Almeida.
Jackie Morris and Stephen Raw for Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb (HarperVoyager): Design by Dominic Forbes.
Kerby Rosanes for Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff (HarperVoyager): Design by Micaela Alcaino.
Longlists for The David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy — the Legend, Morningstar, and Ravenheart Awards — have been posted. The awards recognize the best in fantasy fiction and artwork. Open voting to determine the finalists has begun and will continue until midnight on March 30.
Next, voting on the shortlist will open midday on April 20 and close at midnight on June 1. The awards will be presented July 14 at Edge-Lit 7 in Derby, UK.
LEGEND AWARD (Longlist)
The Legend Award is presented to the fantasy title judged the year’s best by open vote.
Mageborn, Book One of The Age of Dread by Stephen Aryan
The Unholy Consult, The Aspect Emperor Book Four by R. Scott Bakker
The Stone in the Skull, Book 1 of the Lotus Kingsoms by Elizabeth Bear
With Blood Upon the Sand, Book Two of The Song of the Shattered Sands by Bradley Beaulieu
City of Miracles, Book 3 of the Divine Cities by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Core, Book 5 of The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett
Firebrand, Green Rider Book 6 by Kristen Britain
The Black Elfstone, Book 1 of the Fall of Shannara by Terry Brooks
The Fall of Dragons, Traitor Son Cycle Book Five by Miles Cameron
Successor’s Promise, Millennium’s Rule Book Three by Trudi Canavan
Coldmaker by Daniel A. Cohen
1Shadowborn, Seraphim Book Three by David Dalglish
The Amber Arrow, Book 2 of Wulf’s Saga by Tony Daniel
The House of Binding Thorns, Dominion of The Fallen Book 2 by Aliette de Bodard
Tyrant’s Throne, Book 4 of The Greatcoats by Sebastien de Castell
Among the Fallen, Book 2 of the Godserfs Series by NS Dolkart
Seventh Decimate, The Great God’s War Book 1 by Stephen Donaldson
Death’s Mistress, Book 1 of The Nicci Chronicles by Terry Goodkind
Empress of the Fall, Book 1 of The Sunsurge Quintet by David Hair
A Plague of Giants, Book 1 of The Seven Kennings by Kevin Hearne
Assassin’s Fate, Book 3 of Fitz and The Fool by Robin Hobb
The Gates of Tagmeth, Book 5 of the Kencyrath Series by P.C. Hodgell
The Dragon Lords: False Idols, Book 2 of The Dragon Lords by Jon Hollins
Heartland, Book 2 of the Worldmaker Trilogy by Lucy Hounsom
Firestorm, Book 3 of the Worldmaker Trilogy by Lucy Hounsom
Dark Immolation, Book Two of the Chaos Queen Quintet by Christopher Husberg
The Fatal Gate, Book Two of The Gates of Good and Evil by Ian Irvine
An Echo of Things to Come, Book Two of the Licanius Trilogy by James Islington
Infernal Machines, The Incorruptibles Book 3 by John Hornor Jacobs
The Stone Sky, Book 3 of The Broken Earth by NK Jemisin
Throne of the Bastards, The sequel to King of the Bastards by Brian Keene and Steven L. Shrewsbury
Godsgrave, The Nevernight Chronicle Book 2 by Jay Kristoff
Red Sister, Book 1 of The Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence
Princess of Blood, Book Two of The God Fragments by Tom Lloyd
A War in Crimson Embers, Book Three of the Crimson Empire by Alex Marshall
Scourge, A Darkhurst Novel by Gail Z. Martin
The Fallen Kingdom, Book Three of The Falconer by Elizabeth May
Sins of Empire, Book 1 of Gods of Blood and Powder by Brian McClellan
Scorched Shadows, The Hellequin Chronicles Book 7 by Steve McHugh
The Last Sacrifice, Book 1 of The Tides of War by James A. Moore
The Seven, Book 3 of The Vagrant Trilogy by Peter Newman
A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden
The Two of Swords, Volume One of The Two of Swords by K.J. Parker
Lightbringers, The Age of Myth and Legends by David Price
Eight Lamentations: Spear of Shadows, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar by Josh Reynolds
Legion of Flame, The Draconis Memoria Book Two by Anthony Ryan
Oathbringer, The Stormlight Archive Book 3 by Brandon Sanderson
The Lady of the Lake, The Witcher Saga Book 5 by Andrzej Sapkowski
Bane of Shadow, The Empire of Storms Book Two by Jon Skovron
Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
God’s Last Breath, Bring Down Heaven Book 3 by Sam Sykes
Strange the Dreamer, Strange the Dreamer Book 1 by Laini Taylor
The Bear and The Serpent, Book 2 of Echoes of the Fall by Adrian Tchaikovsky
You Die When You Die by Angus Watson
Overlords of the Iron Dragon, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar by CL Werner
The Ninth Rain, Book One of The Winnowing Flame Trilogy by Jen Williams
The Witchwood Crown, Book One of The Last King of Osten Ard by Tad Williams
Destiny’s Conflict, Book Ten of the Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts
MORNINGSTAR AWARD (Longlist)
The Morningstar Award honors the author judged to have made the year’s best debut in fantasy fiction.
Age of Assassins, Book 1 of The Wounded Kingdom by RJ Barker
The Waking Land by Callie Bates
Witchy Eye by D.J. Butler
Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott
The Tethered Mage, Book 1 of The Swords and Fire Trilogy by Melissa Caruso
The Last Namsara, Iskari Book One by Kristen Ciccarelli
Kings of the Wyld, Book 1 of The Band by Nicholas Eames
Darien: Empire of Salt by C.F. Iggulden
The Last Myon by Rudi Jennings
The Bloodprint, Book 1 of The Khorasan Archives by Ausma Zehanat Khan
One Cog Turning by Anthony Laken
Jade City, Book 1 of The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee
The Fifth Ward: First Watch, Book 1 of The Fifth Ward by Dale Lucas
Soul of the World, Book 1 of The Ascension Cycle by David Mealing
Blackwing, Book 1 of The Raven’s Mark by Ed McDonald
Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
Cold Counsel by Chris Sharp
The Court of Broken Knives, Book 1 of The Empires of Dust by Anna Smith-Spark
Godblind, Book 1 of The Godblind Trilogy by Anna Stephens
The Dragon’s Legacy, Book 1 of The Dragon’s Legacy Saga by Deborah A. Wolf
RAVENHEART AWARD (Longlist)
The Ravenheart Award is given to the creator of the year’s best fantasy book cover art.
Richard Anderson for The Stone in The Skull by Elizabeth Bear
Richard Anderson for Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
Arcangel Images (Crystal Ben) for The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
Arcangel Images for The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin
Arcangel Images for The Soul of the World by David Mealing
Arcangel Images for God’s Last Breath by Sam Sykes
Arcangel and Shutterstock for Mageborn by Stephen Aryan
Tommy Arnold for Shadowborn by David Dalglish
Kerem Beyit for The Fall of Dragons by Miles Cameron
Christian Bravery for The Legion of Flame by Anthony Ryan
Laura Brett for Blood Upon the Sand by Bradley Beaulieu
Mike Bryan for The Black Elfstone by Terry Brooks
www.buerosued.de for Tyrant’s Throne by Sebastien De Castell
Alejandro Colucci for The Last Sacrifice by James A Moore
Alejandro Colucci for The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski
John Coulthart for Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
Das Illustrat, Ervin Usman and Dan Smith for The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
Bastien Lecouffe Deharme for Bane and Shadow by Jon Skovron
Adam Doyle for The Witch of Torinia by Clifford Beal
Terrence Drysdale (Trevillion Images) and Joana Kruse for The Waking Land by Callie Bates
Getty Images and Shutterstock for Jade City by Fonda Lee
Sam Green for Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
Johan Grenier for Overlords of the Iron Dragon by C.L. Werner
Gill Heeley and Larry Rostant for Darien: Empire of Salt by C.F. Iggulden
Jaime Jones for The Seven by Peter Newman
Rory Kee for City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
Rory Kee for Empress of the Fall by David Hair
Patrick Knowles for Infernal Machines by John Hornor Jacobs
Jon McCoy for Princess of Blood by Tom Lloyd
Gene Mollica for A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne
Gene Mollica for The Fallen Kingdom by Elizabeth May
Jackie Morris and Stephen Raw for Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb
Stephen Mulcahey for Coldmaker by Daniel A Cohen
Nekro for Seventh Decimate by Stephen Donaldson
Leo Nickols for Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott
Dave Palumbo for Cold Counsel by Chris Sharp
Lauren Panepinto for A War in Crimson Embers by Alex Marshall
the-parish.com (Tom Sanderson) for Age of Assassins by RJ Barker
plainpicture (Dieter Reichelt) for Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
Kerby Rosanes for Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
Larry Rostant for You Die When You Die by Angus Watson
Larry Rostant and Millennium FX Ltd for The Core by Peter V Brett
Daniel Dos Santos for Witchy Eye by DJ Butler
Daniel Dos Santos for The Amber Arrow by Tony Daniel
Dominick Saponaro for An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington
April Schumacher for Firebrand by Kristen Britain
Shutterstock (Kiselev Andrey Valerevich) for The Unholy Consult by R. Scott Bakker
Shutterstock for The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard
Shutterstock for Death’s Mistress by Terry Goodkind
Shutterstock for Firestorm by Lucy Hounsom
Shutterstock for Heartland by Lucy Hounsom
Shutterstock for The Fatal Gate by Ian Irvine
Shutterstock for The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan
Shutterstock for The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith-Spark
Shutterstock for Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
Shutterstock for Godblind by Anna Stephens
Shutterstock for The Bear and the Serpent by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Shutterstock and depositphotos for Blackwing by Ed McDonald
Duncan Spilling and Shutterstock for Successor’s Promise by Trudi Canavan
Crystal Sully for The Dragon Lords: False Idols by Jon Hollins
Thom Tenery for Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan
Trevillion Images for The Two of Swords: Volume One by K.J. Parker
Michael Whelan for The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
Eric Williams for The Gates of Tagmeth by P.C. Hodgell
Janny Wurts for Destiny’s Conflict by Janny Wurts
Sammy Yuen for The Fifth Ward: First Watch by Dale Lucas
Jantine Zandbergen for Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
The finalists for the 2017 David Gemmell Awards have been announced. <Open public voting on the shortlist continues until at midnight on June 2. The awards will be presented July 15 at Edge-Lit 6 in Derby, UK.
Legend Award – 2017
The Legend Award is presented to the fantasy title judged the year’s best by open vote.
Wrath by John Gwynne
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
Warbeast by Gav Thorpe
Morningstar Award – 2017
The Morningstar Award honors the author judged to have made the year’s best debut in fantasy fiction.
Infernal by Mark De Jager
Duskfall by Christopher Husberg
Steal the Sky by Megan E. O’Keefe
Snakewood by Adrian Selby
Hope and Red by Jon Skovron
Ravenheart Award — 2017
The Ravenheart Award is given to the creator of the year’s best fantasy book cover art.
Alessandro Baldasseroni for Black Rift by Josh Reynolds
Jason Chan for The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Sam Green for The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
(1) GEMMELL LONGLIST VOTING DEADLINE. First round balloting on The Gemmell Awards longlist closes March 31. It is free and open to the public. Click here to cast your vote for the Ravenheart Award (best cover art), Morning Star Award (best debut novel) and the Legend Award (best fantasy novel). The shortlists for each award will be announced and voting opened on April 21.
Today, DoctorWhoTV.co.uk has shared a story from Betway. This particular bookmakers reckons that Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge – who’s set to appear in the young Han Solo movie next year – is in with a shot.
“Phoebe Waller-Bridge is all the rage with the punters at the moment”, a spokesperson revealed. “Her odds of being the next Doctor Who have collapsed from 20/1 to 2/1 since Monday morning and we’re on red alert, keeping an eye out for any more telling bets.
“Kris Marshall remains solid at 2/1, but the sudden rush of support for Waller-Bridge suggests the race to become TV’s next Time Lord is swinging in her favour.”
Bob Dylan will finally accept his Nobel Prize for Literature in Stockholm this weekend, the academy has announced.
The American singer was awarded the prize in October but failed to travel to pick up the award, or deliver the lecture that is required to receive the 8m kroner ($900,000;£727,000) prize.
The academy said it would meet Dylan, 75, in private in the Swedish capital, where he is giving two concerts.
He will not lecture in person but is expected to send a taped version.
If he does not deliver a lecture by June, he will have to forfeit the prize money.
I had a great time this past month savoring Version Control by Dexter Palmer. It clocks in at a little over 18 hours as an audio book, but once I settled into the story, I found the slow pacing to be really wonderful. I wonder if we can create a sub-genre in science fiction or fantasy of slow-paced genre novels (or slow-paced genre realism?). Think a little Alice Munro or Karl Ove Knausgard transported into a genre setting. Into such a categorization, I’d throw some of my favorite books: The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, as well as Molly Gloss’s Dazzle of the Day and Wild Life. Ah, and how about the beloved The Wall by Marlen Haushofer? My Real Children by Jo Walton? And then there is this one book I read 20 years ago, which I can not locate, no matter how many creative Google searches I do, about a regular California community and a regular woman, maybe a mother, who is just essentially living in an almost boring way–and then, in what’s maybe the last two chapters, there is a nuclear holocaust. But that is such a small part of the book, maybe even an afterthought…
I’ll stop my list now. But I do admire the authors who write this way. I think it takes some courage to straddle the line, not just in style but in plotting, between genre and realistic fiction as they do, as genre readers may find such fiction slow, and literary readers may wonder why there has to be aliens in the story….
Urbanski’s story with the intriguing title “On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies” appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January/February 2017. Although you have to buy the issue to read it, the author interview about this story shows why that might be something you’d want to do —
Tell us a bit about “On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies.”
I’ve been interested in the idea of speculative non-fiction these last few years: what if you took a certain emotional element of your life, put it in a speculative setting, and then wrote about it? So on the one hand, the emotions in this story capture my experience raising my son, who has autism, and my struggle to work through what I needed to work through, accept the child I actually have, and figure out how I can best be a parent to him. On the other hand, this is a fictional story about a world where children are snatched from under the lax eyes of their parents and replaced with a different child from another world….
It’s been over 80 years since iconic cinema star Bela Lugosi slept in this stately Tudor in Beachwood Canyon, yet his reputation still haunts it. Whether it’s called Westshire Manor, Castle La Paloma, or simply the Bela Lugosi House, the remodeled mansion is now for sale for $3 million.
The hillside Los Angeles neighborhood where this mansion is perched is right under the world-famous “Hollywood” sign, and is in fact still known as “Hollywoodland,” which is what the sign said when it was first constructed.
Best known for playing Count Dracula, Lugosi moved around Los Angeles and was hard to pin down, but the best sources place him in this particular home between 1934 and 1937. Apparently he, his fourth wife, Lillian, and their large dogs, including Great Danes and a white German Shepherd, enjoyed hiking to what was the Hollywoodland sign at the time.
Lugosi wasn’t the only celebrity to inhabit the manor. Actress Kathy Bates lived there for several years. Considering her roles in “Misery” as well as “American Horror Story,” we thought Westshore Manor might have a scary actor vibe.
(6) WOTF LIVESTREAM. The Writers of the Future Awards ceremony will be livestreamed on Sunday, April 2 beginning at 6:30 p.m. (PDT).
The event will open with a fire dance, featuring performers from EMCirque, a Hollywood and Las Vegas based Circus Entertainment Production Company. Concurrent with the dance, Rob Prior (creator of the poster art for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) and Larry Elmore will execute a live painting on stage.
Celebrity presenters will include Erika Christensen (co-star “The Case for Christ” releasing April 2017) and Marisol Nichols (Hermione Lodge in the CW’s “Riverdale”).
…As the top names in the science fiction and fantasy world, contest judges will be on hand to present the annual awards to this year’s writer and illustrator winners as well as the grand prize winner for each contest.
Writer judges who will be attending include: Kevin J. Anderson, Gregory Benford, Dave Farland, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nancy Kress, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn, Nye, Nnedi Okorafor, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Mike Resnick and Robert J, Sawyer.
Illustrator judges will include: Ciruelo, Echo and Lazarus Chernik, Larry Elmore, Val Lakey Lindahn, Sergey Poyarkov and Rob Prior.
(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY WARRIOR
Born March 29, 1968 – Lucy Lawless
(8) CROWNED WITH LAURELS. Alison Bechdel will be the next Vermont Cartoonist Laureate. If that name sounds familiar, then you’ve doubtless heard of the Bechdel Test named for her. The test — whether a work of fiction features at least two women or girls who talk to each other about something other than a man or boy – first appeared in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985.
Next Thursday, April 6, Edward Koren will pass the torch — er, laurels — to his successor, Alison Bechdel, as Vermont Cartoonist Laureate. In a ceremony at the Statehouse, the longtime Bolton resident, creator of the strip “Dykes to Watch Out For,” and author of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic will become the third cartoonist laureate in the only state to regularly appoint one. The initiative originated with the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, the professional school founded by James Sturm and Michelle Ollie 10 years ago. Bechdel succeeds New Yorker cartoonist and Brookfield resident Koren, who in turn succeeded Vermont’s very first cartoonist laureate, James Kochalka of Burlington.
“It seemed obvious she could have been the choice from the get-go — we’re lucky to have so many great cartoonists in the state,” says Sturm of selecting Bechdel. “Besides all her accolades and fame, she’s really a cartoonist’s cartoonist. Cartooning is just essential to who she is and how she makes sense of the world.”
(9) MORE SCALZI BOOK TOUR STALKERS. There is now a “Johan Kalsi” YouTube channel and a second stalker video for it to host.
Made out to “Ted” (Theodore Beale) a.k.a Vox Day, John Scalzi encounters another unidentified member of the Dread Ilk, this time in Dallas, TX
(10) CH-CHING! Meanwhile, Nick Mamatas has discovered Bookscan is part of the vast conspiracy, or is accurately reporting sales of The Collapsing Empire, (probably the latter.)
AND only the 17th bestselling hardcover fiction title this week across all genres. LOL, he wore ladyclothes once!
— Nick Buy My Book Mamatas ??????????????? (@NMamatas) March 29, 2017
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has launched Neuralink, a start-up which aims to develop technology that connects our brains to computers.
A report from the Wall Street Journal, later confirmed in a tweet by Mr Musk, said the company was in its very early stages and registered as a “medical research” firm.
The company will develop so-called “neural lace” technology which would implant tiny electrodes into the brain.
The technique could be used to improve memory or give humans added artificial intelligence. …
Specialists in the field envision a time when humans may be able to upload and download thoughts.
First, surgeons implanted two electrode arrays in Kochevar’s brain. The electrodes detect signals coming from areas of his brain that once controlled his right hand and arm.
“We have an algorithm that sort of transforms those neural signals into the movements he intended to make,” says Robert Kirsch, a professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western.
But movement requires muscles. So doctors also implanted electrodes in muscles that control his arm and hand movements.
The final result was a system that could determine which movements Kochevar wanted to perform, then electrically stimulate the appropriate muscles in his arm.
(13) LEARNING CURVE. As part of getting enough English speakers in time for the Tokyo Olympics, Japan assigns Fawlty Towers and Red Dwarf as homework. Because you never know when it’s going to be necessary to tell someone they can’t drive a nail with a hamster.
Japan is struggling to make sure it has enough proficient English speakers when it hosts the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.
And the classic BBC comedy series Fawlty Towers is being deployed by some teachers in an attempt to give Japanese students an example of spoken English – rather than focusing on written language and grammar.
Japan’s government and businesses want to use the Olympics to boost tourism and global trade and to present a positive image of Japan to the world.
So the government needs to ensure a supply of English speakers to be Olympic volunteers and work in the accommodation, tourism, and retail industries.
There is also a demand for professionals, such as doctors and nurses, to speak to visitors or competitors in English.
This summer, fans of both baseball and GoT will have plenty to be excited about … because special Game of Thrones® theme nights are coming to ballparks around MLB — featuring commemorative collectibles, ticket packages, giveaways, special co-branded merchandise, social media events and a lot more.
MLB has staged promotions like this before — like, say, the trailer for “The Force Awakens” as reimagined by the Twins — but this will be on a whole other level.
HBO has yet to announce when Season 7 will get underway, but we do know it will be some time this summer. Currently, at least 19 teams are scheduled to participate, including the D-backs, Red Sox, Reds, White Sox, Astros, Dodgers, Royals, Marlins, Brewers, Twins, Athletics, Phillies, Pirates, Mariners, Giants, Cardinals, Rangers, Rays and Nationals.
Hold the door for more information coming soon about this partnership, which has to be the biggest news since Jon Snow coming back from … well, you know.
(15) OTHER MLB PROMOTIONS. Martin Morse Wooster also sent the link to Michael Clair’s article about this summer’s best Major League Baseball promotions because the author says the Noah-Syndergaard-as-Thor bobblehead is ranked as the number 1 giveaway by anybody this year.
In the original Marvel Comics, Thor inhabited Dr. Donald Blake’s body while on Earth. But that’s just a fictional story. In our actual universe, Thor inhabits Noah Syndergaard every fifth day. Thanks to the Mets and Marvel Comics, you can walk away with the depiction of this stunning transformation.
Here's a mockup of the Mets' July 22 Noah Syndergaard "Thor" bobblehead giveaway, in partnership with Marvel. pic.twitter.com/5JmivXPENk
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Cat Eldridge, Chip Hitchcock, David K.M. Klaus, and Martin Morse Wooster for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Andrew.]
Longlists for The David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy — the Legend, Morningstar, and Ravenheart Awards — have been posted. The awards recognize the best in fantasy fiction and artwork. Open voting to determine the finalists has begun and will continue until midnight on March 31.
Next, voting on the shortlist will open midday on April 21 and close at midnight on June 2. The awards will be presented July 15 at Edge-Lit 6 in Derby, UK.
LEGEND AWARD (Longlist)
The Legend Award is presented to the fantasy title judged the year’s best by open vote.
The Spider’s War by Daniel Abraham
The Pagan Night by Tim Akers
Blood Mage by Stephen Aryan
The Great Ordeal by R. Scott Bakker
The Guns of Ivrea by Clifford Beal
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Sorcerer’s Daughter: The Defenders of Shannara by Terry Brooks
A Plague of Swords by Miles Cameron
The Sky Slayer by Joel Cornah
The Watcher of Dead TIme by Edward Cox
Fireborn by David Dalglish
Saint’s Blood by Sebastien De Castell
The Path of the Hawk by Ian Graham
Wrath by John Gwynne
The Summer Goddess by Joanne Hall
The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold by Jon Hollins
The Stealers’ War by Stephen Hunt
The Summon Stone by Ian Irvine
Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin
Gods of Nabban by KV Johansen
Assassin Queen by Anna Kashina
The Fall of the Dagger by Glenda Larke
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Stranger of Tempest by Tom Lloyd
The Seer by Sonia Orin Lyris
Daughter of Blood by Helen Lowe
A Blade of Black Steel by Alex Marshall
Shadow and Flame by Gail Z. Martin
An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows
The Silent Army by James A. Moore
Forgotten Hero by Brian G. Murray
The Malice by Peter Newman
Break the Chains by Megan E. O’Keefe
The Obsidian Throne by J. D. Oswald
The Girl on the Liar’s Throne by Den Patrick
Leviathan’s Blood by Ben Peek
Those Below by Daniel Polansky
The High King’s Vengeance by Steven Poore
Twilight of the Dragons by Andy Remic
The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan
Chains of the Heretic by Jeff Salyards
Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
The Tower of the Swallow by Andrezj Sapkowski
Dead Man’s Steel by Luke Scull
The World Raven by AJ Smith
Phoenix Ascendant by Ryk E. Spoor
The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley
Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
Fair Rebel by Steph Swainston
The Mortal Tally by Sam Sykes
The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Warbeast by Gav Thorpe
Dragon Hunter by Marc Turner
Red Tide by Marc Turner
The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks
The Silver Tide by Jen Williams
MORNINGSTAR AWARD (Longlist)
The Morningstar Award honors the author judged to have made the year’s best debut in fantasy fiction.
Infernal by Mark De Jager
Silent Hall by NS Dolkart
Duskfall by Christopher Husberg
Steal the Sky by Megan E. O’Keefe
Snakewood by Adrian Selby
Hope and Red by Jon Skovron
The Cracked Amulet by RB Watkinson
RAVENHEART AWARD (Longlist)
The Ravenheart Award is given to the creator of the year’s best fantasy book cover art.
KG Images and Joseph Martin for Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
Arcangel, Margie Hurwich, and Mohammad Itani for The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley
Arcangel and Lauren Panepinto for The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin
Tommy Arnold for Fireborn by David Dalglish
L. Bachman for Forgotten Hero by Brian G. Murray
Ihar Balakain and Dusan Kostic for Dragon Hunters by Marc Turner
Alessandro Baldasseroni for Black Rift by Josh Reynolds
Kirk Benshoff for The Spider’s War by Daniel Abraham
Kerem Beyit for A Plague of Swords by Miles Cameron
Black Sheep UK for The Stealer’s War by Stephen Hunt
Buerosued for Saint’s Blood by Sebastien De Castell
Jason Chan for The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
CollaborationJS for Shadow and Flame by Gail Z. Martin
Alejandro Colucci for The Pagan Night by Tim Akers
Alejandro Colucci for The Tower of the Swallow by Andrezj Sapkowski
Alejandro Colucci for The Girl on the Liar’s Throne by Den Patrick
Alejandro Colucci for The Silent Army by James A. Moore
Jason Deem for The Summer Goddess by Joanne Hall
Bastion Lecouffe Deharme for Hope and Red by Jon Skovron
Bastion Lecouffe Deharme for The Sorcerer’s Daughter by Terry Brooks
Evelinn Enoksen for The Sky Slayer by Joel Cornah
Sam Green for Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
Sam Green for The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
Head Design for Infernal by Mark De Jager
Jaime Jones for The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan
Jaime Jones for The Malice by Peter Newman
Jet Design Ltd. for The Watcher of Dead Time by Edward Cox
Nik Keevil for The World Raven by AJ Smith
Sam Kennedy for The Seer by Sonia Orin Lyris
Patrick Knowles Design for The Mortal Tally by Sam Sykes
Michael Komarck for The Shadowed Path by Gail Z. Martin
Neil Lang and Shutterstock for The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Julia Lloyd for Duskfall by Christopher Husberg
Todd Lockwood for Phoenix Ascendant by Ryk E. Spoor
Silas Manhood for Daughter of Blood by Helen Lowe
Silas Manhood for The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks
Jon McCoy for Stranger of Tempest by Tom Lloyd
Stephen Mulcahey, Neil Lang, and Shutterstock for Leviathan’s Blood by Ben Peek
KS Agency for City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
David Palumbo for Snakewood by Adrian Selby
Ryan Pancoast for Chains of the Heretic by Jeff Salyards
Lauren Panepinto for A Blade of Black Steel by Alex Marshall
Rhett Podersoo for Those Below by Daniel Polansky
Andreas Rocha for Silent Hall by NS Dolkart
Kerby Rosanes for Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Larry Rostant for The Great Ordeal by R. Scott Bakker
Larry Rostant for Dead Man’s Steel by Luke Scull
Shutterstock for The Silver Tide by Jen Williams
Karl Simon for The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold by Jon Hollins
Marc Simonetti for Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
Jake Smyth and Shutterstock for The Summon Stone by Ian Irvine
Steve Stone for The Fall of the Dagger by Glenda Larke
Steve Stone for Blood Mage by Stephen Aryan
Steve Stone for Chaos Mage by Stephen Aryan
Raymond Swanland for Gods of Nabban by KV Johansen
Jorge Luis Torres for The High King’s Vengeance by Steven Poore
The 2017 David Gemmell Awards ceremony will take place as part of Edge-Lit 6 in Derby (UK) on July 15.
Edge-Lit 6 will be held at QUAD, Derby’s independent cinema and art space.
With a growing reputation for quality and an audience of 200+ each year, the event offers an array of panels, workshops and book launches as well as popular yearly features such as the live Edge-Lit raffle.
Alex Davis, Literature Officer for QUAD, said: ‘Over the last decade the Gemmell Awards have become a high point in the genre calendar, and have been presented at some of the biggest conventions and fantasy events in the UK. I’m delighted to be working with them to bring the ceremony to Edge-Lit, which makes the 2017 running even more exciting!’
Stan Nicholls, Chair of the David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy, said: ‘Edge-Lit has established itself as one of the highlight events of the genre year, and the Gemmell Awards are thrilled to be part of 2017’s line-up. Devoted as they both are to championing the best of speculative fiction, the Gemmells and Edge-Lit are a perfect match. Roll on next July!’