Cragun Wins 2019 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award

Example of award given in 2018.

Baen Books announced the winner of the 2019 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award at Spikecon in Layton, Utah on July 6.

Grand Prize

  • “Treason Properly” by J.J. Cragun

Second Place

  • “In the House of Rain and Gale” by Joelle Douthit

Third Place

  • “In the City of Dreadful Joy” by Misha Burnett

The winners, chosen from among the top ten finalists announced last month, were selected by Baen editorial staff. The awards were presented by bestselling Baen author Larry Correia in a ceremony at Spikecon, home to this year’s Westercon, NASFic, 1632 Minicon and Manticon.

2019 Grand Prize Winner J.J. Cragun

Started in 2014, this is the sixth annual Baen Fantasy Adventure Award. Baen presents this award “to honor stories that best exemplify the spirit of adventure, imagination, and great storytelling in a work of short fiction containing an element of the fantastic, whether epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, or contemporary fantasy.”

While the stories are judged anonymously — and stories were submitted by authors from all around the globe — as fate would have it, the Grand Prize Winner, J.J. Cragun resides in Morgan, Utah, which neighbors Spikecon’s host city of Layton, Utah.

On hand to emcee the Baen festivities, Baen Executive Editor Jim Minz said, “Fantasy has inspired and entertained humanity since before the written word, and our earliest known sagas are filled with rousing adventures and fantastical creatures. We’re honored to continue that tradition.”

The winner receives an award trophy, a prize box filled with Baen merchandise, and paid professional rates for first publication rights. “Treason Properly” by J.J. Cragun will be featured on Baen.com main webpage from September 15 through October 15, and will be available at the Baen Free Library after that.

[Based on a press release.]