2017 BookNest Fantasy Awards Finalists

The finalists for the BookNest Fantasy Awards, hosted by the BookNest.eu blog, were announced October 14. Open public voting for the winners continues until October 31 — to vote, click here.

AWARDS PROCESS. The BookNest Fantasy Awards process is ruled by an interesting combination of methods — part jury, part popular vote, with a final sanity check on the winners.

An initial longlist was created with participation from three fantasy publishers (GollanczHarper Voyager & Tor.com) and six blogs (Fantasy FactionFantasy Book ReviewFantasy Book CriticParmenionGrim Tidings & Kitty G), then augmented with public recommendations. A public vote on the longlist winnowed it down to a shortlist of 10 finalists in each category. Now the public has until October 31 to vote for the winners. However, the top vote-getters will be subjected to a sanity check:

The winners will be selected by a mathematical formula that will combine votes and Goodreads stats (such as number of reviews and/or average rating). This is but a safe mechanism to prevent the manipulation of the awards. For example, if a book receives more votes than its Goodreads ratings, then something is obviously wrong.

(Imagine how the Dragon Awards ballot would change if that rule was in place.)

The 2017 BookNest Fantasy Awards finalists are:

Best Traditionally Published Novel

  • A Plague of Swords by Miles Cameron
  • Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
  • Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb
  • Breath of Fire by Amanda Bouchet
  • Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
  • Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
  • Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan
  • Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
  • The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
  • Wrath by John Gwynne

Best Self Published Novel 

  •  A Keeper’s Tale by J.A. Andrews
  • Darklands by M.L. Spencer
  • Faithless by Graham Austin King
  • On the Wheel by Timandra Whitecastle
  • Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan
  • Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
  • The Fifth Empire of Man by Rob J. Hayes
  • The Heart of Stone by Ben Galley
  • The Mirror’s Truth by Michael R. Fletcher
  • A Dragon of A Different Color by Rachel Aaron

Best Debut Novel

  • Blackwing by Ed McDonald
  • Gilded Cage by Vic James
  • Godblind by Anna Stephens
  • Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
  • River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
  • The Bear And The Nightingale by Katherine Arden
  • The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark
  • The Dragon’s Legacy by Deborah A. Wolf
  • The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis
  • Age of Assassins by RJ Barker

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