The longlists for the 2018 BookNest Fantasy Awards, hosted by the BookNest.eu blog, were announced October 1. Open public voting to pick the shortlist continues until October 14 — to vote, click here.

AWARDS PROCESS. The BookNest Fantasy Awards are selected by a hybrid process — part jury, part popular vote, with a final sanity check on the winners.

The longlist was created with the input of nine popular Fantasy Blogs (Bookworm Blues, Fantasy Book Critic, Fantasy Book Review, Fantasy-Faction, Grimdark Magazine, The Fantasy Hive, The Fantasy Inn, The Grim Tidings Podcast & The Weatherwax Report), three big Fantasy Imprints (Gollancz, Harper Voyager & Orbit), and two well-respected Agents (John Jarrold & Joshua Bilmes of JABberwocky Literary Agency). They nominated their favorite books in the first three categories (Best Traditionally Published Novel, Best Self-Published Novel, and Best Debut Novel), published between October 1st 2017 and September 30th 2018. The 10 books with the highest number of votes in each category will make it to the Shortlist,

Best Traditionally Published Novel (Longlist)

• A War in Crimson Embers by Alex Marshall
• Age of War by Michael J. Sullivan
• A Time of Dread by John Gwynne
• Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
• Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang
• Blood and Tempest by Jon Skovron
• Blood of Assassins by RJ Barker
• Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
• Charmcaster by Sebastien de Castell
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• City of Lies by Sam Hawke
• Darksoul by Anna Stephens
• Fire Dance by Ilana C. Myer
• Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence
• Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
• Jade City by Fonda Lee
• King of Assassins by RJ Barker
• Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews
• Master Assassins by Robert V.S. Redick
• Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
• Port of Shadows by Glen Cook
• Quillifer by Walter Jon Williams
• Ravencry by Ed McDonald
• Seventh Decimate by Stephen Donaldson
• Shadowblack by Sebastien de Castell
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
• Starless by Jacqueline Carey
• Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
• The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams
• The Deathless by Peter Newman
• The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding
• The Empire of Ashes by Anthony Ryan
• The Fall of Dragons by Miles Cameron
• The Fall of Gondolin by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Forbidden City by Deborah Wolf
• The Girl In The Tower by Katherine Arden
• The Infernal Battalion by Django Wexler
• The Land You Never Leave by Angus Watson
• The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
• The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
• The Outcast by Taran Matharu
• The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
• The Skaar Invasion by Terry Brooks
• The Tower of Living and Dying by Anna Smith Spark
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Witchsign by Den Patrick
• Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan

Best Self-Published Novel (Longlist)

• As Iron Falls by Bryce O’Connor
• Aching God by Mike Shel
• Behind the Vale by Brian D. Anderson
• City Of Kings by Rob J. Hayes
• Death March by Phil Tucker
• Detonation Boulevard by Craig Schaefer
• From the Shadows of the Owl Queen’s Court by Benedict Patrick
• He Who Fights by Mike Morris
• Hero Forged by Josh Erikson
• Kingshold by D. P. Woolliscroft
• Last Dragon Standing by Rachel Aaron
• Life Reset: EvP by Shemer Kuznits
• Melokai by Rosalyn Kelly
• Paternus: Wrath Of The Gods by Dyrk Ashton
• Pursuit of Shadows by J.A. Andrews
• Servant of Rage by A.Z. Anthony
• Symphony of the Wind by Steven McKinnon
• The Dragon’s Blade: The Last Guardian by Michael R. Miller
• The Imbued Lockblade by M.D. Presley
• The Wolf of Oren-yaro By K.S. Villoso
• Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords by Benedict Patrick
• Threadbare Volume 1: Stuff and Nonsense by Andrew Seiple
• Too Cold to Bleed by D.M. Murray
• Truth of Darkness by Craig Aird
• We Ride The Storm by Devin Madson

Best Debut Novel (Longlist)

• Aching God by Mike Shel
• Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang
• City Of Lies by Sam Hawke
• Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
• Here Be Dragons by David MacPherson
• Jade City by Fonda Lee
• Kingshold by D.P. Woolliscroft
• Lost Gods by Micah Yongo
• Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
• The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan
• The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
• The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
• The Game Bird by Aidan R. Walsh
• The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
• The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards
• The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
• The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
• The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
• The Thousand Scars by Michael R. Baker
• The Traitor God by Cameron Johnston
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Under The Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
• Walking Through Fire by Sherri Cook Woosley
• Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Best Imprint (Longlist)

• 47North (Amazon Publishing)
• Ace Books (Berkley Publishing, Penguin Random House)
• Del Rey Books (Ebury, Penguin Random House)
• Gollancz (Orion Publishing Group)
• Harper Voyager (HarperCollins)
• Jo Fletcher Books (Quercus Books)
• Orbit (Little, Brown Book Group)
• Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)
• Titan Books (Titan Publishing Group)
• Tor Books (Macmillan Publishers)

[Thanks to Mark Hepworth for the story.]