The Baltimore Science Fiction Society has announced that the 2020 Compton Crook Award winner is A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. The award is given for best first novel in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Martine will receive a $1,000 prize and an invitation to be the Compton Crook Guest of Honor at Balticon (the BSFS annual convention) for the next two years (in 2021 and 22).
“I’m very honored and pleased,” Martine replied when notified of the win, calling it, “Wonderful news.”
Martine’s book won over four other finalists: Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen; The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow; The Outside by Ada Hoffman; and A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s Balticon will be online only. Martine will participate in that event as well.
Members of BSFS selected the finalists by reading and rating debut novels published between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2019. The Compton Crook Committee examined nearly 80 debut novels and BSFS members read and rated over 40 books.
A Memory Called Empire was published by Tor Books. In addition to winning the Compton Crook Award, it is a finalist for this year’s Hugo and Nebula awards.
The Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) has awarded the Compton Crook Award for best first novel since 1983. Last year’s winner was R.F. Kuang for The Poppy War.
BSFS named the award in memory of Towson State College Professor of Natural Sciences Compton Crook, who wrote under the name Stephen Tall, and who died in 1981. Professor Crook was active for many years in the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and was a staunch champion of new writers.
BSFS is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, charitable, literary, and educational organization, dedicated to the promotion of, and an appreciation for, science fiction in all of its many forms. The Baltimore Science Fiction Society was launched on January 5, 1963 and has been holding Balticon since 1967.
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Congratulations to her! I’ve heard very good things about the book.
OH EXCELLENT!
I just voted A Memory Called Empire first in the Locus science fiction novel category (and first in first novel as well). Well worth reading, I’d be happy to see this book win the Nebula and Hugo awards, even in this year of (mostly) strong novel ballots.
Yeah, this will be somewhere around the top of my ballot — I’ll be doing a reread before deciding.
Well deserved. Currently* in my top two for Best Novel in the Hugos.
*{I haven’t read them all yet, so that may change obviously and Middlegame is looking pretty good so far and I’m just partway through}
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