The BookNest.eu blog announced the winners of the 2018 BookNest Fantasy Awards on November 1.

Best Traditionally Published Novel (Shortlist)

• Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames

Best Self-Published Novel (Shortlist)

• Paternus: Wrath Of The Gods by Dyrk Ashton

Best Debut Novel (Shortlist)

• The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

Best Imprint (Longlist)

• Harper Voyager (HarperCollins)

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.

In the second stage and with the public’s help, the 10 books and five 5 imprints with the highest number of votes in each category made it to the shortlist. The winners were chosen by a public vote that ended yesterday.

The shortlists for the 2018 BookNest Fantasy Awards, hosted by the BookNest.eu blog, were announced October 15. Open public voting to pick the winners continues until October 31 — 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.

In the second stage and with the public’s help, the 10 books and five 5 imprints with the highest number of votes in each category made it to the shortlist.

Best Traditionally Published Novel (Shortlist)

• Age of War by Michael J. Sullivan
• A Time of Dread by John Gwynne
• Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
• Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
• Master Assassins by Robert V.S. Redick
• Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
• The Fall of Gondolin by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Girl In The Tower by Katherine Arden

Best Self-Published Novel (Shortlist)

• As Iron Falls by Bryce O’Connor
• Behind the Vale by Brian D. Anderson
• City Of Kings by Rob J. Hayes
• Death March by Phil Tucker
• Hero Forged by Josh Erikson
• Last Dragon Standing by Rachel Aaron
• Paternus: Wrath Of The Gods by Dyrk Ashton
• Pursuit of Shadows by J.A. Andrews
• Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords by Benedict Patrick
• We Ride The Storm by Devin Madson

Best Debut Novel (Shortlist)

• Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang
• City Of Lies by Sam Hawke
• Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
• Jade City by Fonda Lee
• Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
• The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
• The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
• The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
• The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
• The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

Best Imprint (Longlist)

• Del Rey Books (Ebury, Penguin Random House)
• Gollancz (Orion Publishing Group)
• Harper Voyager (HarperCollins)
• Orbit (Little, Brown Book Group)
• Tor Books (Macmillan Publishers)

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.]

The winners of the 2017 BookNest Fantasy Awards, hosted by the BookNest.eu blog, were announced November 1.

Best Traditionally Published Novel

• Wrath by John Gwynne

Best Self Published Novel 

• The Heart of Stone by Ben Galley

Best Debut Novel

• Blackwing by Ed McDonald

The winners of the three categories receive an engraved dagger, kopis or broadsword, respectively.

AWARDS PROCESS. An initial longlist was created with participation from three fantasy publishers (Gollancz, Harper Voyager & Tor.com) and six blogs (Fantasy Faction, Fantasy Book Review, Fantasy Book Critic, Parmenion, Grim 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. Then, the public voted on the winners, with the results subject 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.

The award announcement video is here:

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 (Gollancz, Harper Voyager & Tor.com) and six blogs (Fantasy Faction, Fantasy Book Review, Fantasy Book Critic, Parmenion, Grim 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