The shortlist for the 2022 Arthur C. Clarke Award science fiction book of the year was released on July 8.

The six titles are:

• Deep Wheel Orcadia – Harry Josephine Giles (Picador)
• Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber & Faber)
• A Desolation Called Peace – Arkady Martine (Tor UK)
• A River Called Time – Courttia Newland (Canongate)
• Wergen: The Alien Love War – Mercurio D. Rivera (NewCon Press)
• Skyward Inn – Aliya Whiteley (Solaris)

The winner will be announced on October 26 at an award ceremony hosted by the Science Museum, London, in partnership with their exhibition Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination.
 
The winner will receive a trophy in the form of a commemorative engraved bookend and prize money to the value of £2022.00; a tradition that sees the annual prize money rise incrementally by year from the year 2001 in memory of Sir Arthur C. Clarke.
 
Chair of Judges, Dr Andrew M. Butler, said:

“I always view the shortlist as a snapshot of the richness and variety of the genre – space operas and dystopias, debutants and veterans, page turners that you can swallow whole and books that make you want to linger on every sentence. We’re slowly seeing a wider range of authors getting published in the British sf market, so we get to see a wider range of ways of reimagining the world. If science fiction is a toolbox, then we need to keep our tools sharp by approaching the material from different angles.
 
“The judges also come to science fiction from different angles. We have reviewers, academics, archivists and more, but above all they are enthusiastic readers and fans who have the mammoth task of whittling over hundred submissions down to exactly six titles. There was passion and intelligence and emotion in abundance. I’m proud of how they were able to challenge and still respect each other and produce the shortlist we’re celebrating today. And they get to have the debates all over again, as they choose the single best science fiction novel of the year.”

Award Director Tom Hunter said:  

“I am in awe of the work of our judges this year, reading over 100 titles submitted by 39 publishing imprints and independent authors, and for leading us to this moment. I am also delighted for the opportunity to return both to a live ceremony this year and for it to be held at the Science Museum as one of their Science Fiction exhibition events.
 
“Every Clarke Award shortlist is a voyage into the imagination, and an opportunity to seek out new authors, and new readers, as much as it is a moment to revisit our hopes and expectations for the genre. I couldn’t think of a better partner to take that journey with this year.”

The judging panel for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2022 are:

• Phoenix Alexander and Dr Nicole Devarenne for the Science Fiction Foundation
• Crispin Black and Stark Holborn for the British Science Fiction Association
• Nick Hubble for the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival

Dr Andrew M. Butler represents the Arthur C. Clarke Award directors in a non-voting role as the Chair of the Judges.

[Based on a press release.]