The eligibility period for the Dragons is coming to a close -- but... and I feel I must stress this,
Voting doesn't close until July 19.
That's right. Anything that comes out before the deadline of June 30th is eligible, but voting cuts off on July 19th. So if you haven't voted yet, mind the date.
The last time I wrote up one of these posts, China Mike G Liar and his bots over at Vile 770 stated that I was simply nominating my friends for Dragons.... You know, because I am
such good and dear friends with Timothy Zahn and David Weber. I mean yes, I'm sure it's fun to hang out with the goats on
Bokerah Brumley's farm, but she's a little far from New York City for my taste. And while I like Doctor Hans Schantz, Alabama is a little out of the way for my usual commute. And I don't even know Philip Ligon. I'm not even sure I'm Facebook friends with him.
As China Mike only has Chinese bots to read his blog, I can understand why he cannot grasp the concept of a "friend," or distinguish them from "working acquaintance." After all, he has neither. Then again, the last time I scrolled through the wretched hive of scum and villainy he calls a blog, I noted that his closest correspondent lately is highly unreliable.
Though if China Mike G. Liar were interested in facts, I will merely say that I do not ONLY nominate friends -- though I will make damn certain to edit out people who have declared themselves my enemy. And Hell, if 770 trolls wanted to pitch in, I'm sure we could take their suggestions under advisement.
Anyway, let the discussion begin. And yes, I've got additional suggestions kicking around from you folks who came to play
And yes, I said discussion.
I'd like people to come on, and tell me what you want to see nominated. I've yet again already made adjustments to the list below. I haven't changed who I'm voting for yet, since something would need to blow my socks off to change my mind.
And do me a favor, huh? Before you pitch in a suggestion,
READ THROUGH THE POST AND MAKE CERTAIN IT'S NOT ALREADY LISTED.
But I want to make certain that this become a DISCUSSION.
Now, again, please remember the eligibility is from the start of July 2018 to the end of June 2019.
So, let's continue.
* * * * * * * *
Best Science Fiction Novel
I have already reviewed
Heroes Fall by Morgon Newquist. You might think .... whatever you like. But this was one Hell of a solid novel, and some of the best SF I've read in years.
What is it? Superheroes. If you liked
Astro City, or JMS's
Rising Stars, or, hell, the MCU, you're going to want to read this one, and I think you're going to agree with me that it's pretty kickass.
Now, as was suggested last time, Richard Paolinelli has a new book out, called
When the Gods Fell. I still haven't read the damn thing yet. I should do something bizarre and turn my damn kindle on.
A Facebook friend of mine,
MA Rothman, has an SF book out that might be of interest.
Also, Christopher Ruocchio would like people to recall that his novel,
Empire of Silence has also come out. He's a Twitter acquaintance and he seems to work for someone called.... Baen? :)
Nathan, from the Pulp Archivist has
Pop Kult Warlord, by Cole.
A Mr John Boyd suggested in my comments on the April post for
Causes of Separation by Travis Corcoran. It was seconded by Karl Gallagher. So there may be some competition this year.
Someone else suggested
Super-Sync by Kevin Ikenberry. Yes, this time, I found the lousy book.
Best Fantasy Novel
(Including Paranormal)
I have not yet reviewed
Bokerah Brumley's "Keepers of New Haven: Woe for a Faerie" on my blog. However, I can tell you that it has some interesting ideas and concepts.
I had considered putting one of Daniel Humphreys
Paxton Locke novels up for this one (again, I got the ARC. Heh heh heh), but he was more interested in emphasizing another topic.
Also, to be honest, while I know the book is done, I don't know when it's going to be released, so there's that too.
Nathan has thrown in a suggestions for this one:
Sword of Kaigen, by M. L. Wang. I honestly cannot speak to this one, since I haven't read it yet. Then he wanted to add
Sowing Dragon Teeth, by James Alderdice.
... I'll be over here, still nominating Brumley.
Karl Gallagher has sent me a copy of his book The Lost War, so I have to make time for that... again, it would help if I just turned on the damned kindle.
Best YA / Middle Grade Novel
The Kings Regret by Ligon is finally flipping out.
Whew.
That only felt like forever.
Yet another review I owe just another person. Sigh. It's Steampunk YA.
Lucky for him, Jagi hasn't come out with another Rachel Griffin novel.
Nathan, however, does have another option:
Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, vol. 12, by Omori... I have looked it up and concluded that yes, this is a novel, despite the cover. Honest. I was confused there for a moment.
Nathan's comment from last post was
"decent novel, horrible title full of false advertising. Rather than the adventures of a rake, a young teen decides to be an adventurer, but has to get rescued when he gets in over his head. He crushes on his rescuer, and the puppy love drives him to become a hero worthy of fighting by her side."
Best Military SFF Novel
Daniel Humphrey's
A Place For War... Yes, this is what Daniel wanted to be nominated in instead of his
Night's Black Agents, so I concurred.
For the record, no, I have not yet read David Weber's
Uncompromising Honor. I suspect he will not need additional support.
Nathan (and apparently Anspach and Cole) has another thought:
Galaxy's Edge: Order of the Centurion.
Best Alternate History Novel
This was a tough one.
Because in addition to Hans Schantz's
Brave and the Bold (
reviewed here), you also have yet again another
Robert Kroese Iron Dragon novel .... which I will admit, I have not read, but let's face it, Robert isn't going to start to suck at this late date, now is he? The Iron Dragon has been seconded by a John Boyd in my comments from April's post.
So this should end well.
I think I'm going to stick with Brave and the Bold, if only because I haven't gotten to the others yet.
Nathan wants to add Rawle Nyanzi's
Shining Tomorrow: Shadow Heart, which .... I don't actually think is alternate history, from the description, but I'm just plugging them in.
Best Media Tie-In Novel
Thrawn: Alliance
Timothy Zahn is doing a Thrawn novel. Your argument is so invalid, it's not even funny.
Nathan at Pulp Archivist wants to throw
Realmslayer, by Guymer. It is apparently a Warhammer novel.
Best Horror Novel
This is funny, since by the time the Dragons comes out, I will have SIX horror novels eligible.
Hell Spawn
Death Cult
Infernal Affairs
City of Shadows
Crusader (Coming soon)
Deus Vult (Coming soon....ish)
.....
But as I argued, it's best to nominate
Hell Spawn and move on. And if you disagree and would like to nominate one of the
other books in another category ... okay, but I'd like you not to split the vote too too much.
Please refer here for my thoughts on the matter.
Then again, Hell Spawn has already won an award, so yeah, it's worth it. It's endorsed by the CLFA for their book of the year, and Jim McCoy, Richard Paolinelli, and Karl Gallagher have all said they're voting for it. So... yeah, not bad.
Best Comic Book
Dark Maiden #2, by Jonathan Baird.
Joan of Arc fantasy comic book.
I dare you to find me something better.
Best Graphic Novel
Good question. Any ideas?
Nathan had one:
Conan le Cimmérien - Le Colosse noir .... I don't know why Nathan wanted it in French, but okay.
Though I'm tempted to say the comic adaptations of PD Wodehouse by Chuck Dixon, just because Jeeves and Wooser are just so much fun. And because Chuck Dixon may have been the best writer on Batman for 20 years.
Best SFF TV Series
I actually have a tossup on this one.
Okay, I had one. While I greatly enjoyed
Reverie, which had some great ideas, solid executions, and generally well-done ... the series is cancelled. I shouldn't be surprised. It was a series over the summer.
So, I'm going to have to say
God Friended Me ... It might actually be one of the better shows out there, with a solid character arc for everyone, even the bit players. And everything fit together brilliantly in the end.
I await the next season to screw it up, because television.
Best SFF Movie
The Meg...
No. No question. Just
The Meg. Yes, I'm biased. Damn straight. I've only waited 20 flipping years for this movie. It's completely stupid and dumb fun, but that was all I really wanted.
Though wouldn't it be funny if it's
The Meg vs
Aquaman?
Water on water violence.
Though I await people to just tell me "Endgame."
Best SFF PC / Console Game
Spiderman, PS4, Insomniac games.
Yup. No hesitation. This was .... amazing.
As for ... Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game ....
AND
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game....
No idea.
However,
Best SFF Miniatures / Collectible Card
/ Role-Playing Game....
Nathan to the rescue on this one:
Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team
Other nominees.
You might remember that last year, I had at least half a dozen nominees for each category....
Nope. Not anymore.
Again, the upcoming Daniel Humphreys'
Come Seeling Night is something I'd suggest in paranormal, but he wanted military.
Unknown aslo seconded "
A Pale Dawn for best Military Science Fiction novel."
....So, yeah, right now, I'm out of alternate suggestions at the moment. Maybe I'm just out of authors. Heck, I would
love to nominated Simon R Green for
Night Fall... but it is one of his lesser works, and really dropped the ball for the finale of his magnum opus, largely by having it as a crossover with a series I truly and deeply hate.
However, author and publisher Christ Kennedy has a set of choices. I put them all in one place since he's the one who gave me the most suggestions, next to Nathan.
- Best Science Fiction Novel – Salvage Title, Kevin Steverson
- Best Fantasy Novel – A Tangled Fate, Jon R. Osborne
- Best Young Adult/Middle Grade Novel – Black and White, Mark Wandrey (Which I cannot find to link to, so, sorry)
- Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel – A Pale Dawn, Kennedy and Wandrey
- Best Alternate History Novel – The World Asunder, Kacey Ezell (Again, not out, so I can't link to it)
- Best Media Tie-In Novel – The Replicant War, Chris Kennedy
- Best Horror Novel – Darker Nights, Eric S. Brown
- Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC / Console Game – Turbolance, Ryan Kennedy and Noah Bowden
- Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures / Collectible Card / Role-Playing Game – The Four Horsemen: Omega War, Clarion Games
If you want to give me alternate suggestions, please be sure to leave one in the comment -- author, title, and genre category.
As of now, let the discussions begin.
And if you want to vote RIGHT THIS MINUTE, that would be here.
