Today sees the announcement of the 2015 David Gemmell Awards shortlists in each of the three categories – The Legend Award for Best Novel, The Morningstar Award for Best Debut and The Ravenheart Award for Best Cover Art, and as always the lists are full of some of the biggest and most exciting names in the field as voted for by 17,000 fantasy readers worldwide.
The David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy is now in its seventh year, and rewards the very best in fantasy fiction and artwork each year. We are delighted to have three HarperVoyager titles shortlisted for the Awards: Joe Abercrombie’s Half a King and Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Fools (both shortlisted for Best Novel and Best Cover) and The Fool’s Assassin shortlisted for Best Cover.
The Legend Award is a truly transatlantic affair, with the UK represented by our very own Joe Abercrombie’s Half a King and Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Fools, in addition to John Gwynne’s Valour. The list also features US authors Brandon Sanderson with Words of Radiance and Brent Weeks with The Broken Eye.
The Morningstar Award features five fantasy debuts, showcasing the very best in new talent in the field. Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien De Cassel, The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley, The Godless by Ben Peek, The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Stavely and Age of Iron by Angus Watson will each be in contention for the prestigious award.
The Ravenheart Award celebrates the best in artistic achievement in fantasy covers each year, and again offers a quintet of stunning pieces. Mike Bryan’s cover for Half a King, Laura Brett’s work on The Slow Regard for Silent Things, Jason Chan’s cover for Prince of Fools, Sam Green’s artwork for Words of Radiance and Jackie Morris’s cover for The Fool’s Assassin will fight it out for this superb trophy.
Awards Chair Stan Nicholls said: ‘Once again the awards shortlist show not only an incredible array of talent, but just how strong and varied the current range of fantasy fiction is. The competition for these incredible awards is going to be fiercer than ever this year.’
Voting for the shortlists is open from the 1st June and will close at midnight on Friday 17th July, and you can find out how to place your votes at www.gemmellawards.com.
The Gemmell Awards ceremony takes place at 8pm on Saturday 8th August as part of the Nine Worlds Geekfest and is always a highlight on the fantasy fiction calendar. For more information on the Awards, or the ceremony, visit the new site at www.gemmellawards.com.
