David Gemmell Legend Awards 2015

[chopper]

anyone got any thoughts on the new longlist? i'm quite liking Mark Alder's Son of the Morning & Marie Brennan's Natural History of Dragons so far...

http://www.gemmellawards.com/

 

[Brian G Turner]

Just look at the nominations list:
http://www.gemmellawards.com/legend-award/

Beats anything I've ever seen for any other award - the Gemmell Awards are properly representative of the fantasy genre.

 

[chopper]

dare i say i'd love to be keeping company like that? maybe next year...

 

[Connavar]

I have lost touch with Gemmell awards since i havent read a Gemmell in the last few years. I hope a prominant heroic fantasy author like Abercrombie wins it soon.
That guy is now that Paul Kearney isnt so active is oneof few the hardcore heroic fantasy author of Gemmell type despite his multi characters series.

I hope the winners keep being fantasy in same subgenre like Gemmell like winners Andrejz Sapkowski, Mark Lawrence. There is other popular SFF awards for the big epic authors that is not similar to Gemmell.

 

[Nerds_feather]

Nice to see Baptism of Fire on there. Not quite as good as Time of Contempt (maybe the best fantasy novel I've ever read), but still really good. I also loved City of Stairs.

 

[Connavar]

Nice to see Baptism of Fire on there. Not quite as good as Time of Contempt (maybe the best fantasy novel I've ever read), but still really good. I also loved City of Stairs.

Good to hear your praise for Time of Contempt i havent read yet i lost touch with the series since it took many years from Blood of Elves to next translation of the series. I rated Sapkowski highly after The Last Wish, felt like a good polish Solomon Kane stories but the first novel Blood of Elves was not near as strong as that short story collection.

Any of those other noms you have read Nerds? I follow Abercrombie,Sapkowski,Lawrence of the authors nominated. Have you read Terry Brooks one? That guy has horrible rep among most fantasy fans that mention his works so i was wondering if that book was.....

 

[svalbard]

I have Son of the Morning on my to be read list.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Looks like a damn fine shortlist to me.
http://www.gemmellawards.com/award-voting/

Legend Award

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
Valour by John Gwynne
Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

Morningstar Award

Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell
The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley
The Godless by Ben Peek
The Emperor's Blades by Brian Stavely
The Age of Iron by Angus Watson

 

[Nerds_feather]

Hmm...Legend Award shortlist is disappointing to me. I'll probably vote for Half a King by Joe Abercrombie and The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley. Those are both deserving IMO.

 

[Nerds_feather]

Good to hear your praise for Time of Contempt i havent read yet i lost touch with the series since it took many years from Blood of Elves to next translation of the series. I rated Sapkowski highly after The Last Wish, felt like a good polish Solomon Kane stories but the first novel Blood of Elves was not near as strong as that short story collection.

Sorry for the late reply, but YES! I'd suggest waiting for Sword of Destiny's release this summer, then reading in this order, as it's the correct order og publication in every language but English:

1. The Last Wish
2. Sword of Destiny
3. Blood of Elves (the weakest IMO, in part because of translation issues)
4. Time of Contempt (new translator and the best so far IMO)
5. Baptism of Fire

 

[Brian G Turner]

Hmm...Legend Award shortlist is disappointing to me. I'll probably vote for Half a King by Joe Abercrombie and The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley. Those are both deserving IMO.

A much better short-list than for the Hugos, though. ;D

 

[ratsy]

I've read the Abercrombie, Sanderson, and Weeks books but haven't tried any of the Morningstar nominee books. I do have Stavely on my wishlist to try.

 

[Nerds_feather]

A much better short-list than for the Hugos, though. ;D

In the Hugos defense, I guess "Best Novel" has 3 entries on the shortlist I might actually rank above "no award"--making it one of the better Hugo categories this year. DOH...

 

[Nerds_feather]

I've read the Abercrombie, Sanderson, and Weeks books but haven't tried any of the Morningstar nominee books. I do have Stavely on my wishlist to try.

Traitor's Blade and Mirror Empire are quality.

 

[chopper]

agreed!

 

[Kissmequick]

A much better short-list than for the Hugos, though. ;D

Depends of you like the sort of fantasy the Gemmells promote, or prefer the sort of SFF that the Hugos promotes, really

Different awards celebrate different things.

This years Hugos are ofc not standard (can you tell I am being diplomatic. I am being diplomatic) but in a usual year the Hugos represent what a certain subset of fandom thinks is good. Do does the Gemmells. If you think one list is better than another it merely shows you what subset is your preference

For me?

Of the legends awards, I have not, and do not wish to read at least two, maybe three -- not my thing.

Morningstar, I have three DNFs there

So it is not the award for me perhaps...which is odd. Because this is celebrating the sub genre I love the most. A lot is , or seems to be, the same old same old. (Mirror Empire excepted. Possibly Half a King but have not read yet)

 

[Nerds_feather]

Depends of you like the sort of fantasy the Gemmells promote, or prefer the sort of SFF that the Hugos promotes, really

Different awards celebrate different things.

This years Hugos are ofc not standard (can you tell I am being diplomatic. I am being diplomatic) but in a usual year the Hugos represent what a certain subset of fandom thinks is good. Do does the Gemmells. If you think one list is better than another it merely shows you what subset is your preference

That's a good point. In a normal year, I gripe about how the Hugo and Gemmell (and Nebula) shortlists are too safe--for my tastes, that is. This year I can only do so about the latter two, as the Hugos suffer from a more basic problem.

For my money the Locus Awards are the best non-juried awards. Separate categories for SF and fantasy novel, as well as a debut novel category, and the longlist is very well curated (the Gemmell longlist, I have heard from a reputable source, is not similarly curated, but is instead just a list of all the books publishers submitted for consideration).

That said, I have already voted for the Gemmells and have enough decent choices to make selections in many if not all the Hugo categories (as well as in every Locus category). I have a clear favorite for Best Novel in the Hugos, as well as in all the novel categories in the Locus Awards.

 

[Connavar]

Sorry for the late reply, but YES! I'd suggest waiting for Sword of Destiny's release this summer, then reading in this order, as it's the correct order og publication in every language but English:

1. The Last Wish
2. Sword of Destiny
3. Blood of Elves (the weakest IMO, in part because of translation issues)
4. Time of Contempt (new translator and the best so far IMO)
5. Baptism of Fire

According to http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/andrzej-sapkowski/

Sword and Destiny and Times of Contempt is the same book and nr.2 in the series isnt that right ? Or did you mean 2016s next book in the series The Swallow's Tower?

Good to know Blood of Elves is the weakest in the series.

 

[Nerds_feather]

According to http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/andrzej-sapkowski/

Sword and Destiny and Times of Contempt is the same book and nr.2 in the series isnt that right ? Or did you mean 2016s next book in the series The Swallow's Tower?

Good to know Blood of Elves is the weakest in the series.

Sword of Destiny is the second book published in Polish (and chronologically); Time of Contempt is the fourth. But in English translation, Orbit/Gollancz decided to publish Sword of Destiny fifth. The Swallow's Tower is the sixth book in the series, in Polish and chronologically.