Voting Thoughts 2
I'm only putting my work out there for two categories in this year's Ditmars - Best New Talent, as I mention previously, and Best Collected Work - but there are a whole range of other awards I'll be voting in, many with a list of eligibles as long as the Indian Pacific railway. I've tried to narrow the options down as best I can - here are a few works that I think are worth a vote or two.
Best Novel
My first pick for this is Madigan Mine by Kirstyn McDermott. Kirstyn wrote a damn fine short for Scenes From the Second Storey, and her first novel demonstrates beyond any argument that she's a top-notch writer. A listing on the final ballot for this year's Stoker Awards (albeit not for this novel) just proves my point.
I'm cheating a little when I suggest Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson, in that I have my copy on order but it's yet to arrive... I'd been hoping to read it before needing to post, but these things happen. Working on the basis that so many people whose opinions I respect can't be wrong, however, I'm taking it on faith that Trent's urban fantasy is as good as it's rep.
The last novel I'd suggest is Samhane by Daniel I Russell. This one targets a very different niche in the market from the first two suggestions, splatter-filled and aimed more at fans of films like Hostel. That said, Daniel knows his market and caters for it well, which makes it worth a nod.
Best Novella
Again, there are three works that'll be getting my votes in this category. All the Clowns in Clowntown (from Macabre, Brimstone Press) takes one of horror's traditional scares (clowns = evil) and turns it on its head. I've a lot of time for stories by its writer, Andrew J McKiernan, and this one's really rather good.
Requiem for the Burning God by Shane Jiraiya Cummings is taken from David Conyer's anthology Cthulhu's Dark Cults. Those that knew me back in my teens (an eternity ago...) will remember my love of the Call of Cthulhu game and Shane's tale of evil in the mountains of Peru did a fine job of evoking the tone and atmosphere I associated with the game.
Last up, A Tale of the Interferers: A Hunger for Forbidden Flesh by Paul Haines (ASIM issue 46). Paul is ludicrously talented, and I've dipped into several stories in his back catalogue since finally meeting him at WorldCon. His characters the Interferers (a pair of less than legendary sword-and-sorcery) adventurers meld laugh-out-loud humour with the nastiness in such a seamless way that I'm seething with envy just thinking about it.
As before, voting can be done online. Otherwise, that's it for this post... I'm building up to a Best Short Story post, but with so many possible candidates, it may take a little while to get that one composed. Back soon(ish).
Best Novel
My first pick for this is Madigan Mine by Kirstyn McDermott. Kirstyn wrote a damn fine short for Scenes From the Second Storey, and her first novel demonstrates beyond any argument that she's a top-notch writer. A listing on the final ballot for this year's Stoker Awards (albeit not for this novel) just proves my point.
I'm cheating a little when I suggest Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson, in that I have my copy on order but it's yet to arrive... I'd been hoping to read it before needing to post, but these things happen. Working on the basis that so many people whose opinions I respect can't be wrong, however, I'm taking it on faith that Trent's urban fantasy is as good as it's rep.
The last novel I'd suggest is Samhane by Daniel I Russell. This one targets a very different niche in the market from the first two suggestions, splatter-filled and aimed more at fans of films like Hostel. That said, Daniel knows his market and caters for it well, which makes it worth a nod.
Best Novella
Again, there are three works that'll be getting my votes in this category. All the Clowns in Clowntown (from Macabre, Brimstone Press) takes one of horror's traditional scares (clowns = evil) and turns it on its head. I've a lot of time for stories by its writer, Andrew J McKiernan, and this one's really rather good.
Requiem for the Burning God by Shane Jiraiya Cummings is taken from David Conyer's anthology Cthulhu's Dark Cults. Those that knew me back in my teens (an eternity ago...) will remember my love of the Call of Cthulhu game and Shane's tale of evil in the mountains of Peru did a fine job of evoking the tone and atmosphere I associated with the game.
Last up, A Tale of the Interferers: A Hunger for Forbidden Flesh by Paul Haines (ASIM issue 46). Paul is ludicrously talented, and I've dipped into several stories in his back catalogue since finally meeting him at WorldCon. His characters the Interferers (a pair of less than legendary sword-and-sorcery) adventurers meld laugh-out-loud humour with the nastiness in such a seamless way that I'm seething with envy just thinking about it.
As before, voting can be done online. Otherwise, that's it for this post... I'm building up to a Best Short Story post, but with so many possible candidates, it may take a little while to get that one composed. Back soon(ish).
posted by Pete Kempshall at 4:30 PM
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Good readingg this post
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