Zealot Script

Jen Williams continued her recent dominance of the British Fantasy Society Awards with a win for The Bitter Twins in the top category of Best Fantasy Novel.

The Bitter Twins is the second of Williams’ Winnowing Flame Trilogy and follows in the footsteps of it’s predecessor, The Ninth Rain, which scooped the top prize at last year’s award ceremony.

With Williams having recently released the third in the trilogy, The Poison Song, I don’t think there are many people that would bet against her making it a hattrick next year!

Williams could not be at the ceremony herself, but reacted to the Award on Twitter:

MY HEART! Thank you so much. I am so gutted not to be there with you all but what a tremendous honour – and such a brilliant year for nominees and winners

Jen Williams @sennydreadful

Elsewhere in the awards the August Derleth, the other top BFS award for Best Horror Novel, went to Catriona Ward for Little Eve and Ian Whates received the Karl Edward Wagner Award, a “special award for contribution to genre.”

A full list of the winners and nominees in each category can be seen below:

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Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award)

Winner: The Bitter Twins, Jen Williams (Headline)

Nominees:
Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett (Jo Fletcher)
The Green Man’s Heir, Juliet E. McKenna (Wizard’s Tower)
Priest of Bones, Peter McLean (Jo Fletcher)
Empire of Sand, Tasha Suri (Orbit)
The Loosening Skin, Aliya Whiteley (Unsung Stories)

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Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award)

Winner: Little Eve, Catriona Ward (W&N)

Nominees:
Wolf’s Hill, Simon Bestwick (Snowbooks)
The Way of the Worm, Ramsey Campbell (PS)
The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (Titan)

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Best Novella

Winner: The Tea Master and the Detective, Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean)

Nominees:
Breakwater, Simon Bestwick (Tor)
The Only Harmless Great Thing, Brooke Bolander (Tor.com Publishing)
The Land of Somewhere Safe, Hal Duncan (NewCon)
Binti: The Night Masquerade, Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing)
The Last Temptation of Dr Valentine, John Llewellyn Probert (Black Shuck)

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Best Short Story

Winner: “Down Where Sound Comes Blunt”, G.V. Anderson (F&SF 3-4/18)
“Telling Stories”, Ruth E.J. Booth (The Dark 12/18)

Nominees:
“Her Blood the Apples, Her Bones the Trees”, Georgina Bruce (The Silent Garden)
“In the Gallery of Silent Screams”, Carole Johnstone & Chris Kelso (Black Static 9-10/18)
“A Son of the Sea”, Priya Sharma (All the Fabulous Beasts)
“Thumbsucker”, Robert Shearman (New Fears 2)

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Best Collection

Winner: All the Fabulous Beasts, Priya Sharma (Undertow)

Nominees:
How Long ’til Black Future Month?, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Octoberland, Thana Niveau (PS)
Resonance & Revolt, Rosanne Rabinowitz (Eibonvale)
The Future is Blue, Catherynne M. Valente (Subterranean)
Lost Objects, Marian Womack (Luna)

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Best Anthology

Winner: Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 5, Robert Shearman & Michael Kelly, eds. (Undertow)

Nominees:
This Dreaming Isle, Dan Coxon, ed. (Unsung Stories)
The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Night Shade)
Humanagerie, Sarah Doyle & Allen Ashley, eds. (Eibonvale)
New Fears 2, Mark Morris, ed. (Titan)

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Best Independent Press

Winner: Unsung Stories

Nominees:
Fox Spirit
Luna
NewCon

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Best Non-Fiction

Winner: Noise and Sparks, Ruth E.J. Booth (Shoreline of Infinity)

Nominees:
The Evolution of African Fantasy and Science Fiction, Francesca T. Barbini, ed. (Luna)
Ginger Nuts of Horror
Les Vampires, Tim Major (PS)
The Full Lid, Alasdair Stuart

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Best Magazine / Periodical

Winner: Uncanny

Nominees:
Black Static
Ginger Nuts of Horror
Interzone
Shoreline of Infinity

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Best Artist

Winner: Vince Haig

Nominees:
David Rix
Daniele Serra
Sophie E Tallis

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Best Comic / Graphic Novel

Winner: Widdershins, Vol. 7: Curtain Call, Kate Ashwin (self-published)

Nominees:
100 Demon Dialogues, Lucy Bellwood (Toonhound)
The Prisoner, Robert S. Malan & John Cockshaw (Luna)
B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth, Vol. 1, Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis, Tyler Crook & Dave Stewart (Dark Horse)
Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories, Vol. 1, Mike Mignola, et al. (Dark Horse)
Saga #49-54, Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (Image)

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Best Audio

Winner: Breaking the Glass Slipper Podcast

Nominees:
Bedtime Stories for the End of the World Podcast
Blood on Satan’s Claw, Mark Morris (Bafflegab)
PodCastle
PsuedoPod

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Best Film / Television Production

Winner: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Nominees:
Annihilation
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
The Haunting of Hill House
Inside No. 9, series 4

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Best Newcomer (the Sydney J Bounds Award)

Winner: Tasha Suri, for Empire of Sand (Orbit)

Nominees:
Tomi Adeyemi, for The Children of Blood and Bone (Macmillan Children’s)
Cameron Johnston, for The Traitor God (Angry Robot)
R.F. Kuang, for The Poppy War (HarperVoyager)
Marian Womack, for Lost Objects (Luna)
Micah Yongo, for Lost Gods (Angry Robot)