It must be that time of year. The Oscars and now the the Tor Top Ten. Tor has come out with its top reader choices in the field of science fiction and fantasy and the Nebula nominations are now in. Here there are:
We’ve counted your votes — all 3000 of them and arrived at the winners of the 2011 Tor.com Readers’ Choice Awards!
But first, let’s look below for the top ten most voted on titles in the categories of Novel, Short Fiction, Covers, and Comics.
The top ten most voted on Novels are:
- The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (140 votes)
- The All-Pro by Scott Sigler (105 votes)
- The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (63 votes)
- The Seventh Throne by Stephen Zimmer (63 votes)
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (55 votes)
- The Final Arbiter by Mark Rivera (55 votes)
- A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin (53 votes)
- Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi (52 votes)
- Dancing With Eternity by J.P. Lowrie (50 votes)
- Among Others by Jo Walton (49 votes)
Patrick Rothfuss took the top slot by a substantial margin, although Scott Sigler’s The All-Pro was neck and neck with The Wise Man’s Fear for nearly the entire length of the poll. Voting was consistent for The Wise Man’s Fear throughout the entire 10-day length of voting, whereas fans of The All-Pro came out in bursts throughout the 10 days. In this case, slow and steady ended up winning the race.
I’ve read half of them and I agree that they are worth reading. In fact if you go back through my posts, you’ll see that I suggested several of the top ten books. Be aware that these are only books under Tor’s publication house and therefore limited to who can make the list. We need an Indie Science fiction top ten.
John Scalzi took unfair advantage by offering to save kittens if you voted for him. You can check out his comments on Twitter and his blog “Whatever.” Needless to say, he deserves top mention, kittens or no. But the scuttlebutt is that he came through with the promise and several kittens owe him their lives. I’ll have to admit it’s a new marketing 
technique and wicked smart.
Now the Nebula nominee awards are out also and often prove fertile ground for that great book you want to read. Here they are:
2011 Nebula Nominees
The Nebula Awards pay particular attention to short fiction, with categories for novella, novelette and short story. The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Screen Presentation mixes film and television, so Martin Scorcese’s 3-D “Hugo” (no relation to the Hugo science fiction awards) is going up against an episode of “Dr. Who” written by Neil Gaiman. In the running for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book is Franny Billingsley’s “Chime,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award.
The full list of nominees:
Novel ”Among Others,” Jo Walton (Tor) ”Embassytown,” China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Del Rey; Subterranean Press) ”Firebird,” Jack McDevitt (Ace Books) ”God’s War,” Kameron Hurley (Night Shade Books) ”Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti,” Genevieve Valentine (Prime Books) ”The Kingdom of Gods,” N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Novella “Kiss Me Twice,” Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2011) “Silently and Very Fast,” Catherynne M. Valente (WFSA Press; Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2011) “The Ice Owl,” Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November/December 2011) “The Man Who Bridged the Mist,” Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2011) “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary,” Ken Liu (Panverse Three, Panverse Publishing) “With Unclean Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 2011)
Novelette “Fields of Gold,” Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse 4, Night Shade Books) “Ray of Light,” Brad R. Torgersen (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2011) “Sauerkraut Station,” Ferrett Steinmetz (Giganotosaurus, November 2011) “Six Months, Three Days,” Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com, June 2011) “The Migratory Pattern of Dancers,” Katherine Sparrow (Giganotosaurus, July 2011) “The Old Equations,” Jake Kerr (Lightspeed Magazine, July 2011) “What We Found,” Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2011)
Short story “Her Husband’s Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed Magazine, October 2011) “Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son,” Tom Crosshill (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2011) “Movement,” Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 2011) “Shipbirth,” Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction, February 2011) “The Axiom of Choice,” David W. Goldman (New Haven Review, Winter 2011) “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees,” E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2011) “The Paper Menagerie,” Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March/April 2011)
Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation ”Attack the Block,” Joe Cornish (writer/director) (Optimum Releasing; Screen Gems) ”Captain America: The First Avenger,” Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (writers), Joe Johnston (director) (Paramount) ”Doctor Who: ‘The Doctor’s Wife,'” Neil Gaiman (writer), Richard Clark (director) (BBC Wales) ”Hugo,” John Logan (writer), Martin Scorsese (director) (Paramount) ”Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen (writer/director) (Sony) ”Source Code,” Ben Ripley (writer), Duncan Jones (director) (Summit) ”The Adjustment Bureau,” George Nolfi (writer/director) (Universal)
Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book ”Akata Witch,” Nnedi Okorafor (Viking Juvenile) ”Chime,” Franny Billingsley (Dial Books; Bloomsbury) ”Daughter of Smoke and Bone,” Laini Taylor (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Hodder & Stoughton) ”Everybody Sees the Ants,” A.S. King (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) ”The Boy at the End of the World,” Greg van Eekhout (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) ”The Freedom Maze,” Delia Sherman (Big Mouth House) ”The Girl of Fire and Thorns,” Rae Carson (Greenwillow Books) ”Ultraviolet,” R.J. Anderson (Orchard Books; Carolrhoda Books)
Winners will be announced during the SFWA’s 47th annual Nebula Awards Weekend, May 17-20, in Arlington, Va., where Connie Willis will receive the 2011 Damon Knight Grand Master Award for her lifetime contributions and achievements.
Walter Jon Williams will preside as toastmaster; the keynote speaker will be astronaut Michael Fincke, who has served two tours aboard the International Space Station — something science fiction writers dream of.
I was surprised that this year I didn’t recognize a lot of the Nebula nominees. That must meant that we are getting some new names and fresh writing out there. Good to see. I’ll check up on several of these and let you know my reaction.
Stay tuned.
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