Dr Paul March-Russell, Specialist Associate Lecturer in the Department of Comparative Literature and editor of Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction, is on the judging panel for the Arthur C Clarke Award for science fiction literature for the second year running.
The shortlist for 2018 has just been announced. The six shortlisted books for the best science-fiction novel published in 2017 are:
- Robert Cargill, Sea of Rust (Gollancz)
- Anne Charnock, Dreams Before the Start of Time (47 North)
- Omar El Akkad, American War (Picador)
- Jaroslav Kalfar, Spaceman of Bohemia (Sceptre)
- Jennie Melamed, Gather the Daughters (Tinder Press)
- Jeff VanderMeer, Borne (Fourth Estate).
‘The 2018 shortlist is perhaps one of the most eclectic ever,’ commented Paul on the shortlist, ‘From a giant flying bear in a post-apocalyptic landscape, to the future of reproductive technology; from an absurdist satire on the meaning of existence, to a dystopian society where paedophilia is a virtue not a sin; and from the prospect of a second American Civil War to a post-human world of scavenging robots and global AIs, this is a list that demonstrates the imaginative possibilities of sf being written today.’
The winner will be announced at a public award ceremony held in partnership with Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road, London, on Wednesday 18 July 2018.
Further details of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the shortlist are available at: www.clarkeaward.com