This week has been mad: work’s been mental and, while I published this blog post earlier, my blog got hacked and I stole a couple of hours on Friday morning sorting it out.
Argh.
So, to repeat the lost bloggage, long story short, below find the shortlist for The Kitschies.
I’m going to bring back the 100 word reviews, starting with the Kitschies Red and Gold shortlists. Please don’t try to work out what’s going to win based on these – I honestly have no idea and won’t until Friday evening, by which time all of these blog posts (queued up!) will have gone out. I’ve already reviewed Lagoon here.
So tune in and watch. And buy and read all of these books – they are excellent.
The Kitschies, sponsored by Fallen London, presents its 2014 shortlist of “novels containing elements of the speculative and fantastic” for the most “progressive, intelligent and entertaining” books of 2014.
This year’s shortlisted books are narrowed down from 198 submissions, coming from over 40 publishers that range from literary stalwarts Jonathan Cape to genre independents such as NewCon Press. The Kitschies also accept self-published titles, and this year features the prize’s first self-published finalist.
The Red Tentacle (Novel), judged by Kate Griffin, Adam Roberts, Frances Hardinge, Kim Curran, and Glen Mehn:
- Lagoon, by Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton)
- Grasshopper Jungle, by Andrew Smith (Egmont)
- The Peripheral, by William Gibson (Viking)
- The Way Inn, by Will Wiles (4th Estate)
- The Race, by Nina Allan (NewCon Press)
The Golden Tentacle (Debut), also judged by Kate Griffin, Adam Roberts, Frances Hardinge, Kim Curran, and Glen Mehn:
- Viper Wine, by Hermione Eyre (Jonathan Cape)
- The Girl in the Road, by Monica Byrne (Blackfriars)
- Memory of Water, by Emmi Itäranta (Voyager)
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers (Self)
- The People in the Trees, by Hanya Yanagihara (Atlantic Books)
The Inky Tentacle (Cover Art), judged by Jim Kay, Dapo Adeola, Ed Warren, and Siân Prime:
- The Ghost of the Mary Celeste, by Valerie Martin, design by Steve Marking, lettering by Kimberly Glyder (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- A Man Lies Dreaming, by Lavie Tidhar, cover by Ben Summers (Hodder & Stoughton)
- Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll, cover by Emily Carroll and Sonja Chaghatzbanian (Faber and Faber)
- The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, cover by Rafaela Romaya and Yehring Tong (Canongate)
- Tigerman by Nick Harkaway, cover by Glenn O’Neill (William Heinemann)
The Invisible Tentacle (Natively Digital Fiction), judged by James Wallis, Laura Grace, and Clare Reddington:
- @echovirus12 (twitter fiction – http://www.metamorphiction.com/index.php/projects/echovirus12 ), created/curated by Jeff Noon @jeffnoon, Ed @3dgriffiths, James Knight @badbadpoet, violet sprite @gadgetgreen, Richard Biddle @littledeaths68, Mina Polen @polen, Uel Aramchek @ThePatanoiac, Graham Walsh @t_i_s_u, Vapour Vox @Wrong_Triangle.
- Kentucky Route Zero, Act III, by Cardboard Computer
- 80 Days, by Inkle Studios
- Sailor’s Dream by Simogo
The winners will be announced in a ceremony on 4th March, and receive a total of £2,500 in prize money, as well as one of the prize’s iconic Tentacle trophies.
The prize, sponsored by Fallen London, is now in its sixth year, with previous winners including Ruth Ozeki, Nick Harkaway, Lauren Beukes, China Miéville, and Patrick Ness.