I received the following press release a short while ago.  My comments will follow.

Tonight saw the prizegiving ceremony for this year’s Gemmell Awards, marking the tenth anniversary of the event, and once again the awards were presented before a keen and enthusiastic audience at Derby’s Edge-Lit event.

The winner of the Ravenheart Award for best fantasy artwork was Richard Anderson for this work on Nicholas Eames’s Kings of the Wyld, published by Orbit with cover design from Lisa Marie Pompilio. Richard wins the award for the first time having seen off a host of previous winners and nominees taking in Kerim Beyit, Sam Green, Jackie Morris/Stephen Raw and Kerby Rosanes.

The winner of the Morningstar Award for best fantasy debut was Nicholas Eames with his title Kings of the Wyld, the first in ‘The Band’ series published by Orbit. The story follows a group of retired mercenaries clubbing together for one final mission and will be followed by the second book, Bloody Rose, this August. Eames saw off a strong field of fantasy debutants in RJ Barker, Melissa Caruso, Ed McDonald and Anna Smith Spark.

The winner of the Legend Award for best fantasy novel was Robin Hobb for Assassin’s Fate, the third book in the Fitz and the Fool series published by HarperVoyager. Hobb wins the award for the first time, beating stern competition from Miles Cameron, Steve McHugh and previous Legend recipients Mark Lawrence and Brandon Sanderson.

Awards Chair Stan Nicholls said: ‘The public have once again spoken with their votes this year, and the engagement and response for our tenth year has been fantastic. We’d like to congratulate Richard, Nicholas, Robin and all involved in making this year’s winning titles possible, and all who made the shortlists this year.’

For more information on the awards, visit http://www.gemmellawards.com/

I finished Kings of the Wyld last night.  It is deserving of the award.  I’ll try to have a review up within the next few days.

Adventures Fantastic would like to offer congratulations to all the nominees, and especially the winners.