Category Archives: Morningstar Award

A Look at Kings of the Wyld

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Kings of the Wyld
Nicholas Eames
Orbit
$2.99 ebook, $15.99 print

If you haven’t read yesterday’s post heard the news, Kings of the Wyld won this year’s David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best first novel.  Congratulations to Mr. Eames.  Well done, sir.

I had attempted to read all of the nominees before voting closed this year, but Real Life got in the way.  I only managed to finish two (reviewed here and here).  I was part of the way through Kings of the Wyld when voting closed.  Travel started and somehow I didn’t get back to the book until this past week.  I’m glad I did. Continue reading →

2018 Gemmell Award Winners Announced

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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.

Tethering a Mage

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The Tethered Mage
Melissa Caruso
Paperback $12.08, ebook $4.99
(Prices are current at the time the review is posted and are subject to change.)

The Tethered Mage is the second Gemmell Morningstar Award finalist I’m reviewing.  You can find the first review, for The Court of Broken Knives, here.  (For some reason, the two finalists I didn’t already have copies of when the final ballot was announced were the two I read first.  Oh, yeah, because I  bought electronic copies and could read them on my phone in spare minutes.)

I decided to read The Tethered Mage second because I thought based on what little I knew about it, it would be the one least likely to hold my interest.  I’m very glad to say that wasn’t the case at all.  Continue reading →

Entering The Court of Broken Knives

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The Court of Broken Knives
Anna Smith Spark
Hardcover $14.22 paperback $10.87 ebook $4.99
(Prices current at the time of posting and subject to change)

I had intended to write this review two weeks ago when I finished the book, but I was overtaken by final exams and the usual end of the semester stuff.

The Court of Broken Knives is a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award.  I usually try (emphasis on “try”) to read these nominees because they are first novels.  The Legend Award nominees tend to be books in series I’m not current on.

But I digress.  Anna Spark Smith’s Twitter handle is queen of grimdark.  I won’t argue it.  This is a very dark book.  Continue reading →

David Gemmell Legend Award Finalists Announced

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This year’s slate of finalists for the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel 2010 have been announced:

  •  Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan (Tor/Orbit)
  • The Alchemist in the Shadows by Pierre Pevel (Gollancz)
  • The War of the Dwarves by Marcus Heitz (Orbit)
  • The Black Prism by Brent Weeks (Orbit)
  • The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Tor/Gollancz)
  • The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett (Voyager)

Named after the late David Gemmell, the award aims to recognize excellence in the fantasy field.  The main page of the award is here.

Also announced are the finalists for the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer/Debut and the finalists for the Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Book Jacket/Artist.

The nominees for the Morningstar Award are:

  • Spellwright by Charlton Blake (Tor)
  • Warrior Priest by Darius Hinks (The Black Library)
  • The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by M. K. Jemison (Orbit)
  • Shadow Prowler by Alexy Pehov (Tor)
  • Tymon’s Flight by Mary Victoria (Harper Collins Australia)

The finalists for the Ravenheart Award are:

  • Olof Erla Einarsdottir – Power & Majesty
  • Todd Lockwood – The Ragged Man
  • Cliff Neilsen – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
  • John Sullivan – Shadow King
  • Frank Victoria – Tymon’s Flight

A complete list of all nominees for the Gemmell, Morningstar, and Ravenheart Awards can be found here, here, and here, respectively.

Congratulations to all nominees, especially the finalists.