18 May 2013

Awards Season: 2312

Submitted by Kimon

With 2312 presently one year old and Shaman fast approaching, there have been plenty of Science Fiction & Fantasy awards nominations! In detail:

  • James Tiptree Jr Award 2012

An award for SF&F "that expands or explores our understanding of gender"... particularly topical for 2312! 2312 had been nominated for:

1) It joyfully imagines a post-binary-gender world in which parents elect to have their children treated, while in the womb, to ensure that they will grow up with a mix of gender characteristics. And it provides a social and economic justification for them doing this.
2) Variations on gender/sexuality are not a main component of the plot exactly but the idea of gender play is fully part of the cultures...not a winner I would think but worthy of a mention perhaps...seems to be an example that fits the intent of the Award: authors that go beyond the present for gender/sexuality.

However, it lost to Caitlin R. Kiernan's The Drowning Girl and Kiini Ibura Salaam's Ancient, Ancient. 2312 is still in the Honor List.

Robinson had been previously nominated for Red Mars (1992) and his short story "Sexual Dimorphism" (in The Martians; 1999).

  • British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel 2012

Where it lost to Adam Roberts' Jack Glass.

Robinson had been previously nominated for The Gold Coast (1989), Green Mars (1993), Blue Mars (1996), The Years Of Rice And Salt (2002) and Forty Signs Of Rain (2004) and had won for Red Mars (1992).

  • Arthur C. Clarke Award 2013

Where it lost to Chris Beckett's Dark Eden.

Robinson had been previously nominated for The Memory Of Whiteness (1987), Red Mars (1993), Blue Mars (1997), The Years Of Rice And Salt (2003) and Galileo's Dream (2010).

  • Nebula Award for Best Novel 2012

Which is announced on May 18 (today!) in the Nebula Awards Weekend May 16-19 in San Jose, California, where Gene Wolfe will also receive the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

Robinson had been previously nominated for The Wild Shore (1984) and Green Mars (1994) and had won for Red Mars (1993).

  • Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 2013

Which will be announced by Connie Willis in the Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle, Washington, June 28-30.

Robinson had been previously nominated for The Gold Coast (1989), Red Mars (1993), Antarctica (1998), Forty Signs Of Rain (2005), Fifty Degrees Below (2006) and Galileo's Dream (2010) and had won for Green Mars (1994), Blue Mars (1997) and The Years Of Rice And Salt (2003).

  • John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 2013

Which will be announced June 14 at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas.

Robinson had been previously nominated for The Gold Coast (1989), Blue Mars (1997) and Galileo's Dream (2010) and had won for Pacific Edge (1991).

  • Hugo Award for Best Novel 2013

Which will be announced in the World Science Fiction Convention in San Antonio, Texas (Aug-29 to Sep-02). Interestingly, last time Robinson had won, for Blue Mars in 1997, it was also in San Antonio!

Robinson had been previously nominated for Red Mars (1993) and The Years Of Rice And Salt (2003) and had won for Green Mars (1994) and Blue Mars (1997).

 


So we the jury is still out on most of the awards, but 2312 already holds a particular kind of record: it is one of the few (the only one?) to have been nominated for all of the major SF&F awards! (The only exception could be the Philip K Dick award, for which The Wild Shore had been nominated, but as this one is dedicated to books originally published in paperback form, 2312 is not eligible.)

 

Meanwhile, here are some more 2312 reviews:

Comments

2312 won the Nebula Award... it's official:
http://www.sfwa.org/2013/05/2012-nebula-award-winners-announced/