Speculative Fiction Awards Season Coming Up!

On By janewisemanIn fantastic fantasyLeave a comment

Every year around this time, I start getting notifications about the major speculative fiction awards and their lists of nominees. Reading through these short-lists of nominees is an excellent way to discover some great new books, often by authors you either don’t know or know you should know.

In previous years, I’ve reviewed the short-listed novels for the Nebula and Hugo Awards, the two most well-known speculative fiction awards with the longest history–and then two others. I’ve read and reviewed the short-listed novels of the Locus Award (a problem because there’s too much there, and they include horror, which I don’t read). I’ve read the short list several years running of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and I’ve always found that list an excellent source of books I want to read. Last year, I included the World Fantasy Award.

One more piece of information about these awards posts: with a few exceptions, I only read nominated novels. The awards nominations include so much other wonderful stuff–short fiction, poetry, movies, more. But this blog is MOSTLY about novels, and novels are long. Even though I’m a fast reader, it takes me a while to read them all. And I don’t review any novel I haven’t read, cover to cover. So I stick (mostly) to novels.

This year I plan to review the 2026 short-listed Best Novel nominees for:

  • The Philip K. Dick Award, sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. This list is new to me this year–nominees already announced, award to be presented at Norwescon‘s annual conference in Seattle, April 3, 2026
  • The Nebula Awards, as always–nominees to be listed on March 15, award to be presented at the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association) annual conference in Chicago, June 3-7
  • The Hugo Awards, as always–nominations close on March 28, 2026, award to be presented at 2026 Worldcon (LACon V), Aug. 27-31
  • The World Fantasy Awards, as I did last year–nominations close on April 20, 2026, award to be presented at The World Fantasy Convention in Oakland, CA, Oct. 22-27

Since The Philip K. Dick Award is coming up fairly soon, and first, I am reviewing the short-listed novels in the next few weeks. They are:

About the Philip K. Dick Award

Named in honor of SF great Philip K. Dick, the nominees are selected by the Philadelphia SF Club, and the award is hosted and presented at Norwescon’s annual meeting.

Some of these books are long! If you want to read the nominees ahead of the award, get reading!

Next up: My review of William Alexander’s Sunward.

WARNING: Since the advent of ChatGPT and other AI “tools” for “writers,” scammers have been flooding book-buying channels with AI-slop “books.” Beware. In the case of a book meant to provide information, AI-generated books can actually hurt you by providing false, hallucinated information. For example, an AI foraging guide to wild plants can actually kill you by misidentifying poisonous plants.

But what about regular books? What about novels? They sock you between the eyes with bad generic writing. And they are almost always a cash grab by lazy posers out to make a buck. Your buck.

Here is an excellent guide to identifying and avoiding AI-generated books: https://www.kentonlibrary.org/blogs/post/buyer-beware-identifying-ai-slop-books/ As always, when in doubt–ask a librarian. They are the human beings who KNOW and best of all, KNOW HOW TO FIND OUT.

Here’s my promise. This blog will never use AI to “write” any of its content. Just today, I read a blog article that was so bad, I was sure it must have been generated by AI. It seems to have been written by an actual person. So–no guarantees! I, an actual human, apologize in advance (don’t you hate that horrible canned phrase?) for any bad writing you might see here.

But readers! Keep yourself safe from AI. Your body, and also your brain cells and eyeballs, will thank you.

Fairytale Fantasy Week 2026: Happy Valentine’s Day!

On By janewisemanIn fantastic fantasyLeave a comment

Here it is, the day we celebrate what we love–and the end of Fairytale Fantasy Week. This year’s theme: Robin Hood retellings.

This year was especially difficult. When I began, months ago, to search for books to feature in these posts, I had a hard time of it. I read dozens of samples of books that revealed bad writing or inappropriate subject matter. I even read all or parts of whole books leading me to feel, ultimately, I didn’t have much positive to say about them. I don’t like to trash books in this space. I’m a writer, too, and I know how hard it is to conceive of a book, write it, edit it, and then try to get it seen.

I’m not even sure why there aren’t more good Robin Hood books out there. He’s a very popular fellow! As it turns out, there are tons of Robin Hood retellings, but most of them didn’t do that magical thing for me that any novel needs to do for any reader.

At the end of the process, sometimes reading right up to my deadline, I did find some good books. Many of them (most of them?) don’t qualify as fantasy, at least not the kind of fantasy that involves magic and wizards and wands and such. But a fairytale retelling is always, in some ways, fantasy. The characters are not real. They are legend. In the end, many of the best Robin Hood retellings are, I discovered, historical fiction. I suppose people keep wanting to think of Robin as real. They keep saying, “What if he WERE real? What would he be like? What world would he inhabit?”

Here are my favorites:

Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix, by Aminah Mae Safi (2022)–Robin Hood retelling that stands the legend on its head. Ingenious, clever writing and world-building.

Sherwood, by Meagan Spooner (2019)–Robin Hood retelling from Maid Marion’s point of view, nicely plotted and written, with a wonderful main character.

Arrow of Sherwood, Lauren Johnson (2013)–good historical novel about Robin Hood.

You may beg to differ. There are several other historical novels in the mix, all of them admirable in many ways. And if you love YA, there are several of those, too. I suppose the novels by Safi and Spooner, listed above, could be considered YA. For me, they are just good novels that I think any reader could enjoy at any age. OR I may have left your favorite Robin Hood retelling off my list entirely. BUT here’s a truth: Every reader is different. Every novel is a different experience for every reader.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy reading!

Fairytale Fantasy Week 2026: Everyone loves a rogue

On By janewisemanIn fantastic fantasyLeave a comment
fairy tale princess in a green hood

. . . and that’s why everyone loves Robin Hood. What is a rogue, exactly? The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language gives this as its first definition: “An unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or rascal.” But it gives THIS as its second definition: “One who is playfully mischievous; a scamp.” There’s a fine line, admittedly, between “scoundrel” and “scamp,” but we all know it when we see it.

Robin Hood flouts the law. But he flouts the law with flair. And, according to those theorists of the “social bandit,” he does it because the law is wrong and unfairly administered. Robin the rogue is a hero. So folk heroes like Robin take on a life of their own, appearing over and over again in popular culture–ballads, told tales, books, later on movies, wherever an audience wants the thrill of seeing someone give the finger to overbearing authority and (this is the important takeaway) get away with it. Think Subway Sandwich Man. Standing up for the little guy, speaking truth to power with only a hoagy for weapon. We love that man, and so did the jury.

Who are some other famous rogues we love to love? And do they all have to wear hoods? No, they do not all have to wear hoods. Here are a few from folklore and fiction and history and maybe-history: Billy the Kid, Zorro, Anne Bonny, Ned Kelly, Che Guevara, Anansi the spider trickster, Loki, Jack Mary Ann, Pancho Villa, Ma Barker, Cartman, Reynard the Fox, Bonnie and Clyde, Sly Peter, the Joker, Till Eulenspiegel, Bugs Bunny, The Lone Ranger (no, really–“Who was that masked man?” Look up his origin story), Bart Simpson, Tom Sawyer, Coyote, William Wallace, Wat Tyler, Emiliano Zapata. Some of them are outlaws with a lovable or admirable or at least fascinating side. Some are vigilantes for justice. Some are transgressive figures so charming or funny we have to love them in spite of themselves, especially those who make the comfortable uncomfortable. Well. . .and then. . .some of us hate some of them.

Do you love fantasy? Do you love rogues? If you haven’t discovered it already, you will want to read this wonderful book full of great short fiction:

Rogues, ed. George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (2014)

cover of the short fiction collection Rogues
Find out more HERE.

What a great collection. Some of my favorites from this volume:

  • George R. R. Martin’s introduction, which explores the concept of the rogue and especially the rogue in fantasy literature. Not all of the stories in the collection are fantasy, but a lot are, and most of them, fantasy or not, are just great. The last story in the collection is also by Martin, although it seems more an explanatory backstory for his A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series than a true piece of short fiction. Fans of that hugely popular book series and the streaming Game of Thrones series that resulted from it will enjoy this part of the book.
  • “Tough Times All Over,” by Joe Abercrombie–clever tale set in the fascinating world of Abercrombie’s grimdark First Law series. The story is as tricky and slippery as the main character.
  • “Bent Twig,” by Joe R. Lansdale–very, very funny, and very, very violent. Crime, not fantasy.
  • “Roaring Twenties,” by Carrie Vaughan–a story masquerading as a tale of werewolves and witches when actually it’s about a very important historical event.
  • “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane,” by Scott Lynch–fascinating roguery by the author of the great Gentlemen Bastards series, enlivened by Lynch’s wonderful penchant for describing strange and marvelous drinks. Has there ever been a better rogue than Lynch’s Locke Lamora? Locke isn’t in this story, but it is a very satisfying read featuring a whole gang of rogues.
  • “Bad Brass,” by Bradley Denton–What a story! Not fantasy either, but. . . it’s the music, not the instrument.
  • “The Meaning of Love,” by Daniel Abraham. A lovely, wistful story with a great rogue as the main character. This story led me to read Abraham’s matchless Long Price Quartet series.
  • “Ill Seen in Tyre,” by Steven Saylor is a fun tribute to Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. If you are nostalgic for old-style fantasy, you’ll love this one.
  • “A Cargo of Ivories,” by Garth Nix–ingeniously funny and strange.
  • “The Lightning Tree,” by Patrick Rothfuss–great story about Bast, one of the most lovable rogues of all time, from The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. This is the reason I bought this book in the first place–to hear more about Bast. Now you can buy this story in a slightly enhanced form as a stand-alone.
  • Other stories by Neil Gaimon, Connie Willis, and more.

NEXT UP: The last post of Fairytale Fantasy Week 2026