For those of you unfamiliar with the Sidewise Awards, they have been presented annually since 1995 to recognized excellence in alternate historical fiction.
If you’ve never read any alternate history, you’re missing out. In a nutshell, these types of books explore “what if” situations and how they would have impacted history. Probably the most famous book of this type is Harry Turtledove’s book, “Guns of the South,” which explores what would have happened if the Confederate army had been supplied with AK-47s during the Civil War.
Sidewise Awards are given in two categories, Best Long-Form Alternate History and Best Short-Form Alternate History. Long-Form winners are typically book-length works longer than 60,000 words, including novels and longer works. Short-Form winners are usually much shorter works, including short stories, novelettes, novellas and even comic books.
The finalists for this year’s Best Long-Form Alternate History include the following books:
- “Castro’s Bomb” by Robert Conroy
- “Himmler’s War” by Robert Conroy
- “Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan” by Jeff Greenfield
- “Wake Up and Dream” by Ian R. MacLeod
- “Planesrunner” by Ian McDonald
- “Heart of Iron” by Ekaterina Sedia
- “Camera Obscura” by Lavie Tidhar
One of the books above will join a long list of great Long-Form category winners. What follows is a complete list of the winners in that category.
1995 – “Pasquale’s Angel” by Paul J. McAuley
1996 – “Voyage” by Stephen Baxter
1997 – “How Few Remain” by Harry Turtledove
1998 – “Making History” by Stephen Fry
1999 – “Resurrection Day” by Brendan DuBois
2000 – “Ash: A Secret History” by Mary Gentle
2001 – “The Children’s War” by J.N. Stroyar
2002 (tie) – “Ruled Britannia” by Harry Turtledove and “The Severed Wing” by Martin J. Gidron
2003 – “Collaborator” by Murray Davies
2004 – “The Plot Against America” by Philip Roth
2005 – “The Summer Isles” by Ian R. MacLeod
2006 – “The Family Trade,” “The Hidden Family” and “The Clan Corporate” (series) by Charles Stross
2007 – “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” by Michael Chabon
2008 – “The Dragon’s Nine Sons” by Chris Roberson
2009 – “1942” by Robert Conroy
2010 – “When Angels Wept: A What-If History of the Cuban Missile Crisis” by Eric Swedin
A panel of six judges selects the Sidewise Award winners annually, and the membership of the panel changes from year to year. The current judges are Stephen Baxter of Great Britain; Stuart Shiffman of Seattle; Evelyn Leeper of Matawan, N.J.; Kurt Sidaway of Great Britain; Jim Rittenhouse of Lisle, Ill. and Steven Silver of Deerfield, Ill.
For more information about the Sidewise Awards, including information about this year’s Short-Form nominees, visit www.uchronia.net/sidewise/.
In the end, how many of the works mentioned above have you had a chance to read? What did you think about them? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Which of this year’s Long-Form nominees do you think will take home top honors? Who will come in second? Let us know in the comments section below.
No comments:
Post a Comment