It’s time foe the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards for 2023! I was asked to be a judge again; and, this year will be the 3rd year I’ve participated in this speculative awards with other bookbloggers. I’m very excited about this year’s awards and nominees!
This year, there are fewer categories (compared to the extra ones we had last year). Yet, we still managed to have enough nominations and judges’ participating in the categories one would expect from a speculative literary awards. Most of this year’s judges are veteran ones who will be participating alongside some new ones.
The Jurors
Adri (@adrijjy) is co-editor of the Hugo Award winning fanzine Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together, and a semi-aquatic mammal currently living in the UK. She divides her time between reading, interacting with dogs, and working in international development. She can also be found at Strange Horizons.
C. (themiddleshelf@wandering.shop) fell into scifi and fantasy at 13 and has never recovered since. They can be found blogging about diverse books, novellas and small press publications at http://www.themiddleshelf.org.
Imyril (@imyril) reviews SFF at There’s Always Room For One More and is the resident spreadsheet dragon for Wyrd and Wonder, SciFiMonth and Subjective Chaos (yes, even chaos benefits from a little organisation, shh).
Gautam Bhatia (@gautambhatia88) is an Indian SF writer, editor, and reviewer. He is the author of The Wall and The Horizon, and reviews and edits for Strange Horizons magazine.
Kris Vyas-Myall (@hammard_1987) is the co-founder of Cloaked Creators and someone who reads way too much fiction and likes anything bizarre, the weirder the better. They blog around the internet at various places including Galactic Journey and Geek Syndicate.
Me: L.A. Young (a.k.a. Aquavenatus, Misty306) is a book reviewer for both her personal blog and Fantasy-Faction. In addition to reading, you can find her gaming, running, cooking, gardening and writing (check out her other published works online!). You can follow her on any of her many social media pages: https://linktr.ee/AquaVenatus
Matt aka @RunalongWomble is a book tempter – ahem, blogger – at Runalongtheshelves. The sweet voice on your shoulder telling you that it’s ok to get a new book. They are not a Moriarty, honest.
Robin Rose Graves (@spicymisorobin) is a science fiction writer who will never pass up the opportunity to talk about what she is reading. To appease this need to review and analyze everything she reads, Robin has founded her BookTube channel, The Book Wormhole.
Roseanna (@chloroform_tea) has been having opinions about books for about as long as she’s been reading, and yelling them into the void since 2012. She blogs at A Reader of Else and contributes to Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together, but can also occasionally be found chasing a rugby ball around in the mud, morris dancing, or pandering to her cat’s every whim.
Sara is one half of Fiction Fans Podcast (@fictionfanspod), a weekly (mostly) SFF podcast which she has cohosted since its inception in 2021. When she’s not reading on the couch with her pugs, she can be found weeding in the garden.
Sun (@suncani1) is a SFF reader who can be found getting overly excited about a bunch of things on Twitter/Mastodon and occasionally pausing to pass longer comment at Wormholes and Wooden Doors.
The Nominees
Best Fantasy Novel
The Unbalancing by R.B. Lemberg
Spear by Nicola Griffith
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
Swallow: Efunsetan Aniwura by Ayodele Olofintuade
The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller
Best Science Fiction Novel
The Coral Bones by E.J. Swift
Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi
Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Dreams Bigger than Heartbreak by Charlie Jane Anders
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot
Best Blurred Boundaries Novel
The Way the Light Bends by Lorraine Wright
Tell Me An Ending by Jo Harkin
The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro
Mage of Fools by Eugen Bacon
Things They Lost by Okwiri Oduor
Best Novella
The Entropy of Loss by Stewart Hotston
Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy by Sam J Miller
The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia
Queen of the High Fields by Rihannon Grist
One Arm Shorter than the Other by Gigi Ganguly
All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie
Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien and Kat Weaver
Best Short Stories
“The Lady Painted a Library” by Tobi Ogundiran (from: African Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction)
“This Excessive Use of Pickled Food” by Leora Spitzer (from: Khoreo Magazine)
“I Will Have This Diamond for a Heart” by Carlos Hernandez (from: Uncanny Magazine)
“The Two Faced Miracle of Justice Father Win” by Susan Rukeyser (from: Simultaneous Times Podcast)
“Can I Offer You a Nice Egg in This Trying Time” by Iori Kusano (from: Uncanny Magazine)
Once again, this year’s awards have A LOT of competition within each category. It’ll be very interesting to see which of the nominees make it to the Final Round!
Here’s a link to an Instagram post where you can see the book covers of the nominees.
Good luck to all of our nominees! Let the Chaos begin!