Dragon Award Nominees Announced… Whither Scalzi? [UPDATED]

UPDATE: In the latest news, it has been reported that John Scalzi has reversed his withdrawal from the Dragon Awards ballot, stating on his blog that after discussion with the Dragon Award organizers he was told his request was being denied. Dragon Con’s web page statement indicates that the withdrawal of the nominees (now including N. K. Jemisin, The Obelisk Gate), put them in a bind not easily solved. Nevertheless, Alison Littlewood and Jemisin have been removed from the list of nominees at the time of this update. After Scalzi reviewed the statement, he chose to stay on the ballot, citing the flexibility of organizaers to learn and grow with the process of developing a new award and, as a creative entity, be allowed to remove himself from the list if he so chose. Scalzi encourages all voters to vote with their hearts, even if it means his nominee is not chosen.

ORIGINAL STORY: Dragon Con has announced the nominees for their second annual Dragon Awards ceremony to be held on September 3rd in Atlanta, GA. The list of book and media nominees is as follows:

Best Science Fiction Novel

• A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager)
• Babylon’s Ashes, James S.A. Corey (Orbit)
• Space Tripping, Patrick Edwards (Inkshares)
• Rise, Brian Guthrie (Inkshares)
• Death’s End, Cixin Liu (Tor)
• The Secret Kings, Brian Niemeier (Self-published)
• Escaping Infinity, Richard Paolinelli (Tuscany Bay)
• The Collapsing Empire, John Scalzi (Tor)

Best Fantasy Novel

• Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge, Larry Correia & John Ringo (Baen)
• The Hearthstone Thief, Pippa DaCosta (Crazy Ace)
• A Sea of Skulls, Vox Day (Self-published)
• Wings of Justice, Michael-Scott Earle (Self-published)
• Blood of the Earth, Faith Hunter (Ace)
• Beast Master, Shayne Silvers (Argento)
• Dangerous Ways, R.R. Virdi (R.R. Virdi)

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

• It’s All Fun and Games, Dave Barrett (Nerdist)
• Defy the Stars, Claudia Gray (Little, Brown)
• Firebrand, A.J. Hartley (Tor Teen)
• Rachel and the Many Splendored Dreamland, L. Jagi Lamplighter (Wisecraft)
• A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury)
• The Hammer of Thor, Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)
• Swan Knight’s Son, John C Wright (Castalia House)

Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel

• Star Realms: Rescue Run, Jon Del Arroz (Evil Girlfriend)
• The Span of Empire, Eric Flint & David Carrico (Baen)
• Iron Dragoons, Richard Fox (Self-published)
• Caine’s Mutiny, Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
• Invasion: Resistance, J.F. Holmes (Self-published)
• Starship Liberator, B.V. Larson & David Van Dyke (Castalia House)
• Allies and Enemies: Exiles, Amy J. Murphy (Self-published)
• Cartwright’s Cavaliers, Mark Wandrey (Seventh Seal)

Best Alternate History Novel

• Another Girl, Another Planet, Lou Antonelli (WordFire)
• Witchy Eye, D.J. Butler (Baen)
• Breath of Earth, Beth Cato (Harper Voyager)
• No Gods, Only Daimons, Kai Wai Cheah (Castalia House)
• 1636: The Ottoman Onslaught, Eric Flint (Baen)
• The Last Days of New Paris, China Miéville (Del Rey)
• A Change in Crime, D.R. Perry (Self-published)
• Fallout: The Hot War, Harry Turtledove (Del Rey)

Best Apocalyptic Novel

• Walkaway, Cory Doctorow (Tor)
• American War, Omar El Akkad (Vintage)
• Codename: Unsub, Declan Finn & Allan Yoskowitz (Self-published)
• The Seventh Age: Dawn, Rick Heinz (Inkshares)
• ZK: Falling, J.F. Holmes (Self-published)
• A Place Outside the Wild, Daniel Humphreys (Self-published)
• The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

Best Horror Novel

• A God in the Shed, J-F Dubeau (Inkshares)
• Live and Let Bite, Declan Finn (Self-published)
• Donn’s Hill, Caryn Larrinaga (Immortal Works)
• The Changeling, Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau)
• The Hidden People, Alison Littlewood (Jo Fletcher)
• The Bleak December, Kevin G. Summers (Self-published)
• Blood of Invidia, Tom Tinney & Morgen Batten (PiR8 Productions)
• Nothing Left to Lose, Dan Wells (Tor)

Best Comic Book

• Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eleven
• The Dresden Files: Dog Men
• Monstress
• Motor Girl
• Ms. Marvel
• Saga
• Wynonna Earp Legends

Best Graphic Novel

• Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #3, Marc Andreyko, Clive Barker, Emmanuel Xerx Javier (BOOM! Studios)
• Love is Love, Marc Andreyko, Sarah Gaydos, James S. Rich (IDW)
• Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Wild Card, Jim Butcher, Carlos Gomez (Dynamite)
• My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
• Girl Genius: the Second Journey of Agatha Heterodyne, Book 2: The City of Lightning, Phil and Kaja Foglio (Studio Foglio)
• March: Book 3, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin (Turtleback Books)
• Stuck in My Head, J.R. Mounts (Self-published)

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series

• Doctor Who
• The Expanse
• Lucifer
• Marvel’s Agents of Shield
• Stan Lee’s Lucky Man
• Stranger Things
• Westworld
• Wynonna Earp

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

• Arrival
• Doctor Strange
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• Logan
• Passengers
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• Wonder Woman

At the time of this writing, both John Scalzi and Alison Littlewood (Jo Fletcher) have withdrawn their novels from the Dragon Awards. Scalzi cited abuse of nomination, stating “Some other finalists are trying to use the book and me as a prop, to advance a manufactured ‘us vs. them’ vote-pumping narrative based on ideology or whatever. And I just… can’t.” Littlewood indicated that “While this would normally be a great pleasure, it has also been brought to my notice that my book has been selected by a voting bloc who are attempting, for reasons of their own, to influence the awards outcome.”

Shades of the Hugo Awards, circa 2015, anyone? Both withdrawals have been summarily refused by the Dragon Con President Pat Henry. As it stands now, the books still appear on the ballot.

Scalzi’s full statement can be read on his blog. Littlewood’s statement can be read here.

For more information on the Dragon Awards and the convention itself, plus a complete listing of nominated titles, please visit their website.