Saturday, June 18, 2011

Gemmell Legend Awards winners



Back in April, the shortlist for the David Gemmell Legend Awards were unveiled. Yesterday, the winners were announced.

Here is the official press release.

As for the winners, here you go :

Legend Award (Best Fantasy Novel of 2010)

Brandon Sanderson for The Way of Kings

Morningstar Award (Best Fantasy Debut)

Darius Hinks for The Warrior Priest

Ravenheart Award (Best Fantasy Book-Jacket)

Olof Erla Einarsdottir for the cover of Power and Majesty


Don't forget that the winners are determined by those who voted on the DGLA website. My pick for the shortlist was indeed The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (not among are the nominees...), I'm glad he won, congrats Brandon! As for the Darius Hinks, although I would have cheered for Blake Charlton, I really thought that N.K. Jemisin would be the winner. Anyone has read The Warrior Priest? Maybe I should look into it, I never read Warhammer related novels...

And then, for the Ravenheart award... well I really don't understand (my pick was Cliff Nielsen for Jemisin's novel cover art). Anyway, Einarsdottir work is not within my taste... I mean anybody like it?

6 comments:

  1. i already wrote the same thing on another blog.

    the cover is a disgrace ;) and something you see in the thousands on every tasteless bookshelf !

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  2. I don't get why that book won for cover art. I really don't get it. Not when put against Jemisin's stuff... and PLENTY of others that are out in the market.

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  3. Yeah. The cover says nothing to me. I don't get a visual of the book that meshes with the title or pulls me in. Nothing inventive here.

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  4. I have made a similar comment to this on another blog.

    I was under the impression that the Legend award was meant to be voted on according to the novel which was most like the work of David Gemmell.

    I don't want to take anything away from Sanderson, whom I really enjoy, but I am of the personal opinion that his books are of a distinctly different style to David Gemmell.

    Am I being to narrow minded here?? what do you guys think??

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  5. Wait--now I'm confused. I thought the Gemmell award was for quality, not similarity to Gemmell (except for being good). Isn't that how these namesake awards generally go?

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  6. Well I'd like to know the opinion of someone who voted for that cover...

    As for the meaning behind the David Gemmell Legend Award, a.l.l.an.n1 and Bets Davies your're both kind of right... here's the criteria :

    For the David Gemmell LEGEND Award for Best Fantasy Novel:

    - Full length novel published for the first time in the English language during
    the year of nomination
    - First publication, ppb or hb (no back-list or re-prints) in 20XX
    - Traditional, Heroic, Epic, or High Fantasy and/or in the spirit of David
    Gemmell’s own work


    So it seems that to be nominated, you can be simply a good fantasy novel or in the spirit of Gemmell's work. So indeed, The Way of Kings was not really in that last category but it's a High Fantasy novel...

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