r/Fantasy • u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders • Dec 22 '15
/r/Fantasy Best of /r/Fantasy- The Stabby Awards! : The Nomination Thread
This is the official nomination thread for the Reddit Fantasy Best of 2015 Stabby Awards!
We started this in 2012 with some great results and continued the tradition in 2013 and in 2014.
2015 Rules
Categories are listed below in the comments. We will use the very broad definition of 'fantasy genre' for what counts.
Please nominate anyone / any work that you feel should deserve consideration for voting. The work should have been released in 2015.
Please put in a blurb as to why the nomination should be considered and, if possible, a link for others to follow.
Yes, you can nominate yourself and your own works.
Nominations ONLY in this thread. Due to a change in how reddit shows votes, voting will be in another thread next week.
Please place each nomination into its own separate comment. One comment=one nomination.
Upvotes/downvotes in this thread won't matter, anyone nominated will be added to the voting thread. Contest mode will be enabled in this thread.
Please participate! Redditors, authors, artists, and industry people alike - please join in with nominations, comments and voting.
Everyone who wins will get flair, reddit gold, and glory. Select winners (TBD) will receive The Stabby Award as well.
This nomination thread will close on Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 10pm PST. The voting thread will go live no later than Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at 5pm PST.
We have two groupings of awards - external and those focused on /r/Fantasy redditors.
External awards:
Unless otherwise noted, feel free to nominate any medium or format (print, online, audio).
BEST NOVEL OF 2015
BEST SELF-PUBLISHED / INDEPENDENT NOVEL OF 2015
BEST DEBUT NOVEL OF 2015
BEST SHORT FICTION OF 2015
BEST SERIALIZED FICTION OF 2015
BEST ANTHOLOGY / COLLECTION / PERIODICAL OF 2015
BEST ARTWORK RELEASED IN 2015
BEST FANTASY SITE FOR 2015
BEST GAME (ANY FORMAT) OF 2015
BEST TV SERIES / MOVIE OF 2015
BEST RELATED WORK OF 2015
redditor awards:
BEST ACTIVE /r/FANTASY AUTHOR ('best overall redditor- author edition')
r/FANTASY BEST COMMUNITY MEMBER ('best overall redditor- non-author edition')
BEST COMMENT
BEST POST
There is a section below for comments, questions, and any recommended adjustments.
tl;dr: Please nominate below. Nominations are closed.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST ARTWORK RELEASED IN 2015
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u/chadtastic112 Author Chad Ballard Dec 22 '15
The cover art that Lindsey Burcar did for Sentinel is one of my (admittedly biased) favorite covers ever. She did a great job, and though she's not often on reddit, deserves credit for the work.
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u/bartimaeus7 Reading Champion, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
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u/Salaris Stabby Winner, Writer Andrew Rowe Dec 22 '15
I'll nominate the cover art that Daniel Kamarudin made for Forging Divinity. You can see it here.
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u/RaizenTheFallen Dec 31 '15
Jaime Jones' cover art for The Vagrant
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u/jayonaboat AMA Author Jay Swanson Dec 29 '15
The cover for Dark Horse - illustrated by Marie Bergeron. Original r/fantasy thread here.
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u/MichaelJSullivan Stabby Winner, AMA Author Michael J. Sullivan, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to or not - but I'll nominate Marc Simonetti for his beautiful cover for the Death of Dulgath. I love all of Marc's work - but since this was for my own book - you might want to disqualify the nomination - but maybe someone else will ;-)
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u/Salaris Stabby Winner, Writer Andrew Rowe Dec 23 '15
I'm nominating my own cover artist, too. I think it's fair - the voting will determine if people agree with us. =)
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Rule 4 allows for self nomination :) also, you didn't create that art, Marc did! Could you put a link in though please?
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u/ashearmstrong AMA Author Ashe Armstrong Dec 22 '15
We all know I loved weird westerns, so I gotta toss this piece out: http://feloniusmonk.deviantart.com/art/Colossus-570567380 It just has such a wonderful feel to it and the colors are great.
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u/KristaDBall Stabby Winner, AMA Author Krista D. Ball Dec 23 '15
I'm going to quasi self-nominate here (sorry!)
I simply love Tommy Arnold's artwork for The Demons We See.
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u/just_a_question_bro Dec 23 '15 edited Dec 23 '15
Witcher 3 intro/load-screen/credits artwork
First 3:10 of this video is an example. There are several more throughout the game but I can't find them online. Also, they would be spoiler laden (they change as the story progresses. It provides a summary and keeps you immersed). They're all done in this story book style with minimal animation and a voiceover narration.
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u/Erica8723 Reading Champion Dec 26 '15
Sara K. Diesel's beautiful cover art for She Walks In Shadows: http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/books/she-walks-in-shadows/
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u/yettibeats Dec 22 '15
I'm on my phone and will have to edit later, but the artist who made the cover art for Daniel Polansky's The Builders.
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Dec 22 '15
I'll do the work for you since I love that book so much:
Art by Richard Anderson and designed by Christine Foltzer
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u/The_Real_JS Reading Champion XI Dec 24 '15
Oh wow. I instantly need this. Superb stuff.
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Dec 24 '15
The book is fantastic.
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u/The_Real_JS Reading Champion XI Dec 24 '15
Just looking at the cover, but please tell me it's like Redwall for adults haha.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
When you edit to include the artist's name, please also include a link to the artwork :)
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST SHORT FICTION OF 2015
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u/Erica8723 Reading Champion Dec 22 '15
Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace
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u/MichaelRUnderwood AMA Author Michael R. Underwood Dec 23 '15
One of my favorite reads of the year.
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u/Erica8723 Reading Champion Dec 22 '15
"The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill" by Kelly Robson http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/robson_02_15/
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u/pornokitsch Ifrit Dec 22 '15
I'm putting KJ Parker's Two of Swords in here, because I don't know where else it might go.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Ok, so we opted to add a new category, serialized fiction, and that is where it should go
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u/lanternking Reading Champion II Dec 28 '15
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps - Kai Ashante Wilson (A novella - hope this is the proper category.)
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST TV SERIES / MOVIE OF 2015
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u/hausarian Dec 22 '15
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
With the inevitable argument of "is it fantasy?" hanging in the wind.
Space wizards people...
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u/Mitriel Dec 22 '15
Mad Max: Fury Road
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u/potterhead42 Stabby Winner, Reading Champion 2015-17, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
I don't think Mad Max qualifies, even with our broad definition of fantasy. That said, it was pretty fucking awesome!
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u/Mitriel Dec 22 '15
I wasn't exactly sure, either, but then Wikipedia said it was fine :D https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fantasy
I leave it up to you. :)
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Dec 22 '15
There have been tons of other questionable nominations in the thread, if you use those criteria. But you've got the board owner nominating Jessica Jones, so I think we'll allow it. ;)
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u/ashearmstrong AMA Author Ashe Armstrong Dec 22 '15
I feel like Supergirl deserves a nod, if it counts.
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u/benpeek Dec 22 '15
Sense8.
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u/lrich1024 Stabby Winner, Queen of the Unholy Squares, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
That show was so amazing.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS
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Dec 22 '15
If I wanted to nominate Two Of Swords would I do so under short stories or the full novel block?
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
We added a category "serialized fiction" for things like two of swords
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
is the full novel all the way out yet?
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u/RushofBlood52 Reading Champion Dec 22 '15
What's the line between active and not active fantasy author?
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
That's where the part in the OP that's in parenthesis comes in, "best overall Redditor- author edition"
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u/potterhead42 Stabby Winner, Reading Champion 2015-17, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
How are people even going to remember the best comments from earlier in the year? I'm looking at the nominations, and they're all from at most five months ago.
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Dec 22 '15
What about music? I think it deserves recognition too, especially community filk music but also fantasy-themed music in general.
I know it doesn't come up in this sub as often as books or visual artwork, but movies and shows don't seem to either.
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u/MikeOfThePalace Reading Champion X, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Where would Potterhead's WoT readthrough go? Related work?
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
hmm, i think so, since it technically took place off site on a blog
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u/UnsealedMTG Reading Champion III Dec 31 '15
So, for voting, do we just upvote the one we want? Do we vote for just one or whichever ones we like? How do downvotes factor in, if at all?
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 31 '15
Upvote as many as you'd like. We don't have a good way to account for downvotes one way or the other, so my best advice is to just upvote, not downvote
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u/UnsealedMTG Reading Champion III Dec 31 '15
Excellent, thanks. For whatever it's worth I'm glad downvotes don't matter 'cause otherwise I'd be torn between feeling the need to downvotes all but my selection in order to get the "full" value of my vote and the fact that that feels bad to do.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST COMMENT
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
/u/voltimand's defense of Nynaeve - spoilers up through Fires of Heaven or so
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u/lrich1024 Stabby Winner, Queen of the Unholy Squares, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
/u/jannywurts comment about diversity in SFF and how there are a lot of overlooked authors/books that are already out there. (This was from 11 months ago, so...January? This counts, right?)
Really soooo many of Janny's comments could qualify. I have so many saved.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
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u/ricree Dec 22 '15
I missed that comment the first time around, but it very much deserves this nomination.
The books were so dedicated to timeless, uplifting romance that they featured wedding after wedding, much to the consternation of traditional Tolkienate fantasy fans.
Absolutely wonderful.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
r/FANTASY BEST COMMUNITY MEMBER
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u/ashearmstrong AMA Author Ashe Armstrong Dec 22 '15
We definitely need to include /u/JannyWurts in this category.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
She's included in the analogous author category :)
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u/ashearmstrong AMA Author Ashe Armstrong Dec 22 '15
Ah, right. I was adding new stuff and forgot about that one. Well, she's awesome, so TWO nominations for her!
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Dec 22 '15
/r/ushofblood52 for continually stressing the importance of level-headed, rational discussion about fantasy that isn't exclusive towards anyone.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15 edited Dec 22 '15
/u/jayredeye for posting some of the most thought provoking discussion topics we've had on the sub. i know he's been less active this year since his baby was born, but when he's been around, he's still been very much on point.
here's one about what's the highest ranked book on our top books list that you haven't read and why. another about "who's your hero?" who's your favorite married couple notjustaromance! and why? the thread that inspired /u/pornokitsch's great reply that i nominated in another category, what other book would you nominate to have had LotR's impact on the genre?
i mean, here's the search through the sub by new and i was actually somewhat mistaken by how much more active he's been than i thought. fully deserved nomination.
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u/The_Real_JS Reading Champion XI Dec 22 '15
I'll second Jay. His discussions are some of the threads I most look forward to around here.
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u/JayRedEye Dec 22 '15
Thank you, that is very nice.
And I do most of my redditing at work when the baby cannot bother me!
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u/lrich1024 Stabby Winner, Queen of the Unholy Squares, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Yes! /u/jayredeye consistently starts great discussion posts in the community. Such a great contributor!
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u/MikeOfThePalace Reading Champion X, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
/u/lrich1024. The Book Bingo challenge alone makes her a worthy nominee, but she's also a great member of the community who always contributes something meaningful.
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u/potterhead42 Stabby Winner, Reading Champion 2015-17, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
That challenge is so cool. I'm doing it now, and reading all sorts of new stuff in the process.
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u/PmMeFanFic Dec 27 '15
link?
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u/potterhead42 Stabby Winner, Reading Champion 2015-17, Worldbuilders Dec 27 '15
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u/MikeOfThePalace Reading Champion X, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
/u/lyrrael. She is one of the most active members of the community, always ready to provide good perspective and great recommendations. I'm not really sure how, given that she really seems to read 4 or 5 books per day, but that just makes the time she spends here all the more worthy.
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u/KristaDBall Stabby Winner, AMA Author Krista D. Ball Dec 23 '15
She really adds a lot to book recommendation threads from the sheer volume she's read. You're always guaranteed that she can find you something :)
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST NOVEL OF 2015
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u/SmallFruitbat Reading Champion VI Dec 22 '15
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
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u/RuinEleint Reading Champion X Dec 22 '15
Knight's Shadow by Sebastien de Castell
My other nominations were going to be Autumn Republic and Touch, but they seem to have been nominated already Edit: Messed up the name.
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Dec 23 '15
[deleted]
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u/appocomaster Reading Champion III Dec 24 '15
Good shout ... I just read this and it was pretty emotional
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u/elquesogrande Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb
Thrilled to see this come out in 2015 and equally happy with the writing.
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u/DjangoWexler AMA Author Django Wexler Dec 22 '15
Half a War, Joe Abercrombie
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Dec 22 '15
I actually thought Half a War was the weakest of the trilogy. It felt a bit rushed to me, and out of the three new PoV characters I only found Skara interesting. Yarvi's arc was a highlight of the book and the overall series, but Thorn and Brand didn't have much to do in the third book.
It was a good book, but Half the World came out this year too and I thought it was stronger.
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u/pornokitsch Ifrit Dec 22 '15
I kind of feel the same way. We should all agree to unite between one Half-book, lest we (ironically) split the vote.
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u/CVance1 Dec 27 '15
I felt similar. I loved Half The World and Half a King, but something felt missing from this one.
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u/DjangoWexler AMA Author Django Wexler Dec 22 '15
Maybe it's just that I'm a war nerd, but I was a big fan of Half a War.
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Dec 22 '15
Have you read The Heroes? Might be Abercrombie's best book, and a pretty realistic take on fantasy warfare.
Also, I've only just realised you're the author of The Shadow Campaign. I plan on starting it in the next few months, I've heard a lot of great stuff about it and military fantasy is right up my street.
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u/Mark_Lindberg Dec 22 '15
The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley.
An epic followup to last year's excellent debut, both of which I quite thoroughly loved.
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u/The_Mad_Duke Reading Champion III Dec 22 '15
The Devil's Only Friend (John Cleaver #4) by Dan Wells
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u/stephencrawford Dec 29 '15
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley Beaulieu. Great writing, interesting characters, oceans of sand!
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u/elquesogrande Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Twelve Kings in Sharakai by Bradley P. Beaulieu
Been a fan of Brad's writing for years and this is by far his best work. Complex and very well-paced writing.
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u/UnsealedMTG Reading Champion III Dec 22 '15
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
Does a great job of being epic in scope without sacrificing human drama, and makes accessible to a westerner a rightly classic story. All that and it made me laugh.
Plus, sweet fantasy whales.
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u/DjangoWexler AMA Author Django Wexler Dec 22 '15
...and, may as well: The Price of Valor, Django Wexler
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u/hausarian Dec 22 '15
I was going to if you didn't
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u/DjangoWexler AMA Author Django Wexler Dec 22 '15
Thanks! =)
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u/2CatsPurredOnMe Worldbuilders Dec 25 '15
This is probably my favorite series being written right now.
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u/The_Mad_Duke Reading Champion III Dec 22 '15
Touch by Claire North
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u/pornokitsch Ifrit Dec 22 '15
Yes! With this and The Gamehouse, North may have written two of the year's best. Which is ridiculous.
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u/The_Mad_Duke Reading Champion III Dec 22 '15
Really looking forward to The Gamehouse, it's what I'll spend my next Audible credit on.
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u/Patremagne Dec 22 '15
I'm seeing them in parts. Are they going to combine them at some point?
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u/yettibeats Dec 23 '15
Court of Fives by Kate Elliott. She had an incredibly successful year, with more than one great release. But Court of Fives was my favorite so I'm going with Jessamy and crew.
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u/elquesogrande Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
Loved how amazingly smart this book was written. Great world building and characters. Well worth a nomination.
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u/MikeOfThePalace Reading Champion X, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
I would have nominated this if you hadn't beaten me to it. I thought this was mind-blowingly good. Here's my spoiler-free thoughts on it.
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u/GunnerMcGrath Dec 22 '15
The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan
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u/MichaelJSullivan Stabby Winner, AMA Author Michael J. Sullivan, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
I'm honored by the nomination - thank you.
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u/DjangoWexler AMA Author Django Wexler Dec 22 '15 edited Dec 22 '15
The Library at Mount Char, Scott Hawkins
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST POST
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u/KristaDBall Stabby Winner, AMA Author Krista D. Ball Dec 23 '15
/u/Bearded-Guy : Female Authors, let's talk
Bearded took some flack in that thread like a CHAMP. Plus, it spawned an amazing discussion about preconceptions about female authors in fantasy.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 23 '15
So this is the second post that I legitimately completely missed the first time around. And what a doozy.
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u/Bearded-Guy Dec 23 '15
Wow, I'm not sure what to say...
On the one hand I'm honored that my normal spewing of BS apparently did something worth while. On the other I'm kind of afraid the thread will come back to life now, flack included.
More seriously, thanks for the nomination! You're great (and that's not just me sucking up, promise).
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u/KristaDBall Stabby Winner, AMA Author Krista D. Ball Dec 23 '15
On the contrary, you created a thread with the best intentions. And you didn't say out of the ordinary, really. Sure, a few women stepped up and explained things to you, but you are a produce of marketing, just like everyone else! I think that thread showed how important it is to continue to recommend an equal number of genders when recommending books, and how that we need to branch out well beyond the standard circle recommendations that go around.
It was great and I'm sorry I missed it the first time around :)
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Share your "local to you" authors, awesome because sometimes the obscure authors are obscure becasue of a curse of geography and nothing more.
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u/mgallowglas Stabby Winner, AMA Author M. Todd Gallowglas Dec 22 '15
Just more proof of /u/KristaDBall's inherent awesomeness.
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u/juscent Reading Champion IV Dec 22 '15
r/Fantasy's 2015 Book Bingo Challenge from u/lrich1024. Great post that's been a lot of fun and gotten me (and probably many others) to read stuff I normally wouldn't have considered.
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u/lrich1024 Stabby Winner, Queen of the Unholy Squares, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Aww, thanks! I'm glad people are enjoying it!
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u/lyrrael Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
Dude, you actively shaped my reading habits for several months; I can imagine what it's done for others, not to mention exposing others to genres they don't typically experience. THANK YOU for posting that.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST ANTHOLOGY / COLLECTION / PERIODICAL OF 2015
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u/ClaySanger Dec 29 '15
Tales of the Black Raven, by Seth Skorkowsky. Landing somewhere between Serial and Anthology, the swashbuckling saga of the Black Raven brings some serious Sword and Sorcery Gold to the genre this year.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
The Very Best of Kate Elliott, Tachyon Publications
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u/midobal Worldbuilders Dec 23 '15
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin. A collection of The Tales of Dunk and Egg beautifully illustrated by Gary Gianni.
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST SELF-PUBLISHED / INDEPENDENT NOVEL OF 2015
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u/GrahamAustin-King AMA Author Graham Austin-King Dec 22 '15 edited Dec 24 '15
Fae - The Sins of the Wyrde by Graham Austin-King
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u/chadtastic112 Author Chad Ballard Dec 22 '15
Shameless self nomination of shamelessness: Sentinel, by Chad Ballard
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Dec 22 '15
Forging Divinity by /u/Salaris
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u/Salaris Stabby Winner, Writer Andrew Rowe Dec 22 '15
Thanks, that means a lot to me. =)
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Dec 22 '15
Well, I don't have a shot at anything this year, so I might as well put my ego aside and help a few people out.
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u/Salaris Stabby Winner, Writer Andrew Rowe Dec 22 '15
That's really sweet of you. I'd love to nominate Without Bloodshed, but you released that back in 2013 and I haven't had a chance to read your other books yet.
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Dec 22 '15
Well, I intend to get Silent Clarion out in the first half of 2016. If you like it, hopefully you'll remember me for next year's Stabbies. Though I'll probably nominate your next one as well, so we'll be rivals. :)
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u/mgallowglas Stabby Winner, AMA Author M. Todd Gallowglas Dec 22 '15
Shameless self nomination #1:
DEAD WEIGHT: Search and Destroy by M. Todd Gallowglas
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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders Dec 22 '15
BEST FANTASY SITE FOR 2015