The David Gemmell Legend Award winners have finally been announced and I think two of the three awards went the way we were expecting (Best Art and Newcomer), with what I guess you could call it a surprise win – but well deserved one – for Mark Lawrence in the third category of Best Book.
Here are the winners for those who have not seen them yet:
Ravenheart Award (Art / Cover):
Jason Chan, Emperor of Thorns (by Mark Lawrence)
Morningstar Award (Newcomers):
Brian McClellan, Promise of Blood
Legend Award (Best book of the year):
Mark Lawrence, Emperor of Thorns
To take an award when you find yourself in the same category as Brandon Sanderson, Peter V. Brett and Scott Lynch is quite an achievement. That said, I should add that Mark has done it before. In Fantasy-Faction’s 2013 awards, our top 5 also included Peter V. Brett, Mark Lawrence, Scott Lynch and Brandon Sanderson – infact, our top 5 matched the Gemmell’s shortlist almost exactly – and Mark topped our list too.
Also good news is that Jason Chan took the Ravenheart award for his Emperor of Thorns cover – his work has been a pivotal part of Mark’s success I feel; the covers really conveying the feel of the books. I guess Jason and Mark’s winning the two awards meaning that judging a book by its cover is OK at least some of the time? 🙂
Brian, of course, deceives a high-five for the best newcomer award. Of the books I read in that category, his was the most ‘different’ and it is good to see that rewarded. That said, I’d have liked to see a few more women in the newcomer award, because there were some great debuts that would have stacked up well in the shortlist.
Jennie Ivins