Pandora's box has been opened and, since there's no going back now I can finally reveal a secret. Late one evening while minding my own business on Twitter I was accosted by a decidedly shady-looking being wearing a huge coat and an eyepatch. Some words were said, there might have been a secret handshake and somehow I suddenly found myself recruited as a judge for The Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards. To be honest it was all kind of a blur....
What Kind of Awards?
The Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards* was started by C from The Middle Shelf in 2017 to provide a platform for a group of speculative fiction book bloggers to nominate, discuss and award their favourite books of the year. It's the only award* that will rock you. Literally!
(*Well, not exactly awards. We don't take ourselves quite seriously enough for that. And well, it wouldn't be the best stories, just the best stories according to us.)
Eligibility:
- To be eligible for the awards works need to be:
- Published for the first time in any format in the prior calendar year
- Republished in a substantially revised format (e.g. a novella being expanded to a novel) in the prior calendar year
- They are reprinted in the prior calendar year wherein either:
- For the first time in English;
- For the first time in the UK; and\or
- Is republished by a new publisher major publisher when previously published by an independent publisher.
The Rules:
There are some rules. More guidelines actually. They are in constant flux but can be summed up as:
- to read at least 100 pages or 50% of every novel/novella nominee in a category – or the first 2 books of a series for the best series category – before final voting
- to have fun and embrace chaos
- to listen to the concerns of marginalised voices
The categories:
- Best Fantasy Novel
- Best Science Fiction Novel
- Best Blurred Boundaries
- Best Novella
- Best Complete Series (final instalment published in 2019)
- Best Short Fiction (Newly introduced for the 2020 awards)
The Judges:
KJ aka @crusaderofchaos (that's me!) is a South African book blogger specialising in all things speculative fiction with a particular love for science fiction. He can be found plodding away at the keyboard trying to make words make sense whenever inspiration, work and power blackouts allows. Occasionally he event posts the reviews at www.worldsinink.blogspot.com
Matt aka Womble aka @Runalongwomble is a book tempter ahem blogger at Runalongtheshelves.net and is the sweet voice on your shoulder telling you that it’s ok to get a new book. Can also be found on Twitter for additional book tempting.
C aka @TheMiddleshelf1 fell into sci-fi and fantasy at 13 and has been hopelessly addicted since. The creation of web provided the means to talk and share about that with actual people when it appeared so C can be found nowadays at www.themiddleshelf.org
Adri aka @AdriJjy is a semi-aquatic mammal currently living in the UK, where she divides her spare time between reading, interacting with dogs and making resolutions about doing more baking. She is a co-editor at 3x Hugo nominated fanzine Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together.
Jane aka @pipsytip is a book blogger and podcaster at www.dumpylittleunicorn.co.uk who has found herself living in the depths of South East London. She loves science fiction and fantasy and blurred genres in between.
Kris aka @hammard_1987 blogs at www.cloakedcreators.com and in various venues around the internet. They spend far too much time reading genre fiction and insist on telling people about them. They love trying everything, the weirder the better
Imyril aka @imyril has been reading for almost as long as she’s been walking (with fewer obvious bruises). She shares her FEELINGS and other opinions about fantasy, sci-fi and speculative fiction at There’s Always Room For One More.
Sara aka @SharadeeReads is a blogger at www.thefantasyinn.com. Morroccan-born Frech Resident, she’s a fan of kissy and stabby books. Ideally both at the same time.
Nominations:
We are currently in the nomination phase for the awards. Deciding which works to nominate is an agonising process. How do you pick just one? How?!. A list of nominees should be announced as soon as they are finalised. If all goes to plan (which it rarely does) it should be before the end of the month.
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