June Books 2) Orbitsville, by Bob Shaw
One of the classic Big Dumb Object novels of the 1970s, which won the BSFA Award for 1975 (other nominees not recorded; also got third place in the 1976 John W Campbell Award, Silverberg's The Stochastic Man coming second and no award made for the top spot; this was the year that The Forever War won Hugo and Nebula). It's rather of its time, which ( Read more... )
Comments 1
I'm not sure there were any other nominees. The history of the BSFA Award in the 1970s is a bit murky. I don't have access to a full set of the pubs to research it, and I haven't been able to persuade anybody who does have the resources to do the checking. The list of winners is easy enough to find but I've not been able to find any evidence of shortlists prior to 1980, and definitely not before 1973. I have wondered whether the BSFA got the idea of shortlist from seeing the Hugos at the 1979 Worldcon.
It's not even clear what was eligible. I'd assumed novels published in the UK in the previous year, although in 1972 the award seems to have gone to a collection from 1970, and the 1978 award is clearly described in Matrix as being for the best paperback of 1977. Also Clute/Nicholls says that at some point is was for British authors and all the winners pre-1979 are British albeit Michael Coney was Canada-based at the time.
-- Mark
Reply
Leave a comment