2005 Otherwise Award

The Otherwise Award is pleased to announce that the award ceremony for the 2005 Otherwise Award winner(s) has been held, and the winners have received their award and accolades.

Award Information

Conference Information

  • Award Year: 2005
  • Award Year Number: Year 15
  • Conference: WisCon 30
  • Date: 30-05-2006
  • Location: Madison, WI

Award Sections

Award Winner

The 2005 jury chose 1 work for the Otherwise Award.

Air: Or, Have Not Have by Geoff Ryman (St. Margin’s Griffin, 2004)

What happens when all boundaries are crossed, national, cultural, and individual, when “Air,” an internet-in-your-head technology, connects people with drastic consequences. Mae, the book’s heroine, is a rural dressmaker, fashion consultant, and entrepreneur. Flooded with the memories of her 90 year old neighbor, she struggles to maintain her identity against madness. Political machinations and a flood threaten to overwhelm her country and her village in “Karzistan.” Mae has to act quickly. The unusual pregnancy in mid-book is jarring, which challenges readers’ expectations of what boundaries stories can push. That level of wrongness dislocates the reader, to give an analogous experience of the boundary-violations the characters are experiencing. — Liz Henry

What’s amazing about Air is not just what it accomplishes but what it avoids. There are many ways this novel could have gone wrong, and as I read it for the first time, I was torn between excitement at having discovered something truly special and fear of the inevitable false step that would ruin it. But Geoff Ryman never stumbled.

Air is a smart, moving story about men and women—especially women—striving to adapt to a new technology and the threat and promise of cultural change it brings with it. Though the issues it dramatizes are all too real, is never preachy. Its characters are not props in service of a polemic, but three-dimensional human beings you can believe in and care about. And while Kizuldah is a fictional village in an imaginary country, it feels more genuine than many a third-world literary setting I could name. In short, it’s fantastic. Read it. — Matt Ruff

Work Information

Title: Air: Or, Have Not HaveAuthor:
Publishers:
Publisher Name: St. Margin’s GriffinCountry: UKYear: 2004Publisher Name: OrionLocation: UKYear: 2005
Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: English
Geoff Ryman – Air
Geoff Ryman – Air

Award Honor List

See full details about the 2005 Honor List

The 2005 jury chose 6 works for the Honor List

Willful Creatures, (Doubleday, US, 2005)

Work Information

Title: Willful CreaturesAuthor: Work Type: CollectionOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: DoubledayCountry: USYear: 2005View on ISFDB
Aimee Bender — Willful Creatures

Wooden Bride, (Allen & Unwin, Australia, 2004)

Work Information

Title: Wooden BrideAuthor: Work Type: Short FictionOriginal Language: English
Collection:
Title: Black Juice Publisher: Allen & UnwinCountry: AustraliaYear: 2004View on ISFDB
Margo Lanagan — Black Juice

Little Faces, (SciFi.com, US, 2005)

Work Information

Title: Little FacesAuthor: Work Type: Short FictionOriginal Language: English
Collection:
Title: Sci Fiction February 23, 2005Editor: Ellen DatlowPublisher: SciFi.comCountry: USYear: 2005View on ISFDB
Otherwise Award Cover Art Fallback Image

A Brother's Price, (Roc / New American Library, US, 2005)

Work Information

Title: A Brother's PriceAuthor: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: Roc / New American LibraryCountry: USYear: 2005View on ISFDB
Wen Spencer — A Brother's Price

Misfortune, (Back Bay Books, US, 2005)

Work Information

Title: MisfortuneAuthor: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: Back Bay BooksCountry: USYear: 2005View on ISFDB
Wesley Stace — Misfortune

Remains, (Benbella Books, US, 2005)

Work Information

Title: RemainsAuthor: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: Benbella BooksCountry: USYear: 2005View on ISFDB
Mark W. Tiedemann — Remains

Award Long List

See full details about the 2005 Long List

The 2005 jury chose 18 works for the Long List

  • Arcana, (CSI Slash Fanfiction, US, 2005)
  • Touched by Venom, Book One of the The Dragon Temple Saga, (Roc / New American Library, US, 2005)
  • The Mercy of Thin Air, (Atria Books, UK, 2005)
  • Alanya to Alanya, Marq'ssan Cycle Book One, (Aqueduct Press, US, 2005)
  • The Red Rose Rages (Bleeding), (Aqueduct Press, US, 2005)
  • Mister Boots, (Viking, US, 2005)
  • The King in the Window, (Miramax Books, US, 2005)
  • Tesseracts Nine: Canadian Science Fiction, Nalo Hopkinson, Geoff Ryman (eds.) (Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, Canada, 2005)
  • In the Shadow of the Stones, (Aqueduct Press, US, 2005)
  • Close to You, (Strange Horizons, US, 2005)
  • Planet of the Amazon Women, (Strange Horizons, US, 2005)
  • Melusine, The Doctrine of Labyrinths Book 1, (Ace Books, US, 2005)
  • The Icarus Girl, (Anchor Books | Knopf Doubleday, US, 2006)
  • Luna, (Little, Brown, US, 2004)
  • Uglies, Uglies Book 1, (Simon Pulse, US, 2006)
  • Magarettown, (Miramax Books, US, 2006)
  • Writing the Other: A Practical Approach, , (Aqueduct Press, US, 2005)
  • regender, (Ka-Ping Yee, Canada, 2005)

Jurors

  • Liz Henry (chair)
  • Nike Bourke
  • Matt Ruff
  • Georgie Schnobrich

Award Ceremony

See full details about the 2005 Ceremony

The 2005 Otherwise Award was given to Geoff Ryman at WisCon 30, May 30, 2006, in Madison, Wisconsin.