The Otherwise Award is pleased to announce that the award ceremony for the 2008 Otherwise Award winner(s) has been held, and the winners have received their award and accolades.

Award Information

Conference Information

  • Award Year: 2008
  • Award Year Number: Year 18
  • Conference: Wiscon 33
  • Date: 25-05-2009
  • Location: Madison, WI

Award Winners

The 2008 jury chose 2 works for the Otherwise Award.

The Knife of Never Letting Go, Chaos Walking Book 1, by Patrick Ness (Walker, 2008)

The Knife of Never Letting Go begins with a boy growing up in a village way off the grid. Jury chair Gavin J. Grant explains, “All the villagers can hear one another’s thoughts (their ‘noise’) and all the villagers are men. The boy has never seen a woman or girl so when he meets one his world is infinitely expanded as he discovers the complications of gender relations. As he travels in this newly bi-gendered world, he also has to work out the definition of becoming and being a man.”

Juror Leslie Howle praises Ness’s skills as a writer: “Ness is a craftsman Ñ the language, pacing, complications, plot Ñ this story has all of the elements of great story-telling. It’s a page-turner, and I continued to think about the story long after reading it. Todd’s understanding of gender is constructed as the story progresses, making his perceptions feel fresh and new. It reminds me of the kind of SF I loved when I was growing up.”

In addition to the Tiptree Award, The Knife of Never Letting Go also won the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize (U.K.), which celebrates contemporary fiction for teenagers, and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.

Work Information

Title: The Knife of Never Letting GoAuthor:
Series:
Series Title: Chaos WalkingSeries Number: 1
Publishers:
Publisher Name: WalkerCountry: UKYear: 2008
Publisher Name: Candlewick PressLocation: USYear: 2009
Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: English
Patrick Ness – The Knife of Never Letting Go
Patrick Ness – The Knife of Never Letting Go

Filter House by Nisi Shawl (Aqueduct Press, 2008)

Publishers Weekly, which selected Filter House as one of the best books of 2008, described it as an “exquisitely rendered debut collection” that “ranges into the past and future to explore identity and belief in a dazzling variety of settings.” Tiptree jurors spotlight Shawl’s willingness to challenge the reader with her exploration of gender roles. Juror K. Tempest Bradford writes, “The stories in Filter House refuse to allow the reader the comfort of assuming that the men and women will act according to the assumptions mainstream readers/society/culture puts on them.”

Juror Catherynne M. Valente notes that most of Shawl’s protagonists in this collection are “young women coming to terms with womanhood and what that means in terms of their culture, magic (almost always tribal, nuts and bolts, African-based magical systems, which is fascinating in itself), [and] technology.” In her comments, Valente points out some elements of stories that made this collection particularly appropriate for the Tiptree Award: “‘At the Huts of Ajala’ struck me deeply as a critique of beauty and coming of age rituals. The final story, ‘The Beads of Ku,’ deals with marriage and motherhood and death. ‘Shiomah’s Land’ deals with the sexuality of a godlike race, and a young woman’s liberation from it. ‘Wallamellon’ is a heartbreaking story about the Blue Lady, the folkloric figure invented by Florida orphans, and a young girl pursuing the Blue Lady straight into a kind of urban priestess-hood.”

Work Information

Title: Filter HouseAuthor:
Publisher:
Publisher Name: Aqueduct PressCountry: USYear: 2008
Work Type: CollectionOriginal Language: English
Nisi Shawl – Filter House
Nisi Shawl – Filter House

Award Honor List

The 2008 jury chose 13 works for the Honor List

The Love We Share Without Knowing, (Bantam, US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: The Love We Share Without KnowingAuthor: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: BantamCountry: USYear: 2008View on ISFDB

The Explosionist, Sophie Hunter Book 1, (HarperTeen, US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: The ExplosionistSeries: Sophie HunterSeries Number: 1Author: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: HarperTeenCountry: USYear: 2008View on ISFDB

Shadowbridge, Shadowbridge Book 1, (Del Rey Books, US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: ShadowbridgeSeries: ShadowbridgeSeries Number: 1Author: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: Del Rey BooksCountry: USYear: 2008View on ISFDB

Lord Tophet: A Shadowbridge Novel, Shadowbridge Book 2, (Del Rey Books, US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: Lord Tophet: A Shadowbridge NovelSeries: ShadowbridgeSeries Number: 2Author: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: Del Rey BooksCountry: USYear: 2008

Two Pearls of Wisdom, Empire of the Celestial Dragon Book 1, (HarperCollins, Australia, 2008)

Work Information

Title: Two Pearls of Wisdom
Alternate Titles:
Title: Eon: Dragoneye RebornPublisher: VikingCountry: USYear: 2009Title: Eon: Rise of the DragoneyePublisher: HarperCollinsCountry: AustraliaYear: 2009Series: Empire of the Celestial DragonSeries Number: 1Author: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: HarperCollinsCountry: AustraliaYear: 2008View on ISFDB

Pride and Prometheus, (Spilogale, Inc., US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: Pride and PrometheusAuthor: Work Type: Short FictionOriginal Language: English
Collection:
Title: Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction January 2008Editor: Gordon Van GelderPublisher: Spilogale, Inc.Country: USYear: 2008View on ISFDB

Tender Morsels, (Alfred A. Knopf, US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: Tender MorselsAuthor: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: Alfred A. KnopfCountry: USYear: 2008View on ISFDB

Lavinia, (Harcourt, US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: LaviniaAuthor: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: HarcourtCountry: USYear: 2008View on ISFDB

Let the Right One In, (Quercus, UK, 2007)

Work Information

Title: Let the Right One In
Alternate Titles:
Title: Låt den rätte komma inPublisher: Ordfront FörlagCountry: SwedenYear: 2004Title: Let Me InPublisher: St. Martin's PressCountry: USYear: 2007Author: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: SwedishTranslator: Ebba SegerbergPublisher: QuercusCountry: UKYear: 2007View on ISFDB

A Princess of Roumania (Series), (Tor Books, US, 2005)

Work Information

Title: A Princess of Roumania (Series)
Works in Series
  • Series Work Title: A Princess of RoumaniaPublisher: Tor BooksYear Published: Country Published: US
  • Series Work Title: The TourmalinePublisher: Tor BooksYear Published: Country Published: US
  • Series Work Title: The White TygerPublisher: Tor BooksYear Published: Country Published: US
  • Series Work Title: The Hidden WorldPublisher: Tor BooksYear Published: Country Published: US
Author: Work Type: SeriesOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: Tor BooksCountry: USYear: 2005View on ISFDB

The Alchemy of Stone, (Prime Books, US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: The Alchemy of StoneAuthor: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: Prime BooksCountry: USYear: 2008View on ISFDB

Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis, (Canongate, US, 2007)

Work Information

Title: Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of IphisAuthor: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: CanongateCountry: USYear: 2007View on ISFDB

Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room), Flora Fyrdraaca Book 2, (Harcourt, US, 2008)

Work Information

Title: Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room)Series: Flora FyrdraacaSeries Number: 2Author: Work Type: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishPublisher: HarcourtCountry: USYear: 2008View on ISFDB

Jurors

  • Gavin J. Grant (chair)
  • K. Tempest Bradford
  • Leslie Howle
  • Roz Kaveney
  • Catherynne M. Valente

Award Ceremony

The 2008 Otherwise Award was given to Patrick Ness and Nisi Shawl at WisCon 33, May 25, 2009, in Madison, Wisconsin.