The ceremony for The Arthur C. Clarke Award was last night, and the winner was Richard Morgan with Black Man (which is published as Thirteen in the US). Morgan seemed genuinely surprised to have won, and gave a nice (but with swearing of course), genuine, speech thanking various people including a specific mention for his publisher Gollancz and editor Simon Spanton, whom he said "had nurtured him". Which is great to hear when everyone seems to be saying that those days are dead.
The general reaction seemed positive, no one complaining, with Black Man being seen as probably the most full-on SF book on the list. Before the announcement the favourite from the people I talked to was probably The Execution Channel (although that included the obviously partisan Orbit crowd!). Maybe in the end the astonishing ending was too divisive? Black Man is, of course, one of the shortlist I didn't get around to reading. It's getting bumped to the top of the to-read list.
This was the first time I'd been to a Clarke Award and I was impressed with what a great night it is. A big thanks to Tom Hunter for the invite. It's a very inclusive celebration of Science Fiction Literature, with a selection of authors, publishers, sponsors, and fans, many of whom are of course bloggers. All the authors on the shortlist were there last night, and the authors (and publishers) which could be considered as "mainstream" were all delighted to be on the shortlist.
There's a real sense of community within SF that's quite wonderful. Being able to geek out about books I love is something that really only happens electronically on a day to day basis for me, so it was awesome fun to meet and chat to everyone last night. I only took one photo (a blurry phonecam shot of a stormtrooper!) but I'm sure some will turn up on Flickr soon.
UPDATE Niall has some on Flickr
The Clarke is the SF award which generates the most press and media attention in the UK. Maybe this is an artefact of its literary inclusiveness (which is also what generates its controversy)? Maybe it's that the shortlist rarely fails to find some wonderful books? Maybe it's just that Sir Arthur's name is attached? I'm not sure we know the answer, but I think it's a worthwhile question to ponder.
I should also mention that before the award announcement Angie Edwards, Sir Arthur's niece, gave a speech about him, talking about his generosity, his down-to-earthness and lack of bling (for want of a better phrase). Her final words were "to think".
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