Fantasy Friday – The Clive Staples Award for Christian Speculative Fiction

Over at Speculative Faith I’ve been going on and on for some time about the Clive Staples Award, but I realized today, I haven’t said anything about it here.

After two moderately successful years, the CSA looked as if it might be dead in the water, but this year Spec Faith is hosting it, still as a readers’ choice award, but with the support of an up and coming speculative writers’ conference, Realm Makers.

I’ve posted on the standards a best book ought to have (here and here). I’ve posted on the books eligible for nomination and about the eligibility of voters. I’ve posted the list of nominations and am currently featuring those books in Spec Faith news items, counting down to the beginning of our first round of voting. (See for example, today’s countdown post.)

Pretty much, if it needed saying, I said it. And probably a lot more that didn’t need saying. 😆

But I broke a cardinal rule. I didn’t tell the people I should have been telling–visitors here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction.

The point is, reader awards only work if readers vote. Not as some kind of popularity contest, but as a serious effort to identify which book readers think was tops. Of course, readers can’t vote if they don’t know about the award, so we need you and all your friends to talk up the Clive Staples Award to any and every reader you know, in case by some chance they might be an eligible voter and might want very much to participate.

What, you ask, qualifies one as an eligible voter? Nothing more than having read AT LEAST TWO of the nominated books. Two. Out of thirty-three.

Yep. We had a 57% increase in the number of nominated books, which necessitated us holding two rounds. Round one will determine the five finalists, and round two will pick the winner.

OK, here’s the list of books. See if you yourself might be eligible to vote.

Words in the Wind by Yvonne Anderson (Risen Books)

Daughter of Light by Morgan L. Busse (Marcher Lord Press)

Devil’s Hit List: Book Three of the UNDERGROUND by Frank Creed (Splashdown Books)

Liberator (Dragons of Starlight series) by Bryan Davis (Zondervan)

A Throne of Bones by Vox Day (Hinterlands / Marcher Lord Press)

Mortal (The Books of Mortals) by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee (FaithWords)

Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore (Thomas Nelson)

The Telling by Mike Duran (Realms Fiction)

Risk by Brock Eastman (P&R Publishing/Focus on the Family)

Live and Let Fly by Karina Fabian (Muse It Up Publishing)

I Am Ocilla by Diane Graham (Splashdown)

Seeking Unseen by Kat Heckenbach (Splashdown Books)

Remnant in the Stars by Cindy Koepp (Under The Moon)

The Unraveling of Wentwater (The Gates of Heaven Series) by C.S. Lakin (Living Ink Books)

Prophet by R. J. Larson (Bethany House)

Judge by R. J. Larson (Bethany House)

Spirit Fighter by Jerel Law (Thomas Nelson)

Fire Prophet by Jerel Law (Thomas Nelson)

The Spirit Well by Stephen Lawhead (Thomas Nelson)

The Wrong Enemy by Jane Lebak (MuseItUp Publishing)

Alienation (A C.H.A.O.S. novel) by Jon S. Lewis (Thomas Nelson)

Curse Bearer by Rebecca P Minor (Written World Communications)

Rift Jump by Greg Mitchell (Splashdown Darkwater)

Bid the Gods Arise by Robert Mullin (Crimson Moon Press)

Prophetess (Winter Book 2) by Keven Newsome (Splashdown Darkwater)

Failstate by John W. Otte (Marcher Lord Press)

Soul’s Gate by James Rubart (Thomas Nelson)

Starflower by Anne Elizabeth Stengl (Bethany House)

Moonblood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Bethany House)

Star Of Justice by Robynn Tolbert (Splashdown Books)

Daystar by Kathy Tyers (Marcher Lord Press)

The New Recruit by Jill Williamson (Marcher Lord Press)

Replication: The Jason Experiment by Jill Williamson (Zonderkidz)

Interesting fact: 15 women authors and 14 men had books nominated. The numbers don’t add up because one book has co-authors and several writers had more than one book nominated.

I mention this gender fact because one person commenting on a blog said something about all those women writers nominated for the CSA, as if that was a slur. Well, I’m a woman writer, so I don’t think it’s a slur at all, but I also believe in being accurate. A list that is mixed like this says a lot about who is writing Christian speculative fiction.

Interesting fact #2: 17 of the nominations were published by “big houses”–ones known most for traditional publishing models and associated with bookstores and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and 16 by smaller, newer, independent houses. Again, that balance seems like a big plus for Christian speculative fiction.

All that aside, the main thing you need to know for now: voting begins on Monday! Tell your friends and followers, please. 😀