Robert J. Sawyer and James Stevens-Arce are the co-winners of this year's UPC Science Fiction Award, Sawyer for ''Psychospace'', Stevens-Arce for ''Soulsaver'', both novella-length works that are extracts from novels. The award includes a cash prize of one million pesetas (approximately US$7,200), the world's largest cash prize for science fiction writing.

Sawyer's story is an excerpt from his forthcoming novel Factoring Humanity, due in 1998 from Tor. The winning version will be published as a stand-alone work in Spanish translation by Ediciones B, bundled in the same volume with Stevens-Arce's work.

The Premio UPC de Ciencia Ficcion is open to novella-length (25,000 to 40,000 words) manuscripts in Spanish, Catalan, French, and English. The award is sponsored by the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. Manuscripts, of which 123 were submitted this year from all over the world, are judged blindly. This year's jury consisted of Lluis Anglada, Miquel Barcelo, Josep Casanovas, Jordi Jose, and Manuel Moreno.

(posted 12 Dec 97)

December 7th is also the annual overview issue of the Washington Post Book World. [Note: this link takes you to the current week's issue.] Selections of ''best books published recently'' (perhaps not quite the same as ''best-of-the-year'') are listed by genre as chosen by various experts, including these science fiction titles chosen by John Clute:

God's Allies, Patricia Anthony (Ace)
Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman (Ace)
Antarctica, Kim Stanley Robinson (HarperCollins Voyager UK)
The Rise of Endymion, Dan Simmons (Bantam Spectra)
Jack Faust, Michael Swanwick (Avon)

Publish or Perish, James Hynes (Picador)
Celestial Dogs, J. S. Russell (St. Martin's)
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman (Avon)
The Club Dumas, Arturo Perez-Reverte (Harcourt Brace)

(posted 8 Dec 97)

Avon Books' new SF imprint, Eos, will host a day-long online convention on Saturday, January 10th, to celebrate the on-sale publication of the first Eos titles. Events are scheduled from 12 noon to 8 p.m. Participants include Gregory Benford (author of Cosm, a February Eos title), Ben Bova (Moonwar, March), Raymond E. Feist, Carolyn Ives Gilman, Rudy Rucker, Damien Broderick, and others. Planned events include readings, lectures, and panels, all with question and answer sessions; a live story that will evolve throughout the day; an art gallery and giveaways. For details and the full day's schedule, see the Avon Eos website.

(posted 5 Dec 97)

The annual first-Sunday-of-December issue of the New York Times Book Review, the Holiday Books issue, lists editors' choices for the best books of 1997, including these science fiction titles:

City on Fire, Walter Jon Williams (HarperPrism)
Clay's Ark, Octavia E. Butler (Warner Aspect)
The Dazzle of Day, Molly Gloss (Tor)
Fool's War, Sarrah Zettel (Warner Aspect)
Holy Fire, Bruce Sterling (Bantam Spectra)
The Physiognomy, Jeffrey Ford (Avon)
Preternatural, Margaret Wander Bonanno (Tor)
The Rise of Endymion, Dan Simmons (Bantam Spectra)

The science fiction books, presumably selected by regular NYTBR SF reviewer Gerald Jonas, were drawn from those books reviewed in the year since the Holiday Books issue of 1996. This explains the presence of Bruce Sterling's 1996 novel among the 1997 selections. The inclusion of Butler's novel, a reissue from 1984, is less easily explained, since the annual lists do not usually include reprints.

(posted 2 Dec 97)

Publisher's Weekly's website lists their choices for best books of 1997, including these science fiction titles, selected by Jeff Zaleski:

God's Fires, Patricia Anthony (Ace)
Finity's End, C. J. Cherryh (Warner Aspect)
My Soul to Keep, Tananarive Due (HarperCollins)
Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman (Ace)
Publish and Perish, James Hynes (Picador USA)
The Moon and the Sun, Vonda McIntyre (Pocket)
The Gift, Patrick O'Leary (Tor)
To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis (Bantam Spectra)

(posted 2 Dec 97)