This is such an honour, and I’m overwhelmed! Dreams Before the Start of Time (47North) is shortlisted for The Arthur C. Clarke Award 2018.

The shortlist was announced today at the Sci-Fi London Film Festival by award director Tom Hunter. Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors! Below is the full shortlist of novels. And there’s time for you to read them ALL before the winner is announced in London on 18 July.

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill (Gollancz)

Dreams Before the Start of Time by Anne Charnock (47North)

American War by Omar El Akkad (Picador)

Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar (Sceptre)

Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed (Tinder Press)

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer (Fourth Estate)

My thanks to the jury for all their dedication in reading 108 submitted novels! The jurors are:

Dave Hutchinson, British Science Fiction Association

Gaie Sebold, British Science Fiction Association

Paul March-Russell, Science Fiction Foundation

Kari Maund, Science Fiction Foundation

Charles Christian, SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival

Want to know more about the novels?

Alasdair Stuart gives his thoughts on the six novels today on Tor.com and refers to the “scalpel-precise character drama of Dreams Before The Start of Time.”

I’m delighted with his assessment of the book:

In 2034, Millie and Toni are trying to figure out whether they want to be mothers. Their choices, the obstacles they face, and the consequences of their decisions will change the lives of people for generations to come.

Charnock’s work is focused on character, and this is a deceptively small-focus, intimate study. It’s reminiscent of Cloud Atlas in a way, pinwheeling between characters as we move forward in time—but as the novel progresses it becomes clear just how wide a remit Charnock is aiming for, and just how successfully she covers it. This is a novel about the evolution of family and humanity and how inextricably they’re tied together. It’s a unique, challenging, and immensely successful story.

Alasdair Stuart says good things about the other books, too! See here.