The 2016 winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award has been decided, and Xlibris Publishing wants to share the news. This year’s winner is Adrian Tchaikovsky, for his science-fiction novel Children of Time. The Arthur C Clarke Award is presented to the best written fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the prior year. The award is named for acclaimed author of science-fiction, Sir Arthur Charles Clarke. The book to be honored is chosen by a panel of judges. These judges hail from the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation, and (as of 2012) the Sci-Fi-London Film Festival. A common appellation of the Arthur C Clarke Award is that of, “the UK’s most prestigious science fiction prize.” The award was established in 1987, thanks to a grant from Arthur C. Clarke himself.
Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time follows the last surviving remnants of the human race escaping a dying Earth for a new planet to call home. However, this world is already occupied by a never-before encountered species. Thus unfold parallel stories of the interactions and trials between the human survivors and this new species, stories that draw upon readers’ fears and sympathies. Tchaikovsky’s novel tackles such themes as gods, messiahs, artificial intelligence, and the other, doing so with zeal.
Before Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky was most known for another series of books, one set in an entirely unique setting and premise. In this book series, The Shadows of the Apt, humanity grew and developed alongside great, magical insects. Humanity formed an empathic bond with the insects and other fantastical arthropods, gaining magical abilities from the creatures. A student can have the strength and stamina of a beetle, a prince from a conquered people can have dragonfly wings, and a master swordsman can have the preternatural deadliness of a praying mantis. Against this backdrop, a select few must rally their rival peoples and kingdoms against a rapacious, all-conquering empire (of wasp-men).
Past winners of the Arthur C Clarke Award include Margaret Atwood, China Miéville, Lauran Beukes, and more.
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