The results of this year’s Crawford Award for a first fantasy book were announced yesterday. They are:

Winner: Vajra Chandrasekra, The Saint of Bright Doors (Tor)

Honourable Mentions:

• Juhani Karila, Summer Fishing in Lapland (Pushkin)
• Emma Torzs, Ink Sister Blood Scribe (William Morrow)
• Wole Talabi, Shigidi and The Brass Head of Obalufon (Daw/Gollancz)
• B Pladek, Dry Land (University of Wisconsin Press)

All of these books are well worth a look.

In the past the Crawford has worked on an “advisory group” system which meant less work and the freedom to comment on the books. This year it moved to a formal jury, so sadly I am unable to review any of the above. I will be stepping back from the jury for future years as I don’t have the time to read a whole lot of books I can’t review.