BSFA Award for Best Novel

The BSFA Awards are given every year by the British Science Fiction Association. The Best Novel award is open to any novel-length work of science fiction or fantasy that has been published in the UK for the first time in the previous year. Serialised novels are eligible, provided that the publication date of the concluding part is in the previous year. If a novel has been previously published elsewhere, but it hasn't been published in the UK until the previous year, it is eligible.^[1]

BSFA Award for Best Novel
Awarded for	The best science fiction or fantasy novel published in the previous calendar year
Country	UK
Presented by	British Science Fiction Association
First award	1970
Currently held by	Aliya Whiteley (Three Eight One)
Website	BSFA Awards

Winners and Shortlists

The ceremonies are named after the year that the eligible works were published, despite the awards being given out in the next year.

Table key

§	Indicates a declined award or nomination
*	Winners and joint winners

Year	Author(s)	Work	Publisher/Publication	Ref.
1969	John Brunner*	Stand on Zanzibar	Doubleday	[2]
1970	John Brunner*	The Jagged Orbit	Ace	[3]
1971	Brian W. Aldiss*	The Moment of Eclipse	Faber and Faber	[4]
1973	Arthur C. Clarke*	Rendezvous with Rama	Gollancz	[5]
1974	Christopher Priest*	Inverted World	Faber and Faber	[6]
1975	Bob Shaw*	Orbitsville	Gollancz	[7]
1976	Michael G. Coney*	Brontomek!	Gollancz	[8]
1977	Ian Watson*	The Jonah Kit	Gollancz	[9]
1978	Philip K. Dick*	A Scanner Darkly	Doubleday	[10]
1979	J. G. Ballard*	The Unlimited Dream Company	Jonathan Cape	[11]
	Rob Swigart	A.K.A.: A Cosmic Fable	Magnum	[11]
	Tom Reamy	Blind Voices	Sidgwick & Jackson
	Arthur C. Clarke	The Fountains of Paradise	Gollancz
	Thomas M. Disch	On Wings of Song	Gollancz
1980	Gregory Benford*	Timescape	Simon & Schuster	[12]
	Frederik Pohl	Beyond the Blue Event Horizon	Del Rey	[12]
	John Crowley	Engine Summer	Doubleday
	Keith Roberts	Molly Zero	Gollancz
	Michael Bishop	Transfigurations	Gollancz
	Norman Spinrad	A World Between	Pocket
1981	Gene Wolfe*	The Shadow of the Torturer	Sidgwick & Jackson	[13]
	Christopher Priest	The Affirmation	Faber and Faber	[13]
	J. G. Ballard	Hello America	Jonathan Cape
	Robert Holdstock	Where Time Winds Blow	Faber and Faber
1982	Brian W. Aldiss*	Helliconia Spring	Jonathan Cape	[14]
	Philip K. Dick	The Divine Invasion	Timescape	[14]
	John Crowley	Little, Big	Bantam
	Michael Bishop	No Enemy But Time	Timescape
	Gene Wolfe	The Sword of the Lictor	Timescape
1983	John Sladek*	Tik-Tok	Gollancz	[15]
	Michael G. Coney	Cat Karina	Ace	[15]
	Gene Wolfe	The Citadel of the Autarch	Timescape
	Mary Gentle	Golden Witchbreed	Gollancz
	Brian W. Aldiss	Helliconia Summer	Jonathan Cape
1984	Robert Holdstock*	Mythago Wood	Gollancz	[16]
	J. G. Ballard	Empire of the Sun	Gollancz	[16]
	Christopher Priest	The Glamour	Jonathan Cape
	William Gibson	Neuromancer	Gollancz
	Angela Carter	Nights at the Circus	Chatto & Windus
1985	Brian W. Aldiss*	Helliconia Winter	Jonathan Cape	[17]
	Tim Powers	The Anubis Gates	Chatto & Windus	[17]
	Gene Wolfe	Free Live Free	Gollancz
	Keith Roberts	Kiteworld	Gollancz
	Geoff Ryman	The Warrior Who Carried Life	Allen & Unwin
1986	Bob Shaw*	The Ragged Astronauts	Gollancz	[18]
	Greg Bear	Blood Music	Gollancz	[18]
	William Gibson	Count Zero	Gollancz
	Josephine Saxton	Queen of the States	The Women's Press
	Bruce Sterling	Schismatrix	Penguin
1987	Keith Roberts*	Gráinne	Kerosina	[19]
1988	Robert Holdstock*	Lavondyss	Gollancz	[20]
	Iain M. Banks	The Player of Games	Macmillan	[20]
	William Gibson	Mona Lisa Overdrive	Gollancz
	Gwyneth Jones	Kairos	Allen & Unwin
	Bob Shaw	The Wooden Spaceships	Gollancz
	Lucius Shepard	Life During Wartime	Bantam
1989	Terry Pratchett*	Pyramids	Gollancz	[21]
	Jonathan Carroll	A Child Across the Sky	Legend	[21]
	Geoff Ryman	The Child Garden	Allen & Unwin
	C. J. Cherryh	Cyteen	Warner
	Kim Stanley Robinson	The Gold Coast	Orbit
1990	Colin Greenland*	Take Back Plenty	Allen & Unwin	[22]
	William Gibson & Bruce Sterling	The Difference Engine	Gollancz	[22]
	Dan Simmons	Hyperion	Headline
	Mary Gentle	Rats and Gargoyles	Bantam
	Iain M. Banks	Use of Weapons	Orbit
1991	Dan Simmons*	The Fall of Hyperion	Headline	[23]
	Mary Gentle	The Architecture of Desire	Bantam	[23]
	Paul J. McAuley	Eternal Light	Gollancz
1992	Kim Stanley Robinson*	Red Mars	HarperCollins	[24]
	Connie Willis	Doomsday Book	Bantam	[24]
	Ian McDonald	Hearts, Hands and Voices	Gollancz
	Simon Ings	Hot Head	Grafton
	Lisa Tuttle	Lost Futures	Grafton
1993	Christopher Evans*	Aztec Century	Gollancz	[25]
	Nicola Griffith	Ammonite	Grafton	[25]
	Kim Stanley Robinson	Green Mars	HarperCollins
	Colin Greenland	Harm's Way	HarperCollins
	Neal Stephenson	Snow Crash	Roc
1994	Iain M. Banks*	Feersum Endjinn	Orbit	[26]
	Eric Brown	Engineman	Pan	[26]
	Ian McDonald	Necroville	Gollancz
	Gwyneth Jones	North Wind	Gollancz
	Greg Egan	Permutation City	Millennium
1995	Stephen Baxter*	The Time Ships	HarperPrism	[27]
	Michael Moorcock	Blood	Unknown	[27]
	Ian McDonald	Chaga	Gollancz
	Paul J. McAuley	Fairyland	Gollancz
	Peter F. Hamilton	The Nano Flower	Pan
	Christopher Priest	The Prestige	Simon & Schuster
1996	Iain M. Banks*	Excession	Orbit	[28]
	Kim Stanley Robinson	Blue Mars	HarperVoyager	[28]
	Bruce Sterling	Holy Fire	Orion
	Stephen Bury	Interface	Orion
	Gill Alderman	The Memory Palace	HarperVoyager
	Ken MacLeod	The Stone Canal	Legend
1997	Mary Doria Russell*	The Sparrow	Black Swan	[29]
	Tim Powers	Earthquake Weather	Legend	[29]
	Michael Swanwick	Jack Faust	Orion
	Jack Deighton	A Son of the Rock	Orbit
1998	Christopher Priest*	The Extremes	Simon & Schuster	[30]
	Ken MacLeod	The Cassini Division	Orbit	[30]
	Iain M. Banks	Inversions	Orbit
	Kathleen Ann Goonan	Queen City Jazz	HarperVoyager
	John Meaney	To Hold Infinity	Bantam
1999	Ken MacLeod*	The Sky Road	Orbit	[31]
	Mary Doria Russell	Children of God	Black Swan	[31]
	Simon Ings	Headlong	HarperVoyager
	Justina Robson	Silver Screen	Macmillan
	Eugene Byrne	ThigMOO	Earthlight
2000	Mary Gentle*	Ash: A Secret History	Gollancz	[32]
	John Meaney	Paradox	Bantam	[32]
	China Miéville	Perdido Street Station	Macmillan
	Jon Courtenay Grimwood	redRobe	Earthlight
	Alastair Reynolds	Revelation Space	Gollancz
2001	Alastair Reynolds*	Chasm City	Gollancz	[33]
	Neil Gaiman	American Gods	Headline	[33]
	Gwyneth Jones	Bold as Love	Gollancz
	Geoff Ryman	Lust	Flamingo
	Jon Courtenay Grimwood	Pashazade: The First Arabesk	Earthlight
	Paul McAuley	The Secret of Life	HarperVoyager
2002	Christopher Priest*	The Separation	Scribner	[34]
	Gwyneth Jones	Castles Made of Sand	Gollancz	[34]
	Jon Courtenay Grimwood	Effendi: The Second Arabesk	Earthlight
	M. John Harrison	Light	Gollancz
	China Miéville	The Scar	Macmillan
	Kim Stanley Robinson	The Years of Rice and Salt	HarperCollins
2003	Jon Courtenay Grimwood*	Felaheen: The Third Arabesk	Earthlight	[35]
	Alastair Reynolds	Absolution Gap	Gollancz	[35]
	Tricia Sullivan	Maul	Orbit
	Gwyneth Jones	Midnight Lamp	Orbit
	Justina Robson	Natural History	Macmillan
	William Gibson	Pattern Recognition	Viking
2004	Ian McDonald*	River of Gods	Simon & Schuster	[36]
	Alastair Reynolds	Century Rain	Gollancz	[36]
	Kim Stanley Robinson	Forty Signs of Rain	HarperCollins
	Susanna Clarke	Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell	Bloomsbury
	Ken MacLeod	Newton's Wake	Orbit
	Jon Courtenay Grimwood	Stamping Butterflies	Gollancz
2005	Geoff Ryman*	Air	Gollancz	[37]
	Jon Courtenay Grimwood	9tail Fox	Gollancz	[37]
	Charles Stross	Accelerando	Orbit
	Ken MacLeod	Learning the World	Orbit
	Justina Robson	Living Next Door to the God of Love	Macmillan
2006	Jon Courtenay Grimwood*	End of the World Blues	Gollancz	[38]
	Liz Williams	Darkland	Tor	[38]
	Roger Levy	Icarus	Gollancz
	James Morrow	The Last Witchfinder	Weidenfeld & Nicolson
	M. John Harrison	Nova Swing	Gollancz
2007	Ian McDonald*	Brasyl	Gollancz	[39]
	Bryan Talbot	Alice in Sunderland	Jonathan Cape	[39]
	Richard Morgan	Black Man	Gollancz
	Ken MacLeod	The Execution Channel	Orbit
	Alastair Reynolds	The Prefect	Gollancz
	Michael Chabon	The Yiddish Policemen's Union	Fourth Estate
2008	Ken MacLeod*	The Night Sessions	Orbit	[40]
	Neal Stephenson	Anathem	William Morrow	[40]
	Stephen Baxter	Flood	Gollancz
	Nick Harkaway	The Gone-Away World	Heinemann
2009	China Miéville*	The City & the City	Macmillan	[41]
	Stephen Baxter	Ark	Gollancz	[41]
	Ursula K. Le Guin	Lavinia	Gollancz
	Adam Roberts	Yellow Blue Tibia	Gollancz
2010	Ian McDonald*	The Dervish House	Gollancz	[42]
	Tricia Sullivan	Lightborn	Orbit	[42]
	Ken MacLeod	The Restoration Game	Orbit
	Paolo Bacigalupi	The Windup Girl	Orbit
	Lauren Beukes	Zoo City	Angry Robot
2011	Christopher Priest*	The Islanders	Gollancz	[43]
	Adam Roberts	By Light Alone	Gollancz	[43]
	Kim Lakin-Smith	Cyber Circus	NewCon
	China Miéville	Embassytown	Macmillan
	Lavie Tidhar	Osama	PS
2012	Adam Roberts*	Jack Glass	Gollancz	[44]
	Kim Stanley Robinson	2312	Orbit	[44]
	Chris Beckett	Dark Eden	Corvus
	M. John Harrison	Empty Space	Gollancz
	Ken MacLeod	Intrusion	Orbit
2013	Ann Leckie*	Ancillary Justice	Orbit	[45]
	Gareth L. Powell*	Ack-Ack Macaque	Solaris	[45]
	Christopher Priest	The Adjacent	Gollancz	[45]
	Paul McAuley	Evening's Empires	Gollancz
	Kameron Hurley	God's War	Del Rey
2014	Ann Leckie*	Ancillary Sword	Orbit	[46]
	Frances Hardinge	Cuckoo Song	Macmillan	[46]
	Dave Hutchinson	Europe in Autumn	Solaris
	Claire North	The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August	Orbit
	Nnedi Okorafor	Lagoon	Hodder & Stoughton
	Neil Williamson	The Moon King	NewCon
	Nina Allan	The Race	NewCon
	Simon Ings	Wolves	Gollancz
2015	Aliette de Bodard*	The House of Shattered Wings	Gollancz	[47]
	Dave Hutchinson	Europe at Midnight	Solaris	[47]
	Justina Robson	Glorious Angels	Gollancz
	Ian McDonald	Luna: New Moon	Gollancz
	Chris Beckett	Mother of Eden	Corvus
2016	Dave Hutchinson*	Europe in Winter	Solaris	[48]
	Nick Wood	Azanian Bridges	NewCon	[48]
	Becky Chambers	A Closed and Common Orbit	Hodder & Stoughton
	Chris Beckett	Daughter of Eden	Corvus
	Tricia Sullivan	Occupy Me	Gollancz
2017	Nina Allan*	The Rift	Titan	[49]
	Anne Charnock	Dreams Before the Start of Time	47North	[49]
	Mohsin Hamid	Exit West	Hamish Hamilton
	Ann Leckie	Provenance	Orbit
2018	Gareth L. Powell*	Embers of War	Titan	[50]
	Dave Hutchinson	Europe at Dawn	Solaris	[50]
	Yoon Ha Lee	Revenant Gun	Solaris
	Emma Newman	Before Mars	Ace
	Tade Thompson	Rosewater	Orbit
2019	Adrian Tchaikovsky*	Children of Ruin	Tor	[51]
	Juliet E. McKenna	The Green Man’s Foe	Wizard's Tower Press	[51]
	Emma Newman	Atlas Alone	Gollancz
	Gareth L. Powell	Fleet of Knives	Titan
	Tade Thompson	The Rosewater Insurrection	Orbit
2020	N. K. Jemisin*	The City We Became	Orbit	[52]
	Tiffani Angus	Threading the Labyrinth	Unsung Stories	[52]
	Susanna Clarke	Piranesi	Bloomsbury
	M. John Harrison	The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again	Gollancz
	Gareth L. Powell	Light of Impossible Stars	Titan
	Kim Stanley Robinson	The Ministry for the Future	Orbit
	Nikhil Singh	Club Ded	Luna
	Adrian Tchaikovsky	The Doors of Eden	Tor
	Liz Williams	Comet Weather	NewCon
	Nick Wood	Water Must Fall	NewCon
2021	Adrian Tchaikovsky*	Shards of Earth	Tor	[53]
	Liz Williams	Blackthorn Winter	NewCon	[53]
	Arkady Martine	A Desolation Called Peace	Tor
	Aliya Whiteley	Skyward Inn	Solaris
	Adam Roberts	Purgatory Mount	Gollancz
	Juliet E. McKenna	The Green Man's Challenge	Wizard's Tower Press
2022	Adrian Tchaikovsky*	City of Last Chances	Head of Zeus	[54]
	Adam Roberts	The This	Gollancz	[54]
	Gareth L. Powell	Stars and Bones	Titan
	Aliette de Bodard	The Red Scholar’s Wake	Gollancz
	E.J. Swift	The Coral Bones	Unsung Stories
2023	Juliet E. McKenna*	The Green Man’s Quarry	Wizard's Tower Press	[55]
	Christopher Priest	Airside	Gollancz	[55]
	Gareth L. Powell	Descendant Machine	Titan
	Geoff Ryman	HIM	Angry Robot
	Wole Talabi	Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon	Gollancz
2024	Aliya Whiteley*	Three Eight One	Solaris Books	[56]
	Oliver K. Langmead	Calypso	Titan	[56]
	Fiona Moore	Rabbit in the Moon	Epic Publishing
	Adrian Tchaikovsky§[a]	Alien Clay	Orbit Books

Notes

1. Alien Clay was removed from the ballot at the request of the author.

External links

• Official BSFA Awards website