Join us at Dartmouth's Filene Auditorium to hear speculative fiction award winners Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M, and Audrey Schulman, author of Theory of Bastards, talk about their books in a panel discussion with judges Ann and Jeff VanderMeer.
Winner debut novel:
The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man's shadow disappears--an occurrence that science cannot explain. He is just the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, the magic comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.
Peng Shepherd was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where she rode horses and trained in classical ballet. She earned her MFA in creative writing from New York University and has lived in Beijing, London, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City. The Book of M is her first novel.
Winner open category novel:
Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman
Afflicted with chronic pain, Dr. Francine Burk is feeling unduly thrilled after treatment by her increasing ability to walk across a room without assistance. She's offered a placement at a prestigious research institute where she can put her recent award money to good use. With the Foundation's advanced technological resources and a group of fascinating primates, Francine begins to verify her subversive scientific theory which challenges the foundations of history--her Theory of Bastards.
Audrey Schulman is the author of four previous novels: Three Weeks in December (Europa 2012), Swimming with Jonah, The Cage, and A House Named Brazil. Her work has been translated into eleven languages. Born in Montreal, she now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she runs HEET, a non-profit.
And don't miss the short-list finalists!
Debut Category:
Alien Virus Love Disaster: Stories by Abbey Mei Otis
Infomocracy by Malka Older
Severance by Ling Ma
Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman
Open Category:
Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller
Plum Rains by Andromeda Romano-Lax
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
The Night Market by Jonathan Moore
Open to the public with a book signing and reception to follow.
Sponsored by Neukom Institute
Brad Thor's Summer 2018 Fiction Pick for THE TODAY SHOW!
"Eerie, dark, and compelling, [The Book of M] will not disappoint lovers of The Passage (2010) and Station Eleven (2014)." --Booklist
WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE UP TO REMEMBER?
WINNER 2019 Philip K. Dick Award for BEST Science Fiction
WINNER 2019 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Speculative Fiction
One of The Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of fiction in 2018
Philip K. Dick Award finalist
Washington Post Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2018
Read Infomocracy, the first book in Campbell Award finalist Malka Older's groundbreaking cyberpunk political thriller series The Centenal Cycle, a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Series, and the novel NPR called "Kinetic and gripping."
Winner of the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award * Winner of the Kirkus Prize for Fiction * Winner of the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award * Finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel * A New York Times Notable Book of 2018 * An Indie Next Selection
NPR Best Books of 2018
"A gut punch of a book in the style of Le Guin, Atwood, and Butler. Claire G. Coleman's debut novel blazes with truth."
-- Kelly Link, author of Get in TroubleTerra Nullius (def): land belonging to no one; no man's land
“One of the most intriguing future cities in years.” —Charlie Jane Anders
“Simmers with menace and heartache, suspense and wonder.” —Ann Leckie
A Best Book of the Month in
Entertainment Weekly
The Washington Post
In a tour-de-force tapestry of science fiction and historical fiction, Andromeda Romano-Lax presents a story set in Japan and Taiwan that spans a century of empire, conquest, progress, and destruction.

A National Bestseller
A New York Times Editor's Choice
A Time Magazine Best Book of the Year
An Amazon Best Book of the Month
An Indie Next Pick
One of Wall Street Journal's Twelve Books to Read This Winter
An Esquire most anticipated book of 2018
An Elle Best Book of Winter
“The book’s tone is Chandleresque, the conspiracy worrying Carver and Jenner expands to Pynchonian proportions, and the physical ick they encounter might have oozed out of a Cronenberg movie.”—Washington Post
“It’s Miami Vice meets The Matrix, and George Orwell is hosting the party.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gaz