The question arises in fiction when authors conceive novels that are noticeably bigger in word count and longer in page length than usual.
In theory, a bigger novel makes possible a larger canvas, allowing for an epic scope, a more complex narrative, richer world-building, more full-bodied characters, greater subtleties and depths.
Whether or not ambitious authors fulfill that potential and achieve their literary goals when writing bigger novels varies, of course. So does whether readers will find it rewarding to invest the extra time needed to read such magnum opuses.
Such questions are interesting and timely to ponder now that Sarah Hoyt’s No Man’s Land has been nominated for the Prometheus Award for Best Novel.
It’s understandable and legitimate when a novelist promotes their own work. After all, most do – and in our highly competitive and decentralized era of print and digital publishing and self-publishing, any author would be foolish not to invest significant time and energy beyond their daily writing to raise their visibility.
So it’s all the more impressive when a Prometheus-winning novelist, responding to a routine query to find out if any of their novels in the works might fit our award’s distinctive focus, brings up on her own the work of an up-and-coming novelist previously unknown to us.
Sarah Hoyt (File photo)
That’s what Sarah Hoyt did recently in bringing Holly Chism and her latest novel to our attention.
Writer Holly Chism (Creative Commons license)
“Holly Chism is one of the great, unappreciated authors of our generation. Her work reminds me a lot of Clifford Simak’s,” Hoyt said.
Hoyt, a four-time Prometheus Best Novel finalist and the 2011 Best Novel winner for Darkship Thieves, has recommended in particular Chism’s novel Light Up the Night.
Quite a few good novels have inspired sequels that won a Prometheus Award – 11, by my latest count and all discussed in previous parts of this ongoing series.
Sarah Hoyt, the 2011 Prometheus winner (File photo)
When SF/fantasy authors conceive original stories that imagine fresh worlds and compelling characters for the first time, it’s not surprising that they occasionally choose to return to those worlds and characters for a sequel – especially if the first novel receives wide readership and acclaim.
Victor Milan
One such source of recognition is a Prometheus Award – and quite a few Best Novel winners, while not sequels themselves, have inspired sequels that have gone on to further Prometheus recognition at different levels.
Dani Kollin (File photo)
Previous posts in this series on sequels have explored two outstanding Prometheus-winning examples of this pattern: Travis Corcoran’s The Powers of the Earth and its sequel Causes of Separation; and Cory Doctorow’s Little Brotherand its sequel Homeland. All four novels ended up winning the top Prometheus Award for Best Novel – a rare feat in our award’s 46-year history.
Yet, several other Prometheus-winning authors have accomplished something approaching that feat – including Sarah Hoyt, Victor Milan and the brothers and co-authors Dani and Eytan Kollins.
Prometheus-winning author Sara Hoyt is nothing if not prolific – with quite a few novels in progress.
Sarah Hoyt, the 2011 Prometheus winner for Best Novel (File photo)
Currently listed on Amazon with 92 titles (including books she’s written and anthologies to which she’s contributed stories), Hoyt has written more than 50 books (including more than 40 novels) by my rough count – and counting.
According to a Mad Genius Blog post, Hoyt plans to write more novels and stories that will appear first on her fiction-focused Substack blog – with several already appearing serially, chapter by chapter.
Fans of Sarah Hoyt, especially fans of her Darkship Thieves series, have reasons for thanksgiving – or at least raise their hopes of enjoying more books in that fictional universe.
Hoyt, who won the 2011 Prometheus Award for Best Novel for Darkship Thieves, has revealed plans to write more (much more!) in her Darkship universe.
“No, I’m not abandoning Darkship Thieves,” Hoyt writes in a recent column on the Mad Genius Club blog.
“I have at least five more in that universe, though it might extend to ten or twenty, depending on how much I like the ‘next generation,’” she writes.
Why is government, by its nature, a distinctive threat to freedom?
LFS co-founder Michael Grossberg strived to answer that question in his speech introducing the Best Novel category of the 43rd annual Prometheus Awards ceremony.
Michael Grossberg, a veteran journalist and arts critic. File photo
BY MICHAEL GROSSBERG
The Prometheus Awards, one of the oldest fan-based sf/fantasy awards after the Hugos and Nebulas, are unique in recognizing speculative fiction that dramatizes the sadly perennial conflict between liberty and power.
As a journalist and arts critic for five decades, I can testify to the importance of awards in raising the visibility of valuable and rewarding works that might otherwise be overlooked.
At the 43rd annual Prometheus Awards ceremony, past Best Novel winner Sarah Hoyt (Darkship Thieves) presented the Best Novel category to Australian/Tasmanian writer Dave Freer for Cloud-Castles.
Sarah Hoyt, the 2011 Prometheus winner (File photo)
Hoyt was the ideal Best Novel presenter this year, since Freer and Hoyt have been friends for years and Freer has said he considers her his best friend in the United States.
The 2023 ceremony aired via Zoom Aug. 19, 2023, to an international audience and is available to watch on Youtube and the LFS website’s Video page. For those who prefer to read, here is the full transcript of Hoyt’s speech:
Before I begin, I should warn any possible spectators that yes, this is my real (Portuguese-American) accent. In fact, this Prometheus award ceremony will probably go down in history as the battle of the accents, between mine and Dave’s and whatever else the rest of you try to bring to the table. (I dare you.)
Also I must warn everyone that we might have an impromptu appearance by the very fuzzy Havelock-cat, or his buddy, the ginger beasty Indy cat.
Since, as Heinlein put it, cats are free citizens, they should be right at home.
I can’t express how strange it is to be presenting the same award that marked the most important moment of my career to one of my best writing buddies, one who has walked with me through all the hard points, and celebrated with me at all the high points.
“As a monkey, the idea of a trickster and mischief-maker, who none-the-less is the champion of mankind, stealing fire from the gods for them, has always been something of a beau ideal and role model for me. I am not very large or powerful, and my only tool is ingenuity against various gods.”
“While I always thought Hanuman as my kind of trickster, Prometheus is a good role model, down to the bit about that bastard Zeus binding him to a rock and having eagles attack his liver for helping humans with technology….”
If there were an award for most unusual, charming and amusing response to being recognized with a Prometheus Awards nomination, then Australian science fiction/fantasy writer Dave Freer would be a strong contender.
Sarah Hoyt has announced a new edition of her Prometheus-Award winning novel Darkship Thieves.
Released through Goldport Press after Hoyt’s reclaiming the rights from Baen Books, Darkship Thieves has now been produced in both print and ebook formats.
The bonds between a novelist and her fans can become incredibly strong over the years, even life-changing.
That may be even more notable and common in the realm of literary genres like science fiction and fantasy, where fandom has played a pivotal role in supporting authors and connecting with other fans through conventions, clubs, fanzines and blogs.
Writer Sarah Hoyt. Creative Commons license)
One heartening example of that forged fellowship making a big difference in someone’s life is the support that Prometheus-winning sf/fantasy author Sarah Hoyt has been receiving recently from her fans during a personal health and financial crisis.
