Under consideration for 2004 Best Novel Award

The Best Novel judging committee has received several nominations for next year’s award. Currently the following books are under consideration:

Terry Goodkind, The Naked Empire (Tor, 2003). This is the eighth volume in Goodkind's Sword of Truth fantasy series. Nominated by Charles Morrison III.

James P. Hogan, The Anguished Dawn (Baen, 2003). A sequel to Hogan’s Prometheus Award-finalist Cradle of Saturn. Nominated by Michael Grossing.

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Scholastic Books, 2003). The fifth volume in Rowling’s Harry Potter series, in which the title character turns 15 and faces authoritarianism at Hogwarts. Nominated by Bruce Sommer.

Harry Turtledove, Ruled Britannia (New American Library, 2002). A one-volume alternate history based on the victory of the Spanish Armada. (Eligible because it was published in the final two months of 2002 and was not nominated for this year's award.) Nominated by William H. Stoddard

John Varley, Red Thunder (Ace. 2(03). A tribute to Robert Heinlein's Rocket Ship Galileo, in which an ex-astronaut and four young people attempt to reach Mars before a Chinese expedition gets there. Nominated by William H. Stoddard