The shortlist for the 33rd Arthur C. Clarke Award has been announced. Honoring the best science fiction novel of the year, the award is selected from a list of novels whose UK edition was published in the previous calendar year. According to the official announcement, this was a record-breaking year, with 124 books submitted to the judges from 46 UK publishing imprints and independent authors.

The judging panel changes every year, its members nominated from supporting organizations including the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation, and the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival. “As always, the jury have given us a snapshot of the best sf: cyberpunk, military space opera, first contact, dystopian America, fantastical Britain and war-torn Iraq,” said Andrew M. Butler, Chair of Judges. “The judges have really done us proud, but I can see it’s going to be a tough final decision.”

The 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist:

Semiosis, Sue Burke (HarperVoyager)

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)

Frankenstein in Baghdad, Ahmed Saadawi (Oneworld)

The Electric State, Simon Stålenhag (Simon & Schuster)

Rosewater, Tade Thompson (Orbit)

The Loosening Skin, Aliya Whiteley (Unsung Stories)

“Our 6 shortlisted titles were selected from a record-breaking 124 eligible submissions, and as the imaginative breadth of SF publishing in the UK has grown so too has the challenge for our judges,” said Award Director Tom Hunter. “With this shortlist they have successfully melded multiple definitions of the genre into a celebratory whole that both upholds the best traditions of science fiction literature and beckons us towards exhilarating new futures.”

The winner of the 2019 Arthur C. Clarke Award will be announced at an awards ceremony at Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road, on July 17. The winner will receive a check for £2019 and the Clarke Award commemorative engraved bookend.