The winners of the 2012 World Fantasy Awards were just announced here in Toronto, Canada - and the Best Novel Award didn't go to George R.R. Martin or to Jo Walton, who'd already swept the Nebula and Hugo Awards. Instead, it went to Lavie Tidhar's Osama, a strange pulp-oriented alt history about Osama Bin Laden.


Here's the description of Osama from Amazon.com:

In a world without global terrorism Joe, a private detective, is hired by a mysterious woman to find a man: the obscure author of pulp fiction novels featuring one Osama Bin Laden: Vigilante…


Certainly a lot more topical, and arguably a lot more experimental, than A Dance With Dragons. Here are the rest of the winners, and finalists, via the World Fantasy Awards page:

Novel

winner Osama, Lavie Tidhar (PS Publishing)

Those Across the River, Christopher Buehlman (Ace)

11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63)

A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)

Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)

Novella

winner "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong", K.J. Parker (Subterranean Winter 2011)

"Near Zennor", Elizabeth Hand (A Book of Horrors)

"Alice Through the Plastic Sheet", Robert Shearman (A Book of Horrors)

"Rose Street Attractors", Lucius Shepard (Ghosts by Gaslight)

"Silently and Very Fast", Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA Press; Clarkesworld)

Short Story

winner "The Paper Menagerie", Ken Liu (F&SF 3-4/11)

"X for Demetrious", Steve Duffy (Blood and Other Cravings)

"Younger Women", Karen Joy Fowler (Subterranean Summer 2011)

"A Journey of Only Two Paces", Tim Powers (The Bible Repairman and Other Stories)

"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees", E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld 4/11)


Anthology

winner The Weird, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Corvus; Tor, published May 2012)

Blood and Other Cravings, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor)

A Book of Horrors, Stephen Jones, ed. (Jo Fletcher Books)

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Harper Voyager US)

Gutshot, Conrad Williams, ed. (PS Publishing)

Collection

winner The Bible Repairman and Other Stories, Tim Powers (Tachyon and Subterranean Press)

Bluegrass Symphony, Lisa L. Hannett (Ticonderoga)

Two Worlds and In Between, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean Press)

After the Apocalypse, Maureen F. McHugh (Small Beer)

Mrs Midnight and Other Stories, Reggie Oliver (Tartarus)


Artist

winner John Coulthart

Julie Dillon

Jon Foster

Kathleen Jennings

John Picacio

Special Award-Professional

winner Eric Lane, for publishing in translation – Dedalus books

John Joseph Adams, for editing – anthology and magazine

Jo Fletcher, for editing – Jo Fletcher Books

Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi, for ChiZine Publications

Jeff VanderMeer & S.J. Chambers, for The Steampunk Bible


Special Award-Non-professional

winner Raymond Russell & Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press

Kate Baker, Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan & Sean Wallace, for Clarkesworld

Cat Rambo, for Fantasy

Charles Tan, for Bibliophile Stalker blog

Mark Valentine, for Wormwood