After a sweltering FantasyCon in Brighton last weekend, I was delighted to collect the Sydney J Bounds Award for Best Newcomer on behalf of Robert Jackson Bennett for his wonderful novel Mr Shivers (US | UK | ANZ). The judges commented he ‘created an atmospheric tale, reminiscent of the best of Block and King, skilfully evoking the ambience of the Great Depression, while demonstrating compelling storytelling’. Quite right! Congratulations, Robert – your statuette is in the post, but meanwhile here’s a picture of it looking rather lovely next to the winning book:

On the shortlist for the same award was another fabulous Orbit author, N.K. Jemisin, for her debut The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (US | UK | ANZ). It’s widely available (as is Mr Shivers) so grab a copy now if you haven’t read it yet. Jemisin’s new book The Kingdom of Gods (US | UK | ANZ) hit the bookshops in the UK, Australia and New Zealand on 6 October and is out in the US next month.