It is awards season at the moment, and six books published in 2015 have been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.

Now in its thirtieth year, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction literature released the list at the opening ceremony of the Sci-Fi London Film Festival. The shortlist is made up of the following titles:

 • The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet – Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton)

• Europe at Midnight – Dave Hutchinson (Solaris)

• The Book of Phoenix – Nnedi Okorafor (Hodder & Stoughton)

• Arcadia – Iain Pears (Faber & Faber)

• Way Down Dark – J.P. Smythe (Hodder & Stoughton)

• Children of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor)

Award Director Tom Hunter said, “This is a quintessentially Clarke Award kind of a shortlist. Look once and I’m sure everyone will see a choice they agree with. Look twice, and you’ll likely see a new book you want to read next. Look a third time though, and I hope you’ll see how well all of these six books sit together, and how they represent a particular special moment in time for UK science fiction. In other words, like all great books, this is a shortlist that rewards the more you read into it.”

The Clarke Awards are highly regarded as the ‘go to’ list for recommended reads, and this year’s selection is no different, being filled with some of STARBURST’s favourite books from last year. We wish all the contestants the best of luck.