Rosewater by Tade Thompson (Orbit) has won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award. The award is chosen by a panel of industry professionals, and is often compared to the Man Booker Prize in terms of impact and importance.

The ceremony for the 33rd Clarke Award took place at Foyles Bookshop in London. The event is one of the highlights of the UK science fiction scene. Tade Thompson received a commemorative engraved bookend and prize money of £2019.00.

Dr Andrew M Butler, Chair of Judges, said: “Alien invasion is always a political subject, and Tade Thompson’s debut novel Rosewater expertly explores the nature of the alien, global power structures and pervasive technologies with a winning combination of science fictional invention, gritty plotting and sly wit.I would like to pay tribute to our judges for this year, it was an incredibly close but good-natured argument over which novel would triumph.”

The judges were composed of members of the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation and the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival.