Gollancz’s 50th Anniversary Contest!!!

A month ago, major British publishing house Gollancz reached their 50^th year as a beacon of excellence in Science Fiction & Fantasy literature. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Gollancz has put together a fascinating contest. Here’s the official post:

This year Gollancz celebrates 50 years of bringing you the very best in Science Fiction and Fantasy, from classic novels through to modern-day bestsellers.

We've chosen 50 titles published under the Gollancz imprint over the past 50 years. Now we want you to tell us your favourites! Simply visit this website http://www.gollancz50.com/ and select one science fiction title and one fantasy title to cast your vote.

We'll announce the winners in September and then publish the Top Five Science Fiction and Top Five Fantasy titles in a fantastic collectable retro-look edition to celebrate!"

Included below is the complete list of 25 Science Fiction and Fantasy books which are up for vote. From these two lists, five books will be chosen from each category and will be re-published in a special retro-style collector edition with a certifiable yellow/golden Gollancz 50^th Anniversary tag. The voting period ends on May 15, 2011 at Midnight GMT. Five winners will be selected randomly and will receive a subscription to SFX Magazine. The winners will also receive a copy of all of the reissued Top 10 books! These editions will certainly be flying off the shelves so have a look at the titles below and vote for your favorite SF and Fantasy book HERE.

SF Title List	Fantasy Title list
A Case of Conscience by James Blish	Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan	Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
Brasyl by Ian McDonald	Book of the New Sun (Vol 1&2) (Vol 3&4) by Gene Wolfe
The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin	The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick	Conan Volume One by Robert E. Howard
Dune by Frank Herbert	Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Fairyland by Paul McAuley	Elric by Michael Moorcock
The Female Man by Joanna Russ	Eric by Terry Pratchett
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman	Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin
Flood by Stephen Baxter	The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes	The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Gateway by Frederik Pohl	Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Hyperion by Dan Simmons	Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon	I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon	The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Pavane by Keith Roberts	Little, Big by John Crowley
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke	Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds	Memoirs of a Master Forger by William Heaney
Ringworld by Larry Niven	Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner	The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Tau Zero by Poul Anderson	The Runes of the Earth by Stephen Donaldson
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells	Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Separation by Christopher Priest	Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester	Viriconium by M. John Harrison
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts	Wolfsangel by M. D. Lachlan

With so many great titles in either category, it will be hard to predict which ten SF & F titles are selected. The final list will be announced in September. As for me (Mihir), I have voted for “The Lies of Locke Lamora” and “Yellow Blue Tibia” in their respective categories.

In addition to the contest, a number of articles on the topic of “CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF GOLLANCZ” have been posted on the Gollancz blog. They are as follows:

Day One – Simon Spanton talks about two of his favourite SF books.

Day Two – Gillian Redfern talks about her favourite fantasy tale.

Day Three – Jonathan Weir contemplates a book and the mish-mashing of genres.

Day Four – Marcus Gipps reminisces about his reading past.

Day Five – Mark Stay debates the allure of Philip K. Dick’s writing.

Day Six – Paul Stark recollects his 21^st birthday present.