Doomsday Book (novel): Difference between revisions

Doomsday Book
	First edition hardcover
Author	Connie Willis
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Bantam Spectra
Publication date	1992
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	592 pages (paperback)
Awards	Hugo Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award for Best Novel, Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1993)
ISBN	0-553-08131-4 (Hardcover); ISBN 0-553-35167-2 (Paperback)
OCLC	24952289
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 20
LC Class	PS3573.I45652 D66 1992

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Doomsday Book is a 1992 science fiction novel by American author Connie Willis. The novel won both the Hugo^[1] and Nebula^[2] Awards, and was shortlisted for other awards.^[3] The title of the book refers to the Domesday Book of 1086. Kivrin Engle, the main character, says that her recording is "a record of life in the Middle Ages, which is what William the Conqueror's survey turned out to be."^[4]

The novel is the first in a series about Oxford time-traveling historians, which includes To Say Nothing of the Dog (1998) and Blackout/All Clear (2010).

Plot introduction

Willis's mythos is a near future, first introduced in her story "Fire Watch" (1982), in which historians conduct field work by traveling into the past as observers. The research is conducted at the University of Oxford in mid-21st-century England.^[5]

In the book's fictional universe, history resists time travel that would alter the past by preventing visits to certain places or times. Typically the machine used for time travel will refuse to function, rendering the trip impossible. In other cases, "slippage", a shift in the exact time of arrival, occurs. The time-traveler arrives at the nearest place-and-time suitable for preventing a paradox; variance can be anything from 5 minutes to 5 years. Some periods theoretically accessible can also be deemed too dangerous for the historians by the authorities controlling time travel.^[5]

Plot summary

Kivrin Engle, a young historian specializing in medieval history, asks her reluctant instructor, Professor James Dunworthy, and the authorities running the project to send her to Oxford in 1320 near Christmas. This period had previously been thought too dangerous, because it stretched the time travel net 300 years earlier than it had ever been used before.^[5]

Shortly after sending Kivrin to the 14th century, Badri Chaudhuri, the technician who set the time travel coordinates for the trip, collapses, an early victim of a deadly new influenza epidemic that disrupts the university and leads to the city being quarantined. Kivrin also falls ill as soon as she arrives in the past. She awakens after several days of fever and delirium at a nearby manor whose residents have nursed her. She loses track of the "drop point", the location where she arrived and must return at a prearranged time in order to get home.

The narrative switches between Kivrin in the 14th century and 21st-century Oxford during the influenza epidemic. Kivrin discovers many inconsistencies in what she knows about the time: the Middle English she learned is different from the local dialect, her maps are useless, her clothing is too fine, and she is far too clean. Kivrin fakes amnesia as she tries to find the drop point. She becomes semi-integrated into society, bonding with the children Agnes and Rosemund.

In 2054, Dunworthy tries to determine if Kivrin is safe as Oxford collapses into a panic. Dunworthy befriends Colin, the grand-nephew of his friend Mary Ahrens, a doctor. Fears grow that the virus causing the epidemic has been transmitted from the past via the time travel net. This causes the acting head of Balliol College Professor Gilchrist to order the net closed, effectively stranding Kivrin in the past.

Kivrin and Dunworthy realize that she has arrived in England in 1348, more than 20 years later than intended and during the Black Death pandemic. Though there was no slippage (the time shift between a traveler's intended and actual date of arrival, ensuring they cannot change history), it is discovered that Badri, delirious with illness, input the incorrect coordinates. Ahrens and Dunworthy discover Badri contracted the influenza virus from human remains at the archaeological dig, starting the epidemic at future Oxford.

In the 14th century, two weeks after Kivrin's arrival, a monk infected with the Black Death comes to the village. Within days, many residents of the village fall ill, and Kivrin, who is vaccinated and immune, attempts to help Father Roche treat them. Kivrin’s arranged retrieval date passes with neither side able to make it. Despite every effort, Kivrin watches all the people she has come to know die from the plague with the exception of a servant named Maisry who flees. The last one is Father Roche, who dies believing that Kivrin is a saint sent by God.

Influenza overwhelms the medical staff of the 21st century. Dunworthy is stricken by the disease but survives, awaking after the new year when the worst of the epidemic has passed. Of those able to help Dunworthy, many have died, including Ahrens, who succumbed while treating the infected.

At last, Dunworthy recovers and arranges for Badri to send him back in time to rescue Kivrin. Dunworthy and Colin find her, the last person left alive in the town. The three return to 21st-century England shortly after New Year's Day. Colin is excited by the concept of time travel, saying he will go to the Crusades when he is old enough.

Publication history

Doomsday Book (Hardcover ed.). Bantam Books. May 1992. ISBN 0-553-08131-4.
Doomsday Book (Paperback ed.). Bantam Books. 1993. ISBN 0-553-35167-2.

References

^ "1993 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
^ "1992 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
^ "Award wins and nominations for Doomsday Book". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
^ Willis, Connie (1992). Doomsday Book. Bantam Books. p. 14. ISBN 9780307784445. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Book Review: The Doomsday Book". The Rotarian. 161 (3): 9. September 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-14.

External links

Review by Science Fiction Weekly
Doomsday Book at Worlds Without End

[WWE-1993-1] "1993 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.

[WWE-1992-2] "1992 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.

[WWE-Doomsday-3] "Award wins and nominations for Doomsday Book". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.

[Kivrin_Domesday-4] Willis, Connie (1992). Doomsday Book. Bantam Books. p. 14. ISBN 9780307784445. Retrieved 2011-08-07.

[rotarian161_3_9-5] "Book Review: The Doomsday Book". The Rotarian. 161 (3): 9. September 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-14.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 | website= Worlds Without End
 | access-date=2009-07-30
-}}</ref> The title of the book refers to the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' of 1086; Kivrin Engle, the main character, says that her recording is "a record of life in the Middle Ages, which is what William the Conqueror's survey turned out to be."<ref name="Kivrin Domesday">{{cite book |last = Willis |first = Connie |title = Doomsday Book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xeP4tUO0a4UC&pg=PT30 |access-date = 2011-08-07 |year = 1992 |publisher = [[Bantam Books]] |page = 14<!-- Can someone with access to a print edition double-check this page number? -->|isbn = 9780307784445 }}</ref>
+}}</ref> The title of the book refers to the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' of 1086. Kivrin Engle, the main character, says that her recording is "a record of life in the [[Middle Ages]], which is what [[William the Conqueror]]'s survey turned out to be."<ref name="Kivrin Domesday">{{cite book |last = Willis |first = Connie |title = Doomsday Book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xeP4tUO0a4UC&pg=PT30 |access-date = 2011-08-07 |year = 1992 |publisher = [[Bantam Books]] |page = 14<!-- Can someone with access to a print edition double-check this page number? -->|isbn = 9780307784445 }}</ref>
-The novel is the first in a series about the Oxford time-traveling historians, which includes ''[[To Say Nothing of the Dog]]'' (1998) and ''[[Blackout/All Clear]]'' (2010).
+The novel is the first in a series about Oxford time-traveling historians, which includes ''[[To Say Nothing of the Dog]]'' (1998) and ''[[Blackout/All Clear]]'' (2010).
 == Plot introduction ==
-Willis's mythos is a near future, first introduced in her story "[[Fire Watch (story)|Fire Watch]]" (1982), in which historians conduct field work by traveling into the past as observers. The research is conducted at the University of Oxford, in mid-21st century England.<ref name=rotarian161_3_9>{{cite journal | title=Book Review: The Doomsday Book | journal=The Rotarian |date=September 1992 | volume=161 | issue=3 | page=9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9 | access-date=2010-12-14 }}</ref>
+Willis's mythos is a near future, first introduced in her story "[[Fire Watch (story)|Fire Watch]]" (1982), in which historians conduct field work by traveling into the past as observers. The research is conducted at the [[University of Oxford]] in mid-21st-century England.<ref name=rotarian161_3_9>{{cite journal | title=Book Review: The Doomsday Book | journal=The Rotarian |date=September 1992 | volume=161 | issue=3 | page=9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9 | access-date=2010-12-14 }}</ref>
-In the book's fictional universe, history resists time travel that would cause the past to be altered, by preventing visits to certain places or times. Typically the machine used for time travel will refuse to function, rendering the trip impossible. In other cases, "slippage", a shift in the exact time target, occurs. The time-traveler arrives at the nearest place-and-time suitable for preventing a paradox; variance can be anything from 5 minutes to 5 years. Some periods theoretically accessible can also be deemed too dangerous for the historians by the authorities controlling time travel.<ref name=rotarian161_3_9/>
+In the book's fictional universe, history resists time travel that would alter the past by preventing visits to certain places or times. Typically the machine used for time travel will refuse to function, rendering the trip impossible. In other cases, "slippage", a shift in the exact time of arrival, occurs. The time-traveler arrives at the nearest place-and-time suitable for preventing a paradox; variance can be anything from 5 minutes to 5 years. Some periods theoretically accessible can also be deemed too dangerous for the historians by the authorities controlling time travel.<ref name=rotarian161_3_9/>
 == Plot summary ==
-Kivrin Engle, a young historian specializing in [[medieval]] history, asks her reluctant instructor, Professor James Dunworthy, and the authorities running the project to send her to Oxford in 1320. This period had previously been thought too dangerous, because it stretched the time travel net 300 years earlier than it had ever been used before.<ref name=rotarian161_3_9/>
+Kivrin Engle, a young historian specializing in [[medieval]] history, asks her reluctant instructor, Professor James Dunworthy, and the authorities running the project to send her to Oxford in 1320 near Christmas. This period had previously been thought too dangerous, because it stretched the time travel net 300 years earlier than it had ever been used before.<ref name=rotarian161_3_9/>
-Shortly after sending Kivrin to the 14th century, Badri Chaudhuri, the technician who set the time travel coordinates for the trip, collapses, an early victim of a deadly new [[influenza]] epidemic that disrupts the university and leads to the city being quarantined. Kivrin also falls ill as soon as she arrives in the past. She awakens, after several days of [[fever]] and [[delirium]], at a nearby manor, whose residents have nursed her. Being moved by her rescuers causes her to lose track of the "drop point," the location where she arrives and must return at a prearranged time in order to get home.
+Shortly after sending Kivrin to the 14th century, Badri Chaudhuri, the technician who set the time travel coordinates for the trip, collapses, an early victim of a deadly new [[influenza]] epidemic that disrupts the university and leads to the city being [[Quarantine|quarantined]]. Kivrin also falls ill as soon as she arrives in the past. She awakens after several days of [[fever]] and [[delirium]] at a nearby manor whose residents have nursed her. She loses track of the "drop point", the location where she arrived and must return at a prearranged time in order to get home.
-The narrative switches between Kivrin in the 14th century and 2054/2055 Oxford during the influenza [[epidemic]]. Kivrin discovers many inconsistencies in what she "knows" about the time: the [[Middle English]] she learned is different from the local dialect, her maps are useless, her clothing is too fine, and she is far too clean. Kivrin fakes amnesia, afraid the background story she originally concocted would have inconsistencies, as she tries to find the drop point. Meanwhile, she becomes semi-integrated into society, bonding with the children Agnes and Rosemund. In the other timeline, Dunworthy tries to determine if Kivrin is safe as Oxford collapses into panic. He befriends his friend Mary's grand-nephew, Colin, and they become allies.
+The narrative switches between Kivrin in the 14th century and 21st-century Oxford during the influenza [[epidemic]]. Kivrin discovers many inconsistencies in what she knows about the time: the [[Middle English]] she learned is different from the local dialect, her maps are useless, her clothing is too fine, and she is far too clean. Kivrin fakes amnesia as she tries to find the drop point. She becomes semi-integrated into society, bonding with the children Agnes and Rosemund.
-In future Oxford, fears grow that the virus causing the epidemic has been transmitted from the past via the time travel net. This causes acting head of Balliol College Professor Gilchrist to order the net closed, effectively stranding Kivrin in the past.
+In 2054, Dunworthy tries to determine if Kivrin is safe as Oxford collapses into a panic. Dunworthy befriends Colin, the grand-nephew of his friend Mary Ahrens, a doctor. Fears grow that the virus causing the epidemic has been transmitted from the past via the time travel net. This causes the acting head of Balliol College Professor Gilchrist to order the net closed, effectively stranding Kivrin in the past.
-Kivrin and Dunworthy realize that she has arrived in England in 1348 during the [[Black Death]] pandemic, more than 20 years later than intended. Because there's no slippage (the time shift between a traveler's intended and actual date of arrival, ensuring they can't change history), it's believed that Badri, delirious with illness, input the incorrect coordinates. It turns out that Badri contracted the influenza virus from human remains at the archaeological dig, when he had been helping there, starting the epidemic at future Oxford.
+Kivrin and Dunworthy realize that she has arrived in England in 1348, more than 20 years later than intended and during the [[Black Death]] pandemic. Though there was no slippage (the time shift between a traveler's intended and actual date of arrival, ensuring they cannot change history), it is discovered that Badri, delirious with illness, input the incorrect coordinates. Ahrens and Dunworthy discover Badri contracted the influenza virus from human remains at the archaeological dig, starting the epidemic at future Oxford.
+In the 14th century, two weeks after Kivrin's arrival, a monk infected with the Black Death comes to the village. Within days, many residents of the village fall ill, and Kivrin, who is vaccinated and immune, attempts to help Father Roche treat them. Kivrin’s arranged retrieval date passes with neither side able to make it. Despite every effort, Kivrin watches all the people she has come to know die from the plague with the exception of a servant named Maisry who flees. The last one is Father Roche, who dies believing that Kivrin is a saint sent by God.
-The Black Death cuts a swathe through the [[Middle Ages]], just as disease overwhelms the medical staff of the 21st century. Of those able to help Dunworthy, many die, including his friend Mary Ahrens, a doctor treating the infected who herself succumbs. Dunworthy himself is stricken by the disease but survives.
+Influenza overwhelms the medical staff of the 21st century. Dunworthy is stricken by the disease but survives, awaking after the new year when the worst of the epidemic has passed. Of those able to help Dunworthy, many have died, including Ahrens, who succumbed while treating the infected.
-Meanwhile, in the 14th century, two weeks after Kivrin's arrival, a monk infected with the plague comes to the village. Within days, many residents of the village fall ill. Kivrin’s arranged retrieval date passes with neither side able to make it. At last, Dunworthy arranges for Badri to send him back in time to rescue Kivrin.
-In the Middle Ages, Kivrin can only watch while all the people she has come to know die from the Black Death. Dunworthy and Colin then find her.  The three return to 21st century England shortly after New Year's Day, Colin excited by the concept of time travel, saying he will go to the Crusades when he is old enough.
+At last, Dunworthy recovers and arranges for Badri to send him back in time to rescue Kivrin. Dunworthy and Colin find her, the last person left alive in the town. The three return to 21st-century England shortly after New Year's Day. Colin is excited by the concept of time travel, saying he will go to the [[Crusades]] when he is old enough.
 == Publication history ==
@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 [[Category:1992 American novels]]
 [[Category:1992 science fiction novels]]
-[[Category:Hugo Award for Best Novel-winning works]]
+[[Category:Hugo Award for Best Novel–winning works]]
 [[Category:Novels by Connie Willis]]
-[[Category:Nebula Award for Best Novel-winning works]]
+[[Category:Nebula Award for Best Novel–winning works]]
-[[Category:Fiction set in the 1340s]]
+[[Category:Novels set in the 1340s]]
-[[Category:Novels set in University of Oxford]]
+[[Category:Novels set in the University of Oxford]]
-[[Category:Novels set in the 14th century]]
+[[Category:Novels set in 14th-century Plantagenet England]]
 [[Category:Novels about influenza outbreaks]]
 [[Category:Bantam Spectra books]]

v t e Works by Connie Willis
Time Travel sequence	"Fire Watch" (novelette) (1982) Doomsday Book (1992) To Say Nothing of the Dog (1998) Blackout/All Clear (both 2010)
Other novels	Water Witch (1982) Lincoln's Dreams (1987) Uncharted Territory (1994) Remake (1994) Bellwether (1996) Passage (2001) Crosstalk (2016)
Collections	Fire Watch (1982) Impossible Things (1994) Miracle and Other Christmas Stories (1999)
Short works	"Fire Watch" (1982) "A Letter from the Clearys" (1982) "The Last of the Winnebagos" (1988) "Even the Queen" (1992) "All Seated on the Ground" (2007)
Edited	Nebula Awards 33 (1999)

v t e Hugo Award for Best Novel
Retro	The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White (1939) Slan by A. E. van Vogt (1941) Beyond This Horizon by Anson MacDonald (1943) Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber (1944) Shadow Over Mars by Leigh Brackett (1945) The Mule by Isaac Asimov (1946) Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein (1951) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1954)
1950s	The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1953) They'd Rather Be Right (aka: The Forever Machine) by Mark Clifton and Frank Riley (1955) Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (1956) The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (1958) A Case of Conscience by James Blish (1959)
1960s	Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1960) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1961) Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (1962) The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (1963) Here Gather the Stars (aka: Way Station) by Clifford D. Simak (1964) The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber (1965) Dune by Frank Herbert / ...And Call Me Conrad (aka: This Immortal) by Roger Zelazny (1966) The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (1967) Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (1968) Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner (1969)
1970s	The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1970) Ringworld by Larry Niven (1971) To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer (1972) The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1973) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1974) The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975) The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1976) Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (1977) Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978) Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1979)
1980s	The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (1980) The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (1981) Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh (1982) Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov (1983) Startide Rising by David Brin (1984) Neuromancer by William Gibson (1985) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1986) Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987) The Uplift War by David Brin (1988) Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh (1989)
1990s	Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1990) The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (1991) Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold (1992) A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge / Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993) Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994) Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (1995) The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (1996) Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997) Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman (1998) To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (1999)
2000s	A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (2000) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (2001) American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2002) Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer (2003) Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2004) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2005) Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (2006) Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (2007) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009)
2010s	The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi / The City & the City by China Miéville (2010) Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011) Among Others by Jo Walton (2012) Redshirts by John Scalzi (2013) Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2014) The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu (2015) The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (2016) The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (2017) The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2018) The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019)
2020s	A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (2020) Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021) A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (2022) Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (2023) Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (2024)

v t e Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
1980s	Titan by John Varley (1980) The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (1981) The Many-Colored Land by Julian May (1982) Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov (1983) Startide Rising by David Brin (1984) The Integral Trees by Larry Niven (1985) The Postman by David Brin (1986) Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987) The Uplift War by David Brin (1988) Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh (1989)
1990s	Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1990) The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1991) Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold (1992) Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993) Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994) Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (1995) The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (1996) Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997) The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons (1998) To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (1999)
2000s	Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (2000) The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin (2001) Passage by Connie Willis (2002) The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (2003) Ilium by Dan Simmons (2004) The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson (2005) Accelerando by Charles Stross (2006) Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (2007) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008) Anathem by Neal Stephenson (2009)
2010s	Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (2010) Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011) Embassytown by China Miéville (2012) Redshirts by John Scalzi (2013) Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey (2014) Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (2015) Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (2016) Death's End by Liu Cixin (2017) The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi (2018) The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019)
2020s	The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders (2020) Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021) A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (2022) The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi (2023) System Collapse by Martha Wells (2024)
Best Novel (1971–1981) Best SF Novel (1980–present) Best Fantasy Novel (1978–present) Best First Novel (1981–present) Best Horror Novel (1989–1997, 1999, 2017–present) Best Young Adult Book (2003–present) Best Novella (1973–present) Best Novelette (1975–present) Best Short Story (1971–present)

v t e Nebula Award for Best Novel
1966–1980	Dune by Frank Herbert (1966) Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1967) The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany (1968) Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin (1969) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1970) Ringworld by Larry Niven (1971) A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg (1972) The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1973) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1974) The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975) The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1976) Man Plus by Frederik Pohl (1977) Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978) Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1979) The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (1980)
1981–2000	Timescape by Gregory Benford (1981) The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe (1982) No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop (1983) Startide Rising by David Brin (1984) Neuromancer by William Gibson (1985) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1986) Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987) The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy (1988) Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (1989) The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (1990) Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (1991) Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick (1992) Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993) Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994) Moving Mars by Greg Bear (1995) The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer (1996) Slow River by Nicola Griffith (1997) The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre (1998) Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman (1999) Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (2000)
2001–2020	Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear (2001) The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro (2002) American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2003) Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (2004) Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2005) Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (2006) Seeker by Jack McDevitt (2007) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008) Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin (2009) The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (2010) Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011) Among Others by Jo Walton (2012) 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (2013) Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2014) Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (2015) Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2016) All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2017) The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2018) The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019) A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker (2020)
2021–present	Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021) A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (2022) Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang (2023) The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (2024)