We are absolutely over the moon that Lavie Tidhar’s Osama, published
in paperback by Solaris, has beaten competition from Stephen King and George R
R Martin to scoop the World Fantasy Award for best novel.
Tidhar accepted the prestigious
award at the World Fantasy Convention in Toronto yesterday.
The judges of the award acknowledged that Israeli-born
Tidhar has produced a work of extraordinary power and imagination, which has
shown genre’s ability to examine and illuminate contemporary events in a way
that other literature struggles to do.
“I am absolutely delighted for
Lavie,” said editor-in-chief Jonathan Oliver. “This award is well-deserved and
it is heartening to see the judges of the World Fantasy Awards choose a
controversial and challenging title in what was already a very strong field.
“Lavie continues to a writer who pushes the boundaries of
genre and is one of the most exciting writers around in any field.”
The outspoken and controversial
Israeli-born author delivers the most exciting, daring and sensitive, fictional
engagement with the post-9/11 era. Tidhar was in Dar-es-Salaam during the
American embassy bombings in 1998, stayed in the same hotel as the Al Qaeda
operatives in Nairobi, and narrowly avoided both the 2005 London, King’s Cross
and 2004 Sinai attacks – all of which has informed this vital book.
The critical reception of Osama has been nothing short of
astonishing – making it a must-read novel for both genre and mainstream
readers. Plaudits have poured in since Tidhar’s win, including one from George
R R Martin himself, as the industry acknowledges an important victory for the
kind of genre fiction that breaks boundaries and avoids cliché.
One of the most significant genre
books of the year, Lavie Tidhar’s highly-praised and BSFA Award-nominated novel
Osama was published in paperback by Solaris in October.
The others nominations for best
novel were:
• Those Across the River,
Christopher Buehlman (Ace)
• 11/22/63, Stephen King
(Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63)
• A Dance with Dragons, George
R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)
• Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)
Osama can be purchased in mass market paperback, hardcover, e-book or audio, via Amazon.com or via Amazon UK: paperback, hardcover, e-book or audio.
Praise for Osama:
“A strange, melancholy and moving
reflection, torquing politics with the fantastic, and vice virtuosically
versa.” – China Miéville
“Not a writer to mess around with half measures … brings to
mind Philip K Dick’s seminal science fiction novel The Man in the High Castle.”
– The Guardian
About the Author
Lavie Tidhar grew up on a kibbutz
in Israel and has since lived in South Africa, the UK, Vanuatu and Laos. He is
currently resident back in London. He was nominated, variously, for a World
Fantasy Award, a BSFA Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Sidewise Award,
Israel’s Geffen Award, the Airship Award, and the Sturgeon and Campbell Awards.
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