In addition to selecting the winner, each jury chooses an Honor List (previously called a “Short List”). The Honor List is a strong part of the award’s identity and is used by many professors as a guide to creating syllabi and by many readers as a recommended reading list.

Honor List

The 2000 jury chose 11 works for the Honor List

Fidelity: A Primer by Michael Blumlein (, )

This is a story about circumcision, a very gender related issue. It is one of the rare stores that explores gender issues by examining male body issues, and the choices they involve.

Work Information

Title: Fidelity: A PrimerAuthor:
Collection:
Title: Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction September 2000Editor: Gordon van Gelder
Work Type: Short Fiction

Diagram of Rapture by James L. Cambias (, )

A woman researching neurohormones discovers a brain chemical that naturally triggers sexual arousal. The resulting drug artificially does the same thing, affecting sexual interactions on a larger social scale, as well as hanging relationships within the scientist’s own family.

Work Information

Title: Diagram of RaptureAuthor:
Collection:
Title: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 2000Editor: Gordon van Gelder
Work Type: Short Fiction

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff (Viking, 2000)

The fantasy elements in this novel are so slight as to be almost non-existent, but it was so compelling that the jury could not bear to leave it out. It is the story of Einar, a man in 1920s Denmark who turns himself into a woman, Lili, first through dress and mannerisms, then through lifestyle, and ultimately surgery. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the portrayal of Greta, who is both Einar’s wife and Lili’s best friend, as she runs through a tremendous range of emotions when her husband and her life are transformed.

Work Information

Title: The Danish GirlAuthor:
Publisher:
Publisher Name: VikingCountry: USYear: 2000
Work Type: Novel

Ash: A Secret History, The Book of Ash: A Secret History, by Mary Gentle (Avon Eos, 1999)

This enormous novel (published as an 1100 page book in the UK and as a four volume work in the US) is set in an alternate 15th century. Its main characters are Ash, a female mercenary, and Flora/Florian, a woman who dresses as a man in order to study medicine. It is a vividly realized portrait of two powerful and unusual women surviving in a time that is openly hostile to them.

Work Information

Title: Ash: A Secret HistoryAuthor:
Series:
Series Title: The Book of AshSeries Number: 1
Publisher:
Publisher Name: Avon EosCountry: U.S.Year: 1999
Work Type: Novel

Soma by Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar (Invisible Cities Press, 2000)

This is a powerful story about fitting in, about body image, and about how physical appearance influences what others think about a woman’s personality and sexuality.

Work Information

Title: SomaAuthor:
Collection:
Title: Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction Editor: Nalo Hopkinson
Publisher:
Publisher Name: Invisible Cities PressYear: 2000
Work Type: Short Fiction

The Glass Bottle Trick by Nalo Hopkinson (ed.) (Invisible Cities Press, 2000)

A seamless blend of fairy tale and Caribbean folklore, this chilling tale examines the roles of men and women in courtship, and how those roles change with marriage and pregnancy.

Work Information

Title: The Glass Bottle TrickEditors: Nalo Hopkinson (ed.)
Collection:
Title: Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction Editor: Nalo Hopkinson
Publisher:
Publisher Name: Invisible Cities PressYear: 2000
Work Type: Short Fiction

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson (Warner Aspect, 2000)

A rollicking Caribbean feminist tale about a little girl turned outlaw, it is a blend of action-adventure, science fiction, allegory, and myth that offers a unique intersection of gender, race, and identity issues. While not overtly about gender, the ideas and concepts of gender are at its very heart.

Work Information

Title: Midnight RobberAuthor:
Publisher:
Publisher Name: Warner AspectCountry: U.S.Year: 2000
Work Type: Novel

Perdido Street Station, , by China Miéville (Macmillan UK, 2000)

An amazing read, a big epic wonder of a novel that constructs an urban fantasy world that is both Dickensian and futuristic. Its main themes are about inter-species relationships and what it is to be human, but there is a strong gender sub-theme that weaves its way through the city and the lives of its main characters.

Work Information

Title: Perdido Street StationAuthor:
Series:
Series Title: New CrobuzonSeries Number: 1
Publisher:
Publisher Name: Macmillan UKCountry: UKYear: 2000
Work Type: Novel

Once on the Shores of the Stream Senegambia by Pamela Mordecai (Invisible Cities Press, 2000)

A very scary story about colonization and gender. The author uses a future society to explore questions about what it means to be in a female body, and what the consequences are when a woman’s choices about her body are not under her control.

Work Information

Title: Once on the Shores of the Stream SenegambiaAuthor:
Collection:
Title: Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root Editor: Nalo Hopkinson
Publisher:
Publisher Name: Invisible Cities PressYear: 2000
Work Type: Short Fiction

The Annunciate by Severna Park (Avon Eos, 1999)

A fresh and interesting feminist take on the Garden of Eden myth, with new treatments of the familiar symbols of apple, gate, and garden.

Work Information

Title: The AnnunciateAuthor:
Publisher:
Publisher Name: Avon EosCountry: U.S.Year: 1999
Work Type: Novel

Sea As Mirror by Tess Williams (HarperCollins Voyager, 2000)

Set in an overpopulated, environmentally precarious not-so-distant future, this novel deals with the theme of inter-species communication, and is a fascinating look at what it means to be the Other.

Work Information

Title: Sea As MirrorAuthor:
Publisher:
Publisher Name: HarperCollins VoyagerCountry: AustraliaYear: 2000
Work Type: Novel