The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers (published by Sandstone Press) won this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award. The juried award, which includes a prize of £2012, is “the most prestigious award for science fiction in Britain.” The award was presented by author Jeff Noon, who won the Clarke Award himself in 1994, for his novel Vurt.
According to the Clarke Award web site, the novel “is set in a near-future world living in the aftermath of biological terrorism and the release of the MDS (maternal death syndrome) virus. Narrated by 16-year old Jessie Lamb, the novel follows her decision to volunteer for an experimental programme to carry an immune embryo to term, a choice she can’t hope to survive.”
Speaking after the ceremony, Award Director Tom Hunter said: “The Testament of Jessie Lamb is a fantastic novel and I’m thrilled to have it join the Clarke Award’s winning list of best science fiction books of the year. A big part of our role at the award is to listen out for all the buzz and chatter around the books being submitted, and it was fascinating to watch the positive word of mouth for the book spreading across the science fiction community over the past year; something I hope will only continue to grow now that Jane Rogers has won this year’s award.”
The announcement was made at the award’s official ceremony held in London, last night, at an exclusive event held as part of the Sci-Fi-London Film Festival.
We detailed the short list in this article.