The Compton Crook Award is presented by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) to the year's best English-language debut novel in the science fiction, fantasy, or horror genres, as voted by its members. BSFS confers the award at their annual science fiction convention, Balticon, held in Baltimore on Memorial Day weekend. The award, also known as the Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Award, has been presented since 1983. Compton Crook, who wrote under the name of Stephen Tall, was a long-time Baltimore resident, Towson University professor, and science fiction author who died in 1981.
The list of eligible books is published in the monthly newsletter so that all club members will have a chance to read and vote. The winning author receives a cash award of $1,000 as well as a plaque, and their Balticon attendance is sponsored for two years; in the second year, the author presents the award to their successor. The invitation to Balticon is intended in part as a professional networking opportunity for the new author.
Winners and finalists
* Winners
Year Author Title 1983 * Courtship Rite 1984 * Paradise Tea with the Black Dragon 1985 * Emergence Aubade for Gamelon Them Bones 1986 * Infinity's Web 1987 * Shards of Honor 1988 * Liege-Killer After the Zap In Conquest Born War for the Oaks 1989 * Sheepfarmer's Daughter Dragon Prince 1990 * Child of Saturn Sunglasses After Dark Twistor 1991 * In the Country of the Blind In the Net of Dreams 1992 * Reefsong Groundties Into the Dark Lands 1993 * Fire in the Mist Jumper 1994 * Chiller Cold Allies 1995 * Dun Lady's Jess Love Bite Mistwalker 1996 * Assassin's Apprentice Becoming Human Primary Inversion 1997 * Celestial Matters 1998 * 1999 * 2000 * Flesh and Silver 2001 * Murphy's Gambit Dykstra's War Mars Crossing Storm Front Transformation 2002 * Alien Taste 2003 * Devlin's Luck 2004 * Way of the Wolf 2005 * Ghosts in the Snow 2006 * Poison Study 2007 * His Majesty's Dragon Sojourn 2008 * One Jump Ahead Magic Lost, Trouble Found 2009 * Singularity's Ring Black Ships Into the Storm 2010 * Dying Bites Johannes Cabal the Necromancer Soulless 2011 * State of Decay 2012 * Germline 2013 * Shadow Ops: Control Point Fair Coin Glitch Scourge of the Betrayer Stormdancer 2014 * Fire with Fire Ancillary Justice City of a Thousand Dolls Glyphbinder In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods Shh! It's a Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood, and the Bartender's Guide 2015 * Salvage Copper Magic Darkwalker Expiration Day Memory of Water 2016 * Updraft 5 to 1 Owl and the Japanese Circus I Will Love You Forever Beasts of Tabat Flex Enter the Janitor 2017 * Too Like the Lightning Ninefox Gambit Arabella of Mars Sword and Verse Sleeping Giants Sleep State Interrupt 2018 * Gilded Cage All Our Wrong Todays Lotus Blue Amatka 2019 * Trail of Lightning Sisters of the Winter Wood Implanted 2020 * Here and Now and Then 2021 * Axiom's End Nameless Queen Architects of Memory Docile 2022 * Assassin's Orbit We Have Always Been Here Nucleation 2023 * Obsidian Bluebird Daughter of the Moon Goddess 2024 * To Shape a Dragon's Breath These Burning Stars Deathwind How to Be Remembered 2025 * Sun of Blood and Ruin Someone You Can Build a Nest In 2026 * Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory All the Water in the World Splinter Effect
Notes
References
External links Compton Crook Award Winners Page