The annual Locus Awards—voted by subscribers to the SF/F genre’s leading industry magazine, as well by the public over the Internet—have announced their 2012 Locus Award finalists, and one familiar name is apparent: A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin is among the five Fantasy Novel finalists. The winner of the award each year is the highest vote-earner, and later in the year the full results will be published. The award itself will be handed out at the Science Fiction Awards Weekend in Seattle, on June 17th.
Another familiar name or two crops up as well: Best Artist finalist John Picacio, who created the amazing 2012 A Song of Ice and Fire Calendar, and the novel Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey—the pen name of writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (who is also known as GRRM’s personal assistant)—as one of the five finalists in the Science Fiction Novel category.
Congratulations to them, and to all the other deserving finalists.