DRAGON AWARDS RECOGNIZE FANS’ FAVORITES IN FICTION, ART,

GAMES, AND FILMED ENTERTAINMENT

Timothy Zahn’s The Icarus Plot Recognized as Best Science Fiction Novel

Children’s Television Creator Marty Krofft, Short Fiction Authors Rich Larson and Daniel Burnbridge, and Art Show Champion Amanda Makepeace Honored with Individual Awards 

ATLANTA – September 3, 2023 – Dragon Con, the internationally known pop culture, sci fi, fantasy, and gaming convention, announced the winners of its 8^th annual Dragon Awards, a fan’s choice awards program to recognize the best in books, comics, games, and filmed entertainment.

Leading this year’s Dragon Awards, The Icarus Plot by Timothy Zahn was the fans’ choice in the Best Science Fiction Novel category.

Dragon Con also announced four other convention awards, recognizing achievement in short fiction and lifelong contributions to the profession and fandom.

Rich Larson and his work, “Quandary Aminu vs The Butterfly Man”, was honored with the Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction, established in the memory of the Nebula-award winning author and long-time Dragon Con volunteer director. A juried award, the “Eugie” celebrates the best in innovative fiction. Past winners include Sarah Pinsker (2022), Elaine Cuyegkeng (2021), and Simone Heller (2019).  No award was given in 2020.

The Julie Award, given to an industry professional for universal achievement spanning multiple genres, was awarded to television creator and producer Marty Krofft, of Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures. Their best-known works were Saturday morning staples, including H. R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, Sigmund & The Sea Monsters, and Land of the Lost plus primetime variety shows including Donny & Marie, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.

Daniel Burnbridge was awarded the Mike Resnick Memorial Short Story Award for his work, “For the Great and Immortal”.  The Resnick award, sponsored by Galaxy’s Edge anthologies (published by Arc Manor) and Dragon Con, celebrates new, unpublished authors and is given in the memory of Mike Resnick, a prolific publisher who was widely known for helping new writers start their careers.

And, Amanda Makepeace was recognized with the Hank Reinhardt Fandom Award, given each year to an individual who has made significant contributions to fandom in Georgia. Makepeace, an award-winning fantasy and science fiction illustrator and a champion for new and upcoming artists, has also been an integral part of the Dragon Con Arts Show for more than 15 years and was instrumental in revitalizing it in 2018.

The Dragon Awards were created in 2016 as part of Dragon Con’s 30^th anniversary celebration. All fans – not just Dragon Con members or attendees – were invited to nominate their favorite properties for the awards and then select Dragon Award winners by voting on the annual Dragon Awards ballot.

More than 7,000 fans cast ballots for this year’s Dragon Award winners, selected from among 67 properties in 11 categories covering the full range of fiction, comics, television, movies, video gaming, and tabletop gaming.  Winners were announced on Sept. 3 at Dragon Con 2023 in downtown Atlanta.

Final voting was held via the dedicated Dragon Awards website, and the voting period ran from mid-August to Sept. 2. The ballot was selected in an open nomination process in which fans nominated their favorite properties. The nomination period ran from early November 2022 until July 2023. The best and most popular of the nominated properties were elevated to the ballot.

And the Dragon Award winners are …

Best Science Fiction Novel         

The Icarus Plot by Timothy Zahn
Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)        

The Witch King by Martha Wells
Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
Best Alternate History Novel    

Lost In Time by A.G. Riddle

Best Horror Novel         

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Best Illustrative Cover

Tower of Silence by Kurt Miller
Best Comic Book or Graphic Novel        

Dune: House Harkonnen by Brian Herbert, Kevin J Anderson, Michael Shelfer
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series, TV or Internet            

The Sandman, Netflix
Best Science Fiction of Fantasy Movie   

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Digital Game     

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo EPD
Best Science Fiction of Fantasy Tabletop Game 

Magic the Gathering: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Wizards of the Coast

About Dragon Con

Dragon Con is the internationally known pop culture convention held each Labor Day in Atlanta. Organized for fans, Dragon Con features more than about 3,500 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming over five days. For more information, please visit www.dragoncon.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.