It just came down the wire today that Sean Williams’ novel Saturn Returns made the final ballot for the Philip K. Dick Award. The full list includes work by Elizabeth Bear, M. John Harrison, and others. The Dick Award, apart from being the cause of irrepressible jesting, is for the best work of science fiction published in original paperback in the United States and recognises science fiction’s pulp origins. The results will be announced at Norwescon in March.

Parochialism alert: Sean’s nomination means in that over the last few years Australians have won or been nominated for almost all the major international awards in the genre. Not bad for a country that makes up 6-8% of the English-speaking world.