The Award Tally

World Fantasy Award for Best Novel

World Fantasy Convention (administered by the World Fantasy Awards Association)

An annual award presented at the World Fantasy Convention recognizing the best fantasy novel published in the eligibility year, judged by a rotating panel of judges alongside a juried shortlist supplemented by nominations from convention attendees. Considered one of the most prestigious honors in fantasy literature, it has recognized works ranging from epic and literary fantasy to horror-tinged and dark fantasy novels.

2025

The Tainted Cup
Robert Jackson Bennett
Won
The Bog Wife
Kay Chronister
Shortlisted
The Bright Sword
Lev Grossman
Shortlisted
The Fox Wife
Yangsze Choo
Shortlisted
The Wings Upon Her Back
Samantha Mills
Shortlisted

2024

The Reformatory
Tananarive Due
Won
Looking Glass Sound
Catriona Ward
Shortlisted
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon
Wole Talabi
Shortlisted
Starling House
Alix E. Harrow
Shortlisted
The Possibilities
Yael Goldstein-Love
Shortlisted
Witch King
Martha Wells
Shortlisted

2023

Saint Death's Daughter
C. S. E. Cooney
Won
Babel
R. F. Kuang
Shortlisted
Siren Queen
Nghi Vo
Shortlisted
Spear
Nicola Griffith
Shortlisted
The Ballad of Perilous Graves
Alex Jennings
Shortlisted

2022

The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri
Won
A Master of Djinn
P. Djèlí Clark
Shortlisted
Black Water Sister
Zen Cho
Shortlisted
The City Beautiful
Aden Polydoros
Shortlisted
The Last House on Needless Street
Catriona Ward
Shortlisted

2021

Trouble the Saints
Alaya Dawn Johnson
Won
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Shortlisted
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke
Shortlisted
The Midnight Bargain
C. L. Polk
Shortlisted
The Only Good Indians
Stephen Graham Jones
Shortlisted

2020

Queen of the Conquered
Kacen Callender
Won
Gideon the Ninth
Tamsyn Muir
Shortlisted
The Memory Police
Yōko Ogawa
Shortlisted
The Raven Tower
Ann Leckie
Shortlisted
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Alix E. Harrow
Shortlisted

2019

Witchmark
C. L. Polk
Won
In the Night Wood
Dale Bailey
Shortlisted
The Mere Wife
Maria Dahvana Headley
Shortlisted
The Poppy War
R. F. Kuang
Shortlisted
Trail of Lightning
Rebecca Roanhorse
Shortlisted

2018

Jade City
Fonda Lee
Won
The Changeling
Victor LaValle
Won
Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr
John Crowley
Shortlisted
Spoonbenders
Daryl Gregory
Shortlisted
The City of Brass
S. A. Chakraborty
Shortlisted
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter
Theodora Goss
Shortlisted

2017

The Sudden Appearance of Hope
Claire North
Won
Borderline
Mishell Baker
Shortlisted
Lovecraft Country
Matt Ruff
Shortlisted
Roadsouls
Betsy James
Shortlisted
The Obelisk Gate
N. K. Jemisin
Shortlisted

2016

The Chimes
Anna Smaill
Won
A Head Full of Ghosts
Paul Tremblay
Shortlisted
Savages
K. J. Parker
Shortlisted
The Buried Giant
Kazuo Ishiguro
Shortlisted
The Fifth Season
N. K. Jemisin
Shortlisted
Uprooted
Naomi Novik
Shortlisted

2015

The Bone Clocks
David Mitchell
Won
Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy
Jeff VanderMeer
Shortlisted
City of Stairs
Robert Jackson Bennett
Shortlisted
My Real Children
Jo Walton
Shortlisted
The Goblin Emperor
Katherine Addison
Shortlisted

2014

A Stranger in Olondria
Sofia Samatar
Won
A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent
Marie Brennan
Shortlisted
Dust Devil on a Quiet Street
Richard Bowes
Shortlisted
The Golem and the Jinni
Helene Wecker
Shortlisted
The Land Across
Gene Wolfe
Shortlisted
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman
Shortlisted

2013

Alif the Unseen
G. Willow Wilson
Won
Crandolin
Anna Tambour
Shortlisted
Some Kind of Fairy Tale
Graham Joyce
Shortlisted
The Drowning Girl
Caitlín R. Kiernan
Shortlisted
The Killing Moon
N. K. Jemisin
Shortlisted

2012

Osama
Lavie Tidhar
Won
11/22/63
Stephen King
Shortlisted
A Dance with Dragons
George R. R. Martin
Shortlisted
Among Others
Jo Walton
Shortlisted
Those Across the River
Christopher Buehlman
Shortlisted

2011

Who Fears Death
Nnedi Okorafor
Won
Redemption in Indigo
Karen Lord
Shortlisted
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
N. K. Jemisin
Shortlisted
The Silent Land
Graham Joyce
Shortlisted
Under Heaven
Guy Gavriel Kay
Shortlisted
Zoo City
Lauren Beukes
Shortlisted

2010

The City & the City
China Miéville
Won
Blood of Ambrose
James Enge
Shortlisted
Finch
Jeff VanderMeer
Shortlisted
In Great Waters
Kit Whitfield
Shortlisted
The Red Tree
Caitlín R. Kiernan
Shortlisted

2009

Tender Morsels
Margo Lanagan
Won
The Shadow Year
Jeffrey Ford
Won
Pandemonium
Daryl Gregory
Shortlisted
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
Shortlisted
The House of the Stag
Kage Baker
Shortlisted

2008

Ysabel
Guy Gavriel Kay
Won
Fangland
John Marks
Shortlisted
Territory
Emma Bull
Shortlisted
The Gospel of the Knife
Will Shetterly
Shortlisted
The Servants
Michael Marshall Smith
Shortlisted

2007

Soldier of Sidon
Gene Wolfe
Won
In the Night Garden
Catherynne M. Valente
Shortlisted
Lisey's Story
Stephen King
Shortlisted
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Scott Lynch
Shortlisted
The Privilege of the Sword
Ellen Kushner
Shortlisted

2006

Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami
Won
A Princess of Roumania
Paul Park
Shortlisted
Lunar Park
Bret Easton Ellis
Shortlisted
Od Magic
Patricia A. McKillip
Shortlisted
The Limits of Enchantment
Graham Joyce
Shortlisted
Vellum
Hal Duncan
Shortlisted

2005

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Susanna Clarke
Won
Iron Council
China Miéville
Shortlisted
Perfect Circle
Sean Stewart
Shortlisted
The Runes of the Earth
Stephen R. Donaldson
Shortlisted
The Wizard Knight
Gene Wolfe
Shortlisted

2004

Tooth and Claw
Jo Walton
Won
Fudoki
Kij Johnson
Shortlisted
The Etched City
K. J. Bishop
Shortlisted
The Light Ages
Ian R. MacLeod
Shortlisted
Veniss Underground
Jeff VanderMeer
Shortlisted

2003

Ombria in Shadow
Patricia A. McKillip
Won
The Facts of Life
Graham Joyce
Won
Fitcher's Brides
Gregory Frost
Shortlisted
The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque
Jeffrey Ford
Shortlisted
The Scar
China Miéville
Shortlisted

2002

The Other Wind
Ursula K. Le Guin
Won
American Gods
Neil Gaiman
Shortlisted
Brown Harvest
Jay Russell
Shortlisted
From the Dust Returned
Ray Bradbury
Shortlisted
The Curse of Chalion
Lois McMaster Bujold
Shortlisted
The Onion Girl
Charles de Lint
Shortlisted
The Wooden Sea
Jonathan Carroll
Shortlisted

2001

Declare
Tim Powers
Won
Galveston
Sean Stewart
Won
Lord of Emperors
Guy Gavriel Kay
Shortlisted
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville
Shortlisted
The Amber Spyglass
Philip Pullman
Shortlisted
The Grand Ellipse
Paula Volsky
Shortlisted

2000

Thraxas
Martin Scott
Won
A Red Heart of Memories
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Shortlisted
A Witness to Life
Terence M. Green
Shortlisted
Gardens of the Moon
Steven Erikson
Shortlisted
Tamsin
Peter S. Beagle
Shortlisted
The Rainy Season
James P. Blaylock
Shortlisted