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By Yvonne Zipp
Say “World Fantasy Awards,” and the uninitiated may imagine fans dressed in homemade chain mail and fake pointy ears. In fact, there’s not an elf, dwarf or fairy to be seen in this year’s nominees for best novel. (Past winners include Susanna Clarke for “ Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell ” and China Mieville for “ The City and the City .”) Instead, the judges are considering a hard-boiled crime novel, a retelling of a Senegalese folk tale, and stories set in an alternate Sudan and a Tang dynasty that never was. The winner, who will receive an H.P. Lovecraft bust, will be announced at the World Fantasy Convention in San Diego on Sunday. American author Peter S. Beagle and Argentine author Angelica Gorodischer will receive lifetime achievement awards. Here’s a rundown of the six finalists for best novel:
