The winners of the 2018 Seiun Awards were announced July 21 by Duracon, the 57th Japanese Science Fiction Convention. Among them was Sleeping Giants, the first novel in Sylvain Neuvel’s Themis Files series, translated by Chiori Sada (Tokyo Sogensha), and named Best Translated Novel.
The Seiun Awards were founded in 1970, and are voted on by the participants of the annual Japan Science Fiction Convention. (While Seiun literally means “nebula” in Japanese, the award is not affiliated with the Nebulas.) Previous award winners in the Translated Novel category include Peter Tieryas, Ann Leckie, Andy Weir, and more.
Author and linguist Neuvel tweeted his delight and gratitude at winning the award:
So honored to see Sleeping Giants win the Seiun Award for best translated novel. A Themis-sized thank you to @tokyosogensha, Chiori Sada (translator), everyone at Duracon and all the Japanese readers of the Themis Files. どうもありがとうございます https://t.co/Hi9crZFgNn
— Sylvain Neuvel (@neuvel) July 24, 2018
Neuvel recently concluded the Themis Files with Only Human. In a recent interview with Unbound Worlds, he described his feelings at wrapping up the series: “There’s a little bit of sadness, but there’s also pride, and happiness. I worked really hard to leave these characters in a place I was happy with, so, no, it is a really good feeling. It also comes with the excitement of starting something new, which is very cool.”
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Sleeping Giants
One of those exciting new things is The Test, his forthcoming novella from Tor.com Publishing: a thrilling, timely exploration of a dystopian near future where the road to citizenship is harrowing—and carries a price. “I’m thrilled to be working with Tor.com Publishing to bring The Test to readers,” he said in the official announcement. “It’s a story that comes from a visceral place and I hope it resonates with people and sparks conversation. I wrote it at a time where I felt particularly vulnerable to the current political climate. There seemed to be nowhere to escape. Somehow, that feeling of being trapped in a world gone mad turned into The Test. I can’t wait to share it.”
