Edge of Heaven

"Absolutely. So this is set in 2119, around 100 years ahead. And as you can imagine, things are not going well on the near future Earth. I don’t usually like to make these sorts of comparisons, but if you liked Blade Runner , that noir flavour of science fiction, then this is probably the one our shortlist for you. Think crumbling societies, dispossessed populations, outlawed technologies and a (very on trend) deadly plague to name just a few of the challenges our protagonists will be facing here. If The Infinite exemplified what the Clarke Award can do in terms of recognising the wealth of science fiction for younger readers, another area that’s always welcome to us is the opportunity to help promote small presses. And this book comes to us via a long and winding road. So, R. B. Kelly won the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair Competition, which is a small award specifically for first time writers. The winner has their book published by a small press, and Edge of Heaven was first published in the Republic of Ireland in 2016—so, not eligible for our award. But it was then subsequently picked up by another small press in the UK—NewCon Press, which has a very strong track record in UK science fiction having made its name publishing anthologies before moving into novels and novellas. I should quickly declare an interest here: NewCon Press worked with us directly on a collection of 2001-word long short stories to honour Sir Arthur C Clarke’s 100th birthday. But let me be clear: I as the prize director have nothing to do with the judging, so there’s no bias whatsoever. But I have been expecting to see this publisher arrive on our shortlists for a while—and it’s extra special I think that it’s this particular book. We know from past experience that we are good at finding authors at the beginning of their career; they might go on to write for twenty, thirty years. But this award can create a lot of exposure that can make all the difference for a new writer just starting out."