The London Monster by Donna Scott
Miéville is shortlisted in the best short fiction category for a story, Covehithe, which was commissioned by /books as part of an Arts Council-funded series of stories on the subject of oil. "It's no real surprise to see China Miéville riding high, with nominations in both the best novel and best short fiction categories – his popularity doesn't seem to detract from his sheer coolness," Scott said. The shortlists are picked by nominations from the British Science Fiction Association membership, with Terry Pratchett's new Discworld novel Snuff and Charles Stross's Rule 34 just missing out on a place in the final five, according to awards administrator Donna Scott. The shortlist is completed by Kim Lakin-Smith's Cyber Circus, the story of a floating circus of bio-engineered freaks in a post-apocalyptic future, and by Adam Roberts's By Light Alone, set in a world where humanity has been modified to photosynthesise sunlight with its hair, putting an end to hunger.