# List of Gaylactic Spectrum Award winners and nominees for best novel

The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards are given to works of science fiction, fantasy and horror that explore LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) topics in a positive way. They were founded in 1998, first presented by the Gaylactic Network in 1999. In 2002 they were given their own organization, the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Foundation.
Since their inception, awards have been given in categories for novels, short fiction, and best other work. Other categories have also been added and removed in intervening years. Works produced before the inception of the awards are eligible to be inducted into the "Hall of Fame". The novels category is open to submissions of novels released during the prior calendar year in North America that includes "significant positive GLBT content". The results are decided by a panel of judges from the list of submitted nominees; the long list of nominees is reduced to a short list of finalists, and the results are generally announced and presented at Gaylaxicon, an annual convention devoted to LGBT-themed science fiction. This article lists all the "Best Novel" award nominees and winners and novels inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Each award consists of an etched image on lucite on a stand, using a spiral galaxy in a triangle logo, based on the logo the Gaylactic Network. The award winner's name, work title, award year, and award category are etched on a small plaque on the base or on the plexiglass itself. A small cash stipend is awarded to winners in the Best Novel category. The cost of the awards is met through individual donations and fundraising events.
Laurie J. Marks and Melissa Scott have both won the award twice. Elizabeth Bear holds the record for most nominations, with ten nominations and one win.

## Novel winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the award ceremonies; the books were released is the preceding years. Entries with a lavender background have won the relevant award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. Superscript letters after the result indicate simultaneous nominations in other categories.
| Year | Author(s) | Book title | Publisher | Result |
| 1999 | Anne Harris | Accidental Creatures | Tor | Won (joint) |
| 1999 | Stephen Leigh | Dark Water's Embrace | Avon Eos | Won (joint) |
| 1999 | Carolyn Ives Gilman | Halfway Human | Avon Eos | Nominated |
| 1999 | Nancy Kress | Maximum Light | Tor | Nominated |
| 1999 | Fiona Patton | The Painter Knight | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2000 | Keith Hartman | The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse | Meisha Merlin | Won (joint) |
| 2000 | Peg Kerr | The Wild Swans | Warner Aspect | Won (joint) |
| 2000 | Severna Park | The Annunciate | Avon Eos | Nominated |
| 2000 | Fiona Patton | The Granite Shield | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2000 | Tanya Huff | The Quartered Sea | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2000 | Lynn Flewelling | Traitor's Moon | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2001 | David Gerrold | Jumping Off the Planet | Tor | Won |
| 2001 | Michael Chabon | The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay | Random House | Nominated |
| 2001 | Ricardo Pinto | The Chosen | Tor | Nominated |
| 2001 | Rick Reed | The Face without a Heart | Design Image Group | Nominated |
| 2001 | Melissa Scott | The Jazz | Tor | Nominated |
| 2001 | Jim Grimsley | Kirith Kirin | Meisha Merlin | Nominated |
| 2001 | Greg Egan | Teranesia | Avon Harpercollins Eos | Nominated |
| 2002 | Hugh Nissenson | The Song of the Earth | Algonquin Books | Won |
| 2002 | David Gerrold | Bouncing Off the Moon | Tor | Nominated |
| 2002 | Steven Harper | Dreamer | Roc | Nominated |
| 2002 | Liz Williams | The Ghost Sister | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2002 | Hiromi Goto | The Kappa Child | Red Deer Press | Nominated |
| 2002 | Jacqueline Carey | Kushiel's Dart | Tor | Nominated |
| 2002 | Candas Jane Dorsey | A Paradigm of Earth | Tor | Nominated |
| 2002 | Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett | Point of Dreams | Tor | Nominated |
| 2003 | Laurie J. Marks | Fire Logic | Tor | Won |
| 2003 | Don Sakers | Dance for the Ivory Madonna | Speed-of-C | Nominated |
| 2003 | Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman | The Fall of the Kings | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2003 | Robert J. Sawyer | Hominids | Tor | Nominated |
| 2003 | Jane Fletcher | Lorimal's Chalice | Fortitude Press | Nominated |
| 2003 | Steven Harper | Nightmare: A Novel of the Silent Empire | Roc | Nominated |
| 2003 | Kelley Eskridge | Solitaire | Eos | Nominated |
| 2004 | Nalo Hopkinson | The Salt Roads | Warner | Won |
| 2004 | Lynn Flewelling | The Hidden Warrior | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2004 | Robert J. Sawyer | Hybrids | Tor | Nominated |
| 2004 | Geoff Ryman | Lust | St. Martin's Press | Nominated |
| 2004 | Chris Moriarty | Spin State | Bantam Dell | Nominated |
| 2004 | Amy Thomson | Storyteller | Ace | Nominated |
| 2004 | Steven Harper | Trickster | Roc | Nominated |
| 2004 | Johanna Sinisalo | Troll | Grove | Nominated |
| 2005 | Laurie J. Marks | Earth Logic | Tor | Won |
| 2005 | Wen Spencer | Dog Warrior | Roc | Nominated |
| 2005 | Mark Anthony | The First Stone | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2005 | Caitlin Kiernan | Murder of Angels | Roc | Nominated |
| 2005 | Steven Harper | Offspring | Roc | Nominated |
| 2005 | Jim Grimsley | The Ordinary | Tor | Nominated |
| 2005 | Selina Rosen | Reruns | Yard Dog | Nominated |
| 2005 | Tanya Huff | Smoke and Shadows | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2006 | Karin Lowachee | Cagebird | Warner Aspect | Won |
| 2006 | Hal Bodner | Bite Club | Alyson | Nominated |
| 2006 | James Hetley | Dragon's Eye | Ace | Nominated |
| 2006 | Tanya Huff | Smoke and Mirrors | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2006 | Tim Pratt | The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2006 | Ian R. MacLeod | The Summer Isles | Aio | Nominated |
| 2006 | Mark Gatiss | The Vesuvius Club | Scribner | Nominated |
| 2007 | Hal Duncan | Vellum | Del Rey | Won |
| 2007 | Elizabeth Bear | Carnival | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2007 | James Hetley | Dragon's Teeth | Ace | Nominated |
| 2007 | Susanne M. Beck & Okasha Skat'si | The Growing | P.D. Publishing | Nominated |
| 2007 | Ellen Kushner | The Privilege Of The Sword | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2007 | Tanya Huff | Smoke and Ashes | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2007 | Wheeler Scott | Snow | Torquere | Nominated |
| 2007 | Chris Moriarty | Spin Control | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2007 | Sarah Monette | The Virtu | Ace | Nominated |
| 2008 | Ginn Hale | Wicked Gentlemen | Del Rey | Won |
| 2008 | L-J Baker | Lady Knight | Bold Strokes Books | Nominated |
| 2008 | Elizabeth Bear | Dust | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2008 | Elizabeth Bear | New Amsterdam | Far Territories | Nominated |
| 2008 | Elizabeth Bear | Whiskey and Water: A Novel of the Promethean Age | Roc | Nominated |
| 2008 | Steve Berman | Vintage: A Ghost Story | Haworth Positronic | Nominated |
| 2008 | Hal Duncan | Ink | Del Rey | Nominated |
| 2008 | Sarah Hall | Daughters of the North aka The Carhullan Army | Faber & Faber | Nominated |
| 2008 | Perry Moore | Hero | Doubleday | Nominated |
| 2008 | Darieck Scott | Hex: A Novel of Love Spells | Carroll & Graf | Nominated |
| 2008 | Brian Francis Slattery | Spaceman Blues: A Love Song | Tor | Nominated |
| 2008 | Jo Walton | Ha'penny | Tor | Nominated |
| 2009 | Elizabeth Bear | The Stratford Man (Hell and Earth/Ink and Steel) | Roc | Won |
| 2009 | Elizabeth Bear | All the Windwracked Stars | Tor | Nominated |
| 2009 | Cassandra Clare | City of Ashes | McElderry | Nominated |
| 2009 | Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett | Havemercy | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2009 | Lynn Flewelling | Shadow's Return | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2009 | Nicole Kimberling | Turnskin | Blind Eye Books | Nominated |
| 2010 | Richard Morgan | The Steel Remains | Del Rey | Won |
| 2010 | Malinda Lo | Ash | Little, Brown and Company | Nominated |
| 2010 | Elizabeth Bear | By the Mountain Bound | Tor | Nominated |
| 2010 | Rebecca Ore | Centuries Ago and Very Fast | Aqueduct Press | Nominated |
| 2010 | Tanya Huff | The Enchantment Emporium | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2010 | Jacqueline Carey | Naamah's Kiss | Grand Central | Nominated |
| 2010 | Catherynne Valente | Palimpsest | Del Rey | Nominated |
| 2010 | Caitlin Kiernan | The Red Tree | Roc | Nominated |
| 2010 | Elizabeth Bear | Seven for a Secret | Subterranean Press | Nominated |
| 2010 | Josh Lanyon | Strange Fortune | Blind Eye | Nominated |
| 2011 | Kathe Koja | Under the Poppy | Small Beer Press | Won |
| 2011 | J.A. Pitts | Black Blade Blues | Tor | Nominated |
| 2011 | David Pratt | Bob the Book | Chelsea Street Editions | Nominated |
| 2011 | Gemma Files | A Book of Tongues | ChiZine Publications | Nominated |
| 2011 | Jim C. Hines | Red Hood's Revenge | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2011 | Jo Graham | Stealing Fire | Orbit | Nominated |
| 2011 | Lynn Flewelling | The White Road | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2011 | Jameson Currier | The Wolf at the Door | Chelsea Street Editions | Nominated |
| 2012 | J.A. Pitts | Honeyed Words | Tor | Won |
| 2012 | Richard K. Morgan | The Cold Commands | Del Rey | Nominated |
| 2012 | Kameron Hurley | God's War/Infidel | Night Shade | Nominated |
| 2012 | Elizabeth Bear | Grail | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2012 | Joan Slonczewski | The Highest Frontier | Tor | Nominated |
| 2012 | Malinda Lo | Huntress | Little, Brown and Company | Nominated |
| 2012 | Gemma Files | A Rope of Thorns | ChiZine Publications | Nominated |
| 2012 | Charles Stross | Rule 34 | Ace | Nominated |
| 2012 | L.A. Witt | Static | Amber Quill Press | Nominated |
| 2012 | Tanya Huff | The Wild Ways | DAW Books | Nominated |
| 2013 | Madeline Miller | The Song of Achilles | Ecco Press | Won |
| 2013 | Lynn Flewelling | Casket of Souls | Bantam Spectra | Nominated |
| 2013 | J.A. Pitts | Forged in Fire | Tor | Nominated |
| 2013 | Melissa Scott | Point of Knives | Lethe Press | Nominated |
| 2013 | Kameron Hurley | Rapture | Night Shade Books | Nominated |
| 2014 | Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold | Death By Silver | Lethe Press | Won |
| 2014 | Jill Schultz | Angel on the Ropes | Self-published | Nominated |
| 2014 | Kathleen Tierney | Blood Oranges | Roc Books | Nominated |
| 2014 | Lou Harper | Dead in the Desert | Harper Books | Nominated |
| 2014 | Ginn Hale | The Holy Road/His Sacred Bones | Blind Eye Books | Nominated |
| 2014 | Seanan McGuire | Indexing | 47North | Nominated |
| 2014 | Jess Faraday | The Left Hand of Justice | Bold Strokes Books | Nominated |
| 2014 | KJ Charles | The Magpie Lord | Samhain Publishing | Nominated |
| 2014 | Ian Tregillis | Something More Than Night | Tor Books | Nominated |
| 2014 | Alaya Dawn Johnson | The Summer Prince | Arthur A. Levine Books | Nominated |
| 2014 | Lavie Tidhar | The Violent Century | Hodder & Stoughton | Nominated |
| 2014 | Jordan L. Hawk | Widdershins / Threshold / Stormhaven | Self-published | Nominated |
| 2015 | Melissa Scott | Fairs' Point | Lethe Press | Won |
| 2015 | KJ Charles | A Case of Possession / Flight of Magpies | Samhain Publishing | Nominated |
| 2015 | Richard K. Morgan | The Dark Defiles | Del Rey Books | Nominated |
| 2015 | Heather Rose Jones | Daughter of Mystery | Bella Books | Nominated |
| 2015 | Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold | A Death at the Dionysus Club | Lethe Press | Nominated |
| 2015 | Tanya Huff | The Future Falls | DAW | Nominated |
| 2015 | Tim Pratt | Heirs of Grace | 47North | Nominated |
| 2015 | Lisa Henry & Heidi Bellau | King of Dublin | Riptide Publishing | Nominated |
| 2015 | Kathe Koja | The Mercury Waltz | Roadswell Editions | Nominated |
| 2015 | Jordan L. Hawk | Necropolis / Bloodline | Widdershins Press | Nominated |
| 2015 | Kathleen Tierney | Red Delicious | Penguin Books | Nominated |
| 2015 | James L. Sutter | Pathfinder Tales: The Redemption Engine | Paizo Publishing | Nominated |
| 2015 | Lynn Flewelling | Shards of Time | Del Rey Books | Nominated |
| 2015 | Melissa Scott & Jo Graham | Wind Raker | Crossroad Press | Nominated |
| 2016 | Ian McDonald | Luna: New Moon | Tor Books | Won |
| 2016 | Kathe Koja | The Bastards' Paradise | Roadswell Editions | Nominated |
| 2016 | Kelly Jensen & Jenn Burke | Chaos Station | Carina Press | Nominated |
| 2016 | Kathleen Tierney | Cherry Bomb | Roc/Penguin | Nominated |
| 2016 | JoSelle Vanderhooft | Ebenezer | Zumaya Boundless | Nominated |
| 2016 | Elizabeth Bear | Karen Memory | Tor Books | Nominated |
| 2016 | Jo Walton | My Real Children | Tor Books | Nominated |
| 2016 | Heather Rose Jones | The Mystic Marriage | Bella Books | Nominated |
| 2016 | Emma Newman | Planetfall | Ace/Roc | Nominated |
| 2016 | Natasha Pulley | The Watchmaker of Filigree Street | Bloomsbury | Nominated |
| 2017 | Heather Rose Jones | Mother of Souls | Bella Books | Won |
| 2017 | Julie Mayhew | The Big Lie | Candlewick Press | Nominated |
| 2017 | Don Bassingthwaite | Cocktails at Seven, Apocalypse at Eight: The Derby Cavendish Stories | ChiZine Publications | Nominated |
| 2017 | Jordan L. Hawke | Fallow | Widdershins Press | Nominated |
| 2017 | Jordan L. Hawke | Hexbreaker / Hexmaker | Widdershins Press | Nominated |
| 2017 | Michael Thomas Ford | Lily | Lethe Press | Nominated |
| 2017 | Kirby Crow | Malachite | Bonecamp Press | Nominated |
| 2017 | Ginn Hale | Maze-Born Trouble | Blind Eye Books | Nominated |
| 2017 | J.A. Pitt | Night Terrors | WordFire Press | Nominated |
| 2018 | Ellen Klages | Passing Strange | Tor.com | Won |
| 2018 | Cynthia Ward | The Adventures of the Incognita Countess | Aqueduct Press | Nominated |
| 2018 | Lara Elena Donnelly | Amberlough | Tor Books | Nominated |
| 2018 | J.Y. Yang | The Black Tides of Heaven | Tor.com | Nominated |
| 2018 | Mark Allan Gunnells | The Cult of Ocasta | Evil Jester Press | Nominated |
| 2018 | Maggie Shen King | An Excess Male | Harper Voyager | Nominated |
| 2018 | Jordan L. Hawk | Hexslayer | JLH Publishing | Nominated |
| 2018 | F.T. Lukens | The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic | Duet Imprint / Interlude Press | Nominated |
| 2018 | Ellen Kushner et al. | Tremontaine Season 1 | Serial Box/Saga Press | Nominated |
| 2018 | Rivers Solomon | An Unkindness of Ghosts | Akashic Books | Nominated |
$^A$ Also won the People's Choice Award.
$^B$ The awards for 2014 and 2015 were combined into a single ceremony and presented in 2015

## Hall of Fame novels

In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the award ceremonies; the books were all first published before the founding of the awards in 1998. No novels have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since 2003. Entries in bold and with a lavender background were inducted into the Hall of Fame that year; those that are neither highlighted nor in bold were not inducted that year (NI), but may be inducted later (IL). Superscript letters after the result indicate simultaneous nominations in other categories.
| Year | Author(s) | Book title | Publisher | Result |
| 1999 | Maureen McHugh | China Mountain Zhang | Tor | Inducted |
| 1999 | Lawrence Schimel | Drag Queen of Elfland | Ultra Violet | NI |
| 1999 | Toby Johnson | Secret Matter | Peregrine Ventures | NI |
| 1999 | Melissa Scott | Shadow Man | Tor | NI - IL |
| 2000 | Nicola Griffith | Slow River | Del Rey | Inducted |
| 2000 | Ellen Kushner | Swordspoint | Tor | Inducted |
| 2000 | Thomas Burnett Swann | How Are The Mighty Fallen | DAW Books | NI |
| 2000 | Diane Duane | Tale of the Five series aka The Middle Kingdoms | Tor | NI - IL |
| 2001 | Arthur C. Clarke | Imperial Earth | Orion | Inducted |
| 2001 | Mary Doria Russell | The Sparrow & Children of God | Fawcett | Inducted |
| 2001 | Francesca Lia Block | Dangerous Angels aka The Weetzie Bat books | Harpercollins | Inducted |
| 2001 | Tanya Huff | The Blood books | DAW Books | NI |
| 2001 | Marion Zimmer Bradley | The Darkover books | DAW Books | NI |
| 2001 | Ursula Le Guin | The Left Hand of Darkness | Ace | NI - IL |
| 2002 | Samuel R. Delany | Dhalgren | Bantam Books | Inducted |
| 2002 | Joanna Russ | The Female Man | Bantam Books | Inducted |
| 2002 | Geoff Ryman | Was | Harpercollins | Inducted |
| 2003 | Suzy McKee Charnas | The Holdfast Chronicles | Ballantine / Tor | Inducted |
| 2003 | Ursula Le Guin | The Left Hand of Darkness | Ace | Inducted |
| 2003 | Melissa Scott | Shadow Man | Tor | Inducted |
| 2003 | Diane Duane | Tale of the Five series aka The Middle Kingdoms | Tor | Inducted |
$^A$ Also won the People's Choice Award.