Well like all good journeys we must eventually reach our destination and while 2021’s Subjective Chaos has not taken place along as an immensely draining a year as 2020 was; it has still been a hard one for lots of us. But great stories are always here to bring us light, warmth, smiles and when necessarily a hard look at ourselves. The juries have assembled a fantastic list of nominees and over this year one of my highlights is catching up on tales I’d missed and having great experiences. Every nominee brought something to the conversation about what each category was about.

With no further ado let me confirm this year’s winners

Best Short Story – You Perfect, Broken Thing by CL Clark – Our jury said this is a story about an athlete competing in a race which forces her to push her sick body to its limits to win a cure. There’s a perfect blend of camaraderie between the main character and her training partners and the desperate unfair competition they are pushed in to survive; these are characters still fighting in the face of constant, overwhelming struggle and that’s a powerful, challenging, necessary thing.

Best Novella – The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo – Our jury said this is an epic tale told in miniature: a mosaic of moments and manipulations that resolve into a bigger picture of rebellion

Best Series – The Poppy War by RF Kuang – Our jury said based on Based on the second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45), R.F. Kuang's trilogy starts off as an academic fantasy, transforms into a military historical fantasy, and ends as a grimdark narrative. This Asian-inspired series delves into the layers and the consequences of power and warfare.

Best Debut – Legendborn by Tracy Deonn – Our jury said Legendborn is not only one of the most creative reworkings of Arthurian myth - making the corpus truly the author’s own - but it is a tender exploration of grief and Black girl magic in a richly crafted world touching on slavery, privilege and secret societies.

Best Blurred Boundary – Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Our jury said this stylish thriller blends Gothic tropes with 50s noir and body horror. Expect modern themes of prejudice and complicity in an unapologetically creepy tale of controlling families and psychedelic fungus.

Best Science Fiction – The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson – Our jury said this was a beautiful intelligent story exploring the parallel worlds concept but also combining it with issues of racism, classism and yet also has a core of hope running throughout.

Best Fantasy – and for the first time we got a tie! Joint winners are

The Midnight Bargain by CL Polk – Our jury said The Midnight Bargain is not only a wonderful story about witches in a richly imagined Regency-style setting, but it’s a clever exploration of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. It is a thoroughly modern and political book while masquerading as a gorgeous escapist fantasy, and that makes it a fantastic read.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow – Our jury said Alix E. Harrow has crafted something truly special with this story. Her prose is by turns powerful and deft of touch, and blends together fantasy, fairytale and history into a thoroughly modern classic.

And that concludes this years Subjective Chaos. The special painted rocks will soon be created and I’ll get in touch with the winners over the coming weeks. Huge congratulations to all our winners and thanks to all our nominees this year. A theme I noticed was never giving up when times are hard I can see why this appealed so much this year and I hope 2022 gives us more joy and of course good books.

Special thanks to my fellow jurors Adri, Kris, Anna, Fabienne, Arina, Lisa, Sun, Sean, Jonny, L.A. and Noria. Thank you so much for your contributions in a difficult year.

The Chaos ends but fear not we will return in our next incarnations in 2022