The Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) today named the finalists for the 2025 Compton Crook Award for best first novel in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. One of these five authors will win $1,000 for Best First Novel:

• The Book of Love by Kelly Link
• Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
• The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton
• Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares
• The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills

The award includes a check for $1,000 for the novel’s author and an invitation to be the Compton Crook Guest at Balticon (the BSFS annual convention) for two years. This year Balticon will be held May 23-26, 2025 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. Baltimore, Maryland.

Members of BSFS selected the finalists by reading and rating debut novels published between November 1, 2023 and October 31, 2024. The finalist round of reading and rating will close April 4 and the winner will be notified on Sunday, April 6. BSFS will announce the winner to the public later that week.

The Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) has been giving out the Compton Crook Award for best first novel since 1983. Past winners include The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings, A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark, The Space Between Worlds by Michaiah Johnson, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. Last year’s winner was Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa.

The award is for an author’s debut solo novel in the science fiction, fantasy, or horror genres.  The author can have published books in other genres, collaborations, or novellas and still have a new novel qualify.

The Award was named in memory of Towson State College Professor of Natural Sciences Compton Crook, who wrote under the name Stephen Tall, and who died in 1981. Professor Crook was active for many years in the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and was a staunch champion of new works in the fields eligible for the award.

BSFS will begin reading and rating books for the 2026 this summer of 2025.  For more information contact comptoncrook@bsfs.org.

BSFS is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, charitable, literary and educational organization, dedicated to the promotion of, and an appreciation for, science fiction in all of its many forms. The Baltimore Science Fiction Society was launched on January 5, 1963 and has been holding Balticon since 1967.