Thornhedge
core novella 2023 Thornhedge
Record
| First published | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novella |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.91 (70,798 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 128 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781250244093 |
Synopsis
A small toad-like guardian has watched over a thorned wall concealing a sleeping figure in a tower for centuries, quietly ensuring that nothing disturbs whatever, or whoever, rests within. Her long vigil is interrupted when a traveling knight arrives, having heard old stories of a lost princess believed to sleep behind the thorns, and sets about trying to hack his way through the hedge to reach her. Reluctant to let him succeed without understanding what he would actually find, the guardian must decide how much of her own long and complicated history with the tower, and with the sleeper inside it, she is willing to reveal to a stranger determined to play the hero of a story he does not fully understand.
Where it sits
- Universe: Thornhedge
- Series: Thornhedge core; position 1 of 1 in the series' recorded order
- Author: T. Kingfisher
Awards (verified)
- Hugo Award (Best Novella), 2024: won; thehugoawards.org's own 2024 finalist page confirms the nomination; File 770's own contemporary ceremony report confirms the actual win.
- Locus Award (Best Novella), 2024: won; Confirmed via sfadb (the Locus Index to SF Awards' official successor) and independently cross-checked via Reactor's own contemporary 2024 Locus Awards ceremony post.
- Nebula Award (Best Novella), 2023: nominated; Confirmed as a nominee (not a winner) directly via nebulas.sfwa.org's own nominee page; a Wikipedia summary had implied a win, which does not hold up against SFWA's own record.
- World Fantasy Award (Novella), 2024: nominated; Confirmed as a nominee (not a winner) directly via the World Fantasy Convention's own 2024 nominations-and-winners page (Half the House Is Haunted by Josh Malerman won); a Wikipedia summary had implied a win, which does not hold up against the WFC's own record.
- British Fantasy Award (Best Novella), 2024: nominated; Confirmed as a shortlisted nominee (not a winner) via the British Fantasy Society's own shortlist and winners pages (The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das won); a Wikipedia summary had implied a win, which does not hold up against the BFS's own record.
Notes
- From the series record (Thornhedge): Standalone; a Sleeping Beauty fairy-tale retelling (Toadling/Fayette), unrelated to T. Kingfisher's other admitted universes (The Saint of Steel, Nettle & Bone). Registered per this canon's single-work/LOTR-analogy convention.
Sources
- T. Kingfisher official site
- Wikipedia: Thornhedge
- The Hugo Awards: 2024 Hugo Awards
- Nebula Awards: T. Kingfisher nominee page
- World Fantasy Convention: 2024 World Fantasy Nominations and Winners
- British Fantasy Society: British Fantasy Awards shortlists
- sfadb: T. Kingfisher Awards
- File 770: 2024 Hugo Award Winners
- Reactor: Here Are the Winners of the 2024 Locus Awards!
- British Fantasy Society: The British Fantasy Award Winners for 2024
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