“What are the most award-winning Science Fiction & Fantasy books of 1971?” We looked at all the large SFF book awards given, aggregating and ranking the books that appeared so we could answer that very question!

A note on our grading system: We give 5 points for every nomination a book received and an additional 5 points for each win. These values are purely arbitrary, easy to add up, numbers. For more info on our super scientific grading system visit our Info page. For a full list of the awards and award winners can be found below our rankings at the bottom of the page.

Before we take a look at the top Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 1971, let’s set the scene for those awards by taking a look at what else was happening that year:

1971

Pentagon Papers Published. 26th Amendment lowers voting age to 18. Pittsburgh win World Series. Baltimore Wins Super Bowl. Patton Wins Best Picture. All In The Family Debuts. Jim Morrison joins the 27 club. First universal micro-processor. supersymmetric theory introduced. first commercial VCR introduced. Charles Manson found guilty. Apollo 14 & 15 land on moon. Popular releases – A Clockwork Orange, Columbo, Willy Wonka, The French Connection, Dirty Harry, Shaft, Harold and Maude, THX 1183. Frazier defeats Ali. US Ends China trade embargo. Walt Disney World Opens. Louis Armstrong, Diane Arbus, Stravinsky, Philo T. Farnsworth die. Popular Non-SFF books – Angle of Repose, The Tenants, Blood Oranges, The Lorax, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, etc.

And now, on to the list…

The Runners Up For Best Science Fiction / Fantasy Book of 1971

16) And Chaos Died By Joanna Russ

On the grossly-overpopulated planet, remnants of “nature” exist only in the isolated areas not covered by housing, industry and industrial farming. Creativity and individuality are suppressed and channeled into rigid social formats. A powerful bureaucracy/police state oversees the acts of all citizens. Its purpose is to maintain control for the planetary elite, and to that end it is prepared to resort to any method, however ruthless

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15) Deryni Rising By Katherine Kurtz

The novel is set in the land of Gwynedd, one of the fictional Eleven Kingdoms. Gwynedd itself is a medievalkingdom similar to the British Isles of the 12th century, with a powerful Holy Church (based on the Roman Catholic Church), and a feudal government ruled by a hereditarymonarchy. The population of Gwynedd includes both humans and Deryni, a race of people with inherent psychic and magical abilities who have been shunned and persecuted for centuries. The book takes place almost entirely within Gwynedd’s capital city of Rhemuth, and deals primarily with the struggle of young Prince Kelson Haldane to secure his throne from the machinations of a Deryni usurper…

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14) Fourth Mansions By R. A. Lafferty

The novel concerns a time of great change, when four forces – in the form of secret societies – contend to control the next phase of humanity’s history. In the middle is Fred Foley, an innocent reporter. One of these forces intends to unleash a deadly virus on the US, the others attempt to stop them…

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13) Nine Princes By Roger Zelazny

Carl Corey wakes up in a secluded New York hospital with amnesia. He escapes and investigates, discovering the truth, piece by piece: he is really Prince Corwin, of Amber, the one true world of which our Earth is just a shadow. He is one of nine men who might rule Amber, if he can fight his way past the armies of his older brother Eric…

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12) Star Light By Hal Clement

Dhrawn was a giant rockball, more than 3,000 times the mass of Earth. Perhaps a planet, perhaps a nearly dead star, the 17 billion square miles of mystery cried out for investigation. But its corrosive atmosphere and crushing gravity assured that no human would ever set foot on its surface. Those hardy, caterpillar-like Mesklinites, on the other hand, were ideally suited to explore Dhrawn, and their leader certainly knew a good deal when he saw one. So Barlennan, a shrewd sea captain if ever there was one, struck a sharp bargain with the Earthmen for his services in leading the expedition. But the humans might not have been so pleased with their side of the bargain, if they had known that Barlennan had plans of his own for Dhrawn…

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11) The Marvellous Misadventures of Sebastian By Lloyd Alexander

This 1971 National Book Award winner tells of the incredible adventures and wild encounters a young boy has after losing his position in the Baron’s orchestra and he is sent packing from the only home he has ever known…

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10) The Region Between By Harlan Ellison

“The Region Between” first appeared in Galaxy back in 1970. It had originally been commissioned as one of a set of stories by different authors who all used a common starting point as set out in the story’s prologue, written by Keith Laumer. Ellison’s contribution was a longer work than one usually expects from him, but it nevertheless sustains its bombardment of ideas and feelings throughout…

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9) The Steel Crocodile By David G. Compton

In answer to an unanswerable future, science has created Bohn, the omnipotent computer whose flashing circuits and messianic pronouncements dictate what tomorrow will – or will not – be…

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8) Time and the Hunter By Italo Calvino

In this book, each second is an age, every cell a universe. Through a series of stories, the author illustrates the paradoxes of space and time. Estranged lovers forever travelling parallel highways, the hunter and lion trapped at each others throats and victims linked in mutual pursuit…

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7) The Year of the Quiet Sun By Wilson Tucker

The Year of the Quiet Sun is a 1970 science fiction novel by Wilson Tucker about the use of forward time travel to ascertain future political and social events….

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6) No Award By No Award

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5) The Andromeda Strain By Michael Crichton

The United States government is given a warning by the pre-eminent biophysicists in the country: current sterilization procedures applied to returning space probes may be inadequate to guarantee uncontaminated re-entry to the atmosphere. Two years later, seventeen satellites are sent into the outer fringes of space to “collect organisms and dust for study.” One of them falls to earth, landing ina desolate area of Arizona. Twelve miles from the landing site, in the town of Piedmont, a shocking discovery is made: the streets are littered with the dead bodies of the town’s inhabitants, as if they dropped dead in their tracks…

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4) The Crystal Cave By Mary Stewart

Born the bastard son of a Welsh princess, Myridden Emrys — or as he would later be known, Merlin — leads a perilous childhood, haunted by portents and visions. But destiny has great plans for this no-man’s-son, taking him from prophesying before the High King Vortigern to the crowning of Uther Pendragon . . . and the conception of Arthur — king for once and always….

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3) The Moment of Eclipse By Brian W. Aldiss

The Moment of Eclipse is a 1970 collection of science fiction short stories written by Brian Aldiss between 1965 and 1970….

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2.) Tower of Glass By Robert Silverberg

Simeon Krug has a vision – and the vast wealth necessary to turn dream into reality. What he wishes is to communicate with the stars, to answer signals from deep space. The colossal tower he’s constructing for this purpose soars above the Arctic tundra, and the seemingly perfect androids building it view Krug as their god. But Krug is only flesh-and-blood, and when his androids discover the truth, their anger knows no bounds… and it threatens much more than the tower..

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The Best Science Fiction / Fantasy Book of 1971

1) Ringworld By Larry Niven

A new place is being built, a world of huge dimensions, encompassing millions of miles, stronger than any planet before it. There is gravity, and with high walls and its proximity to the sun, a livable new planet that is three million times the area of the Earth can be formed. We can start again!…

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The 1971 Award Nominations & Winners

(Winners Highlighted)

BSFA (British Science Fiction Association) – Best Novel

The Ditmar (Australian) Award – Best International Long Fiction

Hugo Award – Best Novel

Locus Award – Best Novel (Pre Category Split)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award – Adult Literature

Nebula Award – Best Novel

Seiun (Japanese) Award – Best Translated Novel