Awards Eligibility 2022

Some thoughts on my first awards season

I’m coming up on the first awards season in my life as a published author, and I find myself doing an audit of sorts. It’s been an arduous journey, one that felt endless at times. The creative process and the publishing industry are both crapshoots, in distinct but similar ways. Looking back now, a few months after launch, I still feel a bit of disbelief at what I’ve managed to pull off.

Mostly though, what I feel is pride. I’m extremely proud of The Sleepless. I’m also grateful for all the ways that it’s connected with readers. As I’ve written about before, this book started out as a story I wrote for myself, and now it’s this thing that has readers. Most of them have enjoyed it, to my great relief and honor.

But back to literary awards–some say they’re just marketing tools or popularity contests. There are common aspects, sure, but that’s the cynical view. To me, they’re primarily (and ideally) an outward expression of approval based on merit, however you choose to define it. That term gets really fuzzy when it comes to judging stories, but that doesn't make it any less worthwhile to think about. 

Which stories did we like this year, for whatever reason? Which ones gave us something new, pushed the boundaries of what stories can do? Which ones inspired, provoked, embedded themselves under our skins? Which ones brought us joy, calm, heartbreak, a different way of viewing the world? 

Speculative fiction is truly flourishing in diverse and exciting ways; this past year is a testament to that. I’ve read so many excellent works in 2022 and I want them all to get the recognition they deserve. If The Sleepless has made an impact on you, I’d really appreciate you considering it for your nominations ballots.

Praise for The Sleepless

Manibo neatly dissects the drawbacks of capitalist demands on society in this taut near-future procedural. It’s smart, high-tech noir.

- Publishers Weekly

A tale of insidious, corporate-capitalist implications . . . and the human consequences of a life without dreams.

- Booklist

A bracing page-turner . . . Manibo multitasks regarding theme and genre, blending sf and mystery/thriller tropes with social justice concerns to discuss discrimination, ambition, betrayal, family, memory as defining who we are, and capitalism’s devastating will to power.

- Library Journal

A great book. . . . Not so much a whodunit as a treatise on capitalism’s disastrous grip on the American soul. It pushes back against the pervasive idea that the future is unchangeable, that we are trapped on a path to chaos and exploitation.

- Tor.com

A thoroughly captivating journey. . . . Manibo’s sure-footed speculative mystery is ambitious and engrossing, bringing readers into an unsettling but familiar future. 

- Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine

Media Buzz for The Sleepless

Author Blurbs for The Sleepless

The Sleepless is a thrilling debut with a fresh, edgy voice. 

- Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times Bestselling author

The Sleepless is the best kind of science fiction; it holds a mirror up to society and digs deep into what makes us human. A knockout of a debut that makes me excited for whatever Manibo does next. 

- Rob Hart, author of The Warehouse and The Paradox Hotel

Fittingly titled, as the compulsive plot will keep you up past your bedtime turning pages. The Sleepless does what only the best science fiction can do: create a world so boldly changed—but so hauntingly true—that it teaches us loads about our own. 

- Sam J. Miller, Nebula award–winning author of Blackfish City and The Blade Between

Move over Minority Report, because The Sleepless has everything I want in a near-future science fiction whodunit: an irresistible ‘what if’ premise, a twisty and desperate murder investigation, and a razor-sharp examination of the inevitable and chillingly recognizable dark side behind a seemingly shiny and bright futuristic society. The Sleepless delivers; I could not close my eyes.

- Fonda Lee, author of the Green Bone Saga

Manibo has crafted a sharp, immersive dose of speculative fiction, a potent blend of science fiction and noir. The Sleepless will prove its name: you won’t be able to put it down, even as bedtime beckons.

- Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity

A meditative near-future thriller that explores grief, meaning, and time in a world that’s terrifyingly plausible.

- Lincoln Michel, author of The Body Scout

The Sleepless is an expertly crafted tale of exploitation and deceit set within the eldritch horror of a neverending capitalist grind. 

- K. M. Szpara, author of First, Become Ashes

The Sleepless is just the beginning; Victor Manibo is an author to keep your eye on. 

- Lara Elena Donnelly, author of The Amberlough Dossier and Base Notes

A fascinating murder mystery set in a world plagued by an epidemic of insomnia, The Sleepless is the corporate thriller our dystopias deserve. Manibo asks not merely how such a pandemic would change our society, but how the corrupt systems would exploit and perpetuate it. 

- John Wiswell, Nebula-winning author of Open House on Haunted Hill

Victor ManiboAnnouncements