Pyr was the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Prometheus Books, launched in March 2005 with the publication of John Meaney's ''Paradox''. In November 2018 it was sold to Start Publishing. Prometheus Books' name was derived from

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

, the Titan from Greek mythology who gave fire to humans. The name Pyr, the Greek word for fire, was chosen to continue this connection to fire and the liveliness of imagination.

Lou Anders Lou Anders is the author of the ''Thrones & Bones'' series of middle grade fantasy novels. Anders is a Hugo Award-winning American editor, a Chesley Award-winning art director, an author and a journalist. Early life Lou Anders is originally f ...

served as Pyr's editorial director from its inception until 2014.

Authors published

Joe Abercrombie Joseph Edward Abercrombie (born December 31, 1974) is a British fantasy writer and film editor. He is the author of '' The First Law'' trilogy, as well as other fantasy books in the same setting and a trilogy of young adult novels. His novel ' ...

Fiona Avery Fiona Kai Avery (born September 13, 1974) is a comic book and television writer. Avery was hired as a reference editor for the fifth season of ''Babylon 5'' and later continued in that role for the failed spin-off ''Crusade''. Avery contributed s ...

Michael Blumlein Michael Blumlein, M.D. (June 28, 1948 - October 24, 2019) was an American fiction writer and a physician. Blumlein attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco and worked as a practicing doctor and member of the facult ...

Keith Brooke Keith Brooke is a science fiction author, editor, web publisher and anthologist from Essex, England. He is the founder and editor of the infinity plus webzine. He also writes children's fiction under the name Nick Gifford. Biography and publishing ...

Storm Constantine Storm Constantine (12 October 1956 – 14 January 2021) was a British science fiction and fantasy author, primarily known for her Wraeththu series,Encyclopedia of Science Fictio"Constantine, Storm" Retrieved 2010-01-21. which began as one trilog ...

Jack Dann Jack Dann (born February 15, 1945) is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-edit ...

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of '' Asimov's Science Fictio ...

* David Louis Edelman *

Charles Coleman Finlay Charles Coleman Finlay (born July 1, 1964 in New York City, NY) is an American science fiction and fantasy author and editor. He grew up in Marysville, Ohio and attended Ohio State University. His first story, ''Footnotes'', was published in 2 ...

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghost ...

* Mark Hodder * K. V. Johansen * Kay Kenyon * Alexis Glynn Latner * Scott Mackay * Ian McDonald * John Meaney *

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...

Mike Resnick Michael Diamond Resnick (; March 5, 1942 – January 9, 2020) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct ma ...

* Chris Roberson * Adam Roberts *

Justina Robson Justina Robson (born 11 June 1968 in Leeds, England) is a science fiction author from Leeds, England. Biography and publishing history Justina Robson was born in Leeds on 11 June 1968, and studied philosophy and linguistics at the University o ...

* Joel Shepherd *

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gr ...

* Martin Sketchley * Adrian Tchaikovsky * David Walton * Sean Williams * George Zebrowski

Awards and nominations

* 2011

John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, or Campbell Memorial Award, is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best science fiction no ...

winner: Ian McDonald ''The Dervish House'' * 2011

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,000 ...

nominee: Ian McDonald ''The Dervish House'' * 2011

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

nominee: Ian McDonald ''The Dervish House'' * 2011

Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel The Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oaklan ...

nominee: Ian McDonald ''The Dervish House'' * 2010 Philip K. Dick Award: Mark Hodder ''The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack'' * 2010 British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel winner: Ian McDonald ''The Dervish House'' * 2010 British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel nominee: Ken MacLeod ''The Restoration Game'' * 2010

nominee: Paul J. McAuley ''Gardens of the Sun'' * 2010

World Fantasy Award for Best Novel In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

nominee: James Enge ''Blood of Ambrose'' * 2009 Chesley Award for Best Art Director: Lou Anders * 2009 Philip K. Dick Award nominee: Ian McDonald ''Cyberabad Days'' * 2009

nominee: Paul J. McAuley ''The Quiet War'' * 2008

nominee: Ian McDonald ''Brasyl'' * 2008

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; a ...

nominee: Ian McDonald ''Brasyl'' * 2008

nominee: Ian McDonald ''Brasyl'' * 2008 Hugo Award for Best Editor Long Form, nominee:

* 2008

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

nominee:

* 2008

nominee: David Louis Edelman * 2008 Philip K. Dick Award nominee:

''Fast Forward 2'' * 2007 British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel winner: Ian McDonald ''Brasyl'' * 2007 Philip K. Dick Award nominee: Adam Roberts '' Gradisil'' * 2007

nominee: Adam Roberts '' Gradisil'' * 2007

Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-2007. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was suppor ...

nominee: Ian McDonald, ''Brasyl'' * 2007 Hugo Award for Best Editor Long Form nominee:

* 200
Chesley Award for Best Art Director
nominee:

* 2006 World Fantasy Award - Special Award, Professional nominee:

* 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel nominee: David Louis Edelman, ''Infoquake'' * 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award winner: John Meaney, ''Paradox'' * 2005 Philip K Dick Award nominee:

, ''Silver Screen'' * 2006

nominee: Chris Roberson * 2005

nominee: Chris Roberson * 2005 World Fantasy Award - Best Artist, for Pyr covers nominee:

Jeremy Caniglia Jeremy Caniglia (born July 13, 1970) is an American figurative painter and illustrator, primarily in fantasy and horror genres. He has done book and magazine illustration, conceptual artwork, book and album covers, and comic books, and his work ...

Further recommendations and endorsements

* Kay Kenyon, ''Bright of the Sky'' - selected as one o
PW's Best Books of the Year
for 2007. * Ian McDonald, ''Brasyl'' - selected as the number two title in Amazon'

for 2007. * Ian McDonald, ''Brasyl '' - selected as one of Amazon'

for 2007. * ''Locus'' magazine Recommended Reading: 2006 : Joe Abercrombie - ''The Blade Itself'', Justina Robson - ''Keeping It Real'' * Pyr Books included in the B&N Editor's Choice: Top Ten SF&F Novels of 2006: David Louis Edelman - ''Infoquake'' (#1), Sean Williams - ''The Crooked Letter'', John Meaney - ''Resolution'' * 2 Pyr Books included i

Joel Shepherd - ''Crossover'', Chris Roberson - ''Paragaea: A Planetary Romance'' * 3 Pyr Books included i
Bookgasm's Top Five SciFi Books of 2006
- Ian McDonald - ''River of Gods'' (#1), Joel Shepherd - ''Crossover'', David Louis Edelman - ''Infoquake'' * Sean Williams, ''The Hanging Mountains'' selected as a BookSense Notable Book for July * Kay Kenyon, ''Bright of the Sky'' - one of four novels selected by ReaderCon "the con that assigns homework" for their attendees to read pre-convention * Justina Robson, ''Silver Screen'' selected for Kirkus Reviews Best SF&F Books of 2005 * John Meaney, ''Paradox'' - #2 on Barnes & Noble's Editor's Choice: Top Ten SF&F Novels of 2005

References

{{reflist

External links

PYR website

Prometheus Books
– Official website

WWEnd Publisher Profile for Pyr
American speculative fiction publishers Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Science fiction publishers Prometheus Books Publishing companies established in 2005