Seville, September 16, 2020

The writer Gonzalo Giner has obtained the XXV Fernando Novel Prize Lara with the work "The green mist". The Jury for this Award made the decision public during an award ceremony held at the Casa Guardiola in Seville.

The event was attended by authorities such as Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, president of the Junta de Andalucía; Patricia del Pozo, Minister of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía; Antonio Muñoz, deputy mayor and delegate of the Urban Habitat, Culture and Tourism area of ​​the Seville City Council; Juan Manuel Castro, vice president of the AXA Foundation and José Creuheras, president of Grupo Planeta. In addition, the writer Fernando Delgado attended, as spokesman for the Jury.

The novel is a fast-paced adventure, a moving ecologist plea, a hymn to conservationism and a great love story in the legendary African jungle. In the words of the author, «The green haze It is a novel very different from the ones I have published to date. Its title evokes a natural phenomenon that is only visible in a setting as spectacular as it is unique: the Congo River basin; one of the last green paradises on Earth and the setting for this story starring the young woman, Bineka, whose life I hope will catch you from the first page. "

«With it you will breathe the aromas of the jungle, you will soak up the humid foliage of its landscapes, you will share its unexpected coexistence among chimpanzees, you will hate the greed and nonsense of certain multinationals that are deforesting and destroying that green world, for the profitable production of oil palm or soy, and you will be infected with the incredible dedication and generosity of those that I dare to call the new armies of the planet; the one formed by the cooperators; We will share your hopes, frustrations, challenges and dreams. "

"Thank you very much to the AXA Foundation and Grupo Planeta for their support of culture and to the members of the jury for choosing my novel, whom I especially value for being writers like me," added Gonzalo Giner.

Gonzalo giner achieved great literary success with The horse healer (2008). Veterinarian by profession, with that title he wanted to investigate the beginning of his trade. In his next novel, The horseman of silence (2011), discovered the origins of the creation of the Spanish breed of horses during the sixteenth century. In Loyalty pact (2014), the author took a leap in his literary production: a meticulously documented novel that narrated, for the first time, the participation of dogs in two of the bloodiest wars of the past 20th century, the Spanish Civil War and the Second War world. In 2017 he published The windows of heaven a wonderful historical novel about the creation of Gothic stained glass.

He Jury of this twenty-fifth edition is made up of the writers Fernando thin and Clara Sanchez, the writer and member of the RAE Pere Gimferrer; Ana Maria Ruiz-Tagle, on behalf of the AXA Foundation, the entity that sponsors this literary award, and Emili Rosales, voting secretary.

The Fernando Lara Novel Prize is endowed with one hundred twenty thousand euros and a total of 241 original and unpublished novels from Spain and abroad have been presented to it.

The XV Minotauro Prize already has a winning novel. Is about Dark border (formerly titled God's eye) by Sabino Cabeza, a space opera set in the year 2560. The work awarded by Minotaur will receive 6,000 euros and will be published on October 6. In addition, the Grupo Planeta publishing house, a benchmark in the Fantasy, Terror and Science Fiction sector in Spanish, will officially present the book during the Sitges International Film Festival.

Dark border has been selected from among four magnificent finalists. The other three proposals that have reached the last stage are Memory of the blue girl (Fantasy), Symbiosis (Science Fiction) and Growing fears (Terror). The contest has received a total of 449 manuscripts from different countries, mainly Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. There has also been participation from Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Puerto Rico or the US.

The jury that has evaluated the projects is made up of independent members with renowned CVs: Laura Fernández (journalist and writer), Sofía Rhei (writer), Blanca Rodríguez (president of the Spanish Association of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Terror), Pablo Tébar (writer and screenwriter, 2017 Minotauro Prize) and Roberto Jiménez (journalist for the Xataka technology portal).

The Minotauro Prize is one of the publisher's outstanding events since 2004 and has become a cultural catalyst for genre literature. Previous titles that were raised with this recognition were Snow on Mars (Pablo Tébar), Those who dream (Elio Quiroga), Pantheon (Carlos Sisi) or Lords of Olympus (Javier Negrete), among other works of undeniable quality. This new edition of the contest is especially noteworthy, since it coincides with the 20th anniversary of the acquisition of Minotauro by Grupo Planeta.

What the jury thinks about the winning novel:

«Ships that rescue other ships because the enemy is not the other but the unknown. Here is the first national science fiction classic (philosophical) hard of the XXI century ». Laura Fernandez

"A story that turns the epic into human and narrates space-time through details and emotions." Sofia Rhei

«It reconciles the best of the tradition of the classic novels of temporal paradoxes with the current that we are seeing in the international arena where the characters are more diverse and empathetic. A breath of fresh air that, beyond the main plot, explores interesting sub-themes, such as responsibility towards others, loyalty or affection ». Blanca Rodriguez

«A different and luminous Science Fiction novel. Far from the usual dystopias, the sisterhood and the collaborative spirit of the characters remind us of Star Trek. A story of heroes where we all like their characters. Real people who face the unknown without falling into the usual clichés of the genre. Pablo Tebar

"Science fiction should never lose sight of humanism and that is something that this novel knows very well. Beyond her classic and meticulous approach, she beats with a passionate heart for human relationships, cooperation and dreams of a different life. Roberto Jimenez

See previous winners of the MINOTAUR AWARD

ABOUT THE WINNING NOVEL: DARK FRONTIER

Synopsis: In the year 2560, humanity has managed to spread over eight thousand planets thanks to the anagravonic engines that allow the Inspacio-Expacio jumps. Captain Florence Schiaparelli, known in the Federal Fleet as Florence Half life, and the crew of the Banshee Their mission is to obtain all possible data from the black hole that she herself has baptized as the God eye. But when they spot an unidentified ship trapped near the black hole's event horizon, Captain Schiaparelli You must decide if you risk losing everything to save the crew of the mysterious ship.

Dark border is a novel written in the best tradition of space adventure stories, with a high component of female empowerment and that extols collaboration as an alternative to confrontation. A work that explores the secrets of the universe and the inexhaustible curiosity of the human being to discover them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sabino Cabeza Abuín He was born in Seville in 1965. After several stops in Salamanca, Murcia, León and Valencia, he ended up in Zaragoza, where he has lived for twenty years. He is a non-commissioned officer of the Air Force, has a degree in Psychology from the University of Valencia, and works as a Psychoanalyst in the city of the Ebro.

His fondness for science fiction and fantasy comes from afar. He still has his first copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and the collection of Collection "Antología de Novelas de Anticipación" (which he stole from his father without his knowing it), in which he met Poul Anderson, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Domingo Santos or José María Aroca.

His first attempts at writing are also from those times, when he imitated his admired Jules Verne or Tolkien. His influences are countless, although he highlights Ursula K. Leguin and Terry Pratchett from the long list.

He owes not only his love of reading to his parents, but also his attraction to Astronomy. He remembers watching with his mother, in the summer of 1982, all the chapters of "Cosmos", so he also declares himself a debtor to Carl Sagan for the times of the times, guilty of inoculating him with a fascination for the mysteries of the universe.

He has not stopped writing since, and he has not stopped learning since. Consider that the years give you history and perspective. But also that the imagination needs to be ignited in childhood, and he confesses to having had the good fortune of being born in a home where precisely that was given to him: to imagine.

Technical data:

Release date: October 6

Format: 15 x 23, Hardcover with dust jacket. 317 pages.

Price: 19.50 euros.