The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, a nonprofit association of scholars, writers, and publishers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in literature, film, and the other arts, has named The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez as winner of the Crawford Award.

Named for William L. Crawford, the editor of several fantastical magazines including Spaceway, Fantasy Book, and Marvel Tales, the annual award recognizes an outstanding author’s first fantasy book.

The Spear Cuts Through Water is an epic fantasy telling the story of two warriors who shepherd an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family.