Mass Effect

“At the start of Joshua Wales’ ‘Mass Effect,’ Ivan’s boyfriend Eddie begins experiencing seizures and is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer,” said the jury. “Despite a bleak premise, Wales bucks the reader’s expectations by gifting Ivan and Eddie with pitch dark humour as a coping mechanism — and leads them to a climax at once absurd and believable. Emotionally rich and at times uncomfortably funny, ‘Mass Effect’ is a heartbreaking, character-driven story about the perplexing humanity that life-altering experiences can reveal in us.”