For Reigning Fantasy Queen N.K. Jemisin, There’s No Escape From Reality. Jemisin’s phenomenal success has been something like an earthquake ripping through the traditional order of fantasy itself. (Perhaps this explains why certain writers, nearly all of them white men, have taken issue with her rise. But more on that later.) All together, her work has sold a million copies in English and has been translated into 24 languages; TNT is developing it as a TV show. In 2016, the opening book in the trilogy won the Hugo Award for best novel, science fiction and fantasy’s most prestigious honor. She was the first black writer to win this award, though she doesn’t see this as a milestone worth celebrating. “It just emphasizes how flawed the field has always been,” she says. The following year, she won the Hugo again. This year’s win made her the first writer of any race to claim the award three years in a row for each book in a trilogy.