The judges for the Crawford Award, which honors an author’s first work of fantasy in book form, are soliciting books published in the year 2026. What qualifies as a book is flexible, including novels, novellas, poetry collections, short fiction, graphic novels, works in translation, or other work at the discretion of the judges. The Crawford Award will be given at the 2027 International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts …Read More
Nonesuch, Francis Spufford (Faber & Faber UK, 978-0-5713-9716-7, £20.00, 496pp, hc) February 2026. (Scribner 978-1-66821-437-4, $31.00, 496pp, hc) March 2026.
With his new novel, Nonesuch, Francis Spufford returns to London and the Blitz – the catalyst for the beautiful and elegiac Light Perpetual (2021) – starting with those days and months when the threat of German air attack hung over the populace. Against that background, we’re introduced to Iris Hawkins, …Read More
RICHARD K. MORGANwas born September 24, 1965 in Norfolk, England. He graduated Queens’ College, University of Cambridge and taught English as a second language, living and working in Madrid, Istanbul, Ankara, and Glasgow, and has traveled extensively. He lives in Norfolk with his wife Virginia and son Daniel.
Morgan’s debut novel was Altered Carbon (2002), a cyberpunk noir that won a Philip K. Dick Award and spurred follow-ups Broken …Read More
The Aldiss Award, anannual award to acknowledge endeavours in literature and gaming, specifically around world building, in the science fiction & fantasy genre,” has announced its 2026 longlist for worldbuilding in speculative fiction.
Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Jo Walton & Ada Palmer (Tor 978-1-250-37260-4, $31.99, 368pp, hc) March 2026.
I have a lingering suspicion that many people who read books about SF aren’t really looking for an introduction to the field so much as for a good fight. They may want to compare their own read ing experiences with those of the critic, to gain some …Read More
The Astral Library, Kate Quinn (Morrow 978-0-063-47975-3, $30.00, 304pp, hc) February 2026.
Kate Quinn has made quite a name for herself in a series of bestselling historical fiction titles such as The Alice Network and The Rose Code. Her latest novel, The Astral Library, is her first foray into magic realism and with a twentysomething protagonist, it is an easy crossover title for older teens who look for some action …Read More
This list covers new SF/F/H print, online, and electronic periodicals (including regularly updated websites) seen by Locus magazine, focusing on those that publish fiction or reviews and criticism. To submit titles for listing on these pages, please send to Locus Publications, 655 13th St. #100, Oakland CA 94612 or email locus@locusmag.com.
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Saraswati, Gurnaik Johal (Serpent’s Tail 978-1-78516948-6, £16.99, 384pp, hc) June 2025. (Pegasus Books 979-8-897-10053-8, $28.95, 384pp, hc) February 2026. Cover design by Steve Coventry-Panton.
Somewhere between its first page and the start of its last chapter, Gurnaik Johal’s debut novel Saraswati turns from literary realist fiction into science fiction. The first page is probably set around now, and describes a young British-Indian man’s discovery that the well on the Punjab …Read More
Rachel Harrison and Robert P. Ottone read at the KGB Bar in New York NY on January 14, 2026 as part of the Fantastic Fiction at KGB Reading series, hosted by Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel. …Read More
We here at Locus are excited to tell you about this weeks top new releases! We wouldn’t want you to miss out on your next favorite book, so take a moment to join us as we highlight the very best in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, and young adult genres! If you enjoy the video, consider subscribing to the channel-it’s a great way to stay up to date on upcoming …Read More
Pretenders to the Throne of God, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Head of Zeus 978-1-03591-497-5, 512pp, hc) February 2026. Cover by Joe Wilson.
Adrian Tchaikovsky is a tough author to keep up with, producing science fiction and fantasy, series and standalones, novels and novellas at a truly dizzying rate, and racking up awards and nominations by the bushel. For those looking for a recommendation, I am going to put down a marker: Tchaikovsky’s …Read More
Hellcon, the 64th Japan Science Fiction Convention, has announced the finalists for the 2025 Seiun Awards (the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo Awards), honoring the best original and translated works published last year in Japan.
Best Translated Novel
Luminous by Silvia Park (Simon & Schuster) is the winner of the 2025 Otherwise Award (formerly the James Tiptree, Jr. Award), given annually to works of science fiction or fantasy that expand and explore our understanding of gender.
The author of the winning work will receive $200 in prize money and a medal, and will be honored at WisCon 2026, to be held online May 21-25, 2026.
The …Read More
The Misheard World, Aliya Whiteley (Solaris 978-1-83786-691-5, £18.99, 272pp, hc) February 2026.
There’s an ever-growing crop of British genre authors, following in the footsteps of M. John Harrison, Christopher Priest, Alasdair Gray, and Keith Roberts, who continue to push against the conventional boundaries of speculative fiction. I’m talking here about Adam Roberts, Anne Charnock, Alex Pheby, and Nina Allan – writers who are often labelled ”literary science fiction” but who …Read More
Eugen Bacon, Cheryl Ntumy, & Stephen Embleton, eds., Sauúti Terrors (Flame Tree Collections UK 1/26) Shared world anthology of 12 new stories and six original poems of Afrocentric horror set in the Sauútiverse. All three editors provide stories; other authors include T.L. Huchu, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, and Wole Talabi.
M.R. Carey, Outlaw Planet (Orbit US 11/25) Standalone space opera featuring Bess …Read More
The shortlist for the 2026 International Dylan Thomas Prize has been announced. The six-title list includes genre books Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt (Jonathan Cape; Vintage) and Under the Blue by Suzannah V. Evans (Bloomsbury Poetry).
The annual Dylan Thomas prize, in partnership with Swansea University, awards £20,000 the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under. This year’s judges are …Read More
Finalists for the 2026 Imadjinn Awards have been announced. Categories, titles, and authors of genre interest include:
Best Science Fiction Novel
Best Fantasy Novel
Hachette Book Group has cancelled the upcoming US release and will discontinue the UK release of horror novel Shy Girl by Mia Ballard after reviewing the text for signs of generative AI use.
Shy Girl was self-published in February 2025 and republished in November in the UK by Hachette imprint Wildfire. NielsenIQ BookData measured the UK sales at approximately 1,800 print copies. According toThe Guardian, the book was recently …Read More
Visit our bookshop.org page to purchase this week’s new books and support your local bookstore. And us!
Andrews, LJ: Heir of Twisted Lies (Ace 978-0593818701, $30.00, 512pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 03/24/2026)
Fantasy romance novel, second in the Broken Souls and Bones series. After leaving Stonegate, Lyra seeks to end her kingdom’s corruption, and must ally with Roark, the deceptive man who stole her heart.
Bouazzaoui, Soraya: …Read More
When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley (Erewhon) is one of the five titles shortlisted for the inaugural James Patterson and Bookshop.org Prize, a new literary prize celebrating debut authors, hand-selected by independent booksellers.
Titles, which must be full-length debut books published in the United States within the past 12 months, are nominated by booksellers working in qualifying independent bookstores. The winner and runner-up, which receive …Read More
The shortlists for the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Writing and Carnegie Medal for Illustration, honoring UK books for children and young adults, were announced March 10, 2026. Titles and authors of genre interest include:
Carnegie Medal for Writing
The Iron Garden Sutra, A.D. Sui (Erewhon Books 978-1-645-66214-3, $28.00, 400pp, hc) February 2026. Cover design by Cassandra Farrin.
It may be that Kim Stanley Robinson’s Aurora (2015) made it a little harder to take generation starship stories seriously, and it may be that even before that most readers had gotten wise to their tricks – had learned to anticipate the transition from cloister to conceptual breakthrough – and so …Read More
A blurb in the trailer for Slanted describes it as Mean Girls meets The Substance. Well, they had me at Mean Girls and then they had me again at The Substance.
In Slanted, a Chinese American teenager named Joan Huang (Shirley Chen) wants to fit in at her overwhelmingly white high school (the mascot is literally a KKK-hooded Great Wizard ). She tries makeup, social media filters, reshaping her …Read More
Baen Books has announcedthe ten finalists for the 2026 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award.
Winners receive a year’s membership in the National Space Society, and the first place story will be offered publication on the Baen website at professional rates. According …Read More
The Climate Fiction Prize has announced its inaugural shortlist. Founded by Rose Goddard, Imran Khan, and Leo Barasi and supported by Climate Spring, the prize seeks to celebrate the most inspiring novels tackling the climate crisis.
Shortlisted titles and authors of genre interest include:
Another week, another three fantasy novel debuts. Highest ranking is Briar Boleyn’s The Wings That Bind (Mira), third in the Bloodwing Academy series, ranking #2 at The New York Times and Publishers Weekly. Next is Jasmine Mas’s Psycho Beasts (Mira), ranking as high as #14 on three lists. And then Alexis Hall’s Hell’s Heart (Tor), ranking #79 on the USA Today list.
Meanwhile, Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary still …Read More
Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World, Cullen Bunn (Gallery Books 978-1-66806-527-3, $20.00, 464pp, tp) November 2025.
The title of Cullen Bunn’s Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World points to the novel’s only flaw: It’s slightly too long. Other than that, this is one of those novels that brings together the good elements of crime and horror in a way that keeps you flipping the pages.
Wilson …Read More
Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of 35 or so novels and collections, with some novellas and comic books in there as well. Most recent are Earthdivers, I Was a Teenage Slasher, and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, and Killer on the Road. Stephen lives and teaches in Boulder, Colorado.
We’re so excited to have you as a Guest of Honor at the Locus Awards this year! What …Read More
Vigil, George Saunders (Random House 978-0-52550-962-2, $28.00, 192pp, hc) January 2026.
Some years back, while on a book tour, George Saunders found himself on a plummeting airplane, smoke billowing from the left engine. Later, it emerged that a goose had flown into the engine, but in that moment – with the plane continuing to drop and Saunders offering comforting words to the fourteen-year-old sitting beside him – all he …Read More
The IAFA is pleased to announce that the winner of this year’s Crawford Award isCall and Response (Neon Hemlock) by Christopher Caldwell.
The Crawford Award, given by the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts, recognizes an outstanding writer whose first fantasy book was published during the previous calendar year.
The judges were Joyce Chng, Eddie Clark, Joy Sanchez-Taylor, and Brian Attebery. Kelly Robson is award administrator. …Read More
