Locus Online

Last Day, Domenica Ruta (Spiegel & Grau 978-0525510819, $27.00, 272pp, hc) May 2019.

Domenica Ruta’s fiction debut, Last Day is a novel about the apocalypse, but one where there’s no sign that the world is about to end, no plagues no zombies, no fallout from a nuclear blast. Instead, Ruta invents an ancient holiday, named “Last Day”, where every year people celebrate the possible and sudden cessation of all ...Read More

The Fever King, Victoria Lee; Michael Crouch, narrator (Brilliance Audio 978-1-7213-3626-5, 11 CDs, $26.99, 14 hr., unabridged [also available on MP3-CD and as a digital download]) March 2019.

The early 21st century of an alternate Earth becomes infected by magic, a plague which kills most but leaves the survivors with powers. The dangerous disease and violent prejudice against the surviving “witchings” splinters the US. The most powerful witching, Calix ...Read More

Uncanny 5-6/19 Galaxy’s Edge 5/19 Bourbon Penn 3/19 Writers of the Future, Vol. 35, David Farland, ed. (Galaxy Press) April 2019.

Uncanny‘s May-June issue is also a bit slight. Still, Ellen Klages, as one might expect, doesn’t disappoint with “Nice Things“. Phoebe Morris is dealing with her late mother’s things and, in so doing, dealing with memories of her perfection­ist mother, how she wouldn’t let her ...Read More

When the Sky Fell on Splendor, Emily Henry (Razorbill 978-0-451-48071-2, $17.99, 340pp, hc) March 2019.

The publisher makes a direct comparison to Stranger Things in the dust jacket copy for Em­ily Henry’s latest, When the Sky Fell on Splendor. While I can see some similarities – teens on bicycles in a sleepy midwestern town who encounter some­thing otherworldly with very negative results – I find that the novel ...Read More

Million Mile Road Trip, Rudy Rucker (Night Shade 978-1-94094838-6, $24.99, 504pp, hc) May 2019.

There’s little doubt that Rudy Rucker deserves his reputation as one of the founders of cyberpunk – his Software predated Neuromancer by a couple of years – but his own literary origins seem to reach as far back as Lewis Carroll and Edwin A. Abbott, to whose Flatland Rucker paid a kind of parodic tribute ...Read More

Strange Horizons 4/19, 5/19 Samovar 3/19 Constellary Tales #2 Deep Magic Spring ’19

At the end of April Strange Horizons set aside an issue to focus on Nigerian science fiction and fantasy that featured two original stories: “The Storm Painter” by Avodele Olofintuade and “Where the Rain Mothers Are” by Rafeeat Aliyu. Both happen to hit on themes of return­ing. Olofintuade’s story features an artist, ...Read More

The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (Penguin) won the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, part of the 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards, which “are considered the most prestigious literary accolade in South Africa.” The R100,000 Barry Ronge prize, “now in its 19th year, honours the authors who enthral with their imagined worlds.” The award was judged by Ken Barris (chair), Wamuwi Mbao, and Nancy Richards. Winners were announced September ...Read More

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) announced the recipients of its 2019 scholarships.

The $2,500 Horror Writers Association Scholarship went to Sara Adams. First awarded in 2014 and open to all horror writers, the scholarship is “designed to assist in the professional development of horror writers.”

The $2,500 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship went to Theresa Derwin. Open to female horror writers and first awarded in 2014, it is given annually “to ...Read More

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, Carlos Hernandez; Anthony Rey Perez, narrator (Listening Library 978-1-98484579-5, $27.50, digital download, 9.5 hr., unabridged) March 2019.

Once again, I’m bending the general rules for this column to review a middle-grade book; suffice it to say that adults will not regret spending time engaging with it, whether or not they have tweens in their lives.

Twelve-year-old Sal, a clever aspiring stage magician, has ...Read More

First Fandom Experience has announced the Cos­mos Prize, a contest inviting writers to create a new final chapter for the novel Cosmos, published seri­ally in Science Fiction Digest starting in June 1933. The novel was based on a plot by editor Raymond A. Palmer, who also coordinated the 16 writers who took part (including Edmond Hamilton, Otis Adel­bert Kline, and A. Merritt). The contest organizers think Cosmos “deserves a ...Read More

On August 7, 2019, Barnes & Noble announced the closing of their deal to be acquired by Elliott Advisors Limited, which also acquired UK book­selling chain Waterstones in 2018. Each chain will operate independently, though Waterstones head James Daunt will serve as CEO of both companies, and plans to relocate from London to New York. Daunt says,

This is a very good day for bookselling. Barnes & Noble is the ...Read More

The City and the Cygnets, Michael Bishop (Fairwood Press/Kudzu Planet Productions 978-1933846781, $19.99, 466pp, trade paperback) August 2019

Many authors can’t resist the temptation to revisit the work of their younger selves and do a little improving, while others subscribe to the famous verse by Omar Khayyám: “The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,/Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit/Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,/Nor ...Read More

The Campbell Conference has been renamed the Gunn Center Conference. In a Facebook post on September 5 director Chris McKitterick said,

The Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction acknowledges and condemns the problematic words and actions of John W. Campbell. We had already been discussing changing the name of the Campbell Conference to the Gunn Center Conference, which is in any case more accurate, as we’ve added other ...Read More

Opposite of Always, Justin A. Reynolds (Katherine Tegen 978-0-06-274837-9, $17.99, 464pp, hc) March 2019.

It is not a spoiler to state that Opposite of Always is a novel about time travel; specifically, the story of Jack traveling back over the same period of months again and again (and again and again) to save the life of his girlfriend, Kate. All of this is revealed on the book’s cover, which ...Read More

The James White Award Short Story competition has announced this year’s winner:

A special commendation was also given to Donoghue.

Maskill receives £200 and publication in Interzone. His story will also be translated into Italian and published ...Read More

The Concept Art Association has announced five recipients of its inaugural lifetime achievement award: Ron Cobb, H.R. Giger, Jean “Moebius” Giraud, Ralph McQuarrie, and Syd Mead. The award, which includes a trophy created by Legacy Effects, will be presented at the first annual Concept Art Awards, to be held September 7, 2019 during LightBox Expo at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena CA.

For more information, including a complete list ...Read More

No Country for Old Gnomes, Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne (Del Rey 978-1-52479-777-5, $28.00, 416pp, hc) April 2019.

Can we agree that writing humor is really difficult? And that writing humorous fantasy is even tougher? It’s so easy to write dreadful humorous fantasy, and so difficult to write it well that I can count the definite successes on one hand: Terry Pratchett, Robert Asprin, and maybe Piers Anthony. ...Read More

“Crash-Site” by Brian Trent (F&SF 5-6/18) is the winner of Baen‘s fifth annual Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF Readers’ Choice Award, announced September 1, 2019 at Dragon Con in Atlanta GA. The prize includes $500 and an inscribed plaque.

The winner was selected by public vote from 12 finalist stories published in The Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF, Vol. 5, edited by David Afsharirad (Baen).

[via File ...Read More

The Locus Selected Books by Author list has been updated on our Forthcoming Books page, with information from the September 2019 issue covering upcoming titles from genre houses slated through June 2020. Find out about your favorite authors’ upcoming books!

For the complete list of books by publisher, subscribe to our print magazine or purchase the September issue in print or digital editions, available September 1, 2019.

Paul March-Russell is stepping down as editor of Foundation, and the Science Fiction Foundation (SFF) is now accepting applications for a replacement.

Foundation is a peer-reviewed, critical science fiction magazine based in the UK. Applications “comprising a CV and letter setting out the candidate’s qualifications and plans for the journal” should be sent to Graham Sleight <grahamsleight@gmail.com> by September 30, 2019. More details can be found at the SFF website. ...Read More

Whisper by Lynette Noni (Kids Can) won the Gold Inky Award (for Australian titles), and The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (Little, Brown) won the Silver Inky Award (for international titles).

While you are ...Read More

F&SF 7-8/19 Interzone 3-4/19 Amazing Spring ’19

In the July-August F&SF, Cassandra Khaw‘s “Mighty are the Meek and the Myriad” is very impressive. It’s set the year after a human-robot war ended in a treaty, with robots serving as humans, and, in various ways, being “humanized” by having them wear hats and mustaches and giving them corgis as pets. The story follows two somewhat unpleasant hu­man characters: ...Read More

New titles this week are by Rachel Caine, Becky Chamber, Richard Chizmar, Neil Enock, Eric Flint & Iver P. Cooper, Deborah Hewitt, Dave Hutchinson, Les Johnson & Robert E. Hampson, Michael Kelly, David Koepp, Jay Kristoff, Michael Laurence, ...Read More

The 6-title shortlist for the 2019 Booker Prize has been announced, including several of genre interest:

SF writer Terrance Dicks, 84, died August 29, 2019.

Dicks was a prolific and celebrated writer for the British TV program Doctor Who, serving as script editor from 1968-74 and writing various episodes. He also produced more than 50 tie-in novels and non-fiction books about the series, beginning with Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion (1974) and ending with Revenge of the Judoon (2008). His final story, “Save Yourself”, ...Read More

Winners of the 2019 Dragon Awards were announced at Dragon Con on September 1, 2019 in Atlanta GA.