Locus Bestsellers   HARDCOVERS Months on list Last month 1) Night Watch, Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins) 2 1 2) The Paths of the Dead, Steven Brust (Tor) 1 - 3) Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson (Tor) 4 2 4) Tapping the Dream Tree, Charles de Lint (Tor) 2 4 5) Shadow Puppets, Orson Scott Card (Tor) 4 - 6) A Gift of Dragons, Anne McCaffrey (Del Rey) 2 5 7) Coraline, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins) 6 8 8) March to the Stars, David Weber & John Ringo (Baen) 1 - 9) Explorer, C.J. Cherryh (DAW) 5 7 9) The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Morgawr, Terry Brooks (Ballantine Del Rey) 2 6   PAPERBACKS 1) Issola, Steven Brust (Tor) 1 - 2) Fool's Errand, Robin Hobb (Bantam Spectra) 1 - 3) Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson (Avon) 2 5 4) The Pillars of Creation, Terry Goodkind (Tor) 2 1 5) The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien (Del Rey) 14 3 6) The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien (Del Rey) 7 - 7) Echoes of the Great Song, David Gemmell (Del Rey) 1 - 8) The Collapsium, Wil McCarthy (Bantam) 1 - 9) Stealing the Elf-King's Roses, Diane Duane (Warner Aspect) 2 6 10) American Gods, Neil Gaiman (HarperTorch) 7 2   TRADE PAPERBACKS 1) The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin) 26 3 2) When Dragons Rage, Michael A. Stackpole (Bantam Spectra) 1 - 3) Angel of Darkness, Charles de Lint (Orb) 2 4 4) The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart (The Stars Our Destination) 1 - 5) The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley (Del Rey) 62 -   MEDIA-RELATED 1) The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, Brian Sibley (Houghton Mifflin) 1 - 2) Babylon 5: Book 7: The Shadow Within, Jeanne Cavelos (Dell) 1 - 3) Star Trek: The Brave and the Bold, Book One, Keith R.A. DeCandido (Pocket) 1 - 4) Taken, Thomas Cook (Dell) 2 3 5) Angel: The Longest Night, Vol. I, Anonymous, ed. (Simon Pulse) 1 -   GAMING-RELATED 1) MechWarrior: Dark Age: Ghost War, Michael A. Stackpole (Roc) 1 - 2) The Thousand Orcs, R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast) 3 1 3) Forgotten Realms: Insurrection, Thomas M. Reid (Wizards of the Coast) 1 - 4) Warhammer 40,000: Straight Silver, Dan Abnett (Black Library) 1 - 5) DragonLance: The Dragon Isles, Stephen D. Sullivan (Wizards of the Coast) 1 - Night Watch dominated hardcovers by a wide margin for the second month straight; The Paths of the Dead had a substantial lead over the next title. There was no new runner-up. We had 76 nominees, well up from 66 last month. Issola had a significant lead in the paperback category. New runner-up: Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen (Tor). Nominees: 81, down slightly from 84. The Lord of the Rings led trade paperbacks by a solid margin; The Mists of Avalon is back. New runner-up: Robert Asprin's Something M.Y.T.H. Inc. (Meisha Merlin). Nominees: 71, up substantially from 58. The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy topped media-related titles by a slim margin, with Babylon 5: Book 7: The Shadow Within just two points behind. Nominees: 41, well up from 29. MechWarrior: Dark Age: Ghost War had a strong lead in gaming-related titles. Nominees: 30, down from 33. Compiled with data from Barnes & Noble/B. Dalton (USA), Basilisk Dreams (Canada), The Booksmith (CA), Borderlands (CA), DreamHaven (MN), Heroes & Dragons (CO), Lone Star (TX), Midtown Comics (NY), Musicland Group (MN), Mysterious Galaxy (CA), Pages for All Ages (IL), Pandemonium Books & Games (MA), John W. Rollins, Bookseller (MI), Saint Mark’s (NY), The Stars Our Destination (IL), Toadstool (2 in NH), Totem Bookshop (WA), Waldenbooks/BGI (USA). Data period: December 2002.

March 2003