january coverThe February issue is the annual Year in Review issue, with the 2015 Recommended Reading List, essays on the year’s works by Gary K. Wolfe, Ellen Datlow, Paul Kincaid, and many others, and the 2015 Locus Poll and Survey ballot; there’s also an interview with Tom Doherty, an obituary of David G. Hartwell, and reviews of short fiction and books by Tim Powers, John Wray, Carter Scholz, and many others.

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Table of Contents

 

February 2016 • Issue 661 • Vol. 76 • No. 2
49th Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and Interview Designs by Francesca Myman

INTERVIEW
Tom Doherty: Story First / 6
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about N.K. Jemisin, Kim Stanley Robinson, R.A. Lafferty, Kit Reed, Marge Piercy, and many others
MAIN STORIES / 10
David G. Hartwell (1941-2016) • 2016 Philip K. Dick Award Nominees • Berkley Merged with Putnam and Dutton • Ruby and Levithan Win ALA Awards • DoJ Opposes Apple’s Appeal • 2015 Costa Book Award Winners • Pullman Resigns from Oxford Literary Festival
THE DATA FILE / 11
Tor.com Closes to Unsolicited Submissions • Author Solutions Sold • Digital Content in Public Libraries Survey • H.G. Wells Auction • YALSA Lists • Amazon News • Awards News • Magazine News • Legal News • Publishing News • Financial News • International Rights • Other Rights
SPECIAL FEATURES
Commentary: Kameron Hurley: The Sad Economics of Writing Short Fiction / 23
2015: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
2015 Recommended Reading: Liza Groen Trombi (with Tim Pratt & Francesca Myman), Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, Adrienne Martini, Russell Letson, Faren Miller, Cheryl Morgan, Graham Sleight, Karen Burnham, Paul Kincaid, Ellen Datlow, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Ysabeau S. Wilce, Liz Bourke, Gardner Dozois, Rich Horton, Amy Goldschlager / 24 2015 Recommended Reading List / 40 2015 Book Summary / 48 2015 Magazine Summary / 52
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: December / 58 Books Received: December / 60 British Books Received: November / 68 Bestsellers / 70
OTHER OBITUARIES / 76
George Clayton Johnson • Appreciations by William F. Nolan, Stephen Jones, and Jason V. Brock • A.R. Morlan • Felice Maxam • David Bowie
LOCUS LETTERS / 77
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 78
David Hartwell • Year in Review • Locus Poll & Survey
LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS
Gardnerspace: A Short Fiction Column by Gardner Dozois / 12
Asimov’s 12/15; Clarkesworld 8/15, 9/15, 10/15, 11/15, 12/15; Mission: Tomorrow, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, ed.; Operation Arcana, John Joseph Adams, ed.; Pwning Tomorrow: Short Fiction from the Electronic Frontier, Anonymous, ed.
Short Fiction Reviews by Rich Horton / 13
Analog 1-2/16; Asimov’s 1/16; Fantasy 12/15; Lightspeed 12/15; Clarkesworld 12/15; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/24/15; Tor.com 12/15; Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand.
Reviews by Gary K. Wolfe / 14
Medusa’s Web, Tim Powers; The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria, Carlos Hernandez; The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle; SHORT TAKES: The Merril Theory of Lit’ry Criticism, Judith Merril; Frederik Pohl, Michael R. Page.
Reviews by Faren Miller / 16
The Lost Time Accidents, John Wray; Dreaming Death, J. Kathleen Cheney; A Crucible of Souls, Mitchell Hogan.
Reviews by Russell Letson / 17
Gypsy, Carter Scholz; Thunderbird, Jack McDevitt.
Reviews by Laird Barron / 18
Halfway Down the Stairs, Gary Braunbeck; Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Volume Two, Kathe Koja & Michael Kelly, eds.; Carter & Lovecraft, Jonathan L. Howard; Cassilda’s Song, Joe Pulver, ed.
Reviews by Adrienne Martini / 20
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chambers; The Everything Box, Richard Kadrey; Infomocracy, Malka Older; MARTians, Blythe Woolston.
Reviews by Carolyn Cushman / 21
Ash and Silver, Carol Berg; Marked in Flesh, Anne Bishop; The Copper Gauntlet, Holly Black & Cassandra Clare; The Starlight Raven, C. Dale Brittain; Reckless: The Golden Yarn, Cornelia Funke; Autumn Thorns, Yasmine Galenorn; Revisionary, Jim C. Hines; Chaos Choreography, Seanan McGuire; Cast in Honor, Michelle Sagara.
Reviews by Divers Hands: Colleen Mondor, Tom Whitmore & Liz Bourke / 22
Shadows of Sherwood, Kekla Magoon; The Seer, Sonia Orin Lyris; The Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman.
Terry Bisson: This Month in History / 13, 17, 19, 21

 

Magazine Issues reviewed in this issue (indicating reviewer) —

Analog January/February 2016 (Rich Horton)
Asimov’s December 2015 (Gardner Dozois)
Asimov’s January 2016 (Rich Horton)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies November 2015 (Rich Horton)
Clarkesworld August 2015 (Gardner Dozois)
Clarkesworld September 2015 (Gardner Dozois)
Clarkesworld October 2015 (Gardner Dozois)
Clarkesworld November 2015 (Gardner Dozois)
Clarkesworld December 2015 (Gardner Dozois)
Clarkesworld December 2015 (Rich Horton)
Fantasy Magazine December 2015 (Rich Horton)
Lightspeed December 2015 (Rich Horton)
Tor.com December 2015 (Rich Horton)

Books reviewed in this issue, listed by author (indicating reviewer) —

Adams, John Joseph, ed. • Operation Arcana (Gardner Dozois)
Anonymous, ed. • Pwning Tomorrow: Short Fiction from the Electronic Frontier (Gardner Dozois)
Berg, Carol • Ash and Silver (Carolyn Cushman)
Bishop, Anne • Marked in Flesh (Carolyn Cushman)
Black, Holly, & Cassandra Clare • The Copper Gauntlet (Carolyn Cushman)
Braunbeck, Gary • Halfway Down the Stairs (Laird Barron)
Brittain, C. Dale • The Starlight Raven (Carolyn Cushman)
Chambers, Becky • The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Adrienne Martini)
Cheney, J. Kathleen • Dreaming Death (Faren Miller)
Funke, Cornelia • Reckless: The Golden Yarn (Carolyn Cushman)
Galenorn, Yasmine • Autumn Thorns (Carolyn Cushman)
Goodman, Alison • The Dark Days Club (Liz Bourke)
Hand, Elizabeth • Wylding Hall (Rich Horton)
Hernandez, Carlos • The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria (Gary K. Wolfe)
Hines, Jim C. • Revisionary (Carolyn Cushman)
Hogan, Mitchell • A Crucible of Souls (Faren Miller)
Howard, Jonathan L. • Carter & Lovecraft (Laird Barron)
Kadrey, Richard • The Everything Box (Adrienne Martini)
Koja, Kathe, & Michael Kelly, eds. • Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Volume Two (Laird Barron)
LaValle, Victor • The Ballad of Black Tom (Gary K. Wolfe)
Lyris, Sonia Orin • The Seer (Tom Whitmore)
Magoon, Kekla • Shadows of Sherwood (Colleen Mondor)
McDevitt, Jack • Thunderbird (Russell Letson)
McGuire, Seanan • Chaos Choreography (Carolyn Cushman)
Merril, Judith • The Merril Theory of Lit’ry Criticism (Gary K. Wolfe)
Older, Malka • Infomocracy (Adrienne Martini)
Page, Michael R. • Frederik Pohl (Gary K. Wolfe)
Powers, Tim • Medusa’s Web (Gary K. Wolfe)
Pulver, Joe, ed. • Cassilda’s Song (Laird Barron)
Sagara, Michelle • Cast in Honor (Carolyn Cushman)
Schmidt, Bryan Thomas, ed. • Mission: Tomorrow (Gardner Dozois)
Scholz, Carter • Gypsy Plus… (Russell Letson)
Woolston, Blythe • MARTians (Adrienne Martini)
Wray, John • The Lost Time Accidents (Faren Miller)