Locus Bestsellers, May 2021
The Locus Bestsellers for May include top titles A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury US), Dune by Frank Herbert (Ace), The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Tor), and Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (Del Rey).
| HARDCOVERS | Months on list |
Last month |
|
| 1) | A Court of Silver Flames, Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury US) | 1 | – |
| 2) | The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab (Tor) | 5 | 1 |
| *) | Ready Player Two, Ernest Cline (Ballantine) | 4 | 7 |
| 4) | Winter’s Orbit, Everina Maxwell (Tor) | 1 | – |
| 5) | A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik (Del Rey) | 5 | 6 |
| 6) | The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US) | 4 | – |
| 7) | The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US) | 10 | 3 |
| 8) | Dealbreaker, L.X. Beckett (Tor) | 1 | – |
| 9) | Fairhaven Rising, L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (Tor) | 1 | – |
| *) | Rhythm of War, Brandon Sanderson (Tor) | 4 | 5 |
| PAPERBACKS | |||
| 1) | Dune, Frank Herbert (Ace) | 49 | 1 |
| 2) | Smoke Bitten, Patricia Briggs (Ace) | 1 | – |
| 3) | Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson (Tor) | 9 | 4 |
| 4) | Calculated Risks, Seanan McGuire (DAW) | 1 | – |
| 5) | 1984, George Orwell (Signet) | 16 | 5 |
| 6) | Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (Tor) | 57 | – |
| *) | The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien (Del Rey) | 22 | – |
| *) | Neuromancer, William Gibson (Ace) | 8 | 2 |
| 9) | The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan (Tor) | 5 | – |
| 10) | The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson (Tor) | 25 | 6 |
| TRADE PAPERBACKS | |||
| 1) | The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (Tor) | 2 | 1 |
| 2) | Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler (Grand Central) | 9 | 4 |
| 3) | The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow (Redhook) | 7 | – |
| 4) | The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US) | 49 | 2 |
| 5) | The Mask of Mirrors, M.A. Carrick (Orbit US) | 2 | 8 |
| 6) | A Longer Fall, Charlaine Harris (Saga) | 1 | – |
| 7) | Dune, Frank Herbert (Ace) | 2 | – |
| 8) | Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit US) | 1 | – |
| 9) | Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom) | 1 | – |
| *) | Leviathan Wakes, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US) | 4 | 4 |
| MEDIA & GAMING RELATED | |||
| 1) | Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi, Charles Soule (Del Rey) | 2 | 1 |
| 2) | Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark, Claudia Gray (Disney Lucasfilm) | 1 | – |
| *) | Star Wars: Shadow Fall, Alexander Freed (Del Rey) | 2 | 3 |
| *) | Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason, Timothy Zahn (Del Rey) | 12 | – |
| *) | Star Wars: The Last Command, Timothy Zahn (Del Rey) | 4 | 1 |
Coronavirus Edition: As the vaccine rollout continues, in-store capacity limits increase while bookstores continue to offer online sales, mail orders, and curbside pick-ups.
The latest book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, new release A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas, jumped to the top of the hardcover list, followed by V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. There were no new runners-up. We had 38 nominated titles, up from last month’s 34.
On the paperback list. Frank Herbert’s Dune held onto at the top spot, with Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs, book 12 in the Mercy Thompson series, in second place. There were no new runners-up. There were 48 titles nominated, down from last month’s 50.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune remained in first place on the trade paperback list, with a reasonable lead over second place finisher, Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (Tor) was our new runner-up. We had 54 nominated titles, up from last month’s 49.
On the media- and gaming-related list, Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule claimed the number one spot for a second month, with almost twice as many votes as Claudia Gray’s YA book in the same series, Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark. There were no new runners-up. There were 22 nominated titles, up from last month’s 21.
Compiled with data from Bakka-Phoenix Books (Canada), Borderlands (CA), McNally Robinson (two in Canada), Mysterious Galaxy (CA), Toadstool (NH), White Dwarf (Canada).
Data period: February 2021.
Note: book titles and covers on this page link to IndieBound, a network of independent booksellers, such as those that contribute to this list.
From the May 2021 issue of Locus.
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