2021 Locus Recommended Reading List

NOVELS – SCIENCE FICTION

• The 22 Murders of Madison May, Max Barry (Putnam; Hodder & Stoughton)
• Appleseed, Matt Bell (Custom House)
• The Horizon, Gautam Bhatia (HarperCollins India)
• The Actual Star, Monica Byrne (Harper Voyager US)
• The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton; Harper Voyager US)
• Leviathan Falls, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr (Scribner; Fourth Estate)
• The Book of All Skies, Greg Egan (Greg Egan)
• The Echo Wife, Sarah Gailey (Tor; Hodder & Stoughton)
• Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf; Faber & Faber)
• Firebreak, Nicole Kornher-Stace (Saga)
• The House of Styx, Derek Künsken (Solaris)
• Beyond the Hallowed Sky, Ken MacLeod (Orbit)
• The Second Shooter, Nick Mamatas (Solaris)
• A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
• Noor, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)
• Perhaps the Stars, Ada Palmer (Tor; Ad Astra)
• We Are Satellites, Sarah Pinsker (Berkley; Ad Astra)
• Bewilderment, Richard Powers (Norton; Heinemann)
• Doors of Sleep, Tim Pratt (Angry Robot)
• You Sexy Thing, Cat Rambo (Tor)
• Inhibitor Phase, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Orbit US)
• Purgatory Mount, Adam Roberts (Gollancz)
• Light Perpetual, Francis Spufford (Faber & Faber; Scribner)
• Termination Shock, Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Borough)
• Invisible Sun, Charles Stross (Tor; Tor UK)
• Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US)
  
• Far from the Light of Heaven, Tade Thompson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• Hummingbird Salamander, Jeff VanderMeer (MCD; Fourth Estate)
• Out Past the Stars, K.B. Wagers (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

NOVELS – FANTASY

• The Wisdom of Crowds, Joe Abercrombie (Orbit US; Gollancz)
• The Witness for the Dead, Katherine Addison (Tor; Solaris)
• The Good Neighbours, Nina Allan (Quercus)
• Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki (Tor)
• The Blacktongue Thief, Christopher Buehlman (Tor; Gollancz)
• The Mask of Mirrors, M.A. Carrick (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• Black Water Sister, Zen Cho (Ace; Macmillan)
• The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina, Zoraida Córdova (Atria)
• Honeycomb, Joanne M. Harris (Saga; Gollancz)
• Sistersong, Lucy Holland (Macmillan; Redhook)
• Cyber Mage, Saad Z. Hossain (Unnamed)
• Paladin’s Strength, T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
• Under the Whispering Door, TJ Klune (Tor; Tor UK)
• Build Your House Around My Body, Violet Kupersmith (Random House; Oneworld)
• Jade Legacy, Fonda Lee (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• The Last Graduate, Naomi Novik (Del Rey; Del Rey UK)
• Son of the Storm, Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• Peaces, Helen Oyeyemi (Riverhead; Faber & Faber)
• The Book of Form and Emptiness, Ruth Ozeki (Viking; Canongate)
• Soulstar, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)
• Grave Reservations, Cherie Priest (Atria)
• The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie, M. Rickert (Undertow)
• All the Murmuring Bones, A.G. Slatter (Titan)
• The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• The Memory Theater, Karin Tidbeck (Pantheon)
• The Escapement, Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon)
• The Hood, Lavie Tidhar (Ad Astra)
• No Gods, No Monsters, Cadwell Turnbull (Blackstone)
• The Angels of L19, Jonathan Walker (Weatherglass)
• The Hidden Palace, Helene Wecker (Harper)
• Blackthorn Winter, Liz Williams (NewCon)

NOVELS – HORROR

• The Bridge, J.S. Breukelaar (Meerkat)
• Revelator, Daryl Gregory (Knopf)
• The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix (Berkley; Titan)
• My Heart Is a Chainsaw, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan)
• Billy Summers, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton)
• Later, Stephen King (Hard Case Crime)
• Good Neighbors, Sarah Langan (Atria; Titan)
• Moon Lake, Joe R. Lansdale (Mulholland)
• A Broken Darkness, Premee Mohamed (Solaris)
• Sorrowland, Rivers Solomon (MCD; #Merky)
• Getaway, Zoje Stage (Mulholland)
• The Death of Jane Lawrence, Caitlin Starling (St. Martin’s)
• The Book of Accidents, Chuck Wendig (Del Rey; Del Rey UK)

YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

• Victories Greater Than Death, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen; Titan)
• This Poison Heart, Kalynn Bayron (Bloomsbury; Bloomsbury USA)
• The Infinity Courts, Akemi Dawn Bowman (Simon Pulse)
• This Is Not the Jess Show, Anna Carey (Quirk)
• Rise of the Red Hand, Olivia Chadha (Erewhon)
• The Gilded Ones, Namina Forna (Delacorte; Usborne)
• A Dark and Starless Forest, Sarah Hollowell (Clarion)
• Redemptor, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet; Hot Key)
• Yesterday Is History, Kosoko Jackson (Sourcebooks Fire)
• White Smoke, Tiffany D. Jackson (Tegen)
• Aetherbound, E.K. Johnston (Dutton)
• Summer in the City of Roses, Michelle Ruiz Keil (Soho)
• Chaos on CatNet, Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
• A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
• The Mirror Season, Anna-Marie McLemore (Feiwel & Friends)
• The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book, Kate Milford (Clarion)
• A Chorus Rises, Bethany C. Morrow (Tor Teen)
• Terciel & Elinor, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin; Tegen; Hot Key)
• All Our Hidden Gifts, Caroline O’Donoghue (Walker UK, Walker US)
• The City Beautiful, Aden Polydoros (Inkyard)

FIRST NOVELS

• Unity, Elly Bangs (Tachyon)
• The Unbroken, C.L. Clark (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)
• Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
• The Witch King, H.E. Edgmon (Inkyard)
• The Upper World, Femi Fadugba (Penguin UK; HarperTeen)
• Mrs Death Misses Death, Salena Godden (Canongate)
• Star Eater, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom)
• Bacchanal, Veronica G. Henry (47North)
• A Girl Called Rumi, Ari Honarvar (Forest Avenue)
• The All-Consuming World, Cassandra Khaw (Erewhon)
• Summer Sons, Lee Mandelo (Tordotcom)
• A Marvellous Light, Freya Marske (Tordotcom; Tor UK)
• Winter’s Orbit, Everina Maxwell (Tor; Orbit UK)
• This Thing Between Us, Gus Moreno (MCD x FSG Originals)
• She Who Became the Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor; Mantle)
• The Unraveling, Benjamin Rosenbaum (Erewhon)
• Root Magic, Eden Royce (Walden Pond)
• Blood Like Magic, Liselle Sambury (McElderry)
• This Weightless World, Adam Soto (Astra House)
• The Chosen and the Beautiful, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
• Wendy, Darling, A.C. Wise (Titan)
• On Fragile Waves, E. Lily Yu (Erewhon)

COLLECTIONS

• The Art of Space Travel and Other Stories, Nina Allan (Titan)
• Even Greater Mistakes, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)
• Everything in All the Wrong Order: The Best of Chaz Brenchley, Chaz Brenchley (Subterranean)
• Shoggoths in Traffic and Other Stories, Tobias S. Buckell (Fairwood)
• Spirits Abroad, Zen Cho (Small Beer)
• The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell, Brian Evenson (Coffee House)
• Big Dark Hole, Jeffrey Ford (Small Beer)
• The Best of Elizabeth Hand, Elizabeth Hand (Subterranean)
• Six Dreams About the Train and Other Stories, Maria Haskins (Trepidatio)
• Reconstruction, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Small Beer)
• The First Law of Thermodynamics, James Patrick Kelly (PM)
• On the Origin of Species and Other Stories, Bo-Young Kim (Kaya)
• AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future, Kai-Fu Lee & Chen Qiufan (Currency; W.H. Allen)
• The Truth and Other Stories, Stanisław Lem (The MIT Press)
• Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan, Usman T. Malik (Kitab)
• Rabbit Island, Elvira Navarro (Two Lines)
• Walking on Cowrie Shells, Nana Nkweti (Graywolf)
• The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories, Charles Payseur (Lethe)
• The Rock Eaters, Brenda Peynado (Penguin)
• Belladonna Nights and Other Stories, Alastair Reynolds (Subterranean)
• Alias Space and Other Stories, Kelly Robson (Subterranean)
• How to Get to Apocalypse and Other Disasters, Erica L. Satifka (Fairwood)
• Burning Girls and Other Stories, Veronica Schanoes (Tordotcom)
• The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales, Angela Slatter (Tartarus)
• Robot Artists & Black Swans: The Italian Fantascienza Stories, Bruce Sterling (Tachyon)
• The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub Volumes One and Two, Peter Straub (Borderlands)
• The Best of Harry Turtledove, Harry Turtledove (Subterranean)
• The Best of Walter Jon Williams, Walter Jon Williams (Subterranean)
• The Ghost Sequences, A.C. Wise (Undertow)
• Never Have I Ever, Isabel Yap (Small Beer)

ANTHOLOGIES

• We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020, C.L. Clark & Charles Payseur, eds. (Neon Hemlock)
• Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tachyon)
• The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Thirteen, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Night Shade)
• When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Titan)
• Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2021), Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, ed. (Jembefola)
• Relics, Wrecks, & Ruins, Aiki Flinthart, ed. (CAT)
• Seasons Between Us: Tales of Identities and Memories, Susan Forest & Lucas K. Law, eds. (Laksa)
• The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror: Volume 2, Paula Guran, ed. (Pyr)
• Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology, Alex Hernandez, Matthew David Goodwin, & Sarah Rafael García, eds. (Mad Creek)
• Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices, Swapna Krishna & Jenn Northington, eds. (Vintage)
• Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future, Gideon Lichfield, ed. (The MIT Press)
• Sinopticon, Xueting Christine Ni (Solaris)
• Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness, dave ring, ed. (Neon Hemlock)
• The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021, Veronica Roth & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Mariner)
• The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction: Volume 2, Tarun K. Saint, ed. (Hachette India)
• The Year’s Best Science Fiction Volume 2, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Saga)
• The Best of World SF: Volume 1, Lavie Tidhar, ed. (Head of Zeus)

NON-FICTION

• Yesterday’s Tomorrows, Mike Ashley (British Library Publishing)
• The Modern Myths: Adventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination, Philip Ball (University of Chicago Press)
• Remainders of the American Century, Brent Ryan Bellamy (Wesleyan University Press)
• The Anthropocene Unconscious, Mark Bould (Verso)
• After Human: A Critical History of the Human in Science Fiction from Shelley to Le Guin, Thomas Connolly (Liverpool University Press)
• Roger Zelazny, F. Brett Cox (University of Illinois Press)
• Occasional Views Volume 1: “More About Writing” and Other Essays, Samuel R. Delany (Wesleyan University Press)
• Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy Through 1945: Immigrants in the Golden Age, Valerie Estelle Frankel (Lexington)
• Chinese Science Fiction during the Post-Mao Cultural Thaw, Hua Li (University of Toronto Press)
• Gothic: An Illustrated History, Roger Luckhurst (Thames and Hudson; Princeton University Press)
• Pocket Workshop: Essays on living as a writer, Tod McCoy & M. Huw Evans, eds. (Hydra House)
• Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950–1985, Andrew Nette & Iain McIntyre, eds. (PM)
• Diverse Futures: Science Fiction and Authors of Color, Joy Sanchez-Taylor (Ohio State University Press)
• Michael Bishop and the Persistence of Wonder: A Critical Study of the Writings, Joe Sanders (McFarland)
• You Are Not Your Writing & Other Sage Advice, Angela Slatter (Brain Jar)
• Disputing the Deluge: Collected 21st-Century Writings on Utopia, Narration, and Survival, Darko Suvin (Bloomsbury Academic)
• The Young H.G. Wells: Changing the World, Claire Tomalin (Penguin)
• All of the Marvels, Douglas Wolk (Penguin; Profile)

ILLUSTRATED AND ART BOOKS

• Clockwork Curandera Volume 1: The Witch Owl Parliament, David Bowles, art by Raúl the Third (Tu Books)
• Monstrous Mythologies, Michael Bukowski (Lethe)
• Medusa, Jessie Burton, art by Olivia Lomenech Gill (Bloomsbury)
• Norse Tales: Stories from Across the Rainbow Bridge, Kevin Crossley-Holland, art by Jeffrey Alan Love (Walker Studio UK 2020; Candlewick Studio US as Across the Rainbow Bridge: Stories of Norse Gods and Humans)
• Campaigns & Companions, Andi Ewington & Rhianna Pratchett, art by Calum Alexander Watt (Rebellion)
• Spectrum Fantastic Art Quarterly Volume One, Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood)
• A Field Guide to Draco Floris Dragons, Annie Stegg Gerard (Gallery Gerard)
• Justin Gerard’s Monster of the Month Volume One: Sketchbook 2020, Justin Gerard (Gallery Gerard)
• John Howe’s Ultimate Fantasy Art Academy, John Howe (David and Charles)
• Gwelf: The Survival Guide, Larry MacDougall (Eye of Newt)
• Forgotten Gods, the Art of Yoann Lossel, Yoann Lossel & Psyché Ophiuchus (Yoann Lossel)
• Kay Nielsen, An Enchanted Vision, Meghan Melvin (MFA Boston)
• After the Rain, Nnedi Okorafor, adapted by John Jennings, art by David Brame (Abrams ComicArts/Megascope)
• 1984: The Graphic Novel, George Orwell, art by Fido Nesti (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Roy V. Hunt: A Retrospective, David Ritter & Daniel Ritter (First Fandom Experience)
• Infected by Art: Volume 9, Todd Spoor, Bill Cox & Jon Schindehette (ArtOrder)
• The Labyrinth, Simon Stålenhag (Fria Ligan Sweden 2020; Simon & Schuster UK 2021; Image Comics US 2021)
• Squad, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, art by Lisa Sterle (Harper Alley/Greenwillow)
• The Art of Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess’s Stardust, Charles Vess (Titan)
• Covenant: The Art of Allen Williams, Allen Williams (Flesk)

NOVELLAS

• A Blessing of Unicorns, Elizabeth Bear (Audible Originals 10/20; Asimov’s 9-10/21)
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
• “Arisudan”, Rimi B. Chatterjee (Mithila Review 3/22/21)
• Defekt, Nino Cipri (Tordotcom)
• Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
• “Sleep and the Soul“, Greg Egan (Asimov’s 9-10/21)
• Lagoonfire, Francesca Forrest (Annorlunda)
• “Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma”, R.S.A Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/21)
• The Album of Dr. Moreau, Daryl Gregory (Tordotcom)
• A Spindle Splintered, Alix E. Harrow (Tordotcom)
• & This is How to Stay Alive, Shingai Njeri Kagunda (Neon Hemlock)
• “The Dark Ride”, John Kessel (F&SF 1-2/21)
• In the Watchful City, S. Qiouyi Lu (Tordotcom)
• And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
• The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed (ECW)
• The Return of the Sorceress, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Subterranean)
• “A Rocket for Dimitrios“, Ray Nayler (Asimov’s 1-2/21)
• Remote Control, Nnedi Okorafor (Tordotcom)
• “The Abomination”, Nuzo Onoh (F&SF 9-10/21)
• “Submergence”, Arula Ratnakar (Clarkesworld 3/21)
• Flowers for the Sea, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)
• The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
• “The Giants of the Violet Sea”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9-10/21)
• Comfort Me With Apples, Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)
• The Past is Red, Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)
• The Secret Skin, Wendy N. Wagner (Neon Hemlock)
• Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)
• “A Canticle for Lost Girls”, Isabel Yap (Never Have I Ever)

NOVELETTES

• “The Lay of Lilyfinger“, G.V. Anderson (Tor.com 5/5/21)
• “Laki”, Eleanor Arnason (F&SF 11-12/21)
• “The Red Mother“, Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com 6/23/21)
• “Babylon System”, Maurice Broaddus (F&SF 5-6/21)
• “The Women Who Didn’t Win Nobels, and How World Trees Are Not a Substitute”, Octavia Cade (Fusion Fragment 5/21)
• “Mulberry and Owl“, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny 9-10/21)
• “The Demon Sage’s Daughter“, Varsha Dinesh (Strange Horizons 2/8/21)
• “Arriving from Always“, Nerine Dorman (Omenana 7/22/21)
• “Quintessence“, Andrew Dykstal (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 2/25/21)
• “Questions Asked in the Belly of the World“, A.T. Greenblatt (Tor.com 9/22/21)
• “For Sale by Owner”, Elizabeth Hand (When Things Get Dark)
• “Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story”, Nalo Hopkinson (F&SF 11-12/21)
• “Now You See Me“, Justin C. Key (Lightspeed 8/21)
• “The Ash-Girl and the Salmon Prince“, PH Lee & Rachel Swirsky (Lightspeed 10/21)
• “Frost’s Boy“, PH Lee (Lightspeed 1/21)
• “Skinder’s Veil”, Kelly Link (When Things Get Dark)
• “The Metric“, David Moles (Asimov’s 5-6/21)
• “Sarcophagus“, Ray Nayler (Clarkesworld 4/21)
• “And for My Next Trick, I Have Disappeared“, Chimedum Ohaegbu (F&SF 7-8/21)
• “The Black Pages“, Nnedi Okorafor (Black Stars)
• “Bots of the Lost Ark“, Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld 6/21)
• “Stronger“, K.J. Parker (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 10/7/21)
• “We, the Girls Who Did Not Make It“, E.A. Petricone (Nightmare 2/21)
• “Music of the Siphorophenes”, C.L. Polk (F&SF 3-4/21)
• “(emet)”, Lauren Ring (F&SF 7-8/21)
• “The Cloud Lake Unicorn”, Karen Russell (Conjunctions: 76)
• “The Ghost Birds“, Karen Russell (The New Yorker 10/11/21)
• “Three Tales from the Blue Library”, Sofia Samatar (Conjunctions: 76)
• “The Last Civilian“, R.P. Sand (Clarkesworld 1/21)
• “I Being Young and Foolish”, Nisi Shawl (Sword, Stone, Table)
• “The Future Library“, Peng Shepherd (Tor.com 8/18/21)
• “In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi”, Molly Tanzer (F&SF 3-4/21)
• “Dreamports“, Tlotlo Tsamaase (Apex 12/21)
• “L’Esprit de L’Escalier“, Catherynne M. Valente (Tor.com 8/25/21)
• “Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.”, Fran Wilde (Uncanny 5-6/21)
• “That Story Isn’t the Story“, John Wiswell (Uncanny 11-12/21)
• “A Spell for Foolish Hearts”, Isabel Yap (Never Have I Ever)
• “Colors of the Immortal Palette“, Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny 3-4/21)
• The Only Living Girl on Earth, Charles Yu (Scribd Originals)
• “Small Monsters“, E. Lily Yu (Tor.com 10/20/21)

SHORT STORIES

• “Masquerade Season“, ‘Pemi Aguda (Tor.com 3/24/21)
• “Illusions of Freedom“, Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe (Baffling 10/21)
• “A Princess of Mars: Svetlana Belkina and Tarkovsky’s Lost Movie Aelita”, Nina Allan (The Art of Space Travel)
• “The Techwork Horse”, M.H. Ayinde (Fiyah Winter ’21)
• “When the Water Stops”, Eugen Bacon (F&SF 5-6/21)
• “The White Road or How a Crow Carried Death Over a River“, Marika Bailey (Fiyah Spring ’21)
• “Deep Music“, Elly Bangs (Clarkesworld 1/21)
• “Space Pirate Queen of the Ten Billion Utopias“, Elly Bangs (Lightspeed 11/21)
• “Baby Brother”, Kalynn Bayron (Fiyah Winter ’21)
• “To Rise, Blown Open“, Jen Brown (Anathema 5/21)
• “The Bletted Woman”, Rebecca Campbell (F&SF 3-4/21)
• “A House is Not a Home“, L Chan (Clarkesworld 4/21)
• “The Captain and the Quartermaster“, C.L. Clark (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 3/25/21)
• “If the Martians Have Magic“, P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny 9-10/21)
• “Delete Your First Memory for Free”, Kel Coleman (Fiyah Winter ’21)
• “I Wear My Spiders in Remembrance of Myself“, Kel Coleman (Apparition Lit 8/5/21)
• “The Frankly Impossible Weight of Han“, Maria Dong (khōréō 2/15/21)
• “The Wishing Pool“, Tananarive Due (Uncanny 7-8/21)
• “The Pizza Boy”, Meg Elison (F&SF 3-4/21)
• “The Revolution Will Not Be Served With Fries“, Meg Elison (Lightspeed 9/21)
• “A Bird in the Window“, Kate Francia (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 9/23/21)
• “Still Life With Vial of Blood“, Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas (Nightmare 9/21)
• “RE: Bubble 476“, A.T. Greenblatt (Asimov’s 3-4/21)
• “Mr. Death“, Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/21)
• “A Minnow, or Perhaps a Colossal Squid“, Carlos Hernandez & C.S.E. Cooney (Mermaids Monthly 4/20/21)
• “Vampirito“, K. Victoria Hernandez (khōréō 2/15/21)
• “Clap Back“, Nalo Hopkinson (Black Stars)
• “Proof by Induction“, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5-6/21)
• “How to Break Into a Hotel Room“, Stephen Graham Jones (Nightmare 1/21)
• “I Was a Teenage Space Jockey“, Stephen Graham Jones (Lightspeed 11/21)
• “Blood in the Thread“, Cheri Kamei (Tor.com 5/12/21)
• “Love, That Hungry Thing“, Cassandra Khaw (Apex 1/21)
• “Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self“, Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 3/21)
• “To Rest, and to Create”, LA Knight (Fiyah Summer ’21)
• “Bride, Knife, Flaming Horse“, M.L. Krishnan (Apparition Lit 4/26/21)
• “Immortal Coil“, Ellen Kushner (Uncanny 7-8/21)
• “We Travel the Spaceways“, Victor LaValle (Black Stars)
• “10 Steps to a Whole New You“, Tonya Liburd (Fantasy 1/21)
• “A Dime”, Megan Lindholm (F&SF 11-12/21)
• “The Loneliness of Former Constellations“, P.H. Low (Strange Horizons 8/7/21)
• “My Mother’s Hand“, Dante Luiz (Constelación 1/21)
• “#Spring Love, #Pichal Pairi“, Usman T. Malik (Tor.com 3/3/21)
• “Paley’s Watch”, Anil Menon (The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction, Volume 2)
• “Let All the Children Boogie“, Sam J. Miller (Tor.com 1/6/21)
• “The Shadow of His Wings“, Ray Nayler (Analog 3-4/21)
• “#Selfcare“, Annalee Newitz (Tor.com 1/19/21)
• “Before Whom Evil Trembles“, Nhamo (Anathema 5/21)
• “Pull“, Leah Ning (Podcastle 5/18/21)
• “Him Without Her and Her Within Him“, Aimee Ogden (Zooscape 6/21)
• “The Tale of Jaja and Canti“, Tobi Ogundiran (Lightspeed 8/21)
• “Presque vue“, Tochi Onyebuchi (Uncanny 7-8/21)
• “Laughter Among the Trees“, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 2/21)
• “Of Claw and Bone“, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 5/21)
• “A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty“, Miyuki Jane Pinckard (Uncanny 1-2/21)
• “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather“, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3-4/21)
• “All Us Ghosts“, B. Pladek (Strange Horizons 9/6/21)
• “Crazy Beautiful”, Cat Rambo (F&SF 3-4/21)
• “They Call It Hipster Heaven“, Lauren Ring (The Deadlands 9/21)
• “Morning”, Diane Russell (Fiyah Summer ’21)
• “Meditation on Sun-Ra’s Bassism”, Yah Yah Scholfield (Fiyah Summer ’21)
• “The Center of the Universe“, Nadia Shammas (Strange Horizons 3/29/21)
• “All Worlds Left Behind“, Iona Datt Sharma (khōréō 2/15/21)
• “Huginn and Muninn – and What Came After“, Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s 7-8/21)
• “Thirteen of the Secrets in My Purse“, Rachel Swirsky (Uncanny 5-6/21)
• “An Arc of Electric Skin“, Wole Talabi (Asimov’s 9-10/21)
• “Root Rot“, Fargo Tbakhi (Apex 1/21)
• “Barefoot and Midnight“, Sheree Renée Thomas (Apex 3/21)
• “Elizabeth Frankenstein Is the Saddest Girl on Earth”, Jolie Toomajan (Black Static 11/21)
• “How the Girls Came Home“, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 5-6/21)
• “The Sin of America“, Catherynne M. Valente (Uncanny 3-4/21)
• “This Shattered Vessel Which Holds Only Grief“, Izzy Wasserstein (Apex 11/21)
• “Gordon B. White is creating Haunting Weird Horror“, Gordon B. White (Nightmare 7/21)
• “For Lack of a Bed“, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 4/21)
• “We Are Not Phoenixes“, John Wiswell (Fireside 3/21)
• “Gray Skies, Red Wings, Blue Lips, Black Hearts“, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor (Apex 2/21)
• “A Pall of Moondust“, Nick Wood (Omenana 4/15/21)

This list appears in the February 2022 issue of Locus. Thank you for reporting any typos or broken links to locus@locusmag.com. Vote now for your favorites at the Locus Poll & Survey!

[Edited to move Under the Whispering Door, TJ Klune (Tor; Tor UK) from Young Adult to Fantasy. 2/7/22]