Issue 754 Table of Contents, November 2023
The November 2023 issue of Locus magazine is a special issue, “Dimensions of Wonder: Focus on Short Fiction,” featuring interviews with Carmen Maria Machado and a roundtable on short fiction with Ted Chiang, Kelly Link, and Usman T. Malik. The issue also includes spotlights on khōréō, Omenana, and The Sunday Morning Transport, and essays on short fiction by Neil Clarke, A.T. Greenblatt, José Pablo Iriarte, Ai Jiang, Tobi Ogundiran, and Eugenia Triantafyllou. News covers the 2023 Hugo Awards winners, World Fantasy Awards, British Fantasy Awards, Ditmar winners, Simon & Schuster news, and much more. Event coverage includes ICon: Tel Aviv 2023, Can*Con 2023, and the Science Fiction Research Association and Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung’s joint annual conference, Disruptive Imaginations. Cory Doctorow’s column is entitled “Don’t Be Evil”. Obituaries remember Michael Flynn, Michael D. Toman, Rekka Korol Jay, Pat Diggs, and Helena Binns. Reviews cover new titles by Cadwell Turnbull, Christopher Barzak, E. Lily Yu, Sharon Emmerichs, Anna Smith Spark, Megan E. O’Keefe, Thea Guanzon, Francis Spufford, Naomi Alderman, Mónica Ojeda, Anya Johanna DeNiro, Rebekah Bergman, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Hiromi Kawakami, Sarah Davis-Goff, Anbara Salam, Ava Reid, Daniel Kraus, Yume Kitasei, Walter Mosley, Tananarive Due, C.J. Cherryh & Jane S. Fancher, Lavie Tidhar (ed), D.L. Soria, and more.
TABLE of CONTENTS
November 2023 • Issue 754 • Vol. 91 • No. 5
56th Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and interview design by Francesca Myman
INTERVIEWS
Carmen Maria Machado: Core of Darkness / 10
The Fire in the Dark: Roundtable with Ted Chiang, Kelly Link, and Usman T. Malik / 28
MAIN STORIES/ 5 & 6
2023 Hugo Awards Winners • 2023 World Fantasy Awards • British Fantasy Awards Winners • Ditmar Winners • Simon & Schuster News
THE DATA FILE / 7
National Book Awards Finalists • Le Guin Short Films • HWA News • Orbit Workshop • SFPA Awards • AI Lawsuit News • Announcements • Awards News • Financial News
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about Nicola Griffith, Jonathan Lethem, Daryl Gregory, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Leigh Bardugo, Cherie Dimaline, and many others.
DIMENSIONS OF WONDER: SHORT FICTION / 30
George Saunders in a Haunted Mansion with Chocolate Mint by Eugenia Triantafyllou • The Stormy Age of SFF Magazines by Neil Clarke • Interview with Tobi Ogundiran • Spotlight on khōréō • Spotlight on Omenana • A Ramble on How Short Stories Have Shaped my Chaotic Writing Career by Ai Jiang • Writing Short Stories in the Margins by A.T. Greenblatt • Spotlight on The Sunday Morning Transport • Things Short Stories Did and Didn’t Teach Me About Writing and Selling Novels by José Pablo Iriarte
SPECIAL FEATURES
Commentary: Cory Doctorow: Don’t Be Evil, 38 • Photo Story: Rio Hondo Writer’s Workshop, 61 • Photo Story: SF in SF, 62
CONVENTIONS
Can*Con 2023, 7 • SFRA/GF: Disruptive Imaginations, 39 • ICon, Tel Aviv 2023, 40
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: September, 41 • Books Received: September 42 • Bestsellers, 54 • New & Notable, 55
OBITUARIES / 63
Michael Flynn • Michael D. Toman • Appreciation by Connie Willis • Rekka Korol Jay • Pat Diggs • Appreciations by Laurie Toby Edison & Debbie Notkin, Francesca Myman, and Jacob Weisman • Helena Binns
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 66
Focus on Short Fiction • Chengdu • Terry Bisson in the New Yorker • Pat Diggs • December and January • Your Support
LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS
Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. WISE / 13
Asimov’s 9-10/23; Clarkesworld 8/23, 9/23.
Short Fiction Reviews by CHARLES PAYSEUR / 14
Zooscape 8/23; Cast of Wonders 8/29/23, 9/3/23; Worlds of Possibility 8/23; Strange Horizons 8/21/23, 8/28/23, 9/4/23, 9/11/23; Hexagon Fall ’23; GigaNotoSaurus 7/23; Flash Fiction Online 7/23; Diabolical Plots 7/23; Lightspeed 9/23; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 9/7/23, 9/21/23; Fusion Fragment 9/23; Fantasy 9/23.
Reviews by GARY K. WOLFE / 16
We Are the Crisis, Cadwell Turnbull; Monstrous Alterations, Christopher Barzak; Jewel Box: Stories, E. Lily Yu.
Reviews by LIZ BOURKE / 18
Shield Maiden, Sharon Emmerichs; A Sword of Bronze and Ashes, Anna Smith Spark; The Frac- tured Dark, Megan E. O’Keefe; The Hurricane Wars, Thea Guanzon.
Reviews by NIALL HARRISON / 20
Cahokia Jazz, Francis Spufford; The Future, Naomi Alderman; Nefando, Mónica Ojeda.
Reviews by JAKE CASELLA BROOKINS / 22
OKPsyche, Anya Johanna DeNiro; The Museum of Human History, Rebekah Bergman.
Reviews by IAN MOND / 23
A Traveller in Time: The Critical Practice of Maureen Kincaid Speller, Maureen Kincaid Speller; Dragon Palace, Hiromi Kawakami; Silent City, Sarah Davis-Goff.
Reviews by COLLEEN MONDOR / 24
Hazardous Spirits, Anbara Salam; A Study in Drowning, Ava Reid.
Reviews by GABINO IGLESIAS / 25
Whalefall, Daniel Kraus; The Deep Sky, Yume Kitasei; Touched, Walter Mosley.
Reviews by Divers Hands: ALEX BROWN, RUSSELL LETSON, ARCHITA MITTRA, ALEXANDRA PIERCE / 26
The Reformatory, Tananarive Due; Defiance, C.J. Cherryh & Jane S. Fancher; Thief Liar Lady, D.L. Soria; The Best of World SF Volume 3, Lavie Tidhar, ed.
Terry Bisson: This Month in History / 15, 17, 19, 24
Magazines reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Asimov’s 9-10/23 (A.C. Wise)
Clarkesworld 8/23, 9/23 (A.C. Wise)
Zooscape 8/23 (Charles Payseur)
Cast of Wonders 8/29/23, 9/3/23 (Charles Payseur)
Worlds of Possibility 8/23 (Charles Payseur)
Strange Horizons 8/21/23, 8/28/23, 9/4/23, 9/11/23 (Charles Payseur)
Hexagon Fall ’23 (Charles Payseur)
GigaNotoSaurus 7/23 (Charles Payseur)
Flash Fiction Online 7/23 (Charles Payseur)
Diabolical Plots 7/23 (Charles Payseur)
Lightspeed 9/23 (Charles Payseur)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 9/7/23, 9/21/23 (Charles Payseur)
Fusion Fragment 9/23 (Charles Payseur)
Fantasy 9/23 (Charles Payseur)
Books reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Alderman, Naomi • The Fitire (Niall Harrison)
Allan, Nina, ed. • A Traveller in Time (Ian Mond)
Barzak, Christopher • Monstrous Alterations (Gary K. Wolfe)
Bergman, Rebekah • The Museum of Human History (Jake Casella Brookins)
Cherryh, C. J., & Jane S. Fancher • Defiance (Russell Letson)
Davis-Goff, Sarah • Silent City (Ian Mond)
DeNiro, Anya Johanna • OKPsyche (Jake Casella Brookins)
Due, Tananarive • The Reformatory (Alex Brown)
Emmerichs, Sharon • Shield Maiden (Liz Bourke)
Guanzon, Thea • The Hurricane Wars (Liz Bourke)
Kawakami, Hiromi • Dragon Palace (Ian Mond)
Kitasei, Yume • The Deep Sky (Gabino Iglesias)
Kraus, Daniel • Whalefall (Gabino Iglesias)
Mosley, Walter • Touched (Gabino Iglesias)
Ojeda, Mónica • Nefando (Niall Harrison)
O’Keefe, Megan E. • The Fractured Dark (Liz Bourke)
Reid, Ava • A Study in Drowning (Colleen Mondor)
Salam, Anbara • Hazardous Spirits (Colleen Mondor)
Soria, D. L. • Thief Liar Lady (Archita Mittra)
Spark, Anna Smith • A Sword of Bronze and Ashes (Liz Bourke)
Spufford, Francis • Cahokia Jazz (Niall Harrison)
Tidhar, Lavie, ed. • The Best of World SF Volume 3 (Alexandra Pierce)
Turnbull, Cadwell • We Are the Crisis (Gary K. Wolfe)
Yu, E. Lily • Jewel Box: Stories (Gary K. Wolfe)
