Issue 769 Table of Contents, February 2025
The February 2025 issue of Locus magazine has interviews with Gareth L. Powell & Ibi Zoboi and a spotlight on Never Whistle at Night, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. Main stories include tributes to the late Barry N. Malzberg, nominees for the Philip K. Dick Awards, the announcement of 2025’s World Fantasy Award judges, the return of Fantasy magazine, and the bankruptcy of comics/magazine distributor Diamond. People & Publishing covers news about Khan Wong, Sharon Shinn, Marie Lu, Rich Larson, P.C. Cast, L.D. Lewis, and others. Obituaries remember Howard Andrew Jones, George Zebrowski, T. Jackson King, Andrew Pyper, John Marsden, and Laurel Amberdine. Reviews cover new titles by Travis Baldree, Laila Lalami, Alex Pheby, Wole Talabi, Makana Yamamoto, and more.
TABLE of CONTENTS
February 2025 • Issue 769 • Vol. 94 • No. 2
58th Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and interview design by Francesca Myman.
INTERVIEWS
Gareth L. Powell: Big Universe / 10
Ibi Zoboi: Always Magic / 22
MAIN STORIES / 5 & 6
Barry N. Malzberg (1939 – 2024): Appreciations by Michael Swanwick,
Jack Dann, Scott Edelman, and Allen M. Steele • PKD Award Nominees •
World Fantasy Awards Judges • Fantasy Magazine Returns • Diamond Bankruptcy
THE DATA FILE / 7
New York Magazine Gaiman Cover Story and His ‘‘Breaking the Silence’’ •
New Year’s Honors • SFWA News • AI News • Legal News • Prometheus Hall of Fame Finalists •
Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Open • Publishing News • HWA News • NYPL’s Most-Borrowed Books •
30 Years of Tachyon • Bookseller Ranks Acquiring Editors • Pelletier Named PW Person of the Year •
World Conventions News • Announcements • Awards News • Financial News
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about Khan Wong, Sharon
Shinn, Marie Lu, Rich Larson, P.C. Cast, L.D. Lewis, and many others.
THE YEAR IN REVIEW / 24
2024 Recommended Reading by Liza Groen Trombi (with Maya St. Clair, Eleanor Trombla, Bob Blough,
Tim Pratt & Francesca Myman), Gary K. Wolfe, Archita Mittra, Ian Mond, Colleen Mondor, Tim Pratt,
Arley Sorg, Alexandra Pierce, Russell Letson, Liz Bourke, Charles Payseur, Jake Casella Brookins,
Abigail Nussbaum, Graham Sleight, A.C. Wise, & Niall Harrison
2024 Recommended Reading List, 47 • 2024 Book Summary, 52 • 2024 Magazine Summary, 58
SPECIAL FEATURE
Spotlight on Never Whistle at Night, Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr, eds., 68
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: December, 69 • Books Received: December, 70 • Bestsellers, 80 • New & Notable, 81
LOCUS LETTERS / 89
Don Maitz on Greg Hildebrandt
OBITUARIES / 53
Howard Andrew Jones: Appreciations by C.S.E. Cooney, John O’Neill, John C. Hocking, Matthew
John, and Scott Oden • George Zebrowski • T. Jackson King • Andrew Pyper • John Marsden •
Laurel Amberdine
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 54
February • Locus Poll & Survey • In Memory of Laurel Amberdine (1970 – 2025)
LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS
Short Fiction Reviews by CHARLES PAYSEUR / 12
Goblins & Greatcoats, Travis Baldree; Unquiet on the Eastern Front, Wole Talabi; Flash Fiction Online 11/24; Cast of Wonders 12/3/24; Strange Horizons 11/18/24, 12/9/24; Hexagon Winter ’24; GigaNotoSaurus 12/24; Lightspeed 12/24; Small Wonders 12/24; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 12/26/24; Diabolical Plots 12/24.
Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. WISE / 14
Augur 7.3; Clarkesworld 12/24; Analog 11-12/24.
Reviews by GARY K. WOLFE / 15
When We Were Real, Daryl Gregory; The Dream Hotel, Laila Lalami; SHORT TAKE: Keith Roberts’s Pavane: A Critical Companion, Paul Kincaid.
Reviews by ALEXANDRA PIERCE / 16
Transmentation | Transience, Darkly Lem; The Year’s Best Science Fiction on Earth 2, Allan Kaster, ed.; Juice, Tim Winton.
Reviews by JAKE CASELLA BROOKINS / 17
Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids, Leyna Krow; We Lived on the Horizon, Erika Swyler; Death and Other Speculative Fictions, Caroline Hagood.
Reviews by IAN MOND / 18
Waterblack, Alex Pheby; Crows and Silences, Lucius Shepard; The Crimson Road, A.G. Slatter.
Reviews by COLLEEN MONDOR / 21
The Legacy of Arniston House, T.L. Huchu; Once Was Willem, M.R. Carey; Zodiac Rising, Katie Zhao.
Reviews by Divers Hands: ALEXANDRA PIERCE, ABIGAIL NUSSBAUM / 25
Hammajang Luck, Makana Yamamoto; The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories: Fifth Annual Collection, Allan Kaster, ed; The Sentence, Gautam Bhatia.
Magazine reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Flash Fiction Online 11/24 (Charles Payseur)
Cast of Wonders 12/3/24 (Charles Payseur)
Strange Horizons 11/18/24, 12/9/24 (Charles Payseur)
Hexagon Winter ’24 (Charles Payseur)
GigaNotoSaurus 12/24 (Charles Payseur)
Lightspeed 12/24 (Charles Payseur)
Small Wonders 12/24 (Charles Payseur)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 12/26/24 (Charles Payseur)
Diabolical Plots 12/24 (Charles Payseur)
Augur 7.3 (A.C. Wise)
Clarkesworld 12/24 (A.C. Wise)
Analog 11-12/24 (A.C. Wise)
Books reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Baldree, Travis • Goblins & Greatcoats (Charles Payseur)
Carey, M. R. • Once Was Willem (Colleen Mondor)
Gregory, Daryl • When We Were Real (Gary K. Wolfe)
Hagood, Caroline • Death and Other Speculative Fictions (Jake Casella Brookins)
Huchu, T. L. • The Legacy of Arniston House (Colleen Mondor)
Kaster, Allan, ed. • The Year’s Best Science Fiction on Earth 2 (Alexandra Pierce)
Kincaid, Paul • Keith Roberts’s Pavane: A Critical Companion (Gary K. Wolfe)
Krow, Leyna • Sinkhole and Other Inexplicable Voids (Jake Casella Brookins)
Lalami, Laila • The Dream Hotel (Gary K. Wolfe)
Lem, Darkly • Transmentation | Transience (Alexandra Pierce)
Pheby, Alex • Waterblack (Ian Mond)
Shepard, Lucius • Crows and Silences (Ian Mond)
Slatter, Angela • The Crimson Road (Ian Mond)
Swyler, Erika • We Lived on the Horizon (Jake Casella Brookins)
Talabi, Wole • Unquiet on the Eastern Front (Charles Payseur)
Winton, Tim • Juice (Alexandra Pierce)
Zhao, Katie • Zodiac Rising (Colleen Mondor)
