Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Already ranking on Amazon bestseller lists for 40 weeks now, and with publication due on January 21st, Rebecca Yarros’s Onyx Storm creeps upwards on the three Amazon lists this week, ranking #1 on Amazon.com this morning.
Aliette de Bodard, In the Shadow of the Ship (Subterranean 9/24) This far-future SF mystery novella is the latest installment in the author’s popular and ambitious Xuya universe. Khuyĕn, now a magistrate, returns to the sentient ship Nightjar and the family she hasn’t seen since fleeing as a teen to attend her grandmother’s funeral… but a disappearance forces her to face the past. “A sharp-edged and glittering science-fictional gem.” ...Read More
Read more
Lackey, Mercedes: Miss Amelia’s List (Astra House/DAW 9780756419097, $28, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 12/24/2024)
Fantasy novel, 17th in the Elemental Master series. In 1815 Miss Amelia Stonehold, goes to the Devon town of Axminster, looking to buy and staff a property, and possibly find a husband. But the Honorable Captain Harold Roughtower has his eyes fixed on her fortune and his plans for her wealth include the hidden Roman temple ...Read More
Read more
Brandon Sanderson’s Wind and Truth drops a notch or two on the four print lists compiled here, but remains solidly in the top 10 on all of them.
If you have a science fiction nerd for a parent, then you know it is impossible to shop for them over the holidays. They have read every SF title from the ‘Best of’ lists and have a personal pulp collection from decades past. Here are six recent science fiction titles reviewed by our experts that we think your dad hasn’t read yet (unless he has a Locus subscription), in ...Read More
Read more
Anderson, Brad C.: Ashme’s Song (Shadowpaw Press 9781998273164, $19.99, 402pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/17/2024)
SF novel. Ashme, a genetically enhanced New Mesopotamian has the ability to control computer systems at will, destined to help her oppressed people. But she is stuck caring for her neurologically frail twin brother.
Heitz, M. Turville: Black River (Crossroad Press/Mystique Press 9781637891346, $14.99, 350pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/17/2024)
Fantasy novel. Kyle Nelson, ...Read More
Read more
Brandon Sanderson’s Wind and Truth (Tor), fifth volume in his Stormlight Archive, debuts strongly on print lists, ranking #1 on three of them and #2 on the fourth.
Anderson, Kevin J.: Fantasy Stories, Volume 2 (WordFire Press 9781680577129, $17.99, 316pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, 12/10/2024)
Collection of 18 fantasy stories, one new; four are collaborations. Each story has an introduction by Anderson. Ten stories were previously collected as part of Selected Stories: Fantasy (2018). This is part of the seven-volume Kevin J. Anderson Short Fiction Library series funded through Kickstarter.
Boey, Eliane: Club Contango (Dark Matter ...Read More
Read more
The Locus Selected Books by Author list has been updated on our Forthcoming Books page, with information from the December 2024 issue covering upcoming titles from genre houses slated through September 2025. Find out about your favorite authors’ upcoming books!
For the complete list of books by publisher, subscribe to our print magazine or purchase the December issue in print or digital editions, available December 1, 2024.
While you are ...Read More
Read more
Gregory Maguire’s Wicked returns to fiction hardcover bestseller lists in a Collector’s Edition with green sprayed edges (William Morrow), ranking as high as #10 on the NY Times list. Two other books return to lists in similar special editions: R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War Collector’s Edition and Harley Laroux’s Her Soul to Take: Deluxe Special Edition (Kensington).
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Adamson, Glenn: A Century of Tomorrows: How Imagining the Future Shapes the Present (Bloomsbury USA 9781639730230, $32.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 12/03/2024)
Non-fiction, a look at the cultural history of futurology, and how trying to foresee the future influences the culture of its time. From scientists and futurologists such as Buckminster Fuller to authors including Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, Shulamith Firestone and Sun Ra.
Amplitude: The Art ...Read More
Read more
Again this week two fantasy novels debut on three lists each: Carissa Broadbent’s The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Bramble), ranking as high as #3 on two lists; and Melissa Landers’s The Half King (Entangled: Red Tower Books), ranking as high as #12 on two lists.
Chapman, Greg: Black Days and Bloody Nights (IFWG Publishing International 9781922856869, $12.99, 206pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 12/02/2024)
Collection of short horror stories and novellas.
Datlow, Ellen, ed.: The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Sixteen (Start/Night Shade 9781949102734, $19.99, 384pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/26/2024)
Year’s best anthology of 19 stories, with a summation of the year 2022 in horror by Datlow and a list of honorable mentions. ...Read More
Read more
Two fantasy novels debut this week: Mary E. Pearson’s The Courting of Bristol Keats (Flatiron), and Katee Robert’s Court of the Vampire Queen (Sourcebooks Casablanca), both ranking on three print lists.
Brom, Evil in Me (Nightfire 9/24) A woman who dreams of making it in the punk scene gets possessed, and the only way to exorcize the demon is to get hundreds of people to chant a spell together in this dark tale of music and mayhem. This author shows off his noted artistic talent as well with b&w illustrations throughout and eight pages of full-color plates.
Read more
Anderson, Kevin J.: Horror and Dark Fantasy Stories, Volume 2 (WordFire Press 9781680577198, $18.99, 332pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, 11/19/2024)
Second volume of horror and dark fantasy stories in Anderson’s short story series, with stories about ancient gods and unleashed demons, resurrected rock stars and bloodthirsty drums, haunted trains, the boogeyman, as well as Bela Lugosi and the real Vlad the Impaler.
Ashta, Lucía: Ride and Die (Podium ...Read More
Read more
The trade paperback edition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (Anchor) returned to lists last week and this, ranking as high as #8 on the Los Angeles Times paperback fiction list.
Bacon, Eugen & Editor), Abimbola Adelakun (Series, ed.: Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction (Bloomsbury Academic 9798765114674, $29.95, 256pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, ebook, 11/14/2024)
Non-fiction anthology, a selection of original essays. Introduction by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. Authors including Dilman Dila, Nerine Dorman, Nuzo Onoh, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Suyi Okungbowa, Tobi Ogundiran, Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Cheryl S. Ntumy, Stephen Embleton, and Xan van Rooyen – offer boldly hybrid chapters (both ...Read More
Read more
A trend this past year has been for publishers to issue new hardcover “deluxe” editions of books. This week’s examples are Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes and Bookshops & Bonedust (both Tor). The new editions rank on three lists, as high as #12.
Debuts of original books this week are by Kerri Maniscalco, ranking #2 on two lists, and M.L. Wang, ranking #9 on two lists.
Boop, David, ed.: Last Train to Kepler-283c (Baen 9781982193768, $18, 272pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 11/05/2024)
Original anthology of 13 Weird West space stories, third in the series. Authors include Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Mark L. Van Name, Chesya Burke, Kevin Ikenberry, David Mack, and John Stith.
Compiet, Iris & Bende, S.T.: Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1 (Insight Editions/Titan Books UK 9798886630985, $40, 208pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 11/05/2024) ...Read More
Read more
Jeff VanderMeer’s Absolution (MCD) debuts solidly on all four print lists compiled here, ranking as high as #7 on the New York Times and Los Angles Times lists.
Other titles debuting this week are by Alex Aster, Richard Chizmar, Susanna Clarke, Kim Harrison, John Gwynne, and CJ Leede.
Heartlines Spec
Anderson, Kate: Lonely Places (North Star Editions/Flux 9781635831016, $14.99, 304pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 10/29/2024)
Young-adult horror novel. After a traumatic experience steals Chase’s younger sister’s voice, the family moves to an isolated fire lookout in Pando, a grove of Aspen tree clones connected by a massive underground root system. They moved hoping for stability, but Chase learns that something bad happened at the lookout, and Pando appears to be ...Read More
Read more
After 48 weeks on the bestseller charts, Christopher Paolini’s Murtagh is now out in a new deluxe edition, which ranks on three lists this week, at #1 on the New York Times‘ Young Adult Hardcover list.
Sarah Rees Brennan, Long Live Evil (Orbit US 8/24). A dying woman makes a magical bargain to become the villainess in her favorite fantasy series in this first volume in the Time of Iron series, an entertaining look at women’s roles and options in fantasy and ‘‘a wholehearted embrace of, and a commentary on the high-fantasy high-angst high-romance end of the fantasy genre… It’s very entertaining.’’ [Liz Bourke]
Read more
Anderson, Kevin J.: Science Fiction Stories, Volume 2 (WordFire Press 9781680577259, $18.99, 350pp, formats: trade paperback, hardcover, 10/22/2024)
Second volume in Anderson’s short story series, including science fiction stories about asteroid miners, time travelers, body swappers, giant robots, space cadets, futuristic prisons, and more.
Carroll, Jordan S.: Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right (University of Minnesota Press 9781517917081, $10, 120pp, formats: trade paperback, ebook, 10/22/2024)
Critical non-fiction about ...Read More
Read more
A fantasy novel by Chloe C. Peñaranda, The Stars Are Dying (Bramble), first of a trilogy, debuts on three lists, ranking #2 on the fiction hardcover lists of New York Times and Publishers Weekly.
This is a perilous time for independent media. As a small independent nonprofit with no endowment, we rely on the support and generosity of readers to support our work.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today?
Every contribution helps pay our writers, editors, and artists, sustain the magazine and website, and allows us to continue to share our content without a paywall. Even a small contribution goes a long way toward keeping Locus going and you in the know about the SFF world. Thank you for your help!
