Welcome to the Locus Annual Recommended Reading List!



The list is published in Locus Magazine’s February 2016 issue, and is a consensus by Locus editors and reviewers — Liza Groen Trombi, Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, Faren Miller, Russell Letson, Graham Sleight, Adrienne Martini, Carolyn Cushman, Tim Pratt, Karen Burnham, Gardner Dozois, Rich Horton, Cheryl Morgan, Paul Kincaid, Ysabeau Wilce, Liz Bourke, Colleen Mondor, James Bradley, and others — with input from outside reviewers, other professional critics, other lists, etc.

Short fiction selections are based on material from Laird Barron, K. Tempest Bradford, Karen Burnham, Neil Clarke, Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois, Paula Guran, Rich Horton, Brit Mandelo, Faren Miller, Nisi Shawl, Jonathan Strahan, Lois Tilton, and Gary K. Wolfe.

Essays by many of these contributors, highlighting and discussing their particular favorite books and stories, are also published in the February issue, along with the Magazine Summary and Book Summary for 2015. Enjoy!

NOVELS – SCIENCE FICTION

The Water Knife , Paolo Bacigalupi (Borzoi; Orbit UK)

Clade , James Bradley (Penguin Australia)

The Darkside War , Zachary Brown (Saga)

Corsair , James L. Cambias (Tor)

Tracker , C.J. Cherryh (DAW)

Nemesis Games , James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Dark Orbit , Carolyn Ives Gilman (Tor)

Weighing Shadows , Lisa Goldstein (Night Shade)

Europe at Midnight , Dave Hutchinson (Solaris)

Ancillary Mercy , Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

The Dark Forest , Cixin Liu (Tor)

Luna: New Moon , Ian McDonald (Tor; Gollancz)

Galapagos Regained , James Morrow (St. Martin’s)

Going Dark , Linda Nagata (Saga)

Planetfall , Emma Newman (Roc)

The Book of Phoenix , Nnedi Okorafor (DAW; Hodder & Stoughton)

Where , Kit Reed (Tor)

Poseidon’s Wake , Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Ace 2016)

The Thing Itself , Adam Roberts (Gollancz)

Aurora , Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Glorious Angels , Justina Robson (Gollancz)

Regeneration , Stephanie Saulter (Quercus; Jo Fletcher 2016)

The End of All Things , John Scalzi (Tor)

Seveneves , Neal Stephenson (Morrow)

Chasing the Phoenix , Michael Swanwick (Tor)

Radiance , Catherynne M. Valente (Tor)

Persona , Genevieve Valentine (Saga)

A Borrowed Man , Gene Wolfe (Tor)

NOVELS – FANTASY

Foxglove Summer , Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz 2014; DAW)

A God in Ruins , Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown; Doubleday UK)

Karen Memory , Elizabeth Bear (Tor)

Nightwise , R.S. Belcher (Tor)

Beneath London , James P. Blaylock (Titan)

The House of Shattered Wings, Aliette de Bodard (Roc; Gollancz)

Prodigies , Angelica Gorodischer (Small Beer)

Wylding Hall , Elizabeth Hand (PS; Open Road)

Empire Ascendant , Kameron Hurley (Angry Robot US; Angry Robot UK)

The Buried Giant , Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf)

The Liminal War, Ayize Jama-Everett (Small Beer)

The Fifth Season , N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Killing Pretty , Richard Kadrey (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)

Finders Keepers , Stephen King (Scribner)

Archivist Wasp, Nicole Kornher-Stace (Big Mouth House)

Slade House , David Mitchell (Random House; Sceptre UK)

Uprooted , Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

Savages , K.J. Parker (Subterranean)

The Annihilation Score , Charles Stross (Ace)

Pacific Fire , Greg Van Eekhout (Tor)

The Philosopher Kings , Jo Walton (Tor)

YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

Half a War , Joe Abercrombie (Del Rey; Harper Voyager UK)

Half the World , Joe Abercrombie (Del Rey)

Six of Crows , Leigh Bardugo (Holt; Indigo UK)

Wonders of the Invisible World , Christopher Barzak (Knopf)

The Darkest Part of the Forest , Holly Black (Little, Brown)

Lair of Dreams , Libba Bray (Little, Brown; Atom UK)

Harrison Squared , Daryl Gregory (Tor)

The Lie Tree , Francis Hardinge (Macmillan Children’s; Amulet 2016)

Magonia , Maria Dahvana Headley (Harper)

Shadowshaper , Daniel José Older (Levine)

The Shepherd’s Crown , Terry Pratchett (Harper; Doubleday UK)

The Deep Woods , Tim Pratt (PS)

Railhead , Phillip Reeve (Oxford University Press; Switch 2016)

Carry On , Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Bone Gap , Laura Ruby (Balzer + Bray)

Nimona , Noelle Stevenson (HarperTeen)

The Walls Around Us, Nova Ren Suma (Algonquin Young Readers)

Zeroes , Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan & Deborah Biancotti (Simon Pulse)

Hollowgirl , Sean Williams (Allen & Unwin as Fall; Balzer + Bray; Electric Monkey UK)

FIRST NOVELS

Sorcerer to the Crown , Zen Cho (Ace; Macmillan UK)

The Devourers , Indra Das (Penguin India; Del Rey 2016)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant , Seth Dickinson (Tor)

Flesh & Wires , Jackie Hatton (Aqueduct)

The Grace of Kings , Ken Liu (Saga)

The Weave , Nancy Jane Moore (Aqueduct)

Signal to Noise , Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Solaris)

Last Song Before Night , Ilana C. Myer (Tor)

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street , Natasha Pulley (Bloomsbury US; Bloomsbury UK)

Archangel , Marguerite Reed (Arche)

Vermilion , Molly Tanzer (Word Horde)

Abomination , Gary Whitta (Inkshares)

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps , Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com)

COLLECTIONS

Hidden Folk: Icelandic Fantasies , Eleanor Arnason (Many Worlds 2014)

The End of the End of Everything , Dale Bailey (Arche)

Xeelee: Endurance , Stephen Baxter (Gollancz)

The Best of Gregory Benford , Gregory Benford (Subterranean)

Bone Swans , C.S.E. Cooney (Mythic Delirium)

Ghost Summer: Stories , Tananarive Due (Prime)

The Very Best of Kate Elliott , Kate Elliott (Tachyon)

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances , Neil Gaiman (Morrow)

Falling in Love with Hominids , Nalo Hopkinson (Tachyon)

Beneath an Oil-Dark Sea: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan, Volume Two, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean)

The Best of Nancy Kress , Nancy Kress (Subterranean)

Leena Krohn: Collected Fiction , Leena Krohn (Cheeky Frawg)

Dancing Through the Fire , Tanith Lee (Fantastic Books)

Get in Trouble , Kelly Link (Random House)

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms , George R.R. Martin (Bantam; HarperCollins UK)

Three Moments of an Explosion , China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Del Rey 2016)

Reality by Other Means: The Best Short Fiction of James Morrow , James Morrow (Wesleyan)

To Hold the Bridge , Garth Nix (Harper)

Romance on Four Worlds: A Casanova Quartet , Tom Purdom (Fantastic Books)

Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction , Hannu Rajaniemi (Tachyon)

You Have Never Been Here , Mary Rickert (Small Beer)

Blue Yonders, Grateful Pies, and Other Fanciful Feasts , Ken Scholes (Fairwood)

I Am Crying All Inside and Other Stories: The Complete Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak: Volume One , Clifford D. Simak (Open Road)

The Finest Ass in the Universe , Anna Tambour (Ticonderoga)

Grand Crusades: The Early Jack Vance, Volume Five , Jack Vance (Subterranean)

ANTHOLOGIES

ORIGINAL

Operation Arcana , John Joseph Adams, ed. (Baen)

The Doll Collection , Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor)

Black Wings IV , S.T. Joshi, ed. (PS)

Old Venus , George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Bantam)

Hanzai Japan: Fantastical, Futuristic Stories of Crime From and About Japan , Nick Mamatas & Masumi Washington, eds. (Haikasoru)

She Walks in Shadows , Silvia Moreno-Garcia & Paula R. Stiles, eds. (Innsmouth Free Press)

Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany , Nisi Shawl & Bill Campbell, eds. (Rosarium)

Twelve Tomorrows , Bruce Sterling, ed. (MIT)

The Anatomy of Curiosity , Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton & Brenna Yovanoff (Carolrhoda Lab)

Meeting Infinity , Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft , Anonymous, ed. (Microsoft)

REPRINT/BESTS

Wilde Stories 2015: The Year’s Best Gay Speculative Fiction , Steve Berman, ed. (Lethe)

The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven , Ellen Datlow, ed. (Night Shade)

The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-second Annual Collection , Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Warrior Women , Paula Guran, ed. (Prime)

The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2015 Edition , Paula Guran, ed. (Prime)

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 , Joe Hill & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Mariner)

The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2015 , Rich Horton, ed. (Prime)

Best New Horror #26, Stephen Jones, ed. (PS)

The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Volume Two , Kathe Koja & Michael Kelly, eds. (Undertow)

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Nine , Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology, Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (PM)

NON-FICTION

The Culture Series of Iain M. Banks, Simone Caroti (McFarland)

Conversations with Michael Chabon, Brannon Costello (University Press of Mississippi)

Lois McMaster Bujold , Edward James (University of Illinois Press)

Letters to Tiptree , Alisa Krasnostein & Alexandra Pierce, eds. (Twelfth Planet)

Crosstalk , David Langford (Ansible Editions)

Frederik Pohl , Michael R. Page (University of Illinois Press)

Ray Bradbury , David Seed (University of Illinois Press)

ART BOOKS

Sketching from the Imagination: Sci-fi , Anonymous, ed. (3dtotal)

Bill Carman, Imagery from the Bird’s Home: The Art of Bill Carman (Flesk)

Rébecca Dautremer, Dautremer (et vice-versa), Taï-Marc Le Thanh (Tishina)

Julie Dillon, Julie Dillon’s Imagined Realms, Book 2: Earth and Sky (self-published)

Women of Wonder: Celebrating Women Creators of Fantastic Art , Cathy Fenner, ed. (Underwood)

Spectrum 22: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art , John Fleskes, ed. (Flesk)

Rebecca Guay, Evolution: The Art of Rebecca Guay 1993-2014 (self-published)

Edward Gorey: His Book Cover Art & Design , Steven Heller, ed. (Pomegranate)

Stephen Hickman, The Art of Stephen Hickman: Empyrean (Titan)

James Jean, Pareidolia: A Retrospective of Beloved and New Works by James Jean (PIE International)

Jeffrey Jones, Idyl – I’m Age (Donald M. Grant)

The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History , Stephen Jones, ed. (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books)

Petar Meseldžija, The Book of Giants (Flesk)

The Fantasy Illustration Library, Volume One: Lands & Legends , Malcolm R. Phifer & Michael C. Phifer (Michael Publishing)

Mark Schultz, Portfolio: The Complete Various Drawings (Flesk)

Dave Seeley, The Art of Dave Seeley (Insight Editions)

Infected by Art, Volume Three , Todd Spoor & Bill Cox, eds. (Hermes)

White Cloud Worlds, Volume Three: An Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artwork from Aotearoa New Zealand, Paul Tobin, ed. (Ignite)

NOVELLAS

‘‘The Strangers’’, Robert Aickman (The Strangers)

The Visible Filth, Nathan Ballingrud (This Is Horror)

Penric’s Demon, Lois McMaster Bujold (self-published)

Teaching the Dog to Read, Jonathan Carroll (Subterranean)

‘‘The Bone Swans of Amandale’’, C.S.E. Cooney (Bone Swans)

The Two Paupers, C.S.E. Cooney (Fairchild)

The Vital Abyss, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

‘‘The Citadel of Weeping Pearls’’, Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s 10-11/15)

‘‘The Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred’’, Greg Egan (Asimov’s 12/15)

‘‘The New Mother’’, Eugene Fischer (Asimov’s 4-5/15)

‘‘The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn’’, Usman T. Malik (Tor.com 4/22/15)

Binti, Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)

The Last Witness, K.J. Parker (Tor.com)

‘‘Johnny Rev’’, Rachel Pollack (F&SF 7-8/15)

Slow Bullets, Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)

‘‘Waters of Versailles’’, Kelly Robson (Tor.com 6/10/15)

‘‘Inhuman Garbage’’, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Asimov’s 3/15)

‘‘Gypsy’’, Carter Scholz (F&SF 11-12/15; Gypsy)

NOVELETTES

‘‘Ruins’’, Eleanor Arnason (Old Venus)

‘‘My Last Bringback’’, John Barnes (Meeting Infinity)

‘‘The Heart’s Filthy Lesson’’, Elizabeth Bear (Old Venus)

‘‘The Machine Starts’’, Greg Bear (Future Visions)

‘‘And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead’’, Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed 2/15)

‘‘Twelve and Tag’’, Gregory Norman Bossert (Asimov’s 3/15)

‘‘The Astrakhan, the Homburg, and the Red Red Coal’’, Chaz Brenchley (Lightspeed 6/15)

‘‘The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss’’, David Brin (Old Venus)

‘‘The Thyme Fiend’’, Jeffrey Ford (Tor.com 3/11/15)

‘‘Black Dog’’, Neil Gaiman (Trigger Warning)

‘‘Islands off the Coast of Capitola, 1978’’, David Herter (Tor.com 7/8/15)

‘‘One Possible Shape of Things to Come’’, Brian Hodge (Eulogies III)

‘‘Jamaica Ginger’’, Nalo Hopkinson & Nisi Shawl (Stories for Chip)

‘‘Folding Beijing’’, Hao Jingfang (Uncanny 1-2/15)

‘‘Machine Learning’’, Nancy Kress (Future Visions)

‘‘So Much Cooking’’, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 11/15)

‘‘Corpsemouth’’, John Langan (The Monstrous)

‘‘Another Word for World’’, Ann Leckie (Future Visions)

‘‘Acres of Perhaps’’, Will Ludwigsen (Asimov’s 7/15)

‘‘Frost on Glass’’, Ian R. MacLeod (Frost on Glass)

‘‘Planet of Fear’’, Paul McAuley (Old Venus)

‘‘Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan’’, Ian McDonald (Old Venus)

‘‘The Deepwater Bride’’, Tamsyn Muir (F&SF 7-8/15)

‘‘Our Lady of the Open Road’’, Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s 6/15)

‘‘Coming of the Light’’, Chen Qiufan (Clarkesworld 3/15)

‘‘Empty’’, Robert Reed (Asimov’s 12/15)

‘‘Fabulous Beasts’’, Priya Sharma (Tor.com 7/27/15)

‘‘Blood’’, Robert Shearman (Seize the Night)

‘‘Lab Dancer’’, Anna Tambour (The Finest Ass in the Universe)

‘‘The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild’’, Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 1/15, 3/15)

‘‘Bannerless’’, Carrie Vaughn (The End Has Come)

‘‘No Placeholder for You, My Love’’, Nick Wolven (Asimov’s 8/15)

SHORT STORIES

‘‘The Great Silence’’, Allora & Calzadilla & Ted Chiang (e-flux journal 56th Venice Biennale 5/8/2015)

‘‘Telling Stories to the Sky’’, Eleanor Arnason (F&SF 1-2/15)

‘‘La Héron’’, Charlotte Ashley (F&SF 3-4/15)

‘‘Soteriology and Stephen Greenwood’’, Julia August (Unlikely Stories 10/15)

‘‘City of Ash’’, Paolo Bacigalupi (Matter 7/27/15)

‘‘Snow’’, Dale Bailey (Nightmare 6/15)

‘‘1Up’’, Holly Black (Press Start to Play)

‘‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’’, Nadia Bulkin (Aickman’s Heirs)

‘‘Violet is the Color of Your Energy’’, Nadia Bulkin (She Walks in Shadows)

‘‘Unearthly Landscape by a Lady’’, Rebecca Campbell (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 10/15/15)

‘‘Hold-Time Violations’’, John Chu (Tor.com 10/7/15)

‘‘Rates of Change’’, James S.A. Corey (Meeting Infinity)

‘‘The Muses of Shuyedan-18’’, Indrapramit Das (Asimov’s 6/15)

‘‘In Blue Lily’s Wake’’, Aliette de Bodard (Meeting Infinity)

‘‘Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight’’, Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 1/15)

‘‘Please Undo This Hurt’’, Seth Dickinson (Tor.com 9/16/15)

‘‘Madeleine’’, Amal El-Mohtar (Lightspeed 6/15)

‘‘Hairwork’’, Gemma Files (She Walks in Shadows)

‘‘The Winter Wraith’’, Jeffrey Ford (F&SF 11-12/15)

‘‘A Shot of Salt Water’’, Lisa L. Hannett (The Dark 5/15)

‘‘Billy Tumult’’, Nick Harkaway (Stories for Chip)

‘‘Let Baser Things Devise’’, Berrien C. Henderson (Clarkesworld 4/15)

‘‘This Stagnant Breath of Change’’, Brian Hodge (Shadows over Main Street)

‘‘Drones’’, Simon Ings (Meeting Infinity)

‘‘The Apartment Dweller’s Bestiary’’, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld 1/15)

‘‘Emergence’’, Gwyneth Jones (Meeting Infinity)

‘‘Consolation’’, John Kessel (Twelve Tomorrows)

‘‘Dancy Vs. the Pterosaur’’, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Sirenia Digest 4/15)

‘‘Cat Pictures Please’’, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 1/15)

‘‘Underground Economy’’, John Langan (Aickman’s Heirs)

‘‘The Graphology of Hemorrhage’’, Yoon Ha Lee (Operation Arcana)

‘‘Variations on an Apple’’, Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com 10/14/15)

‘‘archival testimony fragments / minersong’’, Rose Lemberg (Uncanny 1-2/15)

‘‘The Game of Smash and Recovery’’, Kelly Link (Strange Horizons 10/17/15)

‘‘Descent’’, Carmen Maria Machado (Nightmare 2/15)

‘‘Wild Honey’’, Paul McAuley (Asimov’s 8/15)

‘‘The Falls: A Luna Story’’, Ian McDonald (Meeting Infinity)

‘‘Hello, Hello’’, Seanan McGuire (Future Visions)

Little Sisters, Vonda N. McIntyre (Book View Cafe)

‘‘My Boy Builds Coffins’’, Gary McMahon (Black Static 5-6/15)

‘‘The Dowager of Bees’’, China Miéville (Three Moments of an Explosion)

‘‘Listen the Birds, A Trailer’’, China Miéville (Conjunctions 64: Natural Causes)

‘‘Calved’’, Sam J. Miller (Asimov’s 9/15)

‘‘When Your Child Strays From God’’, Sam J. Miller (Clarkesworld 7/15)

‘‘Mutability’’, Ray Nayler (Asimov’s 6/15)

‘‘Of Blood and Brine’’, Megan E. O’Keefe (Shimmer 1/15)

‘‘No Rez’’, Jeff Noon (Interzone 9-10/15)

‘‘The Smog Society’’, Chen Qiufan (Lightspeed 8/15)

‘‘The Empress in Her Glory’’, Robert Reed (Clarkesworld 4/15)

‘‘A Murmuration’’, Alastair Reynolds (Interzone 3-4/15)

‘‘The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill’’, Kelly Robson (Clarkesworld 2/15)

‘‘Two-Year Man’’, Kelly Robson (Asimov’s 8/15)

‘‘The First Gate of Logic’’, Benjamin Rosenbaum (Stories for Chip)

‘‘Capitalism in the 22nd Century’’, Geoff Ryman (Stories for Chip)

‘‘Today I Am Paul’’, Martin L. Shoemaker (Clarkesworld 8/15)

‘‘Pictures from the Resurrection’’, Bruce Sterling (Meeting Infinity)

‘‘The Karen Joy Fowler Book Club’’, Nike Sulway (Lightspeed 10/15)

‘‘The Pyramid of Krakow’’, Michael Swanwick (Tor.com 9/30/15)

‘‘Between the Pilings’’, Steve Rasnic Tem (Innsmouth Nightmares)

‘‘Wilderness’’, Letitia Trent (Exigencies)

‘‘The Lily and the Horn’’, Catherynne M. Valente (Fantasy 12/15)

‘‘Pocosin’’, Ursula Vernon (Apex 1/15)

‘‘Mine Intercom’’, Kaaron Warren (The Review of Australian Fiction Volume 13: Issue 6)

‘‘Kaiju maximus®: ‘So Various, So Beautiful, So New’’’, Kai Ashante Wilson (Fantasy 12/15)

‘‘Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers’’, Alyssa Wong (Nightmare 10/15)

‘‘Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World’’, Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 9/15)

© 2016 Locus Publications. Vote in the Locus Awards at the Locus Poll & Survey, live now! To subscribe to Locus, visit our Subscription Page.

–Editor’s note: We corrected the list to move Jeffrey Ford’s “The Thyme Fiend” from Novella to Novelette and The Liminal War by Ayize Jama-Everett from Novella to Fantasy Novel, and removed Steles of the Sky by Elizabeth Bear because it appeared in 2014. 2/1/16