

This recommended reading list, published in Locus Magazine’s February 2013 issue, is a consensus by Locus editors and reviewers — Liza Groen Trombi, Gary K. Wolfe, Faren Miller, Jonathan Strahan, Russell Letson, Graham Sleight, Adrienne Martini, Carolyn Cushman, Tim Pratt, Karen Burnham, Gardner Dozois, Rich Horton, Paul Di Filippo, and others — with inputs from outside reviewers, other professionals, other lists, etc. Short fiction selections are based on material from Jonathan Strahan, Lois Tilton, Rich Horton, Gardner Dozois, David G. Hartwell, Ellen Datlow, Alisa Krasnostein, Paula Guran, and others.

Essays by many of these contributors, highlighting their particular favorite books and stories, are published in the February issue.

Novels – Science Fiction

Novels – Fantasy

Young Adult Books





First Novels





Collections





Anthologies – Original





Anthologies – Reprint/Bests





Non-Fiction





Art Books





Novellas

‘‘The Moon Belongs to Everyone’’, Michael Alexander & K.C. Ball ( Analog 12/12 )

12/12 ‘‘Hand of Glory’’, Laird Barron ( The Book of Cthulhu II )

) ‘‘In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns’’, Elizabeth Bear ( Asimov’s 1/12)

1/12) ‘‘Twenty Lights to ‘The Land of Snow’’’, Michael Bishop ( Going Interstellar )

) ‘‘Maze of Shadows’’, Fred Chappell ( F&SF 5-6/12 )

5-6/12 ‘‘Gods of Risk’’, James S.A. Corey (Orbit Short Fiction)

On a Red Station, Drifting , Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)

, Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press) ‘‘The Last Judgment’’, James Patrick Kelly ( Asimov’s 4-5/12 )

4-5/12 After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall , Nancy Kress (Tachyon)

, Nancy Kress (Tachyon) ‘‘The Stars Do Not Lie’’, Jay Lake ( Asimov’s 10-11/12 )

10-11/12 ‘‘The Weight of History, the Lightness of the Future’’, Jay Lake ( Subterranean Spring ’12 )

Spring ’12 ‘‘Let Maps to Others’’, K.J. Parker ( Subterranean, Summer ’12)

Summer ’12) ‘‘Sudden, Broken, and Unexpected’’, Steven Popkes ( Asimov’s 12/12 )

12/12 ‘‘Murder Born’’, Robert Reed ( Asimov’s 2/12 )

2/12 ‘‘Eater-of-Bone’’, Robert Reed ( Eater-of-Bone )

) ‘‘Katabasis’’, Robert Reed ( F&SF 11-12/12 )

11-12/12 ‘‘The Mongolian Book of the Dead’’, Alan Smale ( Asimov’s 10-11/12 )

10-11/12 ‘‘Sky’’, Kaaron Warren ( Through Splintered Walls )

) The Boolean Gate, Walter Jon Williams (Subterranean)





Novelettes

‘‘Holmes Sherlock: A Hwarhath Mystery’’, Eleanor Arnason ( Eclipse Online 11/12/12 )

Mystery’’, Eleanor Arnason ( 11/12/12 ‘‘Mating Habits of the Late Cretaceous’’, Dale Bailey ( Asimov’s 9/12 )

9/12 ‘‘The Witch of Duva: A Ravkan Folk Tale’’, Leigh Bardugo (Tor.com 6/6/12 )

‘‘Frontier Death Song’’, Laird Barron ( Nightmare 10/12)

10/12) ‘‘Invisible Men’’, Christopher Barzak ( Eclipse Online 12/10/12)

12/10/12) ‘‘Faster Gun’’, Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com 8/12)

‘‘No Decent Patrimony’’, Elizabeth Bear ( Rip-Off! )

) ‘‘The Telling’’, Gregory Norman Bossert ( Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/29/12)

11/29/12) ‘‘Beasts’’, Elizabeth Bourne ( Interzone 5-6/12 )

5-6/12 ‘‘The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi’’, Pat Cadigan ( Edge of Infinity )

) ‘‘The Ghosts of Christmas’’, Paul Cornell (Tor.com 12/19/12)

‘‘Weep for Day’’, Indrapramit Das ( Asimov’s 8/12 )

8/12 ‘‘Troll Blood’’, Peter Dickinson ( F&SF 9-10/12 )

9-10/12 ‘‘Close Encounters’’, Andy Duncan ( The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories )

) ‘‘Black Box’’, Jennifer Egan ( The New Yorker 6/4/12 )

6/4/12 ‘‘The Keats Variation’’, K. M. Ferebee ( Strange Horizons 6/4/12-6/11/12 )

6/4/12-6/11/12 ‘‘The Journeyman: On the Short-Grass Prairie’’, Michael F. Flynn ( Analog 10/12 )

10/12 ‘‘The Wish Head’’, Jeffrey Ford ( Crackpot Palace )

) ‘‘The Castle that Jack Built’’, Emily Gilman ( Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/26/12 )

1/26/12 ‘‘The Grinnell Method’’, Molly Gloss ( Strange Horizons 9/3/12-9/10/12 )

9/3/12-9/10/12 The Thorn and the Blossom: A Two-Sided Love Story , Theodora Goss (Quirk)

, Theodora Goss (Quirk) ‘‘Siege Perilous’’, Daniel Hatch ( Analog 11/12 )

11/12 ‘‘Game’’, Maria Dahvana Headley ( Subterranean Fall ’12)

Fall ’12) ‘‘Scry’’, Anne Ivy ( Beneath Ceaseless Skies 3/8/12)

3/8/12) ‘‘The Pest House’’, Carole Johnstone ( Black Static 4-5/12)

4-5/12) ‘‘After the People Lights Have Gone Off’’, Stephen Graham Jones ( Phantasmagorium 11/12)

11/12) ‘‘Declaration’’, James Patrick Kelly ( Rip-Off! )

) ‘‘Fake Plastic Trees’’, Caitlín R. Kiernan ( After )

) ‘‘The Color Least Used by Nature’’, Ted Kosmatka ( F&SF 1-2/12 )

1-2/12 ‘‘The Lady Astronaut of Mars’’, Mary Robinette Kowal ( Rip-Off! )

) ‘‘Liberty’s Daughter’’, Naomi Kritzer ( F&SF 5-6/12)

5-6/12) ‘‘Significant Dust’’, Margo Lanagan ( Cracklescape )

) ‘‘Unsilenced’’, Karalynn Lee ( Beneath Ceaseless Skies 10/12)

10/12) ‘‘The Battle of Candle Arc’’, Yoon Ha Lee ( Clarkesworld 10/12)

10/12) ‘‘Old Paint’’, Megan Lindholm ( Asimov’s 7/12 )

7/12 ‘‘Arbeitskraft’’, Nick Mamatas ( The Mammoth Book of Steampunk )

) ‘‘Bruce Springsteen’’, Paul McAuley ( Asimov’s 1/12 )

1/12 ‘‘Swift, Brutal Retaliation’’, Meghan McCarron (Tor.com, 1/4/12 )

‘‘Ninety Thousand Horses’’, Sean McMullen ( Analog 1-2/12 )

1-2/12 ‘‘Electrica’’, Sean McMullen ( F&SF 3-4/12 )

3-4/12 ‘‘The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward ’’’, Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear ( Drabblecast 8/31-9/6/12)

’’’, Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear ( 8/31-9/6/12) ‘‘Nahiku West’’, Linda Nagata ( Analog 10/12 )

10/12 ‘‘One Little Room An Everywhere’’, K.J. Parker ( Eclipse Online 10/22/12)

10/22/12) ‘‘In the Palace of the Jade Lion’’, Richard Parks ( Beneath Ceaseless Skies 7/26/12 )

7/26/12 ‘‘Jack Shade in the Forest of Souls’’, Rachel Pollack ( F&SF 7-8/12 )

7-8/12 Genie , Richard Powers (Byliner)

, Richard Powers (Byliner) ‘‘What Did Tessimond Tell You?’’, Adam Roberts ( Solaris Rising 1.5 )

) ‘‘The Contrary Gardener’’, Christopher Rowe ( Eclipse Online 10/8/12 )

10/8/12 ‘‘Heaven’s Touch’’, Jason Sanford ( Asimov’s 8/12 )

8/12 ‘‘The Bernoulli War’’, Gord Sellar ( Asimov’s 8/12 )

8/12 ‘‘Sinking Among Lilies’’, Cory Skerry ( Beneath Ceaseless Skies 4/5/12 )

4/5/12 ‘‘Goddess of Mercy’’, Bruce Sterling ( The Future Is Japanese )

( ) ‘‘The Peak of Eternal Light’’, Bruce Sterling ( Edge of Infinity )

) ‘‘The Sea of Trees’’, Rachel Swirsky ( The Future Is Japanese )

) ‘‘Astrophilia’’, Carrie Vaughn ( Clarkesworld 7/12 )

7/12 ‘‘Fireborn’’, Robert Charles Wilson (Rip-Off!)





Short Stories

‘‘The Woman Who Fooled Death Five Times’’, Eleanor Arnason ( F&SF 7-8/12 )

7-8/12 ‘‘Things Greater than Love’’, Kate Bachus ( Strange Horizons 3/19/12 )

3/19/12 ‘‘Great-Grandmother in the Cellar’’, Peter S. Beagle ( Under My Hat )

‘‘The Deeps of the Sky’’, Elizabeth Bear ( Edge of Infinity )

) ‘‘Bird Walks in New England’’, Michael Blumlein ( Asimov’s 7/12 )

7/12 ‘‘Twenty-Two and You’’, Michael Blumlein ( F&SF 3-4/12 )

3-4/12 ‘‘How We Escaped Our Certain Fate’’, Dan Chaon ( 21st Century Dead )

) ‘‘Scattered Along the River of Heaven’’, Aliette de Bodard ( Clarkesworld 1/12 )

1/12 ‘‘Immersion’’, Aliette de Bodard ( Clarkesworld 6/12 )

6/12 ‘‘The Ballad of the Wayfaring Stranger and the Dead Man’s Whore’’, Sean Demory (Self published 4/12)

‘‘Nightside Eye’’, Terry Dowling ( Cemetery Dance 4/12 )

4/12 ) ‘‘Nanny Grey’’, Gemma Files ( Magic )

) ‘‘Blood Drive’’, Jeffrey Ford ( After )

) ‘‘A Natural History of Autumn’’, Jeffrey Ford ( F&SF 7-8/12)

7-8/12) ‘‘A Love Supreme’’, Kathleen Ann Goonan ( Discover 10/12)

10/12) ‘‘England Under the White Witch’’, Theodora Goss ( Clarkesworld 10/12)

10/12) ‘‘In Autotelia’’, M. John Harrison ( Arc 1.1 )

) ‘‘Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream’’, Maria Dahvana Headley ( Lightspeed 7/12 )

7/12 ‘‘Beside Calais’’, Samantha Henderson ( Strange Horizons 5/14/12 )

5/14/12 ‘‘The Easthound’’, Nalo Hopkinson ( After )

) ‘‘The Least of the Deathly Arts’’, Kat Howard ( Subterranean Winter ’12)

Winter ’12) ‘‘Over the Waves’’, Louise Hughes ( Strange Horizons 8/13/12)

8/13/12) ‘‘Valedictorian’’, N.K. Jemisin ( After )

) ‘‘A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight’’, Xia Jia (Ken Liu, translator) ( Clarkesworld 2/12 )

2/12 ‘‘The Burst’’, C. W. Johnson ( Asimov’s 1/12 )

1/12 ‘‘Mantis Wives’’, Kij Johnson ( Clarkesworld 8/12 )

8/12 ‘‘Bricks, Sticks, Straw’’, Gwyneth Jones ( Edge of Infinity )

) ‘‘Goggles (c. 1910)’’, Caitlín R. Kiernan ( Steampunk III: Steampunk Revolution )

) ‘‘The Education of a Witch’’ , Ellen Klages ( Under My Hat )

Ellen Klages ( ‘‘Scrap Dragon’’, Naomi Kritzer ( F&SF 1-2/12 )

1-2/12 ‘‘Elementals’’, Ursula K. Le Guin ( Tin House Fall ’12 )

Fall ’12 ‘‘Uncle Flower’s Homecoming Waltz’’, Marissa K. Lingen (Tor.com 2/12)

‘‘Two Houses’’, Kelly Link ( Shadow Show )

) ‘‘Mono No Aware’’, Ken Liu ( The Future Is Japanese )

) ‘‘The Man’’, Paul McAuley ( Arc 1.2 )

) ‘‘Antarctica Starts Here’’, Paul McAuley ( Asimov’s 10-11/12 )

10-11/12 ‘‘Macy Minnot’s Last Christmas on Dione, Ring Racing, Fiddler’s Green, the Potter’s Garden’’, Paul McAuley ( Edge of Infinity )

) ‘‘Chitai Heiki Koronbin’’, David Moles ( The Future Is Japanese )

) ‘‘Blue Lace Agate’’, Sarah Monette ( Lightspeed 1/12 )

1/12 ‘‘The Magician’s Apprentice’’, Tamsyn Muir ( Weird Tales Winter ’12 )

Winter ’12 ‘‘About Fairies’’, Pat Murphy (Tor.com 5/12)

‘‘Nightside on Callisto’’, Linda Nagata ( Lightspeed 5/12 )

5/12 ‘‘Breathe’’, Steven Popkes ( F&SF 11-12/12 )

11-12/12 ‘‘Tyche and the Ants’’, Hannu Rajaniemi ( Edge of Infinity )

) ‘‘Prayer’’, Robert Reed ( Clarkesworld 5/12)

5/12) ‘‘The Water Thief’’, Alastair Reynolds ( Arc 1.1 )

) ‘‘Patagonia’’, Joel Richards ( Asimov’s 3/12 )

3/12 ‘‘Burning Castles’’, M. Rickert ( Under My Hat )

‘‘The Ballad of Boomtown’’, Priya Sharma ( Black Static 4-5/12)

4-5/12) ‘‘Dumb Lucy’’, Robert Shearman ( Magic )

) ‘‘Joke in Four Panels’’ AKA ‘‘Madalyn Morgan’’, Robert Shearman (www.justsosospecial.com)

‘‘Ruminations in an Alien Tongue’’, Vandana Singh ( Lightspeed 4/12 )

4/12 ‘‘Twember’’, Steve Rasnic Tem ( Interzone 3-4/12)

3-4/12) ‘‘Rebecka’’, Karin Tidbeck ( Jagannath )

) ‘‘Reindeer Mountain’’, Karin Tidbeck ( Jagannath )

) ‘‘The Memcordist’’, Lavie Tidhar ( Eclipse Online 12/24/12)

12/24/12) ‘‘A Brief History of the Great Pubs of London’’, Lavie Tidhar ( Pandemonium )

) ‘‘Under the Eaves’’, Lavie Tidhar ( Robots: The Recent A.I. )

) ‘‘(To See the Other) Whole Against the Sky’’, E Catherine Tobler ( Clarkesworld 11/12)

11/12) ‘‘One Breath, One Stroke’’, Catherynne M. Valente ( The Future Is Japanese )

) ‘‘Coming of Age on Barsoom’’, Catherynne M. Valente ( Under the Moons of Mars )

) ‘‘A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones’’, Genevieve Valentine ( Clarkesworld 10/12)

10/12) ‘‘The Philosophy of Ships’’, Caroline M. Yoachim (Interzone 11-12/12)



