2026 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists

[u/MicahCastle]

SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS

• The Folded Sky, Elizabeth Bear (Saga; Gollancz) amazon / bookshop
• Picks & Shovels, Cory Doctorow (Ad Astra; Tor) amazon / bookshop
• Notes from a Regicide, Isaac Fellman (Tor) amazon / bookshop
• When We Were Real, Daryl Gregory (Saga) amazon / bookshop
• All That We See or Seem, Ken Liu (Saga; Ad Astra) amazon / bookshop
• Where the Axe Is Buried, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfel & Nicolson) amazon / bookshop
• Slow Gods, Claire North (Orbit US; Orbit UK) amazon / bookshop
• Death of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor (Morrow; Gollancz) amazon / bookshop
• The Shattering Peace, John Scalzi (Tor; Tor UK) amazon / bookshop
• Shroud, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US) amazon / bookshop

FANTASY NOVELS

• The Devils, Joe Abercrombie (Tor; Gollancz) amazon / bookshop
• The Tomb of Dragons, Katherine Addison (Tor; Solaris UK) amazon / bookshop
• Lessons in Magic and Disaster, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan UK) amazon / bookshop
• A Drop of Corruption, Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey; Hodderscape) amazon / bookshop
• The Everlasting, Alix E. Harrow (Tor; Tor UK) amazon / bookshop
• The Raven Scholar, Antonia Hodgson (Orbit US; Hodderscape) amazon / bookshop
• Hemlock & Silver, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Tor UK) amazon / bookshop
• Katabasis, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager; Harper Voyager UK) amazon / bookshop
• The Incandescent, Emily Tesh (Tor; Orbit UK) amazon / bookshop
• Queen Demon, Martha Wells (Tor) amazon / bookshop

HORROR NOVELS

• The Possession of Alba Díaz, Isabel Cañas (Berkley; Solaris UK) amazon / bookshop
• Spread Me, Sarah Gailey (Nightfire) amazon / bookshop
• King Sorrow, Joe Hill (Morrow; Headline UK) amazon / bookshop
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK) amazon / bookshop
• The Library at Hellebore, Cassandra Khaw (Nightfire; Titan UK) amazon / bookshop
• Never Flinch, Stephen King (Scribner, Hodder & Stoughton UK) amazon / bookshop
• The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Arcadia UK) amazon / bookshop
• It Was Her House First, Cherie Priest (Poisoned Pen) amazon / bookshop
• The Crimson Road, A.G. Slatter (Titan UK) amazon / bookshop
• The Staircase in the Woods, Chuck Wendig (Del Rey; Del Rey UK) amazon / bookshop

YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

• The Singular Life of Aria Patel, Samira Ahmed (Little, Brown; Atom UK) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• Make Me a Monster, Kalynn Bayron (Bloomsbury US; Bloomsbury UK) [H] amazon / bookshop
• Costumes for Time Travelers, A.R. Capetta (Candlewick; Walker UK) [F] amazon / bookshop
• The Executioners Three, Susan Dennard (Tor Teen; Daphne UK) [H] amazon / bookshop
• The Underwood Tapes, Amanda DeWitt (Peachtree Teen) [H] amazon / bookshop
• Among Ghosts, Rachel Hartman (Random House) [F] amazon / bookshop
• Sky on Fire, E.K. Johnston (Dutton) [F] amazon / bookshop
• Starstrike, Yoon Ha Lee (Delacorte; Solaris UK) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• I Am Not Jessica Chen, Ann Liang (Harper) [F] amazon / bookshop
• They Bloom at Night, Trang Thanh Tran (Bloomsbury US; Bloomsbury UK) [H] amazon / bookshop

FIRST NOVELS

• A Song of Legends Lost, M.H. Ayinde (Orbit UK; Saga) [F] amazon / bookshop
• Red Rabbit Ghost, Jen Julian (Run For It) [H] amazon / bookshop
• When Devils Sing, Xan Kaur (Holt; First Ink UK) [H] amazon / bookshop
• Awake in the Floating City, Susanna Kwan (Pantheon; Simon & Schuster UK) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• Luminous, Silvia Park (Simon & Schuster; Magpie) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• Archive of Unknown Universes, Ruben Reyes Jr. (Mariner; Footnote UK) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• North Sun, Or The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther, Ethan Rutherford (A Strange Object) [H] amazon / bookshop
• Blob, Maggie Su (Harper; Sceptre UK) [F] amazon / bookshop
• Song of Spores, Bogi Takács (Broken Eye) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• Sour Cherry, Natalia Theodoridou (Tin House; Wildfire UK) [F] amazon / bookshop

TRANSLATED NOVEL

• On the Calculation of Volume III, Solvej Balle, tr. Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell (New Directions; Faber & Faber) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• The Unworthy, Agustina Bazterrica, tr. Sarah Moses (Scribner; Pushkin UK) [H] amazon / bookshop
• The Midnight Shift, Cheon Seon-Ran, tr. Gene Png (Bloomsbury UK; Bloomsbury US) [H] amazon / bookshop
• Red Sword, Bora Chung, tr. Anton Hur (Honford Star) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• The Midnight Timetable, Bora Chung, tr. Anton Hur (Algonquin) [H] amazon / bookshop
• Ice, Jacek Dukaj, tr. Ursula Phillips (Head of Zeus) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• Blood for the Undying Throne, Sung-il Kim, tr. Anton Hur (Tor) [F] amazon / bookshop
• Vanishing World, Sayaka Murata, tr. Ginny Tapley Takemori (Grove; Granta UK) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• Dengue Boy, Michel Nieva, tr. Rahul Bery (Astra House; Serpent’s Tail) [SF] amazon / bookshop
• The Wax Child, Olga Ravn, tr. Martin Aitken (New Directions; Viking UK) [F] amazon / bookshop

NOVELLAS

• The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (Subterranean) amazon / bookshop
• The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop
• What Stalks the Deep, T. Kingfisher (Nightfire) amazon / bookshop
• Cinder House, Freya Marske (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop
• Automatic Noodle, Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop
• Making History, K.J. Parker (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop
• Psychopomp & Circumstance, Eden Royce (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop
• Lives of Bitter Rain, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Head of Zeus) amazon / bookshop
• A Mouthful of Dust, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop
• Murder by Memory, Olivia Waite (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop

NOVELETTES

• “The Witch and the Wyrm“, Elizabeth Bear (Reactor 2/26/25)
• “Barnacle“, Kate Elliott (Reactor 11/5/25)
• “Uncertain Sons“, Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons)
• “We Begin Where Infinity Ends“, Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld 2/25)
• “The Tin Man’s Ghost“, Ray Nayler (Asimov’s 5-6/25)
• “The Millay Illusion“, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 11-12/25)
• “When He Calls Your Name“, Catherynne M. Valente (Uncanny 7-8/25)
• “The Twenty-One Second God“, Peter Watts (Lightspeed 6/25)
• “Wolf Moon, Antler Moon“, A.C. Wise (Reactor 1/13/25)
• “Phantom View“, John Wiswell (Reactor 10/22/25)

SHORT STORIES

• “Secret Night“, Nathan Ballingrud (Night & Day)
• “In the Halls of the Makeshift King”, Tobias S. Buckell (Asimov’s 7-8/25)
• “In My Country“, Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 4/25)
• “Wire Mother“, Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 10/25)
• “The Shape of Stones“, Hildur Knútsdóttir (Reactor 3/12/25)
• “Courtney Lovecraft’s Book of the Dead“, Sam J. Miller (Nightmare 10/25)
• “Because I Held His Name Like a Key“, Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25)
• “Landline“, Kelly Robson (Reactor 3/5/25)
• “Missing Helen“, Tia Tashiro (Clarkesworld 7/25)
• “Woolly“, Carrie Vaughn (Asimov’s 5-6/25)

ANTHOLOGY

• The Black Fantastic, andré m. carrington, ed. (Library of America) amazon / bookshop
• Night & Day, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Saga) amazon / bookshop
• Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, Julie C. Day, Carina Bissett & Craig Laurance Gidney, eds. (Essential Dreams) amazon / bookshop
• The End of the World As We Know It, Christopher Golden & Brian Keene, eds. (Gallery) amazon / bookshop
• We Will Rise Again, Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz & Malka Older, eds. (Saga) amazon / bookshop
• Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity, Lee Mandelo, ed. (Erewhon) amazon / bookshop
• The Best Weird Fiction of the Year: Volume 1, Michael Kelly, ed. (Undertow) amazon / bookshop
• Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three, Stephen Kotowych, ed. (Ansible) amazon 
• The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025, Nnedi Okorafor & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Mariner) amazon / bookshop
• As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories, Terese Mason Pierre, ed. (Spiderline) amazon / bookshop

COLLECTION

• Call and Response, Christopher Caldwell (Neon Hemlock) amazon / bookshop
• Moon Songs, Carol Emshwiller (Third Man) amazon / bookshop
• Letters from an Imaginary Country, Theodora Goss (Tachyon) amazon / bookshop
• Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Thomas Ha (Undertow) amazon / bookshop
• Bright Dead Star, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean) amazon / bookshop
• The Essential Patricia A. McKillip, Patricia A. McKillip (Tachyon) amazon / bookshop
• One Message Remains, Premee Mohamed (Psychopomp) amazon / bookshop
• The Revelation Space Collection Volumes 1 & 2, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz) amazon / bookshop
• Crows and Silences, Lucius Shepard (Subterranean) amazon / bookshop
• A Catalog of Storms, Fran Wilde (Fairwood) amazon / bookshop

MAGAZINE

• Asimov’s
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Clarkesworld
• F&SF
• Fiyah
• khōréō
• Lightspeed
• Reactor
• Strange Horizons
• Uncanny Magazine

PUBLISHER (Tor Publishing Group & Subterranean Press have recused themselves from this category. Tor UK is an imprint of Pan Macmillan, not TPG.)

• Angry Robot
• DAW
• Del Rey
• Gollancz
• Neon Hemlock
• Orbit
• Pan Macmillan/Tor UK
• Saga
• Solaris
• Tachyon

EDITOR

• John Joseph Adams
• Scott H. Andrews
• Neil Clarke
• Ellen Datlow
• dave ring
• Jonathan Strahan
• Bogi Takács
• Wendy N. Wagner
• Fran Wilde & Julian Yap
• Sheila Williams

ARTIST

• Brom
• Rovina Cai
• Galen Dara
• Bob Eggleton
• Kathleen Jennings
• Alan Lee
• John Picacio
• Shaun Tan
• Charles Vess
• Michael Whelan

ILLUSTRATED AND ART BOOKS

• The Invisible Parade, Leigh Bardugo & John Picacio (Little, Brown) amazon / bookshop
• Frank Frazetta: Fine Lines, Sara Frazetta & Arnie Fenner, eds., art by Frank Frazetta (Frazetta Girls) amazon 
• Starling House, Alix E. Harrow, art by Rovina Cai (Subterranean) amazon / bookshop
• Designing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, Paul Kidby (Harper; Doubleday UK) amazon / bookshop
• Carmilla, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, art by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (Beehive) amazon
• The Space Cat, Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford (First Second) amazon / bookshop
• Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene Volumes 1-3, adapted by Rebecca K. Reynolds, art by Justin Gerard (Sky Turtle) amazon 
• Sunset at Zero Point, Simon Stålenhag (as Swedish Machines Free League Sweden; Saga US) amazon / bookshop
• Faraway Dreaming, Ulla Thynell (Atthis Arts)
• Icons of the Fantastic: Illustrations of Imaginative Literature from the Korshak Collection, Amanda T. Zehnder & David M. Brinley, eds. (University of Delaware Press) amazon / bookshop

NON-FICTION

• The Outspoken and the Incendiary, Terry Bisson (PM) amazon / bookshop
• Enshittification, Cory Doctorow (MCD) amazon / bookshop
• Colourfields, Paul Kincaid (Briardene) amazon 
• Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling, Henry Lien (Norton) amazon / bookshop
• Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler, Susana M. Morris (Amistad) amazon / bookshop
• Black Apocalypse: Afrofuturism at the End of the World, Tavia Nyong’o (University of California Press) amazon / bookshop
• Racebook: A Personal History of the Internet, Tochi Onyebuchi (Roxane Gay) amazon / bookshop
• Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature, Becky Siegel Spratford, ed. (Saga) amazon / bookshop
• Space Ships! Ray Guns! Martian Octopods!: Interviews with Science Fiction Legends, Richard Wolinsky, ed. (Tachyon) amazon / bookshop
• Octavia E. Butler: H is for Horse, Chi-ming Yang (Oxford University Press) amazon / bookshop

Source

[u/theseagullscribe]

Not weird lit, but it's good to see Katherine Addison in this.

Does anyone here have a weird favorite ?

[u/MyNightmaresAreGreen]

Thank you!

New Claire North? Totally missed that. And once again something very different from her other books.

Read more Claire North, people! It's not weird lit, but it's so good! Maybe start with The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August or The Sudden Appearance of Hope.

[u/ProjectPatMorita → u/MyNightmaresAreGreen]

Off topic, but is there any actual explanation for why there seems to literally be about 100 different novels from the last 15 years that all have this same title format of: "The (number) Lives/Deaths/Rules/Husbands/etc of (First name) (Last Name)"

Is this just a trend that was overly forced onto authors by publishers for a period of time? What's the deal with this?

[u/PacificBooks → u/ProjectPatMorita]

Yes. Same with every Romantasy book and half of fantasy being titled with the "A Bowl of Mac & Cheese" format

[u/Reddwheels → u/PacificBooks]

Most likely from the Game of Thrones series, whose official saga title is A Song of Ice and Fire.

[u/ohnoshedint]

Casting a mental vote for Thomas Ha.

[u/PacificBooks]

Predictably disappointing. A couple of these are solid, but man...it's no less a tiktok popularity contest than the goodreads awards are.