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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

This weekend, Locus Magazine announced the winners of the 2021 Locus Awards during the virtual Locus Awards Weekend. Author Connie Willis served as MC for the awards ceremony, which you can watch online here.

The list of finalists and winners is below. Congratulations to all!

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

  • WINNER: Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • Machine, Elizabeth Bear (Saga Press; Gollancz)
  • Attack Surface, Cory Doctorow (Tor Books; Ad Astra)
  • Unconquerable Sun, Kate Elliott (Tor Books)
  • Agency, William Gibson (Berkley; Viking UK)
  • The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books; Solaris)
  • War of the Maps, Paul McAuley (Gollancz)
  • The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US & UK)
  • The Last Emperox, John Scalzi (Tor Books; Tor UK)
  • Interlibrary Loan, Gene Wolfe (Tor Books)

FANTASY NOVEL

  • WINNER: The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US & UK)
  • The Trouble with Peace, Joe Abercrombie (Orbit US; Gollancz)
  • The Angel of the Crows, Katherine Addison (Tor Books; Solaris)
  • Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury US & UK)
  • The Once and Future Witches, Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit)
  • Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, Garth Nix (Katherine Tegen Books; Allen & Unwin; Gollancz)
  • The Midnight Bargain, C.L. Polk (Erewhon)
  • Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga Press; Solaris)
  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab (Tor Books; Titan UK)

HORROR NOVEL

  • WINNER: Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Jo Fletcher)
  • Devolution, Max Brooks (Del Rey; Century)
  • Plain Bad Heroines, Emily M. Danforth (William Morrow)
  • Beowulf, Maria Dahvana Headley (MCD x FSG Originals)
  • The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix (Quirk Books)
  • The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press; Titan)
  • The Deep, Alma Katsu (Putnam; Bantam Press UK)
  • The Hollow Places, T. Kingfisher (Saga Press)
  • The Hole, Hiroko Oyamada (New Directions)
  • Survivor Song, Paul Tremblay (William Morrow; Titan)

YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

  • WINNER: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
  • Over the Woodward Wall, A. Deborah Baker (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • The Silvered Serpents, Roshani Chokshi (Wednesday Books)
  • The Scapegracers, Hannah Abigail Clarke (Erewhon)
  • Legendborn, Tracy Deonn (Margaret K. McElderry Books; Simon & Schuster UK)
  • Deathless Divide, Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray; Titan)
  • A Song Below Water, Bethany C. Morrow (Tor Teen)
  • Shadowshaper Legacy, Daniel José Older (Scholastic)
  • Race to the Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Rick Riordan Presents)
  • A Peculiar Peril, Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus & Giroux Books for Young Readers)

FIRST NOVEL

  • WINNER: Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
  • The Vanished Birds, Simon Jimenez (Del Rey; Titan)
  • The Space Between Worlds, Micaiah Johnson (Del Rey; Hodder & Stoughton)
  • The Unspoken Name, A.K. Larkwood (Tor Books; Tor UK)
  • Beneath the Rising, Premee Mohamed (Solaris)
  • Architects of Memory, Karen Osborne (Tor Books)
  • The Bone Shard Daughter, Andrea Stewart (Orbit US & UK)
  • Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas (Swoon Reads)
  • The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Candlewick; Walker UK)
  • Hench, Natalie Zina Walschots (William Morrow)

NOVELLA

  • WINNER: Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, Zen Cho (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • Finna, Nino Cipri (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders, Aliette de Bodard (JABberwocky)
  • Seven of Infinities, Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean Press)
  • Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • The Four Profound Weaves, R.B. Lemberg (Tachyon)
  • Come Tumbling Down, Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom Publishing)
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom Publishing)

NOVELETTE

  • WINNER: “The Pill,” Meg Elison (Big Girl)
  • “If You Take My Meaning,” Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com 2/11/20)
  • “The Inaccessibility of Heaven,” Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny 07-08/20)
  • “Burn or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super,” A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny 05-06/20)
  • “A Whisper of Blue,” Ken Liu (The Book of Dragons)
  • “A City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat,” Usman T. Malik (Tor.com 10/21/20)
  • “Two Truths and a Lie,” Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com 6/17/20)
  • “Fairy Tales for Robots,” Sofia Samatar (Made to Order)
  • “Color, Heat, and the Wreck of the Argo,” Catherynne M. Valente (Strange Horizons 9/7/20)
  • “A Stick of Clay, in the Hands of God, is Infinite Potential,” JY Neon Yang (Clarkesworld 5/20)

SHORT STORY

  • WINNER: “Little Free Library,” Naomi Kritzer (Tor.com 4/8/20)
  • “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse,” Rae Carson (Uncanny 1-2/20)
  • “In the Lands of the Spill,” Aliette de Bodard (Avatars Inc.)
  • “Dresses Like White Elephants,” Meg Elison (Uncanny 5-6/20)
  • “The Sycamore and the Sybil,” Alix E. Harrow (Uncanny 3-4/20)
  • “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Gods,” Maria Dahvana Headley (Tor.com 1/23/20)
  • “Wait for Night,” Stephen Graham Jones (Tor.com 9/02/20)
  • “The Mermaid Astronaut,” Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 2/27/20)
  • “50 Things Every AI Working with Humans Should Know,” Ken Liu (Uncanny 11-12/20)
  • “Open House on Haunted Hill,” John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 6/15/20)

ANTHOLOGY

  • WINNER: The Book of Dragons, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Harper Voyager US & UK)
  • A Phoenix First Must Burn, Patrice Caldwell, ed. (Viking; Hot Key)
  • The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 5, Neil Clarke, ed. (Night Shade)
  • Edited By, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Subterranean Press)
  • Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora, Zelda Knight & Ekpeki
  • Oghenechovwe Donald, eds. (Aurelia Leo)
  • Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn’t Die, dave ring, ed. (Neon Hemlock)
  • Made to Order, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris)
  • The Year’s Best Science Fiction Vol. 1, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Saga Press)
  • Africanfuturism, Wole Talabi, ed. (Brittle Paper)
  • The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Vintage)

COLLECTION

  • WINNER: The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, Ken Liu (Saga Press; Head of Zeus)
  • The Best of Elizabeth Bear, Elizabeth Bear (Subterranean Press)
  • Big Girl, Meg Elison (PM Press)
  • The Best of Jeffrey Ford, Jeffrey Ford (PS Publishing)
  • Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel, Julian K. Jarboe (Lethe)
  • If It Bleeds, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton)
  • Analog/Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future, Lavanya Lakshminarayan (Hachette India)
  • The Postutopian Adventures of Darger and Surplus, Michael Swanwick (Subterranean Press)
  • Nine Bar Blues, Sheree Renée Thomas (Third Man)
  • The Midnight Circus, Jane Yolen (Tachyon)

MAGAZINE

  • WINNER: Tor.com
  • Analog
  • Asimov’s
  • Beneath Ceaseless Skies
  • Clarkesworld
  • F&SF
  • FIYAH
  • Lightspeed
  • Strange Horizons
  • Uncanny

PUBLISHER

  • WINNER: Tor Books
  • Angry Robot
  • DAW
  • Del Rey
  • Gollancz
  • Orbit
  • Saga Press
  • Small Beer Press
  • Subterranean Press
  • Tordotcom Publishing

EDITOR

  • WINNER: Ellen Datlow
  • John Joseph Adams
  • Neil Clarke
  • C.C. Finlay
  • Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Diana M. Pho
  • Jonathan Strahan
  • Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
  • Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
  • Sheila Williams

ARTIST

  • WINNER: John Picacio
  • Kinuko Y. Craft
  • Galen Dara
  • Julie Dillon
  • Bob Eggleton
  • Donato Giancola
  • Kathleen Jennings
  • Shaun Tan
  • Charles Vess
  • Michael Whelan

NON-FICTION

  • WINNER: The Magic of Terry Pratchett, Marc Burrows (White Owl)
  • Plants in Science Fiction: Speculative Vegetation, Katherine E. Bishop & David Higgins & Jerry Määttä, eds. (University of Wales Press)
  • Re-Enchanted: The Rise of Children’s Fantasy Literature in the Twentieth Century, Maria Sachiko Cecire (University of Minnesota Press)
  • Inventing Tomorrow: H.G. Wells and the Twentieth Century, Sarah Cole (Columbia University Press)
  • Bradbury Beyond Apollo, Jonathan R. Eller (University of Illinois Press)
  • Weird Westerns: Race, Gender, Genre, Kerry Fine & Michael K. Johnson & Rebecca M. Lush & Sara L. Spurgeon, eds. (University of Nebraska Press)
  • Beaming Up and Getting Off: Life Before and Beyond Star Trek, Walter Koenig (Jacobs/Brown)
  • Literary Afrofuturism in the Twenty-First Century, Isiah Lavender III & Lisa Yaszek, eds. (Ohio State University Press)
  • Science Fiction and Climate Change: A Sociological Approach, Andrew Milner & J.R. Burgmann (Liverpool University Press)
  • The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom, Volume One: The 1930s, David Ritter & Daniel Ritter, eds. (First Fandom Experience)

ILLUSTRATED AND ART BOOK

  • WINNER: The Art of NASA: The Illustrations that Sold the Missions, Piers Bizony (Motorbooks)
  • Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie, art by Brecht Evens (Beehive)
  • The Dark Crystal Bestiary: The Definitive Guide to the Creatures of Thra, Adam Cesare, art by Iris Compiet (Insight Editions)
  • The Art of Frank Cho: A Twenty-Year Retrospective, Frank Cho (Flesk)
  • Spectrum 27: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Katherine Chu & John Fleskes, eds. (Flesk)
  • Masterpieces of Fantasy Art, Dian Hanson (Taschen)
  • Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration, Jesse Kowalski, ed. (Norman Rockwell Museum/Abbeville)
  • The Hobbit Sketchbook, Alan Lee (HarperCollins UK 2019; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  • A Storm of Swords: The Illustrated Edition, George R.R. Martin, art by Gary Gianni (Bantam)
  • Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta, J. David Spurlock, art by Frank Frazetta (Vanguard)

The 2021 Locus Special Award was given to Bill Campbell and Rosarium Publishing for amplifying marginalized voices.

About the Author

About Author Mobile

Molly Templeton

Author

Molly Templeton has been a bookseller, an alt-weekly editor, and assistant managing editor of Tor.com, among other things. She now lives and writes in Oregon, and spends as much time as possible in the woods.
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