October 2023 • Issue 753 • Vol. 91 • No. 4
56th Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and interview art and design by Francesca Myman

INTERVIEWS
John Scalzi: Real People, Ridiculous Situations / 10
Justina Ireland: Art Isn’t Safe / 34

MAIN STORIES / 6
Aurora Awards Winners • Mills Wins Sturgeon Award • Dragon Awards Winners • Somtow Wins Thai National Artist Honor • Cossmass Infinities to Close

THE DATA FILE / 7 
Manchess Holiday Stamps • Ditmar Preliminary Ballot • SFWA News • SFRA Awards • Sidewise Awards Nominees • Ignotus Awards Winners • Kirkus Prize Finalists • Dwarf Stars Winners • Pulitzer Prize Expands • Great Stories Club • World Conventions News • Announcements • Publishing News • Legal News • Awards News • Financial News • International Rights • Audio Rights • Publications Received

PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8 
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about Rich Larson, Karen Russell, Agustina Bazterrica, Kay Chronister, Liselle Sambury, Jim Butcher, and many others.

CONVENTIONS
Spotlight on Lauren Raye Snow, 36 • Spotlight on The Best of World SF, 57

LISTINGS 
Magazines Received: August, 37  •  Books Received: August, 38  •  Bestsellers, 50  •  New & Notable, 51

OBITUARIES / 61
Patrick Lucien Price • Appreciation by Sheila Finch

EDITORIAL MATTERS / 62
Double Issue • Conversation Series On YouTube • Fundraising • Recommended Reading

LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS

Short Fiction Reviews by CHARLES PAYSEUR / 12
Three-Lobed Burning Eye 7/23; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 7/27/23, 8/10/23, 8/24/23; Strange Horizons 7/24/23, 7/31/23, 8/7/23, 8/14/23; Flash Fiction Online 8/23; GigaNotoSaurus 8/23; Diabolical Plots 8/23; Cast of Wonders 7/22/23, 7/25/23, 8/5/23; Fantasy 8/23; The Book of Beijing, Bingbing Shi, ed.; F&SF 9-10/23.

Short Fiction Reviews by PAULA GURAN / 14
Black Static 7/23; The Deadlands 7/23; The Sunday Morning Transport 8/13/23, 8/6/23, 7/30/23, 7/16/23, 7/2/23, 6/25/23; Uncanny 7-8/23.

Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. WISE / 15
Augur 6.1; khōréō 3.1.

Reviews by GARY K. WOLFE / 16
The Privilege of the Happy Ending, Kij Johnson; Menewood, Nicola Griffith; A Stranger in the Citadel, Tobias S. Buckell; The Navigating Fox, Christopher Rowe.

Reviews by LIZ BOURKE / 18 
Daughter of Winter and Twilight, Helen Corcoran; Where Peace Is Lost, Valerie Valdes; A Multitude of Dreams, Mara Rutherford.

Reviews by RUSSELL LETSON / 20
War Bodies, Neal Asher; Lockdown Tales II, Neal Asher.

Reviews by IAN MOND / 21
Let Us Descend, Jesmyn Ward; Death Valley, Melissa Broder; Oh God, The Sun Goes, David Connor.

Reviews by CAREN GUSSOFF SUMPTION / 22
The Pomegranate Gate, Ariel Kaplan; A Power Unbound, Freya Marske; Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go, Cleo Qian; Knife Witch, Susan diRende.

Reviews by ARCHITA MITTRA / 24
The First Bright Thing, J.R. Dawson; The Foxglove King, Hannah Whitten; Maddalena and the Dark, Julia Fine; Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, S. Jae-Jones.

Reviews by ALEXANDRA PIERCE / 26
Medusa’s Sisters, Lauren J.A. Bear; The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, Malka Older; The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 3, Allan Kaster, ed.

Reviews by COLLEEN MONDOR / 27
House of Roots and Ruin, Erin A. Craig; Who Haunts You, Mark Wheaton; Witch of Wild Things, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland.

Art Book Reviews by KAREN HABER / 28
Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections, Shaun Tan; Chivalry, Neil Gaiman & Colleen Doran; Visions of Beauty, Kinuko Y. Craft; Found Worlds: Todd Lockwood, Todd Lockwood; SHORT TAKES: The Keeper, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes & Marco Finnegan; Spectrum Fantastic Art Quarterly: Volume Two, Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds.; The Corset & The Jellyfish: A Conundrum of Drabbles, Nick Bantock.

Reviews by Divers Hands: NIALL HARRISON, GABINO IGLESIAS, PAUL KINCAID, ADRIENNE MARTINI / 29
You Are My Sunshine, Octavia Cade; Camp Damascus, Chuck Tingle; Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird, Agustina Bazterrica; The Big Book of Cyberpunk, Jared Shurin, ed.; The Deep Sky, Yume Kitasei; Starter Villain, John Scalzi; Winter’s Gifts, Ben Aaronovitch.

Terry Bisson: This Month in History / 13, 17, 19, 25

Magazines reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer)—

Three-Lobed Burning Eye 7/23 (Charles Payseur)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 7/27/23, 8/10/23, 8/24/23 (Charles Payseur)
Strange Horizons 7/24/23, 7/31/23, 8/7/23, 8/14/23 (Charles Payseur)
Flash Fiction Online 8/23 (Charles Payseur)
GigaNotoSaurus 8/23 (Charles Payseur)
Diabolical Plots 8/23 (Charles Payseur)
Cast of Wonders 7/22/23, 7/25/23, 8/5/23 (Charles Payseur)
Fantasy 8/23 (Charles Payseur)
The Book of Beijing, Bingbing Shi, ed. (Charles Payseur)
F&SF 9-10/23 (Charles Payseur)
Black Static 7/23 (Paula Guran)
The Deadlands 7/23 (Paula Guran)
The Sunday Morning Transport 8/13/23, 8/6/23, 7/30/23, 7/16/23, 7/2/23, 6/25/23 (Paula Guran)
Uncanny 7-8/23 (Paula Guran)
Augur 6.1 (A.C. Wise)
khōréō 3.2 (A.C. Wise)

Books reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer)—

Aaronovitch, Ben • Winter’s Gifts (Adrienne Martini)
Asher, Neal • Lockdown Tales II (Russell Letson)
Asher, Neal • War Bodies (Russell Letson)
Bantock, Nick • The Corset & The Jellyfish: A Conundrum of Drabbles (Karen Haber)
Bazterrica, Agustina • Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird (Gabino Iglesias)
Bear, Lauren J. A. • Medusa’s Sisters (Alexandra Pierce)
Broder, Melissa • Death Valley (Ian Mond)
Buckell, Tobias S. • A Stranger in the Citadel (Gary K. Wolfe)
Cade, Octavia • You Are My Sunshine and Other Stories (Niall Harrison)
Connor, David • Oh God, The Sun Goes (Ian Mond)
Corcoran, Helen • Daughter of Winter and Twilight (Liz Bourke)
Craft, Kinuko Y. • Visions of Beauty (Karen Haber)
Craig, Erin A. • House of Roots and Ruin (Colleen Mondor)
Dawson, J. R. • The First Bright Thing (Archita Mittra)
diRende, Susan • Knife Witch (Caren Gussoff Sumption)
Due, Tananarive, & Steven Barnes • The Keeper (Karen Haber)
Fenner, Cathy, & Arnie Fenner, eds. • Spectrum Fantastic Art Quarterly: Volume Two (Karen Haber)
Fine, Julia • Maddalena and the Dark (Archita Mittra)
Gaiman, Neil, & Colleen Doran • Chivalry (Karen Haber)
Griffith, Nicola • Menewood (Gary K. Wolfe)
Jae-Jones, S. • Guardians of Dawn: Zhara (Archita Mittra)
Johnson, Kij • The Privilege of the Happy Ending (Gary K. Wolfe)
Kaplan, Ariel • The Pomegranate Gate (Caren Gussoff Sumption)
Kaster, Allan, ed. • The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 3 (Alexandra Pierce)
Kitasei, Yume • The Deep Sky (Adrienne Martini)
Lockwood, Todd • Found Worlds: Todd Lockwood (Karen Haber)
Marske, Freya • A Power Unbound (Caren Gussoff Sumption)
Older, Malka • The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (Alexandra Pierce)
Qian, Cleo • Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go (Caren Gussoff Sumption)
Rowe, Christopher • The Navigating Fox (Gary K. Wolfe)
Rutherford, Mara • A Multitude of Dreams (Liz Bourke)
Scalzi, John • Starter Villain (Adrienne Martini)
Shi, Bingbing, ed. • The Book of Beijing (Charles Payseur)
Shurin, Jared, ed. • The Big Book of Cyberpunk (Paul Kincaid)
Tan, Shaun • Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections (Karen Haber)
Tingle, Chuck • Camp Damascus (Gabino Iglesias)
Valdes, Valerie • Where Peace Is Lost (Liz Bourke)
Vasquez, Raquel • Witch of Wild Things (Colleen Mondor)
Ward, Jesmyn • Let Us Descend (Ian Mond)
Wheaton, Mark • Who Haunts You (Colleen Mondor)
Whitten, Hannah • The Foxglove King (Archita Mittra)