Issue:
In this issue:
The August 2025 issue of Locus magazine has interviews with Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Alexander Boldizar, and a spotlight on artist Michael Blank. News covers the World Fantasy Awards Ballot, the Shirley Jackson and Prometheus Awards winners, Sierra Greer's Arthur C. Clarke Award win, the British Fantasy Awards shortlist, and much more. Reports include the 2025 Locus Awards Weekend, StokerCon, Westercon 77/BayCon, and the 2025 Locus Survey results. Tess Williams is remembered with an obituary. Reviews cover new works by T. Kingfisher, Caitlín R. Kiernan, MK Hardy, Martha Wells, Wendy N. Wagner, Emily Hunt Kivel, Andrew Kaufman, E.M. Anderson, Lee Mandelo (ed.), Christopher Golden & Brian Keene (eds.), Louis Sachar, Bitter Karella, Emma Sloley, Carol Emshwiller, Yiming Ma, Jon Bassoff, Stacy Nathaniel Jackson, Omar Hussain, Ling Ling Huang, Xan Kaur, Jim C. Hines, Jo Schulte, and others.
Table of Contents:
August 2025 • Issue 775 • Vol. 95 • No. 2
Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and interview design by Francesca Myman. Cover art by Natalia Sedyakina.
INTERVIEWS
Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Strange Vanishings / 10
Alexander Boldizar: Escalations / 26
MAIN STORIES / 5 & 6
2025 World Fantasy Awards Ballot • Shirley Jackson Awards Winners • British Fantasy Awards
Shortlist • Greer Wins Clarke • Le Guin Prize for Fiction Shortlist
THE DATA FILE / 7
Prometheus Awards Winners • Analog Contract Issues • Ballingrud Wins Wellman • Sunburst
Award Shortlist • Future Worlds Prize • Eugie Award Finalists • Baen Fantasy Adventure Award
Finalists • CSFFA Hall of Fame • SFWA News • Quirk Layoffs • ESFS Awards Winners • World Conventions News • Bookstores Remove Rowling • Premios Kelvin Winners • Heinlein Scholarship • Legal News • Publishing News • Awards News • International Rights
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about Christopher Priest,
Mercedes Lackey & Benjamin Ohlander, Harry Turtledove, Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, John Shirley, and many others.
CONVENTIONS
2025 Locus Awards, 28 • StokerCon 2025, 32 • Westercon 77/BayCon 2025, 33
SPECIAL FEATURES
Spotlight on Michael Blank, 31 • 2025 Locus Survey Results, 34 • Photo Story: Sycamore Hill, 55
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: June, 36 • New & Notable Books: June, 37 • Books Received: June, 38 •
Bestsellers, 48 • Audiofile Monthly Recommendations: Best New Fantasy, 49
OBITUARIES / 57
Tess Williams
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 58
Short Fiction Reviews by CHARLES PAYSEUR / 12
Worlds of Possibility 4/25 Version 2; Saros 5/25; Flash Fiction Online 5/25; Strange Horizons 5/5/25, 5/12/25; Diabolical Plots 5/25; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 5/29/25, 6/12/25; GigaNotoSaurus 6/25; Small Wonders 6/25; Lightspeed 6/25.
Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. WISE / 15
Clarkesworld 6/25; Analog 5-6/25.
Reviews by GARY K. WOLFE / 16
Hemlock & Silver, T. Kingfisher; Bright Dead Star, Caitlín R. Kiernan; Zoetrope Bizarre, Caitlín R. Kiernan.
Reviews by LIZ BOURKE / 17
The Needfire, MK Hardy; Queen Demon, Martha Wells.
Reviews by IAN MOND / 18
Girl in the Creek, Wendy N. Wagner; Dwelling, Emily Hunt Kivel; Enjoy Your Stay at the Shamrock Motel, Andrew Kaufman.
Reviews by ALEX BROWN / 19
The Keeper of Lonely Spirits, E.M. Anderson; Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity, Lee Mandelo, ed.
Reviews by ABIGAIL NUSSBAUM / 20
The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand, Christopher Golden & Brian Keene, eds.; The Magician of Tiger Castle, Louis Sachar; Moonflow, Bitter Karella.
Reviews by NIALL HARRISON / 22
The Island of Last Things, Emma Sloley; Moon Songs: The Selected Stories of Carol Emshwiller, Carol Emshwiller; These Memories Do Not Belong To Us, Yiming Ma.
Reviews by GABINO IGLESIAS / 24
The Memory Ward, Jon Bassoff; The Ephemera Collector, Stacy Nathaniel Jackson; A Thousand Natural Shocks, Omar Hussain.
Reviews by DIVERS HANDS: ARCHITA MITTRA, COLLEEN MONDOR / 25
Immaculate Conception, Ling Ling Huang; When Devils Sing, Xan Kaur; Kitemaster, Jim C. Hines; The Whisperwood Legacy, Jo Schulte.
Books reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer) —
Anderson, E. M. • The Keeper of Lonely Spirits (Alex Brown)
Bassoff, Jon • The Memory Ward (Gabino Iglesias)
Emshwiller, Carol • Moon Songs: The Selected Stories of Carol Emshwiller (Niall Harrison)
Golden, Christopher, & Brian Keene, eds. • The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand (Abigail Nussbaum)
Hardy, MK • The Needfire (Liz Bourke)
Hines, Jim C. • Kitemaster (Colleen Mondor)
Huang, Ling Ling • Immaculate Conception (Archita Mittra)
Hussain, Omar • A Thousand Natural Shocks (Gabino Iglesias)
Jackson, Stacy Nathaniel • The Ephemera Collector (Gabino Iglesias)
Karella, Bitter • Moonflow (Abigail Nussbaum)
Kaufman, Andrew • Enjoy Your Stay at the Shamrock Motel (Ian Mond)
Kaur, Xan • When Devils Sing (Colleen Mondor)
Kiernan, Caitlín R. • Bright Dead Star (Gary K. Wolfe)
Kiernan, Caitlín R. • Zoetrope Bizarre (Gary K. Wolfe)
Kingfisher, T. • Hemlock & Silver (Gary K. Wolfe)
Kivel, Emily Hunt • Dwelling (Ian Mond)
Ma, Yiming • These Memories Do Not Belong to Us (Niall Harrison)
Mandelo, Lee, ed. • Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity (Alex Brown)
Sachar, Louis • The Magician of Tiger Castle (Abigail Nussbaum)
Schulte, Jo • The Whisperwood Legacy (Colleen Mondor)
Sloley, Emma • The Island of Last Things (Niall Harrison)
Wagner, Wendy N. • Girl in the Creek (Ian Mond)
Wells, Martha • Queen Demon (Liz Bourke)
