Issue:
In this issue:
The February 2020 issue of Locus magazine is the annual Year in Review overview with essays, the Locus 2019 Recommended Reading List, and book and magazine summaries tracking the progress of the industry. The issue also features an interview with co-authors Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone. Mike Resnick (1942-2020) is remembered with an obituary and appreciations. News includes the Philip K. Dick Award nominees, the Stoker preliminary ballot, the full acquisition of Penguin Random House by Bertelsmann, the cancellation of the 2020 RITA Awards, and more. The column by Kameron Hurley is entitled “Into the Raging ’20s, We Ride.” Additional obituaries remember Steve Stiles, Christopher Tolkien, Neil Peart, Syd Mead, and Alasdair Gray. Reviews cover new titles by N.K. Jemisin, Ken Liu, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Nisi Shawl, R.E. Stearns, K.M. Szpara, Sarah Kozloff, Nancy Kress, Linda Nagata, Marie Brennan, Valerie Valdes, Kenneth Hunter Gordon, Ben Aaronovitch, Ben Okri, Anne Charnock, Gish Jen, Malka Older, Holly Black, Kate Milford, Ryan La Sala, Farah Naz Rishi, Jennifer Givhan, Kira Jane Buxton, Juliette Wade, Amy Binns, Benjamin Percy, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rick Berry, Nnedi Okorafor, and others.
Table of Contents:
February 2020 • Issue 709 • Vol. 84 • No. 2
52nd Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and Interview Design by Francesca Myman
INTERVIEW / 10
Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone: Letter Space
MAIN STORIES / 5
Mike Resnick (1942 – 2020) • Appreciations by Barry N. Malzberg, Nancy Kress, Kevin J. Anderson, Janis Ian, Lou Anders, and John Goodwin • PKD Award Nominees • PRH Belongs to Bertelsmann • Preliminary Stoker Ballot • Captions Settlement • 2020 RITA Awards Canceled
THE DATA FILE / 7
2019 Book Sales • Book News • Europa SF Rescued • Barnes & Noble News • Crossed Genres Closes • Awards News • World Conventions News • Announcements • Workshop News • Financial News • International Rights
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about Vernor Vinge, Ted Chiang, Gwenda Bond, Lavie Tidhar, Michi Trota, Nnedi Okorafor, and many others
SPECIAL FEATURES
Photo Story: SF at Philadelphia Museum of Art / 8 Photo Story: Celebrating 90 Years of Analog / 9 Commentary: Kameron Hurley: Into the Raging ’20s, We Ride / 31
2019 THE YEAR IN REVIEW
2019 Recommended Reading: Liza Groen Trombi (with Tim Pratt, Laurel Amberdine, Josh Pearce & Francesca Myman), Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, Adrienne Martini, Russell Letson, Colleen Mondor, Tim Pratt, Ian Mond, Carolyn Cushman, Paul Kincaid, John Langan, Karen Burnham, Rich Horton, Amy Goldschlager, Graham Sleight, Geoff Ryman, and Rachel S. Cordasco / 32 2019 Recommended Reading List / 42 2019 Book Summary / 54 2019 Magazine Summary / 58
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: December / 65 Books Received: December / 66 Bestsellers / 76 British Books Received: November / 80
OBITUARIES / 85
OTHER OBITUARIES: Steve Stiles • Christopher Tolkien • Neil Peart • Appreciation by Kevin J. Anderson • Syd Mead • Alasdair Gray
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 87
Ian Covell • The Art Book Category • This Issue/Next Issue
LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS
Short Fiction Reviews by Rich Horton / 13
Asimov’s 1-2/20; Analog 1-2/20; Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet 11/19; On Spec #112.
Short Fiction Reviews by Karen Burnham / 14
Clarkesworld 12/19; Tor.com 11/6/19, 11/13/19, 12/4/19, 12/11/19; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 10/24/19, 11/21/19; Strange Horizons 10/19, 11/19; Mithila Review 12/19; Mysterion 11-12/19.
Short Fiction Reviews by Paula Guran / 15
Sirenia Digest #164, #165, #166; Black Static 11-12/19; The Dark 11/19, 12/19; Uncanny 11-12/19; Nightmare 12/19; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 12/5/19.
Reviews by Gary K. Wolfe / 16
The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin; The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, Ken Liu; The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates; Talk Like a Man, Nisi Shawl.
Reviews by Liz Bourke / 18
Gravity of a Distant Sun, R.E. Stearns; Docile, K.M. Szpara; A Queen in Hiding, Sarah Kozloff; The Queen of Raiders, Sarah Kozloff; A Broken Queen, Sarah Kozloff; The Cerulean Queen, Sarah Kozloff.
Reviews by Russell Letson / 20
Sea Change, Nancy Kress; Silver, Linda Nagata.
Reviews by Adrienne Martini / 21
Turning Darkness into Light, Marie Brennan; Chilling Effect, Valerie Valdes; One Bronze Knuckle, Kenneth Hunter Gordon; False Value, Ben Aaronovitch.
Reviews by Ian Mond / 22
The Freedom Artist, Ben Okri; Bridge 108, Anne Charnock; The Resisters, Gish Jen; …And Other Disasters, Malka Older.
Reviews by Colleen Mondor / 24
The Queen of Nothing, Holly Black; The Thief Knot, Kate Milford; Reverie, Ryan La Sala; I Hope You Get This Message, Farah Naz Rishi.
Reviews by Katharine Coldiron / 25
Trinity Sight, Jennifer Givhan; Hollow Kingdom, Kira Jane Buxton; Mazes of Power, Juliette Wade.
Reviews by Divers Hands: Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, Paula Guran, Arley Sorg / 26
Hidden Wyndham: Life, Love, Letters, Amy Binns; Suicide Woods, Benjamin Percy; War Girls, Tochi Onyebuchi.
Art Book Reviews by Karen Haber / 28
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells, illustrated by Ale + Ale; Invented People: Vol. 1, Rick Berry; LaGuardia, Nnedi Okorafor, adapted by Tana Ford & James Devlin; The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel, Margaret Atwood, adaptation and art by Renée Nault; Starport, George R.R. Martin, adaptation and art by Raya Golden; Stanislaw Lem’s The Seventh Voyage, Jon J. Muth; SHORT TAKES: Dracopedia Field Guide, William O’Connor; The Necronomnomnom, Mike Slater; Thomas Roache, ed.; Zintara and the Stones of Alu Cemah, Michel & Dominic Bohbot; Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy, Amy Ratcliffe.
Terry Bisson: This Month in History / 15, 17, 21, 23
Magazines reviewed in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Asimov’s 1-2/20 (Rich Horton)
Analog 1-2/20 (Rich Horton)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 10/24/19 (Karen Burnham)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/21/19 (Karen Burnham)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 12/5/19 (Paula Guran)
Black Static 11-12/19 (Paula Guran)
Clarkesworld 12/19 (Karen Burnham)
The Dark 11/19 (Paula Guran)
The Dark 12/19 (Paula Guran)
Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet 11/19 (Rich Horton)
Mithila Review 12/19 (Karen Burnham)
Mysterion 11-12/19 (Karen Burnham)
Nightmare 12/19 (Paula Guran)
On Spec #112 (Rich Horton)
Sirenia Digest #164 (Paula Guran)
Sirenia Digest #165 (Paula Guran)
Sirenia Digest #166 (Paula Guran)
Strange Horizons 10/19 (Karen Burnham)
Strange Horizons 11/19 (Karen Burnham)
Tor.com 11/6/19 (Karen Burnham)
Tor.com 11/13/19 (Karen Burnham)
Tor.com 12/4/19 (Karen Burnham)
Tor.com 12/11/19 (Karen Burnham)
Uncanny 11-12/19 (Paula Guran)
