Issue:
In this issue:
The February 2021 issue of Locus is the annual Year in Review overview with essays, the Locus 2020 Recommended Reading List, and book and magazine summaries tracking the progress of the industry. The issue also features an interview with Brandon Sanderson. James Gunn (1923-2020) is remembered with an obituary and appreciations. News includes the PKD, Endeavour, PEN America Literary, and Rosetta awards, the SFWA Givers Fund Grants, and more. Kameron Hurley's column is titled, "How to Survive a Decade in Publishing". There are photo stories on the new Solaris Satellites imprint and Le Guin postage stamp, and an international report on SF in Brazil. Additional obituaries remember Storm Constantine, Anton Strout, Jael, Alison Lurie, Richard C. West, and Joseph Altairac. Reviews cover new titles by Jonathan Strahan, Wole Talabi, Clelia Farris, S.B. Divya, Elizabeth Hand, Neil Gaiman, Pauline Hopkins, Jonathan Buckley, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Lucie Elveni, Arkady Martine, Martha Wells, John P. Murphy, Ariel S. Winter, Walter Jon Williams, Shannon Hale, K.S. Villoso, and Jeffrey Cranor & Janina Matthewson, and others.
Table of Contents:
February 2021 • Issue 721 • Vol. 86 • No. 2
53rd Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and Interview Designs by Stephen H. Segal
INTERVIEW
Brandon Sanderson: Ever More Epic / 10
MAIN STORIES / 5
James Gunn (1923 - 2020) • Appreciations for James Gunn from Kij Johnson, Chris McKitterick, Marleen S. Barr, John Kessel, Mack Hassler, and James Frenkel • Interzone Moves to PS • Hugo Award Credit Controversy • Endeavour Suspended • PKD Award Nominees • Best Books of 2020
THE DATA FILE / 7
Rosetta Awards Launch • SFWA Givers Fund Grants • Foundry Lawsuit • Four-Legged Tripods • PEN America Literary Awards Longlist • Publishing News • Announcements • Awards News • International Rights • Audio Rights
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about Stephen Graham Jones, Liz Williams, Richard Powers, and many others
SPECIAL FEATURES
Photo Story: Solaris Satellites to Launch / 8 Photo Story: Le Guin Honored / 9 Commentary by Kameron Hurley: How to Survive a Decade in Publishing / 23 SF in Brazil / 24
2020 THE YEAR IN REVIEW
2020 Recommended Reading with Liza Groen Trombi (with Tim Pratt, Laurel Amberdine, Josh Pearce & Francesca Myman), Gary K. Wolfe, Paula Guran, Jonathan Strahan, Russell Letson, Karen Burnham, Arley Sorg, Alex Brown, Graham Sleight, Tim Pratt, Colleen Mondor, Gabino Iglesias, Ian Mond, Rich Horton, John Langan, Paul Kincaid, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro / 26 2020 Recommended Reading List / 43 2020 Book Summary / 50 2020 Magazine Summary / 54
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: December / 61 Books Received: December / 62 British Books Received: November / 70 Bestsellers / 72
OBITUARIES / 84
OTHER OBITUARIES: Storm Constantine • Anton Strout • Jael • Alison Lurie • Richard C. West • Joseph Altairac
LOCUS LETTERS / 85
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 86
The Year in Review • Recommended Reading • Whither the Locus Awards?
LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS
Short Fiction Reviews by Rich Horton / 12
F&SF 1-2/21; Asimov's 1-2/21; Uncanny 1-2/21; The Book of Dragons, Jonathan Strahan, ed.
Short Fiction Reviews by Paula Guran / 13
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet 9/20; Uncanny 11-12/20; Apex 1/21; Black Static 11-12/20; The Dark 11/20, 12/20; Nightmare 12/20, 1/21; Fantasy 12/20, 1/21.
Short Fiction Reviews by Karen Burnham / 14
Future Science Fiction Digest 12/20; Africanfuturism: An Anthology, Wole Talabi, ed.; Omenana 12/20; Strange Horizons 11/16/20, 12/1/20; Samovar 10/20; Creative Surgery, Clelia Farris.
Reviews by Gary K. Wolfe / 16
Machinehood, S.B. Divya; The Best of Elizabeth Hand, Elizabeth Hand; The Neil Gaiman Reader, Neil Gaiman.
Reviews by Ian Mond / 18
Of One Blood: Or, the Hidden Self, Pauline Hopkins; Live; live; live, Jonathan Buckley ; Analog/Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future, Lavanya Lakshminarayan; The Weak Spot, Lucie Elveni.
Reviews by Adrienne Martini / 20
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine; Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells; Red Noise, John P. Murphy; The Preserve, Ariel S. Winter.
Reviews by Divers Hands: Russell Letson, Colleen Mondor, Katharine Coldiron, Amy Goldschlager / 21
The Best of Walter Jon Williams, Walter Jon Williams; Kind of a Big Deal, Shannon Hale; The Ikessar Falcon, K.S. Villoso; Within the Wires: Season 5: Voicemail, Jeffrey Cranor & Janina Matthewson; Amiera Darwish, narrator.
Terry Bisson: This Month in History / 12, 17, 19, 22
Magazines reviewed in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Apex 1/21 (Paula Guran)
Asimov's 1-2/21 (Rich Horton)
Black Static 11-12/20 (Paula Guran)
The Dark 11/20 (Paula Guran)
The Dark 12/20 (Paula Guran)
F&SF 1-2/21 (Rich Horton)
Fantasy 12/20 (Paula Guran)
Fantasy 1/21 (Paula Guran)
Future Science Fiction Digest 12/20 (Karen Burnham)
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet 9/20 (Paula Guran)
Nightmare 12/20 (Paula Guran)
Nightmare 1/21 (Paula Guran)
Omenana 12/20 (Karen Burnham)
Samovar 10/20 (Karen Burnham)
Strange Horizons 11/16/20 (Karen Burnham)
Strange Horizons 12/1/20 (Karen Burnham)
Uncanny 11-12/20 (Paula Guran)
Uncanny 1-2/21 (Rich Horton)
Books reviewed in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Buckley, Jonathan • Live; live; live (Ian Mond)
Divya, S.B. • Machinehood (Gary K. Wolfe)
Elven, Lucy • The Weak Spot (Ian Mond)
Farris, Clelia, ed. • Creative Surgery (Karen Burnham)
Gaiman, Neil • The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction (Gary K. Wolfe)
Hale, Shannon • Kind of a Big Deal (Colleen Mondor)
Hand, Elizabeth • The Best of Elizabeth Hand (Gary K. Wolfe)
Hopkins, Pauline • Of One Blood: Or, the Hidden Self (Ian Mond)
Lakshminarayan, Lavanya, ed. • Analog/Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future (Ian Mond)
Martine, Arkady • A Desolation Called Peace (Adrienne Martini)
Murphy, John P. • Red Noise (Adrienne Martini)
Strahan, Jonathan, ed. • The Book of Dragons (Rich Horton)
Talabi, Wole • Africanfuturism: An Anthology (Karen Burnham)
Villoso, K.S. • The Ikessar Falcon (Katharine Coldiron)
Wells, Martha • Fugitive Telemetry (Adrienne Martini)
Williams, Walter Jon • The Best of Walter Jon Williams (Russell Letson)
Winter, Ariel S. • The Preserve (Adrienne Martini)
