Issue:
In this issue:
The February 2024 issue of Locus is the annual Year in Review overview with essays, the Locus 2023 Recommended Reading List, and magazine and book summaries tracking the progress of the industry. The issue also features an interview with Martha Wells. News includes the complete 2023 Hugo voting, Tor.com rebranding as Reactor, the empanelment of the World Fantasy Awards judges, the Philip K. Dick Award nominees, Chesley Awards finalists, and more. Obituaries and appreciations remember Terry Bisson, David Drake, Howard Waldrop, Richard Bowes, David J. Skal, Tom Purdom, Fred Chappell, and Emanuel Lottem. Reviews cover new titles by Wole Talabi, Premee Mohamed, Izzy Wasserstein, Lee Mandelo, Jasper Fforde, Max Gladstone, Allan Kaster (ed.), Anastacia Reneé, C.D. Rose, A. G. Slatter, Ed Park, Bennett Sims, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Liselle Sambury, Katherine Arden, Kelley Armstrong, Shubnum Khan, Travis Baldree, T. Kingfisher, and co-editors Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Eugen Bacon & Milton Davis.
Table of Contents:
February 2024 • Issue 757 • Vol. 92 • No. 2
56th Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and interview art and design by Francesca Myman.
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 2
Terry Bisson • Hugo Voting Shenanigans? • This Issue/Next Issue • Locus Poll & Survey
INTERVIEW
Martha Wells: System Rebuild / 12
MAIN STORIES/ 5, 6, 7 & 8
Terry Bisson (1942-2024) • Appreciations by Cecelia Holland, John Kessel, Kim Stanley Robinson, Rudy Rucker, Paul Park, Tim Pratt, F. Brett Cox, Christopher Rowe, Jacob Weisman, Ramsey Kanaan, and John Silbersack • David Drake (1945-2023) • Appreciations by Toni Weisskopf, Mark L. Van Name, S.M. Stirling, Bill Fawcett, and Tony Daniel • Howard Waldrop (1946-2024) • Appreciations by Lisa Tuttle and Eileen Gunn • Tor.com Rebranding as Reactor • World Fantasy Awards Judges • PKD Award Nominees
THE DATA FILE / 9
Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award, and Astounding Award Nominations Released • Mohamed to
Be Writer-In-Residence • Nebula Conference News • Small Beer Press Hiatus • Paxson and
Son Assaulted • Cait Corrain Controversy • Prometheus Hall of Fame Finalists • SFPA Grand
Master Nominees • Mosse Awarded CBE • Goodreads Choice Awards Winners • New York
Library Top Checkouts • Best Canadian Books of 2023 • Future Worlds Prize News • Calls for
Submissions • Publishing News • Legal News • World Conventions News • Bookstore News
• Announcements • Awards News • International Rights
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 10
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about R.L. Stine, China
Miéville & Keanu Reeves, Ann Aguirre, A.G. Slatter, Yoon Ha Lee, and many others
2023: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
2023 Recommended Reading by Liza Groen Trombi (with Laurel Amberdine, Simon Herz, Tim Pratt & Francesca Myman), Gary K. Wolfe, Paul Kincaid, Colleen Mondor, Ian Mond, A.C. Wise, Alex Brown, Tim Pratt, Liz Bourke, Alexandra Pierce, Archita Mittra, Jake Casella Brookins, Niall Harrison, Russell Letson, Graham Sleight, Charles Payseur, and Arley Sorg, 26 • 2022 Recommended Reading List, 47 • 2023 Book Summary, 51 • 2023 Magazine Summary, 56
SPECIAL FEATURE
Complete 2023 Hugo Voting, 66
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: September, 72 • Books Received: September 73 • Bestsellers, 84 • New & Notable, 85
OTHER OBITUARIES / 94
Richard Bowes • Appreciation by Christopher Barzak • David J. Skal • Tom Purdom •
Appreciation by Michael Swanwick • Fred Chappell • Emanuel Lottem
LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS
Short Fiction Reviews by CHARLES PAYSEUR / 14
Escape Pod 11/30/23; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/30/23; Three-Lobed Burning Eye 11/23;
Fusion Fragment 11/23; Strange Horizons 11/13/23, 11/20/23, 11/27/23, 12/4/23, 12/11/23;
Cast of Wonders 12/3/23; Hexagon 12/23; Flash Fiction Online 12/23; GigaNotoSaurus 12/23;
Diabolical Plots 12/23; Lightspeed 12/23, 1/24; Rosalind’s Siblings, Bogi Takács, ed.
Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. WISE / 17
Analog 11-12/23; Clarkesworld 12/23.
Reviews by GARY K. WOLFE / 18
Convergence Problems, Wole Talabi; The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed; These
Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart, Izzy Wasserstein; The Woods All Black, Lee Mandelo.
ALEXANDRA PIERCE / 20
Red Side Story, Jasper Fforde; Wicked Problems, Max Gladstone; The Year’s Top Robot
and AI Stories: Fourth Annual Collection, Allan Kaster, ed.
Reviews by IAN MOND / 23
Here in the (Middle) of Nowhere, Anastacia Reneé; Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea,
C.D. Rose; The Briar Book of the Dead, A. G. Slatter.
Reviews by JAKE CASELLA BROOKINS / 22
Same Bed Different Dreams, Ed Park; Other Minds and Other Stories, Bennett Sims;
House of Open Wounds, Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Reviews by COLLEEN MONDOR / 23
Tender Beasts, Liselle Sambury; The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Katherine Arden; Cocktails
& Chloroform, Kelley Armstrong.
Reviews by Divers Hands: ALEX BROWN, NIALL HARRISON, RUSSELL LETSON, ADRIENNE MARTINI / 24
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years, Shubnum Khan; The Year’s Best African Speculative
Fiction 2022, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Eugen Bacon & Milton Davis, eds.; House
of Open Wounds, Adrian Tchaikovsky; Bookshops & Bonedust, Travis Baldree; Paladin’s
Faith, T. Kingfisher.
Magazines reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Escape Pod 11/30/23 (Charles Payseur)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/30/23 (Charles Payseur)
Three-Lobed Burning Eye 11/23 (Charles Payseur)
Fusion Fragment 11/23 (Charles Payseur)
Strange Horizons 11/13/23, 11/20/23, 11/27/23, 12/4/23, 12/11/23 (Charles Payseur)
Cast of Wonders 12/3/23 (Charles Payseur)
Hexagon 12/23 (Charles Payseur)
Flash Fiction Online 12/23 (Charles Payseur)
GigaNotoSaurus 12/23 (Charles Payseur)
Diabolical Plots 12/23 (Charles Payseur)
Lightspeed 12/23, 1/24 (Charles Payseur)
Rosalind’s Siblings, Bogi Takács, ed. (Charles Payseur)
Analog 11-12/23 (A.C. Wise)
Clarkesworld 12/23 (A.C. Wise)
Books reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer)—
Arden, Katherine • The Warm Hands of Ghosts (Colleen Mondor)
Armstrong, Kelley • Cocktails & Chloroform (Colleen Mondor)
Baldree, Travis • Bookshops & Bonedust (Adrienne Martini)
Brown, Shubnum • The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years (Alex Brown)
Ekpeki, Oghenechovwe Donald, & Eugen Bacon, eds. • The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction 2022 (Niall Harrison)
Fforde, Jasper • Red Side Story (Alexandra Pierce)
Gladstone, Max • Wicked Problems (Alexandra Pierce)
Kaster, Allan, ed. • The Year's Top Robot and AI Stories: Fourth Annual Collection (Alexandra Pierce)
Kingfisher, T. • Paladin's Faith (Adrienne Martini)
Mandelo, Lee • The Woods All Black (Gary K. Wolfe)
Mohamed, Premee • The Butcher of the Forest (Gary K. Wolfe)
Park, Ed • Same Bed Different Dreams (Jake Casella Brookins)
Reneé, Anastacia • Here in the (Middle) of Nowhere (Ian Mond)
Rose, C. D. • Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea (Ian Mond)
Sambury, Liselle • Tender Beasts (Colleen Mondor)
Sims, Bennett • Other Minds and Other Stories (Jake Casella Brookins)
Slatter, A. G. • The Briar Book of the Dead (Ian Mond)
Takács, Bogi, ed. • Rosalind's Siblings (Charles Payseur)
Talabi, Wole • Convergence Problems (Gary K. Wolfe)
Tchaikovsky, Adrian • House of Open Wounds (Ian Mond)
Tchaikovsky, Adrian • House of Open Wounds (Russell Letson)
Wasserstein, Izzy • These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart (Gary K. Wolfe)
