Issue:
In this issue:
The May 2025 issue of Locus has interviews with Guy Gavriel Kay and Rita Woods and a spotlight on agent Lee O’Brien. News includes the 2025 Hugo Awards Ballot, Nicola Griffith's induction as a SFWA Grand Master, Samantha Mills's Compton Crook Award win, the BSFA Awards shortlist, the HWA Lifetime Achievement recipients, and more. Photo reports cover the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards, and the Williamson Lectureship. Cory Doctorow's column is entitled "Strange Bedfellows and Long Knives". Obituaries remember L.J. Smith, Kerry Greenwood, and Todd Grimson. Reviews cover new works by Christopher Moore, Premee Mohamed, Pat Murphy, Melissa Scott, Molly O’Neill, Karen Russell, James Bradley, Marie-Helene Bertino, Venessa Vida Kelley, P. Djèlí Clark, Akwaeke Emezi, Liselle Sambury, Claire North, Lincoln Michel, Debbie Urbanski, Oliver K. Langmead & Aliya Whiteley, Bora Chung, Alex Foster, Sylvie Cathrall, Megan Giddings, Darkly Lem, Michel Nieva, Robert Jackson Bennett, Isaac Fellman, Trang Thanh Tran, Constance Fay, Lili Wilkinson, You Yeong-Gwang, Ibi Zoboi, Clive Barker, Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos, and others.
Table of Contents:
May 2025 · Issue 772 · Vol. 94 No. 5
58th Year of Publication · 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover & Interview Art/Design by Francesca Myman
INTERVIEWS
Guy Gavriel Kay – Margins of History · p.10
Rita Woods – Hope & Choices · p.32
FEATURES & NEWS
Main Stories · pp.5–6
– 2025 Hugo Awards Ballot
– Griffith Named SFWA Grand Master
– Mills Wins Compton Crook Award
– BSFA Awards Shortlist
The Data File · p.7
– HWA Lifetime Achievement Recipients
– Bacon Wins Solstice Award
– Crawford Award News
– Hugo Awards News
– Artist Felix’s House Explodes
– Aurora Awards Ballot
– Prometheus Novel Award Finalists
– SFWA News
– Aurealis Awards Shortlist
– PEN Awards Longlists
– Julius Vogel Awards Nominees
– International Booker Prize Shortlist
– Xingyun Awards Finalists
– Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame
– Candlemark & Gleam Sold
– Baen Memorial Short Story Award Winners
– Publishing, Book Ban, Agency, Legal, Award, and Financial News
– Announcements
People & Publishing · p.8
Industry updates, milestones, and awards featuring Zin E. Rocklyn · Haruki Murakami · Joe Haldeman Thomas Olde Heuvelt · Foz Meadows · Gemma Files
…and many others
SPECIAL FEATURES
Commentary
Cory Doctorow – Strange Bedfellows and Long Knives · p.30
Spotlight
Lee O’Brien · p.31
Events
Rainforest Writers Village Retreats 2025 · p.36
CONVENTIONS
– 2025 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts · p.34
– 2025 Williamson Lectureship · p.37
– Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards 2025 · p.38
LISTINGS
– Magazines Received: March · p.40
– Books Received: March · p.41
– Bestsellers · p.52
– New & Notable · p.53
OBITUARIES · p.62
L.J. Smith · Kerry Greenwood · Todd Grimson
EDITORIAL MATTERS · p.63
ICFA · The Locus Awards · Gary K. Wolfe · This Issue · Future Issues
LOCUS LOOKS AT BOOKS
Short Fiction Reviews by Charles Payseur · p.12
Samovar 2/3/25 · Strange Horizons 2/10/25, 2/17/25 · Worlds of Possibility 2/25 · Fusion Fragment 2/25 · Flash Fiction Online 2/25 · Diabolical Plots 3/25 · GigaNotoSaurus 3/25 · Small Wonders 3/25 · Hexagon Spring ’25 · Lightspeed 3/25 · Beneath Ceaseless Skies 3/6/25
Short Fiction Reviews by Paula Guran · p.14
The Dark 3/25 · Remains #1 · New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #3, #4
Reactor 1/22/25, 2/5/25, 2/19/25, 2/26/25, 3/5/25, 3/12/25 · The Sunday Morning Transport 2/2/25, 2/16/25, 2/23/25, 3/9/25, 3/16/25 · Weird Horror Spring ’25
Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise · p.15
Asimov’s 3–4/25 · Clarkesworld 3/25 · Tales & Feathers Vol. 3
Reviews by Gary K. Wolfe · p.16
– Anima Rising, Christopher Moore
– One Message Remains, Premee Mohamed
– The Adventures of Mary Darling, Pat Murphy
Reviews by Liz Bourke · p.17
– Point of Hearts, Melissa Scott
– Greenteeth, Molly O’Neill
Reviews by Ian Mond · p.18
– The Antidote, Karen Russell
– Landfall, James Bradley
– Exit Zero: Stories, Marie-Helene Bertino
Reviews by Alex Brown · p.20
– When the Tides Held the Moon, Venessa Vida Kelley
– Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold, P. Djèlí Clark
– Sọmadịna, Akwaeke Emezi
Reviews by Alexandra Pierce · p.21
– A Mastery of Monsters, Liselle Sambury
– Slow Gods, Claire North
Reviews by Niall Harrison · p.22
– Metallic Realms, Lincoln Michel
– Portalmania, Debbie Urbanski
– City of All Seasons, Oliver K. Langmead & Aliya Whiteley
– Red Sword, Bora Chung
Reviews by Abigail Nussbaum · p.24
– Circular Motion, Alex Foster
– A Letter From the Lonesome Shore, Sylvie Cathrall
– Meet Me at the Crossroads, Megan Giddings
Reviews by Jake Casella Brookins · p.26
– Transmentation | Transience, Darkly Lem
– Dengue Boy, Michel Nieva
– A Drop of Corruption, Robert Jackson Bennett
– Notes from a Regicide, Isaac Fellman
Reviews by Colleen Mondor · p.28
– They Bloom at Night, Trang Thanh Tran
– Chaos, Constance Fay
– Unhallowed Halls, Lili Wilkinson
– The Rainfall Market, You Yeong-Gwang
Reviews by Divers Hands: Gabino Iglesias, Archita Mittra · p.29
– (S)Kin, Ibi Zoboi
– Jump Tribe, Clive Barker
– Homegrown Magic, Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos
