May 2026 • Issue 784 • Vol. 96 • No. 5
59th Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and interview design by Francesca Myman. Cover altered from art by Anastasia Osipova

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INTERVIEWS

Emily Tesh: Breaking Free /  10
Sunyi Dean: Unpredictable /  32

MAIN STORIES / 5 & 6

2026 Hugo Awards Ballot  •  Carey Wins Philip K. Dick Award  •  Caldwell Wins Crawford Award  •  Langford Receives Solstice Award  •  Hachette Pulls Shy Girl Over Suspected AI Use

THE DATA FILE / 7

BSFA Awards Winners  •  HWA Lifetime Achievement and Specialty Awards  •  McSweeney Receives Windham-Campbell Prize  •  Park Wins Otherwise Award  •  Anathema: Spec from the Margins Relaunches  •  Court Finds Vampire Romance Series Not Plagiarized  •  Ruth Berman Named SFPA Grand Master  •  Lambda Literary Awards Finalists  •  Omondi Awarded SLF Working Class Writers Grant  •  New Imprint: Evil Twin  •  Imadjinn Awards Finalists  •  Robert E. Howard Awards Nominees  •  Awards News  •  Financial News  •  International Rights

PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8

Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about John Courtney Grimwood, Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, S.A. Chakraborty, Brandon Sanderson & Peter Orullian, Joe Abercrombie, and many others.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Commentary: Cory Doctorow: The Age of Vapor, 29  •  Photo Story: Rainforest Writers Village Retreats 2026, 30  •  Spotlight on Alyssa Winans, 31  •  Photo Story: Allen and Swanwick Read at KGB, 60  •  Photo Story: Manchess Designs Artemis Patch, 62  •  Photo Story: Brooklyn Books & Booze, 64

CONVENTIONS

2026 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, 34  •  2026 Williamson Lectureship, 37  •  2026 Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards, 38  •  Norwescon 48, 4

LISTINGS

Magazines Received: March, 41  •  Bestsellers, 42  •  New & Notable Books: March, 43  •  Books Received: March, 44

OBITUARIES / 66

Ian Watson  •  Appreciation by Mike Allen  •  John Flanagan  •  eluki bes shahar  •  Thomas Tessier

EDITORIAL MATTERS / 67

Short Fiction Reviews by MARIA HASKINS / 12

Baffling 12/25; Strange Horizons 3/2/26; Lightspeed 3/26; Diabolical Plots 3/16/26, 3/2/26; Bourbon Penn 2/23/26; Escape Pod 2/26/26, 2/19/26; PodCastle 1/27/26, 2/10/26; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 3/5/26.

Short Fiction Reviews by PAULA GURAN / 14

Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet 12/25; Apex 2/26; Remains 2/26; The Dark 3/26, 2/26; The Sunday Morning Transport 1/18, 2/22, 3/1, 3/15; Adventitious 4/26; Reactor 3/18, 3/25.

Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. WISE / 15

Clarkesworld 3/26; Asimov’s 3-4/26.

Reviews by GARY K. WOLFE / 16

Palaces of the Crow, Ray Nayler; The Girl with a Thousand Faces, Sunyi Dean; The Recollections, Christopher Priest.

Reviews by LIZ BOURKE / 17

The Fox and the Devil, Kiersten White; The Dragon Has Some Complaints, John Wiswell.

Reviews by IAN MOND / 18

Your Behavior Will Be Monitored, Justin Feinstein; Department of the Vanishing, Johanna Bell; The Luminous Fairies and Mothra, Shin’ichirō Nakamura, Takehiko Fukunaga, Yoshie Hotta, tr. Jeffrey Angles.

Reviews by ALEX BROWN / 20

Bromantasy, Máire Roche; The Last Best Quest Ever, F.T. Lukens.

Reviews by ALEXANDRA PIERCE / 21

Bird Deity, John Morrissey; Wormwood, Terry Dowling; Bedlam Rose, Terry Dowling.

Reviews by NIALL HARRISON / 22

What We Are Seeking, Cameron Reed; Homebound, Portia Elan; Glyph, Ali Smith; Plastic, Prism,Void, Violet Allen.

Reviews by COLLEEN MONDOR / 24

The Faraway Inn, Sarah Beth Durst; Girl of Lore, Melanie Dale; And Side By Side They Wander, Molly Tanzer.

Reviews by GABINO IGLESIAS / 25

You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom, Vincent Tirado; Jitterbug, Gareth L. Powell; Wretch, Eric LaRocca; Make Me Better, Sarah Gailey.

Reviews by DIVERS HANDS: VANESSA FOGG, MAYA C. JAMES, PAUL KINCAID, RUSSELL LETSON / 26

The Language of Liars, S.L. Huang; To Ride a Rising Storm, Moniquill Blackgoose; The Recollections, Christopher Priest; The Faith of Beasts, James S.A. Corey.

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Books reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer) —

Allen, Violet • Plastic, Prism, Void (Niall Harrison)
Bell, Johanna • Department of the Vanishing (Ian Mond)
Blackgoose, Moniquill • To Ride a Rising Storm (Maya C. James)
Corey, James S. A. • The Faith of Beasts (Russell Letson)
Dale, Melanie • Girl of Lore (Colleen Mondor)
Dean, Sunyi • The Girl with a Thousand Faces (Gary K. Wolfe)
Dowling, Terry • Bedlam Rose (Alexandra Pierce)
Dowling, Terry • Wormwood (Alexandra Pierce)
Durst, Sarah Beth • The Faraway Inn (Colleen Mondor)
Elan, Portia • Homebound (Niall Harrison)
Feinstein, Justin • Your Behavior Will Be Monitored (Ian Mond)
Gailey, Sarah • Make Me Better (Gabino Iglesias)
Huang, S. L. • The Language of Liars (Vanessa Fogg)
LaRocca, Eric • Wretch (Gabino Iglesias)
Lukens, F. T. • The Last Best Quest Ever (Alex Brown)
Morrissey, John • Bird Deity (Alexandra Pierce)
Nakamura, Shin ichiro, & Takehiko Fukunaga • The Luminous Fairies and Mothra (Ian Mond)
Nayler, Ray • Palaces of the Crow (Gary K. Wolfe)
Powell, Gareth L. • Jitterbug (Gabino Iglesias)
Priest, Christopher • The Recollections (Gary K. Wolfe)
Priest, Christopher • The Recollections (Paul Kincaid)
Reed, Cameron • What We Are Seeking (Niall Harrison)
Roche, Máire • Bromantasy (Alex Brown)
Smith, Ali • Glyph (Niall Harrison)
Tanzer, Molly • And Side by Side They Wander (Colleen Mondor)
Tirado, Vincent • You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom (Gabino Iglesias)
White, Kiersten • The Fox and the Devil (Liz Bourke)
Wiswell, John • The Dragon Has Some Complaints (Liz Bourke)