Issue:
In this issue:
November 2025, Issue 778 of Locus magazine has interviews with Joe Hill and Eden Royce. News includes the Ignyte Awards winners, Loyer's Sturgeon Award win, the planned Baker & Taylor shutdown, Anthropic settlement news, and more. Cory Doctorow's column is entitled "Show Me the Incentive, I’ll Show You the Outcome". Galaxycon in Chengdu is covered with a report and photos. Guest columnist Kate Maruyama shares "The Conversation Continues, Even When They're Gone", a reflection on working with and remembering her mother Kit Reed. Obituaries commemorate Jon Lasser and Stephen Fabian. Reviews cover new titles by authors T. Kingfisher, Kemi Ashing-Giwa, Theodora Goss, Terry Bisson, Stephen Baxter, Ren Hutchings, Kit Englard, Wesley Chu, Elizabeth Bear, Sam J. Miller, Mary Robinette Kowal, Olga Ravn, Cheon Seon-Ran, Eric Heisserer, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Gautam Bhatia (ed.), Hiron Ennes, Sarah Hall, David Surface & Julia Rust, Jen Julian, Susan Dennard, Sarah Beth Durst, Julie Berry, Jacqueline Harpman, Lorraine Wilson, Madeline Dyer (ed.), Freddie Kölsch, Rachel Eve Moulton, Eric LaRocca, Alma Katsu, Sheree Renée Thomas & Lesley Conner (eds.), Finn Longman, Alastair Reynolds, Seamus Sullivan, John Scalzi, Daniel Ritter & David Ritter, and more.
Table of Contents:
November 2025 • Issue 778 • Vol. 95 • No. 5
58th Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and interview design by Francesca Myman. Cover art by Marin Iurii/warmtail.
INTERVIEWS
Joe Hill: King Sorrow / 10
Eden Royce: Atmosphere of Disturbia / 34
MAIN STORIES / 6
Ignyte Awards Winners • Loyer Wins Sturgeon Award • Baker & Taylor Prepares to Shut Down • Anthropic Settlement News
THE DATA FILE / 7
National Book Awards Finalists • Ditmar Awards • American Book Awards Winners • On Spec to Close • Galaxy Awards New • Lambda Literary Awards • Andrews McMeel Buys Quirk • Judge Dismisses Gaiman Lawsuit • Murphy Wins WSFA Small Press Award • Miller Shortlisted for Booker Prize • ‘‘Go Finish Your Book’’ Recipients • SFPA Contest and Awards • British Audio Awards Shortlists • Ignotus Awards • Wonderland Awards Ballot • Xingyun Awards Winners • National Translation Awards Shortlist • Awards News • Financial News
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Kelly Link, Paul Tremblay, R.F. Kuang, Micaiah Johnson, Emily St. John Mandel, and many others.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Commentary: Cory Doctorow: Show Me the Incentive, I’ll Show You the Outcome, 31 • The Conversation Continues, Even When They're Gone, 37 • Tachyon 30th Anniversary Party, 61
GALAXYCON / 38
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: September, 40 • New & Notable Books: September, 41 • Books Received: September, 42 • Bestsellers, 54 • Audiofile Monthly Recommendations: Best New Fantasy, 55
OBITUARIES / 65
Jon Lasser • Stephen Fabian
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 66
Short Fiction Reviews by CHARLES PAYSEUR / 12
Diabolical Plots 8/25; Small Wonders 8/25; Strange Horizons 8/4/25, 8/18/25; Flash Fiction Online 8/25; Zooscape 8/25; Cast of Wonders 8/23/25; Escape Pod 8/21/25; Lightspeed 9/25; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 9/4/25, 9/18/25.
Short Fiction Reviews by PAULA GURAN / 14
Remains 3; Uncanny 9-10/25; Lady Churchill’s 6/25; Reactor 7/30/25, 8/6/25, 8/13/25, 8/20/25; Bog Matter Spring ’25.
Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. WISE / 15
Augur 8.1; Clarkesworld 9/25; Asimov’s 9-10/25.
Reviews by GARY K. WOLFE / 16
Snake-Eater, T. Kingfisher; The King Must Die, Kemi Ashing-Giwa; Letters from an Imaginary Country, Theodora Goss; The Outspoken and the Incendiary: Interviews with Radical Speculative Fiction Writers, Terry Bisson.
Reviews by ALEXANDRA PIERCE / 18
Hearthspace, Stephen Baxter; The Legend Liminal, Ren Hutchings; Polyphonic Seduction, Kit Englard.
Reviews by ADRIENNE MARTINI / 19
The Art of Legend, Wesley Chu; Angel Maker, Elizabeth Bear; Red Star Hustle, Sam J. Miller / Apprehension, Mary Robinette Kowal.
Reviews by IAN MOND / 20
The Wax Child, Olga Ravn; The Midnight Shift, Cheon Seon-Ran; Simultaneous, Eric Heisserer.
Reviews by MAYA C. JAMES / 21
The Legend Liminal, Ren Hutchings; Cursed Daughters, Oyinkan Braithwaite.
Reviews by NIALL HARRISON / 22
Between Worlds, Gautam Bhatia, ed.; The Works of Vermin, Hiron Ennes; The King Must Die, Kemi Ashing-Giwa; Helm, Sarah Hall.
Reviews by COLLEEN MONDOR / 24
Saving Thornwood, David Surface & Julia Rust; Red Rabbit Ghost, Jen Julian; The Executioners Three, Susan Dennard; The Enchanted Greenhouse, Sarah Beth Durst; If Looks Could Kill, Julie Berry.
Reviews by ABIGAIL NUSSBAUM / 26
Orlanda, Jacqueline Harpman; The Salt Oracle, Lorraine Wilson.
Reviews by ALEX BROWN / 27
These Bodies Ain’t Broken, Madeline Dyer, ed.; Empty Heaven, Freddie Kölsch.
Reviews by GABINO IGLESIAS / 28
Tantrum, Rachel Eve Moulton; We Are Always Tender with Our Dead, Eric LaRocca; Fiend, Alma Katsu; The Map of Lost Places, Sheree Renée Thomas & Lesley Conner, eds.
Reviews by DIVERS HANDS: LIZ BOURKE, RUSSELL LETSON, ARCHITA MITTRA, ADAM ROBERTS, ALEC NEVALA-LEE / 29
The Wolf and His King, Finn Longman; Halcyon Years, Alastair Reynolds; Daedalus is Dead, Seamus Sullivan; The Shattering Peace, John Scalzi; The Ultimate Cosmos: How A 1933 Serial Novel Reshaped Science Fiction, Daniel Ritter & David Ritter.
Books reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer) —
T. Kingfisher • Snake-Eater (Gary K. Wolfe)
Batey, Joey • It's Not a Cult (Niall Harrison)
Boey, Meihan • The Formidable Miss Cassidy (Alexandra Pierce)
Bujold, Lois McMaster • The Adventure of the Demonic Ox (Liz Bourke)
Campbell, Rebecca • The Other Shore (Niall Harrison)
Caruso, Melissa • The Last Soul Among Wolves (Liz Bourke)
Cooper, Keith • Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact (Alvaro Zinos-Amaro)
Fagan, Deva • House of Dusk (Liz Bourke)
Gailey, Sarah • Spread Me (Ian Mond)
Gratton, Tessa • The Mercy Makers (Liz Bourke)
Hardinge, Frances • The Forest of a Thousand Eyes (Colleen Mondor)
Hill, Joe • King Sorrow (Ian Mond)
Kaster, Allan, ed. • The Year's Top Tales of Space and Time 5 (Alexandra Pierce)
Kerr, Jacob • The Wolf of Whindale (Niall Harrison)
Kress, Nancy • Not What I Intended (Gary K. Wolfe)
Liu, Ken • All That We See or Seem (Gary K. Wolfe)
McKillip, Patricia A. • The Essential Patricia A. McKillip (Gary K. Wolfe)
Meijer, Eva • Sea Now (Niall Harrison)
Murashige, Kelly • The Yomigaeri Tunnel (Colleen Mondor)
Okorafor, Nnedi, & John Joseph Adams, eds. • The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025 (Gary K. Wolfe)
Okri, Ben • Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Brokenhearted (Maya C. James)
Royce, Eden • Psychopomp & Circumstance (Alex Brown)
Scholes, Ken • Better Dreams, Fallen Seeds, and Other Handfuls of Hope (Maya C. James)
Stiefvater, Maggie • The Listeners (Colleen Mondor)
Straub, Peter • What Happens in Hello Jack (Gary K. Wolfe)
Straub, Peter • Wreckage (Gary K. Wolfe)
Suma, Nova Ren • Wake the Wild Creatures (Colleen Mondor)
Tawada, Yoko • Archipelago of the Sun (Niall Harrison)
Wilson, Daniel H. • Hole in the Sky (Alexandra Pierce)
