Here are the finalists for the 2025 Locus Awards

Locus Magazine, the major industry magazine for the SF/F community issues a poll from its subscribers and fans for its awards. The Locus Awards are up there along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and it's a good survey of the past year's storytelling. Last Friday, the publication has released its list of finalists for the 2025 awards. Here are last year's winners.

As in years past, it's an excellent roundup: there are some good titles on here, and I'm looking forward to seeing which ones end up winning. This year's awards will be announced during this year's Locus Awards Ceremony, which will be held on June 21st during this year's Locus Awards Ceremony, which will be held at Nile Hall in Oakland, California. You can get tickets for the event here and see the schedule here.

Here's the full list of nominees:

Science Fiction Novel

• The Man Who Saw Seconds by Alexander Boldizar
• Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera
• The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
• The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow
• The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
• Kinning by Nisi Shawl
• Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Space Oddity by Catherynne M. Valente
• Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer 

Fantasy Novel

• I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
• The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
• The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
• The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
• Asunder by Kerstin Hall
• A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
• Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune
• The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed
• Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
• The City in Glass by Nghi Vo

Horror Novel

• Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin
• House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias
• The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
• Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
• The Wilding by Ian McDonald
• Forgotten Sisters by Cynthia Pelayo
• Model Home by Rivers Solomon
• Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
• Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
• The Underhistory by Kaaron Warren

Young Adult Novel

• Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron
• Blood Justice by Terry J. Benton-Walker
• Rest in Peaches by Alex Brown
• Fall of the Iron Gods by Olivia Chadha
• The Feast Makers by H.A. Clarke
• A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
• The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
• Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee
• Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger
• Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

First Novel

• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
• The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
• Sargassa by Sophie Burnham
• Lady Eve’s Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow
• The Book of Love by Kelly Link
• The West Passage by Jared Pechaček
• The Spice Gate by Prashanth Srivatsa
• Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase
• Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
• Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto

Novella

• Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
• What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
• Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
• The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
• The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
• She Who Knows by Nnedi Okorafor
• Countess by Suzan Palumbo
• Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker
• The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
• The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

Novelette

• “A Stranger Knocks" by Tananarive Due (Uncanny 9-10/24)
• “I’m Not Disappointed Just Mad AKA The Heaviest Couch in the Known Universe" by Daryl Gregory (Reactor 11/20/24)
• “The River Judge" by S.L. Huang (Reactor 3/6/24)
• “Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!" by TJ Klune (In the Lives of Puppets)
• “The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea" by Naomi Kritzer (Asimov’s 9-10/24)
• “Another Girl Under the Iron Bell" by Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/24)
• “By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars" by Premee Mohamed (Strange Horizons 6/9/24)
• “Encore” by Wole Talabi (Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Future of Art)
• “Joanna’s Bodies" by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Psychopomp 7/1/24)
• “Loneliness Universe" by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 5-6/24)

Short Story

• The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
• “Autumn’s Red Bird" by Aliette de Bodard (Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Future of Art)
• “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus" by Rachael K. Jones (Lightspeed 1/24)
• “Parthenogenesis" by Stephen Graham Jones (Reactor 10/2/24)
• “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole" by Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 2/24)
• “The V*mpire" by PH Lee (Reactor 10/23/24)
• “Three Faces of a Beheading" by Arkady Martine (Uncanny 5-6/24)
• “The Night Birds” by Premee Mohamed (Northern Nights)
• “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is" by Nghi Vo (Uncanny 3/24)
• “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read" by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 5/24)

Anthology

• The Inhumans and Other Stories: A Selection of Bengali Science Fiction edited by Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
• The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 8 edited by Neil Clarke
• We Mostly Come Out at Night edited by Rob Costello
• Deep Dream: Science Fiction Exploring the Future of Art edited by Indrapramit Das
• The Black Girl Survives in This One edited by Desiree S. Evans & Saraciea J. Fennell,
• Northern Nights edited by Michael Kelly
• Egypt + 100 edited by Ahmed Naji
• The Crawling Moon edited by dave ring
• New Adventures in Space Opera edited by Jonathan Strahan
• Thyme Travellers edited by Sonia Sulaiman

Collection

• Not a Speck of Light by Laird Barron
• Weird Black Girls by Elwin Cotman
• The History of the World Begins in Ice by Kate Elliott
• Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions by Nalo Hopkinson
• Kindling by Kathleen Jennings
• You Like it Darker by Stephen King
• Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie
• Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik
• Power to Yield and Other Stories by Bogi Takács
• Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi

Magazine

• Asimov’s
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Clarkesworld
• Fiyah
• khōréō
• Lightspeed
• Reactor
• Strange Horizons
• The Deadlands
• Uncanny Magazine

Publisher

• Angry Robot
• DAW
• Erewhon
• Gollancz
• Neon Hemlock
• Orbit
• Small Beer Press
• Solaris
• Subterranean Press
• Tachyon

Tor Publishing Group recused itself from this category.

Editor

• Neil Clarke
• Ellen Datlow
• Diana Pho
• dave ring
• Jonathan Strahan
• Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
• Sheree Renée Thomas
• E. Catherine Tobler
• Wendy N. Wagner
• Fran Wilde & Julian Yap

Artist

• Brom
• Rovina Cai
• Julie Dillon
• Kathleen Jennings
• Abigail Larson
• John Picacio
• Shaun Tan
• Charles Vess
• Michael Whelan
• Alyssa Winans

Nonfiction

• Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction edited by Eugen Bacon
• This Is Not a Science Fiction Textbook by Mark Bould & Steven Shaviro
• Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right by Jordan S. Carroll
• The Book Blinders by John Clute
• Urban Fantasy: Exploring Modernity through Magic by Stefan Ekman
• Capitalism: A Horror Story by Jon Greenaway
• Laozi’s Dao De Jing by Laozi & Ken Liu
• Track Changes by Abigail Nussbaum
• A History of Fans and Fandom by Holly Swinyard
• Star Trek: Open a Channel by Nana Visitor

Illustrated and Art Book

• The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, art by Tom Kidd
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, illustrated by Charles Vess
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, art by Nico Delort
• R.U.R.: The Karel Čapek Classic by Kateřina Čupová, translated by Julie Nováková
• Hell, Ink & Water: The Art of Mike Mignola edited by Scott Dunbier, art by Mike Mignola
• Supernatural Tales from Japan by Lafcadio Hearn & Yei Theodora Ozaki, art by Sakyu
• Undying Tales: Mythologies of Species on the Verge of Extinction by Stephanie Law
• Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds & Realms by Adam Lee
• Frank Frazetta: An Artists’ Tribute edited by Marisa Lewis
• Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams, art by Donato Giancola