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Book Theft at Lloyd Currey Booksellers

17 August 2026 at 18:42

ILAB red, black, and white logoThe International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has reported a theft at the offices of antiquarian bookseller L.W. Currey, Inc. in Elizabethtown NY. The theft was the third targeting L.W. Currey, including one in February 2026. New York State Police are investigating the case.

145 books were reported as stolen, including at least ten books by Isaac Asimov; at least 15 books by H.G. Wells; at least five each by Ray Bradbury and William Hope Hodgson; a $25,000 first edition, first printing of Dune by Frank Herbert; a $15,000 first edition, first issue, first binding of A Voyage of Arcturus by Lindsay David; $25,000 and $15,000 first edition copies of The Shadow over Innsmouth and The Shunned House by H.P. Lovecraft; and a $17,500 first edition of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.

Currey said,

Break-in was last night bypassing security last night — total thefts over a quarter of a million. Most books are identifiable and some are unique.

Thief or thieves are knowledgable and target specific authors and genres. This is under active investigation and lists have been sent to stolen book database. I would like to publicize this for warning others.

ILAB has requested that its offices, those of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), or the booksellers John W. Knott, Jr. or L.W. Currey be contacted if the items reappear in the trade.

For more information, see the ILAB website.

[via File770.com]

The post Book Theft at Lloyd Currey Booksellers appeared first on Locus.

People & Publishing Roundup, August 2026

15 August 2026 at 17:00
MILESTONES

KUZHALI MANICKAVEL is now represented by Michael Curry at Don­ald Maass Literary Agency.

KATH RICHARDS is now repre­sented by Bethany Weaver at Weaver Literary Agency. Fangs with Benefits resold to Sam Brody at Forever via Jessica Purdue at Sphere.

The Horror Writers Association will partner with Raw Dog Screaming Press to publish HWA Poetry Showcase Volume XIII and future volumes.

KATHERINE LOCKE is president of the executive board of Authors Against Book Bans as of July 1, replacing Mag­gie Tokuda-Hall after her term.

 

BOOKS SOLD

CLAIRE MCKADE sold The Bridge to Nowhere and Everywhere, set in a postapocalyptic world with a mysteri­ous skyscraper stretching into space with a televised gauntlet, and two more books to Laura Schreiber at Voyager at auction via Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

JAMIE CASS’s Starfall, first in the historical fantasy Oxford Book of Magick series, and two more titles went to Chelsea Villareal at Podium Publishing for six figures at auction via John Baker and Julie Gourinchas of Bell Lomax Moreton Agency.

TRINITY MONTOYA’s “feminist techno-thriller” Kitsune 2.0 sold to Gemma Creffield at Solstice in a pre-empt via Barbara Zitwer of Barbara Zitwer Agency.

ANTOINETTE VAN SLUYTMAN sold The Red Then to dave ring at Neon Hemlock via Julie Crisp of Julie Crisp Literary Agency.

R.A. SANDPIPER resold romantic fantasy To Touch a Silent Fury and sold an untitled sequel to Gretchen Durning at Berkley XO via Alyssa Mor­ris of Trellis Literary Management. UK rights sold to Alexa Allen-Batifoulier at Del Rey UK via Maddalena Cavaciuti of David Higham Associates on behalf of Tori Clayton and Allison Malecha of Trellis Literary Management.

REBECCA ZAHABI sold The Mon­key Queen, “a gender-flipped retell­ing following the trickster god Sun Wukong,” and another title to Toni Kirkpatrick at Diversion Books via Alice Speilburg of Speilburg Literary Agency.

CASSANDRA KHAW’s “cozy fan­tasy” Sweet Saints sold to Mika Kasuga at Union Square & Co via Michael Curry of Donald Maass Liter­ary Agency.

MICHAEL SIMON sold Dark Pas­sage, Lost Nexus, and Chosen Des­tiny in the Stellar Crossing series to Marilyn Kretzer at Blackstone Publish­ing at auction via Michelle Hauck of Storm Literary Agency.

CAMILA URIOSTE’s “speculative literary novel” Fearsick, set in a Mid­western town on the anniversary of a school shooting, went to Jim McCoy at University of Iowa Press via Veronica Goldstein of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.

JAMIE KILLEN sold The War of Hours, “an anti-capitalist time-travel novel,” and its sequel to Nidhi Pugalia at Viking at auction via Elizabeth Pratt of Trellis Literary Management.

JANNA MILLER’s contemporary fantasy Blessings from War Island sold to Darian Bianco at Apex.

ANNE BISHOP sold the third novel in the Isle of Wyrd series to Anne So­wards at Ace via Jennifer Jackson of Donald Maass Literary Agency.

ASHLEY POSTON sold Elodie and the Dark Lord, first in a fantasy duol­ogy, and another book to Amanda Bergeron at Berkley via Holly Root of Root Literary. UK rights went to Priyal Agrawal at HQ.

ELLIOT GISH’s “historical specula­tive novel” Ruby and Jude, set in an underground 1960s lesbian bar, went to Jen Sookfong Lee at ECW Press via Geffen Semach of Westwood Creative Artists.

ZANDER WOOLLEY’s How to Raise a Human, “set in a galaxy re­building after a devastating war,” sold to Peter Joseph at Crown via Sarah Scarlett of Penguin Random House UK. UK rights went to Jorgie Bain at Michael Joseph via Sam Edenborough of Greyhound Literary.

KHALIA MOREAU’s Tainted, about a cursed young woman whose attempt to defect from her militarized unit goes wrong, sold to Ashlyn Inman at Keylight via Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency.

J.D. ROBINSON sold When Tomor­rows End, about a man who is stuck in time and must ally with a fellow time-traveler to escape a temporal storm and get home, to Marilyn Brigham at 47North via Brandi Bowles and Ethan Schlatter of UTA.

JOANNA RUSS’s The Collected Stories went to Jeanne Thornton at Feminist Press via Diana Finch of Diana Finch Literary Agency.

LASHAWN M. WANAK sold col­lection The Works of Her Hands to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press via Kristopher O’Higgins of Scribe Agency.

WILLIAM SHUNN’s collection Scouring the Deep Skies sold to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press via Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary.

JAMES VAN PELT’s collection Slow Dance at the High School and Other Imaginings went to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press.

CALLIE ROWLAND sold Gate of Nightmares to Elizabeth Agyemang at 47North via Safae El-Ouahabi of Rogers, Coleridge & White.

CHARLEIGH FREDERICK’s Pete Versus the Heroes, following a no­torious antihero in a world where superheroes have absolute power, and two more titles went to Anna Stileski at Bow’s Bookshelf.

LEE A. EVERETT’s The Oaths that Bind Us went to Gwyn Jordan at Rogueheart Press via A.J. Van Belle of Booker Albert Agency. Chelsea Karol will edit.

PAUL CORNELL sold historical fantasy Oh Fortuna!, set in an alternate Britain, and another book to Marcus Gipps at The Broken Binding Press via Stacia Decker of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.

BASIL TALBOT sold Soulstones to Hannah Graves at Olive Press. Kelley York will edit.

KYLIE CHEUNG sold “speculative, autofictional, literary novel” Genesis to Christoph Paul at Clash.

Headshot of N.E. Davenport
N.E. Davenport (2020)

N.E. DAVENPORT’s Immortal Empire, first in a dark romantasy duol­ogy, and a second title sold to David Pomerico at Voyager for six figures via Emily Forney of BookEnds.

BRITTNEY ARENA sold Prince of Night and another title, a romantic fantasy duology “about a chronically ill sculptor caught dreaming in a land where dreams are forbidden,” to Vi­engsamai Fetters at Erewhon at auc­tion via Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency. UK rights went to Vicky Leech Mateos at Bloomsbury Archer UK for six figures; Sam Brad­bury will edit.

TIFFANY DAUNE sold Love is Dead, first in a five-title paranormal romance series with a vampire hunter, and four more books to Jasmine Callaghan at Boldwood via Kayla Bramante of Storyteller Talent Agency.

KRISTINA FOREST sold The Un­requited Love Department, “a work­place romance with a light speculative twist,” to Emilia Rhodes at Atria via Sara Crowe of Sara Crowe Literary.

BETH MERLIN and DANIELLE MODAFFERI’s A Kingdom of Sky­scrapers and Fire Escapes went to Marilyn Kretzer at Blackstone Publish­ing via Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.

CORAL VEGA’s A Dance of Fire sold to Jean Lowd at Creative James.

MILA FINCH resold previously self-published Runebreaker and sold two more books to Alessandra Roche at Bloom Books at auction via Haley Heidemann of WME. UK rights sold to Calah Singleton at Voyager UK in a pre-empt via Kimberley Atkins of WME.

RUBY RUNE’s “dark academia ro­mance” A Game of Cat and Witch and another book went to Ghjulia Romiti at Forever in a pre-empt via Angie Ojeda Hazen of Lunar Literary Agency.

TASHA SOLOMONS’s Blood God­dess, first in a dark academia roman­tasy duology, went to Sydney Collins at Delacorte Press in a pre-empt via Ariele Fredman and Kelly Karczewski of UTA on behalf of Sue Armstrong at C+W.

JENNY L. HOWE, writing as LUCY HELEN HOWELL, sold A Frenzy of Fae and Feelings and Kaiju and Kisses to Elora Hartway at Titan Books via Katelyn Detweiler of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

SOFIA AVES’s That Time I Fell for a Sea Monster and at least one other book went to Emma Grundy Haigh at Boldwood via Nicky Lovick of WGM Atlantic Group.

LILY X’s “sapphic time-slip rom-com” Loched in Time and another book sold to Junessa Viloria at Forever at auction via Patrice Caldwell of The Caldwell Agency.

ALEXANDRA KENNINGTON, writ­ing as A.A. KENNINGTON, sold “sapphic horromance” The Minotaur Project to Gabrielle Pachon at Ace via Bethany Hendrix of Spencerhill Associates.

LORA SENF sold Death No. 114 to Ardyce Alspach at Union Square & Co via Ali Herring of Spencerhill Associates.

KEALAN PATRICK BURKE’s Night­lights for Eyes, set against the Satanic Panic and following a group of teenag­ers who “mess with the occult in the ruins of an abandoned church,” sold to Alan Lastufka at Shortwave.

GABE CONVERSE sold The Body Remembers, “in which a trans man’s pre-transition body washes up on the beach in his hometown and is coaxed back to life by his transphobic family,” to Rebecca Brewer at Bloomsbury Archer via Mara Hollander of Azantian Literary Agency.

Headshot of Rudy Ruiz
Rudy Ruiz (2014)

RUDY RUIZ’s “Southern gothic horror” Diablo Creek went to Marilyn Kretzer at Blackstone Publishing via Laura Strachan of Strachan Literary Agency.

TR ROWE sold “queer horror ro­mance” Backsliders to Katie McGuire at Crooked Lane via Dorian Maffei of Kimberley Cameron & Associates.

SARAH UNDERWOOD’s The Changeling Rule and another book went to Kristin Daly Rens at Storytide for six figures via Catherine Cho of Paper Literary. UK rights to both books and a third went to Sarah Levison at Electric Monkey, also for six figures.

BRIDGETTE WAY sold How to Seduce a Dark Lord, “about a famous necromancer hell-bent on becoming the trophy husband to the most dan­gerous man in New York,” and another title to Esi Sogah at Berkley and to Stephanie Alleyne at Random House Canada on behalf of Amanda Ferreira at auction via Cheyenne Faircloth and Courtney Miller-Callihan of Handspun Literary. UK rights went to Elora Hartway at Titan Books via Tawanna Sullivan at Berkley.

TESSA STONE sold “paranormal suspense” book Strange Neighbors and at least one other title to Kreceda Tyler at Black Odyssey Media in a pre-empt.

JOE KOCH sold “cosmic-erotic slasher and queer anti-murder mys­tery” Dead Boys Don’t Cry to Chris­toph Paul at Clash.

NEAL SHUSTERMAN’s second and third books in the First Blades series sold to Justin Chanda at Simon & Schuster Children’s via Andrea Brown of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

ANN LIANG sold speculative novel The Lost Life of Sylvia Song to Claire Stetzer at Harper Children’s via Kath­leen Rushall of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Sara Schonfeld will edit.

SASHA PEYTON SMITH sold The Fox Bride and another title to Erica Sussman at Harper Children’s via Hill­ary Jacobson of CAA. UK rights sold to Sarah Levison at Farshore via Sarah Mitchell of CAA.

R.M. GRAY sold The Bloodwolf Tri­als, “pitched as Spirited Away meets Wednesday,” and another book to Alexandra Hightower at Little, Brown Children’s via Gwen Beal and Peter Steinberg of UTA.

ROZ MACLAREN’s Burning Skye, second in the fantasy trilogy Ruined Skye, went to Sofia Aves at Evernight Teen.

S.M. DAVIS’s Disconnected, set in a future of shared knowledge through neural implants when a teenager finds his connection is failing, went to Sofia Aves at Evernight Teen.

SADIE SUKSIRI’s The Undoing, in which girls are born with a magical gift they must give up in adolescence, sold to Katherine Harrison at Knopf Chil­dren’s at auction via Molly Ker Hawn of David Higham Associates.

MARISA URGO sold The Midnight Coven, involving a celestial curse at a haunted boarding school, to Afua Antwi at Puffin UK via Moe Ferrara of TriadaUS Literary Agency.

S.G. PRINCE’s YA fantasy No Glory for Thieves went to Kortney Nash at Godwin Books via Haley Casey of Creative Media Agency.

MARIANNA SHEK’s “time-traveling dystopian adventure” The Wrangler’s Daughter sold to Shalu Vallepur at Chicken House.

GABRIELA MARTINS’s Love at First Bite sold to Carolina Mancheno Ortiz at Avon A.

DANA GRICKEN sold paranormal fantasy Ghost Game and mystery The Lost Pharaoh to Sofia Aves at Evernight Teen.

SASHA HIBBS and CHRISTINA HOOKER sold paranormal romance The Wicked Door to Sofia Aves at Evernight Teen.

Headshot of Vickie Lan
Vickie Lan (2020s)

VICKIE LAN’s debut But First Take Off Your Shoes, “in which a biracial daughter and her estranged Vietnamese mother try to reconcile as cities crumble, green laser beams rain down, and old grudges reemerge,” and another title went to Ardyce Alspach at Union Square & Co in a pre-empt via Ali Herring of Spencerhill Associates.

KIRSTEN GARRISON’s The God­bound King, debut and first in a “dark quest fantasy duology,” and another title sold to Jela Lewter at Saga Press via Jane Chun of Transatlantic Literary Agency.

DANI RAANAN’s debut fantasy novel The Crafter’s Wife sold to Ian Whates at Newcon Press via John Jarrold of John Jarrold Literary Agency.

HELENA BAILACH ADSUARA’s debut Monstrous Alchemy, a “dark academia fantasy,” went to Kirsiah Depp at Grand Central at auction via Hayley Steed of Janklow & Nesbit UK. UK rights went to Sania Riaz at Harvill Secker via Steed.

SALLY HAMILTON sold debut fan­tasy The Greenglass Guide to Magi­cal Antiques to Brianna Fairman at Putnam in a pre-empt via Sara Crowe of Sara Crowe Literary.

AUGUST PONTHIER’s debut Ev­erywhere Isn’t Texas, “blending speculative, horror, sci-fi, and Western elements,” sold to Pilar Garcia-Brown at Dutton in a pre-empt via Julie Fla­nagan of CAA.

SHANNON RAMPE sold debut Gods of Sky and Dust, pitched as Empire of Silence meets Final Fantasy, and another title to Toni Kirkpatrick at Diversion Books via Susan Velazquez Colmant of JABberwocky Literary Agency.

CARRIE KWIATKOWSKI’s debut, historical fantasy The Bindery Guild went to Stephanie Stein at Wildthorn at auction via Alexandra Machinist of CAA. UK rights sold to Gillian Green at Wildthorn UK via Daisy Arendell of CAA.

SADIE NICOLE sold A Haunted House Is Not a Home, pitched as Get Out meets Practical Magic, and another book to Sam Brody at Forever via Jessica Faust and Keifer Ludwig of BookEnds.

SHAYA LIN SUSAN sold debut There’s Something Wrong with the Girls, pitched as “The Stepford Wives for the TikTok girls,” to Abby Knudsen at Gallery via Thais Afonso of Azantian Literary Agency.

CLAIRE WELLS sold debut, “apoca­lyptic rom-com” Shoot Prey Love, and another book to Maxine Shen at Alcove Press via Sandra Sawicka of Marjacq Scripts.

ALEXANDRA RENWICK’s debut Horn, “reimagining the unicorn myth,” went to Olivia Zavitson at Hyperion Avenue via Jennifer Weltz of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

KRASH MEGIDDO’s debut, SF Pax Bin Yil sold to Bloom and Nectar Books.

J.I. LOCATELLI’s debut, YA hor­ror Little Sisters, Big Lies, “about a freshman sorority pledge investigat­ing a fellow pledge’s disappearance… as she begins to literally lose parts of herself in seductive sorority bonding rituals,” went to Tyiana Combs at Pen­guin Workshop via Rebecca Matte of Bradford Literary Agency.

NICOLE CREMEANS sold debut Deities and Calamities, Conquer Your Demons, and Bound by Law to Sabine Berlin at Roan & Weatherford via Bonnie Swanson of FinePrint Liter­ary Management. Lindsay Flanagan will edit.

ZIN E. ROCKLYN delivered a novella tentatively titled Blue Plate to Claire Eddy and Oliver Dougherty at Tordot­com via Arley Sorg of kt literary. Mal Frazier will edit.

JAMES PATRICK KELLY, JOHN KESSEL & JONATHAN LETHEM sold Ninety Percent of Everything, which will contain the story of the same name, and “a separate new or rare story from each author,” to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press via John Silbersack of the Bent Agency.

Headshot of Chesya Burke
Chesya Burke (2022)

CHESYA BURKE sold Let’s Play White, Too, “exploring the existence of Black women in America” with horror fiction and nonfiction essays to Jason Sizemore at Apex.

SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA and illustrator STEPH C. SOLIS sold a graphic novel adaptation of Mexi­can Gothic to Sebastian Girner at BOOM! Studios via Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency for Moreno-Garcia and via Jane Chun of Transatlantic Literary Agency for Solis. Maya Bollinger will edit.

K-MING CHANG sold “speculative essay” Ghostworld: On Girlhood to Lizzie Davis at Transit Books via Julia Kardon of HG Literary.

 

BOOKS RESOLD

KATE ASHER resold Crown of Olympus, Blood of Olympus, Blade of Olympus, and another book to Christine Ebbs at Penguin Australia via Saffron Dodd of ASH Literary.

MICHAEL SWANWICK’s fantasy book The Iron Dragon’s Daughter resold to Caroline Tew at Saga Press via Danielle Bukowski of Sterling Lord Literistic.

MARIAH MONTOYA and GRACE PEARCE resold the Guardians & Mon­sters duology to Alessandra Roche at Bloom Books via Rikki Bergman and Caitlin Mahony of WME. UK rights sold to Natasha Bardon at Voyager UK via Francesca Ali and Suzannah Ball of WME.

SHIM EUNJUNG and CHOI HYU­NYU resold The 25:00 Magic Lantern Express, translated by Gene Png, to Anne Sowards at Ace in a pre-empt via Stella Giatrakou of Bonnier Books UK.

SAM MILLER resold previously self-published SF collection Still Lost to Nidhi Pugalia at Penguin at auction via Angeline Rodriguez of WME. UK rights went to Ben Brusey at Del Rey UK via Francesca Ali of WME.

JULIANN GAREY resold Grace, Falling to Mark Doten at Soho Press via Paul Bresnick of Bresnick Weil Literary Agency.

JIM BUTCHER resold The Law to Kate Runde at Podium Publishing via Jennifer Jackson of Donald Maass Literary Agency.

 

PUBLISHING

KATIE DENT has been appointed commissioning editor at Orbit UK. She was previously fiction editor at Titan.

FAYE IOSOTALUNO has been appointed as president and chief op­erating officer of Entangled. She was previously CEO of Tinder.

NINA LEON has joined Hardman & Swainson as literary agent, “fo­cusing on romantasy, YA, upmarket, and contemporary romance.” Leon was previously at Pérez Literary & Entertainment.

GABRIELLE PACHON has been promoted to associate editor at Berk­ley/Ace Books.
#noinsta

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New Book Releases Video: August 11, 2026

13 August 2026 at 21:00

Ready to discover your next great read? Our August 11, 2026 new releases roundup brings together a fresh selection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Young Adult novels arriving on shelves this week.

Whether you’re in the mood for sprawling sci-fi adventures, immersive fantasy worlds, dark and unsettling horror, or engaging YA stories, there’s plenty to explore in this week’s lineup. We’ve highlighted some of the most noteworthy new titles to make finding your next read a little easier.

Enjoy staying up to date with the newest books? Subscribe to the channel and join us each week as we spotlight the latest releases across speculative fiction. Thanks for watching, and we’ll be back next week with another batch of exciting new books!

The post New Book Releases Video: August 11, 2026 appeared first on Locus.

Swift Wins 40th Anniversary Clarke Award

13 August 2026 at 00:26
When There Are Wolves Again by E.J. Swift (Arcadia) Amazon / Bookshop has won the 2026 annual Arthur C. Clarke Award. Swift receives £2,025 and an engraved bookend. Other finalists were:

Arthur C. Clarke Award logo

The winner was announced at an award ceremony in London on August 12, 2026.

The 2026 judges are Eliza Filimon for the British Science Fiction Association, Tiffani Angus and John Coxon for the Science Fiction Foundation, and Esther Stewart for the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival. Andrew M. Butler represented the Clarke Award directors as non-voting Chair of the Judges.

Butler says,

“For forty years, the many Arthur C. Clarke Award judges have made the difficult choice of best sf novel. For our anniversary year, they picked E.J. Swift’s near future When There Are Wolves Again, a story of environmental change and possible recovery. If the industry continues producing such awesome novels, the ten years between now and the award’s 50th anniversary will be worth watching out for.”

Award Director Tom Hunter said,

“Sir Arthur was always passionate that the award’s definition of science fiction be as diverse and open as possible, and he would have applauded the record levels of new SF being published today and been delighted by this year’s winner. Following Sir Arthur’s passing, the award faced the real possibility of being forced to close after its 25th year. I am delighted that we have been able to steward the award successfully all the way to its 40th anniversary, and am happy to report the directors are already making plans for celebrating in 2036.”

For more information, see the Clarke Award website.

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2026 Premio Ernesto Vegetti Winners

12 August 2026 at 22:06

The Associazione World SF Italia announced the winners of the 2026 Premio Ernesto Vegetti, an Italian SF award.World SF logo next to a globe image

Novel

  • WINNER: Mai verrà la notte, Mariangela Cerrino (Tabula Fati)
  • La grande insurrezione, Claude Francis Dozière (Tabula Fati)
  • Un compagno e tante stelle, Daniela Piegai (Delos Digital)

Nonfiction

  • WINNER: I grandi scrittori di Urani, D. Arecco, R. Chiavini, L. Ortino, F. Piccinini (Profondo Rosso)
  • Città invisibili, città immaginarie, Franco Piccininia (Scudo)
  • Conan il Barbaro, Michele Tetro (Weird Book)

Anthology

  • WINNER: Orizzonti lontani, storie di fanta west, F. Piccinini e L. Ortino (Tabula Fati)
  • Spazio, tempo e paradossi, Fabio Calabrese (Scudo)
  • Il palcoscenico del fato, Andrea Carlo Cappi (Giraldi Editore)
  • Visioni fantastiche: on demand, Giorgio Sangiorgi, (Scudo)

Short Fiction

  • WINNER: “Kayla Ross, the bounty hunter”, Sandra Moretti (Orizzonti lontani, storie di fanta west)
  • “Il pazzo di Verona”, Claudio Bovino (Fantasmi di oggi)
  • “La danza nel cimitero”, Mario Gazzola (Fantasmi di oggi)
  • “Il mistero del bosco di betulle”, Roberta Guardascione (Fantasmi di oggi)
  • “Un dio lo ha deciso”, Antonella Mecenero (Robot Fall ’25)
  • “Il salario dello scrittore”, Luca Ortino (World SF Italia Magazine 8/25)

For more information, see the official announcement.

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Dave Nee (1953-2026)

12 August 2026 at 20:29

SF/F fan and bookseller Dave Nee, 73, died August 6, 2026 of an apparent heart attack.

David Chin-Kuo Nee was born in 1953. He attended high school in the San Francisco Bay Area and studied at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1974, he co-founded The Portable Bookstore with Debbie Notkin and Tom Whitmore as a service running books to local organizations. It would be renamed The Other Change of Hobbit and became a physical store in Berkeley at the suggestion of Sherry Gottlieb, founder of the eponymous bookstore A Change of Hobbit. The physical store relocated multiple times over the decades, finding homes in downtown Berkeley and El Cerrito, before closing in 2014.

Besides bookselling, Nee wrote bibliographies for Thomas M. Disch and Michael Bishop in 1982 and 1983. He also had a long-time involvement with San Francisco Pride, being chair of the SF Pride Safety Committee.

He is survived by his husband, David Scott Marley.

The post Dave Nee (1953-2026) appeared first on Locus.

Weekly Bestsellers, 10 August 2026

11 August 2026 at 18:10
Durst

Sarah Beth Durst’s Sea of Charms (Bramble), third in The Spellshop series, debuts in the top 10 on three lists.

Title Debut / #wks on any list NYT
08.16
LAT
08.09
USAT
08.02
PW
08.10
Amz
(08.10)
UK:
Amz UK
(08.10)
Canada:
Amz.ca
(08.10)
Items on list -x- number of lists surveyed 10×3 10×2 150 15×3 100 100 100
Hardcovers
Aster, Starside 04.13.26 / 18 xxx.. xxx.. 15 +2 xxx..
Brown, Red Rising (Deluxe Slipcase Edition) 10.27.25 / 41 xxx.. 32 +5 xxx..
Burke, Yesteryear 04.20.26 / 17 3 -1 2 = 4 +1 3 -1 3 +4 3 +3 4 +1
Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping 06.10.24 / 90 xxx.. 22 -5 xxx.. xxx.. xx
Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles 04.27.26 / 16 xxx.. xxx.. xxx 12 -1 86 -11 87 +
Dinniman, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario 01.12.26 / 31 8 -1 xx 21 +5 42 -22 27 -10
Dinniman, Dungeon Crawler Carl 05.26.25 / 52 11 = xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 12 +1 xxx..
Dinniman, The Butcher’s Masquerade 04.21.25 / 27 14 +1 40 +13 xxx.. 43 = 88 +6
Dinniman, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook 02.02.26 / 27 10 -1 24 +7 15 +4 9 +18
Dinniman, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride 05.26.25 / 25 xxx.. 89 +6 xxx.. 59 -4
Dinniman, The Gate of the Feral Gods 03.24.25 / 29 13 +1 30 +12 xxx.. 35 -2 11 +11
Dinniman, This Inevitable Ruin 10.06.25 / 22 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 14 -2 64 +1
Durst, Sea of Charms 08.10.26 / 1 5 ++ 6 ++ 4 ++
Griffin, The Sun and the Starmaker 03.02.26 / 19 10 = xxx.. xxx..
Kova, Prince of Swords 08.03.26 / 2 x 77 -70 x
Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses 6 03.09.26 / 13 xxx.. 36 +12 xxx.. 52 -1
Marie, Immortal Consequences 08.11.25 / 15 xxx.. 142 -63 9 -5
Marie, Ruinous Ends 07.27.26 / 3 2 -1 xx 25 -10
Parker, The Ballad of Falling Dragons 05.25.26 / 12 xxx.. xxx.. x xxx.. 80 +
Pham, The Secret World of Briar Rose 06.15.26 / 8 9 -1 xxx.. xxx..
Roberts, Powerless 11.20.23 / 105 xxx.. xxx.. 14 -1 xxx.. xxx.. xxx..
Roux, Star Wars: Legacy 08.10.26 / 1 122 ++
Sanderson, Warbreaker 06.23.09 / 2 xxx.. 65 ++
SenLinYu, Alchemised 10.06.25 / 43 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 23 = xxx.. xxx.. xxx..
Yarros, Fourth Wing 05.15.23 / 121 xxx.. xxx.. 124 +17 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx..
Yarros, Onyx Storm 04.01.24 / 120 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 33 -11 xxx..
Yarros, Threshing Day 04.20.26 / 15 4 -2 7 -2 6 -2
Title Debut / #wks on any list NYT
08.16
LAT
08.09
USAT
08.02
PW
08.10
Amz
(08.10)
UK:
Amz UK
(08.10)
Canada:
Amz.ca
(08.10)
Paperbacks [tpb=trade]
Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 07.20.03 / 500 xxx.. 41 +15 xxx.. 13 -1 xxx.. x
Brown, Red Rising [tpb] 05.02.16 / 41 11 +3 xxx.. xxx.. 85 +8 38 +5
Buehlman, Between Two Fires [tpb] 09.09.24 / 24 81 -9
Dinniman, Dungeon Crawler Carl [tpb] 01.12.26 / 31 4 -1 5 -1 x 3 -1 38 -3 10 =
Dinniman, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Vol. 1 (Graphic Novel) [tpb] 06.01.26 / 11 71 +16 12 +10
Durst, The Faraway Inn [tpb] 04.13.26 / 15 xxx.. 23 + xxx..
Gillig, The Knight and the Moth [tpb] 06.01.26 / 7 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 25 + xxx..
Haig, The Midnight Library [tpb] 05.22.23 / 89 xxx.. xxx 140 -21 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx..
Jones, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter [tpb] 07.27.26 / 3 xx 83 -42 xx
Lowry, The Giver 09.02.13 / 198 xxx.. 134 -41 xxx.. 47 +29 xxx..
Maas, A Court of Frost and Starlight [tpb] 04.10.23 / 131 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 58 +32 xxx..
Maas, A Court of Silver Flames [tpb] 09.12.22 / 161 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 55 + xxx..
Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses [tpb] 05.16.16 / 278 xxx.. xxx.. 84 -15 xxx.. xxx.. 45 +5 60 +28
Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses Paperback Box Set 06.19.23 / 153 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 81 -11
Maas, A Court of Wings and Ruin [tpb] 05.14.18 / 198 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 52 +11 xxx..
Miller, Circe [tpb] 09.06.21 / 100 8 +3 7 + 29 +23 76 -44 xxx
Miller, The Song of Achilles [tpb] 09.06.21 / 114 xxx.. x 54 +21 x xxx.. xx
Orwell, Animal Farm 07.20.03 / 140 x 32 +15 xxx.. xxx..
Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four 07.20.03 / 593 xxx.. 131 + xxx.. xxx.. xxx..
Rowling, Harry Potter Box Set: The Complete Collection (UK) [tpb] 03.23.15 / 462 xxx.. 61 -9
Thorne, Moss’d in Space [tpb] 07.13.26 / 5 80 +33 x
Weir, Project Hail Mary [tpb] 10.03.22 / 90 2 = 8 -2 13 -5 x 9 -1 56 -10 15 -4
Yarros, Fourth Wing [tpb] 09.16.24 / 98 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 29 -3 xxx..
Yarros, Iron Flame [tpb] 06.02.25 / 59 xxx.. xxx.. xxx.. 27 -4 xxx..
Title Debut / #wks on any list NYT
08.16
LAT
08.09
USAT
08.02
PW
08.10
Amz
(08.10)
UK:
Amz UK
(08.10)
Canada:
Amz.ca
(08.10)

The table shows the current rank of each book and the change since last week, where:

= same as last week

+/- change since last week

+ back on list

++ new on list

x no longer on list (number of x’s: weeks off list)

All lists rank hardcovers and paperbacks separately, except for the USA Today list, which is a single list combining fiction and nonfiction in all formats. Dates shown are posted dates, except those in parentheses, which are dates compiled. New York Times posts its list one week in advance of print publication.

Note that some sources do not compile paperback bestsellers, and some exclude YA books (like the Harry Potter series) from their hardcover and paperback fiction lists.

The post Weekly Bestsellers, 10 August 2026 appeared first on Locus.

New Book Releases: Aug 11, 2026

11 August 2026 at 18:00

New Fantasy Romantasy Sci-Fi horror books and novels

Visit our bookshop.org page to purchase this week’s new books and support your local bookstore. And us!

 


 

 

Afifi - A fugitive's History of the Known UniverseAfifi, Nadia: A Fugitive’s History of the Known Universe (Flame Tree Press UK 978-1787589483, $26.95, 288pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 08/11/2026)

SF novel. Azad is being hunted across the galaxies by the Vitruvian Authorities because he exposed the dark past of his world. Azad and his team need to team up with a space pirate to start a revolution.

 

 

Anonymous - The Mighty Nein -- Stories UntoldAnonymous: Critical Role: The Mighty Nein: Stories Untold (Penguin Random House/Random House Worlds 979-8217298488, $30.00, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Tie-in anthology of Critical Role, stories based on the livestreamed roleplaying game. Nine different tales of some of the most memorable characters, including: Essek Thelyss, Isharni, and Pumat Sol. Simultaneous with the Penguin Random House UK edition.

 

 

Ayinde - A Dance of Burning BladesAyinde, M.H.: A Dance of Burning Blades (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 978-1668086858, $22.00, 688pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Epic fantasy novel, the second in the A Song of Legends Lost series. Tension is growing everywhere across the nine lands. The people hope to find out the secrets the king has been keeping from them.

 

 

Bennett - A Trade of BloodBennett, Robert Jackson: A Trade of Blood (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 978-0593723852, $32.00, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Fantasy mystery novel, third in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. Ana Dolabra must prove the innocence of the heir of one of the Empire’s most powerful families, and if she doesn’t, the Empire will fall apart. Simultaneous with the Hodder & Stoughton UK edition.

 

 

Bo-Young - A Plagued SeaKim, Bo-Young & Bowman, Sophie: A Plagued Sea (Tor/Nightfire 978-1250380753, $24.99, 102pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Horror novel. An earthquake on the coast of Haewon, a small seaside village, released a plague that turns its victims into fish monsters. Mu-young has been doing everything she can to survive here for the past three years.

 

 

Chapman - Devil InsideChapman, Clay McLeod: Devil Inside (Harlequin/Mira 978-0778306214, $18.99, 384pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Horror romance novel. After an accident that nearly cost his life, Jordan’s grip on reality seems to be slipping. After getting ghosted by a woman named Lilith, things start to get even weirder. Simultaneous with the Titan Books UK edition.

 

 

Dade - World's Okayest Oracle (Reluctantly) Seeks DemonDade, Olivia: World’s Okayest Oracle (Reluctantly) Seeks Demon (Penguin Random House/Berkley Romance 978-0593818220, $20.00, 458pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Supernatural romantic comedy novel, the second in the Supernatural Entanglements series. Gwen Wexloff can see the future, but not when it matters, until one day, she experiences a world-changing vision, and she needs to find help.

 

 

Doty - The House That Eats the DeadDoty, Max: The House that Eats the Dead (Macmillan/Tor Nightfire UK 979-8217092239, $20.00, 336pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 08/18/2026)

Horror novel. Claire discovers that her family’s new house eats anything that used to be alive. When she exploits this power, she forms a bond with the house, but its hunger starts to grow.

 

 

El-Arifi - EarthboundEl-Arifi, Saara: Earthbound (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 978-0593723067, $29.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Fantasy novel. Alder returns to the cave he was born in to discover more about his past, and the truth has him shaken. In the fae court, Yeeran is trying to create a peace treaty with the elven army.

 

 

Goodman - Orestes' ReturnGoodman, A.B.: House of Atreus: Orestes’ Return (Planetary Books 979-8188214753, $19.99, 144pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, 07/20/2026)

SF novel, third in the House of Atreus series. Agamemnon’s exiled son, Orestes, has finally come of age, and must prove himself to Apollo, as he returns home to the kingdom.

 

 

Hanrahan - The Dungeon BookHanrahan, Gareth: The Dungeon Book (Orbit US 978-0316595421, $19.99, 352pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Fantasy novel. After Bait is captured by a dragon, and left for dead in a dungeon, she’s taken in by a family of goblins, and is given the chance to decide where she belongs. Simultaneous with the Orbit UK edition.

 

 

Jafari - Heavensent & HellbentJafari, Sara: Heavensent & Hellbent (Penguin Random House/Delacorte 979-8217028634, $20.99, 416pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Young-adult fantasy romance novel. After seeing Zain kill a man, Roxana realizes that demons (and also angels) exist, but she can’t help her attraction towards him.

 

 

Johnston - The Third Period ComebackJohnston, E.K.: The Third Period Comeback (Penguin Random House/Dutton 979-8217110421, $17.99, 176pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Upper middle-grade “magic-tinged” novel. Hayley Rilko is cursed to ruin any hockey team she plays for, but it doesn’t go into effect until she’s no longer a kid, so she becomes determined to break the curse.

 

 

Kelly - The Book of BotsKelly, James Patrick: The Book of Bots (Fairwood Press 978-1958880418, $19.99, 302pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 08/14/2026)

Collection of 12 stories about robots and AI that come in all different forms. Some are in the shape of a car, some are from the far future, and some only exist in cyberspace.

 

 

Keslowitz - Traveling the Yellow Brick RoadKeslowitz, Steven: Traveling the Yellow Brick Road: What We Learn from The Wizard of Oz and Wicked (McFarland 978-1476699646, $39.95, 236pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 08/13/2026)

Critical non-fiction focusing on the films, looking at the world of Oz as a reflection of American society, exploring how beliefs about heroism, villainy, ethics, and truth change between the classic film and the recent Wicked films.

 

 

Maberry - BewildernessMaberry, Jonathan: Bewilderness (WordFire Press 978-1680577969, $23.99, 514pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, 08/11/2026)

SF horror novel. A doorway to a parallel dimension malfunctions and causes infinite parallel Earth’s to collide with our’s. Abby Corman is the only one who knows how to stop this, but an alien hunter is determined to stop her.

 

 

Okungbowa - Season of the SerpentOkungbowa, Suyi Davies: Season of the Serpent (Orbit US ‎978-0316428996, $19.99, 368pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Epic fantasy novel, the third book in the Nameless Republic trilogy. The Nameless Republic and Kangalaland are on the verge of war, and everyone must pick a side. Lilong lost her power, and is doing everything she can to get it back.

 

 

Penelope - The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara DouglassPenelope, Leslye: The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass (Orbit US/Redhook 978-0316594691, $19.99, 496pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Contemporary fantasy novel. After the disappearance of Zahara’s sister, no one remembered she even existed in the first place, besides her. Four years later she finds evidence of her existence, and hires a private investigator to look into her past.

 

 

Ribay - Nest of TonguesRibay, Randy: Nest of Tongues (Penguin Random House/Random House 979-8217024346, $19.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Young-adult paranormal horror novel inspired by Filipino mythology. Lily and her brother Caleb are vampires, but choose to keep it a secret, until one day when a monster hunter kills another vampire.

 

 

Smith - Death CardSmith, Jasmine: Death Card (Penguin Random House/Putnam 978-0593858295, $13.99, 304pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Young-adult contemporary fantasy novel. Mikaela Broussard has a vision of a customer stabbing her in the heart. She decides to spend time with the customer, Joelle, in order to gather more information, but starts to find her irresistible. A first novel.

 

 

Spotts - Saint DelilahSpotts, Isabelle: Saint Delilah (Penguin Random House/Berkley 979-8217189816, $30.00, 311pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Horror novel. Delilah, a ghost, is trying to clear her unfinished business, and she needs to start with finding who her killer is, so she teams up with the owner of a strip club she used to dance at, and a stranger who can hear and touch her. A first novel.

 

 

Tchaikovsky - Preaching to the ChoirTchaikovsky, Adrian: Preaching to the Choir (Rebellion/Solaris UK 978-1837867301, $32.99, 176pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/13/2026)

SF novel, second in the Terrible Worlds: Transformations series. Ross asked Elena to come with her to a mysterious family gathering for moral support, despite the fact that spouses aren’t invited, and they uncover dark secrets.

 

 

Tooley - There Are Ghosts HereTooley, Adrienne: There Are Ghosts Here (Penguin Random House/Delacorte 979-8217027897, $19.99, 272pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Young-adult speculative horror novel. Willa Childs forgets the details of the accident that sent her to the Dorsey House, and the others stuck there, Caroline and Ivy, are intending to keep it from her.

 

 

Walter - The Witch QueenWalter, Heather: The Witch Queen (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 978-0593598399, $30.00, 560pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 08/11/2026)

Fantasy novel, second in the Crimson Crown duology. Queen Ayleth knows that having the kingdom under her rule isn’t perfect, and she’s consumed by fears that the witches will come to remove her, or that people will find out her secret. Simultaneous with the Penguin Random House UK edition.

 

 

Whitten - ReliquaryWhitten, Hannah: Reliquary (Orbit US/Run For It 978-0316579537, $30.00, 320pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, 08/11/2026)

Horror novel. The estranged family of Claire’s late fiancé, Elias, reaches out after his death, and invites her to a three day stay at Harrow Point. While she’s there, she uncovers the reason behind her traumatic connection to the ocean.

 



Locus Magazine, Science Fiction Fantasy
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The post New Book Releases: Aug 11, 2026 appeared first on Locus.

John Crowley (1942-2026)

11 August 2026 at 00:51

John Crowley, 83, died August 8, 2026.

John William Crowley was born December 1, 1942 in Presque Isle ME, where his father, a doctor and captain in the Army Air Corps, was stationed. The family moved several times until settling in Indiana in 1953. He earned an English degree from Indiana University in 1964 and moved to New York City and worked in photography and documentary film writing. Crowley became a freelance writer in 1966, married his wife Laurie Block in 1984 and had twin daughters, and began teaching fiction at Yale University in 1993.

Crowley’s first novel, SF The Deep, was published in 1975. He soon published Beasts (1976), Engine Summer (1979), and Little, Big (1981), his first published work of fantasy and perhaps his best-known work, once called “a neglected masterpiece” by critic Harold Bloom. The novel won a World Fantasy Award and a Mythopoeic Award and was a finalist for a Hugo Award, a Nebula Award, a BSFA Award, and a Seiun Award. He went on to write the highly ambitious Ægypt series, beginning with Ægypt (1987) and followed by Love & Sleep (1994), Dæmonomania (2000), and Endless Things (2007); and he wrote other standalones including The Translator (2002), historical novels Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land (2005) and Four Freedoms (2009), Mythopoeic Award and Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire winner and Locus and World Fantasy Award finalist Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (2017), and Flint and Mirror (2022).

Crowley’s shorter fiction is also celebrated, most notably “Great Work of Time” (1991), a World Fantasy Award winner and Nebula Award finalist for Novella. He wrote Hugo and Nebula Award nominee “Snow” (1985) and Locus Award winner and Hugo and Sturgeon Memorial Award finalist “Gone” (1996). His short fiction has been published in F&SF, Omni Best Science Fiction, Interzone, and Asimov’s, and collected in World Fantasy Award-winner Novelty (1989), Antiquities (1993), Novelties & Souvenirs (2004), Totalitopia (2017), and And Go Like This: Stories (2019). Some of his non-fiction was gathered as In Other Words (2007) and Reading Backwards (2019). His work was the subject of critical study Snake’s-Hands: The Fiction of John Crowley, Michael Andre-Driussi & Alice K. Turner, eds. (2003).

Crowley’s numerous awards include an American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award in Literature (1992) and a World Fantasy Life Achievement Award (2006).

For more, see his entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

The post John Crowley (1942-2026) appeared first on Locus.

2026 Aurora Awards Winners

10 August 2026 at 23:42

Silver Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association logo, with a red maple leafThe winners of the 2026 Aurora Awards for works by Canadians were announced in an online awards ceremony on August 9, 2026, hosted by Elizabeth May Anderson and Mark Leslie Lefebvre.

Best Novel

  • WINNER: The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine, Robert J. Sawyer (Shadowpaw) amazon / bookshop

Best YA Novel

  • WINNER: Breath of the Dragon, Fonda Lee & Shannon Lee (Wednesday) amazon / bookshop

Best Novelette/Novella

  • A Palace Near the Wind, Ai Jiang (Titan) amazon / bookshop
  • “In the Gardener’s Service”, Michèle Laframboise (Asimov’s 7-8/25)
  • The First Thousand Trees, Premee Mohamed (ECW) amazon / bookshop
  • “The Lure of Stone”, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Uncanny 9-10/25)

Best Short Story

  • WINNER: “The Stone Played at Tengen”, R.H. Wesley (Clarkesworld 11/25)
  • “Hunted To Extinction”, Premee Mohamed (The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand)
  • “What If We Kissed While Sinking a Billionaire’s Yacht?”, Rachel A. Rosen (Antifa Lit Journal, Volume 1: What If We Kissed While Sinking a Billionaire’s Yacht?)
  • “the love song of house and lake”, Gillian Secord (On Spec 9/25)
  • “I Ain’t Your Doll Face”, Jacqueline Thorpe (Polar Borealis 3/25)

Best Graphic Novel/Comic

  • WINNER: Shark Girl, Kate Beaton (Quill and Quire)
  • “Bonds of the Forest“, Ally Rom Colthoff (Augur 8.3)
  • Questionable Content, Jeph Jacques (self-published)
  • It Never Rains, Kari Maaren (self-published)
  • Atana and the Jade Mermaid, Vivian Zhou (HarperAlley)

Best Related Work

  • WINNER: Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three, Stephen Kotowych, ed. (Ansible) amazon
  • Augur 8.1-8.3, Azure Arther, Kerry C. Byrne, André Geleynse, Toria Liao & Kelley Tai, eds.
  • On Spec Vol 35, #131-134, Diane L. Walton, ed. (The Copper Pig Writers’ Society)
  • One Message Remains, Premee Mohamed (Psychopomp) amazon / bookshop
  • As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories, Terese Mason Pierre, ed. (Spiderline) amazon / bookshop

Best Poem/Song

  • WINNER: “From Dust”, J.Y. Zhang (Small Wonders 12/25)
  • “Bigfoot Farewell”, Carolyn Clink (Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters)
  • “Dragon Karaoke”, David Clink, (Polar Starlight 4/25)
  • “flowers without meadow”, Tiffany Morris (Eye to the Telescope 4/25)
  • “Explosive”, Derek Newman-Stille (Polar Starlight 8/25)
  • “At the Spaceport Bar”, Lisa Timpf (Polar Starlight 2/25)

Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration

  • WINNER: “Listen to Me and I’ll tell You a Story”, Ejiwa “Edge” Ebenebe (Uncanny 9-10/25)
  • Starship Librarians cover art, Lorna Antoniazzi (Tyche)
  • “Dancing With the Holly King”, Janice Blaine (On Spec Winter ’25)
  • “Seance”, Alice M. (Heartlines Spec Spring ’25)
  • “Lunar Base”, Dan O’Driscoll (On Spec Summer ’25)

Best Fan Writing and Publications

  • WINNER: Polar Starlight Magazine, Rhea E. Rose, ed.
  • Amazing Stories 405-420, Steve Fahnestalk
  • Young People Read Old SFF, James Davis Nicoll (self-published)
  • Book Reviews in The Ottawa Review of Books, Robert Runté
  • “Speculative Poetry and the Hugos”, Lynne Sargent (Strange Horizons 7/21/25)

Best Fan Related Work

  • WINNER: Can*Con 2025
  • Scintillation 2025
  • Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi
  • Wizards & Spaceships
  • The Worldshapers

Hall of Fame inductees were previously announced: Kelley Armstrong, James Alan Gardner, and Mike Glicksohn.

For more information, see the Aurora Awards website.

The post 2026 Aurora Awards Winners appeared first on Locus.

2026 Prix Rosny Aîné Winners

10 August 2026 at 20:26

The winners for the 2026 Prix Rosny Aîné have been announced. The prize is awarded to SF novels and short stories written in French and published in print in 2025.Rosny aîné Prize logo, an armoured paladin.

Best Novel

  • WINNER: Sintonia, Audrey Pleynet (Belial)
  • La Dernière Tentation de Judas, Phillipe Battaglia (Atalante)
  • Echos Stellaires, David Bry (Flueve Eds)
  • Aatea, Anouck Faure (Argyll)
  • Soma, Floriane Soulas (R. Laffont)

Best Short Story

  • WINNER: “Les Noueurs,” Chloé Chevalier (Utopiales 2025)
  • “Résonances”, Mina Jacobson (Bifrost 10/25)
  • (Dés)Incarnations, Julia Richard (Timelapse)
  • Maléfcity – Histoire D’Un Conte Défait, Nicolas de Torsiac (Cordes de lune)
  • Re:Start, Katia Lanero Zamora (Argyll)

The Prix Cyrano recipient is Pierre Stolze.

For more information, see announcements from ActuSF and Soufflereve.

[via File770]

The post 2026 Prix Rosny Aîné Winners appeared first on Locus.

2026 SFRA Awards

6 August 2026 at 21:43

The Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) has announced the 2026 winners of its annual book awards.SFRA logo

The SFRA Award for Lifetime Contributions to SF Scholarship

  • Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr.

The SFRA Innovative Research Award

  • “Growth, Resource, Population: The GRP Triangle in Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction by Female Writers.” , Regina Kanyu Wang (SFRA Review Summer ’25)

Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service

  • Patrick Sharp

Mary Kay Bray Award

  • Paromita Sarkar for the review of The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF (SFRA Review Summer ’25)

SFRA Book Award

  • Black Apocalypse: Afrofuturism at the End of the World, Tavia Nyong’o (University of California Press)

Student Paper Award

  •  “‘I Must Put Things in My Mouth:’ Loving Trans Children in Octavia Butler’s Adulthood Rites”, Franklin Mitchell (University of Colorado Boulder)

The awards, selected by a committee of SFRA members, are given in recognition of “members of the SF community who exhibit outstanding scholarship, pioneering viewpoints in the science fiction discourse, and lifetime contributions to SF research.” Winners were announced at the SFRA conference banquet in East Lansing, Michigan.

For more information, see the SFRA website.

The post 2026 SFRA Awards appeared first on Locus.

New Book Releases Video: August 4, 2026

6 August 2026 at 21:00

Looking for your next unforgettable read? This week’s lineup of new releases for August 4, 2026 delivers an exciting collection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Young Adult novels that are making their debut today.

From epic adventures through distant galaxies and imaginative fantasy realms to chilling supernatural tales and compelling YA stories, this week’s selection offers something for every speculative fiction fan. We’ve gathered some of the standout releases to help you discover your next favorite book without the hassle of searching through endless lists.

If you enjoy keeping up with the latest releases, be sure to subscribe so you never miss our weekly new book roundups. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you next week with another collection of exciting new titles!

The post New Book Releases Video: August 4, 2026 appeared first on Locus.

2026 World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Awards

6 August 2026 at 17:54

World Fantasy Award, depicting a tree and gold discClive Barker and Joyce Carol Oates have been announced as the recipients of the 2026 World Fantasy Awards for Lifetime Achievement, presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to the fantasy field. The final ballot for the 2026 World Fantasy Awards was previously announced.

The awards will be presented during the 2026 World Fantasy Convention, to be held October 22-25, 2026 in Oakland CA.

For more information, see the World Fantasy Convention website.

The post 2026 World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Awards appeared first on Locus.

2026 Mythopoeic Awards Winners

5 August 2026 at 22:36

Mythopoeic Awards logoThe Mythopoeic Society announced the 2026 Mythopoeic Awards winners during Mythcon 54, held July 24-27, 2026 in Weatherford OK.

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature

  • WINNER: Snake-Eater, T. Kingfisher (47North)
  • The Charlatan Duology, Holly Black (Tor)
  • Audition for the Fox, Martin Cahill (Tachyon)
  • The Bright Sword, Lev Grossman (Viking)
  • The West Passage, Jared Pechaček (Tordotcom)
  • Water Moon, Samantha Sotto Yambao (Del Rey)
  • The Incandescent, Emily Tesh (Tor)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Young Adult Literature

  • WINNER: The Corruption of Hollis Brown, K. Ancrum (HarperCollins)
  • The Leaving Room, Amber McBride (Feiwel & Friends)
  • The Little Thieves series, Margaret Owen (Henry Holt & Co.)
  • On the Wings of La Noche, Vanessa L. Torres (Knopf)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature

  • WINNER: The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest, Aubrey Hartman (Little, Brown)
  • The Village Beyond the Mist, Sachiko Kashiwaba, tr. Avery Fischer Udagawa (Yonder)
  • The Island of Forgotten Gods, Victor Pinñeiro (Sourcebooks Young Readers)
  • The Misewa Saga, David A. Robertson (Tundra; Puffin Canada)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

  • WINNER: The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation, Michael D.C. Drout (Norton)
  • Mapping Middle-earth: Environmental and Political Narratives in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Cartographies, Anahit Behrooz (Bloomsbury Academic)
  • A Real Taste for Fairy-Stories, Verlyn Flieger (Walking Tree)
  • Pity, Power, and Tolkien’s Ring: To Rule the Fate of Many, Thomas P. Hillman (Kent State University Press)
  • Tolkien and the Mystery of Literary Creation, Giuseppe Pezzini (Cambridge UP 2025)
  • J.R.R. Tolkien’s Utopianism and the Classics, Hamish Williams (Bloomsbury Academic)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies

  • WINNER: Fantasy: A Short History, Adam Roberts (Bloomsbury Academic)
  • Art and Enchantment: How Wonder Works, Patrick Curry, (Routledge 2023)
  • Enheduanna: The Complete Poems of the World’s First Author, Sophus Helle, ed. (Yale University Press)
  • The Archetype of the Dying and Rising God in World Mythology, Paul R. Rovang (Lexington)
  • Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival: A Critical Anthology, Dennis Wilson Wise, ed. (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press)

For more information, see the official announcement.

The post 2026 Mythopoeic Awards Winners appeared first on Locus.

2026 N3F Awards

5 August 2026 at 20:36

The National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F) has announced the winners of the 2026 National Fantasy Fan Federation Laureate Awards (AKA the Neffy Awards). 

Best Novel

  • All That We See or Seem, Ken Liu (Saga)

Best Shorter Work or Anthology

  • The Dagger in Vichy, Alastair Reynolds (Subterranean)

Best Poem or Collection

  • Entropocene, Jean-Paul L. Garnier (Space Cowboy)

Best Editor

  • Toni Weisskopf (Baen)

Best Literary-Critical Work

  • Playing at the World Volume 2, Jon Peterson (MIT Press)

Best Historical Work

  • Dreaming of Autonomous Vehicles: Miloslav (Miles) J. Breuer: Czech- American Writer and the Birth of Science Fiction, Jaroslav Olša, Jr. (Space Cowboy)

Best Fan Writer

  • Lloyd Penney

Best Fan Editor

  • Bob Jennings (Fadeaway)

Best Non-N3F Fan Publication

  • The N3F Fan Gazette

Best Fan Artist

  • Jose Sanchez

Best Pro Artist

  • Bob Eggleton

Best Fan Website

  • The FANAC: Fan History Project

The awards are presented irregularly by the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F), “the oldest (founded 1941) national science fiction club in the world.” For more information, see the N3F website.

The post 2026 N3F Awards appeared first on Locus.

Aurealis Awards Changes

5 August 2026 at 19:40

Black and white logo for the Aurealis AwardsThe Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) has updated the entry guidelines for the 2026 Aurealis Awards, established to recognize the best in Australian speculative fiction, making changes including expanded terms for entry fees.

The Aurealis Awards were established in 1995 by Chimaera Publications, the team behind the magazine Aurealis. The Awards later partnered with different organizations to administer them. According to the Aurealis Awards web page, these have included “Fantastic Queensland, SpecFaction NSW, Conflux Inc. (ACT), the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation (WASFF), Continuum Foundation (Vic), and the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (CSFG).” In August 2025, the Aurealis Awards announced “new overlords” on a web page no longer available, and the QWC later established the new web page for the Awards, in which they note that the QWC is “anchoring the awards ceremony within the vibrant programming of GenreCon.”

According to online sources, when the WASFF started overseeing the awards, fees were introduced for titles entered into all novel categories, as well as anthology and collections categories, each entry incurring a $10 cost. However, as of this time, the prior Aurealis Awards website now forwards to the QWC website, which does not show archival pages for the old website, making authoritative verification challenging.

The 2026 entry guidelines set entry fees as $30 for Best Science Fiction Novel, Best Fantasy Novel, Best Horror Novel, and Best YA Novel; $5 for the four short story categories; and $20 for other categories, with “belonging discounts” for QWC members and GenreCon ticketholders.

In response to the changes, authors Alan Baxter and Matt Tighe shared an open letter to the QWC expressing concerns about the entry fees:

The change to the fees is onerous, and a large change compared with the full history of the awards. This is perceived by many as a ‘pay to play’ situation that favours those able to absorb the cost, and disadvantages self-publishing authors and small presses as well as authors whose publishers won’t take on the costs. The new structure will ensure that many works worthy of consideration will not be submitted, and favours larger publishers and well-established authors.

As well, the reduced fees for QWC or GenreCon members is perceived as a clear conflict of interest between award management and the financial operation of the Centre, as well as a disadvantage to authors in regional, remote, or interstate areas for which the above is not practical nor feasible. No costs to enter an award should be passed onto the authors, and especially no preference given to some authors over others.

The letter also expresses concerns about changes to rules, in particular arguing there is “lack of clarity around judge autonomy” and highlighting the rule that works shortlisted for multiple categories can only win in one, saying, “This is an impeachment on judge impartiality and artificially restricts works that blend genre or that cross categories.” The letter requests that the guidelines should also include a “clear statement that AI-generated work is not eligible.”

The letter was sent July 18, 2026 “with almost 250 signatures,” including authors and editors such as Leigh Blackmore, Jeff Clulow, Gabino Iglesias, T.R. Napper, Cat Sparks, and Kaaron Warren.

On July 20, the post was updated to report a reply to the letter: “Thank you for sharing this finally. Because it is so close to our Management Committee meeting we will hold it over for their consultation on the 28th. We will be in touch after that. I will update as and when we hear more.” The meeting was reportedly later delayed to August 10.

For more information, see the QWC website.

The post Aurealis Awards Changes appeared first on Locus.

2026 Dragon Awards Ballot

5 August 2026 at 16:47

Dragon Con logoDragon Con has announced the ballot for the 2026 Dragon Awards.

Best Science Fiction Novel

  • God’s Junk Drawer, Peter Clines (Blackstone)
  • The Faith of Beasts, James S.A. Corey (Orbit)
  • Operation Bounce House, Matt Dinniman (Ace)
  • Radiant Star, Ann Leckie (Orbit US)
  • Slow Gods, Claire North (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
  • The Shattering Peace, John Scalzi (Tor; Tor UK)

Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)

  • Twelve Months, Jim Butcher (Ace)
  • Academy of Outcasts, Larry Correia (Aethon)
  • The Lost Reliquary, Lyndsay Ely (Saga)
  • Hell to Pay, Sherrilyn Kenyon (Oliver Heber)
  • Red City, Marie Lu (Tor)
  • Queen Demon, Martha Wells (Tor)

Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

  • Make Me a Monster, Kalynn Bayron (Bloomsbury YA)
  • Ride or Die, Delilah S. Dawson (Delacorte)
  • The Executioners Three, Susan Dennard (Tor Teen)
  • Hazelthorn, CG Drews (Feiwel & Friends)
  • Sky on Fire, E.K. Johnston (Dutton Books for Young Readers)
  • Queen of Faces, Petra Lord (HarperCollins)

Best Alternate History Novel

  • World War 3.2, John Birmingham (Gigantic Bombs)
  • No Man’s Land, Richard K. Morgan (Del Rey)
  • A Resistance of Witches, Morgan Ryan (Viking)
  • The Winds of Fate, S.M. Stirling (Baen)
  • The Unnecessary War, Brian C. Thompson (self-published)
  • Powerless, Harry Turtledove (Caezik)

Best Horror Novel

  • The Possession of Alba Díaz, Isabel Cañas (Berkley; Solaris UK)
  • Play Nice, Rachel Harrison (Berkley)
  • King Sorrow, Joe Hill (Morrow; Headline UK)
  • The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Arcadia UK)
  • Girl in the Creek, Wendy N. Wagner (Tor Nightfire)

Best Illustrative Book Cover

  • Jeff Brown for The Sapphire Heart, Abigail Bender, Victoria Hungria & Sandra Mead Miller (Three Scribes)
  • Dominic Harman for The Ishtar Deception, James L. Cambias (Baen)
  • T. Kingfisher for Hemlock & Silver (Tor; Tor UK)
  • Carson Lowmiller for Brigands & Breadknives, Travis Baldree (Tor)
  • Anna Moshak for The Second Death of Locke, V.L. Bovalino (Forever)
  • Joe Wilson for Pretenders to the Throne of God, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Head of Zeus)

Best Comic Book or Graphic Novel

  • Absolute Superman, Jason Aaron, illustrated by Rafa Sandoval
  • X-Men: Elsewhen, John Byrne
  • Daredevil, Stephanie Phillips, illustrated by Lee Garbett
  • Absolute Batman, Scott Snyder, illustrated by Nick Dragotta
  • Absolute Wonder Woman, Kelly Thompson, illustrated by Hayden Sherman
  • Something is Killing the Children, James Tynion IV, illustrated by Werther Dell’Edera

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series, TV or Internet

  • Alien: Earth
  • The Boys Season 5
  • Fallout Season 2
  • Foundation Season 3
  • A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
  • Plur1bus
  • Strange New Worlds Season 3
  • Widow’s Bay

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

  • Superman
  • Project Hail Mary
  • Disclosure Day
  • Predator: Badlands
  • Frankenstein
  • The Sheep Detectives
  • Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
  • Toy Story 5

Finalists in digital and tabletop gaming-related categories were also announced. Winners will be announced at Dragon Con, to be held September 3-7, 2026 in Atlanta GA.

The post 2026 Dragon Awards Ballot appeared first on Locus.

2026 Dream Foundry Contest Finalists

4 August 2026 at 23:32

Dream Foundry,Dream Foundry dragon logo a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the finalists for its 2026 contests.

Writing Contest

  • Ooreoluwa O. Agbede
  • Sara Ang
  • N.A. Blair
  • Tomás Xavier Díaz
  • Angela Luo
  • Natalie Anai Nowo Lydick
  • Fatima Masood
  • Femi Salami
  • Ashleigh Spencer
  • Plamen Ivanov Vasilev

Art Contest

  • River Barton
  • Ginger Bertoni
  • Emelia Feldman
  • Javiera Díaz
  • Sierra Eston
  • Olive Humphrey
  • Niko Kristic
  • Jessie Li
  • Kurtis Sawyer
  • Marcus Leon Solomon

First place winners receive $1,500, second place receives $750, and third place receives $400.

The writing judges are P.A. Cornell and R.S.A. Garcia. The art contest judges are Becca Farrow and Hannah Vardit. The writing contest coordinator was Julia Rios and the art contest coordinator was Ilinca Barbacuta.

For more information, see the Dream Foundry website or their contest press releases.

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2026 World Fantasy Awards Finalists

4 August 2026 at 18:12

World Fantasy Awards logo with trophyThe World Fantasy Awards ballot for works published in 2025 has been announced. The awards will be presented during the 2026 World Fantasy Convention, scheduled for October 22-25, 2026 in Oakland CA.

The World Fantasy Awards finalists are:

Best Novel

  • Audition for the Fox, Martin Cahill (Tachyon)
  • Once Was Willem, M.R. Carey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
  • The Secret Market of the Dead, Giovanni De Feo (Saga)
  • The Everlasting, Alix E. Harrow (Tor US; Tor UK)
  • The Adventures of Mary Darling, Pat Murphy (Tachyon)

Best Long Fiction

  • The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia)
  • “The Secret Diary of Mina Harker”, Theodora Goss (Letters from an Imaginary Country)
  • “Uncertain Sons”, Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons and Other Stories)
  • The Death of Mountains, Jordan Kurella (Lethe)
  • “The Spotter”, Josh Malerman (You, Human: An Anthology of Dark Science Fiction, Vol. 2)
  • Psychopomp & Circumstance, Eden Royce (Tordotcom)
  • A Mouthful of Dust, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)

Best Short Fiction

  • “The Hungry Mouth at the Edge of Space and the Goddess Knitting at Home”, Renan Bernardo (Reactor 8/27/25)
  • “In My Country”, Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 4/25)
  • “10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days”, Samantha Mills (Uncanny 3-4/25)
  • “St. Dymphna’s School for Borderland Girls”, Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece (Weird Horror Spring ‘25)
  • “Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny 5-6/25)

Best Anthology

  • Night & Day, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Saga)
  • Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, Julie C. Day, Carina Bissett & Craig Laurance Gidney, eds. (Essential Dreams)
  • The Best Weird Fiction of the Year: Volume 1, Michael Kelly, ed. (Undertow)
  • Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume Three, Stephen Kotowych, ed. (Ansible)
  • Bog People: A Working-Class Anthology of Folk Horror, Hollie Starling, ed. (Chatto & Windus)

Best Collection

  • Letters from an Imaginary Country, Theodora Goss (Tachyon)
  • Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Thomas Ha (Undertow)
  • The Eleventh Hour: A Quintet of Stories, Salman Rushdie (Random House; Jonathan Cape)
  • Black Hole Heart and Other Stories, K.A. Teryna, tr. Alex Shvartsman (Fairwood)

Best Artist

  • Galen Dara
  • Kathleen Jennings
  • Daniele Serra
  • Rachel Smythe
  • Charles Vess

Special Award – Professional

  • Clive Bloom, for London Uncanny: A Gothic Guide to the Capital in Weird History and Fiction (Bloomsbury Academic)
  • Jaymee Goh, Jill Roberts & Jacob Weisman, for Tachyon Publications
  • Tim Lucas, for Succubus (PS/Electric Dreamhouse)
  • Blumhouse & Dave Schilling, for Horror’s New Wave: 15 Years of Blumhouse (Simon Element)
  • Becky Siegel Spratford, for Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature (Saga)
  • Richard Wolinsky, for Space Ships! Ray Guns! Martian Octopods!: Interviews with Science Fiction Legends (Tachyon)

Special Award – Non-Professional

  • Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
  • Andy Cox, for Remains
  • Patrick Swenson, for Fairwood Press and for the Rainforest Writers Village Retreat
  • Elise C. Tobler, for The Deadlands
  • Wendy Wagner, for Nightmare

The Life Achievement Awards recipients have not yet been announced.

This year’s judges are Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ, Tamsyn Muir, Madeleine E. Robins, Richard Thomas, and Ann VanderMeer. For more information, see the WFC website.

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