Two debuts this week: Elise Kova’s Prince of Swords (Del Rey), and Stacey McEwan’s A Forsaken Prophecy (Saga), each ranking among the top 12 on three lists each.

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 most prominent debut this week is I.V. Marie’s Ruinous Ends (Delacorte), second in The Souls of Blackwood Academy, on three lists, ranking as high as #1 on the NYT Young Adult Hardcover list. Also debuting this week: the trade paperback of Stephen Graham Jones’ multiple-award-winning novel The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Finally: while Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear still ranks in the top 10 on all lists here after 15 weeks, it might be noted that, despite some descriptions of the book, it is not actually science fiction or fantasy.

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 August 2026 Locus magazine, issue #787, has interviews with Chloe Gong and James Patrick Kelly, and a spotlight on authors Anand Gandhi & Zain Memon and the Maya Universe. News covers the Shirley Jackson Awards winners, the Profile Books acquisition of Solaris, new imprint Pink Beam Press, the Future Worlds prize winners, S&S’s relaunch of Pocket Books, the relaunch of Starlog Magazine with a podcast, and much more. Reports include Westercon78/BayCon 42, Readercon 35, MetropolCon/Eurocon, RichmondCon, and the 2026 Locus Survey results. Obituaries remember R.S. Belcher, Mark J. McGarry, Dafydd Ab Hugh, Russell Kirkpatrick, Robin Johnson, and Katharine T. Carroll. Reviews cover new works by Jaclyn Moriarty, Peter Watts, Cadwell Turnbull, J.P. Lacrampe, Keely Jobe, Deb Olin Unferth, August Clarke, Robert Jackson Bennett, Frances Hardinge, A.D. Sui, Miles Cameron, Yoon Ha Lee, Aimee Pokwatka, Meg Elison, Mónica Ojeda translated by Sarah Booker, Wendy Waring, Richard Swan, Keala Kendall, Cale Plett, Jillian Laine, Farah Naz Rishi, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, Tessa Yang, Christopher Golden, Paul Tremblay, Gabrielle Sher, Eugen Bacon, Ursula K. Le Guin, David M. Brinley & Amanda T. Zehnder (eds.), Jeffrey Alan Love; John Jos. Miller & Kevin Andrew Murphy, Stephen King, and others.

Reviews by ALEXANDRA PIERCE / 18

Our Infinite and Inevitable Ends, A.D. Sui; Whalesong, Miles Cameron; Code and Codex, Yoon Ha Lee; Accumulation, Aimee Pokwatka.

Reviews by NIALL HARRISON / 20

Foundling Fathers, Meg Elison; Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun, Mónica Ojeda, tr. Sarah Booker; The Hunger of Those Who Built It, Wendy Waring; The Infinite State, Richard Swan.

Reviews by ALEX BROWN / 22

Japanese Gothic, Kylie Lee Baker; The Tapestry of Fate, Shannon Chakraborty.

Reviews by GABINO IGLESIAS / 24

Carry Me to My Grave, Christopher Golden; Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep, Paul Tremblay; Odessa, Gabrielle Sher.

Reviews by VANESSA FOGG / 25

Crimson in Quietus, Eugen Bacon.

Reviews by KAREN HABER / 27

Ursula K. Le Guin’s Book of Cats, Ursula K. Le Guin; Icons of the Fantastic: Illustrations of Imaginative Literature from the Korshak Collection, David M. Brinley & Amanda T. Zehnder, eds.; The Last Battle at the End of the World, Jeffrey Alan Love; SHORT TAKES: The Forest of a Thousand Eyes, Frances Hardinge; George R.R. Martin Presents Wild Cards: Ante Up, John Jos. Miller & Kevin Andrew Murphy; Hansel and Gretel, Stephen King.

Bacon, Eugen • Crimson in Quietus (Vanessa Fogg)
Bennett, Robert Jackson • A Trade of Blood (Abigail Nussbaum)
Brinley, David M., & Amanda T. Zehner, eds. • Icons of the Fantastic: Illustrations of Imaginative Literature from the Korshak Collection (Karen Haber)
Cameron, Miles • Whalesong (Alexandra Pierce)
Clarke, August • The Felicity Complex (Abigail Nussbaum)
Elison, Meg • Foundling Fathers (Niall Harrison)
Golden, Christopher • Carry Me to My Grave (Gabino Iglesias)
Hardinge, Frances • The Forest of a Thousand Eyes (Karen Haber)
Hardinge, Frances • Traitors’ Nest (Abigail Nussbaum)
Jobe, Keely • The Endling (Ian Mond)
Kendall, Keala • That Which Feeds Us (Alex Brown)
King, Stephen, illustrated by Maurice Sendak • Hansel and Gretel (Karen Haber)
Lacrampe, J. P. • Valet (Ian Mond)
Laine, Jillian • Henry Tudor Must Die (Colleen Mondor)
Le Guin, Ursula K. • Ursula K. Le Guin’s Book of Cats (Karen Haber)
Lee, Yoon Ha • Code and Codex (Alexandra Pierce)
Love, Jeffrey Alan • The Last Battle at the End of the World (Karen Haber)
Miller, John Jos., & Kevin Andrew Murphy • George R.R. Martin Presents Wild Cards: Ante Up (Karen Haber)
Moriarty, Jaclyn • Time Travel for Beginners (Gary K. Wolfe)
Ojeda, M nica • Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun (Niall Harrison)
Plett, Cale • The Saw Mouth (Alex Brown)
Pokwatka, Aimee • Accumulation (Alexandra Pierce)
Rishi, Farah Naz • Lovestruck (Colleen Mondor)
Sher, Gabrielle • Odessa (Gabino Iglesias)
Sui, A. D. • Our Infinite and Inevitable Ends (Alexandra Pierce)
Swan, Richard • The Infinite State (Niall Harrison)
Tremblay, Paul • Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep (Gabino Iglesias)
Tubb, Kristin O’Donnell • The Spiritualists (Colleen Mondor)
Turnbull, Cadwell • All the Hidden Places (Gary K. Wolfe)
Unferth, Deb Olin • Earth 7 (Ian Mond)
Waring, Wendy • The Hunger of Those Who Built It (Niall Harrison)
Watts, Peter • Fold Catastrophes (Gary K. Wolfe)
Yang, Tessa • The Jellyfish Problem (Colleen Mondor)Science Fiction and Fantasy (Alvaro Zinos-Amaro)

Ready to give your reading list a mid-summer upgrade? The July 28th drop is packed with highly anticipated new arrivals across Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, and Young Adult—bringing you the biggest and most buzzworthy releases hitting bookstores today.

Whether you’re craving immersive space operas, haunting gothic magic, spine-chilling suspense, or high-stakes YA thrillers, today’s batch of new books has something tailored just for you.

We’ve curated the top highlights so you can skip the searching and dive right into your next obsession. Don’t forget to hit subscribe for your weekly dose of top-tier book recommendations, and thanks for hanging out with us! Catch you next week for another round of must-read titles.

The 13-title longlist for the 2026 Booker Prize has been announced, with works and writers of genre interest including:

The End of Everything, M. John Harrison (Serpent’s Tail)

The Renovation, Kenan Orhan (Hamish Hamilton)

The Vivisectors, Missouri Williams (4th Estate)

Helen of Nowhere, Makenna Goodman (Coffee House)

Switzy, Emma Cline (Random House)

The Disappearers, Marlon James (Riverhead)

The shortlist will be announced September 22, 2026. Shortlisted authors receive £2,500. The winner will be announced November 9, 2026; the winning work receives £50,000.

For more information, including the complete longlist, see the International Booker Prize website.

For previous titles of genre interest listed for the Booker, see past Locus coverage of the award.

The North Carolina Speculative Fiction Foundation (NCSFF) has announced the winner for the 2026 Manly Wade Wellman Award. The award recognizes “outstanding achievement in science fiction and fantasy novels written by North Carolina authors.”

Winners for the 2026 Imadjinn Awards have been announced. Winners were selected by jury and announced at the Imaginarium Convention, held July 17-19, 2026 at the Holiday Inn Louisville East in Louisville KY.

Best Science Fiction Novel

• WINNER: Dead to Rights: A Car Warriors Autoduel Novel, Jay Barnson (Three Ravens)

• Frozen Echoes, Ed Downes (Undertaker)
• Bifrost Down, Jon R. Osborne (Seventh Seal)

Best Fantasy Novel

• WINNER: Rise From Ruin, Melissa Olthoff (Baen)

• The Blacksmith’s Boy, Bruce Buchanan (Wild Ink)
• The Healer’s Heir, Katie Fitzgerald (self-published)
• A Count of Courage, Nancy Moser (Mustard Seed)

Best Horror Novel

• WINNER: Darkness Calls, Joe Chianakas (Rogue River)

• Southern Cross, Vaughn A. Jackson (Falstaff)
• The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon, Barry Maher (Crystal Lake)
• The Exorcist’s House: Resurrection, Nick Roberts (Crystal Lake)

Best Urban Fantasy Novel

• WINNER: The Unlife of Lisa Cooper: Vengeance, J.M. Celi (Rockamooka)

• A Conundrum of Wizards, K.R. Brady (Woods)
• Reaper, John G. Hartness (Falstaff)
• House of Owls, Jon R. Osborne (New Mythology)

Best Paranormal Romance

• WINNER: Dancing with a Demon, L.R. Braden (Magical Realms)

• S’more Love, K. Rose (self-published)
• Resurrection, Karen White

Best Romance Novel

• WINNER: No Apologies, Andrea Jenelle (Willow Creek Publishing)

• The Scald Crow, Karen White (Baisong)

Best Young Adult Novel

• WINNER: The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine, Lindsay A. Franklin (Enclave Escape)

• Paramour, Robin Alvarez (Tides Collide)
• Missing Mom, Lynn Slaughter (Fire & Ice Young Adult)
• Awakening: Winberie Journals Book One, Lynn Tincher (Hydra)

Best Middle Grade Book

• WINNER: Not Lucille, Mike Steele (Creative James Media)

• Dreams of Gold and Fire, Fred Phillips (Raconteur)
• Scareville: Food to Die For, John Ward (Crystal Lake)

Best Cross Genre Novel

• WINNER: The Eagle Flies at Night, Lance Loot (self-published)

• Clutching Cthulhu’s Pearls, Marilyn Barr (self-published)

Best Anthology

• WINNER: What Swallows the Light, Theresa Derwin, Charlene du Toit, Victoria Kiska & Paula Limbaugh, eds. (Crystal Lake)

• Dancing With Destruction, Jason Cordova, ed. (Baen)
• It Came From the Trailer Park: Double Wide Volume 1, Jesse James Fain & William Joseph Roberts, eds. (Three Ravens)

Best Short Story Collection

• WINNER: Midnight Vintage, Sean Eads & Joshua Viola (Crystal Lake)

• The Wind’s Four Quarters, Alma Alexander (Book View Cafe)
• Six O’Clock House & Other Strange Tales, Rebecca Cuthbert (Watertower Hill)

Best Short Story

• WINNER: “Through the Holler, Into the Dark”, Emma E. Murray (The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions)

• “The Leper’s Garden”, Jeff Clulow (The Leper’s Garden: And Other Contagions)
• “This Broken World”, Mia Dalia (Choices: An Anthology of Reproductive Horror)

Best Audiobook Narration

• WINNER: Harvest of Evil: The John Fisher Chronicles, Book 1, William H. Lehman, narrated by Perry Wince (Three Ravens)

• Ghostship Derelict, J.R. Handley, narrated by Brian Fairbank (Three Ravens)
• Shadow Card Guardian, Kacey Ezell, narrated by Anna Delphine (Sevillalost)

Best Thriller Novel

• WINNER: The First Wives, S.E. Reed (Storm)

• Cash Target, Edale Lane (self-published)
• Collateral Damage, Mick Williams (Valiant)

Best Western Novel

• WINNER: Legends of the West, Micheal Black (Circulation & Trade Division)

• Blood Lake, C.M. Saunders (Undertaker)

Best Poetry Collection

• WINNER: The Eight, Rita Spalding (Hydra)

• The Book of Hours, Darius Jones (self-published)

Best Magazine/Periodical

• WINNER: Kentucky Monthly, Stephen M. Vest (self-published)

• parABnormal Magazine, H. David Blalock, ed.

Imadjinn prizes were also awarded for categories including Historical Fiction, Thriller, Children’s Book, Graphic Novel/Comic Book, and others. For more information, including a complete list of winners, see the Imaginarium website.

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

Aragon, Jesse: The Demon Star (The Broken Binding 978-0756420536, $29.00, 448pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Science fantasy novel. Ysira Natkis escaped death and brought back something that could change the fate of her civilization, and now she must battle aliens, cultists, and gods to prevent the apocalypse. A first novel.

Blackwell, Juliet: The Séance Garden (Penguin Random House/Berkley 978-0593638262, $18.99, 400pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Ghost mystery novel. Professor Harper Grae is a non-believer in the supernatural, but that’s put to the test when a mysterious murder happens at the “haunted” mansion of the Perles family.

Chan, Eliza: Harbour of Hungry Ghosts (Orbit US 978-0316589710, $19.99, 400pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Fantasy novel inspired by Asian lore. When Kiamling’s grandmother is taken by a strange monster during the Hungry Ghosts festival, she must find out what happened and lead a search to save her grandmother. Simultaneous with the Orbit UK edition.

Davidson, Cesi: Laterals (Aqueduct Press 978-1619762923, $12.00, N/App, formats: paperback, ebook, 08/01/2026)

Collection of short plays. Part of the Conversation Pieces series.

Durst, Sarah Beth: Sea of Charms (Tor/Bramble 978-1250400673, $29.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Cozy fantasy romance novel. Marin sails from island to island working as a supply runner. When she visits the capital during a revolution she makes a deal with her friend Dax, but starts to discover her underlying feelings towards him.

Eames, Andrea: A Tangled Magic (Kensington/Erewhon 978-1645661894, $28.00, 464pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Dark fantasy novel. Netta has lived in a tower her entire life, with only her hair that moves on its own, and a telepathic raven to accompany her. When her mother vanishes, she goes on a quest to save her.

Hannan, Sophia: We Were Never Here (Simon & Schuster 978-1665958332, $19.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Young-adult horror novel. When Georgia’s girlfriend mysteriously dies visiting a haunted house, her life falls apart. Months later, she’s forced to return to her old life as a thief, but when she tries to steal a painting, something horrifying happens A first novel.

Henning, Sarah: Such a Witch (Little, Brown 978-0316584371, $19.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Young-adult magic school rom-com. Embry Woodcross, a witch and senior at Raven’s Head School for the Magically Gifted, takes a new student, Oakley Riddle, under her wing, but after a murder, she becomes the main suspect.

James, Calvin: Affairs of State (Titan Books UK ‎ 978-1835416211, $19.99, 496pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 07/28/2026)

SF novel. Levar Boylan, a junior supply officer, finds himself as a diplomat discussing peace treaties with the empire, all because his ex is the reigning demon emperor. After they reconnect, they discover the spark is still there. A first novel.

Johnson, Lora Beth: Hell to Pay (Penguin Random House/Putnam 978-0593856529, $20.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Young-adult fantasy novel. After the death of her brother, and disappearance of her parents, Elle feels lost, until one day, she’s offered a job to steal a soul from the afterlife, a task that’s much easier said than done.

Lim, Elizabeth: Fishbone Cinderella (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 979-8217092987, $30.00, 448pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Fantasy novel inspired by Chinese folklore and Western fairy tales. A book that explores the family dynamics of mothers and daughters across decades and cultures.

Omar, Sara: The Harpy Knight (Titan Books UK 978-1835412848, $18.99, 432pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Fantasy novel second in the Chaos Constellation trilogy. After conquering the kingdom of Dumakra, Bataar Rhah focuses attention on Aglea in the north, a land of monster infested marshes, and pagan berserkers.

René, Leslie: Maggie and Arthur’s Magic Moment (Ace 978-0593956182, $20.00, 432pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Fantasy romance novel. Maggie Linden, an Incantations Translation professor, becomes forced to share her basement office with Arthur Taliesin, an alchemist with an insufferable attitude, but she starts to realize he’s putting on an act. A first novel.

Roux, Madeleine: Star Wars: Legacy (Penguin Random House/Random House Worlds 978-0593982662, $30.00, 416pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Star Wars tie-in novel set between episodes VIII and IX. Leia Organa does everything she can to train Rey, but her knowledge of the force is extremely limited, so they choose to journey to an old Jedi temple on Tython together. Simultaneous with the Penguin Random House UK edition.

Sierra, Caleb: The Wetworks Miracle (Stelliform Press 978-1738316571, $15.00, 108pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 07/30/2026)

Dark fantasy novella. After the ecological collapse of society, humans fled their world to a place called the Wetworks, and the only plant there is something called the “Root.” People call it a miracle despite how it alters their bodies. A first novel.

Spires, D.A. Xiaolin: Ellipses (AudioText/Infinivox N/A, $16.00, 100pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 08/01/2026)

SF novella. Koharu is looking for a landing spot on exoplanet Kepler-62f, when she comes in contact with seemingly friendly aliens. She does everything she can to communicate with them, while at the same time trying to contact her boyfriend.

Thorne, Scarlett J.: Lord of the Heights (Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 978-1647102074, $19.99, 316pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Fantasy romance novel. Dark gothic romantasy reimagining of Wuthering Heights. James Lockwood moves to Yorkshire for peace, but his car gets destroyed, and the road vanishes, so his only option is to go to Wuthering Heights.

West, Jacqueline: Black Point (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum 978-1665981859, $19.99, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Young-adult dark fantasy novel set in a small town steeped in Norse traditions. When the supposedly haunted Black Point Hotel is bought by outsiders, the town is taken aback.

Zanetti, Rebecca: One Shattered Crown (Kensington 978-1035417964, $32.00, 380pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 07/28/2026)

Erotic fantasy romance novel, the third in the Grimm Bargains series. Justice Beathach and Ella Rendale have a long lasting feud, but when Justice is forced to protect her from people who want her dead, he becomes obsessed.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and fantasy field.

Fan and organizer Robin Johnson, 89, died July 6, 2026 in Ballarat, Australia of underlying causes after a fall.

Johnson was born March 9, 1937 and lived variously in Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, and Ballarat, as well as in England. He chaired the first Australian Worldcon in 1975 as well as Thylacons 1-3. He was awarded the Ditmar Awards Special Award in 1974 and in 1983, and he received the Big Heart Award at Worldcon in 2007.

’Pemi Aguda, One Leg on Earth (Norton 5/26) Dark fantasy novel set in Lagos, a place of opportunity, but urban develop­ment has a price. Yosoye, 23 and eager to start her new job at an architectural firm in the shiny city, starts to notice things aren’t quite right. She gets pregnant and real­izes many pregnant women are drowning themselves, walking into water or throwing themselves off bridges. “One Leg on Earth lives up to its title. It is a bridge between the untameable present and an unknowable future.” [Niall Harrison]

Ilona Andrews, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (Tor 3/26) Fantasy novel, the first book in the Maggie the Undying series, about a woman who finds herself in a city she recognizes from the unfinished dark epic fantasy series she’s obsessed with; she figures out that she can get killed (in some horrible ways) but always comes back, and can’t resist trying to change things, with some unexpected results.

Caroline Bicks, Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King (Hogarth US 4/26) Bicks used her unprecedented access to King’s pri­vate archives and interviews with the man himself to explore what makes his writing work so well. Focusing on early drafts and handwritten revisions of five early books (The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, ’Salem’s Lot, and Night Shift), Bicks’s book was described, by King himself, as “the best book about my process that I have ever read.”

Albertine Clarke, The Body Builders (Bloomsbury USA 3/26) An aspiring writer decides she and a man she con­nects with share one mind in two bodies; then she finds herself in an otherworldly artificial environment, where her every wish is made real. “The largest part of my enjoyment of The Body Builders came from the simple pleasure of encountering the first outing of a fresh and skillful voice, one that has an understanding of SF as both tool and project, and as a route to estrang­ing the society we have allowed to happen around us.” [Niall Harrison]

Bar Fridman-Tell, Honeysuckle (Blooms­bury USA 3/26) Dark fantasy novel based on the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd. Human boy Royr is lonely, so his big sister makes him a playmate, Daye, out of twigs and flowers. Unfortunately, she has to be rewoven every season or she’ll fall apart; Rory starts to research ways to keep her blooming, but as he gets older his feelings change. A first novel.

Sarah Gailey, Make Me Better (Tor 5/26) Horror novel full of psychological dread, with something of a folk-horror feel. Celia goes to the Salt Festival on a mysterious island surrounded by an impossible reef, where the secluded community promises healing and transformation. “Make Me Better is unsettling, mysterious, with all the bad parts of cults, and creepy in a ‘let’s get outta here and get away from these weirdos and all those bloody shoes’ sort of way.” [Gabino Iglesias]

Fonda Lee, The Last Contract of Isako (Orbit US 5/26) From the author of Jade City, an SF novel about a legendary swordswoman on the merciless planet Aquilo as she takes a final mission in­volving her last (and worst) apprentice. It blends the discipline of martial arts with the sweeping scale of a corporate space opera.

Hache Pueyo, Cabaret in Flames (Tordotcom) Dark fantasy novella set amidst Brazil’s political chaos. Ariadne, despite having lost her limbs to guls – vampire-like beings who eat meat – still as­sists guls at a clinic, and then gets help from a gul investigating how her mentor died. It was translated, expanded, and revised by the author from a 2020 story published in Brazilian Portuguese in Mafagafo magazine. “It’s a complex, layered portrayal worthy of a much longer work.” [Ian Mond]

Ali Smith, Glyph (Hamish Hamilton UK 1/26; Pantheon 5/26) Fantasy novel, a com­panion to Gliff, about unreliable memory and the stories we tell. Sisters Petra and Patch, now grown and estranged, reunite after Patch finds a phantom horse destroy­ing her bedroom. “Glyph doesn’t contain an ugly sentence or a boring page – and has a reassuringly crisp moral urgency.” [Niall Harrison]

Martha Wells, Platform Decay (Tor 5/26) Short SF novel (around 54,000 words) and the eighth book in the Murderbot Diaries series. Everyone’s favorite SecUnit Murderbot volunteers to run a rescue mission, despite it involving strangers, even human children, and possibly…eye contact. Balancing high-stakes adventure with snarky inner monologues.

#noinsta

Dark Carnival, the second oldest science fiction bookstore in the US, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on Saturday, August 1, 2026 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at its longtime location on Claremont Avenue in Berkeley, CA.

The sprawling establishment, which specializes in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery books—as well as comics through its next-door sister store, Escapist Comics—first opened its doors in 1976, resiliently weathering challenges including the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, COVID-19 lockdowns, and numerous periods of economic “malaise and recession” over the decades.

Dark Carnival’s events and book signings have previously attracted esteemed authors such as Ray Bradbury, Anne Rice, Douglas Adams, and Clive Barker, and the store continues to benefit from the support of a devoted community of patrons, fans, and local writers including Michael Chabon, Charlie Jane Anders, and Maggie Tokuda-Hall.

Owner Jack Rems, who has sat behind the desk at Dark Carnival “since dinosaurs and old Cadillacs roamed the earth,” prides himself on the store’s discerningly curated “recommended reads” shelf and expanded online booklists: “I like to feel I’m leading readers to something better than they would end up with if I wasn’t here to offer them guidance,” he said.

For more information on Dark Carnival and its upcoming anniversary celebration, visit its website.

Looking to refresh your TBR pile? July 21st brings a fresh batch of incredible new releases across Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, and YA—featuring the most talked-about books landing on shelves this week.

Whether your taste leans toward mind-bending speculative worlds, dark magical realms, heart-pounding scares, or unputdownable YA adventures, this week’s lineup has something for every reader.

We’ve rounded up the standout titles you won’t want to miss so you can jump straight to your next great read. Hit subscribe to keep up with the best weekly book recs, and thanks for stopping by! We’ll see you next week with even more amazing titles!

Russell Kirkpatrick, 65, died June 26, 2026 in Canberra Hospital. He was diagnosed with aggressive melanoma.

Kirkpatrick was born April 11, 1961 in Christchurch, New Zealand. He received a PhD in geography from the University of Canterbury and was at separate times a lecturer at the University of Waikato and the University of Canberra. He wrote the Fire of Heaven series and the Husk series, the latter known as Broken Man in the US and UK. Fire of Heaven is Across the Face of the World (2004), In the Earth Abides the Flame (2004), and The Right Hand of God (2005). The Broken Man series is Path of Revenge (2007), Dark Heart (2008), and Beyond the Wall of Time (2008). All three Broken Man books won Sir Julius Vogel Awards. He also wrote Silent Sorrow (2021), the first and only title in the Book of Remezov series.

Titan US publicity director Katharine T. Carroll, 68, died June 28, 2026. The cause was attributed to aortic dissection.

Carroll was born Katharine Trowbridge in January 1958. She attended Manhattan Country School, Riverdale Country School, and Boston University and lived in New York City and Maine. She began work as a publicist in 1980 with Time Inc., formed her own publicity consulting company in 1990, then joined Titan Publishing Group’s US branch as a publicist in 2008. She went on to work for Titan for 18 years. She is survived by her three children and mother.

On July 20, the US District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval of the $1.5 billion settlement proposed in class action suit Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, in which authors accused the Amazon-backed company of illegally obtaining and using their books to teach its AI system.

According to a Bloomberg report, Bartz v. Anthropic is “the largest copyright class action settlement in US history,” paying “about $3,100 per author of more than 480,000 works,” with claims being filed for 440,490, that were downloaded from Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror by Anthropic. $122 million of the settlement money will go toward attorneys and litigation costs.

Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin said the settlement “provides meaningful relief to the Settlement Class given the reasonable range of Class Members’ possible recoveries, especially since further litigation would likely be complex, expensive, lengthy, and risky. The estimated per-work payment of approximately $3,000 is four times the minimum statutory damages amount for willful infringement.”

Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, said in a statement:

We applaud the court’s final approval of this settlement, which represents an important victory in the larger battle to hold big tech accountable for its unscrupulous appropriation of intellectual and creative properties that clearly belong to authors and publishers. In this case, the court recognized that downloading from pirate sites is not a choice we should simply accept as an efficiency for the infringer; on the contrary, it’s abhorrent conduct that should never be normalized.

Nor should fair use extend to training, which can easily be licensed like every other digital use in the modern copyright economy. Tech companies might like a copyright law with a giant hole in the place of exclusive rights, but that law does not exist. Partnerships, not piracy, are the best path forward.

For more, see the Bloomberg report and previous coverage in Locus.

Westercon 80, to be held in 2028 by the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) in conjunction with Loscon 54, will officially be the final Westercon after voters at its 2026 business meeting ratified a motion to repeal its bylaws. Following Loscon 54/Westercon 80, the convention “will be deemed to have ‘returned its charter’ to the owner of the Westercon service mark, LASFS,” which will determine its future going forward.

Westercon’s press release cited a lack of bids to host the convention and the proliferation of localized conventions across western North America that “filled the same role that Westercon once held” as reasons behind its discontinuement. Active since 1948, Westercon will pay homage to its history with its final two events, a planned “retirement tour” spanning from the Bay Area to its birthplace in Los Angeles.

The penultimate Westercon (79) will be held jointly with BayCon 2027 at the Santa Clara Marriott in Santa Clara, California, July 2-5, 2027. For more information, visit Westercon’s website.

Following a “careful review,” Apex Magazine has removed the story “Vigil of the Tenth Air” from Apex #153 amid skepticism around the author’s potential use of AI tools for its writing.

Though ultimately not selected for publication, a shortlisted story for Apex imprint Violet Lichen’s upcoming ECO25: the Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction was also struck from website listings after it came to light that other work associated with the author’s pen name was “recently removed from several other short fiction publications under suspicion of AI usage.”

In response, Apex Book Company, Apex Magazine, and Violet Lichen announced plans to reevaluate their submission guidelines, including “refining the language” of its AI clause and “expanding” the team’s internal review processes to more ably respond to concerns around LLM usage. The editorial team clarified that they do not intend to use AI screening applications or request early drafting papers for evidence “in the event a piece is suspected of AI use after publication,” and will converse directly with the author(s) involved “to discuss the story in further detail” and come to an appropriate resolution.

Apex‘s initial press release, posted by managing editor Darian Bianco, reaffirmed:

The Apex team is resolved to apply the lessons learned both from our experience, and from the invaluable reports and statements compiled by fellow indie publishers, to fortify our submission process against AI-assisted work, and to continue uplifting strange, surreal, beautiful speculative fiction written with passion and care by humans, for humans.

This comes after the recent news covered by Locus concerning speculation that some of the regional winners of the Commonwealth Prize may have at least partially used AI to generate their work—the Commonwealth Foundation has since announced that they are “satisfied that AI was not used to write the winning stories” after an investigation—and Hachette’s March decision to pull horror novel Shy Girl by Mia Ballard from shelves after information alleging its contents were AI generated was shared with the company by the New York Times.

Noidanlanka by J. S. Meresmaa (Myllylahti), is the winner of the 2026 Tähtifantasia Award, presented by the Helsinki Science Fiction Society for the best Finnish fantasy book published in the previous year. Other nominees were:

Matt Haig announced on Instagram plans to open a “bookshop and coffee place” called Golden, to be located in Brighton UK in the Seven Dials neighborhood, which according to Haig does not currently have a bookshop. The shop aims to open “by Christmas.”

Haig said,

My belief, as someone who grew up in a town without a bookshop, is that all communities should have a bookshop because bookshops save civilisation and make life interesting. This bookshop will be about freedom. We won’t be pushing things we don’t

want to push. Just good books. Curated by me and people I trust. Mind-bending books. Tearful books. Banned books. Fun books. Graphic novels. Kids books. Grownup books. Really cool music and art books. Books with words. Books that have no words but are really gorgeous to flick through. Books that are actually vinyl records. The best dead and living writers. It will also have some comfy places to sit and drink some really good coffee. The occasional evening event. No stuffy vibes. No genre snobbery. No high/low book classism. You are welcome here. And so is your dog.

Since the announcement, Haig reported receiving over 200 applications and work enquiries, and has created an email to handle work enquiries: hello@thegoldenbookshop.com, though he says that “we are still in the early phases and won’t be able to respond to everyone and at this point don’t know yet everything we need.”

For more, see the Instagram account of Matt Haig or Golden.