Issue 790 Table of Contents, November 2026
The November 2026 Locus magazine, issue #790, has interviews with Alix E. Harrow and Johnny Compton, and a spotlight on artist Daniel Gonzalez. News includes remembrances of Malcolm Edwards (1949-2026), Alex T. Singer’s Sturgeon Award win, the Ignyte Awards and British Fantasy Awards winners, continued contract controversies at Must Read, and more. Cory Doctorow’s column is entitled “Everybody Pees”. Events include Litquake: San Francisco’s Literary Festival and ICon 2026 in Tel Aviv. Reviews cover new titles by Olivie Blake & John Joseph Adams (eds.), K.J. Parker, Stephen King & Peter Straub, Kim Bohyun (translated by Archana Madhavan), Pol Guasch (translated by Mara Faye Lethem), Ellery Lloyd, Rebecca Thorne, Clare Edge, Laura Creedle, Audrey Niffenegger, Xueting C. Ni (ed.), Geoff Ryman, Oliver K. Langmead, Annalee Newitz, Stephanie Feldman, Micah Dean Hicks, Carrie Lee South, Sarah Pinborough, P.A. Cornell, Everina Maxwell, Premee Mohamed, DaVaun Sanders (ed.), Neal Asher, Adam Oyebanji, Derek Künsken, Robert J. Sawyer, and more.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
November 2026 • Issue 790 • Vol. 97 • No. 5
59th Year of Publication • 30-Time Hugo Winner
Cover and interview art and design by Francesca Myman.
INTERVIEWS
Alix E. Harrow: Defining A Hero / 10
Johnny Compton: Wanderlust / 3
MAIN STORIES / 5
Malcolm Edwards (1949-2026) • Appreciations by William Gibson, Gillian Redfearn, Darren Nash, Jim Frenkel • Booker Prize Shortlist • Ignyte Awards Winners • Singer Wins Sturgeon Award • Must Read Under Fire • British Fantasy Awards Winners
THE DATA FILE / 7
National Book Awards Finalists • New PRH Imprint: Dusk • Linda D. Addison Speculative Poetry Fellowship • Union Square Announces Novella Program • HBG Staffing Updates • Australasian Shadows Awards Winners • Sir Julius Vogel Awards Winners • Convention News • SFPA Poetry Contest Winners • British Audio Awards Shortlists • Awards News • Financial News • International Rights
PEOPLE & PUBLISHING / 8
Notes on milestones, awards, books sold,etc., with news this issue about Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Lawrence Block & N.K. Jemisin, Catelyn Wilson, and many others.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Commentary: Cory Doctorow: Everybody Pees, 29 • Photo Story: Brooklyn Books & Booze, 29 • Spotlight on Daniel Gonzales, 34 • Litquake: San Francisco’s Literary Festival, 35 • Photo Story: KGB Reading, 56
CONVENTIONS
ICon, 36
LISTINGS
Magazines Received: September, 37 • Bestsellers, 38 • New & Notable Books: September, 39 • Books Received: September, 40
EDITORIAL MATTERS / 62
Short Fiction Reviews by MARIA HASKINS / 12
Flash Fiction Online 9/26; Beneath Ceaseless Skies 9/17/26; Tasavvur Summer ’26; GigaNotoSaurus 9/1/26; Lightspeed 9/26; Escape Pod 7/16/26, 7/9/26; PodCastle 8/11/26; Cast of Wonders 8/26/26, 8/25/26; Samovar 7/27/26.
Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. WISE / 13
Asimov’s 9-10/26; Clarkesworld 9/26.
Short Fiction Reviews by PAULA GURAN / 14
Pale Grey Idol 9/26; Weird Horror Fall ’26; The Dark 8/26, 9/26; Uncanny 9-10/26; The Deadlands Summer ’26; Reactor 8/5/26, 8/8/26, 9/16/26; Diabolical Plots 9/16/26; Mysterion 9/26.
Short Fiction Reviews by RICH HORTON / 15
F&SF 8/26.
Reviews by GARY K. WOLFE / 16
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2026, Olivie Blake & John Joseph Adams, eds.; Sister Svangerd and the Chosen One, K.J. Parker.
Reviews by IAN MOND / 17
Other Worlds Than These, Stephen King & Peter Straub; Mothersucker, Kim Bohyun, tr. Archana Madhavan; Paradise Burns, Pol Guasch, tr. Mara Faye Lethem.
Reviews by COLLEEN MONDOR / 18
Time to Burn, Ellery Lloyd; Moss’d in Space, Rebecca Thorne; Natural Selection, Clare Edge; The Girl in Green, Laura Creedle.
Reviews by NIALL HARRISON / 20
Life Out of Order, Audrey Niffenegger; China+100, Xueting C. Ni, ed.; They’re Here, Geoff Ryman; The Killing of a Chestnut Tree, Oliver K. Langmead; A Wall Is Also a Road, Annalee Newitz.
Reviews by A.C. WISE / 22
The Night Parade, Stephanie Feldman; Vulture Gold, Micah Dean Hicks.
Reviews by GABINO IGLESIAS / 23
In the Woods They Wait, Carrie Lee South; They Say a Girl Died Here, Sarah Pinborough.
Reviews by DIVERS HANDS: JOANNE ANDERTON, LIZ BOURKE, ALEX BROWN, VANESSA FOGG, RUSSELL LETSON, ALEXANDRA PIERCE, ADAM ROBERTS, ALVARO ZINOS-AMARO / 24
The Astronaut Among the Flowers, P.A. Cornell; Call Me Traitor, Everina Maxwell; Wickhills, Premee Mohamed; Forged in FIYAH, DaVaun Sanders, ed.; Dark Agent, Neal Asher; Line of Descent, Adam Oyebanji; The Quantum Dawn, Derek Künsken; Sawyer on Science Fiction, Robert J. Sawyer.
Books reviews in this issue (indicating reviewer) —
Asher, Neal • Dark Agent (Russell Letson)
Blake, Olivie, & John Joseph Adams, eds. • The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2026 (Gary K. Wolfe)
Bohyun, Kim • Mothersucker (Ian Mond)
Cornell, P. A. • The Astronaut Among the Flowers (Joanne Anderton)
Creedle, Laura • The Girl in Green (Colleen Mondor)
Edge, Clare • Natural Selection (Colleen Mondor)
Feldman, Stephanie • The Night Parade (A. C. Wise)
Guasch, Pol • Paradise Burns (Ian Mond)
Hicks, Micah Dean • Vulture Gold (A. C. Wise)
King, Stephen, & Peter Straub • Other Worlds Than These (Ian Mond)
K nsken, Derek • The Quantum Dawn (Adam Roberts)
Langmead, Oliver K. • The Killing of a Chestnut Tree (Niall Harrison)
Lloyd, Ellery • Time to Burn (Colleen Mondor)
Maxwell, Everina • Call Me Traitor (Liz Bourke)
Mohamed, Premee • Wickhills (Alex Brown)
Newitz, Annalee • A Wall Is Also a Road (Niall Harrison)
Ni, Xueting C., ed. • China+100 (Niall Harrison)
Niffenegger, Audrey • Life Out of Order (Niall Harrison)
Oyebanji, Adam • Line of Descent (Alexandra Pierce)
Parker, K. J. • Sister Svangerd and the Chosen One (Gary K. Wolfe)
Pinborough, Sarah • They Say a Girl Died Here (Gabino Iglesias)
Ryman, Geoff • They’re Here (Niall Harrison)
Sanders, DaVaun, ed. • Forged in FIYAH (Vanessa Fogg)
Sawyer, Robert J. • Sawyer on Science Fiction (Alvaro Zinos-Amaro)
South, Carrie Lee • In the Woods They Wait (Gabino Iglesias)
Thorne, Rebecca • Moss’d in Space (Colleen Mondor)
#SFF #sciencefiction #fantasy #books #booksky #bookreviews