Reading lists - Locus Award winners

Each year, the readers of Locus magazine vote for their favorite science fiction and fantasy books, among other categories. Ballots are sent in the February issue of Locus, along with a recommended reading list featuring titles published during the preceding year. Here are the nominees in the three biggest categories—the winners were announced in June.

Science Fiction Novel

Embassytown by China Miéville (winner)

Retaining a tenuous peace on a distant planet in the far future, humans and aliens work together through a mutually beneficial economic arrangement that is threatened by the arrival of a new group of humans that destabilizes the world's balance. (F Mie)

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

When Captain Jim Holden's ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the attack, stop a war and find the truth behind a vast conspiracy that threatens the entire human race. (F Cor)

11/22/63 by Stephen King

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? The author's new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination. (F Kin, BCD F Kin, LP F Kin)

Rule 34 by Charles Stross

Head of the Rule 34 Squad monitoring the Internet for illegal activities, Detective Inspector Liz Kavanaugh investigates the link between three ex-con spammers who have been murdered. (PB SciFi S, ebook)

The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge

Ten years have passed on Tines World, where Ravna Bergnsdot and a number of human children ended up after a disaster that nearly obliterated humankind throughout the galaxy. While there is peace among the Tines, there are those among them—and among the humans—who seek power, and no matter the cost, these malcontents are determined to overturn the fledgling civilization that has taken root since the humans landed.(F Vin)

Fantasy Novel

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (winner)

New threats emerge to endanger the future of the Seven Kingdoms, as Daenerys Targaryen fights off a multitude of enemies, while Jon Snow faces his foes both in the Watch and beyond the great Wall of ice and stone. (F Mar, BCD F Mar, ebook, e-audio)

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

The 39th installment in the New York Times bestselling "Discworld" canon from Terry Pratchett, "the purely funniest English writer since Wodehouse." (F Pra)

The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero as he attempts to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh, and travels into the Fae realm where he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist. (F Rot, ebook)

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

Set in an alternate version of St. Petersburg in the first half of the twentieth century, Marya Morevna, a clever child of the revolution, is transformed into the beautiful bride of Koschei the Deathless, a menacing overlord. (F Val)

Among Others by Jo Walton

Seeking refuge in fantasy novel worlds throughout a youth under the shadow of a dubiously sane mother who dabbled in magic, Mori Phelps is forced to confront her in a tragic battle and gains unwanted attention when she attempts to perform spells herself. (F Wal)

First Novel

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (winner)

A fierce competition is underway, a contest between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in "a game," in which each must use their powers of illusion to best the other. Unbeknownst to them, this game is a duel to the death, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. (F Mor, ebook, Book Club in a Bag)

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Immersing himself in a mid-twenty-first-century technological virtual utopia to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty, and disease, Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world's creator. (F Cli, ebook, e-audio)

God’s War by Kameron Hurley

Nyx is a former government assassin who makes a living cutting off heads for cash. But when a dubious deal between her government and an alien gene pirate goes bad, Nyx's ugly past makes her the top pick for a covert recovery. The head they want her to bring home could end the war—but at what price? (F Hur)

Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh

In a near-future America that is slowly succumbing to anarchy due to scarce resources, diseases, and economic depression, Jasper, a college graduate, leads a group of former middle-class Americans across the Southeast to find a safe haven. (F McI, ebook)

Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine

As a circus of performers recreated with mechanical parts treks across a chaotic world, a government man asks for the ringmaster's help in building a world of order, while two performers desire a pair of cursed magical wings. (F Val)