My Favorite 2021 Locus Recommendations

As a fan and amateur writer who doesn’t go to conferences, there are few awards I get to vote for, so I’m happy to see several of my favorites on the Locus 2021 recommendations long list. As a subscriber to this venerable magazine, I can actually participate and sent in my ballot as soon as I could. I won’t reproduce the whole list since it’s available in so many places online, but I will single out the books I voted for. I’ve reviewed many of them and hope to get to the others before long.

Here are my favorite 2021 Locus recommendations, with links to the reviews so far published. (I’ve omitted several categories that I usually don’t read.) The rules limit voting to five in each category, so I have had to leave out some wonderful books to keep within that limit. I guess that’s the problem with lists like this, but it’s worth bringing attention to some of the great books of the past year.

NOVELS – SCIENCE FICTION

The Horizon, Gautam Bhatia (HarperCollins India)

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton; Harper Voyager US)

A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)

Inhibitor Phase, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Orbit US)

Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US)

NOVELS – FANTASY

Son of the Storm, Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

The Book of Form and Emptiness, Ruth Ozeki (Viking; Canongate)

The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

The Escapement, Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon)

Blackthorn Winter, Liz Williams (NewCon)

First Novels

The Unbroken, C.L. Clark (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)

Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)

She Who Became the Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor; Mantle)

The Chosen and the Beautiful, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)

Anthologies

The Year’s Best African Science Fiction (2021), Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, ed. (Jembefola)

Sinopticon, Xueting Christine Ni (Solaris)

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy (2021), Veronica Roth & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Mariner)

The Gollanz Book of South Asian Science Fiction, Volume 2, Tarun K. Saint, ed. (Hachette India)

The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Volume 2, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Saga)

Novellas

Defekt, Nino Cipri (Tordotcom)

Lagoonfire, Francesca Forrest (Annorlunda)

And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)

The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed (ECW)

Remote Control, Nnedi Okorafor (Tordotcom)