Non-fiction collection with in-depth examination of the process of worldbuilding, and its connection to ideology. Includes apocalyptic reenactments, alternative histories, conspiracy theories, and more.
Frost, Jeaniene: A Curse of Beasts and Magic (Tor/Bramble 978-1250395993, $20.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Fantasy romance novel. Ever since Raine Stones family was killed, a beast that survives off of violence has lived inside of her. She stops the beasts energy until one night she uses it to save an elderly man, and finds a new realm of danger. Simultaneous with the Tor UK edition.
Haig, Matt: The Midnight Train (Penguin Random House/Viking 978-0593833377, $30.00, 304pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Time-travel fantasy novel. The Midnight Train can take you back to moments from the past. Wilbur wishes to use it to revisit his honeymoon with his ex-wife Maggie, but doing so is a big risk.
Science fiction novel. After the murder of a local celebrity, Oona the Saint Berdoodle teams up with a group of misfits to solve the case. Oona secretly knows who the killer is, but the killer knows she knows, and is trying to keep her silent forever.
Fantasy novel, the first in a trilogy inspired by Japanese folklore. The Lucky Crows—a criminal organization—is terrorizing Rainshadow City. A family is seeking revenge against the Lucky Crows after the murder of their aunt. A first novel. Simultaneous with the Simon & Schuster UK edition.
Knútsdóttir, Hildur & Kowal, Mary Robinette: Dead Weight (Tor/Nightfire 978-1250329295, $24.96, 160pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Horror novella. Unnur befriends Ásta after finding her lost cat. They form a quick bond, but when things become violent, their friendship is truly put to the test. Translated from Icelandic by Mary Robinette Kowal.
Lourey, Jess: The Blackthorn Women (Amazon/Thomas & Mercer 978-1662535260, $16.99, 320pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Fantasy novel. With Katrine Blackthorn’s return to her family’s mansion in Faith Falls, Minnesota, all of her family’s fears start manifesting. Katrine needs to confront the dark secret of her family’s lineage if her family is to survive.
Lukens, F.T.: The Last Best Quest Ever (Simon & Schuster/McElderry 978-1665950978, $19.99, 320pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Young-adult humorous fantasy romance novel. Ellinore has one final quest to slay a mythical beast, but the problem is all of her quests were lies. On this quest she must decide whether she wants to continue the lie, or become someone new.
McBride, Hazel: A Queen Crowned in Flames (Penguin Random House/Delacorte 978-0593972977, $30.00, 480pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Fantasy romance novel, the second in a duology inspired by Celtic mythology. A queen named Aemyra Daercathian is fleeing. She must decide whether or not to make a great sacrifice in order to save her people.
Oh, Ellen: Jin Young, In Between (Penguin Random House/Crown 978-0593125984, $19.99, 272pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Young-adult fantasy romance novel about lovers in parallel worlds. Jin Young teleports to Mina’s world inside of a webcomic, but each time he does so, catastrophic weather nearly destroys his world.
Randall, Breanne: Curses, Keys, and Secret Societies (Penguin Random House/Dell 978-0593875025, $20.00, 384pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Fantasy novel, second in the Sisters of Light and Shadow series. Eléa Deniz returns home to discover the estate is now home to the Shadowcraft Academy. Eléa must find her power, and resist the prophecy involving her magic. Simultaneous with the Bloomsbury UK edition.
Humorous fantasy romance novel. Juniper O’Reilly and Mo Elmthorn set on a quest to slay a monster, only to discover the “monster” is a little girl. On the quest they may be forced to confront the truth of their “platonic” friendship. A first novel.
Tsamaase, Tlotlo: House of Margins (Kensington/Erewhon 978-1-64566-104-7, $28.00, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Horror novel. Anaya, an up-and-coming African author disappears during a writing residency. Her sister Ranewa is determined to find out the truth on her disappearance, and realizes it’s more horrifying than she could have thought. A first novel.
Varghese, Anuja: A Kiss of Crimson Ash (Orbit US 978-0316591959, $19.99, 396pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Fantasy romance novel, the first in the Games of the Goddess trilogy. An ancient goddess teams up with a newly crowned queen, a heartsick prince, a common thief, and a courtesan with magic in her blood to stop the corrupt king of Nandapore. A first novel. Simultaneous with the Orbit UK edition.
Supernatural horror/thriller novel. In 1994, Bless finally found the family she needed, but someone had unfinished business with her. She’s forced to face horrors from her past and her present, and there’s only one way out. A first novel. Simultaneous with the Titan Books UK edition.
Yeeun, Cho & Ryu, Sung: Teddy Bears Never Die (Orbit US/Run For It 978-0316601245, $19.99, 304pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Genre-bending novel with horror elements. Hwayoung, who lost her mother in a mass-poisoning attack, teams with Doha, whose mind is trapped in a teddy bear, to get revenge. Translated from Korean by Sung Ryu.
Kendall, Keala: That Which Feeds Us (Penguin Random House/Random House 979-8217117963, $20.99, 352pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Young-adult Hawaiian Gothic horror/supernatural thriller novel involving the horrors of colonialism. Native Hawaiian teen Lehua goes to a luxury resort in search of her missing twin, and is haunted by dreams. A first novel.
Hudson, Lexy: Wonders Never Cease (Titan Books UK 978-1835416174, £10.99, 384pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Fantasy novel. Trix and Sander are ballerinas and their company’s star attraction. Trix falls for Sander, but finds herself questioning his past, and at the peak of their popularity, he goes missing. A first novel.
Science fiction multiverse novel, the second in the Formation Saga series. Malculm starts to question the motives of the society he works for. Prieme Dhalgram is doing whatever she can to expand Burel Hird’s territory across the multiverse.
Lemon, Sarah Nicole: A Dark and Wild Wood (Harper Voyager 978-0063441583, $32.00, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Fantasy novel. When Salomé’s sister disappears, she’s determined to find a way to save her. She travels into the wild black forest where she has an encounter with Lord Death, and he takes her in as his apprentice, but is it safe to trust Death? A first novel.
Palmer, Suzanne: Ode to the Half-Broken (Astra House/DAW 978-0756419585, $29.00, 442pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)
Science fiction novel. Be—an old robot—has lived a life of isolation after the world almost ended three decades ago. Be is brought out of solitude by a cyborg dog, and they have to come to terms with who they’ve become.
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Matt Dinniman’s A Parade of Horribles (Ace), eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, debuts strongly, ranking in the top five of all four print lists compiled here, and at #1 on two of them. Seven other Dinniman titles rank on one or more lists this week, three of them on the NY Times fiction hardcover list.
Other debuts this week are books by Shannon Chakraborty, Dani Francis, Sarah Gailey, Sarah A. Parker, Veronica Roth, and Sarah Rees Brennan.
This cell color indicates rankings on children’s bestsellers lists
This cell color indicates rankings of books based on pre-publication sales
[Italics and brackets, and/or this cell color, indicate stale data — rankings from one or more weeks before — and do not contribute to the cumulative weeks on any list totals]
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.
Edward Ashton, After the Fall (St. Martin’s 2/26) This humorous SF novel is set more than a century after Earth’s civilization collapses, some 100 years aliens took over. John is bonded to Martok Barden, one of the “good” alien grays, but things start to go wrong when John’s bond is put up as collateral for a messed up business deal. “Entertaining, smart, fast-paced, and funny, this is science fiction for people who like their alien stories with a side of chuckles but also profoundly human.” [Gabino Iglesias]
Amal El-Mohtar, Seasons of Glass & Iron (Tordotcom 3/26) El-Mohtar’s new collection offers 14 stories and four poems, all originally published between 2008 and 2023, including the title story, which won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. Inspirations range widely, from folklore and murder ballads to present day issue, united by a “stylistic thread that runs through all eighteen of these selections… a kind of intense lyricism, mediated by a degree of intellectual rigor.” [Gary K. Wolfe]
Jeffrey Ford, Pandemonium Waltz(Lethe 2/26) Ford, an ever-surprising author with a distinctive knack for mixing the real world with the weird, is in fine form in his eighth collection, offering 17 stories, most from the last five years and one new, plus “a delightful and incisive interview with Kelly Link” [Gary K. Wolfe]
Darkly Lem, Transmentation | Transgression (Blackstone 3/26) This follow-up to Transmentation | Transience picks up soon after, following people body-hopping between universes, all with their own agendas, not all of them clear. Notably, those of Burel Hird want to bring order to all worlds, but predictably face some opposition. This volume digs a bit deeper into the mechanics of body-hopping, but leaves much still to be investigated. “This series is doing bold and clever new things with many-worlds narratives and anyone with an interest in such ideas needs to be reading it.” [Alexandra Pierce] Lem is a writers’ collective consisting of Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln, Ben Murphy, Cadwell Turnbull, and M. Darusha Wehm.
Richard K. Morgan, No Man’s Land (Del Rey 3/26) Morgan’s latest novel is a standalone hardboiled fantasy, set just after WWI was ended by a fae invasion (with accompanying magical reforestation) in Britain. Ex-soldier Duncan Silver, scarred by the war and furious, is determined to recover the children the fae have stolen. “A reader expecting a retread of Altered Carbon or The Steel Remains may be disappointed in No Man’s Land; no outrageous technology, no great prophecies. I, however, loved it.” [Alexandra Pierce]
Francis Spufford, Nonesuch(Faber & Faber UK 2/26; Scribner 3/26) Spufford returns to London and the Blitz for his latest literary fantasy novel, where an independent young woman must thwart time-traveling fascists trying to change history. “As much as I loved the spectacle – which at one point has Iris hundreds of feet in the sky as German bombers hammer London – it’s the authentic moments, grounded in history, that hit home.” [Ian Mond]
A.D. Sui, The Iron Garden Sutra(Erewhon 2/26) Sui’s first novel mixes philosophy and an involving SF mystery, as Vessel Iris, a death monk of the Starlit Order, sets out to do rites for the long-dead crew of a recently recovered spaceship, only to find something stalking the academic explorers in the vegetation-covered ship interior.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Strife(Orbit US 3/2026) This far-future SF novel, fourth in the acclaimed Children of Time series, combines new ideas with series history and some familiar characters, from terraformers playing god who accidentally produce something terrible that destroys them; generations later, a research vessel rediscovers that lost world, but soon most of the crew disappears, leaving a single human, the uplifted mantis shrimp captain, and an AI to figure out what’s going on. “Tchaikovsky ends on that note of Roddenberry excitement and optimism that promises many new Children books to come.” [Paul Di Filippo]
Sheree Renée Thomas, Mojorhythm (Third Man 11/25) Thomas introduces The Root and Sky series, a trio of collections that opens with this volume of 14 stories (eight new), a multi-genre mix focusing on Hoodoo, fantasy, myths, and folklore. “Thomas wields literary tools to induce a heady sense of wonder… in the amalgamation of multiple ideas, styles, conventions, histories and forms into a vibrant, beautiful collage that connects past, present and future, and makes reality feel more magical, full of the potential for change.” [Wole Talabi]
Makana Yamamoto, The Obake Code(Harper Voyager US 2/26) Yamamoto returns to the world of their popular first novel Hammajang Luck for this entertaining standalone heist novel. Set for life after the big heist, Malia has retired as the notorious hacker, the Obake – only she gets bored and crosses some gangsters, who demand she take down a crooked politician, which gets her embroiled in a conspiracy that might be too big for her.
Bouchercon has announced the nominees for the 2026 Anthony Awards, honoring the best in crime fiction. Authors and works of genre interest include:
Best Hardcover Novel
King of Ashes, S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
All This Could Be Yours, Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur)
Best First Novel
Mask of the Deer Woman, Laurie L. Dove (Berkley)
Best Juvenile/YA Novel
Well-Behaved Children Seldom Make History, Chris Chan (Level Best)
Miles in Time, Lee Matthew Goldberg (Wise Wolf)
The Scammer, Tiffany D. Jackson (Quill Tree)
Death in the Cards, Mia P. Manansala (Delacorte)
Best Short Story
“Six-Armed Robbery”, Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier (Donna Andrews Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous)
“Hollywood Prometheus”, Christa Faust (Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons)
“The Skies Are Red”, Richie Narvaez (On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology)
Best Anthology or Collection
Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons,
John Copenhaver & Salem West, eds. (Bywater)
On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology,
Curtis Ippolito et al. (Rock and a Hard Place)
Critical/Non-Fiction
The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story, Pagan
Kennedy (Vintage)
Other awards categories include Best Paperback Original/E-Book/ Audiobook Original Novel. Winners will be announced during Bouchercon, to be held October 21-25, 2026 in Calgary, Canada. For more information, including complete lists of nominees, see the Bouchercon website.
The $1,000 grant is given annually to “a South Asian / South Asian diaspora writer developing speculative fiction.” Shaams’s winning work is A Night With the Spy.
The winners of the 2026 Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, honoring the best SF/F work published in France in 2025, were announced on May 18, 2026.
French Novel
WINNER: Aatea, Anouck Faure (Argyll)
Festin de larmes, Morgane Caussarieu & Vincent Tassy (ActuSF)
Tovaangar, Céline Minard (Rivages)
Sintonia, Audrey Pleynet (Le Bélial’)
Une vie de saint, Christophie Siébert (Au Diable Vauvert)
Foreign Novel
WINNER: Le Livre des passages [Crossings], Alex Landragin, tr. Caroline Nicolas (Le Cherche-Midi)
Le Chant des noms [The Naming Song], Jedediah Berry, tr. Jonathan Baillehache (Hachette Heroes)
Sur toutes les vagues de la mer [All the Seas of the World], Guy Gavriel Kay, tr. Mikael Cabon (L’Atalante)
Les Sœurs de la Muée [The Tiger Flu], Larissa Lai, tr. Sylvie Bérard & Suzanne Grenier (Le Quartanier)
Le Cœur des Nagas [The Heart of the Nhaga], Young-Do Lee, tr. Marion Gilbert (Hachette Heroes)
La Reine sirène [Siren Queen], Nghi Vo, tr. Mikael Cabon (L’Atalante)
French Short Fiction
WINNER: “L’Âge des tempêtes”, Thomas Day (Bifrost 117)
“Fiancées du silence”, Sabrina Calvo (Soleil·s: 12 fictions héliotopiques)
“Les Noueurs”, Chloé Chevalier (Utopiales 2025)
Épicènes, Thierry Crouzet (À la flamme)
“La Femme inachevée”, Claude Ecken (Bifrost 120)
Foreign Short Fiction
WINNER: La Migration annuelle des nuages [The Annual Migration of Clouds] et Ce qui se dit par la montagne [We Speak Through the Mountain], Premee Mohamed, tr. Marie Surgers (L’Atalante)
Un lieu ensoleillé pour personnes sombres [A Sunny Place for Shady People], Mariana Enriquez, tr. Anne Plantagenet (Le Sous-Sol)
La Vie secrète des robots [The Secret Life of Bots], Suzanne Palmer, tr. Pierre-Paul Durastanti (Le Bélial’)
Hard Mary, Sofia Samatar, tr. Patrick Dechesne (Argyll)
French YA Novel
WINNER: Station Symbiose, Noëmie Lemos (Critic)
Les Âmes de l’ouest, Elie S. Green (Gulf Stream)
L’énigme de Camford, Ariel Holzl (Slalom)
L’Institut du nouveau lendemain, Chloé Vollmer-Lo (Nathan)
Foreign YA Novel
WINNER: Le Voleur [The Thief] et La reine d’Attolie [The Queen of Attolia], Megan Whalen Turner, tr. Yoko Lacour (Monsieur Toussaint Louverture)
Le Miroir sombre [The Dark Mirror], Samantha Shannon, tr. Benjamin Kuntzer (De Saxus)
Jacques Chambon Translation Prize
WINNER: Les Sœurs de la Muée [The Tiger Flu], Larissa Lai, tr. Sylvie Bérard & Suzanne Grenier (Le Quartanier)
Petit, Grand ou Le parlement des fées [Little, Big: or, The Fairies’ Parliament], John Crowley, tr. Patrick Couton (L’Atalante)
Le Livre des passages [Passages], Alex Landragin, tr. Caroline Nicolas (Le Cherche-Midi)
House of windows [House of Windows], John Langan, tr. Thibaud Eliroff (J’ai Lu)
Wojtek Siudmak Award for Art
WINNER: Yvan Belikov for the art of the five-book The Bone Season series, Samantha Shannon (De Saxus)
Nicolas Caminade for the cover art of the French editions of several books by J.R.R. Tolkien (Pocket)
Morgane Caussarieu for the cover and interior art of Festin de larmes, Caussarieu & Vincent Tassy (ActuSF)
Thibault Daumain for the cover and interior art of Petit, Grand ou Le parlement des fées [Little, Big: or, The Fairies’ Parliament], John Crowley, tr. Patrick Couton (L’Atalante)
Anouck Faure for the cover art of Hard Mary, Sofia Samatar, tr. Patrick Dechesne (Argyll)
Non-Fiction
WINNER: Petites histoires de la science-fiction française, Alain Grousset (ActuSF)
L’Encyclopédie H.P. Lovecraft, S.T. Joshi & David E. Schultz (Bragelonne)
Prix Spécial
WINNER: Demain commence hier, George W. Barlow (Flatland)
Derrière le grillage 1, Guillaume Chamanadjian, Sébastien Juillard & luvan (Scylla)
Winners will be awarded at a ceremony in Montpellier, to be held May 23. For more information, see the official webpage.
Locus returns with an exciting roundup of the newest Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Young Adult books arriving the week of May 19th, 2026! This week’s selection is packed with standout releases ready to claim a spot on your ever growing reading list, and we’ve gathered some of the most anticipated titles to make choosing your next read a little easier. We post brand-new videos every week, so don’t forget to subscribe and keep up with the latest in speculative fiction—your support truly means a lot. Dive into this week’s featured books, and we’ll see you soon with another batch of unforgettable new releases!
Science fiction editor, publisher, critic, and translator Tom Clegg, 68, died suddenly May 5, 2026. He was known in the SFF community for his deep affection for science fiction, and he became an important channel for translated works in France through his work at Bragelonne SF.
Thomas Clegg was born in 1957 in Springfield MA and grew up in Spain with his family. He graduated from Amherst College in 1978 and studied at the London School of Economics, teaching there for some time, despite being very shy. He met his wife-to-be, Colette, in Barcelona, and they went on to live in Paris and the French countryside. His large body of written work was largely non-fiction and includes many reviews and essays to French magazines, including Ozone and many issues of Galaxies Science-Fiction, and some translations. He edited the anthology Science-Fiction 2006 with Peter Crowther & Jean-Claude Dunyach. His more widely known work was in publishing, where he acquired many works in translation from English to French and vice versa as director of the Bragelonne SF collection. He spent many years at Bragelonne, bringing Anglophone SF to the French audience, working with such authors as Alastair Reynolds, Kim Stanley Robinson, David Weber, and more.
He is survived by his wife Colette and many friends and colleagues.
The Locus Bestsellers for November include top titles: Twelve Months by Jim Butcher (Ace), Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Ace), and Dragonlance Legends by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Random House Worlds).
Jim Butcher’s Twelve Months fought off all comers to remain at the top of our hardcover list, sporting a wide margin over our second-place finisher Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, the second book in Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series. The Elsewhere Express (Del Rey), a new standalone fantasy by Samantha Sotto Yambao, was our new runner-up. There were 55 nominated titles, up from 54 last month.
The top two titles on our trade paperback list remained static, with Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman holding onto the top spot followed by Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary in second. Our runner-up was How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days (Orbit US), a cozy fantasy by debut author Jessie Sylva. Seventy-four titles were nominated, up from 69 nominated titles.
On our media and gaming-related book list, Dragonlance Legends, an omnibus of novels Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, and Test of the Twins by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman took first place barely beating out Mike Chen’s Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon, a prequel to the Star Wars Outlaws game. There were no new runners-up. We had 22 nominated titles, tying last month’s number of nominations.
Compiled with data from: Bakka-Phoenix (Canada), Book Moon (MA), Borderlands (CA), McNally Robinson (two in Canada), Mysterious Galaxy (CA), Toadstool (two in NH), White Dwarf (Canada).
Trans fantasy romance novel. Acrasia, a trans intergalactic moth goddess, has a love-hate relationship with a trans mech pilot from another universe, and is determiend to keep him in her dimension. A first novel.
Anonymous: A Breath of Time (Flame Tree Collections UK 978-1835627822, $30.00, 416pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 05/19/2026)
Fantasy romance anthology. Stories involve time-bending, time traveling, different timelines, and alternate history. Part of Flame Tree’s Romantic Fantasy series.
Fantasy novel, first in the Trials of Irody Hasp series. Irody is a low-level Mortedant — a thankless job that involves reading the last thoughts of the dead — and has to clear his name when he’s implicated in his own apprentice’s murder. Simultaneous with the Macmillan/Tor UK edition.
Bruce, Camilla: The Temptation of Charlotte North (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 978-0593724972, $18.99, 448pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
Gothic supernatural novel. Rebellious young woman Charlotte sees potential in a spirit on a remote island, but must overcome the wishes of a priest and schoolteacher to banish it.
Chefchaouni, Loretta: The Lustrous Dark (Peachtree Teen 978-1682638378, $19.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
Dark fantasy novel. Midwife’s apprentice Shay discovers tries to save her long-lost mother, only to be abandoned in a deadly, ghoul-inhabited forest.
Coverly, S.D.: The Arcane Arts (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 978-0593974223, $29.00, 400pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
Dark academia romance novel. Ellsbeth is drawn to arcane Newlyn University, meets Professor Thaddeus Rawlins, and falls into a romance with him as he supervises her thesis in illegal mind-control magic. This is a pen name for Dan Frey & Dana Schwartz.
Fitzgerald, Patrick: Navigators You Can Trust (Podium Publishing 979-8347007738, $19.99, 420pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
Fantasy adventure novel, first in the Navigators trilogy. The Navigational Brotherhood use their magical abilities as peacekeepers in the Perpetual War; fresh recruits get sent on a mission to retrieve a powerful talisman.
Isaacs, Robert: It’s Hard to Be an Animal (Grand Central 978-1538773284, $18.99, 288pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
Magical realism/fantasy novel. On a blind date, Henry suddenly gains the ability to understand animals, and overhears three rats discussing a corpse in the New York subway, prompting him and his date to investigate.
King, Rachael: Song of the Saltings (Simon & Schuster/McElderry 978-1665984331, $19.99, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 05/19/2026)
Young-adult folk horror novel. On Lotta’s island, a fearsome creature called the Glimm demands yearly sacrifices, but it rejected Lotta as a child. Now the sacrificial horses don’t seem to appease it, and a blight is harming the island.
Mare, Annie: A Star-Cursed Heart (Ace 978-0593817506, $18.99, 352pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
Fantasy romance novel. In modern-day Salem, Lucy Prynne and Ashes Steadfast are descended from the town’s original families and made to fight each with conflicting curses, but the two women are also friends in love. Mare has co-authored mystery and romance novels with Ruthie Knox (some under the name Mae Marvel), along with new-adult romance as Robin York.
Moore, Alan: I Hear a New World (Bloomsbury UK/Archer 978-1-526643292, £20.00, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/21/2026)
Fantasy novel, second in the Long London quintet. In 1958, Dennis Knuckleyard discovers that a key from the Great When that he gave away years ago has unleashed occult creatures on London.
Nayler, Ray: Palaces of the Crow (Macmillan/Farrar, Straus, Giroux/MCD 978-0374620752, $28.07, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
Speculative novel. A group of four survives the German blitzkrieg in 1941; as they cross forested borderland, an intelligent flock of crows befriends by Neriya, a Jewish girl dreaming of becoming a biologist. Simultaneous with the Orion UK/Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition.
Fantasy sports romance novel, second in the Magic and Romance duology. Rawball star half-giant Orok is forced into a PR relationship with fan-favorite cheerleader Alexo Warden.
Collection of fourteen sci-fi tales. In the future, humans grapple with AI intelligence alongside climate crisis. Scientists make contact with a wild dolphin, and a drone is depressed after his human companion dies.
Satirical fantasy novel. Morgan, junior salesperson at a tech startup, is sucked into the infernal plane. after she discovers her dead boss tried to trade his soul for profits.
Science Fiction Novel. Ex-convict Roscoe Koudoulian re-uploads his consciousness into cyberspace, where he’s confronted with someone he left for dead centuries ago.
Speculative literary novel, a companion to Gliff. Sisters Petra and Patch, now grown and estranged, reunite after Patch finds a phantom horse destroying her bedroom furniture. First US edition (Hamish Hamilton 1/26).
Summers, Georgia: Trollheim: Tale of Systir (Titan Books UK 978-1835416648, $28.99, 288pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 05/19/2026)
Fantasy novel. A Nordic girl, Sýstir, runs for her life when her mother is executed for witchcraft. She finds sanctuary among the mythical beings of Trollheim, but seeks to find out what happened to her missing sister Ada.
Tanzer, Molly: And Side By Side They Wander (Tordotcom 978-1250382054, $24.99, 112pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
SF novella. Fennel Tycho works with ragtag team to pull off an interstellar heist from an alien museum refusing to return humankind’s greatest art to Earth.
Villaire, Alyssa: The Neon Sky (Little, Brown 978-0316574983, $19.99, 400pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/19/2026)
Young-adult fantasy novel, sequel to The Glittering Edge. Penny and her witch boyfriend Alonso try to help their friend Corey undo the bloody magical bargain that made his family rich — but the cost of breaking it is taking a life.
Yeeun, Cho: Teddy Bears Never Die (Headline UK/Wildfire 978-1035431250, £14.99, 304pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/21/2026)
Genre-bending novel with horror elements. Hwayoung, who lost her mother in a mass-poisoning attack, teams with Doha, whose mind is trapped in a teddy bear, to get revenge. Translated from the Korean by Sung Ryu.
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The strongest debut this week is Martha Wells’s Platform Decay (Tor), eighth book in the author’s Murderbot Diaries, debuting in the top ten on all four print lists compiled here.
Other debuts: Emily McIntire’s Twisted (Bloom) and Sable Sorensen’s Fury Bound (Requited), on three lists each.
This cell color indicates rankings on children’s bestsellers lists
This cell color indicates rankings of books based on pre-publication sales
[Italics and brackets, and/or this cell color, indicate stale data — rankings from one or more weeks before — and do not contribute to the cumulative weeks on any list totals]
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.
JON COURTENAY GRIMWOOD is now represented by John Jarrold Literary Agency.
LYNNE M. THOMAS and MICHAEL DAMIAN THOMAS were amicably divorced on April 2. Uncanny Magazine is now entirely under the ownership of Michael Damian Thomas per the divorce settlement.
BOOKS SOLD
S.A. CHAKRABORTY sold an untitled novel and another book to David Pomerico at Harper Voyager US for seven figures via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.
BRANDON SANDERSON and PETER ORULLIAN sold contemporary fantasy Songs of the Dead, first in the Strata Wars trilogy, and two more books to Marcus Gipps at The Broken Binding Press via Stevie Finegan of Zeno Agency on behalf of Joshua Bilmes of the JABberwocky Agency.
CHRISTOPHER RUOCCHIO sold short story collection Songs of the Sun Eater, “set in the world of the galaxy-spanning saga,” and another book to Aranya Jain at DAW via Danny Baror of Baror International. UK rights went to Nicolas Cheetham at Head of Zeus.
CL HELLISEN’s The Shape of Monsters and A Million Points of Light went to Bella Pagan at Tor UK via Caro Clarke of Portobello Literary.
GENOVEVA DIMOVA’s The Travelling Museum of Witchcraft went to Stephanie Stein at Tor via Brenna English-Loeb of Transatlantic Literary Agency. UK rights sold to Amanda Raybould at Solaris.
JENNIFER G. BLAKE’s Midnight at the Immortalium, “pitched as Ocean’s Eleven but fantasy,” and another book sold to Sareer Khader at Ace at auction via Samantha Fabien of Root Literary.
VAISHNAVI PATEL’s The Library of Lost Time went to Natalie Hallak at Ballantine via Jordan Hill of New Leaf Literary & Media.
SAARA EL-ARIFI’s Sinnerman, “following an immortal who masquerades as a detective but consumes sins to survive,” and another book went to Mika Kasuga at Union Square & Co in a pre-empt via Ginger Clark of Ginger Clark Literary on behalf of Juliet Mushens. UK rights to Sinnerman and two more books went to Charlotte Trumble at Harper Voyager UK via Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment.
KATIE SIEGEL sold One for the Books to Shannon Plackis at Avon A via Melissa Jeglinski of The Knight Agency.
M.O. WALSH sold near-future story L3K to Gabriella Mongelli at Little, Brown in a pre-empt via Renée Zuckerbrot of Massie McQuilkin & Altman.
JULIE BUXBAUM sold The Past Selves Club to Margo Shickmanter at Avid Reader Press via Jennifer Joel of CAA. UK rights went to Joanna Lee at Juniper.
CATHERINE LEROUX sold Republic of Glass set in a near-future Montreal and translated by Katia Grubisic, to Sally Howe at Scribner via Jacqueline Ko of The Wylie Agency. Canadian rights went to Nicole Winstanley at Scribner Canada via Jessica Bullock of The Wylie Agency UK.
TANIA MALIK’s Vanished Creatures sold to Emily Griffin at Holt, at auction via Nicki Richesin at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
NAINA KUMAR’s Diamond of the Rebellion, “pitched as a speculative reimagining of the Victorian era” following an Indian princess, went to Sarah Blumenstock at Ace in a pre-empt. Kumar’s modern paranormal romance You’ve Been Ghosted went to Kara Cesare at Bantam Dell via Johanna Castillo of Writers House. Gabby Colangelo will edit.
JOANNA RUTH MEYER sold two books in the cozy fantasy series Tea & Wizardry to Marilyn Brigham at 47North via Sarah Gerton while part of New Leaf Literary & Media.
JEFF WHEELER sold The Last Harbinger and two more books to Elizabeth Agyemang at 47North.
ROBERT CHARLES WILSON’s 40 Million Years of Summer sold to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications via Shawna McCarthy of The McCarthy Agency.
DAVID LISS sold The Death and Birth of Iliana Marek to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications. Rick Klaw will edit.
AUSTON HABERSHAW’s fantasy novel In Her Exquisite Clutches to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications via Joshua Bilmes of JABberwocky Literary Agency. Jaymee Goh will edit.
RR HAYWOOD’s “multiverse adventure novel” Changing Worlds sold to George Sandison at Titan Books via Anthony Harvison of The Double Agents.
HANNA HEDGEWARD sold fantasy novel Fallow Lies the Blood to Katie McGuire at Alcove Press via Amy Giuffrida of Belcastro Agency.
LASHAWN M. WANAK’s short story collection The Works of Her Hands sold to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press via Kristopher O’Higgins of Scribe Agency.
MARIA DONG’s “steampunk adult fantasy mystery” Pastiche went to Laurie Johnson at Severn House via Amy Bishop-Wycisk of Trellis Literary Management.
LUKE BECKSTRAND’s Spark of Life and books two to six in the Axion series went to Sally O’Keefe at Primera.
BRENDON TAYLOR’s In Tune for Murder, An Overture to Murder, and books three to five in the George Picardi Mysteries series; as well as The Apothecant, The Bloodstone Curse, Counting in the Dark, The Archivist, and The Bloodstone War; went to Tanya Anne Crosby at Primera in two separate deals.
KELLY FAE WILSON sold Unraveling Fate, Weaving Fate, and Balancing Fate to Sally O’Keefe at Primera.
DAVID LAWRENCE MORSE sold “speculative literary novel” The Occident to Jaynie Royal at Regal House.
Four books in an untitled litRPG series by SHAMI STOVALL went to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault via Drew Gilmour of Achilles Literary Agency.
NORET FLOOD’s Conduit series sold to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault via Drew Gilmour of Achilles Literary Agency.
LINDARAE SANDE’s historical fantasy titles A Bloom for a Blacksmith, A Hero for a Housekeeper, A Maiden for a Monster, A Lookalike for a Lord, A Mate for a Methuselah, and An Inamorata for an Immortal went to Kathryn Le Veque at Dragonblade Moonrise.
SHANNON IWANSKI sold The Wages of Sin, first in a “supernatural queer detective noir” series, plus Burned by a Cold Kiss, They Must Be Fed, Renaming the Dead, and To-Be-Dead Pile to Staci Troilo at Rogue River via Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
MORGAN BRIDGES’s dystopian romance trilogy, The Nocturnal Sequence, went to Stephanie Beard at Podium Publishing for seven figures.
REBECCA ROSS sold A Bittersweet Spell and two more books to Julia Elliott at Harper Voyager US via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media. UK rights sold to Elizabeth Vaziri at Harper Voyager UK.
LYNN CAHOON’s Black Mountain Magic, first in the Enchanted Mountain Bakery Mysteries series, and two more titles went to Michaela Hamilton at Kensington via Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
TASHIE BHUIYAN’s Double Take and another title went to Carrie Feron at Gallery via Stuti Telidevara and Pete Knapp of Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management.
KIMBERLY LYNN HANSON sold horror fantasy romance I Am the Devouring Dark and another book to Ruth Atkins at Michael Joseph via Bethany Weaver of Weaver Literary Agency.
PENELOPE BLOOM resold Unbound, the first book in the Confluence Academy series, and sold two more titles to Madeleine Colavita at Forever via Katherine Odom-Tomchin of Folio Literary Management. UK rights went to Jessie Goetzinger-Hall at Headline.
LJ ANDREWS sold Blood in the Ink, first in a dystopian romance series, and another book to Kristine Swartz at Ace via Katie Shea Boutillier of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
KASSANDRA ALEXANDER’s The Elevator Glitch, “a Greek and Greek mythology-inspired speculative romantic comedy,” went to Chelsea Villareal at Podium Publishing via Christina Zobel and Susan Velazquez of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
NANCY TUCKER’s Nice Things All the Time went to Katherine Burdon at Quercus in a pre-empt via Hattie Grunewald of The Blair Partnership.
LEAH LOBEL sold contemporary paranormal romance Bleeding Me Dry and another title to Sam Brody at Forever via Emily Forney of BookEnds.
K.A. LINDE sold the “last two” books in the Oak and Holly Cycle to Liz Pelletier at Red Tower via Kimberly Brower at Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management.
N.K. BROWN’s dark romantic fantasy A Bounty of Blood and Bargains in the Devil’s Huntress series sold to Lisa Green at City Owl Press.
TI MIKKEL’s Echo of Ashes went to Yelena Casale at City Owl Press.
LESLIE O’SULLIVAN’s fantasy romance Moon Strings went to Lisa Green at City Owl Press.
STEPHANIE MŌSHER’s Flame and Sorrow went to Lisa Green at City Owl Press.
ASHLEY SELLMAN sold A Prison of Stone, first in the Fae of Broken Kingdoms series, and another title to Twisted Words.
JASMINE WIGHAM sold The Library of Botanical Witchcraft to Hannah Bowstead at Headline via Stevie Finegan of Zeno Agency.
ALEXANDRA BRACKEN’s Immortal Rose and another book went to Kate Agar at Tempest via Alessandra Birch of Writers House on behalf of Merrilee Heifetz.
GENEVIEVE K. THOMAS sold an untitled cozy romantic fantasy and another title to Sophie Judge at Second Sky via Kiya Evans of Paper Literary.
ANGELA MONTOYA’s romantasy The Immortal Undoing sold to Bria Ragin, David Yoon, and Nicola Yoon at Joy Revolution via Larissa Melo Pienkowski of Azantian Literary Agency.
ISABELLE TAYLOR’s Fake Dating with a Dragon, fifth in the monster romance series Claw Haven, and another book went to Stephanie Doig at Harlequin.
PREMEE MOHAMED and JONATHAN SIMS’s From the Library of Jurgen Leitner, set in the Magnus Archives universe, and two more books sold to Lydia Estrada at Random House Worlds via Rusty Quill.
GARETH L. POWELL sold Unleashed and another book to Fenton Coulthurst at Titan Books via Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.
JESSICA LEWIS sold This House Is Not a Home to Ariana Sinclair at Morrow via Holly Root of Root Literary.
SETH HADDON’s Such Deep Hunger and another book sold to Oliver Dougherty at Nightfire via Maeve MacLysaght of Aevitas Creative Management.
TANYA PELL’s A Darkness Rather Blacker went to Kimberly Laws at Gallery via Marcy Posner of Folio Literary Management.
SEAN FERRELL sold In the Fields We Thirst to Ed Schlesinger at Gallery via Alec Shane of Writers House.
K LUCIAN JONES’s Ghosts of Bakersfield went to Justine Norton-Kertson at Android.
J.W. OCKER’s Our Monster Who Art in Heaven sold to Alexandra Murphy at Page Street via Alexander Slater while part of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
PETER CLINES sold The Off Season and another title to Peter Wolverton at St. Martin’s via David Fugate of LaunchBooks Literary Agency.
REBECCA KENNEY’s “haunted house horroromance” Writhe and two more books sold to Mary Altman at Sourcebooks Casablanca via Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary Agency (world).
Jacy Morris (2024)
JACY MORRIS sold A Town Painted Red, “in which an Indigenous graffiti artist… discovers that [Portland] is rotting from the inside out,” to Alex Woodroe at Tenebrous Press.
CARL ANTONOWICZ’s illustrated novel The Wreck and Ascension of the Good Ship Yanqui went to Alex Woodroe at Tenebrous Press.
LESLIE J. ANDERSON’s folk horror Children of the Wrong Heaven went to Randall Lotowycz at Quirk Books via Lane Heymont of The Tobias Literary Agency.
DAVID MASSENGILL sold “queer horror-thriller” Mr. Doppelganger to David-Jack Fletcher at Slashic Horror Press.
MAZEY EDDINGS sold “gothic horromance” The Bargain to Rachael Kelly at Dutton at auction via Claire Friedman and Jessica Mileo of Inkwell Management. UK rights went to Soraya Bouazzaoui of Headline Eternal.
PHILIPPA YOUNG sold “paranormal rom-com” Cold Hearts and another book to Holly Ingraham at Sourcebooks Casablanca via Lauren Bieker of FinePrint Literary Management.
AISLINN BROPHY’s “sapphic high fantasy” The Divinity Thieves went to Polo Orozco at Putnam Children’s via Sarah Fisk at The Tobias Literary Agency.
BRIDGET MORRISSEY sold YA romance I Put a Spell on You to Hannah Hill at Delacorte Romance via Taylor Haggerty of Root Literary. BRIDGET MORRISSEY, AUSTIN SIEGEMUND-BROKA, and EMILY WIBBERLEY writing as E.B. ASHER sold Last Night in Lyris to Priyanka Krishnan at Avon via Taylor Haggerty of Root Literary for Morrissey, and Katie Shea Boutillier of Donald Maass Literary Agency for Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka.
RACQUEL MARIE sold YA contemporary horror A Different Kind of Murder to Rachel Diebel at Feiwel and Friends via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
KENDALL ANNETTE’s YA novels Tylor Whitlock Just Won’t Die and Charlie Burton Has Killer Timing sold to Jennifer Thompson at Scholastic for six figures at auction via Bethany Weaver of Weaver Literary Agency.
SARAH PORTER sold YA gothic thriller A Darker Obscure to Alexandra Aceves at Holiday House via Rebecca Podos at Neighborhood Literary.
HAFSA A. JAWAD resold romantasy The Tales of Arcana Fortune and sold sequel The Mirrors of Runisia Winters to Alison Romig at Delacorte via Sophie Sheumaker of BookEnds.
RYAN DOUGLASS’s horror novel Night of Madness and another title sold to Kara Sargent at Simon Pulse via Petersen Harris of Temple Hill Publishing on behalf of Lane Clarke at Ultra Literary.
JO SALAZAR’s If We Survive the Night, If We Survive What Saved Us, and another title sold to Gabbi Calabrese at Sourcebooks Fire via Renee Runge and Ali Herring of Spencerhill Associates.
GWENYTH REITZ’s Prom Anomaly went to Emilia Sowersby at Roaring Brook Press via Uwe Stender of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
KALYN JOSEPHSON sold A Dragonslayer’s Guide to Love, Valor, and Other Myths to Kate Meltzer at Roaring Brook Press, in an exclusive submission via Carrie Pestritto of Laura Dail Literary Agency.
ROXANE DE ROUEN’s romantasy duology beginning with She Dies at Dawn went to Brian Geffen at Holt Children’s at auction via Lizzie Bishop of Faber UK.
ROWAN BRIGHTON BROWN’s young adult contemporary fantasy White Trash Witchcraft sold to Alexandra Aceves at Holiday House via Alexander Slater while part of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
Fabiana Muñoz (2024)
FABIANA MUÑOZ’s The Dead Walk in Pleasant Cove and another book went to Tamara Grasty at Page Street Kids via Vicky Weber of Creative Media Agency.
PAIGE COOPER sold speculative literary debut novel Nulligravida to Martha Sharpe at Flying Books via Samantha Haywood and Eva Oakes of Transatlantic Literary Agency.
SHIRA ERLICHMAN sold debut novel Tangerapple, “set in a lightly speculative version of New York,” to Deborah Garrison at Knopf in a pre-empt via Erika Stevens of Salky Literary Management.
B.N. KING sold debut Wolfboy, first in a trilogy, to Emily Archbold at Del Rey via Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates. UK rights went to Rebecca Hilsdon at Michael Joseph.
MEGAN DANIELS sold Time Sick, “in which one woman travels forward five years in time to solve her own murder, only to find herself falling in love with her future self’s husband,” to Natalie Hallak at Ballantine at auction via Nicole Cunningham of Trellis Literary Management.
JOSIE BULLARD sold Dreams of Ruin and two more books to Andy Dodds at Podium Publishing via Christy Fletcher and Ariele Fredman of UTA on behalf of Alix Frank of DBA. UK rights went to Alexa Allen-Batifoulier at Del Rey UK at auction via Ciara Finan and Cathryn Summerhayes of Curtis Brown UK.
BRETT RYLAND sold Our Whole Lives Behind Us, following a widower who works for a time travel tourism agency, to MJ Johnston at Sourcebooks Landmark via Jane Dystel of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
MYLEE MILLER sold Heart of Bone to Marcy Harris at Alcove Press via Rachel Estep of D4EO Literary Agency.
JESSE ARAGON sold debut “horror-tinged epic science fantasy” The Demon Star and another book to Marcus Gipps at The Broken Binding Press via Imogen Bovill of Abner Stein on behalf of 2 Seas Agency for DAW Books and John Baker and Julie Gourinchas of Bell Lomax Moreton.
THERESA HUNTER’s debut romantasy Wings of Salt and Storm, first in a series, and another title sold to Kate Prosswimmer at Scarlett Press via Emily Forney of BookEnds.
REMY FINK sold debut Thespians: A Tragedy to Taz Urnov at Hell’s Hundred via Claire Harris of Helm Literary.
A.J. JACONO’s speculative debut Yes, Yes went to Katie McGuire at Crooked Lane via Logan Harper of Jane Rotrosen Agency.
Wen-yi Lee (2025)
ELLIE OWENS sold debut YA dystopian fantasy Cave Jumpers and another book to Madison Pelletier at Mischief Books via Juliana McBride of Rebecca Friedman Literary. Lydia Sharp will edit.
DENE PLEWS’s debut YA romantasy Queen of Thieves and another title went to Lydia Sharp at Mischief Books via Cole Lanahan of The Seymour Agency.
WEN-YI LEE will edit horror anthology The Kids Came Back Wrong for Mary Kate Castellani at Bloomsbury Children’s, sold at auction via Isabel Kaufman of Fox Literary. Kei Nakatsuka will edit.
SYLVIE ALTHOFF sold SF novella Trivial Matters, “featuring a transgender heroine lost in time,” to Justine Norton-Kertson at Android.
KWAN ANN TAN’s debut “speculative literary choose-your-own-adventure novella” The Waiter went to Mika Kasuga at Union Square & Co via Julie Finidori of Aevitas Creative Management UK.
LOUIS BAYARD’s The Night Caller, “pitched as a Dracula origin story,” went to Jovanna Brinck at Algonquin via Dan Conaway of Writers House.
Jamal Hodge (2024)
JAMAL HODGE will edit short story anthology Shards of Gotham: New York City Through the Looking Glass for R.B. Wood at Ruadán.
IVANA GEČEK’s Strange Flowers Blooming from Within, fourth in the Extremities “queer anthology series,” sold to David-Jack Fletcher at Slashic Horror Press.
DARYL GREGORY sold horror novella The Porcelain Sisters to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications via Seth Fishman of The Gernert Company. Jaymee Goh will edit.
ROBERT J. SAWYER sold Sawyer on Science Fiction, a “collection of articles, columns, reviews, and speeches,” to Edward Willett at Shadowpaw Press.
BOOKS RESOLD
SHEILA MASTERSON resold The Poison Daughter to Nicole Otto at Slowburn for seven figures at auction via Alyssa Morris of Trellis Literary Management. UK rights went to Rachel Winterbottom at Wayward TxF at auction via Maddalena Cavaciuti of David Higham Associates on behalf of Allison Malecha and Tori Clayton at Trellis Literary Management.
ERIN AMPERSAND sold Time to Play, Making Friends, Hide and Seek, Breaking Rules, and Running Wild in the litRPG Apocalypse Parenting series to Ali Fisher and Maxine Charles at Tor in a pre-empt via Erin Malone of WME.
PIRATEABA resold The Wandering Inn and Fae and Fare to David Pomerico at Harper Voyager US via Drew Gilmour of Achilles Literary Agency.
BEN FARTHING resold novella Scurry, pitched as “in the vein” of Good Boy, to John Harlacher at Weird Tales Presents via Lane Heymont of The Tobias Literary Agency.
JACEY BEDFORD’s Psi-Tech trilogy resold to Wizard’s Tower.
ANTHONY TARDIFF’s Mirages resold to Elizabeth Agyemang at 47North via Carrie Pestritto of Laura Dail Literary Agency.
Three books in ARCANE CADENCE’s New Life As a Max Level Archmage series went to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.
PUBLISHING
At Tor, ALEXA BEST has been promoted to publishing strategy associate, SAMANTHA FRIEDLANDER to associate marketing manager, LIZZY HOSTY to associate manager of publishing strategy, TYRINNE LEWIS has been promoted to senior marketing manager, EMILY MLYNEK to senior director of marketing, ERIN ROBINSON to associate manager of publishing operations, JESSE SHAMON to AdPromo designer, TIANA TOLBERT to senior social media manager, and BECKY YEAGER to associate director of ad promo and marketing.
ASHLEIGH HEATON has launched Enchantress Marketing, “a full-service book marketing agency specializing in genre fiction and open to traditional, indie, and hybrid authors.” It will offer services including “author brand development and management, individual title advertising and launch promotions, social media and newsletter strategy, convention planning assistance, website design, backlist support, and publishing consultations.” Heaton was previously director of marketing at Penguin Random House.
AUTUMN TOENNIS has joined Europa Editions as editor.
CRISTAL SANCHEZ was promoted to national account manager and SHELBY SWEET has joined as associate national account manager for Hachette Book Group.
SARAH GERTON has joined The Caldwell Agency as literary agent and audio rights manager. She was previously at New Leaf Literary.
MEDIA
Film rights to JOE ABERCROMBIE’s The Devils went to James Cameron at Lightstorm. Abercrombie and Cameron will co-write the script.
Film rights to OCTAVIA E. BUTLER’s Parable of the Sower sold to Warner Bros. Melina Matsoukas and Inga Veronique will produce, along with Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, as well as managing director of Butler’s estate Jules Jackson. Matsoukas will direct.
Film rights to BEN MEZRICH’s forthcoming novel The Last Orbit: Genius, Terror, Defiance, and the Race to Avert Apocalypse sold to TriStar Pictures in a pre-empt. Beau Flynn will produce, Matt Shakman will direct, and Josh Friedman will adapt.
Film rights to YA dystopia Talented by SOPHIE DAVIS went to Molly Cusick at ReelShort via Flavia Viotti of Bookcase Literary Agency.
Film rights to AVERY FLYNN’s Head Witch in Charge sold to Molly Cusick at ReelShort.
Here we go again—Locus is back with a premier look at the latest Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Young Adult releases making their debut this week! Our newest lineup is overflowing with must-read titles hitting the shelves, and we’ve hand-picked the very best to help you navigate your ever-expanding TBR pile. We share a fresh video every single week, so be sure to subscribe to stay updated on the latest literary trends—your support makes all the difference. Enjoy this week’s highlights, and we’ll catch you in the next one with even more essential new reads!
Speculative poet and critic Donald Sidney-Fryer, 91, died May 2, 2026 in Chatham MA. He was in palliative care for bone cancer.
Sidney-Fryer was born September 8, 1934. He published well over 100 works of speculative poetry, starting as early as 1968 with “Connaissance Fatale” and publishing in periodicals including Macabre, Spectral Realms, Weird Tales, and Witchcraft & Sorcery; anthologies including Off the Coastal Path (2010); and collections including The Atlantis Fragments (2008), Not Quite Atlantis (2010),and his three Songs and Sonnets Atlantean books in 1971, 2003, and 2010. His collection A King Called Arthor and Other Morceaux (2020) includes novel A King Called Arthor, an Arthurian legend retelling. He also wrote the short story “The Minor Chronicles of Atlantis” (1976) and many essays and multiple associational works of nonfiction, including Emperor of Dreams: A Clark Ashton Smith Bibliography (1978).
Winners of the 2026 Steve Miller Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) Annual Poetry Contest have been announced.
1st Place: “Terracotta Warrior”, Y.M. Pang
2nd Place: “Starlight Bathing”, Vivian McInerny
3rd Place: “The Planet that Learned our Fear”, Ayesha Mansoor
Youth Award: “Faster Than Light”, Madame Reeds-A-Lot
Honorable Mention: “The Witch of Dark Matter”, Kristin5689
Honorable Mention: “The River Remembers”, Hashim Quraishi
The first place winner receives $100, second place receives $75, third place receives $50, and the youth winner receives $25, with all winners also receiving Balticon membership, an invitation to read their poems at the convention, and publication in BSFAN, the Balticon convention souvenir book. The contest was renamed in honor of the late Steve Miller. For more information, see the BSFS website.
Wie die Karnickel [The Constant Rabbit], Jasper Fforde (Satyr)
Wir haben keine Antimemetik-Abteilung [There is No Antimemetics Division], Sam Hughes (Heyne)
Toward Eternity [Toward Eternity], Anton Hur (S. Fischer)
“Das Jahr ohne Sonnenschein [The Year Without Sunshine]”, Naomi Kritzer (Ihr Körper, das Schiff)
Was wir wissen können [What We Can Know], Ian McEwan (Diogenes)
Das Schiff der flüsternden Träume [Eversion], Alastair Reynolds (Heyne)
All Better Now, Neal Shusterman (Sauerländer)
Best Translation of SF into German
WINNER: Der Tag vor der Revolution [The Day Before the Revolution], Ursula K. Le Guin, tr. Karen Nölle (Fischer Tor)
Das Ministerium der Zeit [The Ministry of Time], Kaliane Bradley, tr. Sophie Zeitz (Penguin)
Arborealität [Arboreality], Rebecca Campbell, tr. Barbara Slawig (Carcosa)
Und Hoffentlich zu lernen [To Be Taught If Fortunate], Becky Chambers, tr. Karin Will (Carcosa)
Dr. No, Percival Everett, tr. Nikolaus Stingl (Hanser)
Ihr Körper, das Schiff [Her Body, the Ship], Yvonne Tunnat & Chriss Witt, eds., tr. Sharyn Wegmann (A7L Books)
Best SF Cover Art or Illustration related to a German edition
WINNER: Jan Hoffman for the cover of phantastisch! 98, Klaus Bollhöfener, ed. (Atlantis)
Lothar Bauer for the cover art of Delter, Frank Lauenroth (p. machinery)
Cuculum AKA Axel Kuckuk for the cover art of Exodus 49, Hans Jürgen Kugler, René Moreau & Heinz Wipperfürth, eds. (Selbstverlag)
Mario Franke for the interior art of “Innovation mit Nebenwirkungen”, Hubert Hug & Michael Schmidt (Tales of Science II)
Detlef Klewer for the cover art of Weltenportal 6, Christoph Grimm & Sarah Lutter, eds. (Selbstverlag)
Günter Puschmann for the cover art of SOL 117, Christina Hacker, ed. (PRFZ)
Best German Non-fiction Texts related to SF
WINNER: Lexikon der deutschsprachigen Science Fiction 1933–1945, Wolfgang Both, Klaus Geus, Horst Illmer & Klaus Scheffler (Memoranda)
“Wer sind Sie? Und wenn ja, wie viele? Über welche Figuren schreiben wir in der deutschen Science Fiction?”, Jamie-Lee Campbell (!Time Machine 9)
Picknick auf der Autobahn: Wie wir in Zukunft unterwegs sein werden, Katja Diehl & Mario Sixtus (S. Fischer)
Nerd Girl Magic: Fandom aus marginalisierter Perspektive, Simoné Goldschmidt-Lechner (Verbrecher)
Science Fiction Futurologien: Die spannungsreiche Beziehung zwischen Zukunftsforschung und Spekulativer Literatur, Julia Grillmayr (Transcript)
Zukunft ohne Angst: Wie Anti-Dystopien neue Perspektiven eröffnen oekom, Isabella Hermann (Oekom)
“Utopische Körper: Africanfuturism und Queer*SF als utopische Praxis”, Aiki Mira (Das Science Fiction Jahr 2025)
“Kann Phantastik progressiv sein, wenn sie keine Infragestellung des Status Quo beinhaltet?”, Jol Rosenberg (Weltenportal 6)
Rückblick auf das lichte Morgen: Essays zu SF und Phantastik in der DDR, Angela & Karlheinz Steinmüller (Memoranda)
Jules Verne und die Entdeckung der Meeresforschung, Bettina Wurche (Hirnkost)
Special Achievement Award for SF activities
WINNER: Olaf Brill & Michael Vogt
Galax Acheronian, Stefan Junghanns & Achim Stößer
Dirk Berger
Katja Diehl & Mario Sixtus
Brandon Q. Morris, Yvonne Tunnat & Chris Witt
Michael Wehren
Special Achievement Award for Long-Term Activities
WINNER: Klaus Bollhöfener and the team of phantastisch!
benSwerk / S. Beneš
Christoph Grimm & Sarah Lutter
Birgit Fischer
Michael Marrak
Ingrid Pointecker
Thomas Recktenwald
Peter Schmitz
Friedhelm Schneidewind
Rainer Schorm
Jörg Weigand
Special Achievement Award: Critical, Committed, Intersectional
WINNER: Jamie-Lee Campbell
Aşkın-Hayat Doğan
Patricia Eckermann
Florence Gaub
Ingrid Pointecker
Michael Wehren
The Phantastik-Bestenliste team and jury
Winners were selected by a jury and honored in a ceremony on July 4, 2026 at Metropol Con Berlin in Germany. For more information, see the official website.
The Bookseller has announced the winners of the 2026 British Book Awards, including the Book of the Year Winners. Winning titles and authors of genre interest, and other finalists of interest in those categories, include:
The Rose Field: The Book of Dust, Philip Pullman (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Science Fiction & Fantasy
WINNER: Alchemised, SenLinYu (Penguin Michael Joseph)
The Devils, Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)
Ice, Jacek Dukaj, tr. Ursula Phillips (Head of Zeus)
Brimstone, Callie Hart (Hodderscape)
Katabasis, R.F. Kuang (HarperVoyager)
Onyx Storm, Rebecca Yarros (Piatkus)
Crime & Thriller
WINNER: A Case of Mice and Murder, Sally Smith (Raven)
The Secret of Secrets, Dan Brown (Bantam)
Death at the White Hart, Chris Chibnall (Pamela Dorman)
The God of the Woods, Liz Moore (The Borough)
Children’s Fiction
WINNER: Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Fearless, Lauren Roberts (Simon & Schuster Children’s)
Skandar and the Spirit War, A.F. Steadman (Simon & Schuster Children’s)
A Language of Dragons, S.F. Williamson (HarperCollins Children’s)
Audiobook Fiction
WINNER: Cursed Daughters, Oyinkan Braithwaite, narrated by Weruche Opia, Nnei Opia Clark & Diana Yekinni (WF Howes)
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, adapted by Lulu Raczka, narrated by Marisa Abela, Glenn Close, Harris Dickinson, Marianne Jean-Baptiste & Bill Nighy (Audible Original)
The Rose Field: The Book of Dust, Philip Pullman, narrated by Michael Sheen (Penguin Audio)
There were also categories for Romantic Fiction, Debut Fiction, Graphic Novels, Non-Fiction: Narrative, and more.
The British Book Awards, also called the Nibbies, “celebrates the intimate connection between the books, their makers and their audience” with nominees in a variety of categories. Winners were honored on May 11, 2026 through a livestream and at Grosvenor House in London. For the complete winners list, see the official website.
SF novel, second in the Time’s Shadow series set in the Polity Universe. Al Straeger has built a p-prador army from the Spatterjay virus, while Blite and Cormac are trapped in conflict on the world of Yossander’s Hold. Simultaneous with the Macmillan/Tor UK edition.
Horror novella described as “Severance meets Lovecraft.” Joe joins the mysterious Ponos company as an administrative assistant, but gets more than he bargained for. Simultaneous with the Macmillan/Tor Nightfire UK edition.
Brennan, Sarah Rees: All Hail Chaos (Orbit US 978-0316568746, $19.99, 480pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Fantasy novel, the second in the Time of Iron series. Fantasy reader Rae, transported into her favorite book-realm, has played a villainess, and now faces undead armies, raiders, and an Emperor who wants her as his queen. Simultaneous with the Orbit UK edition.
Butcher, Jim: Out Law (Podium Publishing 979-8347030026, $16.99, 208pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/05/2026)
Fantasy novella in the Dresden Files set after Twelve Months. After the Battle of Chicago, Harry Dresden is pressured by John Marcone to help an underling, and deals with a demonic foe he himself may have created.
Dinniman, Matt: A Parade of Horribles (Ace 979-8217190065, $32.00, 704pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
SF LitRPG novel, eighth in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Carl and Princess Donut compete in races on the 10th Floor, while on the 11th floor, something called the “Parade of Horribles” is happening. Previously self-published, now with an exclusive bonus story, “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.”
SF novel with fantasy elements. The fantasy world of Malicarn is the setting of blockbuster movies — but it’s a “Truman Show”-esque environment where the people within believe their magical, dragon-filled lives are real.
Flett, Jane: Welcome to the Chaoskampf (Penguin Random House UK/Doubleday UK 978-1529955064, £18.99, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, 05/14/2026)
Literary apocalypse novel. Marcy leaves her perfect life and takes up with a group of apocalypse-summoning filmmakers who think her old boxing scar is the mark of the Chosen One.
Francis, Dani: Broken Dove (Penguin Random House/Del Rey 978-0593875490, $32.99, 608pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Dystopian romance novel, second in the Silver Elite series. Exposed as a double agent within the Silver Elite, Wren aids in the allied Uprising, though she’s torn between her lover Cross and hotshot pilot Grayson. Simultaneous with the Penguin Random House UK/Del Rey UK edition.
Gailey, Sarah: Make Me Better (Tor 978-1250851758, $28.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Wellness-gothic horror novel. Celia, seeking community, goes to the Salt Festival on a mysterious island, where the secluded community promises healing and transformation and the reef outside keeps growing.
Gammon, Jendia & Chiara, Ernie: Omniboz: Tales from the Land of Oz (Stars and Sabers 978-1967550098, $19.99, 152pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, 05/15/2026)
Anthology of short stories inspired by L. Frank Baum’s Oz books. Authors include Adrian Tchaikovsky, Helen Gylnn Jones, J.R. Dawson, and more.
Glynn, John: The Lost Book of Lancelot (Grand Central 978-1538775233, $29.00, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Arthurian fantasy novel. Orphan Lancelot grows up in seclusion on the Isle of Women and in love with the handsome Galehaut; as he is drawn into Camelot politics, he finds himself in a battle between warring worlds.
Near-future SF novel. Working for the Callisto corporation, Kelli edits AI output into “appropriate” stories for TV; her rigid life is interrupted when ex Rowan seeks her help for his illegal gender-affirming surgery.
Leckie, Ann: Radiant Star (Orbit US 978-0316290357, $30.00, 368pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
SF novel, a standalone set in the world of the Imperial Radch. The Radch, cracking down on the city Ooioiaa’s local rituals, permit only one more man to enter the Temporal Location of the Radiant Star and join its mummified bodies as a “living saint.” Simultaneous with the Orbit UK edition.
McIntyre, Vonda N.: The Curve of the World (Aqueduct Press 978-1619762800, $21.00, 408pp, formats: paperback, 05/15/2026)
Historical fantasy novel, published posthumously. In an ancient Minoan world, ambassador Iakinthu sails the world to return her son Rhenthizu to his home on the Pacific coast, a distant land no Minoans have ever reached.
Newman, Kim: Model Actress Whatever (Titan Books UK 978-1803366678, $19.99, 464pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Satirical horror novel. Soap-opera actress Chrissie discovers her character is about to be killed off, stops dieting, and discovers she has supernatural abilities, and has to rescue her aunt who’s a therapist for supervillains.
Noon, Jeff: Moon Over Brendle (Angry Robot UK 978-1836730309, $19.99, 256pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Fantasy novel with elements of memoir. In an alternate 1968 Lancashire, teenage Joe has the rare ability to see Greot, a swirling dust rainbow that settles on the dead, and becomes a successful SF novelist.
Near-future horror novel. Two best friends in Ecuador go to a hedonistic Solar Noise Festival: Noa embraces the narcotic haze and collective visions, but Nicole senses something sinister at play. Translated from the Spanish by Sarah Booker.
Fantasy novel, the second in the Loyal Opposition series. Brother Desiderius and Sister Svangerd take on a dangerous task from a high-up official. Parker is a pen name for Tom Holt. Simultaneous with the Orbit UK edition; ebook also available. Simultaneous with the Orbit UK edition.
Patel, Vaishnavi: We Dance Upon Demons (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 978-1668068595, $28.00, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Fantasy novel. Burned-out reproductive healthcare worker Nisha collapses at an Indian art exhibit after being beckoned by a statue, and wakes with strange powers.
Plett, Cale: The Saw Mouth (Penguin Random House/Delacorte 979-8217025701, $19.99, 384pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Young-adult rural horror novel. Ten years after an apocolypse in which souls woke up inside machines and destroyed them, genderqueer teen Cedar finds themselves hunted by a rotting shadow in Sawblade Lake.
Roth, Veronica: Seek the Traitor’s Son (Tor 978-1250347909, $29.99, 432pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Fantasy romance novel, first in the Burning Empire series. Soldier Elegy defends her homeland from the Talusar, but a prophecy says she and Talusar general Rava will fall in love with the same man and only one will be victorious in the war. Simultaneous with the Macmillan/Tor UK edition.
Searcy, Holly: The Whisper Tree (Blackstone Publishing 979-8228465343, $29.99, 382pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Fantasy novel, second in the Amarra Chronicles. Elven druid Kiana joins an adventure party to track down royal artifacts, and must save the Whisper Tree from a corruption.
Smyth, Lauren: All That Glows (Enclave Escape 979-8886052619, $24.99, 336pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/12/2026)
Young-adult SF novel. Kyrie and her town in the Mojave Desert survived a plague-carrying rain ten years ago, but a masked man outside the town fence doesn’t seem to understand the world ended.
Turtledove, Harry: Lightning Runes (Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy 978-1647101770, $29.67, 304pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/11/2026)
Historical fantasy detective novel, second in the City of Shadows series (standalone). In 1940s Los Angeles, a missing musician and a trail of magic triggers an investigation into an ancient power threatening the city.
Vibbert, Marie: Multitude (Apex Book Company 978-1955765497, $18.95, 184pp, formats: paperback, ebook, 05/12/2026)
SF novel. Humanity — from a SETI researcher in Australia to a mathematician in Beirut — must contend with a hivemind collective of cephalopod aliens.
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The strongest debut this week is TJ Klune’s We Burned So Bright (Tor), a short SF novel about a rogue black hole headed for Earth, ranking on all four print lists compiled here.
This cell color indicates rankings on children’s bestsellers lists
This cell color indicates rankings of books based on pre-publication sales
[Italics and brackets, and/or this cell color, indicate stale data — rankings from one or more weeks before — and do not contribute to the cumulative weeks on any list totals]
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.
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The British Fantasy Society (BFS) has announced the shortlists for the 2026 British Fantasy Awards:
