The British Fantasy Society (BFS) has announced the shortlists for the 2026 British Fantasy Awards:

Winners will be announced during Fantasycon 2026, to be held October 9-11 in Glasgow, Scotland. For more information, see the BFS website.

The post 2026 British Fantasy Awards Shortlists appeared first on Locus.

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Banerjee, Anindita & Vint, Sherryl: Reactionary Worldbuilding (MIT Press 978-0262053679, $90.00, 434pp, formats: paperback, 5/26/2026)

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.

 

Hairston, Andrea: The Redemption Center Is Closed on Sundays (Tor 978-1250807311, $32.99, 416pp, formats: hardcover, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)

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.

 

Ishiguro, Naomi: The Rainshadow Orphans (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press 978-3751791564, $27.00, 641pp, formats: ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)

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.

 

Roche, Máire: Bromantasy (Penguin Random House/Putnam 979-8217180707, $20.00, 352pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)

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.

 

Viel, Neena: I’ll Watch Your Baby (St. Martin’s Griffin 978-1250906342, $18.99, 336pp, formats: paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)

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.

 

Lem, Darkly: Transmentation | Transgression (Blackstone Publishing 979-8228648807, $24.29, 452pp, formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook, 05/26/2026)

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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The post New Book Releases: May 26, 2026 appeared first on Locus.

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.

Title	Debut / #wks on any list	NYT 05.31	LAT 05.24	USAT 05.17	PW 05.25	Amz (05.25)	UK: Amz UK (05.25)	Canada: Amz.ca (05.25)
Items on list -x- number of lists surveyed		10×3	10×2	150	15×3	100	100	100
Hardcovers
Aster, Starside	04.13.26 / 7	12 -3		76 -21	10 -2			xx
Brown, Red Rising (Deluxe Slipcase Edition)	10.27.25 / 30	xxx..		66 -15	xxx..
Buehlman, Between Two Fires	03.16.26 / 10	xxx..			20 +	xxx..
Burke, Yesteryear	04.20.26 / 6	2 +1	1 =	3 =	2 +1	8 -2	3 -1	2 +4
Chakraborty, The Tapestry of Fate	05.25.26 / 1			34 ++	13 ++
Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping	06.10.24 / 79			xx	16 +4	xxx..	xxx	xxx..
Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles	04.27.26 / 5	1 ++	5 ++	4 ++	1 ++	32 -15		x
Dinniman, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario	01.12.26 / 20	11 +1		28 +6		24 -1		26 -5
Dinniman, Dungeon Crawler Carl	05.26.25 / 41	15 +	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	95 -38		xxx..
Dinniman, The Butcher’s Masquerade	04.21.25 / 16	xxx..		63 +27	xxx..	75 -20
Dinniman, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook	02.02.26 / 16	13 +1		33 +12		31 -1
Dinniman, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride	05.26.25 / 14	xxx..		79 +	12 +5	88 -28
Dinniman, The Gate of the Feral Gods	03.24.25 / 18	xxx..		58 +21	xxx..	59 -17
Dinniman, This Inevitable Ruin	10.06.25 / 11	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	15 +5	x
Francis, Broken Dove	05.25.26 / 1	3 ++		8 ++	3 ++
Gailey, Make Me Better	05.25.26 / 1			143 ++
Haig, The Midnight Train (UK)	05.18.26 / 2						10 +21
Klune, We Burned So Bright	05.11.26 / 3	xx	xx	80 -44	xx
McIntire, Twisted	05.18.26 / 2	x		103 -90	x
Parker, The Ballad of Falling Dragons	05.25.26 / 1			18 ++			48 ++	11 ++
Perry, Rites of the Starling	04.06.26 / 8	xx	xxx..	x	22 -3	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..
Roberts, Powerless	11.20.23 / 94	xxx..		xxx..	12 +7	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..
Roth, Seek the Traitor’s Son	05.25.26 / 1			52 ++
SenLinYu, Alchemised	10.06.25 / 34	xxx..	xxx..	124 -5	21 +1	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..
Smith, The Thorn Queen	04.27.26 / 3	9 ++		xxx..	xxx
Sorensen, Dire Bound	03.16.26 / 7	xxx..		68 -40	17 -6			xx
Sorensen, Fury Bound	05.04.26 / 4	10 -8		24 -22	8 -7	xx	x	x
Tahir, Heir	10.14.24 / 13	xxx..		138 +	9 +
Tuli, Storm Breaker	05.18.26 / 2	8 -6		131 -40	x
Wells, Platform Decay	05.18.26 / 2	x	x	67 -59	x
Yarros, Onyx Storm	04.01.24 / 109	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	25 -3	xxx..
Yarros, Untitled Empyrean (Not Book Four)	04.20.26 / 6					x	xxx..	54 -18
Title	Debut / #wks on any list	NYT 05.31	LAT 05.24	USAT 05.17	PW 05.25	Amz (05.25)	UK: Amz UK (05.25)	Canada: Amz.ca (05.25)
Paperbacks [tpb=trade]
Abercrombie, The Devils [tpb]	05.11.26 / 3			65 -25	14 +3
Brennan, All Hail Chaos [tpb]	05.25.26 / 1			21 ++
Buehlman, Between Two Fires [tpb]	09.09.24 / 13			61 +16
Dinniman, Dungeon Crawler Carl [tpb]	01.12.26 / 20	4 +2	4 =	9 +8	3 +2	23 -1		9 +2
Durst, The Faraway Inn [tpb]	04.13.26 / 6			xxx..	14 +1			xxx..
Haig, The Midnight Library [tpb]	05.22.23 / 79	xxx..	10 +	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	82 +	xxx..
Hazelwood, Mate [tpb]	10.20.25 / 16	xxx..	xxx..	91 +4	xxx..	xxx..		xxx..
Kraus, Angel Down [tpb]	05.18.26 / 2		5 ++	39 ++	18 ++	x		x
Maas, A Court of Frost and Starlight [tpb]	04.10.23 / 125	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..		xxx..	98 +	xxx..
Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury [tpb]	05.14.18 / 230	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..		xxx..	47 +24	xxx..
Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses [tpb]	05.16.16 / 267	xxx..	xxx..	98 -15	xxx..	xxx..	42 +16	xxx..
Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses Paperback Box Set	06.19.23 / 143			xxx..		xxx..	xxx..	99 -23
Maas, A Court of Wings and Ruin [tpb]	05.14.18 / 187	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	49 +40	xxx..
Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four	07.20.03 / 592		xxx..	50 +		xxx..	xxx..	xxx..
Rowling, Harry Potter Box Set: The Complete Collection (UK) [tpb]	03.23.15 / 452						xxx..	74 +
Weir, Project Hail Mary [tpb]	10.03.22 / 79	3 -1	1 +1	1 +3	17 +3	9 -4	16 -3	4 -1
Yarros, Fourth Wing [tpb]	09.16.24 / 87	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	xxx..	30 -14	xxx..
Yarros, Iron Flame [tpb]	06.02.25 / 48	xxx..		xxx..	xxx..		33 -8	xxx..
Title	Debut / #wks on any list	NYT 05.31	LAT 05.24	USAT 05.17	PW 05.25	Amz (05.25)	UK: Amz UK (05.25)	Canada: Amz.ca (05.25)
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.

The post Weekly Bestsellers, 25 May 2026 appeared first on Locus.