A LIBRARY WITH A LITTLE DIRECTION

Locus Award science fiction books and reader favorites

Discover science fiction recognized in the Locus Awards and historical reader polls. See which works won, reached finalist lists or appeared in the included historical poll selections.

Locus recognition brings a reader perspective to the library. Formal winners and finalists are distinguished from historical poll top five selections. Those selections are not silently presented as formal finalists. Only the selected science fiction categories and eligible works are included. Official award site ↗

541 works · Page 1 of 12

11/22/63 by Stephen King, book cover

11/22/63

by Stephen King

Novel · 2011 · Science fiction and fantasy crossover

Locus recognition

11/22/63 is a novel by Stephen King about a time traveller who attempts to prevent the assassination of United States President John F.

2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke, book cover

2010: Odyssey Two

by Arthur C. Clarke

Novel · 1982

Hugo recognitionLocus recognition

When 2001: A Space Odyssey first shocked, amazed, and delighted millions in the late 1960s, the novel was quickly recognized as a classic. Since then, its fame has grown steadily among the multitudes who have read the novel or seen the film based on it.

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson, book cover

2312

by Kim Stanley Robinson

Novel · 2012

Nebula winnerClarke recognitionHugo recognitionLocus recognition

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between.

24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai by Roger Zelazny, book cover

24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai

by Roger Zelazny

Novella · 1985

Hugo winnerLocus recognitionNebula recognition

24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai is a science fiction novella by American writer Roger Zelazny, originally published in the July 1985 issue of the Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1986 and was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1985.

A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe, book cover

A Borrowed Man

by Gene Wolfe

Novel · 2015

Locus recognition

It's perhaps a hundred years in the future and E. A. Smithe is "a clone who lives on a third-tier shelf in a public library, and his personality is an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer".

A Choice of Gods by Clifford D. Simak, book cover

A Choice of Gods

by Clifford D. Simak

Novel · 1971

Hugo recognitionLocus recognition

One night in July, 2135, there were some eight billion people on Earth! The next morning there were perhaps 400. There was no clue to what had happened to the world's population—but, over the centuries that followed, still stranger things occurred.

A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold, book cover

A Civil Campaign

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Novel · 1999 · Science fiction and fantasy crossover

Hugo recognitionLocus recognitionNebula recognition

Miles Vorkosigan launches a campaign to win the heart of Ekatarina, whose former husband died as a result of Miles' investigations in the book Komarr , by the same author.

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge, book cover

A Deepness in the Sky

by Vernor Vinge

Novel · 1999

Hugo winnerClarke recognitionLocus recognitionNebula recognition

A Deepness in the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. Published in 1999, the novel is a loose prequel (set 30,000 years previous) to his earlier novel A Fire Upon the Deep (1992).

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine, book cover

A Desolation Called Peace

by Arkady Martine

Novel · 2021

Hugo winnerLocus winnerClarke recognitionNebula recognition

A Desolation Called Peace is a 2021 space opera science fiction novel by Arkady Martine. It is the sequel to A Memory Called Empire, and the second novel in Martine's Teixcalaan series. Like its predecessor, the book won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, book cover

A Fire Upon the Deep

by Vernor Vinge

Novel · 1992

Hugo winnerLocus recognitionNebula recognition

Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures, and technology…

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, book cover

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

by Becky Chambers

Novella · 2022

Locus winnerNebula recognition

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a 2022 solarpunk novella written by American author Becky Chambers and published by Tor.com on July 12, 2022. It is the second book in the Monk & Robot series, preceded by A Psalm for the Wild-Built (2021).

A Song for Lya by George R. R. Martin, book cover

A Song for Lya

by George R. R. Martin

Novella · 1974

Hugo winnerLocus recognitionNebula recognition

"A Song For Lya" is a science fiction novella by American writer George R.R. Martin. It was published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine in 1974 and won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1975.

A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg, book cover

A Time of Changes

by Robert Silverberg

Novel · 1971

Nebula winnerHugo recognitionLocus recognition

In the far future, Earth is a worn-out backwater and humanity is spread across the galaxy on worlds that began as colonies, but now feel like home, each with its own long history of a thousand years or more, and each with its own unique…

A World Out of Time by Larry Niven, book cover

A World Out of Time

by Larry Niven

Novel · 1976

Locus recognition

Jaybee Corbell awoke after more than 200 years as a corpsicle -- in someone else\'s body, and under sentence of instant annihilation if he made a wrong move while they were training him for a one-way mission to the stars.

Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey, book cover

Abaddon's Gate

by James S. A. Corey

Novel · 2013

Locus winner

An alien artifact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has emerged to build a massive structure outside the orbit of Uranus: a gate that leads into a starless dark.

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer, book cover

Absolution

by Jeff VanderMeer

Novel · 2024

Locus recognition

Absolution is a 2024 novel by Jeff VanderMeer, and the fourth entry in the Southern Reach Series. It is both a prequel and sequel to the Southern Reach Series.

Accelerando by Charles Stross, book cover

Accelerando

by Charles Stross

Novel · 2005

Locus winnerClarke recognitionHugo recognition

The Singularity. It is the era of the posthuman. Artificial intelligences have surpassed the limits of human intellect. Biotechnological beings have rendered people all but extinct. Molecular nanotechnology runs rampant, replicating and reprogramming at will.

After Atlas by Emma Newman, book cover

After Atlas

by Emma Newman

Novel · 2016

Clarke recognitionLocus recognition

Acclaimed author Emma Newman returns to the captivating universe she created in Planetfall with a stunning science fiction mystery where one man's murder is much more than it seems...

Agency by William Gibson, book cover

Agency

by William Gibson

Novel · 2020

Locus recognition

Agency is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, released on January 21, 2020. It is a 'sequel and a prequel' to his previous novel The Peripheral (2014), reusing the technology from the novel to explore an alternative 2017 where Hillary Clinton won the 2016 Presidential Election.

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky, book cover

Alien Clay

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Novel · 2024

Hugo recognitionLocus recognition

On the distant world of Kiln lie the ruins of an alien civilization. It’s the greatest discovery in humanity’s spacefaring history – yet who were its builders and where did they go? Professor Arton Daghdev had always wanted to study alien life up close.

All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis, book cover

All Seated on the Ground

by Connie Willis

Novella · 2007

Hugo winnerLocus recognition

All Seated on the Ground is a science fiction novella by American writer Connie Willis, originally published in the December 2007 issue of American magazine Asimov's Science Fiction and as a standalone volume from Subterranean Press. It won the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, book cover

All the Weyrs of Pern

by Anne McCaffrey

Novel · 1991 · Science fiction and fantasy crossover

Hugo recognitionLocus recognition

For generations, the dragonriders had dedicated their lives to fighting Thread, the dreaded spores that periodically rained from the sky to ravage the land.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson, book cover

Anathem

by Neal Stephenson

Novel · 2008

Locus winnerClarke recognitionHugo recognition

Anathem, the latest invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle, is a magnificent creation: a work of great scope, intelligence, and imagination that ushers readers into a recognizable — yet strangely inverted — world.Fraa Erasmas is a young…

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, book cover

Ancillary Sword

by Ann Leckie

Novel · 2014

Locus winnerHugo recognitionNebula recognition

Breq is a soldier who used to be a warship. Once a weapon of conquest controlling thousands of minds, now she has only a single body and serves the emperor.

And Chaos Died by Joanna Russ, book cover

And Chaos Died

by Joanna Russ

Novel · 1970

Locus recognitionNebula recognition

And Chaos Died (1970) is a science fiction novel by American writer Joanna Russ. Its setting is a dystopian projection of modern society, in which Earth's population has continued to grow, with the effects somewhat mitigated by advanced technology. The novel was nominated for the 1970 Nebula Award.

And Then There Were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker, book cover

And Then There Were (N-One)

by Sarah Pinsker

Novella · 2017

Hugo recognitionLocus recognitionNebula recognition

"And Then There Were (N-One)" is a 2017 science fiction/murder mystery novella by Sarah Pinsker. It was first published in Uncanny Magazine. It was republished in the collection Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea.

Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson, book cover

Antarctica

by Kim Stanley Robinson

Novel · 1997

Locus recognition

Eco-terrorists battle capitalists, seeking to open Antarctica to commercial exploitation. The time is the 21st century, the world is an ecological disaster, and the treaty banning mineral exploration of Antarctica has expired. By the author of Red Mars.

Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom by Ted Chiang, book cover

Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom

by Ted Chiang

Novella · 2019

Hugo recognitionLocus recognitionNebula recognition

"Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" is a science fiction novella by American writer Ted Chiang, initially published in the 2019 collection Exhalation: Stories. The novella's name quotes a proverb by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) in his work The Concept of Anxiety (1844).

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