Update 10/4/26: Tagged 12 of 16 stories from 📙Allan Kaster's Year's Top Science Fiction anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 9/28/26: Tagged 3 🏆Sturgeon Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 9/8/26: Tagged 1 🏆Eugie Award winner (click link to highlight).
Update 9/1/26: Tagged 3 🏆Asimov's Readers' Award winners (click link to highlight).
(More)
Every month, on the 1st, we add the most recommended👍 stories from the previous month's ratings to our Year-To-Date (YTD) list, grouped by story length and current score (must be 2 or more). This is our annual library.
After year's end, during the three-month award nomination season, the YTD list becomes the SF/F Ballots list and story scores are updated as “year’s best” anthologies📙 and award finalists🏆 are announced. For some awards and the Locus Recommended Reading List, we’ll create an annotated list of the finalists sorted by latest score to help people choose stories to read.
After most nominations close in March, the SF/F Ballots list becomes the Best SF/F list and story scores continue to be updated until November when the last award winners (World Fantasy) are announced. During this time, we’ll produce themed selections of outstanding stories🚀✨🌈📚 with final scores from the annual library.
1. Year-To-Date
2/26/26: 100% done (✓126/126)
Next Update:
| Recommendations By | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 👍ABrown | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍ACWise | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍CPayseur | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| 👍MHaskins | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| 👍PGuran.r | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | — |
| 👍STomaino | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍Tangent | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍Booklist 📘 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍Goodreads 📘 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍LibraryJournal 📘 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍Kirkus 📘 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍PW 📘 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
2. SF/F Ballots
The magazine-specific awards come with a longlist link to all stories published by each magazine, with blurbs to help you remember the ones you've read and scores to guide further reading.
For the general awards, see the outstanding stories at the 2025 SF/F Ballots page, grouped by length (novella, novelette, short story), by publication, by new writer (year 1, year 2), or by author.
A. Open to All
- Analog Readers' Awards: Ballot (Jan 1-Apr 1)
- Longlist & Covers; My Ratings
- Asimov's Readers' Awards: Ballot (Jan 1-Apr 1)
- Longlist & Covers; My Ratings
- Apex Readers' Choice: Ballot (Feb 1-14)
- Clarkesworld Reader's Poll: Finalist Ballot (Jan 20-22); Winners Ballot (Feb 1-15)
- Locus Awards: Ballot (Feb 1-Apr 1)
- Uncanny Favorite Fiction Reader Poll: Ballot (Jan 22-Feb 12)
B. Open to Members
- BSFA Awards: Finalist Ballot (-Feb 19); Winners Ballot ()
- British Fantasy Awards: Ballot ()
- Nebula Awards: Longlist; Shortlist Ballot (Nov 15-Mar 1); Winners Ballot (mid-Mar to mid-Apr)
- Hugo Awards: Shortlist Ballot (Feb 11-Mar 28); Winners Ballot (Apr 23-Jul 23)
- 2025 Best SF/F (160+ stories, 150+ authors, 10+ magazines)
- Astounding-eligible Writers (200+ stories, 190+ authors, 10+ magazines)
Here are some helpful aggregation lists for Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form (Metacritic's 2025 SF/F Movies to Watch), and Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form (Metacritic's 2025 SF/F TV Shows to Watch). GoodReads Choice Awards 2025 is also useful for science fiction novels and fantasy novels.
- Eugie Award: Longlist (Publishers, Editors); Shortlist (Commitee); Winner (Panel)
- Sturgeon Award: Shortlist (Editors, Reviewers); Winner (Jury)
- Shirley Jackson Awards: Longlist (Publishers, Editors); Shortlist & Winners (Jury)
- World Fantasy Awards: Longlist (Publishers, Editors); Shortlist & Winners (Jury)
3. Best SF/F
10/18/26: 99% complete (🏆36/37; 📙7/7; 👍24/24; 67/68)
Next Updates: See table below
Clicking on a completed award/year's best/reviewer link will highlight the stories whose score was increased by that award/year's best/reviewer.
Eric Wong Updated Sunday Octiber 18, 2026
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