Update 9/8/26: Tagged 1 🏆
Eugie Award winner (click link to
highlight).
Update 8/31/26: Tagged 3 🏆
Hugo Award (short fiction) winners (click link to
highlight).
Update 8/25/26: Tagged 30 stories from 📙
Neil Clarke's year's best science fiction anthology (click link to
highlight).
Update 8/18/26: Tagged 5 of 21 stories from 📙
Michael Kelly's year's best weird fiction anthology (click link to
highlight).
Update 8/4/26: Tagged 9 of 12 🏆
World Fantasy Award finalists for short fiction (click link to
highlight).
(More)
Update 7/11/26: Tagged 1 of 3 🏆Shirley Jackson Award (short fiction) winners (click link to highlight).
Update 6/22/26: Tagged 5 🏆Eugie Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 6/19/26: Tagged 9 of 11 stories from 📙Allan Kaster's Year's Top Hard Hard Science Fiction anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 6/9/26: Tagged 3 of 18 stories from 📙Ellen Datlow's year's best horror anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 6/9/26: Tagged 10 🏆Sturgeon Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 6/8/26: Tagged 2 of 3 🏆Bram Stoker Award (short fiction) winners (click link to highlight).
Update 6/6/26: Tagged 3 🏆Nebula Award (short fiction) winners (click link to highlight).
Update 5/30/26: Tagged 3 🏆Locus Award (short fiction) winners (click link to highlight).
Update 5/28/26: Tagged 3 of 15 🏆Shirley Jackson Award (short fiction) finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 5/23/26: Tagged 3 of 8 🏆British Fantasy Award finalists for short fiction (click link to highlight).
Update 5/5/26: Tagged 15 🏆Asimov's Readers' Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 5/5/26: Tagged 15 🏆Analog Readers' Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 4/21/26: Tagged 18 🏆Hugo Award (short fiction) finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 4/13/26: Tagged 30 🏆Locus Award (short fiction) finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 4/6/26: Tagged 1 of 2 🏆BSFA Award (short fiction) winners (click link to highlight).
Update 3/18/26: Tagged 1 of 5 🏆Lambda Award Speculative Fiction finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 3/15/26: Tagged 18 🏆Nebula Award (short fiction) finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 3/5/26: Tagged 4 of 10 🏆BSFA Award (short fiction) finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 3/1/26: Tagged 2 🏆Clarkesworld Reader's Poll winners (click link to highlight).
Update 2/23/26: Tagged 5 of 10 🏆Bram Stoker Award (short fiction) finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 2/20/26: Tagged 2 🏆Apex Reader's Choice winners (click link to highlight).
Update 2/16/26: Tagged 8 🏆Uncanny Reader's Poll winners and finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 2/1/25: Tagged 14 🏆Clarkesworld Reader's Poll finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 1/27/26: Tagged 2 🏆RUSA Reading List winners and finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 12/4/25: Tagged 2 🏆Goodreads Choice Award winners and finalists (click link to highlight).
Here is the annotated
2025 Locus Recommended Reading List for short fiction, merged with
RSR's 2025 Best SF/F list (aka our aggregated list of "outstanding" stories from 2025 that score 2 or more based on 👍reviewers, 🏆awards, and year's best 📙anthologies). All the stories are grouped by length and score, with stories from the Locus list
highlighted in red.
The merge lets us analyze the
Locus list to see which stories that were broadly recognized as outstanding were left out, which publications stood out, which authors did particularly well (or not), how many were eligible for the Astounding Award, and how
RSR's own recommendations stack up with Locus reviewers in general.
As with every
RSR annotated list, there are links galore to the stories, their authors, the magazines, any award nominations/wins or "year's best" anthology inclusions, and search-links to find other reviews.
Anyone can vote for the Locus Awards at this link. Due date is Thursday April 1, 2026.
If you want to skip the analysis and just start reading,
click here (free stories
highlighted).
