Living Canon

Locus Awards 2025: Complete list of winners

The 2025 Locus Awards have arrived, and as always, they offer a fascinating snapshot of what devoted science fiction and fantasy readers are actually embracing right now. These awards, voted on by the passionate subscribers of Locus Magazine, carry particular weight precisely because they come from the genre’s core audience rather than a panel of judges. This year’s winners span from T. Kingfisher’s deliciously unsettling A Sorceress Comes to Call in the fantasy category to Alexander Boldizar’s intriguing The Man Who Saw Seconds, which claimed the science fiction prize—and there’s plenty of fresh talent mixed in with established names.

What’s striking about the 2025 Locus Awards selections is the diversity of voices and approaches they celebrate. John Wiswell’s Someone You Can Build a Nest In earned the Best First Novel honor, proving once again that new writers continue to find their way into readers’ hearts, while Yoon Ha Lee’s Moonstorm won Best Young Adult Book, signaling strong interest in YA work that doesn’t shy away from complexity. The Locus Awards winners typically trend toward character-driven storytelling and imaginative worldbuilding, and this year is no exception—each of these books suggests readers are hungry for narratives that feel both emotionally resonant and genuinely inventive.

Here are the complete 2025 Locus Awards winners across all categories:

Best Fantasy Novel

Best First Novel

Best Science Fiction Novel

Best Young Adult Book