All awards 

Locus Award for Best First Novel

1981–2026

2026

All 2026 awards
Sour CherryNatalia Theodoridou
Winner
Luminous: A NovelSilvia Park
2nd place
Song of SporesBogi Takács
3rd place
A Song of Legends LostM. H. Ayinde
4th place
Awake in the Floating CitySusanna Kwan
5th place
Red Rabbit GhostJen Julian
6th place
Blob: A Love StoryMaggie Su
7th place
When Devils SingXan Kaur
8th place
Archive of Unknown UniversesRuben Reyes Jr.
9th place
North Sun: or, The Voyage of the Whaleship EstherEthan Rutherford
10th place

2025

All 2025 awards
Someone You Can Build a Nest InJohn Wiswell
Winner
The Book of LoveKelly Link
2nd place
The Ministry of TimeKaliane Bradley
3rd place
The West PassageJared Pechacek
4th place
The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the WastelandsSarah Brooks
5th place
Womb CityTlotlo Tsamaase
6th place
SargassaSophie Burnham
7th place
Hammajang LuckMakana Yamamoto
8th place
The Spice GatePrashanth Srivatsa
9th place
Lady Eve's Last ConRebecca Fraimow
10th place

2024

All 2024 awards
The Saint of Bright DoorsVajra Chandrasekera
Winner
Some Desperate GloryEmily Tesh
2nd place
Shigidi and the Brass Head of ObalufonWole Talabi
3rd place
Chain-Gang All-StarsNana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
4th place
GodkillerHannah Kaner
5th place
Ink Blood Sister ScribeEmma Törzs
6th place
The StrangeNathan Ballingrud
7th place
Threads That BindKika Hatzopoulou
8th place
These Burning StarsBethany Jacobs
9th place
The MarigoldAndrew F. Sullivan
10th place

2023

All 2023 awards
The Mountain in the SeaRay Nayler
Winner
How High We Go in the DarkSequoia Nagamatsu
Finalist
Legends & LattesTravis Baldree
Finalist
The Ballad of Perilous GravesAlex Jennings
Finalist
The Bone OrchardSara A. Mueller
Finalist
The Book EatersSunyi Dean
Finalist
The Bruising of QilwaNaseem Jamnia
Finalist
The Genesis of MiseryNeon Yang
Finalist
The HaciendaIsabel Cañas
Finalist
The Unbalancing: A Birdverse NovelR. B. Lemberg
Finalist

2022

All 2022 awards
A Master of DjinnP. Djèlí Clark
Winner
She Who Became the SunShelley Parker-Chan
2nd place
The UnbrokenC. L. Clark
3rd place
The Chosen and the BeautifulNghi Vo
4th place
Iron WidowXiran Jay Zhao
5th place
MachinehoodS. B. Divya
6th place
Wendy, DarlingA. C. Wise
7th place
A Marvellous LightFreya Marske
8th place
Winter's OrbitEverina Maxwell
9th place
The All-Consuming WorldCassandra Khaw
10th place

2021

All 2021 awards
ElatsoeElatsoeDarcie Little Badger
Winner
The Space Between WorldsMicaiah Johnson
2nd place
Cemetery BoysAiden Thomas
3rd place
The Bone Shard DaughterAndrea Stewart
4th place
The vanished birdsSimon Jimenez
5th place
Architects of MemoryKaren Osborne
6th place
Beneath the RisingPremee Mohamed
7th place
HenchNatalie Zina Walschots
8th place
The unspoken nameA. K. Larkwood
9th place
The mermaid, the witch, and the seaMaggie Tokuda-Hall
10th place

2020

All 2020 awards
Gideon the NinthTamsyn Muir
Winner
A Memory Called EmpireArkady Martine
2nd place
The Ten Thousand Doors of JanuaryAlix E. Harrow
3rd place
Magic for LiarsSarah Gailey
4th place
A Song for a New DaySarah Pinsker
5th place
The Water DancerTa-Nehisi Coates
6th place
FinderSuzanne Palmer
7th place
The Luminous DeadCaitlin Starling
8th place
Waste TideChen Qiufan
9th place
Infinite DetailTim Maughan
10th place

2019

All 2019 awards
Trail of LightningRebecca Roanhorse
Winner
The Poppy WarR. F. Kuang
2nd place
Children of Blood and BoneTomi Adeyemi
3rd place
WitchmarkC. L. Polk
4th place
SemiosisSue Burke
5th place
The Quantum MagicianDerek Künsken
6th place
Empire of sandTasha Suri
7th place
Armed in Her FashionKate Heartfield
8th place
SeveranceLing Ma
9th place
AnnexRich Larson
10th place

2018

All 2018 awards
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's DaughterTheodora Goss
Winner
AutonomousAnnalee Newitz
2nd place
The Bear and The NightingaleKatherine Arden
3rd place
Lincoln in the BardoGeorge Saunders
4th place
The City of BrassShannon Chakraborty
5th place
Winter tideRuthanna Emrys
6th place
AmberloughLara Elena Donnelly
7th place
An unkindness of ghostsRivers Solomon
8th place
The art of starvingSam J. Miller
9th place
AmatkaKarin Tidbeck
10th place

2017

All 2017 awards
Ninefox Gambit'Pemi Aguda
Winner
EverfairNisi Shawl
2nd place
InfomocracyMalka Older
3rd place
Arabella of MarsDavid D. Levine
4th place
Roses and RotKat Howard
5th place
The Star-Touched QueenRoshani Chokshi
6th place
The Girl from EverywhereHeidi Heilig
7th place
Waypoint KangarooCurtis C. Chen
8th place
VigilAngela Slatter
9th place
The readerTraci Chee
10th place

2016

All 2016 awards
The Grace of KingsKen Liu
Winner
Sorcerer to the CrownZen Cho
2nd place
Signal to NoiseSilvia Moreno-Garcia
3rd place
The sorcerer of the WildeepsKai Ashante Wilson
4th place
The watchmaker of Filigree StreetNatasha Pulley
5th place
The Traitor Baru CormorantSeth Dickinson
6th place
VermilionMolly Tanzer
7th place
ArchangelMarguerite Reed
9th place
Last song before nightIlana C. Myer
10th place

2015

All 2015 awards
The Memory GardenMary Rickert
Winner
A Darkling SeaJames L. Cambias
2nd place
The Emperor's BladesBrian Staveley
3rd place
ElysiumJennifer Marie Brissett
4th place
The Clockwork DaggerBeth Cato
5th place
The Girl in the RoadMonica Byrne
6th place
The RaceNina Allan
7th place
The stone boatmenSarah Tolmie
8th place
Unwrapped SkyRjurik Davidson
9th place
OtherboundCorinne Duyvis
10th place

2014

All 2014 awards
Ancillary JusticeAnn Leckie
Winner
The Golem and the JinniHelene Wecker
2nd place
A Stranger in OlondriaSofia Samatar
3rd place
The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real MagicEmily Croy Barker
4th place
The golden cityJ. Kathleen Cheney
5th place
The Scroll of YearsChris Willrich
6th place
Wolfhound CenturyPeter Higgins
7th place
The Age of IceJ. M. Sidorova
8th place
A Questionable ShapeBennett Sims
9th place

2013

All 2013 awards
Throne of the Crescent MoonSaladin Ahmed
Winner
Alif the UnseenG. Willow Wilson
2nd place
SeraphinaRachel Hartman
4th place
The gamesTed Kosmatka
5th place
RitualsRoz Kaveney
7th place
Wide openDeborah Coates
9th place
The Snow ChildEowyn Ivey
10th place
vN: The First Machine DynastyMadeline Ashby
Finalist

2012

All 2012 awards
The Night CircusErin Morgenstern
Winner
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus TresaultiGenevieve Valentine
2nd place
Soft ApocalypseWill McIntosh
3rd place
God's WarKameron Hurley
4th place
Ready Player OneErnest Cline
5th place
Of blood and honeyStina Leicht
6th place
The Tiger's WifeTea Obreht
7th place
The Girl of Fire and ThornsRae Carson
8th place
SeedRob Ziegler
9th place
The Desert of SoulsHoward Andrew Jones
10th place

2011

All 2011 awards
The Hundred Thousand KingdomsN. K. Jemisin
Winner
How to live safely in a science fictional universeCharles Yu
2nd place
The Quantum ThiefHannu Rajaniemi
3rd place
Shades of Milk and HoneyMary Robinette Kowal
4th place
The loving deadAmelia Beamer
5th place
The BookmanLavie Tidhar
6th place
The Native StarM. K. Hobson
7th place
Redemption in IndigoKaren Lord
9th place

2010

All 2010 awards
The Windup GirlPaolo Bacigalupi
Winner
LamentationKen Scholes
2nd place
The manual of detectionJedediah Berry
3rd place
SoullessGail Carriger
4th place
Norse CodeGreg van Eekhout
5th place
AshMalinda Lo
6th place
Rosemary and RueSeanan McGuire
7th place
HarbingerJack Skillingstead
8th place
SpellbentLucy A. Snyder
10th place

2009

All 2009 awards
Singularity's RingPaul Melko
Winner
PandemoniumDaryl Gregory
2nd place
ThundererFelix Gilman
3rd place
The Gone-Away WorldNick Harkaway
5th place
GracelingKristin Cashore
6th place
The Painted ManPeter V. Brett
7th place
Last DragonJ. M. McDermott
8th place
The red wolf conspiracyRobert V. S. Redick
10th place
Black ShipsJo Graham
Finalist

2008

All 2008 awards
Heart-Shaped BoxJoe Hill
Winner
The Name of the WindPatrick Rothfuss
2nd place
Flora SegundaYsabeau S. Wilce
3rd place
One for SorrowChristopher Barzak
4th place
City of BonesCassandra Clare
5th place
GreyJon Armstrong
6th place
The sword-edged blondeAlex Bledsoe
7th place
MaledicteLane Robins
10th place

2007

All 2007 awards
TemeraireNaomi Novik
Winner
The Lies of Locke LamoraScott Lynch
2nd place
Crystal RainTobias S. Buckell
3rd place
The Green Glass SeaEllen Klages
4th place
The glass books of the dream eatersGordon Dahlquist
5th place
A Shadow in SummerDaniel Abraham
6th place
Summer of the ApocalypseJames Van Pelt
7th place
Scar nightAlan Campbell
8th place
The Blade ItselfJoe Abercrombie
9th place
The Stolen ChildKeith Donohue
10th place

2006

All 2006 awards
HammeredElizabeth Bear
Winner
Old Man's WarJohn Scalzi
2nd place
Counting headsDavid Marusek
3rd place
The Strange Adventures of RangergirlTim Pratt
4th place
VellumHal Duncan
5th place
Rocket ScienceJay Lake
6th place
MelusineSarah Monette
7th place

2005

All 2005 awards
Jonathan Strange & Mr. NorrellSusanna Clarke
Winner
The year of our warSteph Swainston
2nd place
City of PearlKaren Traviss
3rd place
Trash Sex MagicJennifer Stevenson
4th place
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor PadMinister Faust
5th place
Ghosts in the snowTamara Siler Jones
6th place
Move Under GroundNick Mamatas
8th place
Weapons of ChoiceJohn Birmingham
9th place

2004

All 2004 awards
Down and Out in the Magic KingdomCory Doctorow
Winner
Paper MageLeah R. Cutter
5th place
Spin stateChris Moriarty
6th place
CladeMark Budz
7th place
Star dragonMike Brotherton
8th place
The Darkness That Comes BeforeR. Scott Bakker
8th place
A Telling of StarsCaitlin Sweet
10th place
The Time Traveler's WifeAudrey Niffenegger
Finalist
Veniss UndergroundJeff VanderMeer
Finalist

2003

All 2003 awards
A Scattering of JadesAlexander C. Irvine
Winner
The Golden AgeJohn C. Wright
2nd place
Altered CarbonRichard K. Morgan
3rd place
SolitaireKelley Eskridge
4th place
WarchildKarin Lowachee
6th place
The summer countryJames A. Hetley
7th place
Fires of the FaithfulNaomi Kritzer
8th place
The Red ChurchScott Nicholson
9th place