I consider the annual Locus Awards to be one of the major genre prizes, right behind the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been a subscriber to Locus, the magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy field, for over 20 years, and have noticed how reliable the award is at ferreting out really important work year after year. Maybe it’s because Locus readers tend to be older, and more committed to the genre, than the average fan. Or maybe it’s just that I’m eligible to vote, and so I’m less grumpy about the results.

Whatever the reason, there’s no arguing the fact that the Locus Awards have highlighted some of the most important genre publications in the last 40 years, since they were first given out in 1971. If you’re a fantasy fan, it’s worth your time to pay attention to all the nominees.

The top five finalists in each category of the 2013 Locus Awards were announced by the Locus Science Fiction Foundation on Wednesday, May 8. The nominees are:

FANTASY NOVEL

• The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
• The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
• Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
• Hide Me Among the Graves, Tim Powers (Morrow)
• The Apocalypse Codex, Charles Stross (Ace)

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

• The Hydrogen Sonata, Iain M. Banks (Orbit)
• Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
• Caliban’s War, James S.A. Corey (Orbit)
• 2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
• Redshirts, John Scalzi (Tor)

YOUNG ADULT BOOK

• The Drowned Cities, Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown)
• Pirate Cinema, Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen)
• Railsea, China Miéville (Del Rey)
• Dodger, Terry Pratchett (Harper)
• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, Catherynne M. Valente (Feiwel and Friends)

FIRST NOVEL

• Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW)
• vN, Madeline Ashby (Angry Robot)
• Seraphina, Rachel Hartman (Random House)
• The Games, Ted Kosmatka (Del Rey)
• Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson (Grove)

NOVELLA

• “In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns,” Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s SF,  January 2012)
• On a Red Station, Drifting, Aliette de Bodard (Immersion)
• After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, Nancy Kress (Tachyon)
• “The Stars Do Not Lie”, Jay Lake (Asimov’s SF, 10-11/12)
• The Boolean Gate, Walter Jon Williams (Subterranean)

NOVELETTE

• “Faster Gun,” Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com, August 2012)
• “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi,” Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity)
• “Close Encounters,” Andy Duncan (The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories)
• “Fake Plastic Trees,” Caitlín R. Kiernan (After)
• “The Lady Astronaut of Mars,” Mary Robinette Kowal (Rip-Off!)

SHORT STORY

• “The Deeps of the Sky,” Elizabeth Bear (Edge of Infinity)
• “Immersion,” Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld, June 2012)
• “Mantis Wives,” Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
• “Elementals,” Ursula K. Le Guin (Tin House,Fall 2012)
• “Mono No Aware,” Ken Liu (The Future Is Japanese)

ANTHOLOGY

• After, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds. (Hyperion)
• The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Ninth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin)
• The Future Is Japanese, Nick Mamatas & Masumi Washington, eds. (Haikasoru)
• Edge of Infinity, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris)
• The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Six, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade)

COLLECTION

• The Best of Kage Baker, Kage Baker (Subterranean)
• Shoggoths in Bloom, Elizabeth Bear (Prime)
• At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Kij Johnson (Small Beer)
• The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volume One: Where on Earth and Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands, Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
• The Dragon Griaule, Lucius Shepard (Subterranean)

MAGAZINE

• Asimov’s Science Fiction
• F&SF
• Tor.com
• Clarkesworld
• Subterranean

PUBLISHER

• Tor
• Subterranean Press
• Orbit
• Baen
• Angry Robot

EDITOR

• John Joseph Adams
• Ellen Datlow
• Gardner Dozois
• Jonathan Strahan
• Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

ARTIST

• Donato Giancola
• Stephan Martiniere
• John Picacio
• Shaun Tan
• Michael Whelan

NON-FICTION

• An Exile on Planet Earth, Brian Aldiss (Bodleian Library)
• Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010, Damien Broderick & Paul Di Filippo, eds. (NonStop)
• Distrust That Particular Flavor, William Gibson (Putnam)
• The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn, eds. (Cambridge University Press)
• Some Remarks, Neal Stephenson (Morrow)

ART BOOK

• Spectrum 19: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood)
• Trolls, Brian Froud & Wendy Froud (Abrams)
• Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration, Scott Tracy Griffin (Titan)
• J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull, eds. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Steampunk: An Illustrated History, Brian J. Robb (Aurum)

The winners will be announced at the Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle, June 28-30, 2013. Connie Willis will be the MC for the awards ceremony.

For complete details, see Locus Online.