Video Game Review: Metaphor: ReFantazio by Studio Zero

Time marches on, and the age of a new king draws nearer...

The death of the Euchronian king, with no apparent heir, brings about a power vacuum in which tensions run high and anxiety reigns supreme. A few primary choices become obvious, but how to decide who will lead? That’s when the old king’s magic comes into play, bringing to this storybook fantasy world something it has never experienced before: democracy. In this fantastical world, candidates vie for the throne with words, swords, magic, and ideals, all while dealing with the social and racial inequalities that have plagued Euchronia for far too long.

Enter the main character (whom you name), an ally of the long-thought-dead prince of Euchronia. Hidden from the world and afflicted with a curse, the prince has been removed from the board as a potential candidate. It is the main character’s responsibility to free him from his magical curse and bring about peace in a world full of inequality. Through forging bonds with others and awakening to magic long forgotten, the player is taken along for a heartfelt, thought-provoking narrative that brings Euchronia to life in what I think is Atlus’s finest game to date.

Upon booting up the game, I was greeted with a beautifully animated cutscene, introducing Metaphor’s initial conflict and the world that birthed it. From the initial cutscenes until the first moment the main character steps into Gran Trad, I could tell I was in for a treat. The art direction is splendid, immediately drawing me in and giving me a sense of authenticity that I rarely feel that early in a game (especially one this big). Sunlumeo Street and Sunshade Row represent different socioeconomic spheres of the great capital of Gran Trad, but still carry the same heart. And the further you explore, despite the extreme differences of the biomes, Euchronia feels connected and looks fantastic. And let me not forget the special pitstops the gang make throughout their journey, each one postcard-worthy, and each a little piece of the magic that drew me further into an already endearing world.

Exploring the cities and towns is a treat. Anytime a new primary event occurred, I made sure to go around the streets of all the cities to soak in all the information and gossip. This added extra depth to Eucrhonia, making it feel as though the world was moving alongside me instead of remaining static. Because of this, even small, insignificant gossiping characters on the street show a modicum of character growth. Also, the ability to look at the dialogue log is such a blessing (just in case you missed something). With spoken dialogue, you can have the line repeated, which I did multiple times for some of my favorite lines.

I always have to mention the UI design in the more recent Persona games, and Metaphor is no exception. This is undoubtedly the best I’ve seen. Metaphor’s UI is a thing of beauty that kept me staring at the screen. They went quite hard on something that is usually a passing thought in most games and I am all the more grateful for it.

Metaphor gets you into the combat early and blows open the archetype-class-based gameplay, but it continues to expand throughout the entire playthrough. It’s no small wonder that Metaphor is similar to the Persona games regarding its magic and combat systems, considering Studio Zero is made up of many of the developers from P-Studio, including its director, Katsura Hashino. Party characters are capable of embodying archetypes, old magic that is intention manifest, allowing them to summon a powerful being that fulfills a specific purpose toward one’s ideals. Whether that be the archetype of a warrior, knight, or merchant, the archetype system echoes Persona’s system of summoning beings to assist the party in combat, though instead of summoning, the archetype is an embodiment of each character’s willpower. By giving the main character the ability to transfer this focused intent to his companions, they too can achieve different archetypes. This allows Metaphor the freedom of allowing all party members to mix and match archetypes, blowing past Persona to create a more flexible and versatile party utilization system.

Like the Persona games (and most JRPGs), exploiting an enemy’s weakness in this well-crafted turn-based combat is the key to victory. Gems atop the screen show the player how many turns they have against a current enemy. Each gem constitutes one character’s turn. Upon delivering a critical hit or dealing damage with an enemy’s weakness, the player is awarded a half gem, which gives another turn. Exploiting weaknesses gives the player a huge advantage and can turn the tide against strong foes, but equally, missing enemies with an attack or using an ability with an affinity that they are impervious to removes extra gems, relinquishing precious turns. When an enemy increases their agility, it is wise to debuff them, and when they debuff you, it’s a good idea to get back to neutral. In addition, the game introduces Synthesis abilities, which incorporate a mixture of different archetype classes to create a completely different set of abilities that allow party members to work in tandem to take down an enemy. These moves mostly use only two characters, but some use three or four. Depending on the Synthesis skill and number of party members involved, this will take up a gem corresponding to each party member involved. Discovering all the class abilities and Synthesis skills is a treat throughout the entirety of the game. There are so many possibilities to mix and match that the game truly continues to give the player options until the very end (and into a second playthrough).

But Studio Zero decided to go a step further and add action combat. This action combat is how the player character interacts with enemies in the overworld. By knocking an enemy’s stamina to zero, the player character can initiate an ambush on the enemy, allowing an advantage at the beginning of the fight, inducing both stun status and inflicting damage. This works for enemies that are both within level range and that are stronger than the protagonist. For weaker enemies, they are simply killed in overworld combat without having to waste too much time. In this way, it feels like Metaphor respects the player’s time, especially when you have an eighty- to one hundred-hour adventure on your hands. Not only is killing weaker enemies a breeze, it makes grinding much easier (which is totally optional). Metaphor is one of the few games that I found that respects grinding while also retaining its balance. I thought I had saved up so much money with the Merchant class after grinding for quite some time only to find that I didn't have nearly enough to afford all the items I encountered in shops. A million reeve just doesn't go that far these days. Studio Zero built a system that takes into account players who like to grind and those who don’t, and balanced it well. Quite the achievement. While overworld combat is a time saver and mostly satisfying, it's not overly complex by any means. Some class weapons are a little less enjoyable to use than others, so I found that I would sometimes level certain archetype classes with seeds and roots instead of through combat. Turn-based combat is the bread and butter of this game, but it’s nice to have options.

While the primary dungeons are satisfying and large enough to explore and get lost in, some of the side dungeons are a bit basic. It doesn't ruin any of the immersion by any means, but it would have been nice to have a more lived-in feel to some of the side content. I know they’re supposed to be simple side missions, but when the rest of the game feels so high quality, it feels a bit sad that you can run through some of the side dungeons very quickly, though I can see how that would be a benefit for some. With the combat so enticing, I would have happily spent more time encountering enemies in side dungeons.

The combat options in the game expand as the player meets and advances their relationships with their followers. This works like a traditional Persona game, but instead of forcing a player to make the correct dialogue options to move the relationship along, the relationship advances regardless, so long as you take the time to level up your royal virtues (stats that increase through different activities like reading, listening to others, etc.). This is a huge advantage to Metaphor’s benefit. This allows the player to spend more time learning about the world instead of trying to gain someone’s favor over and over because you didn’t pick the perfect dialogue option.

Speaking of followers, this game has the best set of followers (or confidants, as you would see in a Persona game) I’ve come across in an Atlas game. And that’s saying something, considering how much I love the Persona series and its characters. This is probably my favorite group of party members in any JRPG. I loved them all. Some more than others, naturally, but I didn't actively dislike or feel indifferent to any. To watch them all grow and make their choices was an absolute treat, and there wasn't a single character that I didn’t look forward to spending time with. I don’t want to spoil any potential revelations and character growth, but just know, I loved it all. It felt satisfying to reach the end of each arc (except for one—one of my absolute favorites, unfortunately—which was still good, but not quite as good as the rest). You have the twofold benefit of enjoying a story arc while also increasing and expanding combat prowess.

This satisfaction is in huge part the writing, but the English dub voice actors are excellent. Most of them shine, delivering emotional, honest performances. I feel as though the main character, though mostly quiet, is a bit of an exception to this. He’s fine but is outshone by his cohorts. A few other actors are also dubious, but are outside of the main party and don't take up too much screentime. Heismay, Hulkenberg, Strohl, and almost every character throughout the game kept me hooked. Oddly enough, one of the best performances was none other than the primary villain Louis Guiabern (voiced by Joseph Tweedale). His calm, cool, collected, confident delivery is such an allure that he almost pulls you to his side by sheer force of charming magnetism. He steals each scene he’s in and is such a strong part of what makes Metaphor work. The contrast of such strong personalities elevates the game. He is, without a doubt, one of my favorite video game villains. Using his wits and power to remain one step ahead of all adversaries, Louis kept me on my toes all while making it look easy. It’s a thing of beauty to see two groups of people who wish to rid the world of inequality have such different ways to do it. I love each character’s consistency and passion (though I did find a moment or two that stuck out as a counter to that). This was one of the consistent drivers of the game for me. I only wish that all companion interaction were voiced. Sometimes the interactions felt like they could have had increased impact if only they'd had recorded voiceovers for the scene.

While still on the subject of sound, Metaphor’s music is an excellent amplifier to the rest of the game’s quality. The chanting music in combat hyped me up, while the music in the gauntlet runner brought a sense of calm, and oddly enough at the same time, a sense of adventure. When a follower found their purpose, the music filled me with a sense of pride in my companions. As Gallica says, “Music was the first magic this world ever knew, after all. Makes the road a little easier.” And it truly does. The soundtrack is just another piece that fits into this wonderfully large, intricate game.

With the primary story full of twists and turns, like the primary villain himself, it keeps you guessing. Some of the events are lied about early on to create false enmity, which works in the grand scheme of things, but seemed to be a bit of a cheat. Some things are simply unknown. But each revelation seems to fit, odd as some might be, which closes up almost all plot holes that had me wondering how things fit together. In the end, I felt extremely satisfied, even if the final conflict left a bit to be desired plotwise.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a game that came along at a perfect time. It reflects our world in many ways and is a reminder that belief in an ideal that betters the greater good—however imperfect—is worth pursuing, despite the pain and difficulty endured on the road to its achievement. For all of the inequality that runs deep within the world of Metaphor, it is balanced by the beauty of the world itself and the traditions of its eight contrasting tribes. While the overarching narrative may sometimes seem to drive the point home very strongly, the characters alongside the protagonist consistently bring the nuance and the acknowledgment that the ideals they strive for are not only going to be difficult to achieve but nearly impossible. Nothing is truly sugar-coated when the layers are peeled back, and it’s one of my favorite aspects of the game.

Metaphor is a phenomenal first entry from Studio Zero that enchants, enlightens, excites, and ignites. There is even more that I could say about this game, but I feel like experiencing the game, its world, and its characters is a bit of magic in itself, and I wouldn't want to take that away from anyone. Metaphor is a game that made me want more. Knowing that the clock was ticking and that I was getting close to the end of the game made me genuinely sad, as I didn't want to leave the world or the characters behind, even after a hundred hours.

The Math

Objective Assessment: 9/10.

Bonuses: +0.5 for party and characters, +0.5 for beautiful art direction, +0.5 for experimental combat classes, +0.5 for worldbuilding and lore, +0.5 for strong voice-overs and music.

Penalties: −1 for weak protagonist VO, −1 for a few cheap plot gimmicks.

Nerd Coefficient: 9.5/10.

Posted by: Joe DelFranco - Fiction writer and lover of most things video games. On most days you can find him writing at his favorite spot in the little state of Rhode Island.

Book Review: A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross

Breaking out the D20s and introducing a Dungeon Master into the Laundry Files.

The ‘Satanic Panic’ that erupted in the early 1980s possibly has to have been lived through in order to be actually believed. Thousands of unsubstantiated accusations of ritual abuse and worse, best selling books, and much more. It was a moral panic of the first order and had no basis in reality. Swept up in this crusade (and I use that term carefully) was Dungeons and Dragons, which was identified by some of the proponents of the panic as leading to witchcraft, Satan worship, and more. Tom Hanks’ first starring role was in a movie that encouraged this point of view, Mazes and Monsters. In some ways the Satanic Panic’s echoes still exist to this day (hello, Pizzagate). The Satanic Panic shows the power of belief turned to poisonous and wrong ends.

This has everything to do with A Conventional Boy, the latest Laundry Files novel from Charles Stross.

With the Laundry Files universe and its titular focus and worry about magic, Elder Beings, and the like, you can see how the Satanic Panic of the 1980’s might wind up intersecting with their remit. Derek Reilly, an enthusiastic autistic D&D player (nay, a DM) gets swept up in the Panic and winds up at Camp Sunshine, the locale where the Laundry Files deprograms cultists. Thanks to a series of bureaucratic events, Derek never gets released. Decades pass. He becomes a “trusty”, even allowed to edit the camp newsletter, and to run his play by physical mail game. (But even so, paper and pencils and the like are highly restricted at Camp Sunshine and you can forget about computers or the Internet.) But when Derek finds out that a D&D convention is happening nearby, and that the Camp is being temporarily rehoused, he does the unthinkable, and decides to escape to attend it. Derek has been paying attention, and despite the enormous dangers in trying to leave Camp Sunshine, he manages it. But the convention he goes to has a dread danger all of its own, one that Derek is equipped to recognize, and possibly deal with. Roll for initiative, Derek...

And so lies a story.

The titular story is a love letter to Dungeons and Dragons, specifically its early AD&D incarnation. (Derek hasn’t been able to get later editions at Camp Sunshine, after all). So the book is replete with lots of nerdy references, in-jokes and the like about Dungeons and Dragons, the nature of the game, some shade thrown on various modules, and the like. For someone who grew up on the stuff, it's catnip and a lot of fun¹

Like me, for instance.

Having grown up playing Dungeons and Dragons under the Satanic Panic, and being a GM for play by email games for a long time, Derek and his plight also hit me in the feels rather hard. Mind you, there is an irony in the theme and how things play out that while Derek was scooped up accidentally and wrongly and kept in Camp Sunshine basically by accident (and Derek not knowing enough to challenge it), the theme and logline of the book is one that Derek doesn’t quite realize himself--that he does, in fact have magical power, in those dice that he carries along. Derek doesn’t admit to himself that he is doing magic, but we, the reader, can totally see how and what his dice do, magic wise. But it is not just his dice, because when he gets to his convention and we see just his D&D campaign and one-shot are like, it is a :blink blink: moment for those who have been following the entire series. It made me stop and think and then read carefully to the end to see if I really got what was going on here.

A scene at the end, however, made it clear what has happened and what is happening, but it does reinforce for me that this is a book that, conceptually, a reader new to the series could possibly start it here. There is enough here, and given Derek’s isolation, Stross clearly seems to be reaching for that sweet spot where someone could parachute into his massive 13 book series right here. I think the above :blink blink: moment might then be an invitation to read the rest of the series having started with this book. It’s a very tricky balancing act and I think he manages it partly, and it is somewhat of a disappointment to me (but an understandable one) is that A Conventional Boy is short. It’s not a meaty thick Laundry Files novel, but rather a novella. It thrives on that length, and really, for it to be longer would make it wear out its welcome. If you are trying to get people to try a big 13 book series, a shorter entry has its advantages, though, and that seems to be what Stross is going for, here. He’s tried this before, but A Conventional Boy feels like his latest, most forceful attempt to bring new readers to the series.

The format of the book, though, is not just the titular story. There are also two additional stories after A Conventional Boy, and they are “early” stories of the original series protagonist, Bob Howard. These stories don’t just pad out the book to a publishable length (or else this would just fall under the rubric of a novella) but also tie in thematically and parallel A Conventional Boy, even if Derek doesn’t show up in either of them.

In “Overtime”, we get to see Bob Howard on a night watch duty on Christmas Eve, where he winds up having to tangle with an extra dimensional entity taking advantage of the power of belief. This story also has the value of clarifying a bit the end of A Conventional Boy, and closes the loop on it (although to be clear, Derek does not appear in any way). And again, thematically, ties into the narrative of belief fueling magical power.

The final story in the volume, “Down on the Farm”, again finds Bob Howard (again, in a relatively early part of his timeline) going to a psychiatric institution for people with magical abilities. A message has been smuggled out and Bob, precisely because he is not magically strong (again, this is way before Bob becomes a badass), he is a safe person to go investigate doing there. This story, too, has counterpoint to A Conventional Boy in that they are dealing with magical or potentially magically dangerous people, in an enclosed bottled institution. What Bob faces there is really like a magical-amped Laundry Files version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, with some nasty secrets and some clever magical workings going on inside.

Taken all together, then, A Conventional Boy doesn’t hit the heights of some of the Laundry Files novels, but its character and his plight and nature definitely hit me on an emotional level. I had to ration out reading the book a bit as a result. I was not expecting such emotional resonance in a Laundry Files book, but it does go to show that the dice, once again, are in my favor when reading a Charles Stross novel.

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Highlights: 

• Book is actually the titular novella and two short stories. 

• Possibly an entry point for those new to the series. 

• If you lived through the Satanic Panic and know your Thac0, pick this one up.

Reference: Stross, Charles, A Conventional Boy, [Tordotcom, 2025].

POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I’m just this guy, you know? @princejvstin

1. Fun fact that you may not have known. Charles Stross is (via the Fiend Folio) the creator of several D&D monsters and races. Most famously these days, thanks to Baldur’s Gate III, Stross created the Githyanki. Stross does involve an incestuous cross reference, there are no Githyanki or any of his other monsters in this book. That might have been too much.

On Building LEGO Star Wars after fifteen years

Putting the pieces together on an old beloved hobby

As fortune would have it, I was born on the 27th of December so that my parents could factor my birth into their 1996 tax returns, since the doctor overseeing the procedure didn’t want to induce me on Christmas, my mother’s birthday (“but you’re Jewish!” she said. “Doesn’t mean I want to work on Christmas,” he responded). Because of that, every year my birthday falls into what could be considered an extended Christmas season, falling in that surreal week between Christmas and New Year’s where nothing is real. Because people are traveling during this period, my birthday party is always sometime in the middle of January so that people can get back from their celebrations of profound things so they can celebrate far more worldly, insignificant things (me). More pleasantly, it means I get all the year’s presents crammed together, and it was this year I got something I hadn’t played with in fifteen years: LEGO Star Wars sets.

One is a bust of the head of Captain Rex from the Clone Wars, and the other is a rather large set - over a thousand pieces if memory serves - of R2-D2. During the two nights I built these sets, there was a lot of blue and white. I found myself enjoying the experience just as much as I did when I was a kid. It was an unfamiliar experience, doing so much work with my hands, having graduated to being a faceless bureaucrat among an army of faceless bureaucrats in the Washington DC blob who sits at a desk and presses buttons to earn his pay.

But there is something doubtlessly mesmerising about putting all these little pieces together. On one occasion, I got up to use the restroom and found myself feeling almost dizzy, a feeling I’ve only ever felt after gaming for a long time and then standing up. It also reminded me of my grueling job-hunting stretches after I graduated in 2019, and then had to ram into the pandemic and omnipresent discrimination against the autistic (as I am); I found myself investing more time in various writing projects or other things, because they gave me results. If I wrote a short story or an article, it was there, in front of me, an indication that I had worked. For job applications, it was flushing effort down the drain with nothing more than a confirmation email to prove that I did it. Here, again, was labor in physical form - evidence for Marx’s labor theory of value, perhaps.

One of the things that struck me when putting these little pieces together was how colorful the insides of these sets were, and how all of that color was to be covered up by the blue and the white and the gray. There was something fascinating about all that color, reds and browns and greens, being hidden by a shell for which the real aesthetic value comes in. It was, as I soon figured out, a multilingual way of keeping everything straight. LEGO famously does not use words in its instructions, but does everything with pictures. The colors on the inside of the set is a natural extension; red parts connect with red parts, yellow with yellow, et cetera (this is how the designers had me build R2-D2’s head, making sure each portion is connected to the right side of the set). There’s something sad about all that color being hidden; exposing it may make some sort of interesting abstract art piece, akin to those lavishly drawn books that show you the inside of any number of vehicles (including licensed Star Wars ships, at least one book of which I read as a child).

On another level, it was strange to see a LEGO set be a sculpture and not a toy. I grew up with LEGO Star Wars, Bionicle, and other themes that were designed to be played with. I have a LEGO Star Destroyer on top of one of my bookshelves, serving a purpose as a sculpture, but if I look at it from the right angle I can still see the minifigures inside. The massive R2-D2 set I built have smooth parts on its feet so that you can glide it around, but it still feels larger and so fragile that you just want to leave it there. The head of Captain Rex is even more a sculpture, as I cannot see any way to play with it. I took to calling it the ‘severed head,’ and proudly called it such alongside a picture of the set in a group chat for my extended family. Both sets are now in a TV room, on top of a shelf, looking down at you as if you are a threat.

I have seen those big master builder sets in bookstores and in other public places, where LEGO is clearly angling for the adult market. Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOLs, as they are called in the fandom) have a saying: you get into LEGO as a kid, then abandon it in an attempt to be more adult as a teenager, and then get back into it as an adult. I lost interest in my freshman year of high school (fourteen years old, for non-Americans). As C. S. Lewis said:

“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

But it does feel like LEGO has exploited that; the adult fans are not just going back to something they enjoyed as a child, but rather that LEGO has successfully found a new market for its products, and is happily making money hand over fist because of it. It’s like how a lot of licensed toys for small children (like a buggy shaped like the Millennium Falcon, for example), are really marketed toward their parents, as the parents are the ones who are spending money, and children of that age can only object so much. On some level, it’s another manifestation of how late capitalism has made it even harder to imagine things that are truly new, rather than repackaged nostalgia (writes he who spent eight days catching up on The Bad Batch on Disney Plus, hypocrite that I am - the positive is that I got to see Captain Rex on screen while Captain Rex’s severed head was looking down upon me). We have been given our fantasies for money, and we are all too happy to fork it over.

I can accept that my joy in building these sets is in some sense an act of deliberate regression. But as Lewis says in the above quote, that is not necessarily a bad thing. All too often we allow what is new and ‘adult’ and ‘mature’ and whatnot glom onto our basic humanity, the humanity that we had as children. Likewise, it was good to get back to basics in a sort of metaphysical sense, to do things with my hands rather than via a mouse and keyboard. But if moving away from these things is progress, what does our notion of progress really mean? And, above that particular discussion, what does it mean when that refreshing inversion of oppressive norms comes when a corporation profits from it? There has got to be some French philosopher from the 1960s who has a pithy quote about that which would illuminate the conundrum, or barring that a quote from the works of Mark Fisher. In any case, I enjoyed the experience, as I have enjoyed so much of Star Wars and so much of LEGO. But it made me think of all the things wrapped up in this, all the pieces that make it up, and how they all click together.

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POSTED BY: Alex Wallace, alternate history buff who reads more than is healthy.

2025 Nerds of a Feather Awards Recommended Reading, Part 4: Institutional Categories and New Hugo for Best Poem

Welcome to our final presentation of the Nerds of a Feather 2025 Award Recommendation List. Today will look at the Institutional Categories of Semiprozine, Fanzine and Fancast, Best Related Work and the new Hugo for Best Poem. This last one is a temporary addition just for the 2025 Seattle Worldcon, but poetry awards exist outside of the Hugos, so do look out for The Rhysling Award, the Ignyte Awards shortlist, and, from next year, a new category for it in the Nebulas.

As before, we here at nerds are presenting a collective longlist of potential Hugo nominees that we think are worthy of your consideration. These selections represent the spectrum of tastes, tendencies, and predilections found among our group of writers. Today's section contains Best Fanzine, the category we won (*gasp*, still exciting) the award in last year, and in which we have recused for 2025, to ensure that the category can continue to have space for new voices year on year.

As ever, this list should not at all be considered comprehensive, even in the remaining categories. Some outstanding works and institutions will not make our longlist for the simple reason that we have not managed to keep abreast of all the amazing things within the SFF space. We encourage you to think of this as a list of candidates to consider alongside people with which you are already familiar, nothing more and nothing less.

We hope these posts have been useful to you in curating your potential award nominees, and we're excited to see where this year's awards seasons take us.

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Nerds of a Feather 2025 Recommendation List Series:

Part 1: Fiction Categories (Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Series, Lodestar Award)

Part 2: Visual Work Categories (Graphic Story, Dramatic Presentation)

Part 3: Individual Categories (Editor, Fan Writer, Professional Artist, Fan Artist, Astounding Award for Best New Writer)

Part 4: Institutional Categories (Related Work, Semiprozine, Fanzine, Fancast)

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Semiprozine

Augur
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
FIYAH
Giganotosaurus
Heartlines
Interzone
Kaleidotrope
khōréō
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
Lightspeed
Omenana
Shoreline of Infinity
Small Wonders
Strange Horizons
Sunday Morning Transport

Fanzine

The Ancillary Review of Books
Asking the Wrong Questions
Astrolabe
Black Nerd Problems
The Full Lid
Journey Planet
Lady Business
Reading the End 
Runalong the Shelves
Stone Soup
There’s Always Room for One More 
Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog
Women Write About Comics 
Words for Worlds

Fancast

The 250
Barcart Bookshelf
Breaking the Glass Slipper
Critical Friends
Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones 
Escape Pod
Hugo, Girl
Hugos There
A Meal of Thorns
Mostly Nitpicking
Mythcreants
Podcastle
Pseudopod
SFF Addicts
The Skiffy and Fanty Show
Sword and Laser
Three Black Halflings
Wizards vs. Lesbians

Best Related Work

Michael Bérubé; The Ex-Human: Science Fiction and the Fate of Our Species, [Columbia University Press, 2024]
Boyle, Rebecca; Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution and Made Us Who We Are, [Random House, 2024]
Brentjes, Rana; Brentjes, Sonja; Mastorakou, Stamantina; Schäfer, Dagmar; Imagining the Heavens across Eurasia from Antiquity to Early Modernity, [Mimesis International, 2024]
Carroll, Jordan S.; Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right, [Univ of Minnesota Press, 2024]
Cliff, Harry; Space Oddities: the Mysterious Anomalies Challenging Our Understanding of the Universe, [Doubleday, 2024]
Halpern, Paul; The Allure of the Multiverse: Extra Dimensions, Other World and Parallel Universes, [Basic Books, 2024]
Hanchey, Jenna; Africanfuturism Beyond the Future
Hartland, Dan; Snap! Criticism column  at the Ancillary Review of Books
Jacobsen, Annie; Nuclear War: A Scenario, [Dutton, 2024]
Nussbaum, Abigail; Track Changes: Selected Reviews, [Briardene Books, 2024]
O'Connor, John; The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster, [Sourcebooks, 2024]
Speculative Insight 2024
Rees, Gareth E.; Sunken Lands: A Journey Through Flooded Kingdoms and Lost Worlds, [Elliott & Thompson]
The wikis at fandom.com

Best Poem

Atreya, Alexnader; "Earth as Eidolon", [Deadlands Issue #33]
Barlow, Devan; "Your Visiting Dragon", [Strange Horizons Fund Drive 2024]
Cohen, Jie Venus; "Gaia Sings the Body Electric", [Radon Journal Issue 8]
Cooney, CSE; "fowlskin", [Uncanny Magazine Issue Fifty-Six]
Day, Kelsey; "Sunday in Atlanta", [Reckoning]
Gospel, Chinedu; "Black Bile", [Haven Speculative Issue Seventeen]
Israel, Ayòdéjì; "Shattered Souls at Heaven's Gate", [Deadlands Issue #36]
Lee, Mary Soon; "What Giants Read", [Strange Horizons 29 January 2024]
Liu, Angela; "The Final Trick", [Strange Horizons 26 August 2024]
Liu, Angela; "there are no taxis for the dead", [Uncanny Magazine Issue Fifty-Eight]
Margariti, Avra; "In a Cradle of Antlers", [Small Wonders Magazine, Issue 13]
Ness, Mari; "Ever Noir", [Haven Speculative, Issue Sixteen]
Ogden, Aimee; "Entropy Brooks No Countercurrent", [Kaleidotrope Summer 2024]
Oluyemi, Elisha; "Another Beauty of Darkness", [Strange Horizons 25 March 2024]
Pittman, Rachel; "The Quickening", [Strange Horizons 29 July 2024]
Rabuzzi, Daniel A.; "Along the River's Edge", [Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet #48]
River; "Hiatus", [Deadlands Issue #36]
Sabin, Dyani; "Abstain from Spinning, beauty", [Small Wonders Magazine, Issue 14]
Saha, R.S.; "Kin", [Strange Horizons 12 August 2024]
Skreslet, Tabor; "Lonely Rocks", [Heartlines Issue 6 (Fall 2024)]
Tiji, Bindu; "Journey", [Samovar 28 October 2024] (translated by Lakshmy Nair)
Umana, Joemario; "Society's Learners Dictionary on Defining a Boy", [Strange Horizons 26 February 2024]
Wheat, Steve; "The Last Voyage: Island Relocation Program", [Radon Journal Issue 8]

Film Review: The Brutalist

An epic feat of dazzling filmmaking that’s a meditation on trauma, architecture, and the American dream. (Spoiler free)

The Brutalist follows the story of Laszlo Toth, a Hungarian Jewish architect who manages to flee Europe after surviving the horrors of the holocaust. He leaves behind in Europe his wife and niece, and once in America he manages to make a soft landing with his cousin who owns a furniture store in Pennsylvania.

A commission by a local rich family eventually leads to the patriarch, Harrison Van Buren, to discover exactly who Laszlo is — an extraordinarily talented and famous architect that been toiling in obscuring here in America. He hires him to construct a modern masterpiece in the form of a multi-use community center in honor of his deceased mother, trusting Laszlo to create an intense, brutalist building that will dominate a local hilltop.

The Brutalist, of course, is an A24 movie, so trauma is the primary motivator behind the characters' actions, and for Laszlo it’s trauma that is layers and layers deep. Surviving the holocaust is one. Being separate from his wife for years and years is one. Arriving in America and struggling to survive and start anew is one. Adapting to anti-semitism in a country that is supposedly the land of the free is one.

Adorno once said "There can be no poetry after Auschwitz.” Which, in the context of this film, could be interpreted as "how can we as a society ever think about the good things our species is capable after witnessing the willful and hateful destruction of millions of people?" For Laszlo, he uses brutalist architecture — which his patron finds beautiful, which in fact is beautiful despite its hard edges and blunt corners — to express his despair and sorrow. He is a creator of meaning who uses towering blocks of concrete yawning chasms of marble as other artists use ink or a piano.

There's much to be said and written about this movie, and folks that know far more about the holocaust, architecture, drug addiction, and anti-semitism can speak more eloquently about some of the issues presented in The Brutalist. But my enjoyment of the movie comes in a more Barthes-inspired "pleasure of the text" type way. I loved just being immersed in the images and scenes in it. The score is also stellar and really heightens the high highs and low lows of the film.

Memorable scenes

When light enters Van Buren’s library as they open the cabinets

Nothing can prepare you for how beautifully this scene unfolds. You think you know what beautiful shelving looks like, but you don’t. I didn't even think it was possible to create shelving that is this subliminal. But the way the scene is constructed is a marvel of light and timing. The rest of the movie doesn't work without without this scene and the genius it exudes.

The cube discussion

For much of the movie, the relationship between Laszlo and Van Buren is positive. It's Van Buren who manages to help get Laszlo back on his feet and begin working again as an architect. Van Buren seems in constant awe of Laszlo's brain and brilliance, and constantly talks about how intellectual their conversations are. There's a scene where Van Buren is trying to understand just how Laszlo's brain works, and asks "Why architecture?" To which, he responds, "Is there a better description of a cube than that of its own construction?" It's a relatively short conversation, but the way Brody embodies his character is just so damn believable is mesmerizing to watch.

The entire marble quarry sequence

As a caveat, I have a long history of digitally exploring marble quarries thanks to the video game Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. So when the characters travel to Italy to personally oversee the excavation of slabs of marble for the project, I was stoked. Corbet, the director, apparently was too. Huge images flash upon the screen of the landscape to give the scope and grandeur of it all, and later scenes take us into the depths of the quarry lit only by candlelight. My favorite part, though, is when the manager of the quarry showcases the natural beauty of the marble by pouring water down and across a huge slab. The sparkling gray slab fills the entire screen while you're in the theatre and the results are gorgeous. It's a simple act, and I wouldn't expected this brief shot to leave an impression on me, but here I am, five days later still thinking about it.

The train wreck

The beauty of a 3 hour and 40 minute movie, if you can handle it, is that it allows a film to really breathe. Scenes that would be 3 to 5 seconds can take a good solid minute to form, build, and explode, in the case of the train wreck carrying stone to the build site. This catastrophic wreck lands two local lineman in the hospital, and it causes the project to be canceled pending litigation. But before we learn all of this, we get a beautiful overhead shot of the train plowing through the Pennsylvania countryside. The camera pulls back slowly, and eventually we see sparks. Then, more sparks. Then smoke begins billowing, and soon the entire frame is swathed in billowing clouds of caustic smoke rent from the violence of a collision. This is the classic stuff of art films, and you’re into it, you’re going to love it.

The performances

There is some seriously good acting in The Brutalist.

Adrian Brody. What can I say that folks don’t already know about this incredible actor. It’s impossible to think about his portrayal of Lazslo Toth without thinking of his character Władysław Szpilman in The Pianast — both artistic geniuses who suffered at the hands of anti-semitism.

Joe Alwyn, also known as Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriend, plays Van Buren's insufferable rich son, and he does an excellent job; he made playing an ass extremely believable, so I guess that's good.

Guy Pearce is magnificent as a baron of industry. It took me a few minutes to even realize this is the same Guy Pearce from The Count of Monte Cristo and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (I just realized that all of my Guy Pearce references are now 25+ years old, and thus my consternation.)

The only one I didn’t buy was Felicity Jones as Erzsébet, Laszlo's wife. This, I fear, may be an entirely personal problem, as I literally couldn’t stop thinking of her as Jin Erso from Rogue One. She has Star Wars Face, which is a condition I just made up that’s akin to iPhone Face, which is when you can’t believe an actor in a historical role because they look too modern. Jones looks too Star Wars for me to take her seriously as tough-as-nails 1950’s Hungarian woman.

--

The Math

Score: 8/10

POSTED BY: Haley Zapal, new NoaF contributor and lawyer-turned-copywriter living in Atlanta, Georgia. A co-host of Hugo Award-winning podcast Hugo, Girl!, she posts on Instagram as @cestlahaley. She loves nautical fiction, growing corn and giving them pun names like Timothee Chalamaize, and thinking about fried chicken.

2025 Nerds of a Feather Awards Recommended Reading, Part 3: Individual Categories

Welcome to our continuing presentation of the Nerds of a Feather 2025 Award Recommendation List. Today will look at the Individual Categories of Editor, Fan Writer, Artists and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

As before, we here at nerds are presenting a collective longlist of potential Hugo nominees that we think are worthy of your consideration. These selections represent the spectrum of tastes, tendencies, and predilections found among our group of writers. Today's section is one of the areas where there are some categories missing, not because nothing good existed in them, but because the flock don't have a big enough focus on them to provide recommendations. That said, it's also the one with the category closest to our hearts, as all of our contributors are eligible for best fan writer for their work on the blog in 2024. Look out for a future post talking about the work they're proud of and eligible for.

As ever, this list should not at all be considered comprehensive, even in the remaining categories. Some outstanding people will not make our longlist for the simple reason that we have not managed to keep abreast of all the amazing folks doing work within the SFF space. We encourage you to think of this as a list of candidates to consider alongside people with which you are already familiar, nothing more and nothing less.

--

Nerds of a Feather 2025 Recommendation List Series:

Part 1: Fiction Categories (Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Series, Lodestar Award)

Part 2: Visual Work Categories (Graphic Story, Dramatic Presentation)

Part 3: Individual Categories (Editor, Fan Writer, Professional Artist, Fan Artist, Astounding Award for Best New Writer)

Part 4: Institutional Categories (Related Work, Semiprozine, Fanzine, Fancast)

--

Editor, Long Form

As a general rule, we do not have a range of specific names for this section, but we recommend that when you put together your final nominating ballot that you also look at who the editors were for your Best Novel selections and consider them for Editor, Long Form. If you would like some suggestions of novels, do feel free to look at Part 1 of our Recommended Reading, which includes many of our favourites from 2024.

Professional Artist

Micaela Alcaino
Tommy Arnold
Rovina Cai
Lulu Chen
Galen Dara
Roberto De La Torre
Julie Dillon
Dan Dos Santos
Simon Eckert
Christine Foltzer
Maurizio Manzieri
Radiante Mozzarelle
John Picacio
Sparth
Alyssa Winans

Fan Writer

Anna (forestofglory at Lady Business)
Gautam Bhatia (Words for Worlds)
Jake Casella Brookins (Ancillary Review of Books)
Elias Eells (Bar Cart Bookshelf)
Zach Gillan (the Ancillary Review of Books, various others)
Jenny Hamilton (Reactor, Reading the End)
Trish Matson (Skiffy and Fanty, What's the Word Now)
Archita Mittra (Strange Horizons)
Renay (Lady Business)
Alasdair Stuart (The Full Lid)

Best New Writer (first pro publication in 2023-2024)  

Moniquill Blackgoose (To Shape a Dragon's Breath)
Sylvie Cathrall (A Letter to the Luminous Deep, 2024)
Justinian Huang (The Emperor and the Endless Palace 2024)
Bethany Jacobs (These Burning Stars 2023, On Vicious Worlds 2024)
Hana Lee (Road to Ruin 2024)
Moses Ose Utomi (The Lies of the Ajungo 2023, The Truth of the Aleke 2024)
Jared Pechaček (The West Passage, 2024)

2025 Nerds of a Feather Awards Recommended Reading, Part 2: Visual Work Categories

Welcome to our continuing presentation of the Nerds of a Feather 2025 Award Recommendation List. Today will look at Graphic Story, Dramatic Presentation, and Best Interactive.

As before, we here at nerds are presenting a collective longlist of potential Hugo nominees that we think are worthy of your consideration. These selections represent the spectrum of tastes, tendencies, and predilections found among our group of writers. Today's section is one of the areas where there are some categories missing, not because nothing good existed in them, but because the flock don't have a big enough focus on them to provide recommendations.

As ever, this list should not at all be considered comprehensive, even in the remaining categories. Some outstanding works will not make our longlist for the simple reason that we have not seen, read, or played it. We encourage you to think of this as a list of candidates to consider alongside works with which you are already familiar, nothing more and nothing less.

--

Nerds of a Feather 2025 Recommendation List Series:

Part 1: Fiction Categories (Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Series, Lodestar Award)

Part 2: Visual Work Categories (Graphic Story, Dramatic Presentation)

Part 3: Individual Categories (Editor, Fan Writer, Professional Artist, Fan Artist, Astounding Award for Best New Writer)

Part 4: Institutional Categories (Related Work, Semiprozine, Fanzine, Fancast)

--

Graphic Story

Greenberg, Isabel; Young Hag and the Witches’ Quest, [Harry N. Abrams]
King, Tom; Wonder Woman Vol 1: Outlaw, [DC Comics]
Knight, Rosie; Godzilla: Monster Island Summer Camp, [IDW Publishing, 2024]
Lucas, Tim; The Only Criminal, [Riverdale Avenue Books, 2024]
Spurrier, Simon; Coda: False Dawns, [BOOM! Studios, 2024]
Willow Wilson, G.; The Hunger and the Dusk: Vol 1, [IDW Publishing, 2024]

Dramatic Presentation Long Form

The Big Door Prize (Season 2)
Delicious in Dungeon (Season 1)
Dune Part Two
Fallout (TV Adaptation)
Fantasmas (Season 1)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Kaos (Season 1)
A Quiet Place: Day One

The Regime (Season 1)
Star Trek Prodigy (Season 2)
The Substance
Terminator Zero (Season 1)
The Three Body Problem (Season 1)
The Wild Robot
X-Men 97 (Season 1)

Game or Interactive Experience

Animal Well
Astro Bot
Dragon Age: the Veilguard
Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
God of War Ragnarok Valhalla
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Metaphor: ReFantazio
Persona 3 Reload
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Rise of the Golden Idol
Tactical Breach Wizards
Thank Goodness You're Here
UFO 50
Unicorn Overlord

2025 Nerds of a Feather Awards Recommended Reading, Part 1: Fiction Categories

The new year is upon us, and so, the wheel of the eternal cycle of awards turns once again to the spoke marked "recommendations".

As in every year, we have once again pulled together a selection of suggestions from across all of our contributors into a four part list of everything they have found inspiring, intriguing, thoughtful, or just loved outright over the course of 2024. We start today with Part 1, covering the prose fiction categories - these have been organised by the Hugo Award names, but the content is still very much applicable to a wide number of nominated awards across the SFF world.

We say this every year, but we'll say it again now - this list is, of course, highly subjective and makes no claim to being comprehensive. As a small collection of individuals with different tastes and interests, we can only talk about the things we've consumed ourselves, and could not hope to make a real dent in the (wonderfully) enormous ocean of works that are available in the genre sphere right now. There will be absolutely stellar works, truly award-worthy pieces of art, that we've missed. Such is the way of things. We also are, predominantly, a book focussed fanzine, and so our recommendations will always skew more towards the written fiction sections than anywhere else, and especially towards novels. Do not take any shorter lists of recommendations in some categories as a mark of lower quality - only as a reflection of our limited scope. So consider these as a starting point for considerations, or inspiration, to take into your wider thinking along with other recommendation sources when you come to nominate.

We have also excluded works created or contributed to by any of our NoaF collective, but look out later for a posts highlighting all of their efforts and eligibility.

Also, while we've done what we can to ensure the recommendations are eligible in their respective categories, it is possible we've made a couple of errors. If you spot something on the list that isn't eligible in a particular category, please let us know and we'll correct it.

--

Nerds of a Feather 2025 Recommendation List Series:

Part 1: Prose Fiction Categories (Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Series, Lodestar Award)

Part 2: Visual Work Categories (Graphic Story, Dramatic Presentation)

Part 3: Individual Categories (Editor, Fan Writer, Professional Artist, Fan Artist, Astounding Award for Best New Writer)

Part 4: Institutional Categories (Related Work, Semiprozine, Fanzine, Fancast) and New Hugo Award for Best Poem

--

Novel

Alvarez, Julia; The Cemetery of Untold Stories, [Alongquin Books]

Anyuru, Johannes; Ixelles, [Two Lines Press]
Armfield, Julia; Private Rites, [Fourth Estate]
Berry, Jedediah; The Naming Song, [Tor Books]
Bradley, Kaliane; The Ministry of Time, [Simon & Schuster]
Broaddus, Maurice; Breath of Oblivion, [Tor Books]
Brooks, Sarah; The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands, [Flatiron Books]
Burnham, Sophie; Sargassa, [DAW]
Caruso, Melissa; The Last Hour Between Worlds, [Orbit]
Chandrasekera, Vajra; Rakesfall, [Tordotcom]
clarke, august; Metal from Heaven, [Erewhon]

Collins, Bridget; The Silence Factory, [William Morrow]
Corey, James SA; The Mercy of the Gods, [Orbit]
Curtis, Grace; Floating Hotel, [DAW]
Dickinson, Seth; Exordia, [Tor Books]
Egan, Greg; Morphotrophic, [Greg Egan]
Hanna, Rania; The Jinn Daughter, [Hoopoe]
Howard, Scott Alexander; The Other Valley, [Atria Books]
Kang, Minsoo; The Melancholy of Untold History, [William Morrow]
Kim, Sung-Il; Blood of the Old Kings, [Tor Books] (translated by Anton Hur)
Klune, T. J.; Somewhere Beyond the Sea, [Tor Books]
Lakshminarayan, Lavanya; Interstellar Megachef, [Solaris]
Mills, Samantha; The Wings Upon Her Back, [Tachyon Publications]
Mohamed, Premee; The Siege of Burning Grass, [Solaris]
Morton, Mark; The Headmasters, [Shadowpaw Press]
North, Emet; In Universes, [Harper]
Park, Seolyeon; A Magical Girl Retires, [HarperVia] (translated by Anton Hur)
Pechaček, Jared; The West Passage, [Tordotcom]
Rees Brenna, Sarah; Long Live Evil, [Orbit]
Robins, Eden; Remember You Will Die, [Sourcebooks Landmark]
Robleda, Sofia; Daughter of Fire, [Amazon Crossing]
Sanderson, Brandon; Wind and Truth, [Tor Books]
Tchaikovsky, Adrian; Alien Clay, [Tor Books]
Tsamaase, Tlotlo; Womb City, [Erewhon]
Valente, Catherynne M.; Space Oddity, [Saga Press]
Vaughn, Carrie; The Naturalist Society, [47North]
Wexler, Django; How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, [Orbit]
Whiteley, Aliya; Three Eight One, [Solaris]
Wiswell, John; Someone You Can Build a Nest In, [DAW]

Novella

Abbott, Knicky L.; Tanglewood, [Luna Press]
Akotowaa Ofori, Ivana; The Year of Return, [Android Press]
Davies Okungbowa, Suyi; Lost Ark Dreaming, [Tordotcom]
Drager, Lindsey; The Avian Hourglass, [Dzanc Books]
EnJoe, Toh; Harlequin Butterfly, [Pushkin Press] (translated by David Boyd)
Jeffers, Alex; A Mourning Coat, [Neon Hemlock]
Kingfisher, T.; What Feasts at Night, [Tor Nightfire]
Lowachee, Karin; The Mountain Crown, [Solaris]
McGregor, Tim; Eynhallow, [Raw Dog Screaming Press]
Meadows, Foz; Finding Echoes, [Neon Hemlock]
Mohamed, Premee; The Butcher of the Forest, [Tordotcom]
Mohamed, Premee; The Rider, the Ride, the Rich Man's Wife, [PS Publishing]
Moraine, Sunny; Your Shadow Half Remains, [Tor Trade]
Nayler, Ray; The Tusks of Extinction, [Tordotcom]
Nguyễn, Ngọc Tư ; Water: A Chronicle, [Major Books] (translated by Nguyễn An Lý)
OldBear, Weyodi; As Many Ships as Stars, [Android Press]
Older, Malka; The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, [Tordotcom]
Palumbo, Suzan; Countess, [ECW Press]
Samatar, Sofia; The Practice, the Horizon and the Chain, [Tordotcom]
Shibusawa, Tatsuhiko; Takaoka's Travels, [MONKEY] (translated by David Boyd)
Sui, A.D.; The Dragonfly Gambit, [Neon Hemlock]
Tchaikovsky, Adrian; Saturation Point, [Solaris]
Teffeau, Lauren C.; A Hunger With No Name, [University of Tampa Press]
Vo, Nghi; The Brides of High Hill, [Tordotcom]
Wexler, Django; Last Stop, [Podium Publishing]
Whitcher, Ursula; North Continent Ribbon, [Neon Hemlock]
Wilson, Lorraine; The Last to Drown, [Luna Press]

Novelette

Chandrasekera, Vajra; "The Limner Wrings His Hands", (Deep Dream, edited by Indrapramit Das)
Drnovšek Zorko, Filip Hajdar; "The Heist for the Soul of Humanity", (Lightspeed Issue 170)
Due, Tananarive; "A Stranger Knocks", (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 60)
Ha, Thomas; "The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video", (Clarkesworld Issue 212)
Harding, Lawrence; Old Habits Die Hard, [Lawrence Harding]
Kagunda, Shingai; "We Who Will Not Die", (Psychopomp, September 2024)
Kritzer, Naomi; "The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea", (Asimov's September/October 2024)
Leckie, Ann; "Lake of Souls", (Lake of Souls)
Pinsker, Sarah; "Signs of Life", (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 59)
Tryantafyllou, Eugenia; "Joanna's Bodies", (Psychopomp July 2024)
Tryantafyllou, Eugenia; "Loneliness Universe", (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 58)
Vaughn, Carrie; "Himalia", (Clarkesworld Issue 213)
Yu, E. Lily; "The Bonfire of Words", (Boston Review)

Short Story

Barton, Phoebe; "Climbing the Mountains of Me", (Kaleidotrope, Winter 2024)
Chan, L; "Stranger Seas Than These", (Clarkesworld, Issue 219)
Condé, E. G.; "Sibilance", (Interzone 299)
Cupp, Rachael; "Fables", (Interzone 300)
DeNiro, Anya Johanna; "Labelscar", (Embodied Exegesis, ed. Ann LeBlanc)
Dima, Diana; "Seven Recipes for the Crossing", (khōréō Volume 3, Issue 4)
Harry, Gabrielle Emem; "Faith is a Butterfly Resting on a Rotting Eye (or the Art of Faith)", (Strange Horizons, Issue 21 October 2024)
Hellisen, CL; "Godskin", (Strange Horizons, Issue 4 March 2024)
Jones, Rachael K.; "Five Views of the Planet Tartarus", (Lightspeed, Issue 164)
Khaw, Cassandra; "Immortal is the Heart", (Deep Dream, ed. Indrapramit Das)
King, Natasha; "Take Up Thy Mother's Song", (khōréō Volume 4, Issue 1)
Kurella, Jordan; "Evan: A Remainder", (Reactor, January 31 2024)
Lakshminarayan, Lavanya; "Halfway to Hope", (Deep Dream, ed. Indrapramit Das)
Low, P.H.; "Stone / Heart / Flesh / Wound", (Heartlines Issue 5)
Margariti, Avra; "Cicadas, And Their Skins", (Strange Horizons, Issue 29 July 2024)
Martino, Anna; "Because Flora Had Existed. And I Had Loved Her", (Samovar, 28 October 2024) (translated by Anna Martino)
Mohamed, Premee; "Not Lost (Never Lost)", (Psychopomp)
Sen, Nibedita; "Agni", (The Sunday Morning Transport, Jan 07 2024)
Wasserstein, Izzy; "Syndical Organization in Revolutionary Transition", (Embodied Exegesis, ed. Ann LeBlanc)
Whitcher, Ursula; "A Fisher of Stars, (Neon Hemlock - included in North Continent Ribbon)
Winter, Celia; "Two by Two by Two", (Heartlines Issue 6)
Young, T.H.; "Do You Know How the Lotus Flower Blooms?", [Heartlines Issue 6 (Fall 2024)]

Series (Qualifying Work)

Brust, Steven; Vlad Taltos (Lyorn)
Clarke, H.A.; Scapegracers (The Feast Makers)
Jones, Stephen Graham; Indian Lake Trilogy (Angel of Indian Lake)
Maresca, Marshall Ryan; The Maradaine Sequence (The Royal First Irregulars)
McGuire, Seanan; Incryptid (Aftermarket Afterlife)
Modesitt Jr., L. E.; The Saga of Recluce (Overcaptain)
Palmer, Suzanne; The Finder Series (Ghostdrift)
Roanhorse, Rebecca; Between Earth and Sky (Mirrored Heavens)
Suri, Tasha; The Burning Kingdoms (The Lotus Empire)
Tchaikovsky, Adrian; The Tyrant Philosophers (Days of Shattered Faith)
Vandermeer, Jeff; Southern Reach (Absolution)
Wurts, Janny; Wars of Light and Shadow (Song of the Mysteries)

Lodestar

Callender, Kacen; Infinity Alchemist, [Tor Teen]

Cashore, Kristin; There is a Door in This Darkness, [Dutton Books for Younger Readers]

Clarke, H.A.; The Feast Makers, [Erewhon]

Lee, Yoon Ha; Moonstorm, [Delacorte]

Little Badger, Darcie; Sheine Lende, [Levine Querido]

Tahir, Sabaa; Heir, [G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers]

Williams, LaDarrion; Blood at the Root, [Labyrinth Road]

Zhao, Xiran Jay; Heavenly Tyrant, [Tundra Books]