Locus magazine’s February 2021 issue, the list is a consensus by the
Locus editors, columnists, outside reviewers, and other professionals and critics of genre fiction and non-fiction — editor-in-chief Liza Groen Trombi; reviews editor Jonathan Strahan;
Locus reviewers Liz Bourke, Alex Brown, Karen Burnham, Katharine Coldiron, Paul Di Filippo, Amy Goldschlager
, Paula Guran, Rich Horton, Maya James, John Langan, Russell Letson, Adrienne Martini, Ian Mond, Colleen Mondor, Tim Pratt, Elsa Sjunneson, Gary K. Wolfe, and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro; Bob Blough; critics and authors Gwenda Bond, James Bradley, Niall Harrison, Paul Kincaid, Cheryl Morgan, Adam Roberts, and Graham Sleight. Art books were compiled with help from Arnie Fenner, Karen Haber, and senior editor Francesca Myman. Short fiction recommendations had input from editors and reviewers Rachel S. Cordasco, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Vanessa Fogg, Maria Haskins, Charles Payseur, Nisi Shawl, TG Shenoy, Sheree Renée Thomas, Sean Wallace, and Alison Wise, plus our own reviewers.