Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Susanna Lea Assoc. With a gender-swapped protagonist and purposeful representation of people of color and people with disabilities, this is an ideal pick for fans of retold legends, as well as those looking for diverse fantasy. She grows up in the wild wood, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake drift to her on the spring breeze, scented with promise. Steeped in period texture that brings remote history fully into the present, and lushly illustrated by Rovina Cai ( The Seventh Raven), this tale of destiny, belonging, and home is a genuine pleasure. Spear Nicola Griffith with Rovina Cai (Illustrator) 184 pages first pub 2022 ( editions) fiction fantasy lgbtqia+ adventurous medium-paced Description She left all she knew to find who she could be. Before long, her untrained magic makes her a target, and she must return home to face her greatest challenge yet. There, in classic Arthurian style, Peretur faces a battery of tests and challenges-embarking on quests, stealing the hearts of maidens, and butting heads with various members of the court. As her strength and magical ability grow, so too does her ambition, and she soon makes her way to the court of King Artos disguised as a young man. Peretur, raised in a cave by her mother, grows up desperate to see the outside world.

Margaret A.This fresh, emotionally immediate queer spin on the Medieval tale of Percival and the Holy Grail reaffirms Griffith ( So Lucky) as a consummate storyteller.

Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith, Wash Day Diaries.

Mircea Cărtărescu, Solenoid (translation by Sean Cotter).

Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century See the full list of LA Times Book Prize winners below. Prepare to be enchanted.'-John Scalzi, author of The Kaiju Preservation Society 'If Le Guin wrote a Camelot story, I imagine it would feel like Spear: humane, intelligent, and deeply.

Liberation Day: Stories by George Saunders Griffith examines these - very queer - questions with both deftness and gravitas.'-Heather Hogan, Autostraddle 'There is magic in Nicola Griffith's words.

The Mountain in the Sea: A Novel by Ray Nayler.

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings.

The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran.

The other finalists in the category were: Spear, Nicola Griffith’s “queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era,” earned The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction. The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes winners were announced April 21.

Spear by Nicola Griffith