Sheine Lende, by Darcie Little Badger Has Won The 2025 2025 Lodestar Award
The Hugo Awards, first presented in 1953 and presented annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award. The Hugo Awards are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”), which is also responsible for administering them. Darcie Little Badger has won the prestigious Lodestar award for her book Sheine Lende.
“This week, my book Sheine Lende won the Lodestar Award at WorldCon during the 2025 Hugo Awards ceremony. Ever since I published my first book in 2020, I’ve dreamed of standing before my beloved SFF community and speaking of my stories and their connection with my people, the Lipan Apache. This year, I hope my speech emphasizes the importance of our voices: times have been difficult and are difficult, but we must fight to preserve life and create the best possible version of tomorrow.” View the full speech here.
Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can’t afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood – and the loss of Shane’s father and her grandparents. They don’t think they’ll ever get their home back.
Then Shane’s mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent – who isn’t to be trusted – set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world – or this place in time.
Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.
Darcie Little Badger’s Elatsoe launched her career and in the years since has become a beloved favorite. This prequel to Elatsoe, centered on Ellie’s grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie’s one-of-a-kind world and introduces us to another cast of characters that will wend their way around readers’ hearts.”
