Of the sixteen stories I read in the last two weeks, only one stood out as five stars for me. That story was “Data Echoes Overlapping” by Megan Chee in the February 2026 issue of Lightspeed. It opens by telling of a long dead galactic civilization and goes on to describe how, millennia later, three more civilizations find their end. Each of these is completely different in how life manifests. The end of the story connects all these peoples in an absolutely brilliant story that explores what it means to be alive and contemplate existence and death. This is the type of exploration of being that I read speculative fiction for.
One other story of note that I read was from the Blood in the Machine blog. “Warning Signs” by Emily J. Smith takes a dark page out the movie Her. The story is about a young employee at a company that makes Alexa-type devices. He uses his to pick up women. He doesn’t treat these women or his home AI device particularly well. And the ending of the story is a very satisfying comeuppance for him.
Be sure to check out my short fiction page for summaries and ratings for all the short fiction I read.
