I have read reports that many people are finding they no longer have the attention span to read an entire novel, the most recent being this article in The Atlantic. No problem. Start with short fiction. These are stories that can be read anywhere from about two hours to less than five minutes. The challenge can be where to find them. This page is my contribution to solving that problem. Be sure to check out the tools section for how to save these stories to read later without an internet connection.
Websites for Reading Short Fiction
- Apex Magazine
- The Atlantic
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies
- Clarkesworld Magazine
- Daily Science Fiction
- The Dark Magazine
- Fireside Magazine
- Galaxy’s Edge Magazine
- Kaleidotrope
- Lightspeed Magazine
- The New Yorker
- Nightmare Magazine
- Shimmer Magazine
- Strange Horizons
- Tor.com
- Uncanny Magazine
Website for Listening to Short Fiction
Tools to Save and Read Later
My Favorite Short Stories
This is where I share the short stories, novelettes, and novellas that I have read and rated as five stars (out of five). All of these are available to read online for free. Most of the titles below are speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror) as that is my area of focus. They are sorted by publication date with the most recent at the top.
Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Or All The Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson (1958) [3,430 words]
- The Star by Arthur C. Clarke (1955) [2,432 words]
- Youth by Isaac Asimov (1952) [9,485 words]
Classic/Literary Fiction
- Foster by Claire Keegan (2010) [10,095 words]
- To Build a Fire by Jack London (1916) [7,042 words]
- Springtime à la Carte by O. Henry (1906) [2,137 words]
- The Green Door by O. Henry (1906) [2,679 words]
- The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (1905) [2,023 words]
- The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) [5,815 words]
- The Gentle Spirit by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1876) [16,000 words]
Short Fiction on the Internet
Title | Author | Source | Published | Word Count | URL |
The Long Mural | James Van Pelt | Clarkesworld | November 01, 2023 | 7080 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vanpelt_11_23/ |
The CRISPR Cookbook (Chapter Two): A Guide to Biohacking Your Own Eggs into Weapons of Destruction, to Be Forcibly Implanted into One Patriarchist at a Time | MKRNYILGLD | Lightspeed | November 01, 2023 | 1999 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-crispr-cookbook-chapter-two-a-guide-to-biohacking-your-own-eggs-into-weapons-of-destruction-to-be-forcibly-implanted-into-one-patriarchist-at-a-time/ |
A Review: The Reunion of the Survivors of Sigrún 7 | Lars Ahn | Lightspeed | November 01, 2023 | 1466 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-review-the-reunion-of-the-survivors-of-sigrun-7/ |
A Record of Lost Time | Regina Kanyu Wang | Lightspeed | November 01, 2023 | 7953 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-record-of-lost-time/ |
The Moment After the Moment | Martin Cahill | Lightspeed | November 01, 2023 | 5639 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-moment-before-the-moment/ |
Timothy: An Oral History | Michael Swanwick | Clarkesworld | October 01, 2023 | 3650 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/swanwick_10_23/ |
The Break-In | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Asimov’s | September 01, 2023 | 27412 | – |
Peer Review | Andrew Sullivan | Analog | September 01, 2023 | 14527 | – |
The Deviltree | Monalisa Foster | Analog | September 01, 2023 | 11462 | – |
The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family | Allison King | LeVar Burton Reads | November 07, 2023 | 3975 | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/166446043 |
Secondhand Music | Aleksandra Hill | Analog | September 01, 2023 | 4993 | – |
We Will Witness | Martin Cahill | The Sunday Morning Transport | October 22, 2023 | 3440 | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/we-will-witness |
Through Dreams She Moves | Tonya Liburd | Apex | September 01, 2023 | 5600 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/through-dreams-she-moves/ |
Junebug | Sarah Hollowell | Apex | September 01, 2023 | 6700 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/junebug/ |
The Curing | Kristina Ten | Uncanny | September 01, 2023 | 8049 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-curing/ |
Can You Hear Me Now? | Catherynne M. Valente | Uncanny | September 01, 2023 | 5908 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/can-you-hear-me-now/ |
The Court Magician | Sarah Pinsker | LeVar Burton Reads | October 10, 2023 | 4000 | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/165004128 |
Simmered in Their Wealth Like the Richest of Sauces | Jo Miles | Lightspeed | September 01, 2023 | 1568 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/simmered-in-their-wealth-like-the-richest-of-sauces/ |
The Hole in the Garden | Gene Doucette | Lightspeed | September 01, 2023 | 4353 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-hole-in-the-garden/ |
Upgrade Day | RJ Taylor | Clarkesworld | September 01, 2023 | 2080 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/taylor_09_23/ |
A Guide to Matchmaking on Station 9 | Nika Murphy | Clarkesworld | September 01, 2023 | 4020 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/murphy_09_23/ |
Alphabet of Swans | E. Lily Yu | The Sunday Morning Transport | August 27, 2023 | 2190 | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/an-alphabet-of-swans |
Have You Seen Bitsy? | James Van Pelt | Asimov’s | June 08, 2023 | short story | – |
The Greeter | Rick Wilber Lisa Lanser Rose |
Asimov’s | June 08, 2023 | short story | – |
Hope Is the Thing With Feathers | Karawynn Long | Asimov’s | July 01, 2023 | short story | – |
Showdown on Planetoid Pencrux | Garth Nix | Asimov’s | June 08, 2023 | novelette | – |
Echoes of Aurora | Ellen Klages | The Sunday Morning Transport | August 20, 2023 | 3950 | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/echoes-of-aurora |
The Letters They Left Behind | Scott Edelman | Lightspeed | August 01, 2023 | 7461 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-letters-they-left-behind/ |
The Ghasts | Lavie Tidhar | Uncanny | July 01, 2023 | 4932 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-ghasts/ |
The Music of the Siphorophenes | C.L. Polk | Uncanny | July 01, 2023 | 9232 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-music-of-the-siphorophenes/ |
SuperMAX | Daniel H. Wilson | Uncanny | July 01, 2023 | 7914 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/supermax/ |
Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200 | R.S.A. Garcia | Uncanny | July 01, 2023 | 6861 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/tantie-merle-and-the-farmhand-4200/ |
Muna in Barish | Isha Karki | Lightspeed | July 01, 2023 | 7971 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/muna-in-barish/ |
Starpoop | Sandra McDonald | Lightspeed | July 01, 2023 | 3244 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/starpoop/ |
The United Systems of Goodwill Concert Series and the Greatest Performance of All Time | James Van Pelt | Lightspeed | July 01, 2023 | 1258 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-united-systems-goodwill-concert-series-and-the-greatest-performance-of-all-time/ |
Death Is Better | Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe | Lightspeed | July 01, 2023 | 1471 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/death-is-better/ |
Tigers for Sale | Risa Wolf | Clarkesworld | July 01, 2023 | 6560 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wolf_07_23/ |
Timelock | Davian Aw | Clarkesworld | July 01, 2023 | 5620 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/aw_07_23/ |
Cheaper to Replace | Marie Vibbert | Clarkesworld | July 01, 2023 | 3370 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vibbert_07_23 |
Death and Redemption, Somewhere Near Tuba City | Lou J. Berger | Clarkesworld | July 01, 2023 | 5470 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/berger_07_23/ |
Blowout | Wole Talabi | Analog | July 01, 2023 | short story | – |
Recruit | Stephen L. Burns | Analog | July 01, 2023 | novelette | – |
Skin Job | Gregor Hartmann | Analog | July 01, 2023 | short story | – |
The Carina Nebula | Kelsey Hutton | Analog | July 01, 2023 | short story | – |
A Synthetic’s Field Guide on Speed Dating and Birds | Rhan Hunke | Analog | July 01, 2023 | short story | – |
First Words | Michael Randle | Analog | July 01, 2023 | short stories | – |
The Jangler | Wil McCarthy | Analog | July 01, 2023 | novelette | – |
‘Ain’t Houses, Ain’t Names’ | Nino Cipri | The Sunday Morning Transport | July 16, 2023 | 3340 | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/aint-houses-aint-names |
This Is Not a Wardrobe Door | Merc Fenn Wolfmoor | PodCastle | July 04, 2023 | 1772 | https://podcastle.org/2023/07/04/podcastle-794-anniversary-special-this-is-not-a-wardrobe-door/ |
Boomerang | Bill Johnson Gregory Frost |
Asimov’s | May 01, 2023 | short story | – |
The Unveiling | Christopher Rowe | StarShipSofa | June 28, 2023 | 4500 | http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2023/06/28/starshipsofa-715-christopher-rowe/ |
Games Without Frontiers | Andy Dudak | Asimov’s | May 01, 2023 | novelette | – |
In the Stacks | Scott Lynch | PodCastle | June 20, 2023 | 13500 | https://podcastle.org/2023/06/20/podcastle-792-anniversary-special-in-the-stacks/ |
Saving Galileo | Sean McMullen | Analog | May 01, 2023 | short story | – |
Hail and Farewell | Joel Richards | Analog | May 01, 2023 | short story | – |
One For Sorrow | Richard Gregson | Analog | May 01, 2023 | short story | – |
Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone | Carrie Vaughn | Clarkesworld | June 01, 2023 | 5570 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vaughn_06_23 |
And All the Fields Below | Sarah Grey | Lightspeed | June 01, 2023 | 2625 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/and-all-the-fields-below/ |
Wanderlust | LP Kindred | Escape Pod | June 01, 2023 | 3788 | https://escapepod.org/2023/06/01/escape-pod-891-wanderlust/ |
(emet) | Lauren Ring | PodCastle | May 30, 2023 | 7470 | https://podcastle.org/2023/05/30/podcastle-789-emet/ |
The Relationship of Ink to Blood | Alex Langer | Apex | May 01, 2023 | 4700 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-relationship-of-ink-to-blood/ |
Want Itself Is a Treasure in Heaven | Theodora Ward | Uncanny | May 01, 2023 | 5477 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/want-itself-is-a-treasure-in-heaven/ |
The Mausoleum’s Children | Aliette de Bodard | Uncanny | May 01, 2023 | 5411 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-mausoleums-children/ |
The Belfry Keeper | S.L. Harris | Lightspeed | May 01, 2023 | 845 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-belfry-keeper/ |
Saturday’s Song | Wole Talabi | Lightspeed | May 01, 2023 | 8677 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/saturdays-song/ |
Blood for a Stranger | Timothy Mudie | Lightspeed | May 01, 2023 | 9434 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/blood-for-a-stranger/ |
She Blooms and the World is Changed | Izzy Wasserstein | Lightspeed | May 01, 2023 | 2337 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/she-blooms-and-the-world-is-changed/ |
To Sail Beyond the Botnet | Suzanne Palmer | Clarkesworld | May 01, 2023 | 21920 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/palmer_05_23 |
Better Living Through Algorithms | Naomi Kritzer | Clarkesworld | May 01, 2023 | 5610 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_05_23 |
Wanton Gods | Sheila Finch | Asimov’s | March 01, 2023 | short story | – |
The Repair | Mark D. Jacobsen | Asimov’s | March 01, 2023 | short story | – |
Night Running | Greg Egan | Asimov’s | March 01, 2023 | novelette | – |
The Nameless Dead | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Asimov’s | March 01, 2023 | novelette | – |
The Toll of the Snake | Grace P. Fong | Apex | April 01, 2023 | 4900 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-toll-of-the-snake/ |
Youth | Isaac Asimov | Space Science Fiction | May 01, 1952 | 9485 | https://mgherron.com/2019/03/sci-fi-short-story-youth-by-isaac-asimov/ |
Immune Response | Robert R. Chase | Analog | March 01, 2023 | novelette | – |
The House on Infinity Street | Allen M. Steele | Analog | March 01, 2023 | novelette | – |
An Inconvenient Man | Adam-Troy Castro | Analog | March 01, 2023 | short story | – |
Every Shade of Healing | Taryn Frazier | Apex | March 01, 2023 | 1000 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/every-shade-of-healing/ |
They Could Have Been Yours | Joy Baglio | Apex | March 01, 2023 | 6900 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/they-could-have-been-yours/ |
Over Moonlit Clouds | Coda Augeuy-Pegon | Apex | March 01, 2023 | 6900 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/over-moonlit-clouds/ |
To Build a Fire | Jack London | Century | August 01, 1908 | 7042 | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2429/pg2429-images.html#page47 |
The Yellow Wallpaper | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | New England | January 01, 1892 | 5815 | https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/full-texts-of-classic-works/the-yellow-wallpaper-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman/ |
The Spoil Heap | Fiona Moore | Clarkesworld | March 01, 2023 | 6640 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_03_23 |
Pinocchio Photography | Angela Liu | Clarkesworld | March 01, 2023 | 6450 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_03_23 |
Blank Space | Delilah S. Dawson | Uncanny | March 01, 2023 | 4745 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/blank-space/ |
An Ode to Stardust | R.P. Sand | Clarkesworld | February 01, 2023 | 14616 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sand_02_23 |
Silo, Sweet Silo | James Castles | Clarkesworld | February 01, 2023 | 4397 | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/castles_02_23 |
Learning Letters | Carrie Vaughn | Lightspeed | February 01, 2023 | 4384 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/learning-letters/ |
A Small, Good Thing | Raymond Carver | Cathedral | September 15, 1983 | short story | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
The Father Provincial of Mare Imbrium | E. Lily Yu | Uncanny | January 01, 2023 | 3545 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-father-provincial-of-mare-imbrium/ |
Waystation City | A.T. Greenblatt | Uncanny | January 01, 2023 | 4274 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/waystation-city/ |
Cold Relations | Mary Robinette Kowal | Uncanny | January 01, 2023 | 7980 | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/cold-relations/ |
Braid Me a Howling Tongue | Maria Dong | Lightspeed | January 01, 2023 | 9909 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/braid-me-a-howling-tongue/ |
A Man Walks Into a Bar; or, In Which More Than Four Decades After My Father’s Reluctant Night of Darts on West 54th Street, I Finally Understand What Needs to Be Done | Scott Edelman | Lightspeed | January 01, 2023 | 5977 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-man-walks-into-a-bar-or-in-which-more-than-four-decades-after-my-fathers-reluctant-night-of-darts-on-west-54th-street-i-finally-understand-what-needs-to-be-done/ |
The Narrative Implications of Your Untimely Death | Isabel J. Kim | Lightspeed | January 01, 2023 | 5122 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-narrative-implications-of-your-untimely-death/ |
The Last Serving | Lincoln Michel | Lightspeed | January 01, 2023 | 1006 | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-last-serving/ |
Message in a Vessel | V.G. Harrison | Apex | January 01, 2023 | 4900 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/message-in-a-vessel/ |
Your Rover Is Here | LP Kindred | Apex | January 01, 2023 | 3500 | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/your-rover-is-here/ |