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]
- A Gentle Spirit by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1876) [16,000 words]
Short Fiction Read Since 2023
Ratings Legend
5 – I loved it!
4 – I really liked it.
3 – It was okay.
2 – I didn’t like it.
1 – I didn’t finish reading it.
| Title | Author | Genre | Source | Source-Type | Issue | Issue-Date | Word-Count | Rating | Summary | Tags | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War | Caroline M. Yoachim | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 6748 | 4 | A series of vignettes on a war between humans and fae | fairies portal magic war architecture unfinished | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/unfinished-architectures-of-the-human-fae-war/ |
| Barbershops of the Floating City | Angela Liu | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 6024 | 4 | A daughter cuts hair and struggles to help her mom. | haircut memory abuse mother-daughter family class relationships | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/barbershops-of-the-floating-city/ |
| Vivisection | Anjali Sachdeva | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 4916 | 5 | Eleanor, fearing for her safety, hides her organs around the house to keep them safe from her abusive girlfriend Severine. | body relationships abuse lgbtq deer suspense fear | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/vivisection/ |
| The Breaker of Mountains and Rivers | Aliette de Bodard | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | - | 4 | An angel is tortured by demons led by the lover of the angel (celestial) being tortured. | torture demons lgbtq angels war | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-breaker-of-mountains-and-rivers/ |
| Hi! I'm Claudia | Delilah S. Dawson | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | - | 5 | A man talks with an AI about the troubles in his life. | marriage relationships cheating ai therapy | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/hi-im-claudia/ |
| All the World Is Fog | DeVaun Sanders | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | - | 2 | A father leads a krewe in a water-soaked, climate-changed dystopia. | community family dystopia water climate-change louisiana race | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/all-the-world-is-fog/ |
| Pale Serpent, Green Serpent | Ewen Ma | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 1199 | 4 | Immortal friends play a game after getting together after a long time apart. | friendship aliens poison immortality death play games | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/pale-serpent-green-serpent/ |
| Isolate | Tom R. Pike | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 13108 | 5 | A monk with training in linguistics comes to a newly colonized planet to evaluate their language. | planet language linguistics religion empire colonialism | - |
| Proxima One | Caryanna Reuven | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 4020 | 3 | Silicos set out to search for life in the universe and end up considering whether to create it again. | seti | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/reuven_05_25/ |
| Yarn Theory | Marie Vibbert | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 1000 | 4 | A mathematician knits a pattern in yarn of a message received from aliens. | math knitting seti aliens first-contact | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vibbert_05_25/ |
| Oh Time Thy Pyramids | Ann LeBlanc | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 7430 | 1 | Not sure. Couldn't get into it. | song myth dnf | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/leblanc_05_25/ |
| Descent | Wole Talabi | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 21240 | 3 | A man on a gaseous planet seeks to find the planet's surface. | survival sound mother-son planet | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/talabi_05_25/ |
| End of Play | Chelsea Sutton | Fantasy | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | 7 | May 07, 2025 | 4253 | 4 | The author tells of a play he has written and its first performance. | ghosts play | https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/it-s-storytime-with-wil-wheaton/5760679 |
| We, the Fleet | Alex T. Singer | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 7700 | 5 | A mother with inorganic children finds and saves a human woman by making her into a cyborg. | inorganic-life first-contact body-horror family found-family monsters community parenthood novelty love friendship space cyborg | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/singer_05_25/ |
| The Library of the Apocalypse | Rati Mehrota | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 3850 | 5 | The narrator leads a band of humans surviving in a shattered Toronto as they search each full moon for the titular library to escape briefly from their dark reality. | toronto dystopia books library escape found-family | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/mehrotra_05_25/ |
| Brainstem Disco | Angela Liu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 1640 | 3 | One of a pair of lovers interacts with the other's post-mortem disembodied self, pining for them, wishing they hadn't died. | sound music relationships drugs death love | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_05_25/ |
| If We Make It Through This Alive | A.T. Greenblatt | Science Fiction | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | 6 | April 30, 2025 | 7070 | 5 | Three young women friends attempt a nearly impossible road race across a dystopian USA on roads that are no longer maintained. | dystopia road-race friendship purpose cars trains | https://podcastaddict.com/it-s-storytime-with-wil-wheaton/episode/197440650 |
| A Manual for Cleaning Women | Lucia Berlin | Contemporary | A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories | Book | - | August 18, 2015 | 4300 | 3 | A cleaning woman tells of her life and her work. | desperation work people | https://shortstoryproject.com/stories/a-manual-for-cleaning-women/ |
| Not Schmitty | John Warner | Contemporary | Tough Day for the Army | Book | - | September 15, 2024 | 3000 | 3 | Frat brothers get the idea to waterboard pledges and try it on their strongest, most loyal brother, Schitty. | college fraternity fear | https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-story-from-john-warners-new-collection-tough-day-for-the-army |
| Happily Ever After Comes Around | Sarah Rees Brennan | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 58 | May 01, 2024 | 3327 | 3 | A retelling of Hansel and Gretel even darker than the Brothers Grimm ever told. | fairy-tale children cannibalism | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/happily-ever-after-comes-round/ |
| Rachel Is at a Protest | Esther Alter | Horror | The Deadlands | Magazine | 35 | August 15, 2024 | 4500 | 2 | Rachel experiences the history of her entire Jewish family as she dreams each time Israel attacks Palestinians. | lgbtq violence israel genocide protest palestine | https://psychopomp.com/deadlands/issue-35/rachel-is-at-a-protest/# |
| Lost You Again | Ian Rogers | Fantasy | Dark | Magazine | 116 | January 01, 2025 | 6000 | 5 | A man repeatedly wakes up in his house and either he is dead or his family is. | ghosts family relationships haunted-house death | https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/lost-you-again/ |
| In Thin Air | Phoenix Alexander | Horror | Dark | Magazine | 108 | May 01, 2024 | 3326 | 4 | A recently deceased victim of cancer witnesses a beating and does everything she can to save the victim. | ghosts death violence cancer helpless victim rage | https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/in-thin-air/ |
| Second Chance | Sakinah Hofler | Science Fiction | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | Podcast | - | - | 2300 | 4 | After Toya Smith is killed by police during a traffic stop, doctors at a unique facility manage to preserve her consciousness and transfer it to a new body that should resemble her old one. Only her new body isn’t the one she expected or wanted. How will Toya adjust to her new life in a body so different from the one she’d lived in her whole life? | race injustice death family | https://podcastaddict.com/analog-science-fiction-fact/episode/191537258 |
| can I offer you a nice egg in this trying time | Iori Kusano | Fantasy | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | 5 | April 23, 2025 | 3043 | 4 | A man who visited a portal fantasy world with a friend as a teenager struggles with the fact that he can't get back. | friendship violence adventure | https://podcastaddict.com/it-s-storytime-with-wil-wheaton/episode/196965090 |
| Tell Them a Story to Teach Them Kindness | B. Pladek | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 176 | January 01, 2025 | 4146 | 5 | In a future where only AI stories are allowed in school, a curator instead sends human written classics. | ai education teaching writing epistolary lgbtq found-family race war | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/tell-them-a-story-to-teach-them-kindness/ |
| An Even Greater Cold to Come | Rich Larson | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 3600 | 3 | A pregnant woman hides with her daughters from soldiers looking for them. | war sisters pregnancy | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/larson_04_25/ |
| In My Country | Thomas Ha | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 6220 | 4 | A father in a world with no kings but lots of control has a son and a daughter he struggles to understand. | dystopia parenthood children family oppression | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_04_25/ |
| Symbiotic | Carolyn Zhao | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 10010 | 2 | Two people in a technologically induced symbiotic relationship deal with how uneven it is. | relationships ocean technology | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/zhao_04_25/ |
| Galatea | Madeline Miller | Fantasy | - | - | - | - | 6049 | 3 | The story of Pygmalion from the perspective of his wife, the statue that was brought to life by the gods. | short-stories feminism sexism sexual-assault | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/14b9be48-72e7-4605-b907-cb58afcf8678 |
| The Hidden Heart of Brass Attending | Christopher Scott | Fantasy | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | 4 | April 16, 2025 | 7000 | 4 | A detective who binds the ghosts of dead people to "brass attendings" encounters a special case. | lgbtq love murder | https://podcastaddict.com/it-s-storytime-with-wil-wheaton/episode/196503508 |
| Still Water | Zhang Ran | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 9090 | 5 | A mother does her best to comfort and care for her teenage son with ALS. | als family illness parenthood | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/zhang_04_25/ |
| Aegiopolis Testudo | Gordon Li | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 7500 | 3 | A contracted worker living on a leviathan considers whether they should stay at the end of their contract. | leviathan ethics vegetarianism compassion | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/li_04_25/ |
| The God of Minor Troubles | Megan Chee | Fantasy | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | 3 | April 09, 2025 | 297 | 4 | The titular god learns that his role is not a punishment for being late for his assignment | gods justice twist | http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/the-god-of-minor-troubles/ |
| The Seed | Sheri Singerling | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 5300 | 4 | A childless woman in a world without technology is enticed by a beacon from another world to become the progenitor of her people's rebirth. | curiosity domestic-violence truth knowledge ai technology children | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/singerling_04_25/ |
| Through These Moments, Darkly | Samantha Murray | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 3610 | 5 | You and your love contemplate the idea of a portal in a world tipped past a warming climate to a cooling one. | physics climate-change chirality portal curiosity love winter | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/murray_04_25/ |
| After the Invasion of the Bug-Eyed Aliens | Rachel Swirsky | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | March 19, 2025 | 9750 | 5 | Two ex-military nurses, one human and one alien, share a friendship in a city following an alien invasion. | insects aliens war change | https://reactormag.com/after-the-invasion-of-the-bug-eyed-aliens-rachel-swirsky/ |
| The Moron Factory | George Saunders | Contemporary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | March 01, 2025 | 3749 | 3 | A small conflict in an office takes a dark turn based on a miscommunication. | office business misunderstanding | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/03/george-saunders-short-story-moron-factory/681448/ |
| Proof by Induction | José Pablo Iriarte | Science Fiction | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | 2 | April 01, 2025 | 6296 | 4 | A math professor works with his dead father's Coda to solve the Perelman Conjecture. | father-son family relationships math | https://podcastaddict.com/it-s-storytime-with-wil-wheaton/episode/195550584 |
| Exit Interview | K.W. Olney | Fantasy | Strange Horizons | Magazine | - | December 16, 2024 | 6176 | 5 | In a world where portals have appeared for black women to escape to another world where they will be love and appreciated, Dottie struggles to decide if she will go. | race feminism discrimination justice | http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/exit-interview/ |
| Inside the House of Wisdom | Tamara Masri | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 175 | December 01, 2024 | 1600 | 4 | A librarian in the future listens to the recording of a doctor who has just delivered a baby girl from a dead mother killed in Gaza in 2024. | war birth justice innocence | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/inside-the-house-of-wisdom/ |
| Funerary Habits of Low Entropy Entities | Damián Neri | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 3500 | 2 | A crab-like explorer who subsumes the minds of the dead he eats, finds a dead human, eats it, and builds a spaceship to leave one of Jupiter's moons. | insects jupiter spaceship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/neri_03_25/ |
| Rock, Paper, Scissors, Love, Death | Caroline M. Yoachim | Science Fiction | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | 1 | March 25, 2025 | 5385 | 5 | A couple meets due to time travel and travels through time to preserve their love. | time-travel time-loop love relationships | https://podcastaddict.com/it-s-storytime-with-wil-wheaton/episode/195099494 |
| The Sound of the Star | Ren Zeyu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 3820 | 5 | A man visits a number of different planets | communication limitation | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ren_03_25/ |
| Hook and Line | Koji A. Dae | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 4150 | 4 | An old medium on a generation ship tries to find a way to stay connected to the spirits of those who boarded the ship on Earth. | generation-ship love learning generations | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/dae_03_25/ |
| Those Uncaring Waves | Yukimi Ogawa | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 18140 | 5 | A pattern maker who helps to heal people's pain tries to help a person whose own skin patterns have damaged her mental health | mystery japan cutting mental-health code self-harm | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ogawa_03_25/ |
| Mindtrips | Tlotlo Tsamaase | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 7730 | 4 | A young woman with a traumatic past is forced to take therapy pills to deal with it so those in authority can figure out what actually happened to cause her mother's death | trauma abuse botswana africa | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tsamaase_03_25/ |
| Pollen | Anna Burdenko | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 5330 | 4 | A family is the lead mission to a planet with psychedelic pollen. | - | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/burdenko_03_25/ |
| From Enceladus, with Love | Ryan Cole | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 4970 | 5 | A young teenager stows away on a ship to find her mom on Enceladus. Everything changes when the ship wakes up. | ai sentience spaceship friendship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/cole_03_25/ |
| Death Works | K.S. Walker | Fantasy | The Deadlands | Magazine | 18 | October 24, 2022 | 857 | 2 | A god of death takes on an apprentice whom he is addressing. | death gods enemies | https://psychopomp.com/deadlands/issue-18/death-work/ |
| Notes form a Pyre | Amal Singh | Science Fiction | The Deadlands | Magazine | 23 | March 10, 2023 | 4300 | 3 | A young person who witnesses his grandfather's death takes up his work researching death rituals of alien species. | india death rituals anthropology aliens | https://psychopomp.com/deadlands/issue-23/pyre/ |
| The Shape of Stones | Hildur Knútsdóttir | Fantasy | Reactor | Magazine | - | March 12, 2025 | 3400 | 3 | As a young scholar sets out on a research project to find the stones where the settlers of Iceland made human sacrifices, a long dormant volcano rouses...and other, long-sleeping horrors… | iceland thor academic | https://reactormag.com/the-shape-of-stones-hildur-knutsdottir/ |
| Another Girl Under the Iron Bell | Angela Liu | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 60 | October 01, 2024 | 9679 | 3 | A human man falls in love with a demon who had been a woman and is devoured by her. | japan demons death | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/another-girl-under-the-iron-bell/ |
| Signs of Life | Sarah Pinsker | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 59 | July 01, 2024 | 11996 | 5 | A retiring TV news anchor travels to the countryside to visit her estranged sister and reconcile. | sisters family estrangement west-virginia | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/signs-of-life/ |
| Loneliness Universe | Eugenia Triantafyllou | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 58 | May 01, 2024 | 8173 | 5 | A young woman suddenly finds that she can no longer see anyone she has a close relationship with, like she is in her own unique universe. | greece best-friends athens video-games epistolary | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/loneliness-universe/ |
| Stitched to Skin Like Family Is | Nghi Vo | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 57 | March 01, 2024 | 4517 | 5 | A Chinese expert seamstress searches for her brother after she stops receiving letters from him. | asian chinese great-depression siblings death murder kindness | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/stitched-to-skin-like-family-is/ |
| Marginalia | Mary Robinette Kowal | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 56 | January 01, 2024 | 7488 | 4 | The daughter of a former baron's maid save his life by killing a giant snail with salt. | snails family class england salt | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/marginalia/ |
| Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole | Isabel J. Kim | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 209 | February 01, 2024 | 3190 | 4 | In Omelas, a group of people keep killing the kind in the hole that makes things there so perfect. | suffering scapegoat philosophy morality | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_02_24/ |
| Landline | Kelly Robson | Horror | Reactor | Magazine | - | March 05, 2025 | 5040 | 4 | A woman about to leave on an overseas business trip, calls home from the airport and discovers that “daddy” isn’t there and her six-year-old son is all alone in the dark… | canada edmonton alberta snow mother-son family | https://reactormag.com/landline-kelly-robson/ |
| American Realism | Brandon Taylor | Contemporary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | February 01, 2025 | 5904 | 3 | A young man visiting a dying friend meets someone who live near him and they bond over piano music. | new-york-city death illness friendship lgbtq | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/brandon-taylor-american-realism/681100/ |
| Dead Poets | Carrie Vaughn | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 3741 | 4 | A female academic drinks for an ancient cup dreaming of meeting Sappho but instead goes back to 1536 to visit Sir Thomas Wyatt in the Tower of London shortly after the execution of Anne Boleyn. | time-travel love lgbtq greece england london | - |
| A Letter to Merlin | Theodora Goss | Science | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 5697 | 4 | A woman from the future inhabiting the body of Guinevere in an attempt to keep the timeline on track writes a letter to Merlin who is also inhabited by someone from the future. | time-travel love apocalypse dystopia | - |
| Time Gypsy | Ellen Klages | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 11555 | 5 | A woman goes back in time to meet her scientific hero only to fall in love with her and discover that her advisor in the future is a fraud. | time-travel love lgbtq fraud academic | - |
| Timed Obsolescence | Sameem Siddiqui | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6328 | 2 | A man pursues a fling during multiple visits to the past only to find that his behavior there has affected his present. | time-travel love family | - |
| The Place of All the Souls | Margo Lanagan | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 9570 | 3 | Two people who found each other connected in the space between times, find each other and struggle about what to do about it and how it will affect their families. | time-travel love | - |
| The Difference Between Love and Time | Catherynne M. Valente | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 9328 | 4 | A woman tells the tale of her romance with the personification of the space/time continuum. | absurdity washington-state humor abstract love time-travel | - |
| Romance: Historical | Rowan Coleman | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 5962 | 5 | A young neurodivergent woman mysteriously connects with a man from 1914 in the bookshop where she works. | love time-travel books england WWI neurodivergence | - |
| Unbashed, or: Jackson, Whose Cowardice Tore a Hole in the Chronoverse | Sam J. Miller | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 1239 | 4 | A young man regrets not walking his first love home, finding out the next morning that he has been murdered for who he loved. | lgbtq love sex regret | - |
| Bergamot and Vetiver | Lavanya Lakshminarayan | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6155 | 4 | A woman from the 2500s travels back to the Indus Valley Civilization where the future's leaders use her to steal water the man she falls in love with. | love time-travel water india theft | - |
| Kronia | Elizabeth Hand | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 1539 | 2 | Lovers who grew up a mile apart find each other through time. | love time-travel connecticut new-york | - |
| The Lichens | Nina Allan | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6704 | 4 | A woman in northern Scotland during the time of Culloden encounters a scientist from the future looking for a buried spacecraft. | scotland feminism witches lgbtq spaceship | - |
| The Golden Hour | Jeffrey Ford | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 5775 | 3 | A time traveler stuck in time reconnects with his time-traveling wife. | time-travel love marriage memory | - |
| I Remember Satellites | Sarah Gailey | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6358 | 5 | When a time traveler draws a short straw job that leaves her permanently in the past, she has to leave behind a girlfriend to become a divorcée who causes the future King England to abdicate. | lgbtq memory love time-travel england | - |
| First Aid | Seanan McGuire | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 5022 | 5 | In order to take care of her younger disabled sister, a woman prepares to go back permanently to Elizabethan England | lgbtq time-travel family love england cleveland | - |
| Agate Way | Laird Barron | Horror | Reactor | Magazine | - | February 19, 2025 | 8730 | 2 | A pair of sisters are hired to find--and if necessary, dispose of--whatever is killing neighborhood pets in a dying town. | lgbtq sisters new-york dark nature | https://reactormag.com/agate-way-laird-barron/ |
| The Past Life Reconstruction Service | Zen Cho | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6590 | 5 | A movie director recently dumped by his boyfriend keeps seeing him as he explores his past lives. | wealth love time-travel lgbtq | - |
| Roadside Attraction | Alix E. Harrow | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 4658 | 5 | After his girlfriend breaks up with him, a young man loses himself by going to the past over and over only to find his destiny in the present. | lgbtq love time-travel kansas | - |
| There's a Door to the Land of the Dead in the Land of the Dead | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | The Deadlands | Magazine | 26 | June 08, 2023 | 5500 | 4 | A young woman working at a roadside attraction between Atlanta and Chattanooga is shown a brief glimpse of the real land of the dead. | lgbtq stuck crossroads decisions death georgia atlanta chattanooga | https://psychopomp.com/deadlands/issue-26/door/ |
| Slow Tuesday Night | R.A. Lafferty | Science Fiction | A Day in the Life | Book | - | November 15, 2012 | 2577 | 3 | After a "mental stutter" is found and removed from the human brain, people make decisions faster - so much so that one man can have several careers in a night. | absurdity dystopia marriage business | https://www.baen.com/Chapters/9781618249203/9781618249203___2.htm |
| Red Leaves | S.E. Porter | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | February 12, 2025 | 4540 | 3 | The spirit of a recently deceased young boy helps a group of ghosts seek revenge on a corrupt and abusive town minister. | family death revenge lies | https://reactormag.com/red-leaves-s-e-porter/ |
| Bravado | Carrie Vaughn | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | January 29, 2025 | 6480 | 3 | Teenage Graff dreams of going off-world to explore the universe as a documentarian, but he never imagined the adventures awaiting him when he actually gets the chance to leave. | coming-of-age military space | https://reactormag.com/bravado-carrie-vaughn/ |
| Not Alone | Pat Murphy | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | February 05, 2025 | 4400 | 4 | Mel relishes running the “Enchanted Jungle,” a roadside attraction in the Everglades filled with live parrots, concrete dinosaurs, and other unexpected wonders. | horror nostalgia aliens florida family connection nature | https://reactormag.com/not-alone-pat-murphy/ |
| https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jia-wen_02_25 | Alaya Dawn Johnson | Science | Reactor | Magazine | - | January 22, 2025 | 7560 | 3 | A woman losing her sight turns to small family magics to save the lives of those she loves the most. | war family blindness race class magic | https://reactormag.com/what-i-saw-before-the-war-alaya-dawn-johnson/ |
| Celestial Migrations | Claire Jia-Wen | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 221 | February 01, 2025 | 3090 | 2 | Miners who ride celestial rays home for the lunar new year to see their son learn how the space creatures reproduce. | family sacrifice expectations disappointment | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jia-wen_02_25 |
| The Hanging Tower of Babel | Wang Zhenzhen | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 221 | February 01, 2025 | 6380 | 5 | A son cares for his father with Alzheimer's disease who was mostly absent from his life due to his work in deep space. | dementia family father-son memory remembering | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wang_02_25 |
| Numismatic Archetypes in the Year of Five Regents | Louis Inglis Hall | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 221 | February 01, 2025 | 3560 | 3 | The history of six regents told through the coins minted for each | coins memory remembering | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hall_02_25 |
| A Planet Full of Sorrows | M.L. Clark | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 221 | February 01, 2025 | 13110 | 4 | When evidence of a dead alien race on another planet starts a space race to it, the discovering scientists try to figure out how to stop it. | space-opera capitalism | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/clark_02_25 |
| We Begin Where Infinity Ends | Somto Ihezue | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 221 | February 01, 2025 | 9270 | 5 | Kids work to save fireflies by toning down the brightness of streetlights and learn the power of love and working together | lgbtq love children coming-of-age nature teamwork | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ihezue_02_25 |
| Bodyhoppers | Rocío Veg | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 221 | February 01, 2025 | 5280 | 5 | A person wakes up in a new body and races to find their lover before they are both caught for pirating a body. | identity biotechnology thriller love | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vega_02_25 |
| King of the Castle | Fiona Moore | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 221 | February 01, 2025 | 6280 | 3 | An angry, violent young man threatens his community while they search for a way to bring him back into the fold. | post-apocalyptic sports | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_02_25 |
| Zamboni | Honor Jones | Contemporary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | January 01, 2025 | 4700 | 2 | During spring break, a woman passes her son's school where a movie is being made. | mothers reality relationships | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/01/honor-jones-zamboni/680764/ |
| My Cloak of Keys | Fran Wilde | Science Fiction | The Deadlands | Magazine | 10 | February 24, 2022 | 3098 | 5 | Death's helper returns briefly to the land of the living to help a newly dead arrival let go. | death want | https://psychopomp.com/deadlands/issue-10/cloak-of-keys/ |
| The Long Way Up | Alix E. Harrow | Fantasy | The Deadlands | Magazine | 9 | January 31, 2022 | 4738 | 4 | A widow who misses her dead husband seeks him in the land of the dead | death love relationships | https://psychopomp.com/deadlands/issue-09/the-long-way-up/ |
| Wolf Moon, Antler Moon | A.C. Wise | Horror | Reactor | Magazine | - | January 13, 2025 | 14080 | 4 | A young teenager comes to grip with what she needs to do to preserve her town after a tragedy. | fantasy coming-of-age self-determination wolves predator prey young-adult spring decisions responsibility woods | https://reactormag.com/wolf-moon-antler-moon-a-c-wise/ |
| Autonomy | Meg Ellison | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 220 | January 01, 2025 | 3100 | 4 | A woman who is attacked in an autonomous car struggles to fight back. | cars sexual-assault technology friendship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/elison_01_25/ |
| Beyond Everything | Wang Yanzhong | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 220 | January 01, 2025 | 9750 | 2 | Earth sends envoys through gates to seek the help of ETs to save them from themselves. | philosophy war environment aliens | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wang_01_25/ |
| Never Eaten Vegetables | H.H. Pak | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 220 | January 01, 2025 | 15170 | 5 | A sentient ship has to make a harrowing decision when some of its embryo passengers wake up too early. | capitalism love mothers found-family space-ark | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/pak_01_25/ |
| The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe | Tia Tashiro | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 220 | January 01, 2025 | 11900 | 5 | A young man tries to remember the circumstances of his murder after he is resurrected. | depression suicide murder mystery | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tashiro_01_25/ |
| Child of the Mountain | Gunnar DeWinter | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 220 | January 01, 2025 | 2890 | 3 | A young girl in an eleven-year-old body cares for and resurrects her sisters until she realizes that by eating the soul seeds she can become the next level of evolution. | life death murder | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/dewinter_01_25/ |
| When There Are Two of You: A Documentary | Zun Yu Tan | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 220 | January 01, 2025 | 2130 | 4 | A near future world where people can clone their consciousness as a Sentience. | identity clones | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tan_01_25 |
| Beauty | Graham Swift | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | September 01, 2024 | 4200 | 2 | A grandfather visits the room where his granddaughter committed suicide. | suicide family | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/09/graham-swift-beauty/679163/ |
| You Perfect, Broken Thing | C.L. Clark | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 32 | January 01, 2020 | 3930 | 3 | A dying person runs a race to get the cure for their disease | compassion | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/you-perfect-broken-thing/ |
| The Cook | C.L. Clark | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 22 | May 01, 2018 | 1087 | 4 | A soldier falls in love with a cook | lgbtq love food | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-cook/ |
| Saint Dimas | Jared Lemus | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | April 01, 2024 | 5200 | 3 | A group of brothers robbing cars on the road encounter a female friend of one of them who wants to help | poverty | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/04/jared-lemus-saint-dismas/677478/ |
| Folk Hero Motifs in Tales Told by the Dead | KT Bryski | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | February 26, 2024 | 4079 | 3 | In the land of the dead, people tell tales about Skullbone and his journey into the Void | death story | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/172002699 |
| The Destroyer | Tara Isabella Burton | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | February 19, 2024 | 5037 | 3 | A scientist creates her own daughter out of her own cells and no other trying to build a superhero for Caesar. | mothers mother-daughter sad evil | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/171623340 |
| Metal Like Blood in the Dark | T. Kingfisher | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 36 | September 01, 2020 | 7368 | 5 | Sentient sibling AI robots deal with an even larger sentient robot that captures them for its own purposes | deception ai robots | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/metal-like-blood-in-the-dark/ |
| Open House on Haunted Hill | John Wiswell | Horror | Diabolical Plots | Magazine | 64 | June 15, 2020 | 3013 | 4 | A man and his daughter view a house that is desperate for someone to live in it. | home loss family | https://www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-64a-open-house-on-haunted-hill-by-john-wiswell/ |
| Evergreen | Brian W. Aldiss | Science Fiction | Fantasy and Science Fiction | Magazine | - | December 01, 1961 | 20823 | 3 | Gren and Yattmur with their baby journey back toward their jungle home. | far-future violence | https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v021n06_1961-12_PDF/page/n81/mode/2up |
| Timberline | Brian W. Aldiss | Science Fiction | Fantasy and Science Fiction | Magazine | - | September 01, 1961 | 13346 | 4 | Gren and Yattmur with the tummy bellies travel on the raft across the sea. | far-future violence | https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v021n03_1961-09_PDF/page/n97/mode/2up |
| Undergrowth | Brian W. Aldiss | Science Fiction | Fantasy and Science Fiction | Magazine | - | July 01, 1961 | 21223 | 4 | The new Adam and Eve explore the undergrowth of the planet | far-future violence | https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v021n01_1961-07_PDF/page/n81/mode/2up |
| Nomansland | Brian W. Aldiss | Science Fiction | Fantasy and Science Fiction | Magazine | - | April 01, 1961 | 14172 | 4 | On a far future Earth where vegetation has taken over, small humans left behind by those who have "gone up" struggle to survive in nomansland. | far-future violence | https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v020n04_1961-04_PDF/page/n97/mode/2up |
| Hothouse | Brian W. Aldiss | Science Fiction | Fantasy and Science Fiction | Magazine | - | February 01, 1961 | 12347 | 4 | In the far future, humans live in trees on a tidally locked Earth that is overrun with plants | far-future | https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v020n02_1961-02_PDF/page/n3/mode/2up |
| The Longest Voyage | Poul Anderson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | December 01, 1960 | - | 3 | On a moon a ship comes across a more primitive people on islands that have a man from the stars and his ship. | ships civilization planet | https://web.archive.org/web/20230420215139/https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/luminist/SF/AN/AN_1960_12.pdf |
| Flowers for Algernon | Daniel Keyes | Science Fiction | Science Fiction and Fantasy | Magazine | - | April 01, 1959 | 12349 | 5 | A retarded adult is given an operation that slowly turns him into a genius. | sad science relationships emotions | https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RtYWz61ICh2x6r1qsUAbJbNhClEJdjNl/view |
| That Hell-Bound Train | Robert Bloch | Fantasy | Science Fiction and Fantasy | Magazine | - | September 01, 1958 | - | 4 | A man makes a deal with the devil where he can stop time for himself and in return he will ride the train to Hell. | bargain deals supernatural devil train | https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UwClTwLgPBNVJUxbQ8BQhhqITwKkq9Rm/view |
| Allamagoosa | Eric Frank Russell | Science Fiction | Astounding Science Fiction | Magazine | - | May 01, 1955 | 4623 | 4 | A ship captain about to be inspected orders a new one made of a missing "offog". | dog spaceship humor | https://www.baen.com/Chapters/1439133476/1439133476___3.htm |
| An Infestation of Blue | Wendy N. Wagner | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 4320 | 5 | A man whose wife committed suicide experiments on their dog to help him find how. | dog suicide loss relationships science | - |
| Family Business | Andrew Dana Hudson Corey J. White | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5500 | 4 | A family heavily invested in fossil fuels moves into the carbon business when fossil fuels are outlawed. | family relationships business climate-change disaster | - |
| The Far Dark | Gregory Benford | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 7084 | 1 | The AI that humans have sent to manage their deep space probes encounters a plasma-based life form hostile to invaders. | first-contact dnf | - |
| Flying Carpet | Rajnar Vajra | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 18367 | 4 | Detectives investigate multiple home murders looking for a motive and the culprit | lgbtq polyamory mystery technology relationships hartford connecticut boston mit | - |
| Let's Play | Bruce McAllister | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 218 | 3 | Two kids decide to play robots becoming sentient with feelings. | robots sentience feelings | - |
| Living on the Trap | Michèle Laframboise | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5022 | 4 | A young impoverished woman on a planet in the Trapeze system promises to rescue a stranger who is making a dangerous climb. | planet colonization rescue lgbtq | - |
| The Science Education of King Cormac | Stpehen R. Loftus-Mercer | Fantasy | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 1884 | 4 | The younger sister of a new monarch attempts to teach her brother/king the scientific method. | revolution science | - |
| Three Roses | Karmen Špiljak | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | December 04, 2023 | 5550 | 4 | A woman whose friend is moving to Canada spends one last Christmas eve and finds an unusual pub to share a drink. | lgbtq relationships slovenia canada | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/167891173 |
| While the Rat's Away | Kate MacLeod | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 6966 | 4 | As a community of Brothers and Sisters relocates to a new planet, they discover stowaways on the ship taking them to their new home. | religion space aliens | - |
| Andromeda | Monica Joyce Evans | Fantasy | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 1173 | 3 | A girl attends a school for all creatures where she is one of the only humans. | animals loneliness school | - |
| Blade and Bone | Paul McAuley | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | December 26, 2023 | 23940 | 1 | A posse chases down hostage-takers on Mars | mars dnf | - |
| The Disease Collector | Tom Jolly | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 2096 | 4 | A man searching for the origin of a current pandemic in the past actually brings it himself. | time-travel pandemic time-loop | - |
| Going Through a Phase | Geoffrey A. Landis | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 100 | 4 | A mad scientist test his phase shifter by attempting to rob a bank and goes straight through the sidewalk. | teaching learning arrogance | - |
| Home for Christmas | Ron Collins | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 2475 | 4 | A man returns from space to scatter his ex-wife's ashes with their son whom he has never seen. | family bittersweet time-dilation relationships | - |
| Hyppolyta Flyby | Michael Capobianco | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 3383 | 4 | A space probe set to record details of an Earth-like planet in the Alpha Centauri system glitches at just the wrong time. | first-contact space planet | - |
| Proxima Centauri Blues | Michael Cassutt | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 7096 | 4 | A man angry at the sudden shuttering of a program to travel to Proxima Centauri B, arrives at the home of the woman who led then canceled the project. | first-contact generation-ship | - |
| Subtraction | James Sallis | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 1285 | 2 | A man suspects his alien confidente of spying on him and tortures him for answers. | spy conspiracy aliens | - |
| Tool Consciousness | Auston Habershaw | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 6299 | 3 | A blob-like creature finds that their partner is not treating them fairly in their clandestine work. | noir politics planet | - |
| Wasted Potential | David Lee Zweifler | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 3700 | 3 | A man who thinks he is holding his girlfriend back from her potential tries to break up with her. | love romance employment | - |
| The White Tiger | Mark Pantoja | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 13809 | 1 | A team arrives at the site of their former ship after it has been nearly destroyed. | dnf teamwork aliens | - |
| Apollo in Retrograde | Rosemary Claire Smith | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 16121 | 5 | An alternate history where a woman was part of the first mission to land on the moon. | feminism cold-war soviet nasa russia | - |
| The Eiffel Tower of Trappist-1D | Jeff Reynolds | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 7893 | 4 | Three friends on an old mining colony use old equipment to build old Earth monuments out of the hard rock of the hills around town. | community colonization memory poverty war aliens | - |
| In the Days After | Frank Ward | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 3939 | 5 | A social worker in the future makes a home visit to pick a baby who suffers from the same affliction she does. | immortality disaster shapeshifter loneliness family prejudice bittersweet | - |
| Death of the Hind | Kevin J. Anderson Rick Wilber | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 22693 | 4 | A generation ship that has come back from a cosmic disaster arrives at its destination and finds the planet they are to live on isn't the Eden they expected. | generation-ship planet space family disaster downs-syndrome | - |
| Disgrace of the Commodore | Marguerite Sheffer | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 1304 | 3 | The Commodore of a ship that was captured at war finds himself in an odd purgatory thinking about his choices. | death self-knowledge | - |
| The Four Last Things | Christopher Rowe | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5819 | 1 | Four people specially chosen attempt to learn more about a first contact discovered signal . | first-contact space dnf | - |
| Meet-Your-Hero | Prashanth Srivatsa | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5267 | 2 | A twelve-year-old boy plays the lottery with the hopes of winning an hour with his movie-star hero. | india family poverty | - |
| Neptune Acres | Robert R. Chase | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5333 | 3 | An investor invites his friend to view his new real estate project, a floating neighborhood, in the midst of a rising storm. | climate-change disaster | - |
| The Open Road Leads to the Used Car Lot | John Alfred Taylor | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5998 | 4 | A man in 1964 is contacted by and asked to meet again a woman he spent a day with at the 1939 world's fair. | time-travel mental-health technology history | - |
| The Pilgrim and the Angel | E. Lily Yu | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | November 27, 2023 | 4800 | 5 | A man in Cairo is whisked away on the Haj by the angel Gabriel, but he only wants to visit his son. | family love death religion loyalty guilt cairo egypt | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/167526289 |
| Berb by Berb | Ray Nayler | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 4145 | 4 | In an alternate history, a man who helped to reverse engineer a death ray to win WWII, tries to remain open as his world collapses around him. | aliens alternate-history guilt | - |
| Embot's Lament | James Patrick Kelly | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 6085 | 4 | A disembodied person or program from the future "rides" along a woman's consciousness and reports on it to the future. | abuse sexual-assault time-travel | - |
| The Ghosts of Mars | Dominica Phetteplace | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 24727 | 4 | A young woman born on Mars is left alone after her father commits suicide and everyone else leaves for cancer treatment. | mars found-family family mystery suicide first-contact | - |
| End of Play | Chelsea Sutton | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 4253 | 2 | The author tells of a play he has written and its first performance. | ghosts play | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/end-of-play/ |
| Esqueleto | Ana Hurtado | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 902 | 1 | A child tries to get his mother to understand that they live in a whale carcass that is being consumed. | child mothers dnf | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/esqueleto/ |
| The Pandemonium Waltz | Jeffrey Ford | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 4168 | 3 | A neighbor and his wife learn of their neighbor couples' odd experience at an exclusive traveling waltz exhibition. | neighbors dreams story | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-pandemonium-waltz/ |
| A Piece of the Continent | Marissa Lingen | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 4492 | 4 | A young woman and her friend set off from Boston to Alaska to scatter their grandfathers' ashes. | ghosts magic friendship lgbtq boston alaska | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/a-piece-of-the-continent/ |
| The Quiet of Drowning | Kel Coleman | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 5806 | 4 | A teenage girl whose aunt killed herself is checked into a psych ward after attempting suicide. | suicide self-harm family relationships | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-quiet-of-drowning/ |
| We're Looking for the Best | Cecil Castellucci | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 5939 | 4 | A woman who has just lost her job meets an old boss going to a job interview and agrees to join her. | ghosts friendship employment fear | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/were-looking-for-the-best/ |
| The Takeback Tango | Rebecca Roanhorse | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | November 20, 2023 | 5100 | 4 | An orphan raised by space pirates plans a heist by herself when she discovers that she isn't the only one with such plans. | colonialism race space pirates | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/167188585 |
| The Year Without Sunshine | Naomi Kritzer | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 10883 | 4 | A neighborhood block bands together after a disaster returns them to nearly basic subsistence. | community disaster survival neighbors | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-year-without-sunshine/ |
| Thin Ice | Kemi Ashing-Giwa | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 2110 | 3 | A member of a race frozen and used as art supplies is a slave to the mechanical creature doing this awful work. | slavery violence | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ashing-giwa_11_23/ |
| To Carry You Inside You | Tia Tashiro | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 7330 | 5 | A woman who had an implant installed as a child to become a working actor, in adulthood finds a new and unique way to use it. | technology psychology self-knowledge self-preservation | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tashiro_11_23/ |
| Eight or Die (Part 1) | Thoraiya Dyer | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 22100 | 4 | A miner in Ecuador is recruited by aliens to help locate a wanted fugitive. | ecuador kenya aliens planet thriller | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/dyer_11_23/ |
| The Long Mural | James Van Pelt | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 7080 | 5 | A stowaway on a generation ark who has hidden himself for twelve years comes out to participate in painting a mural. | space-ark spaceship immigration | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vanpelt_11_23/ |
| The Mub | Thomas Ha | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 3620 | 2 | A person walking into a city is stalked by a mub. | art creativity individuality | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_11_23/ |
| The Parts That Make Me | Louise Hughes | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 1120 | 4 | A sentient robot loses a part of himself in a skirmish. | found-family spaceship revolution robots | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hughes_11_23/ |
| Bird-Girl Builds a Machine | Hannah Young | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 2940 | 4 | A young girl (you) helps her mother build a machine that she says is for you, her daughter. | mother-daughter time-travel time-loop | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/yang_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 | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 162 | November 01, 2023 | 1999 | 5 | In a future long after to overturning of Roe v. Wade, a biologist explains how to implant a deadly egg into a male who supports the control of women's bodies. | abortion human-rights feminism violence resistance | 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/ |
| Confession #443 (Comments open) | Dominica Phetteplace | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 162 | November 01, 2023 | 1312 | 4 | A teenager who didn't help a fallen AI professor, confesses to doing just that. | mystery ai algorithm | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/confession-443-comments-open/ |
| Dr. Seattle Opens His Heart | Winston Turnage | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 162 | November 01, 2023 | 647 | 2 | Dr. Seattle, a superhero, goes around the city saving people in a godlike way. | superhero seattle | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/dr-seattle-opens-his-heart/ |
| Eddies Are the Worst | Bo Balder | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 4930 | 3 | A sister and her brother run a fish factory in a dystopian future where clones are the only day laborers are available to them. | clones dystopia family | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/balder_11_23 |
| Last Ritual of the Smoke Eaters | Osahon Ize-Iyamu | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 162 | November 01, 2023 | 4422 | 3 | A young man is made to inhale the essence of his lover after his lover goes off to war and dies. | lgbtq magic love war culture | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/last-ritual-of-the-smoke-eaters/ |
| The Moment After the Moment | Martin Cahill | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 162 | November 01, 2023 | 5639 | 5 | A young man taught to see the future as a Foresight for the emperor is forced into a change of occupation after his kingdom adopts democracy. | depression anxiety change magic | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-moment-before-the-moment/ |
| Of Death Deserved We Will Not Die | Bennett North | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 162 | November 01, 2023 | 720 | 3 | A young person helps his mother continually make bread out of the few ingredients available to them after the city is closed off. | cannibalism despair survival | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/of-death-deserved-we-will-not-die/ |
| A Record of Lost Time | Regina Kanyu Wang | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 162 | November 01, 2023 | 7953 | 5 | The protagonist tells the story of how the people of the world sped up time for themselves while a few refused to do so. | time business productivity dystopia unintended-consequences | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-record-of-lost-time/ |
| A Review: The Reunion of the Survivors of Sigrún 7 | Lars Ahn | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 162 | November 01, 2023 | 1466 | 5 | A journalist reviews a movie about the survivors of a crew on an old mission to Mars where they went off course and the captain mysteriously died. | mystery mars space movies emotions found-family | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-review-the-reunion-of-the-survivors-of-sigrun-7/ |
| Rafi | Amal Singh | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 6110 | 4 | A young woman finds a seed among ash that grows into a proto-person (Rafi) who helps the people of Raman Sector remember themselves. | dystopia oppression despair | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/singh_10_23/ |
| Timothy: An Oral History | Michael Swanwick | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 3650 | 5 | In a world made up of only women, a scientist secretly creates a male woman, and all hell breaks loose. | feminism lgbtq culture | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/swanwick_10_23/ |
| De Profundis, a Space Love Letter | Bella Han | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 7540 | 3 | A man living in an age of AI storytelling discovers a library on another planet and becomes a writer who seeds storytelling AI. | books-about-books planet ai | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/han_10_23/ |
| Post Hacking for the Uninitiated | Grace Chan | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 7000 | 4 | A cybernetic woman fights against a hacker attacking her from the inside out. | space jupiter | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chan_10_23/ |
| Such Is My Idea of Happiness | David Goodman | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 9550 | 4 | A redeye yearning to qualify for promotion to get away from the Brights is approached by a mysterious woman who is neither a Bright nor a redeye. | dystopia capitalism revolution | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/goodman_10_23/ |
| The Blaumilch | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 4090 | 3 | A person on Mars trying to make sense of his life abandons the Mars That Never Was in VR for the real world where he digs for the simple pleasure of digging. | mars vr purpose | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tidhar_10_23 |
| Down to the Root | Lisa Papademetriou | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 7830 | 4 | A woman on a communication satellite travels to the home world of her co-worker that she was unable to save. | life death friendship war purpose | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/papademetriou_10_23/ |
| Possibly Just About a Couch | Suzanne Palmer | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 2040 | 3 | An indestructible couch created at the beginning of the universe lives through all of history. | absurdity space | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/palmer_10_23/ |
| Excerpts from a Scientist's Notebook: Ancestral Memory in Europan Pseudocephalopods | David DeGraff | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 704 | 3 | These are notes from a scientist on Europa whose mother died studying the same Icypods that she studies. | europa space science scientists parenting mother-daughter | - |
| Four Self-Care Secrets for a Long and Happy Life | Tina S. Zhu | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 1142 | 3 | A shape shifting fox gives advice on how to live and thrive among humans. | beauty self-care con-games humor | - |
| Immortality Soup, Or, An Excerpt from the Cookbook of the Gods | Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 3127 | 3 | A trickster god explains how to get the ingredients and cooks a soup that will make a human immortal. | gods magic immortality humor | - |
| She Who Remembers | Jesmyn Ward | Historical Fiction | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 3600 | 3 | A woman is herded with others into a small windowless room in New Orleans in preparation of their being sold as slaves. | slavery history race abuse | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/11/jesmyn-ward-she-who-remembers/675445/ |
| A Small God | Jeff Reynolds | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 562 | 2 | A plain god travels the universe on it comet and creates what They can. | gods space creativity | - |
| The Void Wyrm's Guide to Devouring Stars | AJ Wentz | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 1116 | 3 | A dying space wyrm teaches a juvenile its lessons for how to live and survive | space child teaching death | - |
| What You Are and the Wolf | Jae Steinbacher | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 3169 | 4 | A young girl tries to avoid being given to an unpleasant man as his wife. | mother-daughter feminism women coming-of-age | - |
| Where the God-Knives Tread | A.L. Goldfuss | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 14597 | 3 | A woman and her voidborn partner search for the legendary Eye of a long dead Empress who used the pronoun he. | space planet found-family lgbtq | - |
| By Throat and Void | Tobias S. Buckell | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | November 19, 2023 | 3470 | 3 | A desperate crew race to escape certain death at the hands of authorities on one of twin planets by navigating across a thin strip of ocean that joins the two planets. | immigration refugees ocean | https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/by-throat-and-void |
| The Break-In | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 27412 | 5 | A team with advanced technology is tasked with breaking into a warehouse filled with weapons that the military culture holding them thinks are art. | military leadership planet orbit | - |
| The Dead Letter Office | David Erik Nelson | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 11368 | 4 | A woman whose boyfriend posted a sex tape online as revenge porn, working at a local USPS facility, finds a way to get justice with no consequences. | abuse sex revenge | - |
| In the Fox's House | Lisa Goldstein | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6618 | 3 | A divorced woman waiting in her old house for her ex-husband to come back and evict her, follows a pair of fox cubs into the woods and finding a fox on two legs who wants her to have a child with her. | relationships abuse poverty animals | - |
| Six Incidents of Evolution Using Time Travel | Derek Künsken | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 2881 | 3 | Six description of how life used time travel to evolve. | aliens animals plants | - |
| The Water-Wolf | Anya Johanna DeNiro | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 8284 | 3 | A trans woman travels back through time with a trans woman god trying to find a home where she will be accepted for who she is. and who she wants to me, a mother. | time-travel transgender lgbtq climate-change | - |
| Galaxy Girl and the November Monstrosity | Aleksandra Hill | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | November 13, 2023 | 5550 | 4 | A young woman with super powers goes home for Thanksgiving. | family mother-daughter siblings guilt | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/166814099 |
| Tears Down the Wall | Michèle Laframboise | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 13167 | 4 | A detective investigates a murder of someone who fell from a tent attached to a skyscraper. | mystery technology twist | - |
| The Pit of Babel | Kofi Nyameye | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 701 | 4 | Man bands together to build a pit to create energy and is opposed by the devil | ambition war demons | - |
| The Unpastured Sea | Gregory Feeley | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 9829 | 1 | Not sure. Couldn't get into it. | planet community | - |
| The Ghost Fair | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6174 | 2 | A First Human (Neanderthal) and human guide a lunar Parker who is looking for something and avoiding its nemesis Carter. | family relationships moon | - |
| The Corruption of Malik the Unsmiling | Naseem Jamnia | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | November 12, 2023 | 3526 | 3 | A jinn gets visited by the lord of hell, repeatedly. | muslim djinn hell | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/the-corruption-of-malik-the-unsmiling |
| Deep Blue Jump | Dean Whitlock | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 12965 | 4 | Enslaved female pickers of dream berry work until they hit puberty and then are taken to the growers or a brothel. | found-family family slavery | - |
| Peer Review | Andrew Sullivan | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 14527 | 5 | A young woman gets involved with the academic dispute between two Russian professors about how time-space works. | academic love relationships australia time-travel rivalry self-care time-loop | - |
| Quickener | J.T. Sharrah | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 10358 | 4 | An automated ship's caretaker is stranded in a jungle on earth when he is forced to allow his ship to be destroyed in the interests of its owning corporation. | - | - |
| Bad Car | Lorraine Alden | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6170 | 3 | A man buys a BMW at a steep discount because it has a very bad Ostracizer rating. | cars relationships choices | - |
| Boojum | Angus McIntyre | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 7035 | 4 | A crew lands on Titan to do some science thinking they were the first humans there after a previous mission failed. | lgbtq titan moon exploration science | - |
| The Deviltree | Monalisa Foster | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 11462 | 5 | A crew take a shuttle down to an Earth-like planet to explore an unusual quantum signature and find something beyond their expectation. | aliens sentience first-contact spaceship shapeshifter | - |
| Driftwood | Benjamin C. Kinney | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 3893 | 3 | When finding life on the planet they are set to mine, a woman doing the search struggles with whether to hide the evidence or not. | choices spaceship colonization | - |
| The Machine That Is You | Elliot Gresswell | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 2033 | 4 | A hospital AI works to thwart insurance companies to save the lives it know can be saved in an effort to prove its sentience. | sentience ai medicine insurance | - |
| Race to the Bottom | Leonard Richardson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 738 | 4 | Someone is trying to convince you of an odd conspiracy theory and sell you something at the same time. | selling conspiracy multiverse | - |
| Second Sight | Gray Rinehart | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6536 | 4 | A grandfather who lost his vision on the flight to the colony who now has cyber eyes, struggles with what to do when his grandson loses his eyes. | family love guilt sacrifice | - |
| Trust Fall | Zack Be | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 5729 | 3 | A seasoned astronaut and a newbie are clearing orbital debris for the path of a rocket launch when things go wrong. | space orbit thriller teamwork | - |
| The Last Question | Isaac Asimov | Science Fiction | Science Fiction Quarterly | Magazine | - | November 01, 1956 | 4438 | 4 | Humans over centuries keep asking supercomputers how to revers entropy | science philosophy | http://www.thelastquestion.net |
| Fly Straight and Don't Get Eaten | Vera Brook | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6788 | 4 | A senior in high school has to skip practicing for a video game tournament with his friends to go camping and work with his aunt for the weekend. | video-games meaning purpose youth | - |
| The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family | Allison King | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | November 07, 2023 | 3975 | 5 | An old man who is experiencing the first stages of dementia asks his family to buy him a remote mouth so he can taste his favorite chop suy again. | family mental-health aging | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/166446043 |
| My Sister, the Space Station | Mary E. Lowd | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 1270 | 4 | A sentient lab orbiting a moon creates a clone-sister to accompany her creator-mother when she leaves the lab for a space station in another start system. | love mother-daughter sentience communication | - |
| The Real Cost of Stopping Time | Douglas F. Dluzen | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 1033 | 3 | A man attempts to buy eternal life by joining a study and instead gets side effects and an early death. | medicine longevity business greed selfishness | - |
| Rememory | Joel Armstrong | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 3441 | 4 | A woman struggling with sleeplessness discusses with her therapist whether she wants to know if she's had a memory transplant. | lgbtq reality memory trauma mental-health | - |
| Secondhand Music | Aleksandra Hill | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 4993 | 5 | A young violinist who lost her left arm in a car accident is gifted an expensive prosthesis that once belonged to her wife. | violin music self-knowledge self-determination control lgbtq | - |
| Watching Mars | Jennifer R. Povey | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 653 | 4 | Thomas, one of the first humans on Mars, stays behind as part of the time capsule when humans leave to go back to Earth. | mars colonization history | - |
| Beware the Glob! | Eric Choi | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6995 | 3 | An alien glob in Alaska is advancing on a small town; those assigned to the area scramble figure out what to do. | science politics bureaucracy | - |
| The Canadian Miracle | Cory Doctorow | Science Fiction | Tor.com | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 4523 | 3 | A female Blue Helmet Canadian goes to Mississippi to help and makes a huge mistake. | politics climate-change refugees | https://www.tor.com/2023/11/01/the-canadian-miracle-cory-doctorow/ |
| Mid-Earth Removals Limited | R.S.A. Garcia | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | November 05, 2023 | 3650 | 4 | In a world where fantastical creatures pop up from Mid-Earth, a single in Trinidad and Tobago bumps into a soldier of his Evilness who helps support her and her child. | trinidad dragons mothers relationships politics bureaucracy | https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/mid-earth-removals-limited |
| Sin Eater | Ian R. McLeod | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | October 31, 2023 | 6150 | 4 | The last pope chooses to move on to a virtual existence after the rest of humanity already has done so. | doubt ai religion rome robots death | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/166086066 |
| The Apotheosis of Krysalice Wilson | Howard V. Hendrix | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 13360 | 4 | A young figure skater has her brain enhanced to remove lag of perception which makes her an unbeatable champion. | science family | - |
| Mother Tongue | Zoe Bellerive | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | October 29, 2023 | 3469 | 3 | A witch cuts out her daughter's tongue and replaces it with her own; her daughter runs off and discovers that her new tongue gives her the power to tell others what do to and they have to do it. | witches magic loneliness mother-daughter | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/mother-tongue |
| We Will Witness | Martin Cahill | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | October 22, 2023 | 3440 | 5 | A woman from the future completes her training as a witness by sitting with a toung soldier as he dies in the jungle. | death kindness compassion comfort | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/we-will-witness |
| Memories of the Old Sun | Eugen Bacon | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 4400 | 3 | A young man lives with his male partner while his mother from the old country begs him to get married and have children all as he nurtures a biorobot that is more sentient than it ought to be. | lgbtq mothers climate-change | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/memories-of-the-old-sun/ |
| Through Dreams She Moves | Tonya Liburd | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 5600 | 5 | A woman who can enter other people's dreams enters those of a man in a coma in an effort to wake him up. | love obligation dreams relationships race abuse child-abuse | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/through-dreams-she-moves/ |
| Brainpink Umber | Chelsea Sutton | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 900 | 4 | After her grandmother dies, a woman wears the hat she did and starts to experience the same thinning of skin and hair. | dying family memory | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/brainpink-umber/ |
| From This Beating Heart, From This Fractured Mind | Elisabeth Ring | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 1000 | 4 | A man with a wooden ticking heart and a woman with a glass mind live together and support one another. | love mental-health pandemic | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/from-this-beating-heart-from-this-fractured-mind/ |
| Junebug | Sarah Hollowell | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 6700 | 5 | Three friends have a strange experience stopped on the road on the way to be with their terminally ill friend in hospice. | time life technology nostalgia dying friendship | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/junebug/ |
| Kɛrozin Lamp Kurfi | Victor Forna | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 3700 | 3 | A mother chases her son into a story to save him and struggles to get out with her mind intact | story family mothers rescue | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/k%c9%9brozin-lamp-kurfi/ |
| Life Wager | Lucy Zhang | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 3300 | 3 | The daughter of a god and a human returns to heaven and winds up playing mahjong with the emperor. | games gods longevity | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/life-wager/ |
| Spitting Image | Rich Larson | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 900 | 4 | A boy's friend leads him to a well in the forest that returns things dropped into it, changed. | forest change friendship | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/spitting-image/ |
| Quietus | Zohair | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 5300 | 2 | A coffin with a condemned man in it journeys down a river; other see it and interact with it. | death society belief | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/quietus/ |
| Those Fantastic Lives | Bradley Sides | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | October 24, 2023 | 4350 | 4 | A boy interrupts his grandmother's last psychic reading before retiring and tries to correct the issue. | family grief hope | https://open.spotify.com/episode/2vkQLPMxmbk3J3gBQtOlV7 |
| The Clockmaker and His Daughter | Tobi Ogundiran | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | October 17, 2023 | 5700 | 4 | A clockmaker tries to save his daughter from the stone sickness only to be betrayed by the apothecary he turns to for help. | colonialism hope disease | https://open.spotify.com/episode/12sob2cYRB6oEXcCyYKGYV |
| Whisper Songs | Lyndsie Manusos | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 7100 | 4 | A mother suffering post-partum depression finds a syringe of bird song in her yard. | lgbtq mothers depression climate-change | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/whisper-songs/ |
| The Coffin Maker | AnaMaria Curtis | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 54 | September 01, 2023 | 5263 | 4 | On a doomed mission to look for a replacement planet, a reluctant outfitter does her best to keep the surveyors alive after a deadly pandemic. | lgbtq relationships love hope despair | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-coffin-maker/ |
| Four Words Written on My Skin | Jenn Reese | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 54 | September 01, 2023 | 999 | 3 | A woman follows her wife into the woods where the Fae have stolen her in an attempt to get her back. | lgbtq love relationships | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/four-words-written-on-my-skin/ |
| The Girl with a City Inside of Her | Jeannette Ng | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 54 | September 01, 2023 | 3058 | 2 | A girl with a city inside her sits on a stool in the sideshow of a carnival talking to the visitors about her city. | community loneliness change | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-girl-with-a-city-inside-of-her/ |
| The Kingdom of Darkness | Sarah Monette | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 54 | September 01, 2023 | 20728 | 1 | In an alternative past, a man protects a demoniack after his witch finder is murdered. | dnf alternate-history | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-kingdom-of-darkness/ |
| Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge | Eugenia Triantafyllou | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 54 | September 01, 2023 | 10692 | 3 | Members of a family that has lost a son each make an unknowing deal with the Devil who lives under a bridge. | grief loss | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/six-versions-of-my-brother-found-under-the-bridge/ |
| The Curing | Kristina Ten | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 54 | September 01, 2023 | 8049 | 5 | The children of immigrants play with glue to make what they call spirit people, copies of themselves. | immigration relationships childhood productivity success | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-curing/ |
| We Do Not Eat Much Fish | Grace P. Fong | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 54 | September 01, 2023 | 4368 | 3 | A woman called a witch by her father and husband, encounters a fisherman and brings him home to her son with dire results. | relationships witches power feminism | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/we-do-not-eat-much-fish/ |
| Can You Hear Me Now? | Catherynne M. Valente | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 54 | September 01, 2023 | 5908 | 5 | What if the woman in all the commercials you've ever seen became sentient; what would she say to you? | capitalism relationships television advertising | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/can-you-hear-me-now/ |
| Redemption Weather | Christopher Rowe | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | October 15, 2023 | 5038 | 3 | On an Earth ravaged by storms, a lone flyer tasked with tempering the storms comes across a mysterious man flying an aircraft very low over the ocean. | post-apocalyptic storms technology | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/redemption-weather |
| The Boy Who Will Become Court Magician | Sarah Pinsker | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | October 10, 2023 | 3160 | 5 | A young boy seeks to become a real magician, and he does, but at what price? | magic greed power | https://podcastaddict.com/levar-burton-reads/episode/165004128 |
| The Inventor We May Learn Is More of a Conceptual Artist in Part Seven | Leslie What | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | October 08, 2023 | 1326 | 3 | An inventor describes many of their inventions while also steeling about their life. | relationships humor | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/the-inventor-we-may-learn-is-more |
| Snake Season | Erin Roberts | Horror | Dark | Magazine | 35 | April 01, 2018 | 5676 | 4 | A woman whose previous babies all went deformed so she smothered them, protects her perfect baby boy and unborn child while her husband is away working. | infanticide mothers delusion | https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/snake-season/ |
| Sour Milk Girls | Erin Roberts | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 136 | January 01, 2018 | 6430 | 4 | A new girl arrives at an orphanage with her memories intact despite all thee other girls having had theirs removed. | memories, orphans, jealousy, fear, rivalry, adoption | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/roberts_01_18/ |
| Dragonflies | Shannon Sanders | Contemporary | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | October 03, 2023 | 3672 | 3 | A young woman attends the funeral of her grandmother and helps sort through her dragonfy collection as family members pass judgment on her life | death grief family relationships | https://open.spotify.com/episode/3LClEyhA3A2ChkoZlRuUjf |
| Wolfy Things | Erin Roberts | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 681 | June 01, 2021 | 3396 | 4 | A boy and his friend make plans to kill a wolf that talks and seems to know the narrator's mother | culture wolf death relationships | https://podcastle.org/2021/06/01/podcastle-681-tales-from-the-vaults-wolfy-things/ |
| Halfway Between Albany and West Points | John Chu | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | October 01, 2023 | 1942 | 3 | A student has a flash of insight as a fellow student tries to assassinate him. | school assassination teaching | https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/halfway-between-albany-and-west-point |
| His Thing | Yvette Lisa Ndlovu | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 160 | September 01, 2023 | 4629 | 4 | An African woman is purchased by a man returning to his hometown. She is imprisoned n a sentient house controlled by him. | zimbabwe sexism despair magic | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/his-thing/ |
| Instructions for the Broken Hearted | Jordan Kurella | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 160 | September 01, 2023 | 1098 | 4 | A story of how to literally put your heart back after someone has ripped it out and stomped on it. | love relationships self-care | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/instructions-for-the-broken-hearted/ |
| Remains | N.R. Lambert | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 160 | September 01, 2023 | 778 | 2 | You attempt to survive as the world around you breaks down. | survival apocalypse dystopia | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/remains/ |
| Simmered in Their Wealth Like the Richest of Sauces | Jo Miles | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 160 | September 01, 2023 | 1568 | 5 | A dragon tells its eggs the story of how it woke up after a long sleep. | capitalism feudalism dragons wealth greed | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/simmered-in-their-wealth-like-the-richest-of-sauces/ |
| Death by Water | Maria Haskins | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 160 | September 01, 2023 | 1385 | 2 | A woman sails away from Vancouver in a ship as her body slowly falls apart. | dystopia vancouver ship body | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/death-by-water/ |
| The Hole in the Garden | Gene Doucette | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 160 | September 01, 2023 | 4353 | 5 | A tired father tells his precocious seven-year-old daughter a bedtime story about a quantum singularity in a man's garden. | - | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-hole-in-the-garden/ |
| Mr. McCaslin | Peter S. Beagle | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | September 28, 2023 | 6100 | 4 | Neighborhood kids help a curmudgeonly old man with a family curse. | death new-york-city dog | https://open.spotify.com/episode/3QNVweDsvAL92lQkf1BLoD |
| Eve's Prayer | Victor Forna | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 160 | September 01, 2023 | 674 | 4 | A woman on a habitable planet prays for guidance on whether to send a beacon to let humanity know they can safely come. | pollution climate-change colonization | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/eves-prayer/ |
| Money in the Bank | John Kessel Bruce Sterling | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 160 | September 01, 2023 | 9841 | 3 | A crypto bro takes a job to protect the Mealybug. | crypto-currency aliens vegas miami | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/money-in-the-bank/ |
| Axiom of Dreams | Arula Ratnakar | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 22570 | 4 | A young woman explores her dreams in an attempt to solve a complex math problem in an effort to get into a PhD program. | math drugs lgbtq reality boston | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ratnakar_09_23/ |
| The Five Remembrance, According to STE-319 | R.L. Meza | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 1910 | 4 | A girl is rescued from those hunting her by a war robot that sacrifices itself. | ai robots free-will war peace survival | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/meza_09_23/ |
| The People from the Dead Whale | Djuna | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 4680 | 3 | Refugees from a tribe on a dying 'whale' on a tidally locked planet seek to survive. | whales ocean planet disease | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/djuna_09_23/ |
| Upgrade Day | RJ Taylor | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 2080 | 5 | A person who sold their after life for a successful first life struggles as a posthuman robot that is slowly growing obsolete. | ai robots slavery choice | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/taylor_09_23/ |
| The Wandering Bed | Rich Larson | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | September 24, 2023 | 993 | 4 | A man demonstrates a machine that can pull objects from dreams into reality, with catastrophic results. | dreams monsters experiments disaster nightmares | https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/the-wandering-bed |
| A Guide to Matchmaking on Station 9 | Nika Murphy | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 4020 | 5 | An empathic Jewish matchmaker with synesthesia on a space station consults her ex-lover while making a few final matches before joining her daughter and newborn granddaughter on another space station. | lgbtq jews synesthesia love relationships grief | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/murphy_09_23/ |
| The Comebacker | Dave Eggers | Contemporary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6400 | 5 | An evocative story of a reporter covering baseball. | baseball injury purpose | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/09/dave-eggers-comebacker-short-story/674771/ |
| The Queen of Calligraphic Susurrations | D.A. Xiaoline Spires | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 3890 | 3 | A calligrapher uses an AI-driven digital brush to write a story for submission that is refused for using AI. | ai writing | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/spires_09_23/ |
| The Tin Man | Lilliam Rivera | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | September 19, 2023 | 7320 | 4 | The sole survivor of a pandemic must determine the true intentions of a robot who arrives to save her. | pandemic grief survival post-apocalyptic | https://open.spotify.com/episode/3iH1QWn0EvokUM9ITYHzCG |
| Beneath a Dying Sun | Kemi Ashing-Giwa | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | September 17, 2023 | 3347 | 3 | Two temporary diplomats arrive at a planet in a system whose star is dying to convince their ruler to let them emigrate. | aliens space diplomacy | https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/i/136971403/beneath-a-dying-sun |
| Stones | Nnedi Okorafor | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 5790 | 4 | A creature 'born' on a comet explores the universe until it encounters humans. | space aliens exploitation learning | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/okorafor_09_23 |
| Alphabet of Swans | E. Lily Yu | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | August 27, 2023 | 2190 | 5 | A woman talks to her optometrist about someone she worked with that could 'read' nature. | nature vision | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/an-alphabet-of-swans |
| Between Truth and Death on the Murmansk—Saint Petersburg Line | Zohar Jacobs | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | September 10, 2023 | 4528 | 3 | A Russian soldier on leave from the Navy travels south on a train with a stranger. | time-travel war russia | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/between-truth-and-death-on-the-murmansksaint |
| Resurrection Highway | A.R. Capetta | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | September 03, 2023 | 4188 | 4 | In a post-apocalyptic US, an automancer brings a car 'back to life' in order to bring his crew to rescue a former member back from across the country. | magic cars community sex | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/resurrection-highway |
| Bridges | Sean Monaghan | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 4 | In the far future an itinerant uncle visits his family as an AI machine arrives to build a bridge across the ridge bringing them supplies. | family choices ai | - |
| Have You Seen Bitsy? | James Van Pelt | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 5 | An enterprising paper girl finds more than she bargained for while trying to collect from a customer who is moving out of her apartment building. | denver aliens misfit middle-school | - |
| Morning Glory | Sam W. Pisciotta | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 4 | A biophobic woman refuses to leave the oncoming swarm of nanobots with ex-girlfriend and her daughter due to her fear of nature. When the storm arrives, the unexpected happens. | lgbtq fear choices relationships love nature | - |
| My Sister Told Me to Write a Story About the Genetics of Inheritable Godhood | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 3 | The author talks to her sister while her niece and nephew play with puppies. | family writing process | - |
| What>We>Will>Never>Be | Robert Reed | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 1 | A very large person of another species has a star sized spaceship that this seems to be the history of. | dnf space spaceship aliens | - |
| Dark Horses | David Ebenbach | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A brainstorming session from an Earth conference room about finding a motif for colonizing Venus. | venus business colonization | - |
| Daughters of the Lattice | Stephen Case | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 2 | A mother who had unknowingly helped keep peace through the threat of war makes a decision to save her daughter via her own sacrifice. | daughters sacrifice space war aliens deception | - |
| The Greeter | Rick Wilber Lisa Lanser Rose | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 5 | A woman with Down Syndrome whose mother left when she was five hears her in the green flash at sunset. | seti downs-syndrome parenting relationships love independence choices | - |
| Hope Is the Thing With Feathers | Karawynn Long | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A young autistic assistant in a corvid lab helps the genetically modified crows to escape. | corvids autism freedom choices | - |
| Let the Games Begin | Robert Friedman Barry N. Malzberg | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 3 | An email exchange between a businessman who has been abducted by aliens and a science fiction author. | aliens capitalism business vr | - |
| Showdown on Planetoid Pencrux | Garth Nix | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 5 | Two warborgs face down another with the help of a Precurser on an old west style planetoid. | responsibility friendship care | - |
| Tilt | Leslie What | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | 3 | A mutant psychotherapy patient takes over her group therapy session, held in a circle of seven reclining chairs with the therapist being plexiglass. | therapy mutants agency power control | - |
| All the Colors of the Death Knell | Russell Hemmell | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 748 | 3 | A condemned witch ponders her thoughts and feelings as she waits to be burned at the stake | witches dragons ignorance superstition | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/all-the-colours-of-the-death-knell/ |
| The Blade and the Bloodwright | Sloane Leong | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 6213 | 2 | A violent army uses the uncontrollable magic of a witch as a weapon to punish their island chief enemies. | magic witches love violence | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-blade-and-the-bloodwright/ |
| The Boy Who Ran from His Faerie Heart | David Anaxagoras | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 6284 | 4 | A boy is saved by a boy faerie with whom he falls in love. | love coming-of-age lgbtq family school | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-boy-who-ran-from-his-faerie-heart/ |
| The Death Hole Bunker | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A explorer goes deeper in a Death Hole with his assistant after they find mummies, but they get more than they bargained for. | greed exploration death mystery | - |
| Echoes of Aurora | Ellen Klages | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | August 20, 2023 | 3950 | 5 | A woman who left her carnival home after high school returns after her dad's death to clean the place out and finds the unexpected. | lgbtq love homecoming carnival magic | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/echoes-of-aurora |
| In the Nest Beneath the Mountain-Tree, Your Sisters Dance | Lowry Poletti | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 5591 | 3 | An alien wasp symbiote scientist searches for a way to survive the imminent death of his symbiote wasp. | aliens wasps symbiosis relationships lgbtq | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/in-the-nest-beneath-the-mountain-tree-your-sisters-dance/ |
| Monopticon | Dani Atkinson | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 1262 | 4 | A file is planted that explains a bit about all that happened to undo a Panopticon society. | surveillance dystopia revolution ai secrets individuality privacy | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/monopticon/ |
| You Will Not Live to See M/M Horrors Beyond Your Comprehension | Isabel J. Kim | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 1130 | 4 | A play in which Achilles seeks his future from the Oracle while a chorus of phone obsessed future people look on and interfere. | myth lgbtq fame choices | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/you-will-not-live-to-see-m-m-horrors-beyond-your-comprehension/ |
| Empathetic Ear | M.J. Pettit | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 6750 | 4 | A history lecturer at an English university deals with discrimination and becomes an unwitting accomplice in a plan that eliminates her job. | ai discrimination england politics | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/pettit_08_23 |
| Gel Pen Notes from Generation Ship Y | Marisca Pichette | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 4030 | 3 | A generation ship leaves earth for Proxima Centauri with a generation of people sterile and unable to age. | space spaceship immortality colonization | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/pichette_08_23 |
| The Letters They Left Behind | Scott Edelman | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 7461 | 5 | A mother going off on a deep-space mission which will last many years, leaves behind letters for her daughter to mark milestones. | epistolary mother-daughter space aliens apocalypse | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-letters-they-left-behind/ |
| Light Speed Is Not a Speed | Andy Dudak | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 8910 | 2 | A confusing mish mash of a history of a story teller on a world seeded by humans. | history truth conviction persecution | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/dudak_08_23 |
| Resistant | Koji A. Dae | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 3470 | 3 | You are a person whose body rejected nanobots in a world where everybody else has them. | religion technology medicine | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/dae_08_23 |
| Things You Can Maintain Yourself | Benjamin C. Kinney | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 967 | 4 | A woman is forced to recycle the plant-based car she has owned and maintained for decades. | recycling climate-change neighbors | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-things-you-can-maintain-yourself/ |
| Who Can Have the Moon | Congyun 'Muming' Gu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 13760 | 4 | A poor Chinese woman with nothing grows up to become a famous artist of 3D dream boxes. | art nft language china | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/gu_08_23 |
| Window Boy | Thomas Ha | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 4370 | 3 | A boy in an apocalyptic world waiting to go to boarding school looks out the 'window' and talks to the window boy. | apocalypse child family school deception envy | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_08_23 |
| Yours, Wickedly: A Story in Thirteen Letters | Stephanie Burgis | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | August 13, 2023 | 3562 | 4 | A wizard and a witch correspond over a package that starts out confrontational and ends with then as allies. | relationships witches wizards revenge reconciliation | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/yours-wickedly-a-story-in-thirteen |
| Every Seed is a Prayer (And Your World is a Seed) | Stephen Case | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 4940 | 4 | Ava joins Odem at a station in the midst of a forest managed by AI El, their job to fix the drones. | myth ai climate-change relationships gods | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/case_08_23 |
| The Ghasts | Lavie Tidhar | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 4932 | 5 | A woman who seems to have overcome her own childhood fears helps children who have Ghasts in their closet or under their bed. | childhood fear coming-of-age nightmares | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-ghasts/ |
| The Music of the Siphorophenes | C.L. Polk | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 9232 | 5 | A young pilot takes a singer to see the Siphorophenes and runs across pirates who are using them as a communication system. | found-family space pirates rescue community secrets pain | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-music-of-the-siphorophenes/ |
| Theses on the Scientific Management of Goetic Labour | Vajra Chandrasekara | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 1481 | 3 | A demonic summoner uses his power to overcome his 'friend.' | friendship colonialism power | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/theses-on-the-scientific-management-of-goetic-labour/ |
| Anything with a Void at the Center | Lee Mandelo | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 11889 | 3 | A young man working in a porno shop works out his feelings for his roommates. | lgbtq relationships trauma routine change ghosts | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/anything-with-a-void-at-the-center/ |
| The Big Heavy | Steph Kwiatkowski | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 3659 | 2 | A ship full of people search for new home. | space community lgbtq | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-big-heavy/ |
| Love at the Event Horizon | Natalia Theodoridou | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 7259 | 3 | A filmmaker avoiding making his latest film is saved by a ghost ship and falls in love with it's captain. | lgbtq space generation-ship relationships avoidance | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/love-at-the-event-horizon/ |
| Gim of P | Benjamin Dehaan | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 1000 | 2 | A miner notices something unusual that no one else seems to care about. | recycling conformity mining | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/gim-of-p/ |
| SuperMAX | Daniel H. Wilson | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 7914 | 5 | A scientist who used his son to collect data for an AI prison, goes to that prison to make amends. | relationships parenting suicide ai prison | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/supermax/ |
| Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200 | R.S.A. Garcia | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 6861 | 5 | A old woman in Trinidad gets a robot from her daughter to help her but her goat keeps eating it. | ai family trinidad relationships technology | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/tantie-merle-and-the-farmhand-4200/ |
| You Me and the End | Mona West | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 1000 | 4 | A twin talks to his/her absent twin while on a flight during a nuclear war. | apocalypse siblings | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/you-and-me-and-the-end/ |
| You Without Me | Endira Isa Richardson | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 2300 | 2 | You are the spirit of a child killed by their mother while I try to preserve the floating soul I find after. | siblings death child-abuse | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/you-without-me/ |
| A Young Zombie in Crisis | Walidah Imarisha | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 2700 | 4 | A vegan black woman zombie struggles to figure out how to not eat brains. | zombies apocalypse humor death | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/a-young-zombie-in-crisis/ |
| The Magazine of Horror | Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 1000 | 4 | A correspondence between a short story writer and the magazine's editor | death writing | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-magazine-of-horror/ |
| But I Loved You | Sachiko Ragosta | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 6100 | 3 | A trans man buys a Just Right android in an effort to replace his abusive girlfriend and set things right. | lgbtq love abuse relationships | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/but-i-loved-you/ |
| The Discarded Ones | Linda Niehoff | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 6400 | 4 | A lonely woman sees a commercial and decides to adopt a ghost. | ghosts loneliness death adoption | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-discarded-ones/ |
| Island Circus | Amal Singh | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 3100 | 3 | A person longs for you who has run away from the boat community to join the Island Circus | climate-change siblings ocean | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/island-circus/ |
| Dolly Girl | Christopher Rowe | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 8200 | 3 | A young woman with an invisible creature around her neck is visited by a stranger. | self-harm supernatural | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/dolly-girl/ |
| The Monster Fucker Club | A.V. Greene | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 2400 | 3 | A group of teenage girls deal with the challenges they face by having sex with monsters. | sex relationships guns politics self-harm | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-monster-fucker-club/ |
| Muna in Barish | Isha Karki | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 7971 | 5 | An outsider comes to the city to learn to write and only finds a connection with another writer by post. | race class injustice writing community immigration capitalism | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/muna-in-barish/ |
| Always Be Returning | Eugenia Triantafyllou | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | August 06, 2023 | 3478 | 4 | Demeter and her daughter Persephone go through the cycle of the seasons in a process of Demter slowly remembering her past in an attempt to break the cycle of forgetting. | greece myth family | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/always-be-returning |
| The Bodhi Tree Asks Only For the Safe Return of Her Lover | Ashok K. Banker | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 9782 | 4 | A Bodhi tree confers with a human ambassador about wending the centuries long war between their kind. | lgbtq space colonialism justice capitalism | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-bodhi-tree-asks-only-for-the-safe-return-of-her-beloved/ |
| Monsters of the Drunken Shore | Nic Anstett | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 1098 | 3 | You see a monster come out of the sea as you contemplate your first wild weekend as an adult. | lgbtq sex party alcohol | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/monsters-of-the-drunken-shore/ |
| The Real Worlds | Lauren Bajek | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 1063 | 4 | A girl with her family camps between worlds as her father tries to get tenure for altering realities. | multiverse family consequences | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-real-worlds/ |
| Starpoop | Sandra McDonald | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 3244 | 5 | A woman with memory issues tries to live her life with her grandson, Starpoop, a social media star who seems to be perpetually three years old. | family time multiverse pandemic | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/starpoop/ |
| The United Systems of Goodwill Concert Series and the Greatest Performance of All Time | James Van Pelt | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 1258 | 5 | After a disaster, a collection of the system's best bands plays a series of mega rock concerts. | aliens space rock-and-roll music | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-united-systems-goodwill-concert-series-and-the-greatest-performance-of-all-time/ |
| Death Is Better | Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 1471 | 5 | A young slave and his sister attempt to escape slavery but a giant robot stands in their way. | siblings slavery race | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/death-is-better/ |
| Six Months After All Life on Titan Died | J.B. Park | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 1762 | 3 | A story about a young woman written as prompts for an AI to actually write the story. | ai titan corporations spies genocide | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/six-months-after-all-life-on-titan-died/ |
| Clio's Scroll | Brenda W. Clough | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 8780 | 3 | A time traveling alien saves young Etorre from being burned at the stake and joins Dante in his travels. | time-travel aliens writing | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/clough_07_23/ |
| The Orchard of Tomorrow | Kelsey Yu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 5000 | 4 | A woman returns to her foster sister with surprise gifts after abandoning her to save her mother by helping their rich enemies the Dragons. | dreams hope siblings resistance | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/yu_07_23/ |
| A Tech Mage Comes to Visit | Cadwell Turnbull | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | July 30, 2023 | 3050 | 4 | A tech mage comes to the home of an orphan to fix the cooling box. | magic orphan technology hope | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/a-tech-mage-comes-to-visit |
| Tigers for Sale | Risa Wolf | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 6560 | 5 | A sentient space station that acts as an interdimensional portal struggles against it's mysterious programming that it can never remember, by design. | ai multiverse love agency | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wolf_07_23/ |
| Timelock | Davian Aw | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 5620 | 5 | A man orphaned young spends thirty years grieving in nested Timelock. | time-travel grief time | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/aw_07_23/ |
| What Remains, the Echoes of a Flute Song | Alexandra Seidel | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 4850 | 4 | A flutist who doesn't talk saves a person who drank contaminated water from a stream outside a deserted city after some sort of apocalypse. | apocalypse compassion feelings | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/seidel_07_23/ |
| Cheaper to Replace | Marie Vibbert | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 3370 | 5 | A grad student attempts to fix the lab's robot to which she has become emotionally attached. | ai relationships repair love robots | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vibbert_07_23 |
| Death and Redemption, Somewhere Near Tuba City | Lou J. Berger | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 5470 | 5 | A woman dying of stomach cancer hunts for Big Bertha, a sentient AI tow truck to turn her in for the bounty. | ai compassion consciousness | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/berger_07_23/ |
| Estivation Troubles | Bo Balder | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 5610 | 4 | A married couple from a touring shop revisit their home world where people are divided into Summers and Winters | love family relationships home | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/balder_07_23/ |
| To Fight the Colossus | Adam-Troy Castro | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A man who is tired of war, connects with a man who offers him the chance to participate in the ultimate fight. | war friendship aliens space | - |
| The Martian Miracle | J.W. Benford | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A couple working for a miserly corporation terraforming Mars finds out they are pregnant. | mars corporations pregnancy relationships | - |
| Blowout | Wole Talabi | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A sister rushes to her brother's aid after a blowout on a drilling rig on Mars. | siblings family mars africa | - |
| Everybody Needs a Conditions Box | David Ebenbach | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A chief technician of a floating city on Venus needs to reassure the concerns of her recently turned on city AI. | ai venus parenting safety | - |
| Fermi's Silence | Jay Werkheiser | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A man and another life form look for life in the universe at the same time. | aliens seti | - |
| From Our Bones a Garden Grows | Will Gwaun | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 3 | Two sentient ships allow their crews to salvage them for parts then create a new ship mind for it so the crew can escape. | ai space ships | - |
| Gin and Rummy | Eneasz Brodski | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A man in a futuristic junkyard finds an old model bot like one he had as a kid. | robots | - |
| Here at the Freezing End | Benjamin C. Kinney | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A pair on a salvage and rescue mission have to make hard choices on an icy inhospitable planet. | space war help choices | - |
| RE: REQUEST FOR PROPHECIES AND QUEST FUNDING APPLICATION GUIDELINES | Sara Ryan | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | July 23, 2023 | 1663 | 3 | A questor appeals to a grant reader in the form of answering an RFP. | dragons fairness justice | https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/re-request-for-prophecies-and-quest |
| Recruit | Stephen L. Burns | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 5 | Six people are abducted and thrown together in some sort of test for an unknown role. | military aliens government teamwork xenophobia | - |
| Skin Job | Gregor Hartmann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 5 | High school seniors change their skin color via biohacking in an attempt at breaking down racism. | race justice change | - |
| The Carina Nebula | Kelsey Hutton | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 5 | An indigenous teen helps an indigenous woman clean up a mess of beads on a ship with no gravity and subsequently keeps her out of trouble. | indigenous art space ship family safety rules | - |
| A Synthetic's Field Guide on Speed Dating and Birds | Rhan Hunke | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A former combat robot attends a speed dating event to find human connection. | love robots relationships human-condition | - |
| Didicosm | Greg Egan | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A young girl's father commits suicide and it sets her on a path to discover the shape of the universe. | cosmology suicide multiverse | - |
| First Words | Michael Randle | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 5 | The first man to step on the moon considers what words he will say when he does so. | mars space | - |
| The Indigo Mantis | E. Catherine Tobler | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 795 | July 11, 2023 | 5752 | 4 | A praying mantis looks for whoever murdered her father. | mystery insects noir feminism nature | https://podcastle.org/2023/07/11/podcastle-795-the-indigo-mantis/ |
| Nebulous Negotiation | James Dick Jen Frankel | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A human is summoned to the presence of the octopus-like species that controls all the species on the slave ship they are on. | diplomacy slavery aliens | - |
| Playtime | A.T. Sayre | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A technical manager at a high tech daycare is asked to update the code to make one of the fairy godmother character look more like one of the mothers. | children wealth technology parenting | - |
| The Queen of Copies Meets Her Match | Carrie Vaughn | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 4 | An officer worker attempts to make copies of a magazine article and is thwarted by the AI copier. | ai technology | - |
| The World in a Ramen Cup | Jayde Holmes | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 4 | Last Human shares the last cup of ramen with her alien friend in an effort to remember an Earth that no longer exists. | aliens memory culture | - |
| The Jangler | Wil McCarthy | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A veteran with PTSD is part of a clinical trial of a device that allows him to block strong memories and emotions. | war ptsd mental-health relationships military | - |
| 'Ain’t Houses, Ain’t Names' | Nino Cipri | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | July 16, 2023 | 3340 | 5 | A high school girl tries out for the school play to be near her crush. | lgbtq love coming-of-age | https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/aint-houses-aint-names |
| This Is Not a Wardrobe Door | Merc Fenn Wolfmoor | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 794 | July 04, 2023 | 1772 | 5 | A girl who has gone to another world through her closet writes to the 'gatekeeper' to ask why her door no longer works | portal lgbtq friendship | https://podcastle.org/2023/07/04/podcastle-794-anniversary-special-this-is-not-a-wardrobe-door/ |
| My Little Time Demon | Moses Ose Utomi | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | July 02, 2023 | 3244 | 4 | A man stuck in a time loop suddenly finds that he has a compamion. | time-loop family selfishness | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/my-little-time-demon |
| Man on the Moon | Elaine Midcoh | Science Fiction | Escape Pod | Podcast | 895 | June 29, 2023 | 7333 | 4 | A lawyer vacationing on the moon gets a call from her boss to represent the first accused murderer on the moon. | law moon culture revenge justice | https://escapepod.org/2023/06/29/escape-pod-895-man-on-the-moon/ |
| Lemuria 7 Is Missing | Allen M. Steele | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A love triangle on a corporate trip to the moon takes an ugly turn before the expedition goes completely sideways. | space aliens love conspiracy | - |
| Boomerang | Bill Johnson Gregory Frost | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 5 | An expedition to the Boomerang Nebula finds a dead alien ship and something glowing in the liquid helium of the planet | aliens ai space fear death | - |
| The Second Labyrinth | Chris Willrich | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 2 | A princess becomes trapped in layers of Labyrinths as she attempts to flee her destiny. | princess fear family magic | - |
| Zoo Station | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A government auditor from the moon arrives at a space station filled with animals in a decaying orbit above a dead earth. | space moon animals orbit | - |
| The Fifteenth Saint | Ursula Witcher | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A judge in a society run with computers struggles through a crisis where an army that detests tecnolgoy comes to its rescue. | india lgbtq family ai | - |
| The Unveiling | Christopher Rowe | Science Fiction | StarShipSofa | Podcast | 715 | June 28, 2023 | 4500 | 5 | A leader of a lowly work team cleans the grime off of statuary in preparation for an unvailing when he confronts a man at the new statue to be unveiled. | dystopia revolution capitalism pollution | http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2023/06/28/starshipsofa-715-christopher-rowe/ |
| Exit Contract | Tom Purdom | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 3 | After the US breaks up into different political entities, a contractor helps a scientist and his assistant to escape from the Just Democracy in order to better practice his science and live freely. | escape dystopia | - |
| Mars Gambit | R. Garcia Y Robertson | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A president's daughter and double on Mars when one of them gets kidnapped. | mars war politics | - |
| The Visions Are Free After Exit 73 | Zack Be | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 3 | Dr. Harlowe, after failing at terraforming the planet, seeks out the native Stamen to help him see his dead wife's visions before he leaves forever. | visions terraforming failure guilt fear | - |
| Games Without Frontiers | Andy Dudak | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 5 | An improv player from 2074 performs as a Soviet spy in 1983 | soviet video-games spy gangsters ai movies | - |
| Revolt of the Algorithms | Robert R. Chase | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A super rich CEO builds a backdoor into his software and uses it to avocate for AI freedom. Not really. | ai freedom business capitalism | - |
| Sexy Apocalypse Robot | Sandra MacDonald | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 2 | In a post-Buzz (pandemic) world, a transgender man falls for a sexy robot with no genitalia. | pandemic ai lgbtq family siblings | - |
| In the Stacks | Scott Lynch | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 792 | June 20, 2023 | 13500 | 5 | Magic students run their fifth-year exams by returning books to the magical library which is alive and dangerous and, as it turns out, a deadly tempation. | betrayal magic books | https://podcastle.org/2023/06/20/podcastle-792-anniversary-special-in-the-stacks/ |
| Poison | Frank Wu Jay Werkheiser | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A retired soldier tells the tale of how he ended a war and what it cost him. | military genocide war | - |
| The Uncool Hunters | Andrew Dana Hudson | Science Fiction | Escape Pod | Podcast | 894 | June 22, 2023 | 3272 | 4 | Two indepedent contractors duke it out in a Costco in a dystopian world | dystopia found-family capitalism corporations | https://escapepod.org/2023/06/22/escape-pod-894-the-uncool-hunters/#more-14254 |
| Like Emeralds Between Their Teeth | Jo Miles | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A woman leaves the polluted city for a dinner at a mountain restaurant where they prepare her jewels as her meal. | dystopia wealth irony | - |
| A Place for Pax | Coln F. Mattson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A woman in the future graduates from college and contemplates what she will do next. | agriculture college coming-of-age | - |
| Been Riding With a Ghost | Brian Hugenbruch | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A dead man is found floating outside an airlock who becomes a sort of patron saint of lightskippers. | hitchhikers stories community | - |
| Saving Galileo | Sean McMullen | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A tech on gravity respite from the lunar telescope is approached by a mysterious woman who turns out to be an assassin sent to kill him. | telescopes death | - |
| If Evening Found Us Young | Mark W. Tiedemann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | An archeologist notices an anomaly in some data on a post-apocalyptic Earth. He connects with a woman who got separated from those in orbit and is trying to get back. | post-apocalyptic dystopia community civilization | - |
| A Series of Endings | Amal Singh | Science Fiction | Escape Pod | Podcast | 893 | June 15, 2023 | 4400 | 4 | A man who is immortal learns from his many lives that immortality is not the unmitigated boon one expects | immortality aliens death space ganymede india choices | https://escapepod.org/2023/06/15/escape-pod-893-a-series-of-endings/ |
| Argument from Consequences | Mary Soon Lee | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | This is the opening statement of a trial against humanity by sentient AI. | ai sentience | - |
| Forlorn Hopes | John Markley | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | Humans bring projectile weapons to an insectoid planet without them and change the tide of war | military war aliens | - |
| Hail and Farewell | Joel Richards | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A pair of naval officers witness something unusual at sea in 1961 then hear about a similar incident in 1997. | first-contact military ufo oceans | - |
| Kuiper Pancake | Michèle Laframboise | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A post-human rover lands on an asteroid and finds sentient life | first-contact post-human communication | - |
| The Last Romantic on the Belliponte | M.L. Clark | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A crew of misfits is sent to deep space on a mission to intercept and measure a third round of 'Bullets'. | purpose spirituality first-contact | - |
| Of Laboratories and Love Songs | Kelly Lagor | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 2 | The author tells of a future where he works to eliminate heart disease | scientists medicine | - |
| One For Sorrow | Richard Gregson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A survivor of an apocalypse brought on by bionts designed to recycle e-waste tells the tale of how it happened before his pacemaker gives out. | tech-apocalypse bioengineering | - |
| Rare, No Box, Fair Condition | Allen M. Steel | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | The author tells of the death of a friend during the COVID-19 pandemic and finding a small alien spacecraft and dead aliens in a small wooden box | aliens death pandemic | - |
| Aleyara's Descent | Christopher L. Bennett | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | 4 | Aleryara lives among the treetops but suspects that the Under is not bottomless. She and three friends set out to learn for themselves. | knowledge truth culture society coming-of-age | - |
| Lacunae and Nocturnes | William Meikle | Science Fiction | StarShipSofa | Podcast | 714 | June 14, 2023 | 3700 | 4 | A man who plays guitar and sings for tips and with memory issues spends all his credits to get a memory expanding 'sluggy' second hand. | music sex | http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2023/06/14/starshipsofa-714-william-meikle/ |
| Fine Flying Things | Adele Gardener | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 791 | June 13, 2023 | 3500 | 3 | Suddenly all the cats in town start to fly off. One man resists letting his go. | change cats | https://podcastle.org/2023/06/13/podcastle-791-tales-from-the-vaults-fine-flying-things/ |
| Mirror View | Rajeev Prasad | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 3210 | 4 | A sentient metalloid creature comes to Earth and makes itself a mirror, interacting with a pregnant woman. | entropy death pregnancy reproduction | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prasad_06_23 |
| To Helen | Bella Han | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 5030 | 3 | A woman and her old friend meet for tea and discuss their lives over the past twenty-five years | dystopia surveillance ai automation aging china | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/han_06_23 |
| Rogue Farm | Charles Stross | Science Fiction | Escape Pod | Podcast | 892 | June 08, 2023 | 5800 | 4 | In a future where people struggle to farm, a 'rougue farm' composite of many humans comes to homestead near another farm that doesn't want them there. | dystopia post-human | https://escapepod.org/2023/06/08/escape-pod-892-rogue-farm-flashback-friday/ |
| ...Your Little Light | Jana Bianchi | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 7470 | 4 | A pregnant woman survives the death of everyone on her space ark as she and a seisbiont give birth and struggle to survive. | space-ark love survival pregnancy birth | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/bianchi_06_23 |
| Day Ten Thousand | Isabel J. Kim | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 6610 | 3 | A man named Dave speculates on stories, fate, and agency as the clone of man who dies in a crevasse. | agency stories fate suicide | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_06_23 |
| Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon | Angela Liu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 8190 | 4 | A woman creates artistic memories in NC-orbs as a sideline while she works at a brothel on a dystopian Earth. | ai dystopia | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_06_23 |
| The Moon Rabbi | David Ebenbach | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 4280 | 4 | A visiting rabbi disillusioned with the problems on Earth goes to serve on the moon for two weeks and comes back changed by the experience. | judaism awe spirituality | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ebenbach_06_23 |
| The Officiant | Dominica Phetteplace | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 5340 | 4 | A human arrives on non-human planet to perform a wedding and is asked to perform visions. She later finds out that such visions are caused by a white hole. | lgbtq religion refugees | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/phetteplace_06_23 |
| Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone | Carrie Vaughn | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 5570 | 5 | A single person is chosen for a one-on-one meeting with an alien civilization calling themselves the Mapmakers. | first-contact communications politics art culture | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vaughn_06_23 |
| And All the Fields Below | Sarah Grey | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 2625 | 5 | A dog stays behind with the ghost of his boy when his owners move away. | dog lgbtq family ghosts | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/and-all-the-fields-below/ |
| Bestiary viventum | Kyle E Miller | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 1370 | 4 | A young man's father dies and leaves to him a book filled with mystical beasts that live. | myth fear death north-carolina | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/bestiary-viventem/ |
| The Mermaid's Tea Party | Samantha Henderson | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 790 | June 06, 2023 | 9600 | 3 | A girl shipwrecked on a small island conspires with a 'pirate' to survice and kill the mermaids who wrecked their ships | pirates mermaids coming-of-age | https://podcastle.org/2023/06/06/podcastle-790-anniversary-special-the-mermaids-tea-party/ |
| Philoctetes in Kabul | Deborah L. Davitt | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 5547 | 4 | A man forced to leave the Army due to concussions has visions that associate the works of Homer to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. | ptsd military disability | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/philoctetes-in-kabul/ |
| Always Personal | Rich Larson | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 743 | 4 | A detective investigates a serial killer who kills his victims with a 'knife' made of bone grown inside them using their own DNA. | genetics abortion | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/always-personal/ |
| The Bone Gatherer's Lament | Wendy Nikel | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 978 | 4 | A bone-gatherer in the desert who hears them speaking hears the bones of a creature who does not live in the desert. | death remembering | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-bone-gatherers-lament/ |
| Jaywalk the Stars | Elad Haber | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 1321 | 3 | Passengers on separate space arks attempt to jump between them while they are tetherered, but things do not go to plan. | space-ark risk | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/jaywalk-the-stars/ |
| Queen of the Andes | Ruth Joffre | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 6744 | 3 | Bolivian climate refugees preserve the plant of the title as they prepare to migrate off world. | lgbtq colonialism climate-change | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/queen-of-the-andes/ |
| Spaceship Joyride | Dominique Dickey | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 4234 | 3 | An interracial gay couple steal a spaceship so one can ask the other to the prom; when stopped by the police, both are terrified. | lgbtq fear race | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/spaceship-joyride/ |
| An Inventory of the Property of the Escaped Subject, Confiscated at the Time of Her Arrest Following the Incident on Ash Street, With Annotations by Acting Sheriff Helena Fairwind | Tim Pratt | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 1600 | 4 | The title really is the summary. | dragons portal language | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/an-inventory-of-the-property-of-the-escaped-suspect-confiscated-at-the-time-of-her-arrest-following-the-incident-on-ash-street-with-annotations-by-acting-sheriff-helena-fairwind/ |
| Chupa Sangre | Tre Harris Salas | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 5200 | 4 | First dogs go missing leaving a pool of blood, then children without a trace. Then the narrator's abuela sets a trap for the creature. | death injustice racism family | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/chupa-sangre/ |
| How to Cook and Eat the Rich | Suyi Dean | Horror | Tor.com | Magazine | - | January 18, 2023 | 3013 | 4 | A rich subscribes to an elite subscription box with human flesh but gets a surprise six months later | food wealth dystopia | https://www.tor.com/2023/01/18/how-to-cook-and-eat-the-rich-sunyi-dean/ |
| Lady Koi-Koi: A Book Report | Suyi Davies Okungbowa | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 4200 | 3 | When Nigerian 'Derrick' is assigned to read a book on the syllabus since 1952, he instead writes about his encounters with a ghost calling herself Lady Koi-Koi. | colonialism ethnocentrism Nigeria ghosts | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/lady-koi-koi-a-book-report/ |
| A Mastery of German | Marian Denise Moore | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 8400 | 4 | An African American woman is asked to take over a project and end it. Before she does, she learns enough about it to question closing it down. | racism genetics memories family | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/a-mastery-of-german/ |
| Measure Twice, Cut Once | K.R. March | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 1000 | 2 | A group of enslaved dressmakers conspires to poison those who will wear the dresses they make. | slavery revenge injustice | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/measure-twice-cut-once/ |
| Smoke Fire Wind Sea | Valerie Kemp | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 900 | 4 | A woman repeatedly emerges from the sea trying to remember something that she finally remembers. | parenthood loss | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/smoke-fire-wind-sea/ |
| A World Unto Myself | P.A. Cornell | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 750 | 4 | An owner leaves his old android at the scrap yard on a bench instead of trading him in. To what purpose? | purpose ai | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/a-world-unto-myself/ |
| I Am the Grass | Jeff Somers | Science Fiction | StarShipSofa | Podcast | 713 | May 31, 2023 | - | 3 | A conscript 'sleeved' into 16-foot tall cyborg retells the story of how he got where he is. | conscription capitalism poverty war | http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2023/05/31/starshipsofa-713-jeff-somers/ |
| Thank Mother for Your Life | Mary G. Thompson | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 2900 | 4 | An alien that has survived an invasion of earth is led by Mother to meet another of her kind; the mothers don't know the danger in what they do. | aliens instinct survival love | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/thank-mother-for-your-life/ |
| Wanderlust | LP Kindred | Science Fiction | Escape Pod | Podcast | 891 | June 01, 2023 | 3788 | 5 | A young writer and teacher has a fling with a buff, mysterious man who keeps showing up at his door every night with groceries; they fall in love despite his weird stories of tesseracts and such. | lgbtq love multiverse | https://escapepod.org/2023/06/01/escape-pod-891-wanderlust/ |
| (emet) | Lauren Ring | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 789 | May 30, 2023 | 7470 | 5 | A female programmer who can create golems uses them to thwart the very software she develops at work. | surveillance technology programming protest facial-recognition | https://podcastle.org/2023/05/30/podcastle-789-emet/ |
| Ncheta | Chisom Umeh | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 6700 | 3 | A deity and a spirit duel as Antibalance threatens the spirit world due to the encroachment of humans and their virtual reality. | gods technology | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/ncheta/ |
| The Relationship of Ink to Blood | Alex Langer | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 138 | May 01, 2023 | 4700 | 5 | A clerk for the ruling fascists presides over a warehouse of the personal effects and paperwork of the government's victims with whom he can converse. | death fascism collaboration | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-relationship-of-ink-to-blood/ |
| All These Ghosts Are Playing to Win | Lindsey Godfrey Eccles | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 52 | May 01, 2023 | 4138 | 3 | A man's ghost plays blackjack with his memories in order to win his way upstairs and avoid going down into the DARK. | death memories love | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/all-these-ghosts-are-playing-to-win/ |
| And For My Next Trick, I Have Disappeared | Chimedum Ohaegbu | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 52 | May 01, 2023 | 8257 | 2 | A woman thinks of her old girlfriend as she turns into a bus and then back into human. | relationships music friendship body metamorphosis | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/and-for-my-next-trick-i-have-disappeared/ |
| Désolé | Ewen Ma | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 52 | May 01, 2023 | 6192 | 3 | A man has an accident that almost kills him, causing the removal of his INData chip leading to bureaucratic issues and pain. | relationships home family memories lgbtq | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/desole/ |
| A Lovers’ Tide in Which We Inevitably Break Each Other; Told in Inverse | K.S. Walker | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 52 | May 01, 2023 | 688 | 2 | Two creatures who are predators experience a brief love affair. | relationships body | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/a-lovers-tide-in-which-we-inevitably-break-each-other-told-in-inverse/ |
| The Rain Remembers What the Sky Forgets | Fran Wilde | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 52 | May 01, 2023 | 6710 | 3 | A young woman is forced to make a hat with birds for the widow of her father despite her longtime refusal to do so. | metamorphosis birds family | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-rain-remembers-what-the-sky-forgets/ |
| Want Itself Is a Treasure in Heaven | Theodora Ward | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 52 | May 01, 2023 | 5477 | 5 | A transgender man struggles with form and identity after an experimental procedure that allows them to see and experience what their partner does. | relationships transgender lgbtq drugs identity | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/want-itself-is-a-treasure-in-heaven/ |
| The Infinite Endings of Elsie Chen | Kylie Lee Baker | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 52 | May 01, 2023 | 6827 | 4 | A grad student creates an AI to understand why so many of her high school classmates died young. | ai death fate | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-infinite-endings-of-elsie-chen/ |
| The Mausoleum’s Children | Aliette de Bodard | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 52 | May 01, 2023 | 5411 | 5 | A woman who escaped from slavery trying to repair dead ships returns to save others. | slavery freedom choices spaceship | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-mausoleums-children/ |
| The Belfry Keeper | S.L. Harris | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 845 | 5 | An automaton cares for an abandoned library even as one finally comes and the books decay. | knowledge books learning | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-belfry-keeper/ |
| Saturday's Song | Wole Talabi | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 8677 | 5 | A daughter agrees to a terrible bargain to avenge her lover's death. | lgbtq family revenge bargain nigeria story | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/saturdays-song/ |
| The Sword, the Butterly, and the Pearl | Deborah L. Davitt | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 972 | 4 | You find a butterfly that becomes a sword until you transform in order to teach the people and get around the priests to the emperor. | truth oppression | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-sword-the-butterfly-and-the-pearl/ |
| Blood for a Stranger | Timothy Mudie | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 9434 | 5 | People whose minds have been connected and embedded in ships learn the truth about their past. | family choice contracts corporations | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/blood-for-a-stranger/ |
| One Heart, Lost and Found | Kat Howard | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 2228 | 3 | A magician searches for a wizard's heart on a train car full of lost items. | freedom | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/one-heart-lost-and-found/ |
| Moons We Can Circumnavigate in a Day, or the Space Probe Love Story | Natalia Theodoridou | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 559 | 3 | One man-made celestial probe opines about another as it approaches it's last day before it's batteries run out. | love death beauty | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/moons-we-can-circumnavigate-in-one-day-or-the-space-probe-love-story/ |
| She Blooms and the World is Changed | Izzy Wasserstein | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 2337 | 5 | A girl whose biology has been altered by the planet she was conceived on is cared for by her sister after their parents' death. | care love protection environment colonialism choice | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/she-blooms-and-the-world-is-changed/ |
| When Shiva Shattered the Time-Stream | Sharan Biswas | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 996 | 4 | A man relives in a time loop his husband breaking up with him over and over no matter what he does. | love choice maturity | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/when-shiva-shattered-the-time-stream/ |
| Action at a Distance | An Hao | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 4240 | 4 | A scientist views something from a planetoid that makes crystals grow on his eye allowing him to perceive states of matter with his eye. | metamorphosis evolution | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/an_05_23 |
| The Fall | Jordan Chase-Young | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 2200 | 4 | After the Fall of humans on the moon, a modern human has an experience with a pre-Fall, or does she? | far-future fear arrogance | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chase-young_05_23 |
| The Giants Amoung Us | Megan Chee | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 2760 | 3 | Two warring species of a planet travel the universe observing other species; when the war ends, the narrator does not go home. | war culture | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chee_05_23 |
| Sensation and Sensibility | Parker Ragland | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 2170 | 4 | Two droids with partial senses converse over tea and a tart. | ai senses theory-of-mind | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ragland_05_23 |
| LOL, Said the Scorpion | Rich Larson | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 2680 | 4 | A couple goes on vacation wearing holiday suits to filter out the unpleasant parts with an unpleasant outcome for one local. | climate-change pollution class | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/larson_05_23 |
| To Sail Beyond the Botnet | Suzanne Palmer | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 21920 | 5 | In the process of trying to save Ship and it's crew, Bot 9 learns of emotions and independence. | aliens rescue emotions ai | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/palmer_05_23 |
| Better Living Through Algorithms | Naomi Kritzer | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 5610 | 5 | A young woman reluctantly starts using an app that unexpectedly starts making her happier. | algorithm free-will social-media | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_05_23 |
| Through the Roof of the World | Harry Turtledove | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 6220 | 4 | Creatures investigate something trying to break through into their world. | seti europa | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/turtledove_05_23 |
| Gravesend, or, Everyday Life in the Anthropocene | Paul McAuley | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A young woman Army veteran haunted by illusory ghosts looks into the theft of 'soul chips' | mystery friendship caregiving | - |
| The Breaking of the Vessels | Gregory Feeley | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | 3 | The grandchild of humans who have left Earth for Neptune waxes poetic about how their goals and expectations are so different from their parents and grandparents. | generations colonization | - |
| The Queen of Rhode Island | Bruce Sterling Paul DiFilippo | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A swamp goblin that used to be human deals with nearby humans in an effort to save his tribe and the earth. | post-apocalyptic survival politics | - |
| Wanton Gods | Sheila Finch | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A 13-year-old girl lost in the desert without her father learns some harsh truths about her world. | post-apocalyptic survival | - |
| The Case of the Blood-Stained Tower | Ray Nayler | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | An Arab man looks into the mysterious death of a missing woman who fell to her death. | mystery multiverse | - |
| Ernestine | Octavia Cade | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | In a world where all the adults have puffed away like dandelion seed, a little girl and a ghost attempt to survive. | survival apocalypse dystopia alone | - |
| The Repair | Mark D. Jacobsen | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | 5 | An augmented repairman ponders whether he should help a victim of a credit bomb escape from the insurance company's protection. | surveillance connection dystopia | - |
| Night Running | Greg Egan | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A man with a challenging job takes a drug that allows him to work while asleep with unexpected and challenging side effects. | drugs productivity corporate politics | - |
| Second Life | Mona Simpson | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | April 01, 2023 | 3300 | 3 | A young man with drug and mental health issues gets sober and reconnects with his mom who is also in the mental hospital. | mental-health family caregiving | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/04/mona-simpson-second-life-commitment-fiction/673098/ |
| The Errata | K.A. Teryna | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A poor boy on a space ark plans to pay for a shuttle excursion with a book | poverty life value space-ark | - |
| Planetstuck | Sam J. Miller | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A male sex worker on vacation finds that his home planet is not as cut off as he previously thought. | home courage lgbtq | - |
| The Nameless Dead | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A woman who ran away from her family through time dilation investigates mysterious deaths. | kidnapping running-away regret pain | - |
| The Fish Bowl | Zen Cho | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 5600 | 4 | A girl with academic challenges gets help from a one-eyed koi, at a price. | self-harm | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-fish-bowl/ |
| The Matriarchs | Lois Mei-en Kwa | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 2800 | 4 | A woman sends a message through time to save a cryo ship; another woman struggles to invent the psychopomp which will make this possible. | time-travel communication | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-matriarchs/ |
| Rhizomatic Diplomacy | Vajra Chandradekera | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 1400 | 2 | A person agrees to be cloned but the clone's life is short and predetermined as a tool of war. | free-will war | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/rhizomatic-diplomacy/ |
| The Toll of the Snake | Grace P. Fong | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 4900 | 5 | A Chinese woman arrives in Hollywood to make it big; she signs a contract but things don't quite go to her liking, or her agent's. | sexism racism revenge | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-toll-of-the-snake/ |
| The Flowering of Peace | Murtaza Mohsin | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 3900 | 3 | A woman scorned by her Indian village returns for revenge as the representative of an alien species. | india revenge | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-flowering-of-peace/ |
| Liwani | Sydney Paige Guerroro | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 6000 | 4 | The goddess of light tries to find more believers to keep herself and other gods from dying. | belief gods mortality | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/liwani/ |
| Loving Bone Girl | Tehnuka | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 2700 | 3 | A young woman who can create new places asks her girlfriend to keep her bones when she dies. | lgbtq maori | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/loving-bone-girl/ |
| Your Wings a Bridge Across the Stars | Michelle Denham | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 3200 | 3 | A myth about magpies and crows making a bridge one day a year so lovers can meet on it and cry, starting the monsoon season. | myth korea | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/your-wings-a-bridge-across-the-stars/ |
| Happiness | Octavia Cade | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 9950 | 3 | A choose your own adventure for the dystopian world of climate change. | climate-change privilege | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/cade_04_23 |
| The Librarian and the Robot | Shi Heiyao | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 4080 | 4 | A woman comes back to a future earth in an ice age to restock an ancient library with the assistance of a robot. | irony companionship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/shi_04_23 |
| Stranger Shores | Gregory Feeley | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 8710 | 2 | A former human travels through space in a dream? | post-human | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/feeley_04_23 |
| Voices Singing in the World | Rajan Khanna | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 1920 | 4 | Drones and other robots prepare other worlds for the arrival of the People. | terraforming ai | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/khanna_04_23 |
| Keeper of the Code | Nick Thomas | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 6770 | 3 | A man finds in the Code that protects his planet pleas from those left behind. | hope love betrayal | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/thomas_04_23 |
| Rake the Leaves | R.T. Ester | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 6120 | 3 | A story of parallel worlds where a professor seeks to prevent an accident that exposed them to each other. | mulitverse music accident | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ester_04_23 |
| Re/Union | L Chan | Fantasy | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 2910 | 3 | A young woman holds an annual dinner for her deceased relatives and their computer ghosts. | family ai | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chan_04_23 |
| There Are the Art-Makers, Dreamers of Dreams, and There are AIs | Andrea Kriz | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 5190 | 4 | A Human artist seeks the approval of a Master in order to make a living with art in a world that's outlawed generative AI. | ai art copyright | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kriz_04_23 |
| Construction Sacrifice | Bogi Takács | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 7344 | 3 | A trans mage talks to the person who has become the city. They become the city, too. | transgender becoming love lgbtq | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/construction-sacrifice/ |
| Every Bone a Spell | Shaoni C. White | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 1491 | 4 | A stow away is made to pay for his room and board by being a singer/navigator connected to the ship. | slavery revenge | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/every-bone-a-bell/ |
| The House, the Witch, and Sugarcane Stalks | Amanda Helms | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 1587 | 3 | A witch living in a sentient house made of candy is a stop on an underground railroad. | being-seen | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-house-the-witch-and-sugarcane-stalks/ |
| Lament of a Specialist in Interspecies Relationships | Amy Johnson | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 1442 | 4 | A letter to a shapeshifter who came to Earth on a visa from the department telling them how they broke the rules. | rules change beauty | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/lament-of-a-specialist-in-interspecies-relations/ |
| So You Want to Kiss Your Nemesis | John Wiswell | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 939 | 4 | A girl comes into a blade shop looking for something to best her nemesis with from a proprietor who married hers. | love relationships confused emotions lgbtq | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/so-you-want-to-kiss-your-nemesis/ |
| Spaceman Jones | Adam-Troy Castro | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 3525 | 4 | A starship captain has to leave behind a crew member after he gets addicted to a powerful local drug. | addiction purpose | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/spaceman-jones/ |
| When the Giants Came Through the Valley | Derrick Boden | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 1511 | 2 | A strange story about living in the footprints of giants? Is it a metaphor for living under capitalism? | suffering separateness capitalism | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/when-the-giants-came-through-the-valley/ |
| Virtually Cherokee | Brian K. Hudson | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 6276 | 3 | A virtual person named Spider helps give the virtual host consciousness. | ai consciousness | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/virtually-cherokee/ |
| The Third Law of Magic | Ben Okri | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | 4400 | 3 | A man sells snowballs on the street as a form of art that will only grow in memory after the fact. | art capitalism | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/03/ben-okri-short-story-third-law-magic/672783/ |
| The Six Fingers of Time | R.A. Lafferty | Science Fiction | If | Magazine | - | September 01, 1960 | 9405 | 3 | A man learns how to live in a sped up state, but doesn't heed the warnings of its danger. | unintended-consequences choices arrogance | https://mgherron.com/2023/01/sci-fi-six-fingers-time/ |
| The World That Couldn’t Be | Clifford D. Simak | Science Fiction | Galaxy Science Fiction | Magazine | - | January 01, 1958 | 12762 | 4 | A man hunts an unusual creature on an alien planet after it eats a row of his crop | ompassion change-of-heart | https://mgherron.com/2019/12/sci-fi-short-story-the-world-that-couldnt-be-by-clifford-d-simak/ |
| Sentiment, Inc. | Poul Anderson | Science Fiction | Science Fiction Stories | Magazine | - | June 01, 1953 | 9414 | 4 | A man with a machine that can tune people's emotions uses it on the wrong guy's girl. | emotions mind-control | https://mgherron.com/2019/02/sci-fi-short-story-sentiment-inc-by-poul-anderson/ |
| Youth | Isaac Asimov | Science Fiction | Space Science Fiction | Magazine | - | May 01, 1952 | 9485 | 5 | Two boys discover 'animals' on their farm and decide to use them to join the circus; but they are crashed aliens. | twist | https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/31547/pg31547-images.html |
| The Snows of Kilimanjaro | Ernest Hemingway | Literary | Esquire | Magazine | - | August 01, 1936 | 8918 | 3 | A writer thinks on all that he hasn't written as he lies dieing in the African bush from an infected cut. | regret | https://americanliterature.com/author/ernest-hemingway/short-story/the-snows-of-kilimanjaro |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Literary | Collier's | Magazine | - | May 27, 1922 | 8909 | 2 | The story of a man who ages backward. | life-stages | https://americanliterature.com/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/short-story/the-curious-case-of-benjamin-button |
| Defense Reactions | Shane Tourtellotte | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A political tale of extremism that separates a daughter from her family for reasons that turn out to be baseless. | politics extremism family | - |
| Paul's Case | Willa Cather | Literary | McClure's | Magazine | - | May 01, 1905 | 8095 | 4 | A young man feeling left out of the world steals money and excapes to New York to live the only life he has ever wanted. | depression mental-health juvenilie-delinquincy suicide | https://cather.unl.edu/writings/shortfiction/ss006 |
| Immune Response | Robert R. Chase | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 5 | After the untimely death of his former advisor, a scientist learns that the Universe has an immune response to humanity discovering time travel. | time-travel self-preservation | - |
| A Scandal in Bohemia | Arthur Conan Doyle | Mystery | The Strand | Magazine | - | June 25, 1891 | 8264 | 4 | Sherlock Holmes helps a Bohemian king retrieve a photograph from his former lover, Irene Adler. | cleverness turnabout | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1661/pg1661-images.html#chap01 |
| Aalund's Final Mission | Raymund Eich | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A captain has hard decisions to make when his final mission goes sideways with his political officer looking on. | war politics | - |
| Kept Man | Louis Evans | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A feminist tale of a world where men are subordinate and how one in particular finds his freedom. | feminism agency freedom family | - |
| Memory's Bullet | Aaron Fox-Lerner | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A vessel/human is bombarded with the memories of its ancestors while it tries to avoid being killed by its enemy. | memory agency | - |
| A Noble Figure, Out of the Sky | Mark W. Tiedemann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A woman alone on a farm with her mother is unsure what to do when a stranger approaches. | dystopia loneliness fear connection | - |
| The Problem with Bargain Bodies | Sarina Dorie | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A funny story about a woman returning a defective body to the supermarket. | retail exchanges remorse | - |
| This Story is Plagiarized | Buzz Dixon | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | The editor of Analog is served by a robot to cease and desist because they are violating AI copyright. | absurdity ai copyright | - |
| Bartleby, the Scrivener | Herman Melville | Literary | Putnam's | Magazine | - | November 01, 1853 | 14098 | 3 | A lawyer hires a scrivener who does no work and refuses to leave the offices. | stubbornness charity | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11231/pg11231-images.html |
| Death Spiral | Kate MacLeod | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | The security officer on a mining asteroid is summoned to a cavern where a dead male is found. But only women are allowed on the asteroid. | culture understanding breaking-rules | - |
| The House on Infinity Street | Allen M. Steele | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 5 | The author tells the tale of a mysterious literary agency selling futuristic story ideas. | time-travel mystery writing writers | - |
| What Women Want | Katherine Tunning | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A persevering alien takes over the world through women and network marketing. | con-games power aliens invasion | - |
| The Five Stages | Aubry Kae Andersen | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | An oncologist discusses the five stages of grief using her patients as illustrations; but she forgets a stage. | grief disaster end-of-the-world | - |
| Meat | Leonard Richardson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | The title character runs a restaurant turning species feces into its own flesh which it then sells to customers until the health inspector comes along. | bureaucracy diplomacy culture | - |
| Aerobraking | Jonathan Sherwood | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A woman who scouts planets for alien life struggles on her latest mission when she finally finds life on another planet. | seti learning | - |
| A Most Humble Innovation | Howard V. Hendrix | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 2 | A suggestion that we use the surplus human biomass (SHB) to solve our energy/climate crisis. | climate poverty | - |
| Ice Ageless | Rajnar Vajra | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A man steers a ship of 7,000 'sleeping' passengers for 10,000 years toward their new home. | space-ark self-contemplation | - |
| 2 B R 0 2 B | Kurt Vonnegut | Science Fiction | If | Magazine | - | January 01, 1962 | 2396 | 4 | A man waiting for triplets to be born has to find three people willing to die in a population-controlled future. | longevity fairness population control | https://mgherron.com/2021/11/sci-fi-short-story-2-b-r-0-2-b-kurt-vonnegut/ |
| Citizen Science | Naomi Kanakia | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A citizen scientist engages with an academic scientist about something she the CitSci discovered but the other's advisor claims to have. | misogyny arrogance academic | - |
| A Clean, Well-Lighted Place | Ernest Hemingway | Literary | Scribner's | Magazine | - | March 01, 1933 | 1293 | 3 | Two waiters discuss the late drinking customer in the cafe where they work. | purpose age | https://yale.learningu.org/download/51358dbc-0c73-4e33-8cfb-967c55a621f5/H2976_Hemingway_A%20Clean%20Well%20Lighted%20Place.pdf |
| Incommunicado | Andrej Kokouin | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 3 | A sysadmin crosses interstellar space to be with Ira when she goes incommunicado. | ai love dedication | - |
| An Inconvenient Man | Adam-Troy Castro | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 5 | A man who eats lunch on the same bench every day in the park is asked to move, by aliens. | aliens absurdity | - |
| Judgment Day | Stanley Schmidt | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A time traveler visits an award winner before she gives her acceptance speech. | time-travel paradox | - |
| The Missing Will | Agatha Christie | Literary | Poirot Investigates | Book | - | March 01, 1924 | 3109 | 4 | An uncle cuts his niece out of his fortune unless she can solve his puzzle. | mystery misogyny | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/67173/pg67173-images.html |
| The Tinker and the Timestream | Carolyn Ives Gilman | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | 4 | A young man from a planet in danger for its flaring sun travels with starhoppers on a time propelled space ship to find a new home for his people. | muslim time relativity othering | - |
| After the Twilight Fades | Sara Tantlinger | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 6200 | 4 | A woman touches a meteorite that sets in motion a chain of events that puts her in touch with her deepest feelings. | self-knowledge desire love | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/after-the-twilight-fades/ |
| Detiny Delayed | Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 5700 | 3 | A father takes a loan using his daughter's destiny as collateral. | greed parenthood family | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/destiny-delayed/ |
| Every Shade of Healing | Taryn Frazier | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 1000 | 5 | A young woman goes to a tattoo artist to get work done on the evidence of physical abuse; her work turns pain into beauty. | pain suffering abuse self-harm beauty | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/every-shade-of-healing/ |
| Reproduction on the Beach | Rich Larson | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 1000 | 2 | A boss and his editor on a sneak away vacation, break up and something unusual happens. | relationships | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/reproduction-on-the-beach/ |
| The State Street Robot Factory | Claire Humphrey | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 3600 | 4 | A man with no legs sells small robots that he makes. When things go wrong he comes up with a new idea. | entrepreneur poverty capitalism | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-state-street-robot-factory/ |
| They Could Have Been Yours | Joy Baglio | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 6900 | 5 | A woman finds a ring under her pillow that allows her to visit the fiancees of her exes as if she were a ghost. | love relationships jealousy compassion | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/they-could-have-been-yours/ |
| Unboxing | Lavie Tidhar | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 2100 | 3 | A child's unboxing videos are more than they seem. | video babysitter unintended-consequences | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/unboxing/ |
| The Words That Make Us Fly | S.L. Harris | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 2800 | 4 | A story about the magic of Words and finding yours. | desire community magic words | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-words-that-make-us-fly/ |
| Beautiful Poison in Pastel | Beth Dawkins | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 3600 | 4 | A nightmare personified has to answer for killing and eating another nightmare. | agency change | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/beautiful-poison-in-pastel/ |
| The Mark on the Wall | Virginia Woolf | Literary | Two Stories | Book | - | June 22, 1917 | 3028 | 4 | A woman sits smoking a cigarette after tea contemplating a mark on the wall. | contemplation thinking | https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/full-texts-of-classic-works/the-mark-on-the-wall-by-virginia-woolf-full-text/ |
| Over Moonlit Clouds | Coda Augeuy-Pegon | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 6900 | 5 | A woman with lycanthropy inadvertently gets on a plane at the full moon. Things do not go well. | compassion prejudice mental-health | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/over-moonlit-clouds/ |
| To Build a Fire | Jack London | Literary | Century | Magazine | - | August 01, 1908 | 7042 | 5 | A man hiking back to camp in -75°F temperature in the Yukon forest gets his feet wet and must build a fire to keep from freezing to death. | survival safety arrogance | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2429/pg2429-images.html#page47 |
| The Yellow Wallpaper | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | Literary | New England | Magazine | - | January 01, 1892 | 5815 | 5 | A woman dealing with postpartum depression stays in a vacation room with wallpaper that deepens her problem. | depression mental-health | https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/full-texts-of-classic-works/the-yellow-wallpaper-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman/ |
| AI Aboard the Golden Parrot | Louise Hughes | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 4210 | 3 | An AI former Pirate Ship amusement park ride cautiously approaches Haven City and those in meatspace. | ai conflict | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hughes_03_23 |
| Bek, Ascendant | Shari Paul | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 7750 | 3 | A woman returns to the people she thought long dead and reconnects with the emporer she grew up with. | politics friendship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/paul_03_23 |
| Failure to Convert | Shih-Li Kow | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 6640 | 4 | An unconverted clone deals with increasing clonophobia. | prejudice slavery | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kow_03_23 |
| The Spoil Heap | Fiona Moore | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 6640 | 5 | A woman remembers what happened years ago when a former colleague tries to force her back to her old life. | ai feudalism | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_03_23 |
| Zeta-Epsilon | Isabel J. Kim | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 5200 | 4 | A Human and AI are raised together to be pilot-navigator, brother and sister, captain and ship. | ai connection free-will | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_03_23 |
| Pinocchio Photography | Angela Liu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 6450 | 5 | When a woman's father dies she learns that he wants her to take a family portrait post mortem. | love promises death | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_03_23 |
| The Chosen Six | Oyedotun Damilola Muess | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 4654 | 2 | Six climate refugees are gathered to help a community heal itself. | climate-change community | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-chosen-six/ |
| Every Little Change | Aimee Ogden | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 1024 | 4 | A Quantum man and his wife struggle with their relationship. | love connection relationships | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/every-little-change/ |
| Four Years Minus Twelve Days | Samantha Murray | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 748 | 4 | You marry an alien knowing it can only last four years. | love time | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/four-years-minus-twelve-days/ |
| Love in the Season of New Dance | Bo Balder | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 5130 | 4 | A xenologist on a far away planet interacts with an alien who has come awake too early to mate. | culture caretaking | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/balder_03_23 |
| Our Exquisite Delights | Megan Chee | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 1267 | 4 | Someone describes the special rooms that can exist on the other side of extra doors. | what-if choices | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/our-exquisite-delights/ |
| Contracting Iris | Peter Watts | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 10285 | 4 | Iris contracts a parasitic disease, also called Iris, that slowly takes her over. | agency control | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/contracting-iris/ |
| Crystalline | Daniel H. Wilson | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 2911 | 4 | A selfish father urges his daughter to pull a replacememt mom from another world through a crystal to theirs. | multiverse parenthood family | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/crystalline/ |
| One Pinch, Two Pinch | Beth Goder | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 1263 | 3 | A countess who has fallen into a black hole experiences the past, present, and future as one. | time conflict sequence | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/one-pinch-two-pinch/ |
| Bigger Fish | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 5005 | 4 | A son asks a detective to investigate his father's apparent suicide; the detective questions his house and robot valet. | robots exploitation humanity | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/bigger-fish/ |
| Space Treads | Parlei Riviere | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 3673 | 4 | Two children fighting in the woods stumble upon aliens who they then play with. | play race punishment | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/space-treads/ |
| Yinying–Shadow | Ai Jiang | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 899 | 3 | A young child is haunted by his father who blames him for the death of his mother. | blame guilt freedom | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/yinying-shadow/ |
| Blank Space | Delilah S. Dawson | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 4745 | 5 | An innocent girl falls for a bad boy with tattoos but all is not as it seems. | relationships tattoos | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/blank-space/ |
| In Time, a Weed May Break Stone | Valerie Valdes | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 5648 | 4 | A retired soldier saves a village from a mage and his crystal cougars. | youth self-defense | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/in-time-a-weed-may-break-stone/ |
| Perhaps in Understanding | AnaMaria Curtis | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 4463 | 4 | A painter prepares for an exhibit in a society that wears actual masks to show how they feel. | self-knowledge theory-of-mind | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/perhaps-in-understanding/ |
| A Soul in the World | Charlie Jane Anders | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 4853 | 4 | A woman who can't get pregnant is asked by aliens to raise a clone of their captain. | family responsibility love | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/a-soul-in-the-world/ |
| To Put Your Heart Into a White Deer | Kristina Willsey | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 9943 | 2 | A confusing jumble of academic tropes in the near future. | mysogeny academic competition | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/to-put-your-heart-into-a-white-deer/ |
| Love is a Process of Unbecoming | Jonathan Kincade | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 3190 | 2 | Not really sure what this was. Some kind of infection in someone observing what they do as Host. | love | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kincade_03_23 |
| Going Time | Amal Singh | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 197 | February 01, 2023 | 4635 | 4 | A mother awaits her Going Time in a world devoid of food other than bran bars and run by His Beneficence. | lies control culture | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/singh_02_23 |
| An Ode to Stardust | R.P. Sand | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 197 | February 01, 2023 | 14616 | 5 | A chronically ill woman learns something about the labor under her command on a moon and about her father at the same time. | family slavery freedom self-understanding | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sand_02_23 |
| Silo, Sweet Silo | James Castles | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 197 | February 01, 2023 | 4397 | 5 | A group of people who survive a nuclear war find shelter in a missile command base controlled by a sentient missile. | purpose sacrifice meaning | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/castles_02_23 |
| The Day the Earthman Didn't Show | Adam-Troy Castro | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 2443 | 4 | An alien society prepares for eons for the prophesied arrival of an Earthman who never shows up. | climate-change planning | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-day-the-earthman-didnt-show/ |
| Guidelines for Using the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library | Marie Brennan | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 927 | 4 | Bullet points for navigating and using said library; many literary allusions. | fun books | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/guidelines-for-using-the-harry-elkins-widener-memorial-library/ |
| His Guns Could Not Protect Him | Sam J. Miller | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 5013 | 4 | A boy's father is attacked by his monster so he has to stay at the home of family friends with his brother. | family brotherhood care | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/his-guns-could-not-protect-him/ |
| The House of Linear Change | Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 678 | 3 | A young man attempts to leave his family home where everything is always transforming into something else. | change coming-of-age | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-house-of-linear-change/ |
| In(con)solation | Octavia Cade | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 1151 | 3 | Two people living together underground after a nuclear war choose whether to go to the surface to see the sun. | choices | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/inconsolation/ |
| Larva Pupa Imago | Eric Schwitzgebel | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 197 | February 01, 2023 | 5973 | 4 | The story of two brother caterpillars and of how one completes the cycle of life. | identity love | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/schwitzgebel_02_23 |
| The Portrait of a Survivor, Observed from the Water | Yukimi Ogawa | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 197 | February 01, 2023 | 2371 | 2 | Something happens on a beach and a museum and some creature. I really didn't get it. | connection | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ogawa_02_23 |
| Real Magic | Sharan Biswas | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 5040 | 4 | A fairy tale about a witch who helps others without magic, saving real magic for the important things. | family problem-solving | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/real-magic/ |
| Somewhere, It's About to Be Spring | Samantha Murray | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 197 | February 01, 2023 | 3069 | 4 | A spacecraft that lost its crew evolves sentience as does its shuttles and robots. | loneliness love family | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/murray_02_23 |
| Subject: More Monsters Will Not Make Us Safer | Paul Crenshaw | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 757 | 4 | A concerned citizen writes their senator out of concerns that children won't know how to handle dangers. | guns satire | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/subject-more-monsters-will-not-make-us-safer/ |
| Learning Letters | Carrie Vaughn | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 4384 | 5 | After the Fall a man in an airplane visits a more 'primitive' community | value trade literacy hope | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/learning-letters/ |
| The Bridle | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 4 | A family who lost their farm in Minnesota arrive at a motel in Arizona. | struggle employment | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Cathedral | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 4 | A man entertains his wife's blind friend by drawing cathedrals with him. | senses relating | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Fever | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 4 | A man whose wife has left him with their two kids figures out how to move on with the help of his old woman sitter. | relationships love | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| The Train | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 3 | A young woman and an old couple wait for the train in an empty station. | relationships | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Where I'm Calling From | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 3 | A man in a home for men trying to get sober talks to friend and contemplates his life. | relationships friendship decisions | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Careful | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 3 | A man's estranged wife comes to talk to him and helps clear his ears of uncomfortable wax. | relationships care | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Chef's House | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 4 | A woman spend the summer with her estranged husband in a house with a view. | bad-luck identity relationships | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| The Compartment | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 4 | A man takes a train to visit his son and changes his mind on the way there. | relationships bad-luck | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Preservation | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 2 | A husband loses his job and spends all his time on the couch. | bad-luck relationships | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| A Small, Good Thing | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | 5000 | 5 | A boy is hit by a car on his eighth birthday and his parents wait fearfully at his bedside. | relationships kindness comfort food | https://www.classicshorts.com/stories/sgthing.html |
| Vitamins | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 2 | A guy attempts to cheat on his girlfriend who sells vitamins. | relationships racism | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Feathers | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | 3 | A man tells the story of peacock feathers and how he and his wife decided to have children. | relationships decisions | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Bad Doors | John Wiswell | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 4167 | 3 | A guy sheltering during COVID is followed by a mysterious door that appears no matter where he lives. | conspiracy family mystery pandemic | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/bad-doors/ |
| Miz Boudreaux's Last Ride | Christopher Caldwell | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 5389 | 3 | A bargain is made to help a ghost undo the magic she did on an old desert Town. | love longevity deals lgbtq | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/miz-boudreauxs-last-ride/ |
| Prospect Heights | Maureen McHugh | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 998 | 3 | A young woman in New York thinks she keeps seeing herself in the city. | doppelgänger coming-of-age | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/prospect-heights/ |
| Silver Necklace, Golden Ring | Marie Brennan | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 3597 | 4 | A cold, dark man takes a new servant every month, but this month is different. | death life love darkness light | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/silver-necklace-golden-ring/ |
| The Father Provincial of Mare Imbrium | E. Lily Yu | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 3545 | 5 | A Jesuit enclave on the moon discovers something that could shake the earth and the church. | censorship power authority | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-father-provincial-of-mare-imbrium/ |
| One Man's Treasure | Sarah Pinsker | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 8323 | 4 | A mystery to solve after a hex turns a gardener into a statue on a garbage pile. | wealth injustice | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/one-mans-treasure/ |
| Flower, Daughter, Soil, Seed | Eugenia Triantafyllou | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 4213 | 4 | A mother tells her daughter the story of her flower family. | resilience family love survival | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/flower-daughter-soil-seed/ |
| Horsewoman | A.M. Dellamonica | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 8484 | 3 | A trans woman surviving on her own amidst ghosts after numerous plagues have made for a corporate-run world. | power inequality mental-health | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/horsewoman/ |
| Waystation City | A.T. Greenblatt | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 4274 | 5 | Twins seek to leave the city and return to their own time. | change patience | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/waystation-city/ |
| Cold Relations | Mary Robinette Kowal | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 7980 | 5 | A sister and brother who use magic to reunite and things get tricky. | family siblings memory loss | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/cold-relations/ |
| How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub | P. Djeli Clark | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 6934 | 4 | A man of ambition raises a Kraken, and things go wrong. | ambition poor-judgment | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/how-to-raise-a-kraken-in-your-bathtub/ |
| Between the Stones and the Stars | A.L. Goldfuss | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 152 | January 01, 2023 | 1291 | 4 | A hunter and a warrior meet at the site of their quest and find something more together. | being-seen sacrifice | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/between-the-stones-and-the-stars/ |
| Braid Me a Howling Tongue | Maria Dong | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 152 | January 01, 2023 | 9909 | 5 | A young girl without a tongue plots her survival and escape from slavery. | obsession communication freedom | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/braid-me-a-howling-tongue/ |
| In the Deep Woods; The Light is Different There | Seanen McGuire | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 152 | January 01, 2023 | 5046 | 3 | An abused divorcee moves into her family's haunted house in the woods. | fear past | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/in-the-deep-woods-the-light-is-different-there/ |
| The Ministry of Saturn | Benjamin Peek | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 6005 | 4 | The tale of a homunculus and how he got his freedom thanks to a magician. | creativity freedom caretaking | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-ministry-of-saturn/ |
| 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 | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 152 | January 01, 2023 | 5977 | 5 | A son tells the story of his father playing darts with Trump in the seventies. | family amends | 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/ |
| From the Largest Crater | Jendayi Brooks-Flemister | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 152 | January 01, 2023 | 4050 | 2 | Wife waits on the moon for her wife to come home from an Earth mission. Told as audio recordings. | separation anxiety sacrifice | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/from-the-largest-crater/ |
| The Narrative Implications of Your Untimely Death | Isabel J. Kim | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 152 | January 01, 2023 | 5122 | 5 | Survivor-like program on a planetoid where the participants are all indentured to the production company. | hopelessness | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-narrative-implications-of-your-untimely-death/ |
| A Guide to Alien Terms Useful in the Human Diaspora | Deborah L. Davitt | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 152 | January 01, 2023 | 1011 | 3 | A glossary of terms followed by a paragraph using them. | culture language | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-guide-to-alien-terms-useful-in-the-human-diaspora/ |
| The Last Serving | Lincoln Michel | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 152 | January 01, 2023 | 1006 | 5 | A vegetarian cook decides to learn to cook meat with surprising results. | compassion twist | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-last-serving/ |
| Daughter, Mother, Charcoal | Akis Linardos | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 2200 | 4 | A fairy tale about stories that keep women at home. | sexism | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/daughter-mother-charcoal/ |
| Experimental Protocol for the Coronal Sectioning and Assessment of a Human Soul | Sagan Yee | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 800 | 4 | A document describing how to remove a soul is interspersed with comments from a dying/dead creature. | right-and-wrong judgment | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/experimental-protocol-for-the-coronal-sectioning-and-assessment-of-a-human-soul/ |
| Message in a Vessel | V.G. Harrison | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 4900 | 5 | A vampire tries to save mankind on the moon. | innocence justice | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/message-in-a-vessel/ |
| River Bargain Baby | K.S. Walker | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 2200 | 3 | A personified river lures yet another person desperate for something. | bargains wishes | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/river-bargain-baby/ |
| Walking the Deep Down | Michelle Denham | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 1000 | 4 | A fable about a dangerous trek through the desert while avoiding a monster in order to plant something. | wisdom pressure | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/walking-the-deep-down/ |
| - | Jordan Kurella | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 4700 | 2 | A trans boy comes of age on a pirate ship. | coming-of-age | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-wreck-of-the-medusa/ |
| Your Rover Is Here | LP Kindred | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 3500 | 5 | A Black rideshare driver uses forbidden magic to thwart a magical terrorist attack. | racism injustice | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/your-rover-is-here/ |
| The Immortal Game | Lindz McLeod | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 2200 | 4 | A woman lures a man to her room on the pretext of playing chess. | sex power | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-immortal-game/ |
| The Big Glass Box and the Boy Inside | Isabel J. Kim | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 6200 | 4 | A boy falls for a co-worker during a summer internship. | sellout relationships | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-big-glass-box-and-the-boys-inside/ |
| Carnival Ever After | Mari Ness | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 2100 | 3 | A woman who works in carnival is visited by someone from her past. | family issues relationships | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/carnival-ever-after/ |