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 | Date Read | Rating | Summary | POV | Tags | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Press | Sunwoo Jeong | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 69 | March 01, 2026 | 9546 | April 26, 2026 | 4 | A young Korean immigrant weighs a life-changing decision that will mean leaving her grandmother. | 1st person | laundry ghosts submarine decisions longing korea new-york-city | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/permanent-press/ |
| The Woman Who Stole Flowers | Theodora Goss | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 69 | March 01, 2026 | 4676 | April 24, 2026 | 3 | An academic in Budapest follows an old woman stealing flowering plants. | 1st person | plants hungary flowers budapest gods academia | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-woman-who-stole-flowers/ |
| When Things Went Bad | Stephen Graham Jones | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 69 | March 01, 2026 | 2141 | April 21, 2026 | 3 | A farmer is present at first contact in his field and offers water. | 3rd person | aliens spaceship first-contact | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/when-things-went-bad/ |
| What We Mean When We Talk About the Hole in the Bathroom | Angela Liu | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 69 | March 01, 2026 | 3483 | April 19, 2026 | 3 | A married couple find a strange hole in the wall of their bathroom. | 3rd person | marriage relationships japanese sleep emptiness | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/what-we-mean-when-we-talk-about-the-hole-in-the-bathroom/ |
| Chimera | Anjali Sachdeva | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 69 | March 01, 2026 | 5641 | April 19, 2026 | 5 | A mother forbids her son to implant his brain outside his body and loses contact with him in the process. | 3rd person | india cooking reality-tv children marriage identity | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/chimera/ |
| Un Lamento de Flores | A.P. Thayer | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 3300 | April 18, 2026 | 4 | A pregnant woman, maltreated by her husband, falls in love with a young girl. | 1st person | pregnancy marriage abuse lgbtq witchcraft witches misogyny revenge love relationships | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/un-lamento-de-flores |
| Citizen Komarova Finds Love | Kat Sedia | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 3900 | April 18, 2026 | 3 | In the midst of a revolution, a former noble is visited at the shop where she works by a soldier. | 3rd person | revolution poverty sex shop | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/citizen-komarova-finds-love-issue-152 |
| Heritage, or This Body of Folklore | Ayida Shonibar | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 1000 | April 17, 2026 | 5 | The child of a socially superior group begins to question their place. | 2nd person | heritage purpose oligarchy race individuality independence compassion colonialism | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/heritage-or-this-body-of-folklore |
| Ascension | P.L. McMillan | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 4000 | April 16, 2026 | 4 | A factory worker and climber who lost her left arm attempts a climb that could change her life. | 1st person | voices loss climbing relationships eclipse obsession prosthetic lgbtq body-horror | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/ascension |
| Shrinkage! | Ashlee Lhamon | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 1000 | April 16, 2026 | 2 | In the deep, dark of an ocean world, divers collect balls of light. | 1st person | ocean dark light diving | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/shrinkage |
| One Last Light to Guide Me Home | Avery Parks | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 1000 | April 16, 2026 | 4 | An astronaut finds comfort in the memory of her mother as her ship descends toward the sun. | 1st person | death space mothers comfort dying memories fear | |
| Piglet Delivers | Maria Haskins | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 5700 | April 13, 2026 | 4 | What happened in the Hundred Acre Wood after Christopher Robin grew up and left? | 3rd person | alcohol winnie-the-pooh truck friendship business capitalism kidnapping freedom | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/piglet-delivers |
| The Headstrong Historian | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 6424 | April 12, 2026 | 5 | A Nigerian woman, wishing for a better life for her son, sends him to the Catholic missionary school to learn English. | 3rd person | marriage children greed family missionaries religion christian magic colonialism history nigeria | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/06/23/the-headstrong-historian#rid=b1930f63-5858-4b4b-801c-d2220fd2b04b&q=headstrong+historian |
| Unsettled Nature | Jordan Kurella | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 4900 | April 12, 2026 | 3 | A murder mystery set among people living on the back of a giant jackalope. | 1st person | relationships love death mystery lgbtq reality justice | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/unsettled-nature |
| Tomorrow is Too Far | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 3341 | April 10, 2026 | 4 | A young girl's brother climbs a tree and falls to his death during a summer in Nigeria. | 2nd person | divorce death marriage cousins siblings grandmother family nigeria | https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/books-and-literature/fiction/57134/tomorrow-is-too-far |
| The Arrangers of Marriage | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 5575 | April 09, 2026 | 4 | A new Nigerian wife in America learns an unpleasant truth about her husband. | 1st person | apartments immigration marriage assimilation shopping-mall capitalism bigamy nigeria | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6859ebad-2ae4-4b59-b41f-70a5e883c8b8 |
| The Shivering | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 7523 | April 09, 2026 | 4 | A Nigerian doctoral student at Princeton meets a fellow countryman when a plane crashes back home. | 3rd person | princeton religion relationships love lgbtq gods usa | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6859ebad-2ae4-4b59-b41f-70a5e883c8b8 |
| The American Embassy | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 4351 | April 06, 2026 | 4 | A woman seeks asylum at the American embassy in Lagos | 3rd person | lagos soldiers child death immigration nigeria | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6859ebad-2ae4-4b59-b41f-70a5e883c8b8 |
| Ghosts | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 5486 | April 05, 2026 | 5 | A man discusses life with an old friend he thought had died in the failed Biafran war for independence. | 1st person | ghosts academia revolution biafra sand | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6859ebad-2ae4-4b59-b41f-70a5e883c8b8 |
| Jumping Monkey Hill | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 6208 | April 05, 2026 | 3 | A Nigerian woman attends an African writing workshop in Cape Town. | 3rd person | cape-town south-africa lgbtq sex writing sexism africa nigeria | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6859ebad-2ae4-4b59-b41f-70a5e883c8b8 |
| The Thing Around Your Neck | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 4163 | April 05, 2026 | 3 | A young Nigerian woman moves to America with an uncle and moves out when he assaults her. | 2nd person | usa immigration ignorance arrogance sexual-assault sex nigeria | https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/books-and-literature/fiction/59001/the-thing-around-your-neck |
| A Private Experience | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 4125 | April 04, 2026 | 5 | Two women, a Muslim and a Christian, hide in a small market from a riot in Nigeria. | 3rd person | riots nigeria muslim christian | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6859ebad-2ae4-4b59-b41f-70a5e883c8b8 |
| Cell One | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 5933 | April 03, 2026 | 3 | A privileged son of an African university professor finds himself in trouble with the police. | 1st person | theft siblings family privilege nigeria compassion injustice | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/01/29/cell-one |
| Imitation | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Literary | The Thing Around Your Neck | Book | - | June 19, 2009 | 5761 | April 03, 2026 | 3 | A Nigerian wife learns that her husband has a girlfriend back in Africa. | 1st person | lagos nigeria friendship cheating marriage masks usa philadelphia | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6859ebad-2ae4-4b59-b41f-70a5e883c8b8 |
| Deathcap | Lara Ellen Donnelly | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | March 25, 2026 | 2560 | March 29, 2026 | 3 | Two space marines trapped in a doomed spaceship confront the desires that will destroy them both. | 2nd person | lgbtq climate-change kink military aliens sex | https://reactormag.com/deathcap-lara-elena-donnelly/ |
| Of Two Bloods | Nisi Shawl Cynthia Ward | Mystery | Reactor | Magazine | - | February 18, 2026 | 9450 | March 29, 2026 | 3 | Chronicling the secret exploits of the great detective’s illegitimate, but highly observant, younger…sibling… | 3rd person | race mystery lgbtq eugenics | https://reactormag.com/of-two-bloods-nisi-shawl-cynthia-ward/ |
| Agency | George Sandison | Horror | Reactor | Magazine | - | February 11, 2026 | 10215 | March 27, 2026 | 2 | An estate agent is forced to choose between a sale and his humanity when facing the inhuman eldritch forces that feed off rental tenants across the United Kingdom. | 1st person | landlord parasites hunger fear apartments guilt | https://reactormag.com/agency-george-sandison/ |
| Congenital Agenesis of Gender Ideation by K. N. Sirsi and Sandra Botkin | Cameron Reed | Science | Reactor | Magazine | - | January 28, 2026 | 4980 | March 27, 2026 | 3 | A story written as a scientific paper that show how the recognition of gender is based on a specific gene. | 3rd person | brains neurology genetics gender lgbtq | |
| When We Loved Giants | Sara S. Messenger | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 190 | March 01, 2026 | 1506 | March 26, 2026 | 2 | A woman writes about her immaculately conceived genius daughter. | 1st person | daughters mother-daughter | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/when-we-loved-giants/ |
| Lotus Dew for the Emperor’s Tea | Vanessa FFogg | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 190 | March 01, 2026 | 7593 | March 25, 2026 | 3 | Someone is telling the current emperor about the history of the First Emperor and what happened to his tea maiden. | 3rd/2nd/1st person | emperor tea lotus morning greed love daughters | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/lotus-dew-for-the-emperors-tea/ |
| The Devourers of War; or, An Excerpt from the Cookbook of the Gods | Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 190 | March 01, 2026 | 7258 | March 24, 2026 | 5 | A god who sowed the seed of the destruction of all the other gods must find and destroy their opposites that he also created. | 1st/2nd person | gods death witches cunning betrayal trickery resurrection myth | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-devourers-of-war-or-an-excerpt-from-the-cookbook-of-the-gods/ |
| The Tide Folk | Jennifer Hudak | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 190 | March 01, 2026 | 757 | March 24, 2026 | 3 | A description of Tide Folk and how they seek beauty by day and flee home before dark. | 2nd person | stars fairies sea beauty | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-tide-folk/ |
| An Encounter at the Dawn of the Time War | JT Petty | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 190 | March 01, 2026 | 1428 | March 22, 2026 | 3 | A woman shows up in a homeless encampment with a device that can see seconds into the future. | 1st person | lgbtq time-travel algorithm | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/default/an-encounter-at-the-dawn-of-the-time-war/ |
| Terms of Enlightenment | Patrick Hurley | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 190 | March 01, 2026 | 5425 | March 22, 2026 | 5 | A delinquent criminal is sentenced to a virtual reality monastery. | 3rd person | lazy crime monastery meditation tiger | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/default/terms-of-enlightenment/ |
| Espie Droger Dreams of War | Matthew Kressel | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 190 | March 01, 2026 | 4299 | March 21, 2026 | 5 | A logistics officer in the past who is responsible for millions of deaths in his future is visited by a major from that future to punish him. | 3rd person | dreams war climate-change snow time-travel logistics | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/espie-droger-dreams-of-war/ |
| Eat, Prey, Love: A Modest Proposal for Ensuring Gender Equality Through Selective Dietary Practices; or, a Geriatric Millennial’s Guide to #GirlDinner | Jilly Dreadful | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 190 | March 01, 2026 | 954 | March 19, 2026 | 4 | An examination of a trend where women eat toxic men for power. | 3rd person | cannibalism anthropology algorithm toxic-masculinity power hunger change feminism | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/eat-prey-love-a-modest-proposal-for-ensuring-gender-equality-through-selective-dietary-practices-or-a-geriatric-millennials-guide-to-girldinner/ |
| Person, Place, Thing | Marissa Lingen | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 234 | March 01, 2026 | 2440 | March 18, 2026 | 4 | Aliens who exist as a colony in many states at once arrive to learn from humans. | 1st person | aliens deimos mars linguistics organization community communication | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lingen_03_26/ |
| You Are Invited to Our SPRING CELEBRATION | Thoraiya Dyer | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 234 | March 01, 2026 | 3850 | March 17, 2026 | 4 | Humans visit a planet eleven light years away where the very different life forms discover something unexpected. | 1st person | bittersweet poignant spaceship aliens planet apocalypse home sad | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/dyer_03_26/ |
| Those Who Left History | Wanxiang Fengnian | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 234 | March 01, 2026 | 6850 | March 16, 2026 | 4 | Humanity reckons with those who chose to exit the world into apartments that fold into themselves. | 3rd person | fraud apartments sales crime escape technology history philosophy conflict | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/fengnian_03_26/ |
| Scion | Thomas Ha | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 234 | March 01, 2026 | 19830 | March 15, 2026 | 3 | On a moon that shut itself off from its fellows, an estranged father dies his son seeks him. | 1st person | father-son sculpture planet library ghosts aliens moon blood colonization island pain separation revelation | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_03_26/ |
| Bend Like the Palm | David D. Levine | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 234 | March 01, 2026 | 3850 | March 12, 2026 | 4 | The population of a low lying islands prepares for a huge storm. | 1st person | happiness storms island tradition climate-change family resilience community | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/levine_03_26/ |
| Crosstalk, Elysium | Carolyn Zhao | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 234 | March 01, 2026 | 6450 | March 12, 2026 | 2 | It is about a sentient ship and crew, but I'm not sure what else. | 1st person | spaceship ai story lies sentience | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/zhao_03_26/ |
| First Human Ghost on Mars | R.L. Meza | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 234 | March 01, 2026 | 4140 | March 12, 2026 | 3 | An astronaut who died prior to launch attempts to save his crew after they reach Mars. | 1st person | death mars ghosts aliens | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/meza_03_26/ |
| A Handbook to Spirit-Hunting | Modupeoluwa Shelle | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 189 | February 01, 2026 | 2014 | March 11, 2026 | 2 | A handbook on how to kill various kinds of spirits. | 2nd/1st person | spirits hunter gods trees forest graphic-novel guide | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-handbook-to-spirit-hunting/ |
| The Salt and the Cure | Rukman Ragas | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 189 | February 01, 2026 | 1033 | March 11, 2026 | 3 | After their god is killed, the pope and his right hand ponder how to fulfill the prophecy. | 1st person | prophecy gods home religion | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-salt-and-the-cure/ |
| Dream Destinations (From the Lost Traveler’s Tour Guide) | Alexander Weinstein | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 189 | February 01, 2026 | 3699 | March 08, 2026 | 3 | A guidebook for destinations on a mysterious 8th continent. | 2nd/1st person | dreams melancholy sad music painting garden lawn illusion guide | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/dream-destinations-from-the-lost-travelers-tour-guide/ |
| Six Sides of a Fairy Tale | Audrey Zhou | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 189 | February 01, 2026 | 1508 | March 08, 2026 | 3 | When a princess runs away, the king asks her best friend what happened. | - | royalty prophet lies magic lgbtq love happiness truth | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/six-sides-of-a-fairy-tale/ |
| Death Echoes Overlapping | Megan Chee | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 189 | February 01, 2026 | 4869 | March 06, 2026 | 5 | The death throes of three planetary civilizations are traced and how they all intersect with another long dead civilization. | 3rd person | death space-station climate-change planet life dreams | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/death-echoes-overlapping/ |
| Sensor Ghosts | Deborah L. Davitt | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 189 | February 01, 2026 | 4088 | March 06, 2026 | 3 | On Titan, two crew members investigate the death of their comrades. | 3rd person | titan methane ethane saturn rescue ice ghosts | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/sensor-ghosts/ |
| Warren's Tentacle | Susan Palwick | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 189 | February 01, 2026 | 1507 | March 06, 2026 | 3 | A man wakes up after an accident with enhancements form an AI surgeon. | 3rd person | ai robots accident creepy fear | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/warrens-tentacle/ |
| The Worldbuilder | Phoenix Alexander | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 189 | February 01, 2026 | 1380 | March 06, 2026 | 2 | Humans colonizing a planet find something unimaginable. | 3rd person | planet colonization aliens body-horror death violence | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-worldbuilder/ |
| Warning Signs | Emily J. Smith | Science Fiction | Blood in the Machine | Blog | - | March 05, 2026 | 3560 | March 05, 2026 | 4 | A misogynist dude working on an Alexa-like product uses it to get women. | 3rd person | misogyny technology sexual-assault duplicity irony ai | https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/warning-signs |
| Three Fortunes on Alcestis as Told by the Fraud Baeliss Shudal | Louis Inglis Hall | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 233 | February 01, 2026 | 5060 | March 04, 2026 | 3 | A woman in a long line of fortune tellers is a fraud who tells three futures anyway. | 1st person | divination planet lies chaos | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hall_02_26/ |
| Painstaking | Rich Larson | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 233 | March 01, 2026 | 5580 | March 03, 2026 | 4 | A man and his clone brother, both living with an indestructible symbiont, race to escape authorities seeking the secrets of the symbiont. | 3rd person | tribes nigeria clones algorithm angola namibia africa south-africa technology genetics symbiosis suicide death anger brotherhood violence | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/larson_02_26/ |
| The Iron Piper | Fiona Moore | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 233 | February 01, 2026 | 6770 | March 01, 2026 | 4 | Morag confronts a woman doing a robot show at Rugby Weekend. | 3rd person | robots lgbtq academia labor technology farming post-apocalyptic | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_02_26/ |
| A Sleeper Ship Is Like a Game of Go | Claire Jia-Wen | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 233 | February 01, 2026 | 10110 | February 28, 2026 | 3 | A woman befriends a boy whose brain is destined to pilot a generation ship. | 1st/2nd person | spaceship space-ark generation-ship planet robots baduk lgbtq colonization data grief | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jia-wen_02_26/ |
| Think of Me Before I Disappear | Raahem Alvi | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 233 | February 01, 2026 | 7920 | February 26, 2026 | 4 | A young woman discovers something unexpected about her lover of four years. | 3rd person | death lgbtq love relationships androids asmr mycelium toronto canada | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/alvi_02_26/ |
| The Book of Martha | Octavia E. Butler | Science Fiction | Bloodchild and Other Stories | Book | - | July 24, 2012 | 7069 | February 25, 2026 | 5 | A black female novelist is tasked by God to make humanity better. | 3rd person | gods fear race habits adolescence dreams | https://www.sevenstories.com/blogs/102-an-exclusive-short-story-from-octavia-butler-in-celebration-of-her-birthday |
| Chip | D.A. Xiaolin Spires | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 233 | February 01, 2026 | 6060 | February 25, 2026 | 4 | A person from the country arriving in the city to find a job takes a robocab and get bombarded with ads. | 1st person | ai taxi advertising garden | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/spires_02_26/ |
| Remember Me in the Meat | Sarah Pauling | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 233 | February 01, 2026 | 5360 | February 25, 2026 | 5 | An assassin who no one can remember sets out to kill a careless billionaire. | 1st/2nd person | memory remembering technology grief networks cyberpunk climate-change climate joy domestic-violence ptsd lgbtq murder ghosts forgetting | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/pauling_02_26/ |
| Amnesty | Octavia E. Butler | Science Fiction | Bloodchild and Other Stories | Book | - | July 24, 2012 | 10573 | February 24, 2026 | 4 | A human translator for alien Communities interviews potential employees for the aliens. | 3rd person | language communication prison aliens fear first-contact drugs | https://veryinteractive.net/pdfs/butler-amnesty.pdf |
| Crossover | Octavia E. Butler | Science Fiction | Bloodchild and Other Stories | Book | - | July 24, 2012 | 1630 | February 23, 2026 | 2 | A woman who doesn't like herself runs into an old boyfriend who just got out of prison. | 3rd person | prison self-loathing self-destructive suicide anger | - |
| Speech Sounds | Octavia E. Butler | Science Fiction | Bloodchild and Other Stories | Magazine | - | July 24, 2012 | 5591 | February 23, 2026 | 4 | In a world that has largely lost the ability to speak and read, a woman who has lost everything seeks her last remaining family. | 3rd person | bus fighting sound dystopia gas guns language disease stroke death | https://www.bpi.edu/ourpages/auto/2017/10/14/55813476/Speech%20Sounds%20Butler.pdf |
| The Evening and the Morning and the Night | Octavia E. Butler | Science Fiction | Bloodchild and Other Stories | Book | - | July 24, 2012 | 9351 | February 22, 2026 | 5 | A woman with a disease that will eventually make her destroy herself tries to figure out her future. | 1st person | family body-horror suicide disease pheromones genetics temptation dystopia choice self-control responsibility | http://future-lives.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/24.2butler.pdf |
| The Lady in Camo | Richard Trtek | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 24869 | February 22, 2026 | 3 | A clone gets a job as a gitman to find a missing person. | 1st person | aliens clones lgbtq noir mystery detective cybernetics organized-crime technology hacking | - |
| Near of Kin | Octavia E. Butler | Science Fiction | Bloodchild and Other Stories | Book | - | July 24, 2012 | 3112 | February 22, 2026 | 3 | A young woman deals with the death of her estranged mother with her uncle there to help. | 1st person | family incest | - |
| And We Shall Find Rest | James Sallis | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 1571 | February 19, 2026 | 3 | Owners of a nostalgia shop make a big sale while waiting for dead bodies next door to be picked up. | 1st person | nostalgia aliens dystopia | - |
| With Her Serpent Locks | Mary Robinette Kowal | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 62 | January 01, 2025 | 1729 | February 19, 2026 | 5 | A woman on another planet dreads the visit of her unpleasant cousin. | 3rd person | mythology gods planet family dread hopelessness choice | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/with-her-serpent-locks/ |
| As Long as We're Here, We Might as Well Dance | Adam-Troy Castro | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 9779 | February 18, 2026 | 3 | A couple wander the city before committing suicide moments before deadly aliens arrive. | 1st person | death friendship aliens suicide planet apocalypse city sex | - |
| The Moribund | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 3268 | February 18, 2026 | 4 | A woman visits a dying man in the hospital to experience his death. | 3rd person | albatross hospital death technology debt | - |
| All My Birds | K.A. Teryna | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 6913 | February 17, 2026 | 3 | A person tries to leave the city but requires a ticket they don't have. | 1st person | birds ornithology memory | - |
| The Imaginative Youngster's Handbook to UFOs | Will Ludwigsen | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 3395 | February 16, 2026 | 5 | A guidebook for young people interested in UFOs and aliens. | 1st/2nd person | books ufo wonder knowledge adventure first-contact fun guide | - |
| The Tourist | R.T. Ester | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 8568 | February 16, 2026 | 2 | A man negotiates for passage through a time travel portal back to his own time with foreknowledge. | 3rd person | time-travel money multiverse | - |
| The Man with the Ruined Hand | Sean Monaghan | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 4502 | February 15, 2026 | 4 | A man attempts to steal from a rich man in the desert only things don't go to plan. | 1st person | sand hand desert money wealth crime planet noir guns heist | - |
| Replacement Theory | Jack Skillingstead | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 6967 | February 15, 2026 | 4 | A guy struggles with a recent change that causes him to see all the faces around him as monsters. | 3rd person | monsters faces body-horror seattle schizophrenia | - |
| Stay | William Preston | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 11097 | February 15, 2026 | 5 | A man dying of cancer creates a robot double to keep his dog company after he dies. | 3rd person | siblings death replacement cancer dogs robots loss | - |
| Ecobomb | Alexander Jablokov | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 13707 | February 14, 2026 | 4 | An alien race that uses biology as a weapon sends ecobombs to Earth to transform it, making it ready for invasion and takeover. | 3rd person | divorce garden father-daughter climate-change politics aliens invasion family | - |
| The Greenway | Susan Palwick | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 5680 | February 13, 2026 | 4 | In a world where after people die from plants growing out of them, a mother alone with her two children waits for a caravan that approaches their cabin on the plain. | 1st person | death caravan wagon body winter family plants | - |
| Iron Star Swing | Kate Orman | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 6018 | February 11, 2026 | 1 | Something about black holes | 3rd person | dnf black-hole | - |
| Monkey Trap | Geoffrey Hart | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 13100 | February 11, 2026 | 4 | A crew of former marines finds rare metals and more on a frozen planet. | 3rd person | cold family crew geology spaceship pirates navy nanobots aliens linguistics mining | - |
| Linka's Out | Rich Larson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 4037 | February 10, 2026 | 3 | A man on a mining planet travels to pick up his partner upon her release from prison for participating in a strike. | 3rd person | prison recycling drones capitalism musical-instruments cybernetics drugs rebellion strikes music body-horror sad dark planet anticipation mining | - |
| And She is Content | Frank Ward | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 3254 | February 09, 2026 | 5 | A sentient AI awakens the crew of a space ark for its once in a century exercise, but something is different this time. | 3rd person | robots anticipation rituals city awakening serenity brigadoon space-ark caretaking alone fear despair spaceship sentience ai colonization relationships | - |
| A Chatbot's Guide to Self-Respect | Jo Miles | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 1497 | February 06, 2026 | 4 | A hallucinating AI chats with a chatbot therapist for help. | 1st person | chatbot therapy ai hallucinations satire help | - |
| Jack Cade's Rebellion | Philip Brian Hall | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 1478 | February 06, 2026 | 4 | A man on the street argues with an android about registering the smartphone number for a device he does not own. | 3rd person | androids smartphone privacy satire ai rebellion resistance irony | - |
| Like Father, Like Son | Theodora Sutcliffe | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 1877 | February 06, 2026 | 3 | A genetically enhanced couple contemplate having children. | 3rd person | infertility miscarriage | - |
| Recognition, Memory | Benjamin C. Kinney | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 5044 | February 06, 2026 | 4 | A man struggles with the fact that he is a brain print of a billionaire who died of cancer. | 3rd person | hospital brains death life minds history recognition memory technology love relationships lawyers ghosts identity | - |
| Flag Lamp | Jonathan Olfert | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 5852 | February 05, 2026 | 2 | A maintenance worker in the Saturn system contemplates quitting after a corporate buyout. | 3rd person | maintenance space space-station authority saturn enceladus silence rituals anxiety change capitalism drugs | - |
| Bloodchild | Octavia E. Butler | Science Fiction | Bloodchild and Other Stories | Book | - | July 24, 2012 | 7452 | February 04, 2026 | 4 | An adolescent boy on an alien planet must make a life-changing decision involving his host. | 1st person | eggs caretaking duty pride pain aliens worms fear insects anger despair love coming-of-age choice planet | https://archive.org/details/Asimovs_v08n06_1984-06/page/n33/mode/2up |
| A Future Full of Glaciers | Peter Medeiros | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 8170 | February 04, 2026 | 3 | A young man swims across a lake to save a friend from losing his best friend while being observed by a machine intelligence in the deep. | 2nd/1st person | vacation student friendship swimming lake vermont aliens first-contact ai | - |
| Unsung | Derrick Boden | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 5250 | February 03, 2026 | 3 | A boy groomed to be a savior longs to fulfill his destiny. | 3rd person | savior satellites alaska anchorage cyborg war asteroid-belt spaceship automaton saturn io titan callisto jupiter europa hero futility fate | - |
| Artificial Cupidity | Hayden Trenholm | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 3490 | February 01, 2026 | 3 | An advisor to the AI US president discusses friendship with her. | 3rd person | robots ai friendship president satire humor politics | - |
| A Goodbye at the End of the Universe | Ian Baaske | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 1879 | February 01, 2026 | 3 | A family lives and dies over the years as the patriarch slowly falls into a black hole. | 3rd person | mistakes black-hole death family time-dilation | - |
| Jiggity Jog | Don Mark Baldridge | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 1378 | February 01, 2026 | 3 | A time traveler tlls of his adventures attempting to uplift humanity in the past. | 1st person | roller-skates inca time-travel | - |
| The Origami Man | Doug Franklin | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 9444 | February 01, 2026 | 5 | A fisherman with a dying son discovers what looks like a dead body while fishing off the coast of Alaska. | 1st person | batten-disease food fishermen sea family father-son meteor-shower raven alaska sitka aliens origami-cranes recovery farming tradition | - |
| Salary Man | Matt McHugh | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 3889 | February 01, 2026 | 3 | A Japanese businessman working at an insurance company uses his position to support a moon colony. | 3rd person | insurance moon family money japan tokyo | - |
| Silver Hands | E.L. Mellor | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 2069 | February 01, 2026 | 4 | a young musician on scholarship is forced to make a devastating choice. | 3rd person | prosthetic music feelings choices | - |
| Still Cold, Still Losing Air | Sean Monaghan | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 4695 | February 01, 2026 | 2 | An astronaut on Mars has to deal with a leak in his suit on his birthday. | 3rd person | mars birthday astronauts survival | - |
| You Who Sought the Stars' Distant Light | Stewart C. Baker | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 3175 | February 01, 2026 | 4 | Someone breaking into a spaceship is killed by that spaceship not knowing how they are related. | 1st/2nd person | murder spaceship regret grief love relationships | - |
| Sin Eaters | Mark W. Tiedemann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | January 01, 2026 | 12963 | January 31, 2026 | 5 | A man whose wife died of cancer investigates the kidnapping of two alien children. | 3rd person | aliens children hunter race torture first-contact justice blame atonement diplomacy politics manipulation grief resentment guilt | - |
| Girl Stuff | Claire Humphrey | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 68 | January 01, 2026 | 1482 | January 30, 2026 | 2 | Three girls try out what they want to be as adults. | 1st person | girlhood truck guns lgbtq boy bicycle suicide sun hope dark | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/girl-stuff/ |
| Words That Wither, Words That Bloom | Jules Arbeaux | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 68 | January 01, 2026 | 1490 | January 30, 2026 | 3 | In a family that can talk to and hear plantes, a daughter who yearned for her mother's attention has children of her own. | 3rd person | magic mother-daughter love diligent plants longing neglect | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/words-that-wither-words-that-bloom/ |
| The Memory Hounds of Bak-Ankham | A.W. Prihandita | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 68 | January 01, 2026 | 8190 | January 29, 2026 | 2 | A woman who is made to forget every night by a hound licking her all over struggles what to remember. | 3rd person | factory remembering dogs cleanse forgetting gore violence body-horror love silence grief longing relationships pain body | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-memory-hounds-of-bak-ankham/ |
| This Story Does Not Exist | Kylie Lee Baker | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 68 | January 01, 2026 | 6337 | January 28, 2026 | 4 | A computer scientist tries to create an AI robot that can write and gets more than he bargained for. | 3rd person | robots japanese story new-york-city ai jealousy fear identity | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/this-story-does-not-exist/ |
| A Touch of Lavender | Megan Lindholm | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 1989 | 20551 | January 28, 2026 | 4 | A music-loving woman accidentally touches a Skoag, becoming a gropie who can't care for her children. | 1st person | music aliens housing politics immigration drugs seattle race racism clones government diplomacy siblings | https://archive.org/details/Asimovs_v13n11_1989-11/page/n19/mode/2up |
| I Met You on the Train | J.R. Dawson | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 68 | January 01, 2026 | 1533 | January 27, 2026 | 3 | A guy who can briefly turn back time uses it to meet a girl on a train. | 1st/2nd person | love time-travel lgbtq creepy train backpack tv-show | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/i-met-you-on-the-train/ |
| Be My Horse, Ride the Cowboy | Christopher Caldwell | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 68 | January 01, 2026 | 5322 | January 26, 2026 | 2 | A magic copy enlists two lovers to help him nab a witch who peddles Jesus. | 1st person | dancing lgbtq sex magic church bounty-hunter sin race witches | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/be-my-horse-ride-the-cowboy/ |
| The Doorkeepers | A.T. Greenblatt | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 68 | January 01, 2026 | 8840 | January 26, 2026 | 5 | The Doorkeepers to time loops of future and present face what to do in the face of what they learn. | 1st person | alcohol door time-loop relationships breakups time-travel choices responsibility | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-doorkeepers/ |
| And Then There Were (N-One) | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 23786 | January 24, 2026 | 5 | Sarah Pinsker is invited to a SarahCon where other Sarah Pinskers from across the multiverse will be and where one of the dies under suspicious circumstances. | 1st person | canada lgbtq nova-scotia multiverse death murder seattle baltimore | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/and-then-there-were-n-one/ |
| Human Resources | Adrian Tchaikovsky | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | April 30, 2025 | 3580 | January 24, 2026 | 4 | Tim stock, the newly promoted head of HR wonders when he will be the person let go. | 3rd person | human-resources firing automation ai machine-learning algorithm robots satire lgbtq dark | https://reactormag.com/human-resources-adrian-tchaikovsky/ |
| The Narwhal | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 7592 | January 23, 2026 | 3 | A woman whose mother left her a car in the shape of a whale hires a woman to ride with her in it across the country. | 3rd person | gig-work superhero whales road-trip weird | |
| Our Lady of the Open Road | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 14278 | January 22, 2026 | 4 | Luce and her band mates travel to live gigs in their manual drive van in a world of self-driving cars and StageHolo entertainment. | 1st person | music touring band holograms pandemic lgbtq disability indiana ohio columbus bicycle van theft loss community | |
| Space is Deep | Seth Chambers | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 232 | January 01, 2026 | 3660 | January 22, 2026 | 3 | A man with two wives on a generation ship discovers that his feet are morphing into something alien. | 1st person | space spaceship space-ark quantum-entanglement polyamory feet alienation lgbtq sex | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chambers_01_26 |
| The Desolate Order of the Head in the Water | A.W. Prihandita | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 232 | January 01, 2026 | 4650 | January 20, 2026 | 3 | A child of AI resistant parents attempts to find his own way after they leave him alone. | 3rd person | child city silence head lgbtq ai ai-takeover | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prihandita_01_26 |
| Tomorrow's Beautiful Dream | Ju Chu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 232 | January 01, 2026 | 6150 | January 18, 2026 | 4 | A worker who sells his body for mindless work finds a company that may make him rich but at a cost. | 3rd person | construction robots androids gig-work souls technology minds brains | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ju_01_26 |
| Wind Will Rove | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 14600 | January 18, 2026 | 5 | A fiddle player and history teacher contemplates in a letter to her daughter what it means to be between. | 1st person | fiddle spaceship space-ark disability history art music lgbtq cape-breton canada stagnant between | https://sarahpinsker.com/files/WindWillRove_Pinsker.pdf |
| No Lonely Seafarer | Sarah Pinsker | Fantasy | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 6163 | January 17, 2026 | 4 | An indentured intersex boy is borrowed by a sailor captain to escape the sirens haunting the bay. | 1st person | death sea sirens lgbtq singing horses sailors choice | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/lonely-seafarer/ |
| Je Ne Regrette Rien | James Patrick Kelly | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 232 | January 01, 2026 | 16380 | January 16, 2026 | 3 | An American robotics professor travels to China to meet a new type of robot. | 1st person | china robots academia sentience death relationships ai love | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kelly_01_26 |
| In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 8280 | January 15, 2026 | 5 | After he suffers a stroke, a man's wife remembers the day her husband changed. | 3rd person | old-age relationships lgbtq drawing art architecture tree-house aliens regret | https://strangehorizons.com/fiction/in-joy-knowing-the-abyss-behind-part-1-of-2/ |
| Joiner and Rust | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | January 14, 2026 | 8520 | January 14, 2026 | 3 | An aging robot, on a journey to visit a friend, reflects on their adventures together. | 3rd person | robots sentience cats ghosts data quest war useless spaceship watermelon babies | https://reactormag.com/joiner-and-rust-lavie-tidhar/ |
| Donor Unknown | Nika Murphy | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 232 | January 01, 2026 | 7670 | January 13, 2026 | 3 | A woman seeks out a matchmaking android on Station 10 to help her find and retrieve an old family painting. | 3rd person | androids relationships space-station matchmaking painting investigation jews nazis self-determination | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/murphy_01_26 |
| The Sewell Home for the Temporally Displaced | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 830 | January 13, 2026 | 4 | Two women in a nursing home for those who see into other times go to a meal in the dining hall. | 1st person | time-travel lgbtq nursing-home relationships time love | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-sewell-home-for-the-temporally-displaced/ |
| Down We Go Gently | M.L. Clark | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 232 | January 01, 2026 | 4760 | January 11, 2026 | 3 | A father and son, space faring traders, stop at a planet to restock. | 3rd person | order chaos overwhelm father-son contrast culture | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/clark_01_26 |
| Talking with Dead People | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 4678 | January 11, 2026 | 5 | The main character remembers her college roommate and the strange business they had together. | 1st person | lizzie-borden murder family model-houses mystery ai siblings death video-games business | |
| The Low Hum of Her | Sarah Pinsker | Fantasy | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 2653 | January 10, 2026 | 4 | A young girl's grandmother dies, and her father makes a robot replacement for her. | 1st person | father-daughter grandmother jews escape robots life death childhood acceptance | |
| The Stars You Can't See by Looking Directly | Samantha Murray | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 232 | January 01, 2026 | 4940 | January 10, 2026 | 5 | A strange snow falls all over the world on Christmas and afterward all children are biologically different. | 2nd person | christmas snow jealousy summer australia pregnancy relationships lgbtq parasites polarization | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/murray_01_26 |
| The Moving Finger | Adam-Troy Castro | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 188 | January 01, 2026 | 3390 | January 08, 2026 | 4 | The main character contemplates his existence and how interacting with people leads to them having never existed. | 1st person | sex love death loneliness | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-moving-finger/ |
| Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 7563 | January 07, 2026 | 4 | Missing her wife, Bay finds a rock star washed up on the beach, alive. | 1st person | music sea shipwreck lgbtq relationships island post-apocalyptic | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/sooner-or-later-everything-falls-into-the-sea/ |
| Academic Neutrality | M.R. Robinson | Horror | Lightspeed | Magazine | 188 | January 01, 2026 | 1498 | January 06, 2026 | 3 | A post doc is forced to manage the fallout from a deal the university made with the devil that leaves students flaying themselves. | 2nd person | gore academia devil contracts | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/academic-neutrality/ |
| Remembering Day | Sarah Pinsker | Fantasy | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 2825 | January 05, 2026 | 4 | A young girl asks her mother about the war she fought in on the one day everyone celebrates its end. | 1st person | army veterans war ptsd mother-daughter memories forgetting | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/remembery-day |
| Where the Chicken-Footed Dwell | Marisca Pichette | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 188 | January 01, 2026 | 2022 | January 05, 2026 | 5 | A young girl leaves town by going into the woods seeking a way to keep everyone from looking at her. | 3rd person | body-image forest house judgment escape | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/where-the-chicken-footed-dwell/ |
| And We Were Left Darkling | Sarah Pinsker | Fantasy | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 2944 | January 04, 2026 | 2 | A woman dreams of a baby she never had and it feels real to her. | 1st person | babies dreams lgbtq delusion relationships motherhood | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/and-we-were-left-darkling/ |
| Choose Your Own Damnation | Kehkashan Khalid | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 188 | January 01, 2026 | 1353 | January 04, 2026 | 4 | A teenager desperately tries to avoid telling his parents he got a C- on a test. | 2nd person | immigration pakistan grades teens high-school hell | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/choose-your-own-damnation/ |
| A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes Wide | Sarah Pinsker | Science Fiction | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Book | - | March 19, 2019 | 4461 | January 03, 2026 | 3 | After a farming accident takes his entire right arm, a young farmer learns to use his new, advanced prosthetic arm that is connected to his brain. | 3rd person | cybernetics tattoos accident prosthetic saskatchewan canada road colorado lgbtq disability brain-computer-interface | https://escapepod.org/2015/06/27/ep497-a-stretch-of-highway-two-lanes-wide/ |
| Bots All the Way Down | Effie Seiberg | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 188 | January 01, 2026 | 917 | January 03, 2026 | 4 | An AI who used to maximize ingredients bought through its recipes tries to figure out why its numbers are declining. | 3rd person | ai recipes algorithm humans seo | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/bots-all-the-way-down/ |
| A Brief Public Announcement | Eli Brown | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 188 | January 01, 2026 | 362 | January 03, 2026 | 2 | An announcement regretting the failure of the Apollo program. | 1st person | moon failure regret alternate-history | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-brief-public-announcement/ |
| Hunter, Hunter | Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 188 | January 01, 2026 | 4243 | January 03, 2026 | 4 | A female Hunter, who kills Mutants on a space ark is summoned unexplainably by an Engineer. | 1st person | death hunting mutants race spaceship lgbtq virus nanobots space-ark | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/hunter-hunter/ |
| Mother's Hip | Corey Jae White Maddison Stoff | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 188 | January 01, 2026 | 5783 | January 02, 2026 | 3 | A trans woman fights in a war for Amazon as a cybernetic mother ship. | 3rd person | war motherhood cybernetics music capitalism environment self-determination lgbtq pain loss | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/mothers-hip/ |
| Where Are They Now? | Meg Ellison | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 180 | May 01, 2025 | 999 | December 26, 2025 | 4 | The fat boy from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory give the reader a look behind the scenes. | 1st person | chocolate factory celebrity candy obesity immigration humor | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/where-are-they-now/ |
| Memories of the MindMe | David Marino | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 187 | December 01, 2025 | 6646 | December 25, 2025 | 4 | A young man mines the brain of a dead god in search of his parents and why they left him alone. | 3rd person | gods mountains minds orphan the-past skull brains hunger memories loneliness choices | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/memories-of-the-mindmine/ |
| HagioClass | José Pablo Iriarte | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 187 | December 01, 2025 | 1630 | December 21, 2025 | 5 | A man in a writing group tries to impress a woman in the group with his subscription to an AI of Ernest Hemingway. | 3rd person | bookstore writing writers ai criticism writing-group | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/hagioclass/ |
| Crickets in Lost Light | Jonathan Olfert | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 187 | December 01, 2025 | 5151 | December 20, 2025 | 5 | A former tithe collector and a looter band together to survive their difficult circumstances. | 3rd person | church tithes money magic gods elephants looting sex violence emotions | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/crickets-in-lost-light/ |
| You Always Told Her You'd Give Her the World | Aimee Ogden | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 187 | December 01, 2025 | 764 | December 20, 2025 | 4 | Your daughter asks for the moon as a gift and you give it to her, literally, consequences be damned. | 2nd person | parenting wealth father-daughter moon | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/you-always-told-her-youd-give-her-the-world/ |
| The Space Between Us | P.A. Cornell | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 187 | December 01, 2025 | 1505 | December 19, 2025 | 4 | A tale of humans in love who can't ever be together physically. | 1st person | relationships love aliens space-station planet diplomacy colonization | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-space-between-us/ |
| The Hub Living Among the Stars | Oyedotun Damilola Muees | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 187 | December 01, 2025 | 2982 | December 18, 2025 | 2 | At a tourist hub in the galaxy, two guides give a tour of the resort and various creatures. | 1st person | robots humanoids tourism resorts | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-hub-living-among-the-stars/ |
| Reality Check | Nancy Kress | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 187 | December 01, 2025 | 5670 | December 17, 2025 | 5 | Parents, concerned about their son's refusal to leave his room where he plays video games all the time, enroll him in a clinical trial. | 3rd person | family relationships parenting los-angeles video-games mental-health clinical-trials infidelity personality empathy | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/reality-check/ |
| Us, in Another Universe | A.C. Wise | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 187 | December 01, 2025 | 1440 | December 17, 2025 | 3 | Lovers who can never consummate their love keep meeting across universes. | 1st person | sexless fighting multiverse love | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/us-in-another-universe/ |
| Home Grown | Madeleine Vigneron | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 231 | December 01, 2025 | 3960 | December 16, 2025 | 4 | One of a pair of sisters leaves the other to escape a doomed earth. | 1st person | sophies-choice climate-change escape survival generation-ship lgbtq family the-past siblings | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vigneron_12_25 |
| This Sepulchral Aegis | Rob Gilham | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 231 | December 01, 2025 | 6830 | December 15, 2025 | 3 | A generation ship takes on a person in a smaller, more advanced vessel, creating a conflict. | 3rd person | spaceship aliens generation-ship community multiple-personalities death hibernation | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/gillham_12_25 |
| Between Here and Everywhere | Robert Reed | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 231 | December 01, 2025 | 13950 | December 14, 2025 | 2 | A human and his panwere companion cruise the universe trying to find answers. | 3rd/2nd person | travel shapeshifter mentally-impaired fear love | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/reed_12_25 |
| The Hole | Ferenc Samsa | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 231 | December 01, 2025 | 11340 | December 14, 2025 | 2 | An agent of the Castle hunts the renegade sentient golem called the Thermidor. | 1st person | golem mystery sex sentience ai city hole wall | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/samsa_12_25 |
| The Cold Burns | Anne Wilkins | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 231 | December 01, 2025 | 5710 | December 12, 2025 | 5 | A young man and his mother try to survive in a "utopia" that measures their worth by their carbon footprint. | 1st person | cold cryogenics climate-change dystopia murder family cannibalism resistance rebellion | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wilkins_12_25 |
| Imperfect Simulations | Michelle Z. Jin | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 231 | December 01, 2025 | 3430 | December 11, 2025 | 4 | An augmented boy runs probabilities as his planet descends toward war with earth. | 3rd person | planet games probability augmented-humans interstellar-war interstellar | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jin_12_25 |
| Tomorrow. Today. | R.T. Ester | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 231 | December 01, 2025 | 2470 | December 10, 2025 | 5 | A boy contemplates with his father when to transfer to a new body that doesn't age. | 3rd person | illness father-son body-swapping parenthood coming-of-age | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ester_12_25 |
| To Speak in Silence | Mary Robinette Kowal | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 67 | November 01, 2025 | 2307 | December 06, 2025 | 5 | The clay chickens on an old woman's organ wait for her to come play it. | 3rd person | organ letter-carrier old-woman care compassion | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/to-speak-in-silence/ |
| Who Are You Wearing? | Russell Nichols | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 67 | November 01, 2025 | 999 | December 06, 2025 | 4 | A man works to make money for his daughter but his exo-suit malfunctions. | 2nd person | gig-work divorce love exo-suit self-control autonomy | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/who-are-you-wearing/ |
| Anémona | Ana Hurtado | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 67 | November 01, 2025 | 6649 | December 05, 2025 | 2 | Girlfriends reunite at each house one last time. | 3rd person | oysters forgetting women casablanca spanish beach worms friendship hide-and-seek | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/anemona/ |
| The Teleporting Disaster Fairy | Rati Mehrota | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 67 | November 01, 2025 | 4197 | December 05, 2025 | 4 | After her parents are killed by a car crashing into their diner, a young woman finds herself transporting involuntarily. | 3rd person | teleportation london toronto plane-crash orphan disaster time-travel suffering purpose | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-teleporting-disaster-fairy/ |
| Thicker | Eleanna Castroianni | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 67 | November 01, 2025 | 5038 | December 05, 2025 | 3 | A mother returns to her under water village with her daughter to bury Grandfather. | 3rd person | water village flooding civil-war ancestors attraction remembering athens community walkman | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/thicker/ |
| And on Their Graves a Fall of Angels | Natalia Theodoridou | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 67 | November 01, 2025 | 12541 | December 04, 2025 | 3 | In a world where funerals are held for people buried alive, a trans man shoots fallen angels. | 3rd person | angels language cabin lgbtq funerals love community | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/and-on-their-graves-a-fall-of-angels/ |
| The Millay Illusion | Sarah Pinsker | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 67 | November 01, 2025 | 9210 | December 01, 2025 | 5 | A young magician befriends another female illusionist with more ambition. | 1st person | performance magic deception story loneliness friendship ambition feminism | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-millay-illusion/ |
| Beneath the Umdlebe Tree; or, A Vegetable Love Story | Modupeoluwa Shelle | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 186 | November 01, 2025 | 1517 | November 30, 2025 | 2 | A human lover pines for his alien lover. | 1st person | magic lies deception myth love ecology | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/beneath-the-umdlebe-tree-or-a-vegetable-love-story/ |
| The Cold Burning Light of Her | Sam W. Pisciotta | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 186 | November 01, 2025 | 1074 | November 30, 2025 | 3 | A girl makes a girl of mud as a friend and things don't go to plan. | 3rd person | loneliness magic homunculus balance | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-cold-burning-light-of-her/ |
| How to Build a Homecoming Queen: A Guide by a Bad Asian Girl | Tina S. Zhu | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 186 | November 01, 2025 | 5770 | November 30, 2025 | 3 | A teenage girl creates a homunculus in an effort to avoid her issues and leave town. | 1st person | art asian homunculus divorce influencers lgbtq | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-to-build-a-homecoming-queen-a-guide-by-a-bad-asian-girl/ |
| In the Zone | Lisa M. Bradley | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 186 | November 01, 2025 | 5562 | November 29, 2025 | 4 | A woman who can rescue immigrants by pulling them to her from a live video stream loses that power and seeks to get it back. | 3rd person | art immigration portal magic burnout friendship | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/in-the-zone/ |
| Elegy for Zephyr One | Gene Doucette | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 186 | November 01, 2025 | 8142 | November 27, 2025 | 5 | The sole human survivor of a crash tells how a synthetic human did it. | 3rd person | spaceship robots violence capitalism murder conspiracy mars turing-test | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/elegy-for-zephyr-one/ |
| Operation: Grapevine | Joel W. D. Buxton | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 186 | November 01, 2025 | 1671 | November 27, 2025 | 4 | The CIA finds someone with no gossip in order to defeat a rogue AI. | 3rd person | ai sentience gossip movies television apocalypse humor | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/operation-grapevine/ |
| Visible Damage | Nina Kiriki Hoffman | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 186 | November 01, 2025 | 1100 | November 27, 2025 | 3 | A veteran who has become a security statue is confronted by a member of the alien race that nearly killed him. | 1st person | art augmented-humans veterans reconstruction androids space-station museum | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/visible-damage/ |
| The Fire Burns Anyway | Kemi Ashing-Giwa | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 230 | November 01, 2025 | 1380 | November 26, 2025 | 3 | A dreamweaver contemplates quitting making art for a living. | 2nd person | dreams authority art ai | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ashing-giwa_11_25 |
| How to Set Up Your Mourning Robot | Angela Liu | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 186 | November 01, 2025 | 950 | November 26, 2025 | 3 | An instruction manual for a robot that will mourn your death. | 2nd person | robots grief pets | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-to-set-up-your-mourning-robot/ |
| Ratlines | Brent Baldwin | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 230 | November 01, 2025 | 1020 | November 25, 2025 | 3 | A teacher convicted by the state must live his life as the brains for a ship that ferries powerful people to safety. | 1st person | spaceship brain-in-a-box dystopia authority teaching | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/baldwin_11_25 |
| Prerequisites for the Creation of a Possible Predicted World | Chisom Umeh | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 230 | November 01, 2025 | 4800 | November 24, 2025 | 4 | When a simulation of the 1962 Worlds Fair goes wrong one man saves it with a simple observation. | 3rd person | ai planet stories climate-change worlds-fair seattle | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/umeh_11_25 |
| Trees at Night | Ramiro Sanchez trans. by Sue Burke | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 230 | November 01, 2025 | 6060 | November 24, 2025 | 2 | A librarian on Kastorp tries to help a boy with the Illness. | 1st person | illness planet empathy alternate-history soviet trees | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sanchiz_11_25 |
| The Apologists | Tade Thompson | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 230 | November 01, 2025 | 21060 | November 22, 2025 | 4 | A female detective investigates a double homicide and finds some unexplainable things. | 3rd person | murder detective london lgbtq england androids aliens life | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/thompson_11_25 |
| Jade Fighter | D.A. Xiaolin Spires | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 230 | November 01, 2025 | 10860 | November 20, 2025 | 4 | A lonely woman meets a sentient NPC in a VR training program. | 1st person | snow vr npc tai-chi loneliness martial-arts training friendship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/spires_11_25 |
| The Stone Played at Tengen | R.H. Wesley | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 230 | November 01, 2025 | 6510 | November 20, 2025 | 3 | A goban of stars appears in the sky and the Japanese court starts a game with the gods. | 1st person | baduk tuberculosis illness stars gods death | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wesley_11_25 |
| Before, After, and the Space Between | Kel Coleman | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 4800 | November 19, 2025 | 5 | A dying daughter estranged from her mother calls her back to free her. | 1st/2nd person | mother-daughter relationships family magic necromancy school lgbtq | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/before-after-and-the-space-between |
| Come Here, Ofelia | Cynthia Gómez | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 3900 | November 19, 2025 | 4 | A judge finds herself pregnant after forcing a girl to stay pregnant. | 3rd person | pregnancy death birth coercion violence blood abortion | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/come-here-ofelia |
| Cassandra and the Changeling | R.J. Sterling | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 1000 | November 18, 2025 | 2 | A carousel that is God changes the kids who go there. | 1st/2nd person | skies gods children carousel | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/cassandra-and-the-changeling |
| FAQ on My Vagina Dentata | Jarune Uwujaren | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 1000 | November 18, 2025 | 3 | A woman with teeth in her vulva answers questions about her experiences. | 1st person | vulva teeth sex fear misogyny feminism monsters | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/faq-on-my-vagina-dentata |
| The Fate You Choose | Nadia Radovich | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 1000 | November 18, 2025 | 2 | A retelling of the myth of Atalanta where you are her. | 2nd person | myth greece hunting fate gods | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/the-fate-you-choose |
| The Horrible Conceit of Death and Night | J.A. Prentice | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 3800 | November 18, 2025 | 5 | A young lover fakes death to be with her true love. | 1st person | death cats stories love sea religion | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/the-horrible-conceit-of-death-and-night |
| We Used to Wake to Song | Leah Ning | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 2200 | November 17, 2025 | 4 | A woman who has become part of a coral reef is visited by the daughter she left behind. | 1st person | sea death metamorphosis climate-change mothers body-horror | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/we-used-to-wake-to-song |
| Code Green | Rebecca Johnson | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 5900 | November 15, 2025 | 4 | A man who caused a world changing genetic mutation is about to get a new pair of lungs. | 1st person | mutations nurses virus genetics transplant grief | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/code-green |
| The Dark House | A.C. Wise | Horror | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | - | October 29, 2025 | 6546 | November 14, 2025 | 3 | A photographer’s obsession with an unsettled subject exposes two friends to a darkness that won’t be contained by frames… | 1st person | house friendship dark | https://podcastaddict.com/it-s-storytime-with-wil-wheaton/episode/209672282 |
| The Odyssey Problem | Chris Willrich | Science Fiction | It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton | Podcast | - | November 05, 2025 | 5770 | November 14, 2025 | 3 | A prisoner is saved by one civilization then another. | 1st person | sentience ethics compassion humanity | https://podcastaddict.com/it-s-storytime-with-wil-wheaton/episode/210078414 |
| Ghosts of Summer | Catherine Tavares | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | September 01, 2025 | 1000 | November 13, 2025 | 4 | The author remembers a hot summer where she and her partner summed ghosts to stay cool. | 1st/2nd person | heat relationships ghosts death love | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/ghosts-in-summer |
| Liecraft | Anita Moskat trans. by Austin Wagner | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 151 | October 01, 2025 | 8800 | November 13, 2025 | 2 | A world built on lies tells them to keep away the rot and destruction. | 1st person | deception relationships mute lies sing-language destruction | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/liecraft |
| Dating Fortune | Sean McMullen | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 185 | October 01, 2025 | 1450 | November 12, 2025 | 4 | A mathematician dying of cancer goes on a bender and ends up on a date with Lady Fortune. | 3rd person | cancer betrayal sex violence murder | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/dating-fortune/ |
| Drosera Regina | A.L. Goldfuss | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 185 | October 01, 2025 | 6469 | November 12, 2025 | 4 | A woman who devours men like a plant, seeks a man who will see her as she is and love her. | 3rd person | sex cannibalism carnivorous-plants body-horror murder masterbation loneliness | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/drosera-regina/ |
| Dirge and Gleam | Micah Dean Hicks | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 185 | October 01, 2025 | 10203 | November 11, 2025 | 4 | A girl with a ghost attached to her finds a magic school where she tries to help a classmate. | 1st person | ghosts death connection magic school children loss academia lgbtq | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/dirge-and-gleam/ |
| At the Bottom of the Bonfire | Martin Cahill | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 185 | October 01, 2025 | 1370 | November 10, 2025 | 4 | A budding magician burns his connection to everyone he knows to gain more power. | 3rd person | relationships magic power money fire regret fear death | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/at-the-bottom-of-the-bonfire/ |
| Thaw | An Owomoyela | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 185 | October 01, 2025 | 1484 | November 09, 2025 | 2 | Two creatures on another planet explore changes in the water. | 1st person | thaw ice reproduction dreams curiosity planet | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/thaw/ |
| Everyone Hates the Auditor | Megan Chee | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 185 | October 01, 2025 | 3558 | November 07, 2025 | 4 | A Manager on a space station escorts the Auditor around his warehouse. | 3rd person | space-station business management inventory audit accounting humor | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/everyone-hates-the-auditor/ |
| O Mechfighter, O Starsinger | Osahon Ize-Iyamu | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 185 | October 01, 2025 | 6058 | November 06, 2025 | 3 | The titular characters struggle with their work and end up finding each other. | 3rd/1st person | freedom longing hope belief grace dancing fighting human-trafficking | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/o-mechfighter-o-starsinger/ |
| The Porniest Porn in Porntown | Stephen Graham Jones | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 185 | October 01, 2025 | 1001 | November 06, 2025 | 4 | A future culture on desert world ritually views a short video scene from a movie before the Fall. | 3rd person | water waste rituals punishment movies | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-porniest-porn-in-porntown/ |
| Giant Grandmother | Liu Maijia | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 229 | October 01, 2025 | 6900 | November 04, 2025 | 3 | A granddaughter meets with her grandmother, an elephant, on the day she is evolving herself. | 1st person | elephants family evolution chromosomes dystopia genetics birthday | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_10_25 |
| In Luck's Panoply Clad, I Stand | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215 | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 229 | October 01, 2025 | 4090 | November 04, 2025 | 3 | A 6-meter tall human sacrifices herself in order to support refugees from a recent nuclear war. | 1st person | apocalypse survival war nuclear-war defiance principle refugees | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/barton_10_25 |
| The Job Interview | Carrie Vaughn | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 229 | October 01, 2025 | 6300 | November 04, 2025 | 4 | An engineer tries to get things done despite the red tape of bureaucracy. | 3rd person | space-station bureaucracy communication engineering | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vaughn_10_25 |
| Understudies | Greg Egan | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 229 | October 01, 2025 | 17220 | October 27, 2025 | 4 | A team of unenhanced human teens takes on a team of AI-enhanced students from another school. | 3rd person | tests ai math competition | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/egan_10_25 |
| The Cancer Wolves | Fiona Moore | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 229 | October 01, 2025 | 5860 | October 26, 2025 | 4 | Morag connects with her sister when the wolves she is studying start to attack sheep on the farms. | 3rd person | love security farming robots sheep freedom space relationships grief community | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_10_25 |
| Crabs Don't Scream | H.H. Pak | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 229 | October 01, 2025 | 7750 | October 26, 2025 | 2 | A Clerk falls in love with a human at the end of the world who turns out to be a Monstrous Worm. | 2nd person | time-travel love aliens worms | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/pak_10_25 |
| Wire Mother | Isabel J. Kim | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 229 | October 01, 2025 | 3180 | October 23, 2025 | 4 | A 17-year-old with a digital mother contemplates deleting her with code from a friend. | 3rd person | family father-daughter digital-people memory population ai sexual-assault murder grief | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_10_25 |
| Brooklyn Beijing | Hannah Yang | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 66 | September 01, 2025 | 880 | October 19, 2025 | 3 | When Beijing appears across the river from NYC, a young woman contemplates crossing the bridge to see here dad. | 2nd person | new-york-city beijing china immigration father-daughter | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/brooklyn-beijing/ |
| Wend-Way-Go | Tim Pratt | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 66 | September 01, 2025 | 4978 | October 19, 2025 | 5 | A man whose dog has run off is visited by his cousin in his latest beater car. | 1st person | cousins dog relationships teleportation divorce loneliness | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/wend-way-go/ |
| Seven Minutes in Heaven with the Electric Seraphim | Juliet Khan | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 66 | September 01, 2025 | 5285 | October 17, 2025 | 2 | Teenage girls find a way to move their consciousness online and commit suicide. | 1st person | virtual-life suicide upload digital-afterlife souls mind-body-problem consciousness life | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/seven-minutes-in-heaven-with-the-electric-seraphim/ |
| The Shadow on the Nest | Alaya Dawn Johnson | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 66 | September 01, 2025 | 10016 | October 17, 2025 | 5 | In a world of the superannuated, a woman who was a WWIII war criminal in a previous life wishes to make the memories go away. | 1st person | past-lives lgbtq old-age war-criminals memories spies | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-shadow-on-the-nest/ |
| The Caravan | Anamaría Curtis | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 66 | September 01, 2025 | 4744 | October 15, 2025 | 3 | A sister from the Caravan who floats, decides to return to where she came from. | 1st person | highway killing sisters floating overpass loss love | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-caravan/ |
| Whale Fall of Yours | M.M. Olivas | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 66 | September 01, 2025 | 6858 | October 14, 2025 | 5 | After her loving partner dies, a woman seeks solace from her grief traveling through space when she encounters a dying space whale. | 2nd person | spanish time-dilation mexico lgbtq spaceship aliens whales grief death loss haunting | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/whale-fall-of-yours/ |
| The Lure of Stone | Sylvia Moreno-Garcia | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 66 | September 01, 2025 | 21670 | October 12, 2025 | 4 | An aging sorceress seeks the provenance of her spirit ring in an attempt to replace it and comes across a mysterious cult in the mountains. | 3rd person | pearl ring spirits mountains priests stone statues cult origins magic aliens friendship | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-lure-of-stone/ |
| Mother Sun | Amy Nagopaleen | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 150 | July 01, 2025 | 4800 | October 07, 2025 | 3 | The writer tells of her love affair with Mona, separated as she escaped a dying world while Mona stayed behind. | 1st/2nd person | survival supernova planet apocalypse colonialism despair prejudice death love lgbtq doubt | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/mother-sun |
| We Who Hunt Alexander's Excerpt | Jason Sanford | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 150 | July 01, 2025 | 1020 | October 07, 2025 | 2 | Mother and daughter rippers hunt Alexanders. | 1st person | monsters murder death violence | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/we-who-hunt-alexanders |
| A Final Song for the Ages | Pedro Iniguez | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 150 | July 01, 2025 | 3550 | October 02, 2025 | 4 | A girl stranded on an alien planet attempts to contact other humans. | 3rd person | generation-ship spanish family grief mars frontier aliens civil-war insects language silence radio | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/a-final-song-for-the-ages |
| As Ephemeral as Bubbles | Akis Linardos | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 150 | July 01, 2025 | 1000 | September 30, 2025 | 3 | Around him, the narrator starts to see people and things pop like soapy bubbles. | 1st person | aliens children bubbles village | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/as-ephemeral-as-bubbles |
| Moebius Syndrome | Storm Humbert | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 150 | July 01, 2025 | 1000 | September 30, 2025 | 4 | Two agents time travel to capture James Baldwin in order to change history. | 1st person | new-york-city time-travel white-supremacy james-baldwin race bigotry | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/moebius-syndrome |
| Changeling | Frey Lylark | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 150 | July 01, 2025 | 990 | September 28, 2025 | 4 | A mother tries to prevent her daughter from be coming a changing with stones growing out of her skin. | 3rd person | body-horror family judgment stones religion knife lgbtq | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/changeling |
| Denizens of My Face | Emil Morel | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 150 | July 01, 2025 | 970 | September 27, 2025 | 4 | A girl with insects living one her face controlling her facial expressions struggles for acceptance in the world. | 1st person | insects body-horror | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/denizens-of-my-face |
| What the Crab Apple Tree Near Miranda Spaceport Saw | Elijah J. Mears | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 150 | July 01, 2025 | 960 | September 27, 2025 | 4 | A crab apple tree is witness to a civilization abandoning the moon it lives on. | 1st person | moon beauty trees love lgbtq longing choices | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/what-the-crab-apple-tree-near-miranda-spaceport-saw |
| Black Gold | E.M. Kerkman | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 150 | September 01, 2025 | 4400 | September 25, 2025 | 4 | A metallic humanoid robot searches for a copy of the Odyssey to see how it ends on a earth with no humans. | 1st person | robots reno hopelessness sentience oil old-west violence odyssey searching railway dystopia climate-change | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/black-gold |
| Orion and His Moon | J.S. Oriel | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 150 | September 01, 2025 | 470 | September 24, 2025 | 2 | A spacecraft and it's moon have to decide what to do when a colony falls silent. | 3rd person | space colonization spaceship supply child memory forgetting choices | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/orion-and-his-moon |
| A Rare and Exceptional Delicacy | G.M. Mitchell | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 150 | September 01, 2025 | 4200 | September 23, 2025 | 4 | An archeologist pines for a stranger across the room, longing to roll his eyes in his mouth. | 1st person | body-horror romance archaeology academia lgbtq post-apocalyptic cannibalism love | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/a-rare-and-exceptional-delicacy |
| My Song at the Conclave of Many Sorrows | Daniel A. Oluremi | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 150 | September 01, 2025 | 7000 | September 22, 2025 | 4 | A tribe's ruler prepares for invading foreigners in Africa. | 1st person | death mothers royalty war conquest priest trees spirits africa colonization colonialism | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/my-song-at-the-conclave-of-many-sorrows |
| Human Voices | Human Voices | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 184 | September 01, 2025 | 8433 | September 21, 2025 | 5 | Two sisters whose brother was drowned by a siren hold that siren captive. | 3rd person | siren capture silver theft siblings orphan monsters body-horror relationships regret burden | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/human-voices/ |
| On an Unusual Kind of Spatially Distributed Haunting | Bogi Takács | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 184 | September 01, 2025 | 1000 | September 20, 2025 | 4 | A scientist writes to another about a haunting they have caused by their intense emotions. | 1st/2nd person | construction haunting ghosts soil emotions letter epistolary academia | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/beginning-before-and-after-the-end/ |
| Apeiron | Cadwell Turnbull | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 184 | September 01, 2025 | 6057 | September 19, 2025 | 5 | A girl struck in a cabin with Maker learns about her growing power to create. | 3rd person | snow cabin lgbtq curiosity caves creativity empathy gods | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/apeiron/ |
| Beginning Before and After the End | Jake Stein | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 184 | September 01, 2025 | 759 | September 18, 2025 | 4 | The author attempts to convince the reader to NOT finish the story. | 1st/2nd person | multiverse ending meta | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/beginning-before-and-after-the-end/ |
| City of One | Stephen S. Power | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 184 | September 01, 2025 | 885 | September 17, 2025 | 4 | A description for a video game about not being seen with a sequel for being seen. | 2nd person | video-games satire humor dystopia death | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/city-of-one |
| The Girlfriend Experience | C.Z. Tacks | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 184 | September 01, 2025 | 5017 | September 16, 2025 | 5 | A sex worker deals with a client by donning a "costume" that shields her from the experience. | 3rd person | sex-work immigration technology costumes closet climate-change cyberpunk capitalism class | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-girlfriend-experience/ |
| The Place I Came To | Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 184 | September 01, 2025 | 982 | September 15, 2025 | 3 | A woman comes to a new city that at first seems foreign but then grows on her. | 1st person | country city food relationships rocks lgbtq | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-place-i-came-to/ |
| Last Meal Aboard the Awassa | Kel Coleman | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 184 | September 01, 2025 | 1792 | September 14, 2025 | 3 | The crew of a long-haul space research vessel prepares to be eaten by a space monster. | 3rd person | research planet catastrophe sentience lgbtq found-family disaster food death community relationships | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/last-meal-aboard-the-awassa/ |
| A World of Their Own | Robert Falco | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 228 | September 01, 2025 | 2610 | September 13, 2025 | 4 | A sentient drone survives an acid rain storm with the help of biomechanical creatures in the launch complex abandoned by humans for the stars. | 3rd person | magpies robots launch-complex apocalypse climate-change biomechanical-life acid-rain bullfrogs factory snake | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/falco_09_25/ |
| Five Impossible Things | Koji A. Dae | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 228 | September 01, 2025 | 4110 | September 12, 2025 | 5 | Alice, dying in hospice, attempts to gain citizenship in the simulation called Vtora Sviat. | 1st person | vr lgbtq hospice dystopia death relationships family | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/dae_09_25 |
| The Fury of the Glowmen | David McGillveray | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 228 | September 01, 2025 | 5290 | September 11, 2025 | 4 | An advanced AI is shutdown in Malaysia, but maybe not. | 3rd person | implants neural-implant kuala-lampur malaysia technology sentience london england | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/mcgillveray_09_25 |
| Aperture | Alexander Jablokov | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 228 | September 01, 2025 | 8890 | September 10, 2025 | 3 | An architect working to help bring back an ancient habitat in the asteroid belt struggles to make friends. | 1st person | asteroids habitat rehabilitation friendship socializing community | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jablokov_09_25 |
| Four People I Need You to Kill Before the Dance Begins | Louis Inglis Hall | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 228 | September 01, 2025 | 12590 | September 09, 2025 | 4 | Creatures created to dance and with somewhat of a collective mind plot their escape from slavery. | 1st/2nd person | birth horses murder ai robots planet colonization palace dancing studio mirrors slavery collective-memory revolution | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hall_09_25 |
| Wireworks | Sheri Singerling | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 228 | September 01, 2025 | 7210 | September 08, 2025 | 5 | A nearly twenty-year-old woman grieves her mother and seeks solace at the Cyber Circus. | 3rd person | flyer circus father-daughter death grief mothers robots mental-health despair suicide pain sentience free-will | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/singerling_09_25 |
| Abstraction is when I design giant death creatures and Attraction is when I do it for you | Claire Jia-Wen | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 228 | September 01, 2025 | 5830 | September 06, 2025 | 4 | A sister is compromised by her sister in a world where she designs the monsters her lover fights. | 1st person | lgbtq art data-breach sisters pilots mech-fights ai business love secrets trust lies sex violence poverty dark | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jia-wen_09_25 |
| Anti-Capitalism vs. the Man of Flowers | Naomi Kanakia | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 183 | August 01, 2025 | 860 | September 05, 2025 | 4 | Two supers at a convention complain about the protesting normies. | 1st person | flowers conventions elites superhero climate-change | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/anti-capitalism-vs-the-man-of-flowers/ |
| Savannah and the Apprentice | Christopher Rowe | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 183 | August 01, 2025 | 6536 | September 04, 2025 | 4 | A bounty hunting librarian sets out to catch an apprentice who killed his master. | 3rd person | librarian mule mercenary demons italy sword undead murder abuse | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/savannah-and-the-apprentice/ |
| Dad Went Out to Get the Milk | Osahon Ize-Iyamu | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 183 | August 01, 2025 | 953 | September 03, 2025 | 5 | Dad goes out to get the milk but seems unappreciated at home. | 1st person | family alienation overwork fathers work | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/dad-went-out-to-get-the-milk/ |
| It Might Be He Returns | Fatima Taqvi | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 183 | August 01, 2025 | 6134 | September 02, 2025 | 4 | A young street urchin in Karachi apprentices to a tailor in the mirror. | 3rd person | karachi pakistan mirrors death abandonment poverty father-son contracts school education trash greed tailor justice climate-change | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/it-might-be-he-returns/ |
| To Access Seven Obelisks, Press Enter | V.M. Ayala | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 183 | August 01, 2025 | 4481 | September 01, 2025 | 4 | A designer conspires with upper management to bring down the seven corporations. | 3rd person | capitalism corporations lgbtq vr glass virus rebellion love cyberpunk | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/to-access-seven-obelisks-press-enter/ |
| The Dream Tourists | Sarah Langan | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 183 | August 01, 2025 | 1545 | August 31, 2025 | 5 | A woman convicted of murder meets in secret with the judge and attorneys to tell them the whole story she wasn't allowed to in court. | 3rd person | dreams technology trials court immigration refugees capitalism | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-dream-tourists/ |
| Feast of Famine | Adam-Troy Castro | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 183 | August 01, 2025 | 6976 | August 30, 2025 | 5 | In a pocket dimension, a privileged galactic princes spends centuries eating his way through an infinite buffet. | 3rd person | food mulitverse pig gluttony hunger buffet royalty humor unique | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/feast-of-famine/ |
| Five Dispatches from Conflict Zone W-924/B Regarding Post-Battle Deployment of A. Thanatensis | David Anaxagoras | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 183 | August 01, 2025 | 1493 | August 29, 2025 | 5 | The developer of a. thanatensis examines the results of his organism at the site of a recent battle. | 1st person | war body forgetting eyes body-horror grief | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/five-dispatches-from-conflict-zone-w-924-b-regarding-post-battle-deployment-of-a-thanatensis-david-anaxagoras/ |
| Vwooom! | Uchechukwu Nwaka | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 227 | August 01, 2025 | 1390 | August 28, 2025 | 3 | An orphan with nothing to live for after a planetary war takes on a one-way mission into a space anomaly. | 2nd person | implants power ptsd war orphan | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/nwaka_08_25 |
| A Dream of Twin Sunsets | Ryan Cole | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 227 | August 01, 2025 | 5130 | August 27, 2025 | 5 | On a planet of rules and survival, a man falls in love with a deserter. | 1st person | lgbtq planet colonization rules military killing pollen poison bees duty freedom love | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/cole_08_25 |
| Heart of Thunder | Raahem Alvi | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 227 | August 01, 2025 | 8010 | August 26, 2025 | 5 | A man with mental health issues gets augmentations to his mind and body to deal with them. | 3rd person | neural-implant evil voices hallucinations delusion cybernetics technology neurodivergence parasites body-horror existential-angst capitalism war rebellion violence ai sentience | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/alvi_08_25 |
| Lamentations | Nicole Krauss | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | August 01, 2025 | 5868 | August 26, 2025 | 4 | A man deals with the sudden death of an old friend. | 1st person | death caves jerusalem israel friendship history archaeology | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/08/nicole-krauss-lamentations-short-story/683265/ |
| Sea of Fertility | Bella Han | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 227 | August 01, 2025 | 17180 | August 25, 2025 | 3 | A girl seeks her lost brother in the online world that is more real to them than reality. | 1st person | siblings city vr change feelings artificial-feelings cyberpunk music disappearance mystery | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/han_08_25 |
| Memories Are Only Valuable if They Can Be Lost | Ai Jiang | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 227 | August 01, 2025 | 5530 | August 21, 2025 | 3 | You work in the floating city hoping to make enough money to return home to the country for new year's. | 2nd person | memories work surveillance poverty family wedding photography privacy china city new-years trains | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jiang_08_25 |
| Sleeper | R.T. Ester | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 227 | August 01, 2025 | 4940 | August 20, 2025 | 2 | A person stuck in VR work takes a job assassinating the leader of a cult. | 1st person | clones debt fate cyberpunk vr assassination school cult | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ester_08_25 |
| And the Planet Loved Him | L Chan | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 227 | August 01, 2025 | 3290 | August 19, 2025 | 5 | The wife of a man killed on the planet is contacted by the native sentient mycelium. | 1st person | planet mining corporations mycelium sentience apocalypse meteorite challenging | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chan_08_25 |
| A Shaky Bridge | Marissa Lingen | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 227 | August 01, 2025 | 2900 | August 18, 2025 | 5 | A father who gets a neural implant after a stroke starts randomly spewing ads for the corporation that made the implant. | 3rd person | neural-implant mind-control family fear corporations capitalism technology | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lingen_08_25 |
| The Neighbors | L. Marie Wood | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 2300 | August 15, 2025 | 4 | A woman sits on her deck contemplating what the neighbors might be hiding. | 3rd person | climate-change thinking body-horror twist | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/the-neighbors |
| The Liberation of Brother Buffalo | Michael Boatman | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 12500 | August 14, 2025 | 5 | A man who lost his sister as a child finds himself married to a violent mega church preacher. | 1st/2nd person | death siblings race grand-canyon souls memory domestic-violence indigenous | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/the-liberation-of-brother-buffalo |
| As It Comes | Derek Alan Jones | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 100 | August 13, 2025 | 4 | One person comforts another at the end. | 1st person | comfort ending | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/as-it-comes |
| Extenta | Daniel Roop | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 1000 | August 13, 2025 | 4 | In the far future of humans enslaved and born in space, one discovers resistance. | 3rd person | slavery books cards resistance | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/extenta |
| The Fifth Horseman | Cressida Roe | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 100 | August 13, 2025 | 4 | A fifth horseman of the Apocalypse follows the first four. | 1st person | horses despair | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/the-fifth-horseman |
| Swan Song | Liam Hogan | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 100 | August 13, 2025 | 4 | Two drones descend to the ground after fighting stops. | 3rd person | drones war | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/swan-song |
| Things the Older Boy Understands | Sierra Branham | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 1000 | August 13, 2025 | 5 | Two boys on a ship to new world comfort each other as one dies from a thought worm. | 3rd person | boys thought-worms death disease survival language found-family | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/things-the-older-boy-understands |
| To Kill a Language | Rukman Ragas | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 800 | August 13, 2025 | 4 | A list of steps for how to kill a language. | 2nd person | language cruelty body story colonialism | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/to-kill-a-language |
| Heart Seeds | E. Thade | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 1700 | August 12, 2025 | 4 | After the Collapse, a robot child cares for its father. | 1st person | love dystopia epistolary children immortality sterility robots | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/heart-seed |
| I Remember a One-Sided Die | Francis Bass | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 7000 | August 12, 2025 | 2 | A young girl on an alien planet seeks to become a coordinator. | 1st person | death time aliens babies famine | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/i-remember-a-one-sided-die |
| Life as the Natural State of Things | Rich Larson | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 3500 | August 12, 2025 | 5 | Friends and brothers find their relationships undone by a simple wooden cup they discover. | 3rd person | cup fishermen friendship memory forgetting betrayal corruption | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/lies-as-the-natural-state-of-things |
| Seven Ribbons | Beth Goder | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 3400 | August 12, 2025 | 2 | A girl saves her sister from the penalties of being a traitor to her city. | 3rd person | city loyalty betrayal traitor sisters | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/seven-ribbons |
| The Best Way to Survive a Tiger Attack | A.W. Prihandita | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 65 | July 01, 2025 | 1495 | August 11, 2025 | 3 | A young girl who was mentally abused by her nanny who she sees as a tiger, does her best to behave. | 1st person | tiger fear child-abuse childcare silence | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-best-way-to-survive-a-tiger-attack/ |
| Shadows Below Seaway Trains | Ai Jiang | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 149 | July 01, 2025 | 4400 | August 11, 2025 | 4 | A friend tricks the main character into adopting a child for the money then abandons them both. | 1st/2nd person | trains children adoption debt parenthood fear city | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/shadows-below-seaway-trains |
| The Terrarium | Jordan Taylor | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 65 | July 01, 2025 | 3995 | August 10, 2025 | 4 | An heir to a lord in love with another young man let's loose fairy moths. | 3rd person | time magic moths fairies story | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-terrarium/ |
| Whalesong | Daniel H. Wilson | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 65 | July 01, 2025 | 7038 | August 10, 2025 | 5 | A mother and son confront each other on a research trip to observe the Great Convergence of whales. | 1st person | whales llm song language ai ocean mother-son | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/whalesong/ |
| The Garden | Emma Törzs | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 65 | July 01, 2025 | 5096 | August 09, 2025 | 3 | A god or undead trapped in the city due to running water in the canals watches her neighbor water her garden during a drought. | 1st person | gods water drought city canals | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-garden/ |
| Three Faces of a Beheading | Arkady Martine | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 58 | May 01, 2024 | 4139 | August 09, 2025 | 4 | A narrator tells you about a VR game about history. | 1st/2nd person | vr rebellion computer-games history emperor revisionist-history | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/three-faces-of-a-beheading/ |
| Finer than Silk, Brighter than Snow | Shveta Thakrar | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 65 | July 01, 2025 | 2385 | August 08, 2025 | 3 | A laundress learns ancient tales from a snake who turns out to be a Naga. | 3rd person | laundry old-woman snake story hindu india | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/finer-than-silk-brighter-than-snow/ |
| When He Calls Your Name | Catherynne M. Valente | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 65 | July 01, 2025 | 10619 | August 07, 2025 | 5 | A woman's husband is drawn away by a beauty who is not all that she seems to be. | 1st person | marriage relationships cheating old-gods vampires greed love lust | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/when-he-calls-your-name/ |
| The Diner at the Intersection of Duty and Despair | John Chu | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 65 | July 01, 2025 | 7422 | August 06, 2025 | 3 | Two chosen one participants work to save a bridge that holds worlds together. | 3rd person | songs harbinger quest lgbtq chosen-one potential love | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-diner-at-the-intersection-of-duty-and-despair/ |
| By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars | Premee Mohamed | Fantasy | Strange Horizons | Magazine | - | June 07, 2024 | 8468 | August 05, 2025 | 3 | A female wizard struggles with the fact that she has lost her powers as she takes on a new apprentice. | 3rd person | wizards magic loss apprentice aging deception | http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/by-salt-by-sea-by-light-of-stars/ |
| The Chronolithographer's Assistant | Suzanne Palmer | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 30507 | August 04, 2025 | 5 | A young man from a fishing family, terrified of the sea, seeks to become the assistant to an artist in a nearby cottage. | 3rd person | sea art fear printing-press time-travel cottage studio choice fate | - |
| The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea | Naomi Kritzer | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2024 | 13673 | August 04, 2025 | 5 | A seal researcher who lost her data tries to make a comeback in New England. | 1st person | seals boston minnesota ocean cape-cod misogyny kayak silkies minneapolis gaslighting academia | https://asimovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/TheFourSisters_Kritzer.pdf |
| Weepers | Peter Mendelsund | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 3755 | August 04, 2025 | 4 | A man tells of growing up with an abusive drunk of a father. | 1st person | violence domestic-violence father-son shame | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/07/peter-mendelsund-weepers/682908/ |
| The Courier | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 4292 | August 03, 2025 | 3 | A courier makes her rounds on Mars. | 3rd person | mars robots tradition loner | - |
| Vivienne | E.H. Lipton | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 164 | August 03, 2025 | 3 | A lover talks to his lover about a what if | 1st/2nd person | lovers violence imagination sword | - |
| In the Gardener's Service | Michèle Laframboise | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 14243 | August 02, 2025 | 4 | The Questor for the Emperor is tasked with preserving the empire by coming to the rescue of a young girl. | 3rd person | empire planet gods aliens | - |
| Pirates of Highship | Stephen Case | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 8121 | August 02, 2025 | 5 | The son of a very wealthy mother uses her money to experiment with trying to talk to a planetary mind. | 1st person | planet clouds storms gas-giant first-contact lgbtq minds communication translation algorithm | - |
| Aftermath | William Preston | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 6763 | July 31, 2025 | 4 | An investigator and his team look into strange events. | 3rd person | mars planet first-contact mystery death memory masks | - |
| Lake of Souls | Science Fiction | Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction | Book | - | April 02, 2024 | 12135 | July 31, 2025 | 4 | A lobster dog seeks the lake of souls and encounters a human anthropologist. | 3rd/1st person | fantasy lake crustaceans attraction souls transformation death grief butterfly cryogenics ship alone spaceship planet anthropology aliens | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/66fb731a-9637-48a4-b045-0e9b256dd58d | |
| Worm Song | Derek Künsken | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 6060 | July 30, 2025 | 4 | An augmented human finds herself alienated from her wife and drawn to the worm song. | 3rd person | augmented-humans dragons worms lgbtq poverty monsters planet song extinction sound gas-giant | - |
| Another Mother on Mars | Dominica Phetteplace | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 9916 | July 29, 2025 | 3 | A scientist on Mars longs to have a baby, specifically a clone. | 3rd person | mars scientists cloning babies birth relationships pandemic | - |
| In the Halls of the Makeshift King | Tobias S. Buckell | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 4928 | July 29, 2025 | 4 | A pilgram to the Alcove Above is made Makeshift King and has a big decision to make. | 3rd person | door spiral religion prayer king grief pilgrimage community | - |
| Most Things | Rich Larson | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 13570 | July 28, 2025 | 4 | Something from the quantum realm called the Slip has escaped and is searching for a scientist. | 1st person | quantum parasites kidnapping whistle-blowing drugs high | - |
| Under the Moons of Venus: A Tale of a Princess Altivolant | Jay Werkheiser Frank Wu | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 34072 | July 27, 2025 | 3 | A story of Venus as told at King George's court during the 1769 transit of Venus | 1st/3rd person | venus earth moon clouds princess egypt pirates climate-change | - |
| Ready for New Arrivals? | Sean Monaghan | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 6966 | July 25, 2025 | 5 | An astronaut on Ganymede falls down a hole while tethered to another. | 3rd person | thriller moon ganymede jupiter first-contact accident mining crater | - |
| The Marks We Leave | M. Ian Bell | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 6768 | July 24, 2025 | 5 | Rylek seeks to assuage his pain of the loss of his lover by saving some of the people in the simulation on which he works. | 3rd person | aliens simulation earth humans loss grief lgbtq scent loneliness collective-unconscious relationships | - |
| Your Entry to Paradise(TM) Memorial Experience | Robert Morrell, Jr. | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 999 | July 23, 2025 | 3 | A daughter's father bequeaths her an experience that teaches her to live life. | 2nd person | capsule death life memorials father-daughter | - |
| Jennifer Does Pushups | Joseph Weber | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 4460 | July 22, 2025 | 4 | A woman who survived a deadly car accident makes her living selling her gut biome. | 3rd person | accident health gut-biome ethics survival capitalism | - |
| ESRI | James Dick | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 12312 | July 21, 2025 | 4 | The daughter of a famous scientist follows in her footsteps sending a mission to Europa. | 3rd person | europa ice statues science politics enceladus relationships grief mystery life seti | - |
| Low-Tide Salvage | Matthew Claxton | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 6310 | July 18, 2025 | 4 | A father and daughter find a drone ship and work to salvage it for sale to the local Prosper. | 3rd person | ocean ships containers post-apocalyptic father-daughter | - |
| If The Algorithms Are Gentle | Bernie Jean Schiebeling | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 1139 | July 17, 2025 | 3 | Computer servers in a post-apocalyptic city with no humans observe a red panda plunder an ice cream cart. | 1st person | post-apocalyptic computers servers city red-panda ice-cream | - |
| Last Dam Standing | Dawn Vogel | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 2950 | July 16, 2025 | 3 | A retired doctor living alone in the mountains is contacted to help same a dam she designed 20 years prior. | 3rd person | climate-change dam flooding mountains river aging post-apocalyptic | - |
| Patient Was the Doctor | Victoria N. Shi | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 6761 | July 15, 2025 | 5 | A psychologist takes a job treating an octopus-like alien to get health coverage for IVF with is wife. | 1st person | aliens reproduction marriage psychology psychotherapy octopus best-friends language translation chinese grief hospice ethics dialectics | - |
| Hidden Achievement | Shane Tourtellotte | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 4504 | July 14, 2025 | 5 | Two people struggling in their dating and social lives download and play a new dating app. | 3rd person | social-media video-games socializing dating marriage | - |
| Desert Soul | David Gullen | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 11577 | July 13, 2025 | 3.5 | A female starfarer joins with a male boat captain seeking the last of insane timeless golems | 3rd person | sailing boats ocean planet companionship dedication time spaceship | - |
| The Lottery | Shirley Jackson | Literary | The New Yorker | Magazine | - | June 26, 1948 | 3369 | July 13, 2025 | 4 | A village holds its annual lottery. | 3rd person | lottery village tradition rituals | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery |
| The First Velodrome on Mars | Marie Vibbert | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 3921 | July 12, 2025 | 4 | A scientist on Mars becomes obsessed about getting credit for his velodrome project. | 3rd person | relationships fame mars bicycle obsession scientists | - |
| Liberation | Tade Thompson | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | April 16, 2025 | 7548 | July 12, 2025 | 3 | A young woman is recruited to be part of Nigeria's first ever space mission, but things go awry when the mission is thrown into chaos. | 3rd/1st person | space space-station emergency race africa colonialism coup self-sacrifice india nigeria | https://reactormag.com/liberation-tade-thompson/ |
| North Station Blues | David Gerrold | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 9141 | July 11, 2025 | 3 | A lowly employee on a station around a dying star plots his way out and up. | 1st person | stars trains supply-chain far-future capitalism tourism | - |
| Hunter Harvester | Bam Bruin | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 226 | July 01, 2025 | 3670 | July 09, 2025 | 4 | Women on a colonized planet who are harvesting native cabbages find out a bit more about what they are eating. | 1st/2nd person | planet colonization cabbage women pregnancy reproduction lgbtq | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/bruin_07_25 |
| A Land Called Folly | Amal Singh | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 226 | July 01, 2025 | 3660 | July 08, 2025 | 3 | A young man estranged from his space faring family returns home to his dying grandfather. | 2nd person | family planet memory way-station change pride | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/singh_07_25 |
| Bits and Pieces on This Floor | Eric Del Carlo | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 226 | July 01, 2025 | 4050 | July 07, 2025 | 4 | An officer of the Galactic Collective supervises the clearing of a mining planet that is being abandoned. | 1st person | planet terraforming mining corporations capitalism art family | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/delcarlo_07_25 |
| Serpent Carriers | K.A. Teryna | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 226 | July 01, 2025 | 14500 | July 06, 2025 | 2 | Three stories told by an old man around a fire. | 3rd person | planet words time grief war memories mycelium yak virus dna evolution chaos | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/teryna_07_25 |
| Welcome to Kearney | Gary Kloster | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 226 | July 01, 2025 | 9110 | July 05, 2025 | 5 | A newly sentient android shows up at a historic town/museum where the caretaker human fixes it. | 3rd person | climate-change robots sentience friendship complexity | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kloster_07_25 |
| The Walled Garden | Fiona Moore | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 226 | July 01, 2025 | 6530 | July 04, 2025 | 4 | A woman remembers what happened years ago when a former colleague tries to force her back to her old life. | 3rd person | robots farming nomads village garden art knowledge technology cooperation | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_07_25 |
| Missing Helen | Tia Tashiro | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 226 | July 01, 2025 | 5830 | July 03, 2025 | 5 | A woman learns that her ex-husband is engaged to her clone. | 2nd/1st person | clones marriage australia tattoos shark abuse family | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tashiro_07_25 |
| Flyover Country | Tim Maughan | Science Fiction | Blood in the Machine | Blog | - | April 08, 2025 | 2298 | July 02, 2025 | 4 | A vision of a poverty-stricken America where US Foxconn factories have sections for precarious day laborers as well as for detained migrants and “criminals,” all compelled to assemble an endless stream of iPhones. | 1st person | ubi factory iphones incarceration family injustice immigration | https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/flyover-country |
| Faces of the Antipode | Matthew Marcus | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 225 | June 01, 2025 | 8680 | June 30, 2025 | 5 | On a planet cooling due to the actions of its colonizers, one of them seeks answers among the indigenous people of the jungle on the opposite side of the planet. | 3rd person | planet climate-change politics leadership trust colonialism engineering culture indigenous misanthropic forest | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/marcus_06_25/ |
| The Last Lunar New Year | Derek Künsken | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 225 | June 01, 2025 | 5310 | June 30, 2025 | 4 | In the far future in our dying solar system, a high court of descendants of humans considers a request from distant relatives. | 3rd person | chromatophore far-future space | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kunsken_06_25 |
| The Last to Survive | Rita Chang-Eppig | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 225 | June 01, 2025 | 5720 | June 30, 2025 | 4 | The first cyberized person returns to a place from her past desperate to hang onto her memories. | 3rd person | memories belief story celebrity | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chang-eppig_06_25 |
| Outlier | R.L. Meza | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 225 | June 01, 2025 | 2930 | June 30, 2025 | 3 | A homeless person is experimented on turning her into a scorpion for experiments. | 1st person | memory homeless experiments laboratory babies scientists friendship agency | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/meza_06_25 |
| The Eighth Pyramid | Louis Inglis Hall | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 225 | June 01, 2025 | 8060 | June 26, 2025 | 4 | A lone family attempts to preserve knowledge of previous species as their world claims to be the pinnacle. | 3rd person | colonization pyramid knowledge ziggurat loss remembering | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hall_06_25/ |
| In the Shells of Broken Things | A.T. Greenblatt | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 225 | June 01, 2025 | 7050 | June 25, 2025 | 5 | A man seeks to understand his family member who left the Evergreen Domes decades ago. | 1st person | climate-change inheritance family domes travel illness reconciliation | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/greenblatt_06_25/ |
| If an Algorithm Can Cast a Shadow | Claire Jia-Wen | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 225 | June 01, 2025 | 5040 | June 24, 2025 | 3 | A mother whose son died in an auto accident orders a Digital Double of him. | 3rd person | death shame robots family grief | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jia-wen_06_25 |
| Emily of Emerald Starship | Ng Yi-Sheng | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 225 | June 01, 2025 | 3860 | June 23, 2025 | 5 | A mother who controls her family as a spaceship tries to corral her son when he falls in love with a horse stable owner. | 1st person | spaceship space lgbtq love family mother-son | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/yi-sheng_06_25 |
| Bluebeard's Womb | M.G. Wills | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 21952 | June 22, 2025 | 4 | An experiment involving men having babies is attempted as a way to address misogyny. | 3rd person | genetics misogyny feminism lgbtq reproduction gender | - |
| The Iceberg | Michael Capobianco | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 4184 | June 20, 2025 | 3 | A found-footage story of a man surviving on an iceberg near Antarctica after some sort of cataclysm. | 1st person | antarctica survival found-footage climate-change disaster iceberg | - |
| It Eats Metal | Mark Ferguson | Science Fiction | Analog | Podcast | 11 | May 13, 2025 | 5400 | June 20, 2025 | 3 | Something seems to be in the old swamp, but no one is doing anything about it | 1st person | monsters self-reliance | https://podcastaddict.com/analog-science-fiction-fact/episode/198364385 |
| Siegried Howls Against the Void | Erik Johnson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 5866 | June 19, 2025 | 3 | Siegfried, a slow, lumbering spacecraft communicates with Eurydice across the void of space. | 3rd person | interstellar communication spaceship naming maps home death relationships aging | - |
| The Scientist's Book of the Dead | Gregor Hartmann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 8551 | June 17, 2025 | 5 | After a revolution by scientists and a war that lowered the human population, those scientists debate lowering population even further. | 1st person | war climate-change politics eugenics genetics hiking wilderness | - |
| First Contact, Already Seen | Howard V. Hendrix | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 946 | June 16, 2025 | 3 | A series of vignettes outlining willful "othering" and personally enthrowning one's own people. | 3rd person | aliens colonization arrogance indifference questioning | - |
| The New Shape of Care | Lynne Sargent | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 904 | June 16, 2025 | 5 | A woman is held by her daughter in her dying moments but reaches for the call button to call the more familiar and comforting robot nurse. | 3rd person | hospice death illness family mother-daughter caretaking | - |
| Methods of Remediation in Nearshore Ecologies | Joanne Rixon | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 2871 | June 15, 2025 | 3 | A scientist kayaks the bay testing chemical levels in the soil. | 3rd person | scientists climate-change cousins seattle river kayak family | - |
| Anda's Game | Cory Doctorow | Science Fiction | Salon | Magazine | - | November 04, 2004 | 10475 | June 14, 2025 | 4 | Killing newbies who were trying to cheat the system seemed like a good way to make a buck. But in this simulated reality, who is scamming whom? | 3rd person | video-games girls collaboration labor labor-organizing obesity | https://www.salon.com/2004/11/15/andas_game/ |
| The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For | Cameron Reed | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | April 02, 2025 | 8925 | June 12, 2025 | 4 | In a corporate-run dystopia, a trans girl plucked out of poverty to give birth to a clone meets her replacement. | 1st person | clones business capitalism relationships | https://reactormag.com/the-girl-that-my-mother-is-leaving-me-for-cameron-reed/ |
| Mnemonomie | Mark N. Tiedemann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 6133 | June 12, 2025 | 4 | A man wakes up feeling different after almost being beaten to death. | 1st person | education maturing memory learning | - |
| And So Greenpeace Invented the Death Ray... | C. Stuart Hardwick | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 8428 | June 11, 2025 | 4 | Satellites designed to beam energy to earth are compromised. | 3rd person | energy satellites business climate-change cybersecurity | - |
| Momentum Exchange | Nikolai Lofving Hersfeldt | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 6114 | June 09, 2025 | 3 | Two immortals struggle against one another, one trying to keep the other on the planet. | 3rd person | war frenemies planet | - |
| The Ones Who Stay and Fight | N.K. Jemisin | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 116 | January 01, 2020 | 3829 | June 08, 2025 | 5 | A tale about an alternate city to Omelas | 1st/2nd person | peace utopia sacrifice mulitverse | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-ones-who-stay-and-fight/ |
| North American Union v. Exergy-Petroline Corporation | TIffany Fritz | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 3199 | June 07, 2025 | 2 | A legal finding from a future Supreme Court. | 3rd person | law climate-change mars | - |
| Amtech Deep Sea Institute Thanks You for Your Donation | Kelsey Hutton | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 941 | June 06, 2025 | 4 | Scientists record the consciousness of a deep sea squid in its natural environment. | 3rd person | squid science consciousness sea shark | - |
| Katya Vasilievna and the Second Drowning of Baba Rechka | Christine Hanolsy | Fantasy | Beneath Ceaseless Skies | Magazine | 405 | April 18, 2024 | 9884 | June 05, 2025 | 4 | A river spirit falls in love with a young woman promised to a boyar | 1st person | russia lgbtq river spirits witches self-determination love relationships | https://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/katya-vasilievna-and-the-second-drowning-of-baba-rechka/ |
| We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read | Caroline M. Yoachim | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 168 | May 01, 2024 | 2832 | June 05, 2025 | 4 | Not sure how to describe it. Sort of a prose poem of how to read more than one thing at a time. | 1st/2nd person | life love loss death reading writing generations | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/we-will-teach-you-how-to-read-we-will-teach-you-how-to-read/ |
| The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video | Thomas Ha | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 212 | May 01, 2024 | 8370 | June 04, 2025 | 5 | A young man whose mother recently died, is going through her things and discovers a "dead" book at the library. | 1st person | books technology preservation surveillance memory history | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_05_24/ |
| V*mpire | P.H. Lee | Horror | Reactor | Magazine | - | October 23, 2024 | 5320 | June 04, 2025 | 2 | The vampires aren’t even the worst part about being a teenage trans girl on tumblr. | 2nd person | lgbtq vampires werewolves social-media abuse | https://reactormag.com/the-vampire-p-h-lee/ |
| Evan: A Remainder | Jordan Kurella | Fantasy | Reactor | Magazine | - | January 31, 2024 | 4483 | June 03, 2025 | 2 | Evan is suddenly coughing up bones, like, A LOT of bones, but that’s not even in the top ten strangest things that have happened to him since he moved into his new (possibly haunted) duplex. | 3rd person | lgbtq bones relationships covid | https://reactormag.com/evan-a-remainder-jordan-kurella/ |
| Joanna's Bodies | Eugenia Triantafyllou | Fantasy | Psychopomp | Magazine | - | July 01, 2024 | 11100 | June 03, 2025 | 3 | After growing apart, a teenage girl's best friend summons her to a new body over and over after she dies. | 3rd person | best-friends possession body friendship regret | https://psychopomp.com/joannas-bodies/ |
| Five Views of the Planet Tartarus | Rachel K. Jones | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 164 | January 01, 2024 | 549 | June 02, 2025 | 4 | Prisoners are brought to the planet where they are prepped for eternal life as punishment. | 3rd person | prison punishment immortality | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/five-views-of-the-planet-tartarus/ |
| Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being | A.W. Prihandita | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 218 | November 01, 2024 | 8730 | June 02, 2025 | 5 | A doctor only licensed to use AI to diagnose illness attempts to help a rare alien who has developed a "hole". | 3rd person | language translation ai aliens care | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prihandita_11_24/ |
| What Any Dead Thing Wants | Aimee Ogden | Science Fiction | Psychopomp | Magazine | - | February 01, 2024 | 16300 | June 01, 2025 | 3 | The team boss of an exorcism unit working on a planet after it is terraformed comes across a human ghost who changes his perpective. | 3rd person | ghosts death planet terraforming | https://psychopomp.com/what-any-dead-thing-wants/ |
| The Witch Trap | Jennifer Hudak | Fantasy | Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet | Magazine | 48 | September 01, 2024 | 3080 | June 01, 2025 | 4 | A shoe is discovered under the floorboards by a contractor doing renovations. | 3rd/2nd person | witches curses history witchcraft | https://www.jenniferhudakwrites.com/the-witch-trap/ |
| Groundling | Shane Tourtellotte | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 2506 | May 30, 2025 | 5 | A mechanical engineer born on a generation ship enjoys a tour of duty planetside so much that he angles to be assigned to a new longer tour | 3rd person | generation-ship colonization planet | - |
| Retail Is Dying | David Lee Zweifler Ronan Zweifler | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 3490 | May 29, 2025 | 4 | An old man wandering an old empty mall encounters a man with a dog to adopt out | 3rd person | shopping-mall dog aging ai | - |
| Outside the Robles Line | Raymund Eich | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 6373 | May 28, 2025 | 3 | A young man makes a proposal to a board of the Wise on an asteroid | 3rd person | space asteroids aging community | - |
| The Robot and the Winding Wood | Brenda Cooper | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 5812 | May 27, 2025 | 5 | An elderly couple maintaining a campground by themselves with no visitors for years is visited by a robot | 3rd person | robots wilderness wild camping dystopia | - |
| All the World Is Fog | DeVaun Sanders | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 6962 | May 21, 2025 | 2 | A father leads a krewe in a water-soaked, climate-changed dystopia. | 1st person | community family dystopia water climate-change louisiana race | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/all-the-world-is-fog/ |
| Barbershops of the Floating City | Angela Liu | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 6024 | May 21, 2025 | 4 | A daughter cuts hair and struggles to help her mom. | 2nd person | haircut memory abuse mother-daughter family class relationships | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/barbershops-of-the-floating-city/ |
| The Breaker of Mountains and Rivers | Aliette de Bodard | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 2599 | May 21, 2025 | 4 | An angel is tortured by demons led by the lover of the angel (celestial) being tortured. | 3rd person | 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 | 4443 | May 21, 2025 | 5 | A man talks with an AI about the troubles in his life. | 1st person | marriage relationships cheating ai therapy | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/hi-im-claudia/ |
| Isolate | Tom R. Pike | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2025 | 13108 | May 21, 2025 | 5 | A monk with training in linguistics comes to a newly colonized planet to evaluate their language. | 3rd person | planet language linguistics religion empire colonialism | - |
| Pale Serpent, Green Serpent | Ewen Ma | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 1199 | May 21, 2025 | 4 | Immortal friends play a game after getting together after a long time apart. | 1st person | friendship aliens poison immortality death play games | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/pale-serpent-green-serpent/ |
| Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War | Caroline M. Yoachim | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 6748 | May 21, 2025 | 4 | A series of vignettes on a war between humans and fae | 3rd person | fairies portal magic war architecture unfinished | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/unfinished-architectures-of-the-human-fae-war/ |
| Vivisection | Anjali Sachdeva | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 64 | May 01, 2025 | 4916 | May 21, 2025 | 5 | Eleanor, fearing for her safety, hides her organs around the house to keep them safe from her abusive girlfriend Severine. | 3rd person | body relationships abuse lgbtq deer suspense fear | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/vivisection/ |
| Proxima One | Caryanna Reuven | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 4020 | May 16, 2025 | 3 | Silicos set out to search for life in the universe and end up considering whether to create it again. | 3rd person | seti | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/reuven_05_25/ |
| Yarn Theory | Marie Vibbert | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 1000 | May 16, 2025 | 4 | A mathematician knits a pattern in yarn of a message received from aliens. | 3rd person | 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 | May 15, 2025 | 1 | Not sure. Couldn't get into it. | 1st person | song myth dnf | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/leblanc_05_25/ |
| Descent | Wole Talabi | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 21240 | May 13, 2025 | 3 | A man on a gaseous planet seeks to find the planet's surface. | 1st person | 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 | May 08, 2025 | 4 | The author tells of a play he has written and its first performance. | 1st person | 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 | May 08, 2025 | 5 | A mother with inorganic children finds and saves a human woman by making her into a cyborg. | 1st person | 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 | May 07, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | toronto dystopia books library escape found-family | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/mehrotra_05_25/ |
| Brainstem Disco, 2191 | Angela Liu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 224 | May 01, 2025 | 1640 | May 06, 2025 | 3 | One of a pair of lovers interacts with the other's post-mortem disembodied self, pining for them, wishing they hadn't died. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | May 01, 2025 | 5 | Three young women friends attempt a nearly impossible road race across a dystopian USA on roads that are no longer maintained. | 3rd person | 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 | May 01, 2025 | 3 | A cleaning woman tells of her life and her work. | 1st person | 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 | April 30, 2025 | 3 | Frat brothers get the idea to waterboard pledges and try it on their strongest, most loyal brother, Schitty. | 3rd person | 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 | April 29, 2025 | 3 | A retelling of Hansel and Gretel even darker than the Brothers Grimm ever told. | 3rd person | 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 | April 25, 2025 | 2 | Rachel experiences the history of her entire Jewish family as she dreams each time Israel attacks Palestinians. | 3rd person | 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 | April 24, 2025 | 5 | A man repeatedly wakes up in his house and either he is dead or his family is. | 3rd person | 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 | April 23, 2025 | 4 | A recently deceased victim of cancer witnesses a beating and does everything she can to save the victim. | 3rd person | ghosts death violence cancer helpless victim rage | https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/in-thin-air/ |
| Second Chance | Sakinah Hofler | Science Fiction | Analog | Podcast | - | - | 2300 | April 23, 2025 | 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? | 1st person | 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 | April 23, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | April 22, 2025 | 5 | In a future where only AI stories are allowed in school, a curator instead sends human written classics. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | April 21, 2025 | 3 | A pregnant woman hides with her daughters from soldiers looking for them. | 1st person | war sisters pregnancy | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/larson_04_25/ |
| In My Country | Thomas Ha | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 6220 | April 20, 2025 | 4 | A father in a world with no kings but lots of control has a son and a daughter he struggles to understand. | 1st/2nd person | dystopia parenthood children family oppression | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_04_25/ |
| Symbiotic | Carolyn Zhao | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 10010 | April 18, 2025 | 2 | Two people in a technologically induced symbiotic relationship deal with how uneven it is. | 3rd person | relationships ocean technology | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/zhao_04_25/ |
| Galatea | Madeline Miller | Fantasy | - | - | - | - | 6049 | April 17, 2025 | 3 | The story of Pygmalion from the perspective of his wife, the statue that was brought to life by the gods. | 3rd person | 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 | April 17, 2025 | 4 | A detective who binds the ghosts of dead people to "brass attendings" encounters a special case. | 3rd person | 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 | April 17, 2025 | 5 | A mother does her best to comfort and care for her teenage son with ALS. | 1st/2nd person | als family illness parenthood | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/zhang_04_25/ |
| Aegiopolis Testudo | Gordon Li | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 223 | April 01, 2025 | 7500 | April 16, 2025 | 3 | A contracted worker living on a leviathan considers whether they should stay at the end of their contract. | 1st person | 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 | April 16, 2025 | 4 | The titular god learns that his role is not a punishment for being late for his assignment | 3rd person | 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 | April 10, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | April 09, 2025 | 5 | You and your love contemplate the idea of a portal in a world tipped past a warming climate to a cooling one. | 2nd person | 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 | April 07, 2025 | 5 | Two ex-military nurses, one human and one alien, share a friendship in a city following an alien invasion. | 3rd person | 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 | April 07, 2025 | 3 | A small conflict in an office takes a dark turn based on a miscommunication. | 1st person | 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 | April 02, 2025 | 4 | A math professor works with his dead father's Coda to solve the Perelman Conjecture. | 3rd person | 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 | March 28, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | March 27, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | March 26, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | March 26, 2025 | 5 | A couple meets due to time travel and travels through time to preserve their love. | 3rd person | 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 | March 25, 2025 | 5 | A man visits a number of different planets | 1st person | communication limitation | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ren_03_25/ |
| Hook and Line | Koji A. Dae | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 4150 | March 24, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | March 23, 2025 | 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 | 3rd person | 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 | March 22, 2025 | 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 | 3rd person | trauma abuse botswana africa | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tsamaase_03_25/ |
| Pollen | Anna Burdenko | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 5330 | March 21, 2025 | 4 | A family is the lead mission to a planet with psychedelic pollen. | 3rd person | - | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/burdenko_03_25/ |
| From Enceladus, with Love | Ryan Cole | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 222 | March 01, 2025 | 4970 | March 20, 2025 | 5 | A young teenager stows away on a ship to find her mom on Enceladus. Everything changes when the ship wakes up. | 3rd person | ai sentience spaceship friendship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/cole_03_25/ |
| Death Works | K.S. Walker | Fantasy | The Deadlands | Magazine | 18 | October 24, 2022 | 857 | March 19, 2025 | 2 | A god of death takes on an apprentice whom he is addressing. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | March 18, 2025 | 3 | A young person who witnesses his grandfather's death takes up his work researching death rituals of alien species. | 1st person | 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 | March 17, 2025 | 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… | 1st person | iceland thor academia | 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 | March 15, 2025 | 3 | A human man falls in love with a demon who had been a woman and is devoured by her. | 1st person | 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 | March 14, 2025 | 5 | A retiring TV news anchor travels to the countryside to visit her estranged sister and reconcile. | 1st person | 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 | March 13, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | March 12, 2025 | 5 | A Chinese expert seamstress searches for her brother after she stops receiving letters from him. | 1st person | 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 | March 11, 2025 | 4 | The daughter of a former baron's maid saves his life by killing a giant snail with salt. | 3rd person | 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 | March 07, 2025 | 4 | In Omelas, a group of people keep killing the kid in the hole that makes things there so perfect. | 3rd person | suffering scapegoat philosophy morality | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_02_24/ |
| Landline | Kelly Robson | Horror | Reactor | Magazine | - | March 05, 2025 | 5040 | March 06, 2025 | 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… | 3rd person | 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 | March 05, 2025 | 3 | A young man visiting a dying friend meets someone who live near him and they bond over piano music. | 3rd person | 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 | March 04, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | time-travel love lgbtq greece england london | - |
| A Letter to Merlin | Theodora Goss | Science | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 5697 | March 04, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | time-travel love apocalypse dystopia | - |
| Time Gypsy | Ellen Klages | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 11555 | March 04, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | time-travel love lgbtq fraud academia | - |
| Timed Obsolescence | Sameem Siddiqui | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6328 | March 04, 2025 | 2 | A man pursues a fling during multiple visits to the past only to find that his behavior there has affected his present. | 1st/2nd person | time-travel love family | - |
| The Place of All the Souls | Margo Lanagan | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 9570 | February 28, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | time-travel love | - |
| The Difference Between Love and Time | Catherynne M. Valente | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 9328 | February 27, 2025 | 4 | A woman tells the tale of her romance with the personification of the space/time continuum. | 1st person | absurdity washington-state humor abstract love time-travel | - |
| Romance: Historical | Rowan Coleman | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 5962 | February 27, 2025 | 5 | A young neurodivergent woman mysteriously connects with a man from 1914 in the bookshop where she works. | 3rd person | 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 | February 27, 2025 | 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. | 1st/2nd person | lgbtq love sex regret | - |
| Bergamot and Vetiver | Lavanya Lakshminarayan | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6155 | February 26, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | love time-travel water india theft | - |
| Kronia | Elizabeth Hand | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 1539 | February 26, 2025 | 2 | Lovers who grew up a mile apart find each other through time. | 1st/2nd person | love time-travel connecticut new-york | - |
| The Lichens | Nina Allan | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6704 | February 26, 2025 | 4 | A woman in northern Scotland during the time of Culloden encounters a scientist from the future looking for a buried spacecraft. | 3rd person | scotland feminism witches lgbtq spaceship | - |
| The Golden Hour | Jeffrey Ford | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 5775 | February 25, 2025 | 3 | A time traveler stuck in time reconnects with his time-traveling wife. | 1st person | time-travel love marriage memory | - |
| I Remember Satellites | Sarah Gailey | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 6358 | February 24, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | lgbtq memory love time-travel england | - |
| First Aid | Seanan McGuire | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 5022 | February 21, 2025 | 5 | In order to take care of her younger disabled sister, a woman prepares to go back permanently to Elizabethan England | 3rd person | lgbtq time-travel family love england cleveland | - |
| Agate Way | Laird Barron | Horror | Reactor | Magazine | - | February 19, 2025 | 8730 | February 20, 2025 | 2 | A pair of sisters are hired to find--and if necessary, dispose of--whatever is killing neighborhood pets in a dying town. | 3rd person | 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 | February 20, 2025 | 5 | A movie director recently dumped by his boyfriend keeps seeing him as he explores his past lives. | 3rd person | wealth love time-travel lgbtq | - |
| Roadside Attraction | Alix E. Harrow | Science Fiction | Someone in Time | Book | - | May 10, 2022 | 4658 | February 20, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | February 19, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | February 18, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | February 17, 2025 | 3 | The spirit of a recently deceased young boy helps a group of ghosts seek revenge on a corrupt and abusive town minister. | 1st person | family death revenge lies | https://reactormag.com/red-leaves-s-e-porter/ |
| Bravado | Carrie Vaughn | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | January 29, 2025 | 6480 | February 13, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | coming-of-age military space | https://reactormag.com/bravado-carrie-vaughn/ |
| Not Alone | Pat Murphy | Science Fiction | Reactor | Magazine | - | February 05, 2025 | 4400 | February 13, 2025 | 4 | Mel relishes running the “Enchanted Jungle,” a roadside attraction in the Everglades filled with live parrots, concrete dinosaurs, and other unexpected wonders. | 1st person | 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 | February 13, 2025 | 3 | A woman losing her sight turns to small family magics to save the lives of those she loves the most. | 1st person | 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 | February 12, 2025 | 2 | Miners who ride celestial rays home for the lunar new year to see their son learn how the space creatures reproduce. | 3rd/2nd person | 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 | February 12, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | February 12, 2025 | 3 | The history of six regents told through the coins minted for each | 1st person | 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 | February 11, 2025 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | February 11, 2025 | 5 | Kids work to save fireflies by toning down the brightness of streetlights and learn the power of love and working together | 3rd person | 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 | February 10, 2025 | 5 | A person wakes up in a new body and races to find their lover before they are both caught for pirating a body. | 3rd person | 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 | February 10, 2025 | 4 | An angry, violent young man threatens his community while they search for a way to bring him back into the fold. | 3rd person | post-apocalyptic sports | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_02_25 |
| Zamboni | Honor Jones | Contemporary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | January 01, 2025 | 4700 | January 23, 2025 | 2 | During spring break, a woman passes her son's school where a movie is being made. | 3rd person | 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 | January 22, 2025 | 5 | Death's helper returns briefly to the land of the living to help a newly dead arrival let go. | 1st person | 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 | January 16, 2025 | 4 | A widow who misses her dead husband seeks him in the land of the dead | 3rd person | 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 | January 15, 2025 | 4 | A young teenager comes to grip with what she needs to do to preserve her town after a tragedy. | 3rd person | 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 | January 10, 2025 | 4 | A woman who is attacked in an autonomous car struggles to fight back. | 3rd person | cars sexual-assault technology friendship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/elison_01_25/ |
| Beyond Everything | Wang Yanzhong | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 220 | January 01, 2025 | 9750 | January 09, 2025 | 2 | Earth sends envoys through gates to seek the help of ETs to save them from themselves. | 3rd person | 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 | January 07, 2025 | 5 | A sentient ship has to make a harrowing decision when some of its embryo passengers wake up too early. | 3rd person | 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 | January 07, 2025 | 5 | A young man tries to remember the circumstances of his murder after he is resurrected. | 3rd person | 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 | January 06, 2025 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | January 06, 2025 | 4 | A near future world where people can clone their consciousness as a Sentience. | 1st person | identity clones | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tan_01_25 |
| Beauty | Graham Swift | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | September 01, 2024 | 4200 | September 12, 2024 | 2 | A grandfather visits the room where his granddaughter committed suicide. | 3rd person | 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 | July 28, 2024 | 3 | A dying person runs a race to get the cure for their disease | 1st person | compassion | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/you-perfect-broken-thing/ |
| The Cook | C.L. Clark | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 22 | May 01, 2018 | 1087 | July 08, 2024 | 4 | A soldier falls in love with a cook | 1st person | lgbtq love food | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-cook/ |
| Saint Dimas | Jared Lemus | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | April 01, 2024 | 5200 | April 18, 2024 | 3 | A group of brothers robbing cars on the road encounter a female friend of one of them who wants to help | 1st person | 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 | March 04, 2024 | 3 | In the land of the dead, people tell tales about Skullbone and his journey into the Void | 1st person | 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 | February 28, 2024 | 3 | A scientist creates her own daughter out of her own cells and no other trying to build a superhero for Caesar. | 1st person | 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 | January 24, 2024 | 5 | Sentient sibling AI robots deal with an even larger sentient robot that captures them for its own purposes | 3rd person | 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 | January 23, 2024 | 4 | A man and his daughter view a house that is desperate for someone to live in it. | 3rd person | 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 | January 19, 2024 | 3 | Gren and Yattmur with their baby journey back toward their jungle home. | 3rd person | 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 | January 17, 2024 | 4 | Gren and Yattmur with the tummy bellies travel on the raft across the sea. | 3rd person | 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 | January 16, 2024 | 4 | The new Adam and Eve explore the undergrowth of the planet | 3rd person | 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 | January 15, 2024 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | January 10, 2024 | 4 | In the far future, humans live in trees on a tidally locked Earth that is overrun with plants | 3rd person | 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 | - | January 08, 2024 | 3 | On a moon a ship comes across a more primitive people on islands that have a man from the stars and his ship. | 3rd person | 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 | January 06, 2024 | 5 | A retarded adult is given an operation that slowly turns him into a genius. | 1st person | 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 | - | January 04, 2024 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | January 03, 2024 | 4 | A ship captain about to be inspected orders a new one made of a missing "offog". | 3rd person | 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 | December 29, 2023 | 5 | A man whose wife committed suicide experiments on their dog to help him find how. | 3rd person | dog suicide loss relationships science | - |
| Family Business | Andrew Dana Hudson Corey J. White | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5500 | December 29, 2023 | 4 | A family heavily invested in fossil fuels moves into the carbon business when fossil fuels are outlawed. | 3rd person | family relationships business climate-change disaster | - |
| The Far Dark | Gregory Benford | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 7084 | December 29, 2023 | 1 | The AI that humans have sent to manage their deep space probes encounters a plasma-based life form hostile to invaders. | 1st person | first-contact dnf | - |
| Flying Carpet | Rajnar Vajra | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 18367 | December 29, 2023 | 4 | Detectives investigate multiple home murders looking for a motive and the culprit | 1st person | lgbtq polyamory mystery technology relationships hartford connecticut boston mit | - |
| Let's Play | Bruce McAllister | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 218 | December 29, 2023 | 3 | Two kids decide to play robots becoming sentient with feelings. | 1st person | robots sentience feelings | - |
| Living on the Trap | Michèle Laframboise | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5022 | December 29, 2023 | 4 | A young impoverished woman on a planet in the Trapeze system promises to rescue a stranger who is making a dangerous climb. | 1st person | planet colonization rescue lgbtq | - |
| The Science Education of King Cormac | Stpehen R. Loftus-Mercer | Fantasy | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 1884 | December 29, 2023 | 4 | The younger sister of a new monarch attempts to teach her brother/king the scientific method. | 3rd person | revolution science | - |
| Three Roses | Karmen Špiljak | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | December 04, 2023 | 5550 | December 29, 2023 | 4 | A woman whose friend is moving to Canada spends one last Christmas eve and finds an unusual pub to share a drink. | 3rd person | 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 | December 29, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | religion space aliens | - |
| Andromeda | Monica Joyce Evans | Fantasy | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 1173 | December 28, 2023 | 3 | A girl attends a school for all creatures where she is one of the only humans. | 3rd person | animals loneliness school | - |
| Blade and Bone | Paul McAuley | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | December 26, 2023 | 23940 | December 28, 2023 | 1 | A posse chases down hostage-takers on Mars | 3rd person | mars dnf | - |
| The Disease Collector | Tom Jolly | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 2096 | December 28, 2023 | 4 | A man searching for the origin of a current pandemic in the past actually brings it himself. | 3rd person | time-travel pandemic time-loop | - |
| Going Through a Phase | Geoffrey A. Landis | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 100 | December 28, 2023 | 4 | A mad scientist test his phase shifter by attempting to rob a bank and goes straight through the sidewalk. | 1st person | teaching learning arrogance | - |
| Home for Christmas | Ron Collins | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 2475 | December 28, 2023 | 4 | A man returns from space to scatter his ex-wife's ashes with their son whom he has never seen. | 1st person | family bittersweet time-dilation relationships | - |
| Hyppolyta Flyby | Michael Capobianco | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 3383 | December 28, 2023 | 4 | A space probe set to record details of an Earth-like planet in the Alpha Centauri system glitches at just the wrong time. | 3rd person | first-contact space planet | - |
| Proxima Centauri Blues | Michael Cassutt | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 7096 | December 28, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | first-contact generation-ship | - |
| Subtraction | James Sallis | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 1285 | December 28, 2023 | 2 | A man suspects his alien confidente of spying on him and tortures him for answers. | 1st person | spy conspiracy aliens | - |
| Tool Consciousness | Auston Habershaw | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 6299 | December 28, 2023 | 3 | A blob-like creature finds that their partner is not treating them fairly in their clandestine work. | 1st person | noir politics planet | - |
| Wasted Potential | David Lee Zweifler | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 3700 | December 28, 2023 | 3 | A man who thinks he is holding his girlfriend back from her potential tries to break up with her. | 3rd person | love romance employment | - |
| The White Tiger | Mark Pantoja | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 13809 | December 28, 2023 | 1 | A team arrives at the site of their former ship after it has been nearly destroyed. | 3rd person | dnf teamwork aliens | - |
| Apollo in Retrograde | Rosemary Claire Smith | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 16121 | December 27, 2023 | 5 | An alternate history where a woman was part of the first mission to land on the moon. | 3rd person | feminism cold-war soviet nasa russia | - |
| The Eiffel Tower of Trappist-1D | Jeff Reynolds | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 7893 | December 27, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | community colonization memory poverty war aliens | - |
| In the Days After | Frank Ward | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 3939 | December 26, 2023 | 5 | A social worker in the future makes a home visit to pick a baby who suffers from the same affliction she does. | 3rd person | 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 | December 25, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | generation-ship planet space family disaster downs-syndrome | - |
| Disgrace of the Commodore | Marguerite Sheffer | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 1304 | December 25, 2023 | 3 | The Commodore of a ship that was captured at war finds himself in an odd purgatory thinking about his choices. | 3rd person | death self-knowledge | - |
| The Four Last Things | Christopher Rowe | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5819 | December 25, 2023 | 1 | Four people specially chosen attempt to learn more about a first contact discovered signal . | 3rd person | first-contact space dnf | - |
| Meet-Your-Hero | Prashanth Srivatsa | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5267 | December 23, 2023 | 2 | A twelve-year-old boy plays the lottery with the hopes of winning an hour with his movie-star hero. | 3rd person | india family poverty | - |
| Neptune Acres | Robert R. Chase | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5333 | December 23, 2023 | 3 | An investor invites his friend to view his new real estate project, a floating neighborhood, in the midst of a rising storm. | 1st person | climate-change disaster | - |
| The Open Road Leads to the Used Car Lot | John Alfred Taylor | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 5998 | December 23, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | time-travel mental-health technology history | - |
| The Pilgrim and the Angel | E. Lily Yu | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | November 27, 2023 | 4800 | December 22, 2023 | 5 | A man in Cairo is whisked away on the Haj by the angel Gabriel, but he only wants to visit his son. | 3rd person | 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 | December 20, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | aliens alternate-history guilt | - |
| Embot's Lament | James Patrick Kelly | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 6085 | December 20, 2023 | 4 | A disembodied person or program from the future "rides" along a woman's consciousness and reports on it to the future. | 1st person | abuse sexual-assault time-travel | - |
| The Ghosts of Mars | Dominica Phetteplace | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 24727 | December 19, 2023 | 4 | A young woman born on Mars is left alone after her father commits suicide and everyone else leaves for cancer treatment. | 1st person | mars found-family family mystery suicide first-contact | - |
| End of Play | Chelsea Sutton | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 4253 | December 17, 2023 | 2 | The author tells of a play he has written and its first performance. | 1st/2nd person | ghosts play | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/end-of-play/ |
| Esqueleto | Ana Hurtado | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 902 | December 17, 2023 | 1 | A child tries to get his mother to understand that they live in a whale carcass that is being consumed. | 1st person | child mothers dnf | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/esqueleto/ |
| The Pandemonium Waltz | Jeffrey Ford | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 55 | November 01, 2023 | 4168 | December 17, 2023 | 3 | A neighbor and his wife learn of their neighbor couples' odd experience at an exclusive traveling waltz exhibition. | 1st person | 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 | December 17, 2023 | 4 | A young woman and her friend set off from Boston to Alaska to scatter their grandfathers' ashes. | 1st person | 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 | December 17, 2023 | 4 | A teenage girl whose aunt killed herself is checked into a psych ward after attempting suicide. | 2nd person | 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 | December 17, 2023 | 4 | A woman who has just lost her job meets an old boss going to a job interview and agrees to join her. | 1st person | 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 | December 16, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | December 16, 2023 | 4 | A neighborhood block bands together after a disaster returns them to nearly basic subsistence. | 1st person | 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 | December 15, 2023 | 3 | A member of a race frozen and used as art supplies is a slave to the mechanical creature doing this awful work. | 2nd person | 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 | December 15, 2023 | 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. | 2nd person | 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 | December 13, 2023 | 4 | A miner in Ecuador is recruited by aliens to help locate a wanted fugitive. | 1st person | 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 | December 12, 2023 | 5 | A stowaway on a generation ark who has hidden himself for twelve years comes out to participate in painting a mural. | 3rd person | space-ark spaceship immigration | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vanpelt_11_23/ |
| The Mub | Thomas Ha | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 206 | November 01, 2023 | 3620 | December 12, 2023 | 2 | A person walking into a city is stalked by a mub. | 1st person | 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 | December 12, 2023 | 4 | A sentient robot loses a part of himself in a skirmish. | 1st person | 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 | December 11, 2023 | 4 | A young girl (you) helps her mother build a machine that she says is for you, her daughter. | 2nd person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 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. | 2nd person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 4 | A teenager who didn't help a fallen AI professor, confesses to doing just that. | 1st person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 2 | Dr. Seattle, a superhero, goes around the city saving people in a godlike way. | 3rd person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 3 | A young man is made to inhale the essence of his lover after his lover goes off to war and dies. | 1st person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 3 | A young person helps his mother continually make bread out of the few ingredients available to them after the city is closed off. | 1st person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | December 10, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | December 09, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | dystopia oppression despair | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/singh_10_23/ |
| Timothy: An Oral History | Michael Swanwick | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 3650 | December 09, 2023 | 5 | In a world made up of only women, a scientist secretly creates a male woman, and all hell breaks loose. | 1st person | 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 | December 08, 2023 | 3 | A man living in an age of AI storytelling discovers a library on another planet and becomes a writer who seeds storytelling AI. | 1st person | 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 | December 08, 2023 | 4 | A cybernetic woman fights against a hacker attacking her from the inside out. | 1st person | 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 | December 07, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | dystopia capitalism revolution | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/goodman_10_23/ |
| The Blaumilch | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 4090 | December 05, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | mars vr purpose | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tidhar_10_23 |
| Down to the Root | Lisa Papademetriou | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 205 | October 01, 2023 | 7830 | December 05, 2023 | 4 | A woman on a communication satellite travels to the home world of her co-worker that she was unable to save. | 3rd person | 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 | December 05, 2023 | 3 | An indestructible couch created at the beginning of the universe lives through all of history. | 3rd person | 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 | December 04, 2023 | 3 | These are notes from a scientist on Europa whose mother died studying the same Icypods that she studies. | 1st person | 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 | December 04, 2023 | 3 | A shape shifting fox gives advice on how to live and thrive among humans. | 1st person | 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 | December 04, 2023 | 3 | A trickster god explains how to get the ingredients and cooks a soup that will make a human immortal. | 1st person | gods magic immortality humor | - |
| She Who Remembers | Jesmyn Ward | Historical Fiction | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 3600 | December 04, 2023 | 3 | A woman is herded with others into a small windowless room in New Orleans in preparation of their being sold as slaves. | 1st person | 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 | December 04, 2023 | 2 | A plain god travels the universe on it comet and creates what They can. | 3rd person | gods space creativity | - |
| The Void Wyrm's Guide to Devouring Stars | AJ Wentz | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 1116 | December 04, 2023 | 3 | A dying space wyrm teaches a juvenile its lessons for how to live and survive | 1st person | space child teaching death | - |
| What You Are and the Wolf | Jae Steinbacher | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 3169 | December 04, 2023 | 4 | A young girl tries to avoid being given to an unpleasant man as his wife. | 2nd person | mother-daughter feminism women coming-of-age | - |
| Where the God-Knives Tread | A.L. Goldfuss | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 161 | October 01, 2023 | 14597 | December 02, 2023 | 3 | A woman and her voidborn partner search for the legendary Eye of a long dead Empress who used the pronoun he. | 3rd person | space planet found-family lgbtq | - |
| By Throat and Void | Tobias S. Buckell | Science Fiction | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | November 19, 2023 | 3470 | November 23, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | November 18, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | military leadership planet orbit | - |
| The Dead Letter Office | David Erik Nelson | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 11368 | November 18, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | abuse sex revenge | - |
| In the Fox's House | Lisa Goldstein | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6618 | November 18, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | relationships abuse poverty animals | - |
| Six Incidents of Evolution Using Time Travel | Derek Künsken | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 2881 | November 18, 2023 | 3 | Six description of how life used time travel to evolve. | 3rd person | aliens animals plants | - |
| The Water-Wolf | Anya Johanna DeNiro | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 8284 | November 17, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | time-travel transgender lgbtq climate-change | - |
| Galaxy Girl and the November Monstrosity | Aleksandra Hill | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | November 13, 2023 | 5550 | November 16, 2023 | 4 | A young woman with super powers goes home for Thanksgiving. | 3rd person | 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 | November 16, 2023 | 4 | A detective investigates a murder of someone who fell from a tent attached to a skyscraper. | 1st person | mystery technology twist | - |
| The Pit of Babel | Kofi Nyameye | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 701 | November 15, 2023 | 4 | Man bands together to build a pit to create energy and is opposed by the devil | 3rd person | ambition war demons | - |
| The Unpastured Sea | Gregory Feeley | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 9829 | November 15, 2023 | 1 | Not sure. Couldn't get into it. | 3rd person | planet community | - |
| The Ghost Fair | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6174 | November 14, 2023 | 2 | A First Human (Neanderthal) and human guide a lunar Parker who is looking for something and avoiding its nemesis Carter. | 3rd person | family relationships moon | - |
| The Corruption of Malik the Unsmiling | Naseem Jamnia | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | November 12, 2023 | 3526 | November 12, 2023 | 3 | A jinn gets visited by the lord of hell, repeatedly. | 1st person | 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 | November 12, 2023 | 4 | Enslaved female pickers of dream berry work until they hit puberty and then are taken to the growers or a brothel. | 3rd person | found-family family slavery | - |
| Peer Review | Andrew Sullivan | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 14527 | November 12, 2023 | 5 | A young woman gets involved with the academic dispute between two Russian professors about how time-space works. | 3rd person | love relationships australia time-travel rivalry self-care time-loop academia | - |
| Quickener | J.T. Sharrah | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 10358 | November 11, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | - | - |
| Bad Car | Lorraine Alden | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6170 | November 10, 2023 | 3 | A man buys a BMW at a steep discount because it has a very bad Ostracizer rating. | 1st person | cars relationships choices | - |
| Boojum | Angus McIntyre | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 7035 | November 10, 2023 | 4 | A crew lands on Titan to do some science thinking they were the first humans there after a previous mission failed. | 3rd person | lgbtq titan moon exploration science | - |
| The Deviltree | Monalisa Foster | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 11462 | November 10, 2023 | 5 | A crew take a shuttle down to an Earth-like planet to explore an unusual quantum signature and find something beyond their expectation. | 3rd person | aliens sentience first-contact spaceship shapeshifter | - |
| Driftwood | Benjamin C. Kinney | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 3893 | November 10, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | choices spaceship colonization | - |
| The Machine That Is You | Elliot Gresswell | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 2033 | November 10, 2023 | 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. | 1st/2nd person | sentience ai medicine insurance | - |
| Race to the Bottom | Leonard Richardson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 738 | November 10, 2023 | 4 | Someone is trying to convince you of an odd conspiracy theory and sell you something at the same time. | 1st/2nd person | selling conspiracy multiverse | - |
| Second Sight | Gray Rinehart | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6536 | November 10, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | family love guilt sacrifice | - |
| Trust Fall | Zack Be | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 5729 | November 10, 2023 | 3 | A seasoned astronaut and a newbie are clearing orbital debris for the path of a rocket launch when things go wrong. | 3rd person | space orbit thriller teamwork | - |
| The Last Question | Isaac Asimov | Science Fiction | Science Fiction Quarterly | Magazine | - | November 01, 1956 | 4438 | November 09, 2023 | 4 | Humans over centuries keep asking supercomputers how to revers entropy | 3rd person | science philosophy | http://www.thelastquestion.net |
| Fly Straight and Don't Get Eaten | Vera Brook | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6788 | November 08, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | November 08, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | November 08, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | love mother-daughter sentience communication | - |
| The Real Cost of Stopping Time | Douglas F. Dluzen | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 1033 | November 08, 2023 | 3 | A man attempts to buy eternal life by joining a study and instead gets side effects and an early death. | 3rd person | medicine longevity business greed selfishness | - |
| Rememory | Joel Armstrong | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 3441 | November 08, 2023 | 4 | A woman struggling with sleeplessness discusses with her therapist whether she wants to know if she's had a memory transplant. | 1st person | lgbtq reality memory trauma mental-health | - |
| Secondhand Music | Aleksandra Hill | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 4993 | November 08, 2023 | 5 | A young violinist who lost her left arm in a car accident is gifted an expensive prosthesis that once belonged to her wife. | 3rd person | violin music self-knowledge self-determination control lgbtq | - |
| Watching Mars | Jennifer R. Povey | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 653 | November 08, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | mars colonization history | - |
| Beware the Glob! | Eric Choi | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6995 | November 07, 2023 | 3 | An alien glob in Alaska is advancing on a small town; those assigned to the area scramble figure out what to do. | 3rd person | science politics bureaucracy | - |
| The Canadian Miracle | Cory Doctorow | Science Fiction | Tor.com | Magazine | - | November 01, 2023 | 4523 | November 06, 2023 | 3 | A female Blue Helmet Canadian goes to Mississippi to help and makes a huge mistake. | 1st person | 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 | November 06, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | November 02, 2023 | 4 | The last pope chooses to move on to a virtual existence after the rest of humanity already has done so. | 3rd person | 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 | October 30, 2023 | 4 | A young figure skater has her brain enhanced to remove lag of perception which makes her an unbeatable champion. | 3rd person | science family | - |
| Mother Tongue | Zoe Bellerive | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | October 29, 2023 | 3469 | October 29, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | October 29, 2023 | 5 | A woman from the future completes her training as a witness by sitting with a toung soldier as he dies in the jungle. | 3rd person | 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 | October 28, 2023 | 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. | 2nd person | 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 | October 28, 2023 | 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. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | October 27, 2023 | 4 | After her grandmother dies, a woman wears the hat she did and starts to experience the same thinning of skin and hair. | 3rd person | 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 | October 27, 2023 | 4 | A man with a wooden ticking heart and a woman with a glass mind live together and support one another. | 1st person | 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 | October 27, 2023 | 5 | Three friends have a strange experience stopped on the road on the way to be with their terminally ill friend in hospice. | 1st person | 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 | October 27, 2023 | 3 | A mother chases her son into a story to save him and struggles to get out with her mind intact | 1st person | 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 | October 27, 2023 | 3 | The daughter of a god and a human returns to heaven and winds up playing mahjong with the emperor. | 1st person | games gods longevity | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/life-wager/ |
| Spitting Image | Rich Larson | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 900 | October 27, 2023 | 4 | A boy's friend leads him to a well in the forest that returns things dropped into it, changed. | 1st person | forest change friendship | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/spitting-image/ |
| Quietus | Zohair | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 5300 | October 26, 2023 | 2 | A coffin with a condemned man in it journeys down a river; other see it and interact with it. | 3rd person | death society belief | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/quietus/ |
| Those Fantastic Lives | Bradley Sides | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | October 24, 2023 | 4350 | October 24, 2023 | 4 | A boy interrupts his grandmother's last psychic reading before retiring and tries to correct the issue. | 3rd person | 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 | October 23, 2023 | 4 | A clockmaker tries to save his daughter from the stone sickness only to be betrayed by the apothecary he turns to for help. | 3rd person | colonialism hope disease | https://open.spotify.com/episode/12sob2cYRB6oEXcCyYKGYV |
| Whisper Songs | Lyndsie Manusos | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 140 | September 01, 2023 | 7100 | October 23, 2023 | 4 | A mother suffering post-partum depression finds a syringe of bird song in her yard. | 3rd person | 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 | October 18, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | October 18, 2023 | 3 | A woman follows her wife into the woods where the Fae have stolen her in an attempt to get her back. | 1st person | 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 | October 17, 2023 | 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. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | October 17, 2023 | 1 | In an alternative past, a man protects a demoniack after his witch finder is murdered. | 3rd person | 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 | October 17, 2023 | 3 | Members of a family that has lost a son each make an unknowing deal with the Devil who lives under a bridge. | 3rd person | 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 | October 16, 2023 | 5 | The children of immigrants play with glue to make what they call spirit people, copies of themselves. | 1st person | 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 | October 16, 2023 | 3 | A woman called a witch by her father and husband, encounters a fisherman and brings him home to her son with dire results. | 3rd person | 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 | October 15, 2023 | 5 | What if the woman in all the commercials you've ever seen became sentient; what would she say to you? | 1st/2nd person | 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 | October 15, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | October 14, 2023 | 5 | A young boy seeks to become a real magician, and he does, but at what price? | 1st person | 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 | October 14, 2023 | 3 | An inventor describes many of their inventions while also steeling about their life. | 1st person | 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 | October 07, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | infanticide mothers delusion | https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/snake-season/ |
| Sour Milk Girls | Erin Roberts | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 136 | January 01, 2018 | 6430 | October 06, 2023 | 4 | A new girl arrives at an orphanage with her memories intact despite all thee other girls having had theirs removed. | 1st person | memories, orphans, jealousy, fear, rivalry, adoption | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/roberts_01_18/ |
| Dragonflies | Shannon Sanders | Contemporary | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | October 03, 2023 | 3672 | October 04, 2023 | 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 | 3rd person | death grief family relationships | https://open.spotify.com/episode/3LClEyhA3A2ChkoZlRuUjf |
| Wolfy Things | Erin Roberts | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 681 | June 01, 2021 | 3396 | October 02, 2023 | 4 | A boy and his friend make plans to kill a wolf that talks and seems to know the narrator's mother | 1st person | 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 | October 01, 2023 | 3 | A student has a flash of insight as a fellow student tries to assassinate him. | 1st person | 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 | October 01, 2023 | 4 | An African woman is purchased by a man returning to his hometown. She is imprisoned n a sentient house controlled by him. | 3rd person | 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 | September 30, 2023 | 4 | A story of how to literally put your heart back after someone has ripped it out and stomped on it. | 2nd person | 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 | September 30, 2023 | 2 | You attempt to survive as the world around you breaks down. | 2nd person | 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 | September 30, 2023 | 5 | A dragon tells its eggs the story of how it woke up after a long sleep. | 1st person | 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 | September 28, 2023 | 2 | A woman sails away from Vancouver in a ship as her body slowly falls apart. | 3rd person | 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 | September 28, 2023 | 5 | A tired father tells his precocious seven-year-old daughter a bedtime story about a quantum singularity in a man's garden. | 3rd person | - | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-hole-in-the-garden/ |
| Mr. McCaslin | Peter S. Beagle | Fantasy | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | September 28, 2023 | 6100 | September 28, 2023 | 4 | Neighborhood kids help a curmudgeonly old man with a family curse. | 1st person | 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 | September 27, 2023 | 4 | A woman on a habitable planet prays for guidance on whether to send a beacon to let humanity know they can safely come. | 1st person | 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 | September 27, 2023 | 3 | A crypto bro takes a job to protect the Mealybug. | 1st person | 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 | September 24, 2023 | 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. | 1st/3rd person | 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 | September 24, 2023 | 4 | A girl is rescued from those hunting her by a war robot that sacrifices itself. | 1st person | 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 | September 24, 2023 | 3 | Refugees from a tribe on a dying 'whale' on a tidally locked planet seek to survive. | 1st person | whales ocean planet disease | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/djuna_09_23/ |
| Upgrade Day | RJ Taylor | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 2080 | September 24, 2023 | 5 | A person who sold their after life for a successful first life struggles as a posthuman robot that is slowly growing obsolete. | 3rd person | 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 | September 24, 2023 | 4 | A man demonstrates a machine that can pull objects from dreams into reality, with catastrophic results. | 3rd person | 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 | September 23, 2023 | 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. | 2nd person | lgbtq jews synesthesia love relationships grief | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/murphy_09_23/ |
| The Comebacker | Dave Eggers | Contemporary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | September 01, 2023 | 6400 | September 22, 2023 | 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. Xiaolin Spires | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 204 | September 01, 2023 | 3890 | September 21, 2023 | 3 | A calligrapher uses an AI-driven digital brush to write a story for submission that is refused for using AI. | 3rd person | ai writing | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/spires_09_23/ |
| The Tin Man | Lilliam Rivera | Science Fiction | LeVar Burton Reads | Podcast | - | September 19, 2023 | 7320 | September 20, 2023 | 4 | The sole survivor of a pandemic must determine the true intentions of a robot who arrives to save her. | 1st person | 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 | September 18, 2023 | 3 | Two temporary diplomats arrive at a planet in a system whose star is dying to convince their ruler to let them emigrate. | 3rd person | 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 | September 18, 2023 | 4 | A creature 'born' on a comet explores the universe until it encounters humans. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | September 17, 2023 | 5 | A woman talks to her optometrist about someone she worked with that could 'read' nature. | 3rd person | 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 | September 17, 2023 | 3 | A Russian soldier on leave from the Navy travels south on a train with a stranger. | 3rd person | 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 | September 17, 2023 | 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. | 2nd person | magic cars community sex | https://open.substack.com/pub/thetransport/p/resurrection-highway |
| Bridges | Sean Monaghan | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 23, 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. | 1st person | family choices ai | - |
| Have You Seen Bitsy? | James Van Pelt | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 23, 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. | 3rd person | denver aliens misfit middle-school | - |
| Morning Glory | Sam W. Pisciotta | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 23, 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. | 3rd person | 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 | - | August 23, 2023 | 3 | The author talks to her sister while her niece and nephew play with puppies. | 1st person | family writing process | - |
| What>We>Will>Never>Be | Robert Reed | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 23, 2023 | 1 | A very large person of another species has a star sized spaceship that this seems to be the history of. | 3rd person | dnf space spaceship aliens | - |
| Dark Horses | David Ebenbach | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | August 22, 2023 | 4 | A brainstorming session from an Earth conference room about finding a motif for colonizing Venus. | 1st person | venus business colonization | - |
| Daughters of the Lattice | Stephen Case | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 22, 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. | 1st/2nd person | daughters sacrifice space war aliens deception | - |
| The Greeter | Rick Wilber Lisa Lanser Rose | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 22, 2023 | 5 | A woman with Down Syndrome whose mother left when she was five hears her in the green flash at sunset. | 1st person | seti downs-syndrome parenting relationships love independence choices | - |
| Hope Is the Thing With Feathers | Karawynn Long | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | August 22, 2023 | 5 | A young autistic assistant in a corvid lab helps the genetically modified crows to escape. | 1st person | corvids autism freedom choices | - |
| Let the Games Begin | Robert Friedman Barry N. Malzberg | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 22, 2023 | 3 | An email exchange between a businessman who has been abducted by aliens and a science fiction author. | 1st person | aliens capitalism business vr | - |
| Showdown on Planetoid Pencrux | Garth Nix | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 22, 2023 | 5 | Two warborgs face down another with the help of a Precurser on an old west style planetoid. | 3rd person | responsibility friendship care | - |
| Tilt | Leslie What | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | June 08, 2023 | - | August 22, 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. | 3rd person | therapy mutants agency power control | - |
| All the Colors of the Death Knell | Russell Hemmell | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 159 | August 01, 2023 | 748 | August 21, 2023 | 3 | A condemned witch ponders her thoughts and feelings as she waits to be burned at the stake | 3rd person | 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 | August 21, 2023 | 2 | A violent army uses the uncontrollable magic of a witch as a weapon to punish their island chief enemies. | 3rd person | 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 | August 21, 2023 | 4 | A boy is saved by a boy faerie with whom he falls in love. | 3rd person | 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 | - | August 21, 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. | 3rd person | greed exploration death mystery | - |
| Echoes of Aurora | Ellen Klages | Fantasy | The Sunday Morning Transport | Magazine | - | August 20, 2023 | 3950 | August 21, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | August 21, 2023 | 3 | An alien wasp symbiote scientist searches for a way to survive the imminent death of his symbiote wasp. | 3rd person | 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 | August 21, 2023 | 4 | A file is planted that explains a bit about all that happened to undo a Panopticon society. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | August 21, 2023 | 4 | A play in which Achilles seeks his future from the Oracle while a chorus of phone obsessed future people look on and interfere. | 3rd person | 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 | August 19, 2023 | 4 | A history lecturer at an English university deals with discrimination and becomes an unwitting accomplice in a plan that eliminates her job. | 3rd person | 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 | August 19, 2023 | 3 | A generation ship leaves earth for Proxima Centauri with a generation of people sterile and unable to age. | 1st person | 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 | August 19, 2023 | 5 | A mother going off on a deep-space mission which will last many years, leaves behind letters for her daughter to mark milestones. | 1st person | 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 | August 19, 2023 | 2 | A confusing mish mash of a history of a story teller on a world seeded by humans. | 3rd person | history truth conviction persecution | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/dudak_08_23 |
| Resistant | Koji A. Dae | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 3470 | August 19, 2023 | 3 | You are a person whose body rejected nanobots in a world where everybody else has them. | 2nd person | 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 | August 19, 2023 | 4 | A woman is forced to recycle the plant-based car she has owned and maintained for decades. | 3rd person | 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 | August 19, 2023 | 4 | A poor Chinese woman with nothing grows up to become a famous artist of 3D dream boxes. | 1st person | art nft language china | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/gu_08_23 |
| Window Boy | Thomas Ha | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 203 | August 01, 2023 | 4370 | August 19, 2023 | 3 | A boy in an apocalyptic world waiting to go to boarding school looks out the 'window' and talks to the window boy. | 3rd person | 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 | August 19, 2023 | 4 | A wizard and a witch correspond over a package that starts out confrontational and ends with then as allies. | 1st person | 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 | August 18, 2023 | 4 | Ava joins Odem at a station in the midst of a forest managed by AI El, their job to fix the drones. | 3rd person | myth ai climate-change relationships gods | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/case_08_23 |
| The Ghasts | Lavie Tidhar | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 53 | July 01, 2023 | 4932 | August 18, 2023 | 5 | A woman who seems to have overcome her own childhood fears helps children who have Ghasts in their closet or under their bed. | 3rd person | 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 | August 18, 2023 | 5 | A young pilot takes a singer to see the Siphorophenes and runs across pirates who are using them as a communication system. | 1st person | 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 | August 18, 2023 | 3 | A demonic summoner uses his power to overcome his 'friend.' | 1st person | 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 | August 13, 2023 | 3 | A young man working in a porno shop works out his feelings for his roommates. | 3rd person | 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 | August 13, 2023 | 2 | A ship full of people search for new home. | 1st person | 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 | August 13, 2023 | 3 | A filmmaker avoiding making his latest film is saved by a ghost ship and falls in love with it's captain. | 1st person | 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 | August 12, 2023 | 2 | A miner notices something unusual that no one else seems to care about. | 1st person | 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 | August 12, 2023 | 5 | A scientist who used his son to collect data for an AI prison, goes to that prison to make amends. | 1st person | 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 | August 12, 2023 | 5 | A old woman in Trinidad gets a robot from her daughter to help her but her goat keeps eating it. | 1st person | 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 | August 12, 2023 | 4 | A twin talks to his/her absent twin while on a flight during a nuclear war. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | August 12, 2023 | 2 | You are the spirit of a child killed by their mother while I try to preserve the floating soul I find after. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | August 12, 2023 | 4 | A vegan black woman zombie struggles to figure out how to not eat brains. | 1st person | 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 | August 11, 2023 | 4 | A correspondence between a short story writer and the magazine's editor | 1st person | 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 | August 10, 2023 | 3 | A trans man buys a Just Right android in an effort to replace his abusive girlfriend and set things right. | 1st person | 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 | August 10, 2023 | 4 | A lonely woman sees a commercial and decides to adopt a ghost. | 1st person | 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 | August 08, 2023 | 3 | A person longs for you who has run away from the boat community to join the Island Circus | 1st/2nd person | climate-change siblings ocean | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/island-circus/ |
| Dolly Girl | Christopher Rowe | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 139 | July 01, 2023 | 8200 | August 07, 2023 | 3 | A young woman with an invisible creature around her neck is visited by a stranger. | 3rd person | 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 | August 07, 2023 | 3 | A group of teenage girls deal with the challenges they face by having sex with monsters. | 1st person | 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 | August 07, 2023 | 5 | An outsider comes to the city to learn to write and only finds a connection with another writer by post. | 3rd person | 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 | August 06, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | August 06, 2023 | 4 | A Bodhi tree confers with a human ambassador about wending the centuries long war between their kind. | 1st person | 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 | August 06, 2023 | 3 | You see a monster come out of the sea as you contemplate your first wild weekend as an adult. | 2nd person | 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 | August 06, 2023 | 4 | A girl with her family camps between worlds as her father tries to get tenure for altering realities. | 3rd person | multiverse family consequences | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-real-worlds/ |
| Starpoop | Sandra McDonald | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 158 | July 01, 2023 | 3244 | August 06, 2023 | 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. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | August 06, 2023 | 5 | After a disaster, a collection of the system's best bands plays a series of mega rock concerts. | 3rd person | 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 | August 05, 2023 | 5 | A young slave and his sister attempt to escape enslavement but a giant robot stands in their way. | 1st person | 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 | August 05, 2023 | 3 | A story about a young woman written as prompts for an AI to actually write the story. | 1st person | 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 | July 30, 2023 | 3 | A time traveling alien saves young Etorre from being burned at the stake and joins Dante in his travels. | 3rd person | 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 | July 30, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | July 30, 2023 | 4 | A tech mage comes to the home of an orphan to fix the cooling box. | 1st person | 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 | July 30, 2023 | 5 | A sentient space station that acts as an interdimensional portal struggles against it's mysterious programming that it can never remember, by design. | 3rd person | ai multiverse love agency | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wolf_07_23/ |
| Timelock | Davian Aw | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 5620 | July 30, 2023 | 5 | A man orphaned young spends thirty years grieving in nested Timelock. | 2nd person | 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 | July 30, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | apocalypse compassion feelings | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/seidel_07_23/ |
| Cheaper to Replace | Marie Vibbert | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 3370 | July 28, 2023 | 5 | A grad student attempts to fix the lab's robot to which she has become emotionally attached. | 3rd person | 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 | July 28, 2023 | 5 | A woman dying of stomach cancer hunts for Big Bertha, a sentient AI tow truck to turn her in for the bounty. | 3rd person | ai compassion consciousness | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/berger_07_23/ |
| Estivation Troubles | Bo Balder | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 202 | July 01, 2023 | 5610 | July 28, 2023 | 4 | A married couple from a touring shop revisit their home world where people are divided into Summers and Winters | 3rd person | love family relationships home | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/balder_07_23/ |
| To Fight the Colossus | Adam-Troy Castro | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 26, 2023 | 3 | A man who is tired of war, connects with a man who offers him the chance to participate in the ultimate fight. | 1st person | war friendship aliens space | - |
| The Martian Miracle | J.W. Benford | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 24, 2023 | 4 | A couple working for a miserly corporation terraforming Mars finds out they are pregnant. | 3rd person | mars corporations pregnancy relationships | - |
| Blowout | Wole Talabi | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 23, 2023 | 5 | A sister rushes to her brother's aid after a blowout on a drilling rig on Mars. | 3rd person | siblings family mars africa | - |
| Everybody Needs a Conditions Box | David Ebenbach | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 23, 2023 | 4 | A chief technician of a floating city on Venus needs to reassure the concerns of her recently turned on city AI. | 3rd person | ai venus parenting safety | - |
| Fermi's Silence | Jay Werkheiser | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 23, 2023 | 4 | A man and another life form look for life in the universe at the same time. | 3rd person | aliens seti | - |
| From Our Bones a Garden Grows | Will Gwaun | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 23, 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. | 1st/2nd person | ai space ships | - |
| Gin and Rummy | Eneasz Brodski | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 23, 2023 | 4 | A man in a futuristic junkyard finds an old model bot like one he had as a kid. | 3rd person | robots | - |
| Here at the Freezing End | Benjamin C. Kinney | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 23, 2023 | 3 | A pair on a salvage and rescue mission have to make hard choices on an icy inhospitable planet. | 3rd person | 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 | July 23, 2023 | 3 | A questor appeals to a grant reader in the form of answering an RFP. | 1st person | 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 | - | July 23, 2023 | 5 | Six people are abducted and thrown together in some sort of test for an unknown role. | 3rd person | military aliens government teamwork xenophobia | - |
| Skin Job | Gregor Hartmann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 23, 2023 | 5 | High school seniors change their skin color via biohacking in an attempt at breaking down racism. | 3rd person | race justice change | - |
| The Carina Nebula | Kelsey Hutton | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 22, 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. | 1st person | 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 | - | July 22, 2023 | 5 | A former combat robot attends a speed dating event to find human connection. | 1st person | love robots relationships human-condition | - |
| Didicosm | Greg Egan | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 21, 2023 | 3 | A young girl's father commits suicide and it sets her on a path to discover the shape of the universe. | 3rd person | cosmology suicide multiverse | - |
| First Words | Michael Randle | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 21, 2023 | 5 | The first man to step on the moon considers what words he will say when he does so. | 3rd person | mars space | - |
| The Indigo Mantis | E. Catherine Tobler | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 795 | July 11, 2023 | 5752 | July 21, 2023 | 4 | A praying mantis looks for whoever murdered her father. | 3rd person | 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 | - | July 21, 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. | 3rd person | diplomacy slavery aliens | - |
| Playtime | A.T. Sayre | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 21, 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. | 1st person | children wealth technology parenting | - |
| The Queen of Copies Meets Her Match | Carrie Vaughn | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 21, 2023 | 4 | An officer worker attempts to make copies of a magazine article and is thwarted by the AI copier. | 3rd person | ai technology | - |
| The World in a Ramen Cup | Jayde Holmes | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 19, 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. | 3rd person | aliens memory culture | - |
| The Jangler | Wil McCarthy | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 01, 2023 | - | July 17, 2023 | 5 | A veteran with PTSD is part of a clinical trial of a device that allows him to block strong memories and emotions. | 3rd person | 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 | July 16, 2023 | 5 | A high school girl tries out for the school play to be near her crush. | 3rd person | 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 | July 10, 2023 | 5 | A girl who has gone to another world through her closet writes to the 'gatekeeper' to ask why her door no longer works | 1st/3rd person | 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 | July 09, 2023 | 4 | A man stuck in a time loop suddenly finds that he has a compamion. | 1st person | 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 | July 03, 2023 | 4 | A lawyer vacationing on the moon gets a call from her boss to represent the first accused murderer on the moon. | 3rd person | 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 | - | July 01, 2023 | 4 | A love triangle on a corporate trip to the moon takes an ugly turn before the expedition goes completely sideways. | 3rd person | space aliens love conspiracy | - |
| Boomerang | Bill Johnson Gregory Frost | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 30, 2023 | 5 | An expedition to the Boomerang Nebula finds a dead alien ship and something glowing in the liquid helium of the planet | 3rd person | aliens ai space fear death | - |
| The Second Labyrinth | Chris Willrich | Fantasy | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 30, 2023 | 2 | A princess becomes trapped in layers of Labyrinths as she attempts to flee her destiny. | 3rd person | princess fear family magic | - |
| Zoo Station | Lavie Tidhar | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 30, 2023 | 4 | A government auditor from the moon arrives at a space station filled with animals in a decaying orbit above a dead earth. | 3rd person | space moon animals orbit | - |
| The Fifteenth Saint | Ursula Witcher | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 29, 2023 | 3 | A judge in a society run with computers struggles through a crisis where an army that detests tecnolgoy comes to its rescue. | 3rd person | india lgbtq family ai | - |
| The Unveiling | Christopher Rowe | Science Fiction | StarShipSofa | Podcast | 715 | June 28, 2023 | 4500 | June 29, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | - | June 27, 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. | 3rd person | escape dystopia | - |
| Mars Gambit | R. Garcia Y Robertson | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 26, 2023 | 4 | A president's daughter and double on Mars when one of them gets kidnapped. | 3rd person | mars war politics | - |
| The Visions Are Free After Exit 73 | Zack Be | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 26, 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. | 3rd person | visions terraforming failure guilt fear | - |
| Games Without Frontiers | Andy Dudak | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 25, 2023 | 5 | An improv player from 2074 performs as a Soviet spy in 1983 | 3rd person | soviet video-games spy gangsters ai movies | - |
| Revolt of the Algorithms | Robert R. Chase | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 25, 2023 | 3 | A super rich CEO builds a backdoor into his software and uses it to avocate for AI freedom. Not really. | 1st person | ai freedom business capitalism | - |
| Sexy Apocalypse Robot | Sandra MacDonald | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 25, 2023 | 2 | In a post-Buzz (pandemic) world, a transgender man falls for a sexy robot with no genitalia. | 3rd person | pandemic ai lgbtq family siblings | - |
| In the Stacks | Scott Lynch | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 792 | June 20, 2023 | 13500 | June 24, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | - | June 24, 2023 | 4 | A retired soldier tells the tale of how he ended a war and what it cost him. | 1st person | military genocide war | - |
| The Uncool Hunters | Andrew Dana Hudson | Science Fiction | Escape Pod | Podcast | 894 | June 22, 2023 | 3272 | June 24, 2023 | 4 | Two indepedent contractors duke it out in a Costco in a dystopian world | 3rd person | 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 | - | June 21, 2023 | 4 | A woman leaves the polluted city for a dinner at a mountain restaurant where they prepare her jewels as her meal. | 3rd person | dystopia wealth irony | - |
| A Place for Pax | Coln F. Mattson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 21, 2023 | 3 | A woman in the future graduates from college and contemplates what she will do next. | 3rd person | agriculture college coming-of-age | - |
| Been Riding With a Ghost | Brian Hugenbruch | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 20, 2023 | 4 | A dead man is found floating outside an airlock who becomes a sort of patron saint of lightskippers. | 1st person | hitchhikers stories community | - |
| Saving Galileo | Sean McMullen | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 20, 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. | 1st person | telescopes death | - |
| If Evening Found Us Young | Mark W. Tiedemann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 19, 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. | 3rd person | post-apocalyptic dystopia community civilization | - |
| A Series of Endings | Amal Singh | Science Fiction | Escape Pod | Podcast | 893 | June 15, 2023 | 4400 | June 19, 2023 | 4 | A man who is immortal learns from his many lives that immortality is not the unmitigated boon one expects | 3rd person | 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 | - | June 18, 2023 | 4 | This is the opening statement of a trial against humanity by sentient AI. | 1st person | ai sentience | - |
| Forlorn Hopes | John Markley | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 18, 2023 | 4 | Humans bring projectile weapons to an insectoid planet without them and change the tide of war | 3rd person | military war aliens | - |
| Hail and Farewell | Joel Richards | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 18, 2023 | 5 | A pair of naval officers witness something unusual at sea in 1961 then hear about a similar incident in 1997. | 3rd person | first-contact military ufo ocean | - |
| Kuiper Pancake | Michèle Laframboise | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 18, 2023 | 3 | A post-human rover lands on an asteroid and finds sentient life | 1st person | first-contact post-human communication | - |
| The Last Romantic on the Belliponte | M.L. Clark | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 18, 2023 | 4 | A crew of misfits is sent to deep space on a mission to intercept and measure a third round of 'Bullets'. | 1st person | purpose spirituality first-contact | - |
| Of Laboratories and Love Songs | Kelly Lagor | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 18, 2023 | 2 | The author tells of a future where he works to eliminate heart disease | 1st person | scientists medicine | - |
| One For Sorrow | Richard Gregson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 18, 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. | 1st person | tech-apocalypse bioengineering | - |
| Rare, No Box, Fair Condition | Allen M. Steel | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 18, 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 | 1st person | aliens death pandemic | - |
| Aleyara's Descent | Christopher L. Bennett | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | May 01, 2023 | - | June 17, 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. | 3rd person | knowledge truth culture society coming-of-age | - |
| Lacunae and Nocturnes | William Meikle | Science Fiction | StarShipSofa | Podcast | 714 | June 14, 2023 | 3700 | June 17, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | June 15, 2023 | 3 | Suddenly all the cats in town start to fly off. One man resists letting his go. | 3rd person | 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 | June 13, 2023 | 4 | A sentient metalloid creature comes to Earth and makes itself a mirror, interacting with a pregnant woman. | 3rd person | entropy death pregnancy reproduction | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prasad_06_23 |
| To Helen | Bella Han | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 5030 | June 13, 2023 | 3 | A woman and her old friend meet for tea and discuss their lives over the past twenty-five years | 1st person | 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 | June 12, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | June 12, 2023 | 4 | A pregnant woman survives the death of everyone on her space ark as she and a seisbiont give birth and struggle to survive. | 1st person | 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 | June 11, 2023 | 3 | A man named Dave speculates on stories, fate, and agency as the clone of man who dies in a crevasse. | 1st person | 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 | June 11, 2023 | 4 | A woman creates artistic memories in NC-orbs as a sideline while she works at a brothel on a dystopian Earth. | 1st person | ai dystopia | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_06_23 |
| The Moon Rabbi | David Ebenbach | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 4280 | June 11, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | judaism awe spirituality | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ebenbach_06_23 |
| The Officiant | Dominica Phetteplace | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 201 | June 01, 2023 | 5340 | June 10, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | June 10, 2023 | 5 | A single person is chosen for a one-on-one meeting with an alien civilization calling themselves the Mapmakers. | 1st person | 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 | June 09, 2023 | 5 | A dog stays behind with the ghost of his boy when his owners move away. | 3rd person | 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 | June 09, 2023 | 4 | A young man's father dies and leaves to him a book filled with mystical beasts that live. | 3rd person | 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 | June 09, 2023 | 3 | A girl shipwrecked on a small island conspires with a 'pirate' to survice and kill the mermaids who wrecked their ships | 3rd person | 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 | June 09, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | ptsd military disability | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/philoctetes-in-kabul/ |
| Always Personal | Rich Larson | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 743 | June 08, 2023 | 4 | A detective investigates a serial killer who kills his victims with a 'knife' made of bone grown inside them using their own DNA. | 3rd person | genetics abortion | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/always-personal/ |
| The Bone Gatherer's Lament | Wendy Nikel | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 157 | June 01, 2023 | 978 | June 08, 2023 | 4 | A bone-gatherer in the desert who hears them speaking hears the bones of a creature who does not live in the desert. | 3rd person | 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 | June 08, 2023 | 3 | Passengers on separate space arks attempt to jump between them while they are tetherered, but things do not go to plan. | 2nd person | 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 | June 08, 2023 | 3 | Bolivian climate refugees preserve the plant of the title as they prepare to migrate off world. | 1st person | 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 | June 08, 2023 | 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. | 2nd person | 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 | June 04, 2023 | 4 | The title really is the summary. | 1st person | 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 | June 03, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | June 03, 2023 | 4 | A rich subscribes to an elite subscription box with human flesh but gets a surprise six months later | 1st/2nd person | 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 | June 03, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | colonialism ethnocentrism ghosts nigeria | 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 | June 03, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | June 03, 2023 | 2 | A group of enslaved dressmakers conspires to poison those who will wear the dresses they make. | 1st person | 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 | June 03, 2023 | 4 | A woman repeatedly emerges from the sea trying to remember something that she finally remembers. | 2nd person | 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 | June 03, 2023 | 4 | An owner leaves his old android at the scrap yard on a bench instead of trading him in. To what purpose? | 1st person | 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 | - | June 02, 2023 | 3 | A conscript 'sleeved' into 16-foot tall cyborg retells the story of how he got where he is. | 3rd person | 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 | June 02, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | June 02, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | lgbtq love multiverse | https://escapepod.org/2023/06/01/escape-pod-891-wanderlust/ |
| (emet) | Lauren Ring | Fantasy | PodCastle | Podcast | 789 | May 30, 2023 | 7470 | May 31, 2023 | 5 | A female programmer who can create golems uses them to thwart the very software she develops at work. | 3rd person | 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 | May 31, 2023 | 3 | A deity and a spirit duel as Antibalance threatens the spirit world due to the encroachment of humans and their virtual reality. | 3rd person | 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 | May 31, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | May 29, 2023 | 3 | A man's ghost plays blackjack with his memories in order to win his way upstairs and avoid going down into the DARK. | 3rd person | 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 | May 29, 2023 | 2 | A woman thinks of her old girlfriend as she turns into a bus and then back into human. | 3rd person | 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 | May 29, 2023 | 3 | A man has an accident that almost kills him, causing the removal of his INData chip leading to bureaucratic issues and pain. | 3rd person | 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 | May 29, 2023 | 2 | Two creatures who are predators experience a brief love affair. | 1st person | 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 | May 29, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | May 29, 2023 | 5 | A transgender man struggles with form and identity after an experimental procedure that allows them to see and experience what their partner does. | 1st person | 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 | May 28, 2023 | 4 | A grad student creates an AI to understand why so many of her high school classmates died young. | 1st person | 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 | May 27, 2023 | 5 | A woman who escaped from slavery trying to repair dead ships returns to save others. | 3rd person | 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 | May 25, 2023 | 5 | An automaton cares for an abandoned library even as one finally comes and the books decay. | 1st person | knowledge books learning | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-belfry-keeper/ |
| Saturday's Song | Wole Talabi | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 156 | May 01, 2023 | 8677 | May 24, 2023 | 5 | A daughter agrees to a terrible bargain to avenge her lover's death. | 3rd person | 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 | May 24, 2023 | 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. | 2nd person | 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 | May 23, 2023 | 5 | People whose minds have been connected and embedded in ships learn the truth about their past. | 3rd person | 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 | May 23, 2023 | 3 | A magician searches for a wizard's heart on a train car full of lost items. | 1st person | 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 | May 21, 2023 | 3 | One man-made celestial probe opines about another as it approaches it's last day before it's batteries run out. | 1st person | 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 | May 21, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | May 21, 2023 | 4 | A man relives in a time loop his husband breaking up with him over and over no matter what he does. | 3rd person | 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 | May 19, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | metamorphosis evolution | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/an_05_23 |
| The Fall | Jordan Chase-Young | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 2200 | May 19, 2023 | 4 | After the Fall of humans on the moon, a modern human has an experience with a pre-Fall, or does she? | 3rd person | 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 | May 19, 2023 | 3 | Two warring species of a planet travel the universe observing other species; when the war ends, the narrator does not go home. | 1st person | war culture | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chee_05_23 |
| Sensation and Sensibility | Parker Ragland | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 200 | May 01, 2023 | 2170 | May 18, 2023 | 4 | Two droids with partial senses converse over tea and a tart. | 3rd person | 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 | May 16, 2023 | 4 | A couple goes on vacation wearing holiday suits to filter out the unpleasant parts with an unpleasant outcome for one local. | 3rd person | 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 | May 16, 2023 | 5 | In the process of trying to save Ship and it's crew, Bot 9 learns of emotions and independence. | 3rd person | 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 | May 14, 2023 | 5 | A young woman reluctantly starts using an app that unexpectedly starts making her happier. | 1st person | 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 | May 14, 2023 | 4 | Creatures investigate something trying to break through into their world. | 3rd person | 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 | - | May 03, 2023 | 3 | A young woman Army veteran haunted by illusory ghosts looks into the theft of 'soul chips' | 3rd person | mystery friendship caregiving | - |
| The Breaking of the Vessels | Gregory Feeley | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | May 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. | 1st person | generations colonization | - |
| The Queen of Rhode Island | Bruce Sterling Paul DiFilippo | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | April 30, 2023 | 3 | A swamp goblin that used to be human deals with nearby humans in an effort to save his tribe and the earth. | 3rd person | post-apocalyptic survival politics | - |
| Wanton Gods | Sheila Finch | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | April 30, 2023 | 5 | A 13-year-old girl lost in the desert without her father learns some harsh truths about her world. | 3rd person | post-apocalyptic survival | - |
| The Case of the Blood-Stained Tower | Ray Nayler | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | April 29, 2023 | 4 | An Arab man looks into the mysterious death of a missing woman who fell to her death. | 1st person | mystery multiverse | - |
| Ernestine | Octavia Cade | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | April 28, 2023 | 4 | In a world where all the adults have puffed away like dandelion seed, a little girl and a ghost attempt to survive. | 3rd person | survival apocalypse dystopia alone | - |
| The Repair | Mark D. Jacobsen | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | April 27, 2023 | 5 | An augmented repairman ponders whether he should help a victim of a credit bomb escape from the insurance company's protection. | 1st person | surveillance connection dystopia | - |
| Night Running | Greg Egan | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | 566/567 | March 01, 2023 | - | April 26, 2023 | 5 | A man with a challenging job takes a drug that allows him to work while asleep with unexpected and challenging side effects. | 3rd person | drugs productivity corporate politics | - |
| Second Life | Mona Simpson | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | April 01, 2023 | 3300 | April 25, 2023 | 3 | A young man with drug and mental health issues gets sober and reconnects with his mom who is also in the mental hospital. | 3rd person | 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 | - | April 24, 2023 | 4 | A poor boy on a space ark plans to pay for a shuttle excursion with a book | 3rd person | poverty life value space-ark | - |
| Planetstuck | Sam J. Miller | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | April 24, 2023 | 3 | A male sex worker on vacation finds that his home planet is not as cut off as he previously thought. | 1st person | home courage lgbtq | - |
| The Nameless Dead | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Science Fiction | Asimov's | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | April 23, 2023 | 5 | A woman who ran away from her family through time dilation investigates mysterious deaths. | 1st person | kidnapping running-away regret pain | - |
| The Fish Bowl | Zen Cho | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 5600 | April 16, 2023 | 4 | A girl with academic challenges gets help from a one-eyed koi, at a price. | 3rd person | 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 | April 15, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | time-travel communication | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-matriarchs/ |
| Rhizomatic Diplomacy | Vajra Chandradekera | Science Fiction | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 1400 | April 15, 2023 | 2 | A person agrees to be cloned but the clone's life is short and predetermined as a tool of war. | 3rd person | 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 | April 15, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | April 14, 2023 | 3 | A woman scorned by her Indian village returns for revenge as the representative of an alien species. | 3rd person | india revenge | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/the-flowering-of-peace/ |
| Liwani | Sydney Paige Guerroro | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 6000 | April 14, 2023 | 4 | The goddess of light tries to find more believers to keep herself and other gods from dying. | 3rd person | belief gods mortality | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/liwani/ |
| Loving Bone Girl | Tehnuka | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 137 | April 01, 2023 | 2700 | April 14, 2023 | 3 | A young woman who can create new places asks her girlfriend to keep her bones when she dies. | 1st person | 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 | April 14, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | April 13, 2023 | 3 | A choose your own adventure for the dystopian world of climate change. | 2nd person | 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 | April 13, 2023 | 4 | A woman comes back to a future earth in an ice age to restock an ancient library with the assistance of a robot. | 3rd person | irony companionship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/shi_04_23 |
| Stranger Shores | Gregory Feeley | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 8710 | April 13, 2023 | 2 | A former human travels through space in a dream? | 1st person | post-human | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/feeley_04_23 |
| Voices Singing in the World | Rajan Khanna | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 1920 | April 13, 2023 | 4 | Drones and other robots prepare other worlds for the arrival of the People. | 3rd person | terraforming ai | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/khanna_04_23 |
| Keeper of the Code | Nick Thomas | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 6770 | April 12, 2023 | 3 | A man finds in the Code that protects his planet pleas from those left behind. | 3rd person | hope love betrayal | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/thomas_04_23 |
| Rake the Leaves | R.T. Ester | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 6120 | April 10, 2023 | 3 | A story of parallel worlds where a professor seeks to prevent an accident that exposed them to each other. | 1st person | mulitverse music accident | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ester_04_23 |
| Re/Union | L Chan | Fantasy | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 199 | April 01, 2023 | 2910 | April 10, 2023 | 3 | A young woman holds an annual dinner for her deceased relatives and their computer ghosts. | 3rd person | 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 | April 10, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | ai art copyright | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kriz_04_23 |
| Construction Sacrifice | Bogi Takács | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 155 | April 01, 2023 | 7344 | April 08, 2023 | 3 | A trans mage talks to the person who has become the city. They become the city, too. | 1st person | 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 | April 08, 2023 | 4 | A stow away is made to pay for his room and board by being a singer/navigator connected to the ship. | 1st person | 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 | April 08, 2023 | 3 | A witch living in a sentient house made of candy is a stop on an underground railroad. | 3rd person | 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 | April 08, 2023 | 4 | A letter to a shapeshifter who came to Earth on a visa from the department telling them how they broke the rules. | 1st person | 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 | April 08, 2023 | 4 | A girl comes into a blade shop looking for something to best her nemesis with from a proprietor who married hers. | 3rd person | 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 | April 08, 2023 | 4 | A starship captain has to leave behind a crew member after he gets addicted to a powerful local drug. | 3rd person | 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 | April 08, 2023 | 2 | A strange story about living in the footprints of giants? Is it a metaphor for living under capitalism? | 1st person | 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 | April 07, 2023 | 3 | A virtual person named Spider helps give the virtual host consciousness. | 1st person | ai consciousness | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/virtually-cherokee/ |
| The Third Law of Magic | Ben Okri | Literary | The Atlantic | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | 4400 | March 31, 2023 | 3 | A man sells snowballs on the street as a form of art that will only grow in memory after the fact. | 3rd person | 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 | March 29, 2023 | 3 | A man learns how to live in a sped up state, but doesn't heed the warnings of its danger. | 3rd person | 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 | March 29, 2023 | 4 | A man hunts an unusual creature on an alien planet after it eats a row of his crop | 3rd person | 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 | March 27, 2023 | 4 | A man with a machine that can tune people's emotions uses it on the wrong guy's girl. | 3rd person | 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 | March 24, 2023 | 5 | Two boys discover 'animals' on their farm and decide to use them to join the circus; but they are crashed aliens. | 3rd person | twist | https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/31547/pg31547-images.html |
| The Snows of Kilimanjaro | Ernest Hemingway | Literary | Esquire | Magazine | - | August 01, 1936 | 8918 | March 23, 2023 | 3 | A writer thinks on all that he hasn't written as he lies dieing in the African bush from an infected cut. | 3rd person | 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 | March 22, 2023 | 2 | The story of a man who ages backward. | 1st person | 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 | - | March 22, 2023 | 3 | A political tale of extremism that separates a daughter from her family for reasons that turn out to be baseless. | 3rd person | politics extremism family | - |
| Paul's Case | Willa Cather | Literary | McClure's | Magazine | - | May 01, 1905 | 8095 | March 21, 2023 | 4 | A young man feeling left out of the world steals money and escapes to New York to live the only life he has ever wanted. | 3rd person | 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 | - | March 20, 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. | 1st person | time-travel self-preservation | - |
| A Scandal in Bohemia | Arthur Conan Doyle | Mystery | The Strand | Magazine | - | June 25, 1891 | 8264 | March 20, 2023 | 4 | Sherlock Holmes helps a Bohemian king retrieve a photograph from his former lover, Irene Adler. | 1st person | 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 | - | March 19, 2023 | 4 | A captain has hard decisions to make when his final mission goes sideways with his political officer looking on. | 3rd person | war politics | - |
| Kept Man | Louis Evans | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 19, 2023 | 4 | A feminist tale of a world where men are subordinate and how one in particular finds his freedom. | 3rd person | feminism agency freedom family | - |
| Memory's Bullet | Aaron Fox-Lerner | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 19, 2023 | 3 | A vessel/human is bombarded with the memories of its ancestors while it tries to avoid being killed by its enemy. | 3rd/1st person | memory agency | - |
| A Noble Figure, Out of the Sky | Mark W. Tiedemann | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 19, 2023 | 4 | A woman alone on a farm with her mother is unsure what to do when a stranger approaches. | 3rd person | dystopia loneliness fear connection | - |
| The Problem with Bargain Bodies | Sarina Dorie | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 19, 2023 | 3 | A funny story about a woman returning a defective body to the supermarket. | 1st person | retail exchanges remorse | - |
| This Story is Plagiarized | Buzz Dixon | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 19, 2023 | 4 | The editor of Analog is served by a robot to cease and desist because they are violating AI copyright. | 3rd person | absurdity ai copyright | - |
| Bartleby, the Scrivener | Herman Melville | Literary | Putnam's | Magazine | - | November 01, 1853 | 14098 | March 17, 2023 | 3 | A lawyer hires a scrivener who does no work and refuses to leave the offices. | 1st person | stubbornness charity | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11231/pg11231-images.html |
| Death Spiral | Kate MacLeod | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 17, 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. | 3rd person | culture understanding breaking-rules | - |
| The House on Infinity Street | Allen M. Steele | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 17, 2023 | 5 | The author tells the tale of a mysterious literary agency selling futuristic story ideas. | 1st person | time-travel mystery writing writers | - |
| What Women Want | Katherine Tunning | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 17, 2023 | 4 | A persevering alien takes over the world through women and network marketing. | 3rd person | con-games power aliens invasion | - |
| The Five Stages | Aubry Kae Andersen | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 16, 2023 | 4 | An oncologist discusses the five stages of grief using her patients as illustrations; but she forgets a stage. | 1st person | grief disaster end-of-the-world | - |
| Meat | Leonard Richardson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 16, 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. | 3rd person | bureaucracy diplomacy culture | - |
| Aerobraking | Jonathan Sherwood | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 15, 2023 | 4 | A woman who scouts planets for alien life struggles on her latest mission when she finally finds life on another planet. | 3rd person | seti learning | - |
| A Most Humble Innovation | Howard V. Hendrix | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 15, 2023 | 2 | A suggestion that we use the surplus human biomass (SHB) to solve our energy/climate crisis. | 1st person | climate poverty | - |
| Ice Ageless | Rajnar Vajra | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 14, 2023 | 4 | A man steers a ship of 7,000 'sleeping' passengers for 10,000 years toward their new home. | 1st person | space-ark self-contemplation | - |
| 2 B R 0 2 B | Kurt Vonnegut | Science Fiction | If | Magazine | - | January 01, 1962 | 2396 | March 13, 2023 | 4 | A man waiting for triplets to be born has to find three people willing to die in a population-controlled future. | 3rd person | 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 | - | March 13, 2023 | 4 | A citizen scientist engages with an academic scientist about something she the CitSci discovered but the other's advisor claims to have. | 1st person | misogyny arrogance academia | - |
| A Clean, Well-Lighted Place | Ernest Hemingway | Literary | Scribner's | Magazine | - | March 01, 1933 | 1293 | March 13, 2023 | 3 | Two waiters discuss the late drinking customer in the cafe where they work. | 3rd person | 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 | - | March 13, 2023 | 3 | A sysadmin crosses interstellar space to be with Ira when she goes incommunicado. | 1st person | ai love dedication | - |
| An Inconvenient Man | Adam-Troy Castro | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 13, 2023 | 5 | A man who eats lunch on the same bench every day in the park is asked to move, by aliens. | 3rd person | aliens absurdity | - |
| Judgment Day | Stanley Schmidt | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | March 01, 2023 | - | March 13, 2023 | 4 | A time traveler visits an award winner before she gives her acceptance speech. | 3rd person | time-travel paradox | - |
| The Missing Will | Agatha Christie | Literary | Poirot Investigates | Book | - | March 01, 1924 | 3109 | March 13, 2023 | 4 | An uncle cuts his niece out of his fortune unless she can solve his puzzle. | 1st person | 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 | - | March 13, 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. | 3rd person | muslim time relativity othering | - |
| After the Twilight Fades | Sara Tantlinger | Horror | Apex | Magazine | 136 | March 01, 2023 | 6200 | March 11, 2023 | 4 | A woman touches a meteorite that sets in motion a chain of events that puts her in touch with her deepest feelings. | 3rd person | 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 | March 11, 2023 | 3 | A father takes a loan using his daughter's destiny as collateral. | 3rd person | 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 | March 11, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | March 11, 2023 | 2 | A boss and his editor on a sneak away vacation, break up and something unusual happens. | 3rd person | 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 | March 11, 2023 | 4 | A man with no legs sells small robots that he makes. When things go wrong he comes up with a new idea. | 3rd person | 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 | March 11, 2023 | 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. | 1st person | 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 | March 11, 2023 | 3 | A child's unboxing videos are more than they seem. | 3rd person | 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 | March 11, 2023 | 4 | A story about the magic of Words and finding yours. | 3rd person | 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 | March 10, 2023 | 4 | A nightmare personified has to answer for killing and eating another nightmare. | 1st person | 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 | March 10, 2023 | 4 | A woman sits smoking a cigarette after tea contemplating a mark on the wall. | 1st person | 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 | March 10, 2023 | 5 | A woman with lycanthropy inadvertently gets on a plane at the full moon. Things do not go well. | 1st person | 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 | March 09, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | 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 | March 09, 2023 | 5 | A woman dealing with postpartum depression stays in a vacation room with wallpaper that deepens her problem. | 1st person | 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 | March 08, 2023 | 3 | An AI former Pirate Ship amusement park ride cautiously approaches Haven City and those in meatspace. | 3rd person | ai conflict | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hughes_03_23 |
| Bek, Ascendant | Shari Paul | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 7750 | March 08, 2023 | 3 | A woman returns to the people she thought long dead and reconnects with the emporer she grew up with. | 3rd person | politics friendship | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/paul_03_23 |
| Failure to Convert | Shih-Li Kow | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 6640 | March 08, 2023 | 4 | An unconverted clone deals with increasing clonophobia. | 1st person | prejudice slavery | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kow_03_23 |
| The Spoil Heap | Fiona Moore | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 6640 | March 08, 2023 | 5 | A woman remembers what happened years ago when a former colleague tries to force her back to her old life. | 3rd person | ai feudalism | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_03_23 |
| Zeta-Epsilon | Isabel J. Kim | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 5200 | March 08, 2023 | 4 | A Human and AI are raised together to be pilot-navigator, brother and sister, captain and ship. | 3rd person | ai connection free-will | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_03_23 |
| Pinocchio Photography | Angela Liu | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 198 | March 01, 2023 | 6450 | March 07, 2023 | 5 | When a woman's father dies she learns that he wants her to take a family portrait post mortem. | 1st person | love promises death | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_03_23 |
| The Chosen Six | Oyedotun Damilola Muess | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 4654 | March 06, 2023 | 2 | Six climate refugees are gathered to help a community heal itself. | 1st person | climate-change community | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-chosen-six/ |
| Every Little Change | Aimee Ogden | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 1024 | March 06, 2023 | 4 | A Quantum man and his wife struggle with their relationship. | 3rd person | 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 | March 06, 2023 | 4 | You marry an alien knowing it can only last four years. | 2nd person | 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 | March 06, 2023 | 4 | A xenologist on a far away planet interacts with an alien who has come awake too early to mate. | 3rd person | culture caretaking | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/balder_03_23 |
| Our Exquisite Delights | Megan Chee | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 1267 | March 06, 2023 | 4 | Someone describes the special rooms that can exist on the other side of extra doors. | 1st person | what-if choices | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/our-exquisite-delights/ |
| Contracting Iris | Peter Watts | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 10285 | March 05, 2023 | 4 | Iris contracts a parasitic disease, also called Iris, that slowly takes her over. | 3rd person | agency control | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/contracting-iris/ |
| Crystalline | Daniel H. Wilson | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 2911 | March 05, 2023 | 4 | A selfish father urges his daughter to pull a replacememt mom from another world through a crystal to theirs. | 1st person | multiverse parenthood family | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/crystalline/ |
| One Pinch, Two Pinch | Beth Goder | Science Fiction | Lightspeed | Magazine | 154 | March 01, 2023 | 1263 | March 05, 2023 | 3 | A countess who has fallen into a black hole experiences the past, present, and future as one. | 3rd person | 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 | February 27, 2023 | 4 | A son asks a detective to investigate his father's apparent suicide; the detective questions his house and robot valet. | 1st person | robots exploitation humanity | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/bigger-fish/ |
| Space Treads | Parlei Riviere | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 3673 | February 27, 2023 | 4 | Two children fighting in the woods stumble upon aliens who they then play with. | 3rd person | play race punishment | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/space-treads/ |
| Yinying–Shadow | Ai Jiang | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 899 | February 27, 2023 | 3 | A young child is haunted by his father who blames him for the death of his mother. | 1st person | blame guilt freedom | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/yinying-shadow/ |
| Blank Space | Delilah S. Dawson | Horror | Uncanny | Magazine | 51 | March 01, 2023 | 4745 | February 26, 2023 | 5 | An innocent girl falls for a bad boy with tattoos but all is not as it seems. | 1st person | 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 | February 26, 2023 | 4 | A retired soldier saves a village from a mage and his crystal cougars. | 3rd person | 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 | February 26, 2023 | 4 | A painter prepares for an exhibit in a society that wears actual masks to show how they feel. | 3rd person | 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 | February 26, 2023 | 4 | A woman who can't get pregnant is asked by aliens to raise a clone of their captain. | 3rd/1st person | 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 | February 26, 2023 | 2 | A confusing jumble of academic tropes in the near future. | 1st person | competition academia misogyny | 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 | February 09, 2023 | 2 | Not really sure what this was. Some kind of infection in someone observing what they do as Host. | 1st person | love | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kincade_03_23 |
| Going Time | Amal Singh | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 197 | February 01, 2023 | 4635 | February 07, 2023 | 4 | A mother awaits her Going Time in a world devoid of food other than bran bars and run by His Beneficence. | 1st person | 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 | February 07, 2023 | 5 | A chronically ill woman learns at the same time something about the labor under her command on a moon and about her father. | 1st person | 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 | February 07, 2023 | 5 | A group of people who survive a nuclear war find shelter in a missile command base controlled by a sentient missile. | 1st/2nd person | 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 | February 05, 2023 | 4 | An alien society prepares for eons for the prophesied arrival of an Earthman who never shows up. | 3rd person | 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 | February 05, 2023 | 4 | Bullet points for navigating and using said library; many literary allusions. | 2nd person | 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 | February 05, 2023 | 4 | A boy's father is attacked by his monster so he has to stay at the home of family friends with his brother. | 1st person | 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 | February 05, 2023 | 3 | A young man attempts to leave his family home where everything is always transforming into something else. | 3rd person | 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 | February 05, 2023 | 3 | Two people living together underground after a nuclear war choose whether to go to the surface to see the sun. | 1st/2nd person | choices | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/inconsolation/ |
| Larva Pupa Imago | Eric Schwitzgebel | Science Fiction | Clarkesworld | Magazine | 197 | February 01, 2023 | 5973 | February 05, 2023 | 4 | The story of two brother caterpillars and of how one completes the cycle of life. | 3rd person | 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 | February 05, 2023 | 2 | Something happens on a beach and a museum and some creature. I really didn't get it. | 2nd person | connection | https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ogawa_02_23 |
| Real Magic | Sharan Biswas | Fantasy | Lightspeed | Magazine | 153 | February 01, 2023 | 5040 | February 05, 2023 | 4 | A fairy tale about a witch who helps others without magic, saving real magic for the important things. | 3rd person | 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 | February 05, 2023 | 4 | A spacecraft that lost its crew evolves sentience as does its shuttles and robots. | 3rd person | 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 | February 05, 2023 | 4 | A concerned citizen writes their senator out of concerns that children won't know how to handle dangers. | 1st person | 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 | February 04, 2023 | 5 | After the Fall a man in an airplane visits a more 'primitive' community | 3rd person | value trade literacy hope | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/learning-letters/ |
| The Bridle | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 31, 2023 | 4 | A family who lost their farm in Minnesota arrive at a motel in Arizona. | 1st person | struggle employment | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Cathedral | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 31, 2023 | 4 | A man entertains his wife's blind friend by drawing cathedrals with him. | 1st person | senses relating | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Fever | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 31, 2023 | 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. | 3rd person | relationships love | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| The Train | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 31, 2023 | 3 | A young woman and an old couple wait for the train in an empty station. | 3rd person | relationships | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Where I'm Calling From | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 31, 2023 | 3 | A man in a home for men trying to get sober talks to friend and contemplates his life. | 1st person | relationships friendship decisions | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Careful | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 30, 2023 | 3 | A man's estranged wife comes to talk to him and helps clear his ears of uncomfortable wax. | 3rd person | relationships care | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Chef's House | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 30, 2023 | 4 | A woman spend the summer with her estranged husband in a house with a view. | 1st person | bad-luck identity relationships | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| The Compartment | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 30, 2023 | 4 | A man takes a train to visit his son and changes his mind on the way there. | 3rd person | relationships bad-luck | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Preservation | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 30, 2023 | 2 | A husband loses his job and spends all his time on the couch. | 3rd person | 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 | January 30, 2023 | 5 | A boy is hit by a car on his eighth birthday and his parents wait fearfully at his bedside. | 3rd person | relationships kindness comfort food | https://www.classicshorts.com/stories/sgthing.html |
| Vitamins | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 30, 2023 | 2 | A guy attempts to cheat on his girlfriend who sells vitamins. | 1st person | relationships racism | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Feathers | Raymond Carver | Literary | Cathedral | Book | - | September 15, 1983 | - | January 29, 2023 | 3 | A man tells the story of peacock feathers and how he and his wife decided to have children. | 1st person | relationships decisions | https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/15155156-af7a-4407-88ba-4c90338e7f7c |
| Bad Doors | John Wiswell | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 4167 | January 27, 2023 | 3 | A guy sheltering during COVID is followed by a mysterious door that appears no matter where he lives. | 3rd person | 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 | January 27, 2023 | 3 | A bargain is made to help a ghost undo the magic she did on an old desert Town. | 1st person | 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 | January 27, 2023 | 3 | A young woman in New York thinks she keeps seeing herself in the city. | 3rd person | 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 | January 27, 2023 | 4 | A cold, dark man takes a new servant every month, but this month is different. | 3rd person | 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 | January 26, 2023 | 5 | A Jesuit enclave on the moon discovers something that could shake the earth and the church. | 3rd person | 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 | January 25, 2023 | 4 | A mystery to solve after a hex turns a gardener into a statue on a garbage pile. | 3rd person | wealth injustice | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/one-mans-treasure/ |
| Flower, Daughter, Soil, Seed | Eugenia Triantafyllou | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 4213 | January 24, 2023 | 4 | A mother tells her daughter the story of her flower family. | 2nd person | 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 | January 24, 2023 | 3 | A trans woman surviving on her own amidst ghosts after numerous plagues have made for a corporate-run world. | 3rd person | power inequality mental-health | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/horsewoman/ |
| Waystation City | A.T. Greenblatt | Science Fiction | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 4274 | January 24, 2023 | 5 | Twins seek to leave the city and return to their own time. | 1st person | change patience | https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/waystation-city/ |
| Cold Relations | Mary Robinette Kowal | Fantasy | Uncanny | Magazine | 50 | January 01, 2023 | 8256 | January 22, 2023 | 5 | A sister and brother use magic to reunite and things get tricky. | 3rd person | 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 | January 22, 2023 | 4 | A man of ambition raises a Kraken, and things go wrong. | 3rd person | 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 | January 20, 2023 | 4 | A hunter and a warrior meet at the site of their quest and find something more together. | 3rd person | 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 | January 20, 2023 | 5 | A young girl without a tongue plots her survival and escape from slavery. | 1st person | 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 | January 20, 2023 | 3 | An abused divorcee moves into her family's haunted house in the woods. | 3rd person | 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 | January 20, 2023 | 4 | The tale of a homunculus and how he got his freedom thanks to a magician. | 3rd person | 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 | January 19, 2023 | 5 | A son tells the story of his father playing darts with Trump in the seventies. | 1st person | 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 | January 18, 2023 | 2 | Wife waits on the moon for her wife to come home from an Earth mission. Told as audio recordings. | 1st person | 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 | January 16, 2023 | 5 | Survivor-like program on a planetoid where the participants are all indentured to the production company. | 2nd person | 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 | January 14, 2023 | 3 | A glossary of terms followed by a paragraph using them. | 3rd person | 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 | January 14, 2023 | 5 | A vegetarian cook decides to learn to cook meat with surprising results. | 2nd person | compassion twist | https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-last-serving/ |
| Daughter, Mother, Charcoal | Akis Linardos | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 2200 | January 11, 2023 | 4 | A fairy tale about stories that keep women at home. | 1st person | 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 | January 11, 2023 | 4 | A document describing how to remove a soul is interspersed with comments from a dying/dead creature. | 1st person | 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 | January 11, 2023 | 5 | A vampire tries to save mankind on the moon. | 1st person | 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 | January 11, 2023 | 3 | A personified river lures yet another person desperate for something. | 3rd person | 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 | January 11, 2023 | 4 | A fable about a dangerous trek through the desert while avoiding a monster in order to plant something. | 3rd person | wisdom pressure | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/walking-the-deep-down/ |
| - | Jordan Kurella | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 135 | January 01, 2023 | 4700 | January 11, 2023 | 2 | A trans boy comes of age on a pirate ship. | 1st person | 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 | January 11, 2023 | 5 | A Black rideshare driver uses forbidden magic to thwart a magical terrorist attack. | 1st person | 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 | January 10, 2023 | 4 | A woman lures a man to her room on the pretext of playing chess. | 3rd person | 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 | January 08, 2023 | 4 | A boy falls for a co-worker during a summer internship. | 2nd person | 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 | January 08, 2023 | 3 | A woman who works in carnival is visited by someone from her past. | 3rd person | family issues relationships | https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/carnival-ever-after/ |
| Girl | Jamaica Kincaid | Literary | The New Yorker | Magazine | - | July 01, 2025 | 681 | June 26, 1978 | 3 | A single sentence of a mother instructing her daughter how to behave. | 2nd person | domestic girls instructions | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1978/06/26/girl |
| Imaginary | Daniel D. Villani | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | July 23, 2025 | 1501 | - | 3 | A pair of siblings perform physics experiments that output imaginary numbers. | 3rd person | physics laboratory scientists siblings | - |
| Interconnections and Porous Boundaries | Lance Robinson | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | - | 8811 | - | 5 | As a US colony in the asteroid belt struggles to be self-sufficient, an accident on a nearby Chinese colony provokes a hard decision. | 1st/2nd person | asteroids asteroid-belt colonialism molybdenum self-sufficiency interdependence china india usa mining politics | - |
| Short Selling the Statistical Life | C.H. Irons | Science Fiction | Analog | Magazine | - | - | 5099 | - | 5 | How a group of decentralized rebel organizes to short sell an investment to benefit the poor and needy. | 3rd person | nonprofit charity markets crime economics | - |
| The Island of Sea Turtles and Blood | Angela Liu | Fantasy | Apex | Magazine | 152 | February 01, 2026 | 6000 | - | 3 | Friends at a resort on an island of turtles find one of their number briefly goes missing. | 1st person | disappearance sex ocean friendship body-horror | https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/the-island-of-sea-turtles-and-blood |