Fictional Worlds

The ocean is a woman and it is dreaming, dreaming, Ekaterina thinks as she holds the hardsuit’s arm open, ready to clip a sample.

This variation on the elixir of life pairs the flavour of roasted roc with the medicinal potency of the philosopher’s stone. But buyer beware: this dish isn’t for everyone.

Squalor and Sympathy by Matt Dovey Anna concentrated on the cold, on the freezing water around her feet and the bruising sensation in her toes. So cold. So cold. So cold, she thought. A prickling warmth like pins and needles crackled inside her feet. It coursed through her body to her clenched hands and into the lead alloy […]

Author: Ruby Zehnder “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, mom. I can’t pass it up.” Rachel didn’t reply. She had heard these words before. When Naomi moved to India to live with her father, Rachel didn’t stop her. When she moved to Cambridge to attend MIT, she encouraged her. And the two years she spent on Mars […]

Author: Dave Ludford He reached the brow of the steep hill just before noon with the blazing sun at its apex making him feel drowsy and slightly nauseous. He dismounted from the equus and the sure-footed but cumbersome beast grunted in relief. The sense of unease he’d felt all morning seemed to be getting stronger […]

Author: J David Singer Alex hummed as she crossed the desert. Not with any kind of tune, just a prolonged contented sigh; almost a purr. In her arms, she held a small, rectangular, steel container with ridges on two sides. These ridges, she knew from long experience, should fit into the racks of the mainframe […]

Author: Allyson Foley His breathing was deafening in the confines of the helmet as he clung to the wreckage of the Palindrought. That thing had looked like one of theirs. Its clearance codes had checked out. Its hull, the call sign, even its frequency and flight path had all cleared. The ship had been Telphi […]

Light Speed Is Not a Speed by Andy Dudak

We kick off May with a new, free-to-read, Sarah Gailey story, set in a world where awards have a powerfully lasting effect. ~ Julian and Fran, May 7, 2023 Such an Honor by Sarah Gailey The Ganymede Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Composition was warm in Leonard’s hand, not that he could feel it. Maybe if it had been piping hot or freezing cold, the sensation would have made it through the calloused landscape of his palm—but it was only as warm as the dozens of hands it had passed through over the course of the evening. It felt like nothing. Everyone wanted to touch the damn thing so they could say they’d touched it, so that later, in some way, they could convince themselves that they’d touched him.

Marie Brennan’s new tale examines the truth of stories we think we know well, and those we’ve never heard before.

This week, Will Alexander returns us to the universe of last year’s “A Body in Motion” where we’ll visit a space station that is very alive, and that finds certain guests highly upsetting. What could possibly go wrong? (Answer: Many things, including poetry!)

Authors are often asked, “Where do you get all your ideas?” In this historical fantasy set within the world of her Onyx Court series, Marie Brennan offers one answer about the source and price of inspiration. ~ Julian Yap, February 13, 2022.

"Wedding Party" from DIRECT SUNLIGHT by Christine Sneed, recommended by Elizabeth McKenzie

Author: Dan Leicht Jade slumped into the Captain’s chair as she watched her crew on the navigation hub. Their route beeped on the screen in front of her. The four-person crew were relying on her to swoop in for a rescue if needed. Jade crunched down on a kale chip as she tried her best […]

Author: Majoki Thor got thunder. Prometheus got fire. Shiva got a laser eye. Me? I got a measly quark. Smallest thing in the universe. Two and a half trillion times smaller than a grain of sand. What’s a god supposed to do with that? Make the masses tremble and beg mercy, pledge obedience and fealty–to […]

Clio's Scroll by Brenda W. Clough

Author: Andrea Damic Cydra loves the crisp morning air, sitting on the porch drinking her black poison. She rests her gaze on the frosty pastures immersed in the morning sun. The anticipation of that feeling of apricity when the warmth of the winter’s sun crawls through the thick layers of clothing until it touches the […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer It’s a bright morning across Ixaroz, the heart of the Consortium. Beings go about their purposes with a spring in their ambulations, buoyed up by decades of peace, and the traditions that accompany it, like traversing the long span of the Great Way to enter the Glorious Citadel. Nothing is […]

Author: Morrow Brady I was beside myself, beside myself. I looked across at where I was and could see through me to where I was again. All three of me there. Two lesser versions of the original. And me, the least version, knowing far less than the lesser version. Content to be ignorant of the […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Nine at night and residential roads are empty. Everybody is safe inside, either working or enjoying approved leisure activities. Meanwhile, on the intercity hyperways, traffic provides cover for duels between the dishonest and the diligent. My control board emits an annoying bleep. Somebody is being exceptionally diligent. “Unidentified perpetrator, westbound […]

Author: Majoki Francis was helping the elderly lady cross a busy street when the call came. He waited until she’d thanked him with a little pat on the arm and entered the drugstore even though the shelves were almost bare. His phone was still buzzing. Oscar. He hesitated, but knew that was impolite and so […]

Author: Aubrey Williams “Look, we understand that this is a strange request, Mr. Human… but we repeat again: our planet’s security… even galactic security, may depend on us acquiring one of these devices. Please, we implore you— surrender your microwave to us!” So spoke the little alien being, its four hands wrung in pleading, its […]

Author: David Barber “You’re not old enough to remember Patty Blue, the singer,” the salesman said. He still wore his hair in a spacer crop, though he hadn’t been out in the dark for years. “Spacers broadcast her songs when coms traffic was slow and that voice would haunt you.” He rotated the hologram of […]

Author: Cheri Vazquez It was 1978 and I was on my way to a job interview at the most exclusive fine dining restaurant in New City. I’d coifed my hair into what I believed to be worthy of the sommelier position. My satin slacks pinched at my waist securing a silver silk blouse I had purchased at Barneys, my throat dry […]

Three pieces of toast—dark on one side, light on the other. A cup of coffee. Rosh’s preference is Blend 14, with hints of Sub-Saharan Africa and caramel, delivered tepid with more milk than expresso.

Author: Aubrey Williams “Look, I’m not apologising, and that’s that!” The man glared up at the smoke alarm, its smug viewfinder glinting annoyingly in the evening’s neon haze. “Oh really? You just had say *that* to Catherine?” “Hey, I felt she ought to know you’re having doubts about that part of your relationship,” it replied […]

Author: Hillary Lyon Kaz tumbled through the centrifugal force of the prismatic vortex, finally landing on the planet’s surface with a cruel thud. Medical nanobots lining the interior of his suit immediately went to work, infusing themselves through the pores of his skin, worming their way into his bloodstream. From there, the minuscule bots traveled […]

Author: Dave Ludford Had he been walking at a faster pace or with any real sense of purpose Ryan Jennings would have missed it completely. Scuffing the forest floor aimlessly however with first one foot then the other, his meanderings revealed something that he at first thought was some kind of weird seed or pod […]

"Madwomen" from EVERY DROP IS A MAN'S NIGHTMARE by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, recommended by Molly Antopol

"Nia," a short story by Zdravka Evtimova