Author: Matt Ivy Richardson The man marches through mud and muck and gore. One foot in front of the other, pulse rifle at the ready and helmet crushed tight on his head. There are others at his side and behind him, marching through mud and muck and gore, burying bones into the wet earth. If […]

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast. This page: Celestial Migrations by Claire Jia-Wen

AntipodeanSF publishes the best speculative flash fiction (SF, F, H) on the web.

AntipodeanSF publishes the best speculative flash fiction (SF, F, H) on the web.

Author: David Henson Medical advances made a valiant run at organic immortality but couldn’t advance beyond the millennium barrier. Not surprisingly, immortality in our epoch is digital — just as you folks in the past speculated in your movies and books. Here in my time, virtual life tech evolved until the quantum blossom was booted […]

Author: David Barber Across the gulfs of space, intellects bold and curious observe our world and hasten their plans against us… Buried deep in our cold, slow cities, age after age passed unregarded and we cared nothing for the world above until fiery scouts began falling from the skies. The Elders would have ignored this […]

Author: Neil Burlington Detective Gallant holds me down while his partner hits me even harder than he hit his wife last night. I bleed from my nose, my lips, and pretty much everywhere a face can bleed when under merciless attack by cops. I’m squeaky clean and eighteen, but do they care? “Where is it!” […]

Author: Don Nigroni From my source, I knew there was a lot of debate concerning whether we should blow up that spacecraft before it got near Earth. It had suddenly and inexplicably appeared between Mars and Earth last night. It was obviously from another planet and might have been manned, but the fear was that, […]

Author: Cal Wallace “So,” Ftk’al said, slithering gently down the steps next to his friend. “You were cancelled.” “Yeah, man,” said Karl, chewing gum and spitting nothing despite his best efforts. “That’s how it goes out here. Dog eat dog.” Ftk’al tried to shrug, all tendrils pumping. Karl seemed to understand. He said, “You gotta […]

Author: Trinity J. Choi “W-who are you?” Those were the three most painful words I’d heard my entire life. “Someone who loves you dearly.” I responded, unable to control the slight crack in my voice. I could see my face shining back at me through her empty eyes. The reflection of a sister she doesn’t […]

Author: David C. Nutt I took a swig straight out of the bottle of the rare, vintage wine- didn’t even let the damn thing breathe. It cost me only $8,420.00 USD, on sale from $10,000.00. As a relatively new multi-billionaire I didn’t even feel the cost. The wine sucked. Tasted like grape flavored caustic lye. […]

Author: Don Nigroni I met Nancy in college, and we got married shortly after she received her PhD. While I’m smarter than the average bear, Nancy is brilliant. I work for a stock brokerage firm, and she worked for the Department of Energy until three years ago when she joined a private consortium to do […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “DAY-NA!” The roar of anger is so loud it stops everyone. Dayna, presumably the being we’ve managed to corner after a three-hour citywide chase, was dubbed ‘Jaqueline the Ripper’ by the newsfeeds. Surrounded by rings of armoured vehicles and furious enforcers, she was laughing. Now she looks scared. What’s coming? […]

Author: Majoki To dream is the dream. Anyone thinking that we need to sleep to live is missing the real payoff. We should be living to sleep. Snow White had it right for the wrong reasons. She didn’t bite a poisoned apple, she micro-dosed from the forbidden fruit of the real tree of knowledge: somna. […]

Author: Jeremy Nathan Marks ‘Sir, I hope you’re happy with the service you’ve received thus far.’ ‘Please alter your voice to that of a woman.’ ‘Sir, I hope you’re pleased with the services you’ve so far received.’ ‘I am, Moneypenny. May I call you Moneypenny?’ ‘You may call me whatever you like, sir.’ ‘Thank you.’ […]

Author: R. J. Erbacher Timmy woke with a start and looked up. He heard scurrying overhead. On the roof? Hooves, maybe. He laid perfectly still and listened intently. It only lasted a moment and then stopped. For a while there was nothing and he began to lose hope that he had actually heard anything. A […]

You think you’re going to get me, don’t you? Well, you’ve got another think coming, ‘cause I’m ready for you.

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer George is waving his arms about again: never a good sign. Neela catches my eye and nods towards him, raising her eyebrows and frowning. Receiving the ‘sort it out’ message loud and clear, I take a last drag, then stub out my smoke. His voice fades in as I approach. […]

Author: Joann Yu A woman sat on a plane next to a man. He had blond hair tied in a tiny bud, wore a blue sweatshirt, and a black mask covered half of his face. She didn’t know if he had blue eyes. She didn’t dare to look at his face. On the plane, she […]

Author: Mark Renney The moment is almost here. At last, after all the speculation and rumour, the grand reveal. A cage has been wheeled onto the stage, sitting at its centre, covered by a white sheet, pristine and perfect. Everyone is certain that, when the cover is pulled away, it will be intricate and ornate […]

Author: R. J. Erbacher Scott heard the girl’s scream and thought, ‘Oh crap, not again.’ He was taking out the boxes from the new gadgets he had bought for his recently acquired apartment, bringing them into the alley to be disposed of properly. Scott figured it was still too early in the night for the […]

Author: Bill Cox I know you came here to be entertained, to read a slice of sci-fi, but I’ve no choice. What you’re about to read is the horrifying truth. I’ve tried posting it elsewhere, on message boards and forums across the internet, but they get me every time. You might think that the internet […]

Author: Bridger Cummings Scanning the reels of family videos gave LF495 some odd sensation of warmth. Was it like eating? LF495 didn’t eat, but it did need power. It was connected to a multi-layer variate array of servers across the entire planet. It didn’t really matter where you were because one was everywhere. Earth had […]

Author: Beck Dacus Each time the floor shuddered, all our chains rang like windchimes. The shackles around my ankles were linked to the wrists of the “inmate” behind me, on and on in a long line of us marching forward. As I stumbled I pulled on that man’s wrists, nearly bringing him down as well. […]

Author: Majoki They stared right through me. It used to bother me. Now, it’s essential. I uncoupled the mag-links while Symplex’s security personnel looked past me. I didn’t fit their profiles, didn’t merit a glance. That’s what it is to be me. I live by a pair of simple rules. The fact that they come […]

You’ve never seen something like this before.

Author: Mark Renney The island is getting smaller, but those who reside in the Tower are in denial. Hiding behind the steel rafters and columns and the reinforced sheets of glass that comprise the walls of their homes, they won’t accept that a very real danger lurks beyond their windows. The occupants of the Tower, […]

Beneath his feet lay the warm wood of the walkways. Mosquitoes buzzed around the yellow swamp flowers and spindly birch trees. The hills, overgrown with ancient pines, obscured the lake where Michael went, following a path strewn with fallen needles and gnarled roots.After swimming, he settled in the shade with one or another book picked from the sanatorium's library. Assuming that, besides him, some other space pilots also resided in...

Author: Martin Clyde-Wilkie There’s an angel outside town, if you know where to look. Push through the gorse and scramble along the river bed, keeping your gaze away from the branch of lightning frozen over the gully, until you reach the edge and can peer down at it. It doesn’t look much like you’d expect. […]

Author: Majoki When the founders of Providence made planetfall, they had but one credo to establish their new civilization on the uninhabited world: Blind ignorance is unfortunate. Willful ignorance is shameful. Manufactured ignorance is unforgivable. Two hundred forty-one local years later, when the invading conquerors of Providence divvied up the planet, they wondered why the […]