Science fiction. The term often conjures up images of epic space battles, time travel hijinks, and daring rescues in rocket ships. And while there certainly are plenty of science fiction short stories like that, the genre offers a level of variety that is, well, out of this world!
In short, no subject is too serious or too escapist for this far-reaching genre. From Ray Bradbury to N.K. Jemison and more, science fiction short stories have been an essential part of the literary landscape for decades.
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Full of promising new writers, this is truly the place to stay up to date on the latest that science fiction short stories have to offer. Who knows, you may just discover an author destined to change the genre landscape forever!
Fireside Fiction is a very fierce outlet with a strong point of view (check out their statement of values, which is A+) that does absolutely ferocious science fiction and fantasy. They do quite a bit of flash fiction to go along with their short stories. Also worthy of noting that since 2015 they have been commissioning yearly reports on the representation of Black authors in speculative fiction to track the very real underrepresentation problem.
We all want to know what tomorrow holds, and how technology will change our future. Some of us can imagine it better than others and write about it in fluid detail. From space travel to aliens, science fiction stories provide inspiration and imagination like nothing else. And the best part is, there is a treasure trove of websites to read them.
As the name suggests, Daily Science Fiction publishes one piece of original sci-fi literature every weekday. Some are self-contained short stories, while some are chapters in a more extended series. You can also subscribe to DSF to get the story emailed to you.
The website has been around for a long time and thus has built up a healthy bank of sci-fi reading material. The Featured Story tries to spotlight one of these, but you can also look at all recent stories chronologically. Or you can use the "Transporter" to be taken to a random story (but we suggest filtering by top-rated stories only if you're new to the site).
Cissée collects links to science fiction and fantasy stories available online for free on the website. He meticulously seeks out legal and copyright-free content, and has built a directory of carefully labelled stories that feature both famous authors and amateurs. You'll find that some of the best science fiction books for geeks are legally available for free online.
FSFO starts you with a random story (with descriptions of any awards it won or was nominated for). Cissée also includes links to reviews of each story so that you don't think he's being biased or putting only his picks online. Every month, a fresh batch of stories is added to the website. It's a remarkable effort that will please any sci-fi fan.
Founded in 2005, Escape Pod is one of the longest-running storytelling podcasts with addicting stories of science fiction. Each story is narrated as audio per episode, but you can also read the full text of the story if that's how you prefer it.
Are you really a sci-fi geek if you don't read Uncanny Magazine? Over the past five years, this has become arguably the best online science fiction magazine, winning multiple awards for the stories it publishes. And you can access all of it completely free.
Each monthly issue of Uncanny contains original short stories, reprinted stories, poems, non-fiction essays, and interviews, all about science fiction and fantasy. The first half of the issue is immediately available to read online for free, while the second half becomes available the following month. Of course, for a paid subscription, you can read it all as an ebook.
With a start in 2005, the website now has an enviable collection of science fiction short stories on various topics. Unfortunately, you can only browse the site chronologically or search for keywords in headlines. The lack of categories or tags is a major hindrance, and one we hope the team at 365 Tomorrows fixes in the near future.
One of the all time classic sci-fi short stories, "All Summer in a Day" follows a day in the life of a young girl on the distant, rainy planet of Venus. Warning: reading this story may cause wistfulness and painful memories of elementary school bullies.
It was a Ted Chiang short story that inspired the film Arrival, so it's safe to say that Chiang is a mastermind of mind-altering short fiction. "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" is one of his best-loved stories, about what it means for an artificial entity to "grow up."
The good news on that front is that there are a ton of options for reading short fiction. Sure, you could use your Kindle or an Audible subscription, but as you'll see from these sites, all you need for good short fiction is access to the web.
Strange Horizons describes itself as a "magazine of speculative fiction." What that means for you as a reader is that you'll find all sorts of stories, regardless of which sub-genre they might fall into. This is a weekly magazine, so there's plenty to take in.
This magazine is available in both digital and print versions, and publishes six times a year. There's plenty to read online, but as with the rest of the sites we're looking at, opting to pay for a subscription will get you more and help support the writers.
Whole issues are available in ebook format, but that's not the only way the site offers up stories. You can read a selection of stories from recent issues on the website, while a podcast also offers readings of stories from the magazine.
This 1941 short story, written while Asimov was still only in his early twenties, is widely regarded as one of the greatest science-fiction short stories of all time. Indeed, in 1968 the Science Fiction Writers of America voted it the best science fiction short story written before 1965.
The Antioch Review rarely publishes more than three short stories per issue, but its editors are open to new as well as established writers. Authors published here often wind up in Best American anthologies and as the recipients of Pushcart prizes.
The Genius of G.K. ChestertonV2I4: Advent 2019The Shop of Ghosts by G.K. ChesteronIn this celebratory issue dedicated to G.K. Chesterton, we revisit one of his whimsical short stories.
Beginning in 2018 I started a personal project to read the entire 25 volumes of The Great SF Stories 1-25 (1939-1963) edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg. (I later learned Robert Silverberg replaced Asimov for a 26th volume.) I started an online discussion group to find other folks wanting to share the project. That group began working on its own list of favorite science fiction short stories, but none of us were ready to complete our own list until we read more.
Piet is an expert on science fiction anthologies and a data entry maniac. Before I could think much about the project he was sending me spreadsheets filled with stories from various anthologies. I called Mike Jorgensen, the programmer behind the Classics of Science Fiction lists and he volunteered to develop the database and program the reports for this project. In a short time, we had 10,000 entries in the database.
Most people reading lists on the internet get bored after scanning 11-50 items. Top 100 lists are becoming less common. At first, we felt our final list should stay below 100 stories to appeal to the impatient internet readers. We played with different cutoff points. Requiring 7 citations got the list down to 131 stories. That was still too long. However, many stories we dearly loved came in below the cutoff. We finally decided to make the cutoff 5 citations, which produces a very long list of 275 stories. We figured impatient list readers can use the rank list and stop scrolling wherever they get tired. My favorite way to view the list is by year because I love seeing how the genre evolved over time. But to peruse from the 19th to the 21st centuries takes a lot of scrolling. The author list will appeal to folks with favorite writers.
The 1939 photo at the top of the page shows an era when the popularity of short stories was at its height. Most of those magazines contained some short stories, and many were all stories. This was before television. If you look carefully you can find several famous science fiction magazines on that newsstand.
That there has been a surging Chinese science fiction scene shows the continued creativity of Chinese writers, and follows an increasing demand for these types of stories in written form and on our screens. The demand for Chinese Science Fiction is also increasingly popular in the west, so much so that the US-based online magazine Clarkesworld now publishes monthly translations of Chinese short stories in partnership with the Chinese company Storycom.
This hardcover book is beautiful to look at. It may one day sit on my bookshelf, but for now it sits on a table in my living room. The gold printing on the cover really catches the light, making it a conversation piece when friends come over. It arrived so quickly as everything does from Sistah Sci-fi. I'm loving the short stories that I have read so far. This was a great purchase and addition to my collection.
I think his strength in fiction was at shorter lengths. I read PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE when I found out he was the same guy, and was aware that it was more like concept-explanation-illustrative vignette than a standard psych text. Sprinter, not marathoner.
Which journals are accepting short story submissions right now? There are tons of fiction journals out there looking for stories like yours, and finding where to submit short stories can leave you with too many options.
Dark Magazine pays 6 a word for horror and dark fantasy fiction. This journal much prefers stories that deviate from an expected ending and play with new styles and ideas. This is a great place for horror short story submissions!
Typishly accepts short fiction and tries to publish both new and emerging voices. Best of all, they aim to respond to all submitted works in under 24 hours! This is a great journal for both expanding your readership and trying your look at a fast-paced publication. 2ff7e9595c