The Legend Liminal by Ren Hutchings – 4.0
Stars and Sabers Publishing Version 1.0.0 Stacey M. Kells and her two brothers, Spencer and Shelton, along with their best friend Faye, set out on a road trip west in…
Casual by Koji A. Dae – 4.7
Summary Casual is a near-future dystopian novel that follows Valya, a pregnant woman in her late twenties living in Old Sofia, as she navigates anxiety, depression, trauma, and difficult choices…
Handsomest Gentlest by M.R. Robinson – 4.6
Haven Spec Magazine, March 2025 This tender ghost story follows Jackie, an eleven-year-old boy who has recently died and finds himself alone in the woods. Frightened and grieving his own…
The Jealous Wives of the Sea by Alaya Dawn Johnson – 4.5
Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, 2025 In a post-apocalyptic future where rising seas have forced humanity into underwater cities called SeaCities, Oriana—a twenty-three-year-old settlement woman—travels to SeaCity Oranto to…
Joiner and Rust by Lavie Tidhar – 4.3
Reactor, January 2026 In this poignant science fiction novelette, an aging robot named Rust journeys through rural China to visit an old friend, Joiner, carrying a watermelon as a symbolic…
The Very Important Case of Rami and the Rainbow Bird by Marlene Jo Baquiran – 4.1
Grist, January 2026 Six-year-old Rami Saleh’s precious multicolored porcelain bird shatters in the school playground, triggering a crisis that mobilizes his entire elementary school. The bird, a cherished gift from…
Donuts from the Daydream Network by Julia Vee – 4.0
The Sunday Morning Transport, January 2026 Araminta “Min” Lee runs her family’s doughnut shop while her father recovers from a stroke in the hospital. The shop has been in the…
“Full Fathom Five” by Gwendolyn Maia Hicks – 4.2
Kaleidotrope, January 2026 Jack Kersey accidentally catches a merrow (a mythical sea creature) in a fishing net while working on a trawler off the coast of his struggling Irish town.…
Confessions of the Little Seer by Emily Linstrom – 4.0
Kaleidotrope, January 2026 This haunting narrative follows a fraudulent spiritualist who, after being exposed as a charlatan, finds herself genuinely haunted by the dead she once pretended to contact. The…
“Stay” by William Preston – 4.5
Asimov’s Science Fiction, January/February 2026 William Preston Larry is dying of cancer and has arranged for a robotic double to replace him as companion to his beloved tri-color hound, Charlie.…