“The Scent of Memory” by Zhao Haihong, translated by S. Qiouyi Lu – 3.8
Clarkesworld, May 2026 Shijun wakes on a Greyhound bus crossing the Canadian Rockies, an amber bottle of perfume in his bag and a message from his friend Jiayuan flashing on…
“The Profitable Sentience of Household Goods” by Louis Inglis Hall – 3.4
Clarkesworld, May 2026 The story unfolds as a series of monologues addressed by a refrigerator — designated “Buddy” — to a newly activated light switch on its first day of…
“Conquerors” by Nick Wolven – 3.7
Clarkesworld, May 2026 “Conquerors” unfolds across a single Reunion Day in a far-future Earth where humanity has split into two distinct cultures: Grounders, who tend the planet’s restored ecosystems from…
“Archaeological Evidence for the Time Traveler” by Tia Tashiro – 4.4
Clarkesworld, May 2026 Teresa is a Canadian archaeologist working the interior caves of northern Brazil, returning from maternity leave with her infant son Daniel strapped to her chest. At an…
“Fernie” by Angela Liu – 3.6
Adventitious, April 2026 “Fernie” is a dual-perspective short story told in alternating voices: a lonely, precocious little girl named Sally, and a sentient ancient fern she befriends during a family…
“Ma’anu Wei: What We Know Thus Far” by Eliezra Schaffzin – 3.8
Kaleidotrope, April 2026 The story is structured as a pseudo-scholarly dossier, narrated by an unnamed collective of researchers — scientists or academics of some institutional authority — who are piecing…
“Diamonds” by Grant Stone – 3.8
Kaleidotrope, April 2026 The story is told in second person, a technique that places the reader inside the fractured consciousness of an unnamed intelligence operative — someone who exists, as…
“I Spin Records Into Gold” by Daria Lavelle – 3.7
Reactor, April 2026 “I Spin Records Into Gold” by Daria Lavelle — Reactor, 2026 Eddie is a engineering student turned reluctant roadie, a man who abandoned a clear-eyed future —…
“A Tree That Can’t Be Chopped” by Timothy Mudie – 3.5
Kaleidotrope, April 2026 The story is narrated by Brinnen Ott, a mill worker at a frontier timber company town built on the edge of a vast, ancient forest. Brinnen’s closest…
“Underneath the Underneath” by Audrey Zhou – 3.7
Strange Horizons, April 2026 Mina is a woman from elsewhere—a seafarer’s daughter who came to Dragon Pass Island when her family’s trade ship was wrecked at its port and who…