A digital renaissance for the science fiction short story

Sci-fi and fantasy fiction is entering a golden age of short fiction thanks to social media, crowdfunding and a loyal community of ardent fansA man wakes up from a car crash to find that he is an "electric ant": an android programmed to believe it is human. At home he uses micro-tools to open up his own chest and discovers a tiny spool of tape inside. Punching new holes in the tape makes new objects appear in his world, obscuring a section makes the world disappear. The android cuts the tape, and hears a rushing wind as all reality is revealed to him.The contradictory concepts at the heart of Philip K Dick's 1969 short story The Electric Ant have fascinated me ever since I first read it 20 years ago. It's the capacity of the science fiction story to get us thinking about intriguing concepts that gives the form its punch. Today, the short-story magazines that helped to popularise science fiction are all but gone. But a new generation of online magazines has taken their place, and is transforming the genre again. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A digital renaissance for the science fiction short story

Sci-fi and fantasy fiction is entering a golden age of short fiction thanks to social media, crowdfunding and a loyal community of ardent fansA man wakes up from a car crash to find that he is an "electric ant": an android programmed to believe it is human. At home he uses micro-tools to open... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online magazines


10 of the Best Science-Fiction Short Stories Everyone Should Read

What are the best places to begin exploring the wonderful world of science fiction? Some of the classic novels of the genre, from Frank Herbert’s Dune to Asimov’s Foundation series (which eventually stretched to seven volumes), might appear daunting because of their sheer size and scope. Below,... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2021-10-20 14:00:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wonderful world #science fiction #classic novels #frank herbert #short stories


15 Science Fiction Short Stories To Take You Out of this World

We're in a new golden age of science fiction, especially science fiction short stories. These are some of the best stories you can read right now online. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-01-09 11:35:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #golden age #science fiction


Complete fiction: why 'the short story renaissance' is a myth

With soaring sales, viral hits like Cat Person and a cameo by Tom Hanks, the form seems to be staging a comeback. But did it ever go away?In 2017, almost 50% more short story collections were sold than in the previous year. It was the best year for short stories since 2010. Booksellers are... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books sold #complete fiction #cat person #tom hanks #short stories #short story #jojo moyes


Halloween Short Fiction: 9 Short Stories to Get You Ready for Spooky Season

These Halloween short stories are free to read online! They're deliciously unsettling, genre-bending, emotional, and even humorous. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-16 10:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #spooky season #read online #short stories


A science fiction magazine closed submissions after being bombarded with stories written by ChatGPT

In a case of life (or something) imitating art, an award-winning publisher of science fiction says it’s being overrun with AI-generated work. Clarkesworld Magazine is no stranger to tales of artificial intelligence impacting society, but in a sad and wild case of life imitating art, the Hugo... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2023-02-21 09:59:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stories written #award-winning publisher #science fiction


The Eerie Experience of Watching My Science Fiction Story Become Real

On May 13, I finally got to read my wayward science fiction story “It Is the Voice That Unnerves Me” in The Dread Machine. I had been submitting the story since the spring of 2019, and had thought many times about consigning it to the “retired” list. I knew every word, sentence and section break... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-10-20 11:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #electric literature #science fiction


Staunch Prize shortlists for flash fiction and short stories revealed

The 2021 shortlists have been revealed for the Staunch Prize’s unpublished flash fiction and short stories without violence to women, while the original book prize is on hold until 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-01 12:22:21 UTC ]
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Let’s talk about the best — and newest — science fiction and fantasy story collections

Writings by Brenda Peynado, Elizabeth Hand, Izumi Suzuki, Bruce Sterling and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-06 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #brenda peynado #elizabeth hand #izumi suzuki #science fiction


Stanley and Zhang crowned Staunch's short story and flash fiction winners

Laura Stanley, a creative writing graduate and masters student at Nottingham University, has won the Staunch Short Story Prize with her unpublished story "Mrs Hawkins and The Orchard".  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-12 08:33:42 UTC ]
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9 Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories about Music

Translating one medium into another is tricky. Music is music and art is art and dance is dance; to try to convey the power of another art in fiction is its own sleight-of-hand. My own first novel takes on that challenge. In A Song For A New Day, musician Luce Cannon was on the cusp […] The post... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-10-07 11:00:15 UTC ]
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Digital-only short story trails Fforde novel

Random House has released the first direct-to-digital fiction title by bestselling author Katie... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Are All Short Stories O. Henry Stories?

The writer’s signature style of ending—a final, thrilling note—has the touch of magic that distinguishes the form at its best. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-06-28 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Cambridge University and First Story unveiled as BBC short story awards partners

First Story and the University of Cambridge are the new partners of the BBC’s short story awards, replacing BookTrust, in a three-year collaboration starting in 2018. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cambridge university


7 Short Story Collections Set in Nigeria

I have always loved the versatility of the short story, how it can so easily take on the forms of other things. There are playlist short stories, recipe short stories, diary and epistolary-style short stories. There are flash fiction stories, short short stories, and long short stories that... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-04-15 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short story #electric literature #short stories


Vernor Vinge, Innovative Science Fiction Novelist, Dies at 79

He conceived an early version of cyberspace and predicted the “technological singularity,” a tipping point at which machines would become smarter than humans. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-03-28 22:04:59 UTC ]
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9 Short Story Collections About Women’s Bodies

Short stories can do things novels cannot because they’re short. They’re limber and can dart in and out of close-fitting places. They can be weird and daring in ways that novels cannot always sustain. Joy Williams writes in, “8 Essential Attributes of the Short Story (and one way it differs from... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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How Chinese science fiction went from underground magazines to a Netflix blockbuster

For a few days in October 2023, the capital of the science fiction world was Chengdu, China Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2024-02-29 02:54:58 UTC ]
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12 Brilliant Short Stories by Black Writers to Read Year-Round

From one girl’s aspiration to Olympic gymnastics glory, to a boy’s stint living in the Idaho wilderness in hopes of fixing his unruly behavior, something that remains a guiding principle in Black storytelling is the breadth of our lives. These stories, a collection of some of EL’s most-loved... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-02-22 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The Physics of Fiction: How Art and Science Inspire Each Other

While much science fiction is based on theoretical physics, occasionally literature returns the favor and inspires scientific ideas. A perfect symbiosis between the two came about in the early 1980s, when astronomer-turned-novelist Carl Sagan was researching his fictional work Contact and turned... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-09 09:54:04 UTC ]
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