For decades, science fiction has compelled us to imagine futures both inspiring and cautionary. Whether it's a cryptic message encountered by a survey ship, the discovery of alien life in the distant reaches of space, a window into a future Earth, or the adventures of well-meaning AI, science fiction inspires our imagination and delivers a lens through which we can view ourselves and the world around us. At the very heart of the genre is short fiction, the secret lab that has introduced many of the new ideas, techniques, and voices prominent across all other media. In The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Eight, Hugo and Locus Award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a comprehensive year-in-review of 2022's short fiction markets and selects thirty-one of its best stories from the wealth of magazines, anthologies, podcasts, and collections that make up the field. In these pages you'll find works by both the new and established authors who are setting the pace for science fiction today and into tomorrow. Start your journey here.

Kzine Issue 5 contains 8 stories in the sf, horror, fantasy and crime genres. Featuring stories by Joe Jablonski, Donald McCarthy, Gregory Marlow, Paul Miller, Daniel Davis, Michael Haynes, Stephen Heuser and M. Bennardo.Cover art is by Dave Windett

Miner. Harvester. Mechanic. Sanitation Worker. These are not the typical careers of your average science fiction protagonists. Until now. Crossed Genres presents MENIAL: Skilled Labor in Science Fiction, an anthology of seventeen stories about the people who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. From the literal guts of a spaceship, to the energy-starved lands of a future Earth, to the inhospitable surfaces of other planets, MENIAL explores the stories of people who understand and maintain the building blocks of civilization. They work hard, live hard, and love hard. They're not afraid to build the future they want to live in, even knowing the often high human cost of hard labor.

The best in Short Mystery Fiction In this issue... The January issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine kicks off the new year with another mixed bag of compelling crime, mystery and suspense stories. "Merrill's Run" introduces us to an unlucky gambler who is trying to outrun his past. John Floyd takes us on a road trip where we learn just how far Merrill's bad luck extends beyond the gaming tables. For reader's who prefer a slower pace and cozier settings, we have "Father's Favorite" by Alan Orloff, centered around a small town bakery cafe. A derelict has been found dead across the street, and when Detective Calhoun arives to question the waitresses he detects something more sinister in the air than freshly brewed coffee. Perceptive readers can follow the trail of clues right along with him as he gets dangerously close to the truth. Those who enjoy something different will appreciate "Ambergris" by Matthew Bennardo, where we are transported back in time to a whaling ship as three widows sneak abord by cover of darkness to steal from a miserly ship owner. Written with an authentic voice, it is sure to delight readers of historical fiction. Faith Allington's "The Death at Knightshayes Court" is a more traditional offering in the style of Agatha Christie. Set in an english estate in the twenties, this domestic mystery is about a rare book dealer who must clear his own name in the poisoning death of a young heiress. All of the incredients for an old fashioned parlour mystery are here: an inheritance, servants, suspicious guests, and a classical deneument where the killer and his motives are revealed. In "The Spy Who Read Too Much" by Michael Turner, a mildmannagered man goes missing after his wife "kind-sorta" lets it slip to at least seventeen people that her husband is a CIA operative. A softboiled detective story with laugh out loud moments. In his story "Can you make lunch," Bob Tippee gives us an original character in Clinton (not "Clint") Barrymore, an eccentric power company manager preoccupied by trendy office supplies. It's smooth sailing for his employees, thanks to an unusual no-fire policy. But what will happen when his newest employee, Bob (not "Robert") rocks the boat? Mystery Weekly is a monthly mystery magazine that presents crime and mystery short stories by some of the world's best established and emerging mystery writers. The original stories selected for each issue include noir, cozy, hardboiled, locked room, comic, and historical mysteries--plus occasional genre-busting stories that lean toward speculative or literary fiction. However you classify them, all of our stories feature strong writing and unsurpassed entertainment value.

Clarkesworld is a Hugo Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine. Each month we bring you a mix of fiction (new and classic works), articles, interviews and art. Our December 2014 issue contains: Original Fiction by Kali Wallace ("Fatima's Wound"), Tom Crosshill ("The Magician and Laplace's Demon"), Matthew Bennardo ("Now Dress Me in My Finest Suit and Lay Me in My Casket"), and Dominica Phetteplace ("No Vera There"). Classic stories by Allen M. Steele ("The Emperor of Mars"), Alastair Reynolds ("The Sledge-Maker's Daughter"), and Xia Jia ("Tongtong's Summer"). Non-fiction by Ken Liu (Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction), an interview with Kameron Hurley, an Another Word column by Daniel Abraham, and an editorial by Neil Clarke.

Kzine is a tri-annual kindle-only magazine of original sf, horror, fantasy and crime short fiction edited by Graeme Hurry. Issue 11 fearures giant lobster wrestling, magical libraries, dissapearing people, the stunted evolution of computers, a private eye in a magical New Orleans, options on losing a leg, a scramble that changes you - utterly, murderers facing Western justice and a London swarming with mutants.All this and a guest editorial by author Conrad Williams!Conrad Williams - Guest EditorialM Bennardo - Fighting Fair in LobstertownJo McKee & Rik Hunik - Late Night De;iveryMaureen Bowden - Leap Of FaithKatharine Coldiron - On Conti Street With the Kinder DameImogen Cassidy - So Long as You're FreeDamien Krsteski - The ScrambleGrady Yandell - Western StyleSimon Kewin - LeviathanEamonn Murphy - All You Need is Yesterday

Each month The Dark brings you the best in dark fantasy and horror! Edited by award winning editor Sean Wallace and brought to you by Prime Books, this issue includes two all-new stories and two reprints: "The Hibernating Queen" by Leena Likitalo "Free Jim's Mine" by Tananarive Due "The Bat House" by M. Bennardo "The Slipway Grey" by Helen Marshall