What does it mean to be human in a universe of shifting, sometimes terrifying realities? Eighteen stories from Jack Skillingstead's second decade of publishing feature intense and surprising explorations of who we are, who we wish to be, and who we can't be.In "The Whole Mess" a genius math professor solves a multiverse equation only to find himself pursued by ancient Masters across the many iterations of his could-have-been lives. "Straconia" gives us a Kafkaesque world where all ...

A reporter tries to cheat death and jeopardizes the fate of millions in this science fiction thriller by the author of The Whole Mess and Other Stories.Olivia Nikitas, a hardened journalist whose specialty is war zones, has been reporting from the front lines of the civil war in Aleppo, Syria. When Brian, an aid worker she reluctantly fell in love with, dies while following her into danger, she'll do anything to bring him back. In a makeshift death chamber ...

This dynamic collection of 27 stories offers a wealth of fantastical and horrifying settings. Life after death, digital personalities, alien invasion, and Lovecraftian horror. It includes "Life on the Preservation," the basis for Skillingstead's Philip K. Dick nominated novel of the same name. In the title story, a parapolice detective in hot pursuit of a serial killer receives help from a responsive memory module of the killer's mother, but soon discovers that he might be falling in love ...

Inside the Seattle Preservation Dome, it’s always the Fifth of October, the city caught in an endless time loop. Outside, the world lies in apocalyptic ruin. “Reformed” graffiti artist Ian Palmer is the only one who knows the truth, and he is desperate to wake up the rest of the city before the alien Curator of the living museum erases Ian’s identity forever.Small-town teenager Kylie is one of the few survivors to escape both the initial shock wave and the poison rains that followe...

This dynamic collection of 27 stories offers a wealth of fantastical and horrifying settings. Life after death, digital personalities, alien invasion, and Lovecraftian horror. It includes “Life on the Preservation,” the basis for Skillingstead’s Philip K. Dick nominated novel of the same name. In the title story, a parapolice detective in hot pursuit of a serial killer receives help from a responsive memory module of the killer’s mother, but soon discovers that he might be falling in love ...

Inside the Seattle Preservation Dome, it’s always the Fifth of October, the city caught in an endless time loop. Outside, the world lies in apocalyptic ruin. “Reformed” graffiti artist Ian Palmer is the only one who knows the truth, and he is desperate to wake up the rest of the city before the alien Curator of the living museum erases Ian’s identity forever.Small-town teenager Kylie is one of the few survivors to escape both the initial shock wave and the poison rains that followe...

Olivia Nikitas, a hardened journalist whose specialty is war zones, has been reporting from the front lines of the civil war in Aleppo, Syria. When Brian, an aid-worker she reluctantly fell in love with, dies while following her into danger, she'd do anything to bring him back. In a makeshift death chamber beneath an ancient, sacred site, a strange technology is revealed to Olivia: the power to remake the future by changing the past. Following her heart and not her head, Olivia brings Bria...

Sixteen original stories of science fiction and wonder from sixteen talented authors, written to commemorate the first ten years of NewCon PressContents:Introduction by Ian WhatesThe Final Path – Genevieve CogmanWomen’s Christmas – Ian McDonaldPyramid – Nancy KressLiberty Bird – Jaine FennZanzara Island – Rachel ArmstrongTen Sisters – Eric BrownLicorice – Jack SkillingsteadThe Time Travell...

LIGHTSPEED is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF--and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales. This month, we have original science fiction by A. Merc Rustad ("Later, Let's Tear Up the Inner Sanctum") and Jack Skillingstead ("The Last Garden"), along with SF repr...

LIGHTSPEED is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF--and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales.This month, our cover art is by Reiko Murakami, illustrating new science fiction from Dale Bailey ("The Horror of Party Beach"). We also have new SF from Molly Tanzer ("...

Clarkesworld is a Hugo and World Fantasy 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 February 2017 issue (#125)  contains: Original stories by Jack Skillingstead and Burt Courtier ("Assassins"), Nin Harris ("Prosthetic Daughter"), Simone Heller ("How Bees Fly"), and Chi Hui ("Rain Ship"). Reprints by Cecelia Holland ("Dragon''s Deep") and K.J. ...

Forever is a monthly science fiction magazine that features previously published stories you might have missed. Edited by the Hugo and World Fantasy Award winning editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, Neil Clarke. Our December 2025 issue features "One Thousand Beetles in a Jumpsuit" by Dominica Phetteplace, "Deriving Life" by Elizabeth Bear, "The Whole Mess" by Jack Skillingstead. Cover art by Ron Guyatt.