2018 SFT on the Web


“Footprint III” by Jiří Kratochvil, translated from the Czech by G. S. Evans (Cafe Irreal).

 

JANUARY

“The Lighthouse Girl” by Bao Shu, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld).

(hard SF) A young woman starts suspecting that she is a clone or experiment and that her father has been lying to her her whole life.

“The Heaven-Moving Way” by Chi Hui, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Apex Magazine).

(hard SF) A woman steals a starship to look for her brother, who went in search of alien civilizations in the galactic core.

 

FEBRUARY

“The Man Who Moved the Western Wall” by Uzi Weil, translated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverston (The Short Story Project).

“You Know How the Story Goes” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, translated by ? (Tor.com).

Excerpt from Anna by Niccolò Ammaniti, translated from the Italian by Jonathan Hunt (Guernica).

(post-apocalyptic SF) It’s been several years since a virus killed all the adults. Now Sicily lies in ruins while the disease lies in wait, poised to claim the children as they reach adolescence.

“The Last Children of Tokyo” (excerpted from The Emissary) by Yoko Tawada, translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani (Granta).

(dystopia) Japan suffers a major disaster and cuts itself off from the world, as its children suffer health problems and its older citizens are the only ones able to keep moving forward.

Excerpt from The Bottom of the Sky by Rodrigo Fresán, translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden (Open Letter Books).

(speculative/metafiction) An homage to American science-fiction films and novels, The Bottom of the Sky is the story of two boys, a disturbingly beautiful girl, and their joint love for other planets.

“Paralysis” by Claude Ecken, translated from the French by Edward Gauvin (Motherboard).

(speculative) In a short monologue, a father admonishes his son to reject the worlds offered to him in science fiction, and instead accept the cold, soulless reality of the present.

“The Power is Out” by A Que, translated from the Chinese by Elizabeth Hanlon (Clarkesworld).

(post-apocalyptic SF) A pulse of electromagnetic radiation from space plunges the world into darkness and chaos, and survival depends on trust and ruthless self-preservation.

 

MARCH

Excerpt from The Invisible Valley by Su Wei, translated from the Chinese by Austin Woerner (Samovar).

(fantasy) Set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Invisible Valley tells the story of a teenager working in a remote mountain encampment who stumbles upon an ambiguous utopia.

“Under the Spinodal Curve” by Hanuš Seiner, translated from the Czech by Julie Novakova (Tor.com).

(science fiction) “Metallurgists…splinter their own minds in order to manipulate metal at the microscopic level, creating shadow selves to craft the nano-architecture of metal alloys into perfection. Near the vast steelworks of Karshad, a journalist has fallen in love with the residual personality of a metallurgist, but what will happen when realliance—and forgetting—comes?”

“Walking” by Der Nister, translated from the Yiddish by Joseph Tomaras (Samovar).

(dark allegory) An unnamed character continuously moving from place to place, always searching for some undefined thing and never satisfied with what he does achieve. Throughout his journey, he keeps running into a God-like figure who won’t offer him any clear answers.

“The Photograph Trade” by Abdul wakil Sulamal, translated from the Pashto by James Caron (Samovar).

(speculative) A story about how photographs make us see the world in terms of surface images and truth/lies.

Excerpt from The Coincidence Makers by Yoav Blum, translated from the Hebrew by Ira Moskowitz (St. Martin’s Press).

(speculative) Three seemingly-ordinary people work for a secret organization devoted to creating and carrying out coincidences, which are in fact orchestrated events designed to make significant changes in the lives of their targets.

“Deep Sea Fish” by Chi Hui, translated from the Chinese by Brian Bies (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction).

(hard SF) Archaeological explorations of Titan reveal sophisticated, ancient alien drawings etched into massive ice sculptures, but terraforming efforts threaten to destroy them.

“Farewell, Adam” by Xiu Xinyu, translated from the Chinese by Blake Stone-Banks (Clarkesworld).

(science fiction) A pop star is connected to and uses the consciousnesses of one hundred people, who together figure out how to best sustain his popularity among his followers and fans.

Excerpt from Sisyphean by Dempow Torishima, translated from the Japanese by Daniel Huddleston (Haikasoru).

(biohorror/Weird) Even when genetic engineering has made humanity nearly unrecognizable, certain human traits and occupations never really change.

 

APRIL

“Yasha’s Eternity” by Anna Starobinets, translated from the Russian by Hugh Aplin (The Short Story Project).

Excerpt from Lui Vutoon (‘Lui Vitton’) by Armin Kõomägi, translated from the Estonian by Adam Cullen (European Literature Network).

“Annus Mirabilis (Anus Horribilis)” by Aleksey Lukyanov, translated from the Russian by Anne O. Fisher (World Literature Today).

“Ancient History” by Rodrigo Fresán, translated from the Spanish by Cecilia Weddell (World Literature Today).

“A Perfect Wife” by Angélica Gorodischer, translated from the Spanish by Amalia Gladhart (World Literature Today).

“The Tenants” by Anne Richter, translated from the French by Edward Gauvin (World Literature Today).

(surrealism) An old man left to roam his large, empty house starts seeing ghostly tenants whom no one else seems to see..

“The House” by Pierrette Fleutiaux, translated from the French by Edward Gauvin (World Literature Today).

(surrealism) Allegorical story about familial relationships.

“Catching Dogs With Dogs” by Rob van Essen, translated from the Dutch by Kristen Gehrman (2.3.74).

(post-apocalyptic sf) After a vicious flu wipes out nearly everyone under the age of 60, those who are left try to make sense of their survival, and some devote their lives to the abandoned animals that now roam the streets.

“Taklamakan Misdelivery” by Bae Myung-hoon, translated from the Korean by Sung Ryu (Asymptote). [read review]

(science fiction) Characters live their lives in a 600+-story high-rise that functions as its own sovereign nation.

“Aspirin” by Park Min-gyu, translated from the Korean by Agnel Joseph (Asymptote). [read review]

(science fiction) When a large unidentified object appears in the skies above Seoul, residents react to it as only humans would…

“Fifth: You Shall Not Waste” by Piero Schiavo Campo, translated from Italian by Sarah Jane Webb (Akashic Books) [read review]

(dystopia) A lack of food and other resources forces a community to rearrange its ideas about morality.

“The Wings of Earth” by Jiang Bo, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld). [read review]

(science fiction) A highly-sophisticated alien ship appears in Earth’s orbit, and it’s up to one Chinese and one American astronaut to make first contact.

Excerpt from Catastrophe (“The Epidemic”) by Dino Buzzati, translated from the Italian by Judith Landry (LitHub).

(speculative) It’s World War II and the Italian government has figured out how to use a flu virus to unmask anyone who is “unpatriotic.”

Excerpt from Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol. 6: Flight by Yoshiki Tanaka, translated from the Japanese by Tyran Grillo, (Haikasoru).

(space opera) This sixth volume focuses on strategies and tactics as the leaders of the Galactic Empire, the (beaten) Alliance, and Yang Wen-li’s “rebellious” group plan for the next phase in intergalactic relations.

 

MAY

“Little Bird” by Claudia Ulloa Donoso, translated from the Spanish by Lily Meyer (Electric Lit).

“Snatching Bodies” by Rodrigo Fresán, translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden (Three Percent).

“Universal Cigarettes” by Teng Ye, translated from the Chinese by Yuzhi Yang (Future Science Fiction Digest). [read review]

“Impress Me, Then We’ll Talk About the Money” by Tatiana Ivanova, translated from the Russian by Alex Shvartsman (Future Science Fiction Digest). [read review]

Excerpt from The Abolition of Species by Dietmar Dath, translated from the German by Samuel P. Willcocks (The Nomadic Journal).

“They Will Dream in the Garden” by Gabriela Damián Miravete, translated from the Spanish by Adrian Demopulos (Latin American Literature Today). [read review]

“Dr. AN” by Edmundo Paz Soldán, translated from the Spanish by Arthur Dixon (Latin American Literature Today). [read review]

“The Eye” by Liliana Colanzi, translated from the Spanish by Auston Stiefer (Latin American Literature Today). [read review]

(speculative fiction) A young woman who is pushed to her emotional limits by her mother and teachers suddenly grows a new eye and senses the coming of a new destiny.

“Jagged Rage” by Javier González Cárdenas, translated from the Spanish by Christina Miller (Latin American Literature Today). [read review]

(science fiction) A violent story about a masochistic general serving a fascist regime, where corpse reanimation, robot-eroticism, and “narcozombies” are a part of life.

“Bonsai” by Martín Felipe Castagnet, translated from the Spanish by George Henson (Latin American Literature Today). [read review]

(speculative) A story about an abnormally-prolonged gestational period and the complex emotional world of the child who was the product of it.

“Farewell, Doraemon,” by A Que, translated from the Chinese by Emily Jin and Ken Liu (Clarkesworld). [read review]

(science fiction) A young man tries to return to the world of his childhood but learns that he can change one event in the past to bring forth a different reality.

“Night-Journey of the Dragon Horse” by Xia Jia, translated from the Chinese by Ken Liu (Lightspeed). (reprint) [read review]

(science fiction and myth) A giant horse-dragon robotic chimera awakens long after the disappearance of its human creators. At first aimlessly wandering amid fragmentary memories, he soon meets a bat who joins him. Together they share stories of the past, in search of a future home.

 

JUNE

“Dori and Jina” by by Choi Jin-young, translated from Korean by So J. Lee (Words Without Borders).

“Are You Gonna Keep This Up?” by Park Min-gyu, translated from the Korean by Agnel Joseph (Litro Magazine).

(apocalyptic) Two neighbors talk evasively about their lives as they await the coming of a comet that will destroy the planet.

“Beyond the Western Pass” by Di An, translated from the Chinese by Canaan Morse (Samovar). [read review]

“Woodcutter and Crows” by Shahidul Zahir, translated from Bengali by Layli Uddin and Mir Rifat Us Saleheen (Samovar). [read review]

“Silver Tiger” by Lu Yang, translated from the Chinese by Eric Abrahamsen (New Yorker). [read review]

“Your Multicolored Life” by Xing He, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld). [read review]

 

JULY

The Great Escape From Fairyland or The Witch, the Prince, the Girl and the Dragon by Viktoria Faust, translated from the Croatian by the author (The Fantasist).

“Ice Monarch” by Michèle Laframboise, translated from the French by ? (Abyss & Apex).

“All Clear” by Hao He, translated from the Chinese by R. Orion Martin (Apex Magazine). [read review]

“To Fly Like a Fallen Angel” by Qi Yue, translated from the Chinese by Elizabeth Hanlon (Clarkesworld). [read review]

(science fiction) Humans are living underground and getting around by means of their wings and helpful air currents. A rumor about slaves living near the ruined surface of the Earth and working to provide the comforts of civilization to those underground refuses to die, and one woman is driven to find out if the rumor is true.

 

AUGUST

Excerpt from CoDex 1962 by Sjón, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb (FSG).

Excerpt from The Man at One Kelvin Degrees by Piero Schiavo Campo, translated from the Italian by Sarah Jane Webb (Trafika Europe).

“The Mauve Planet” by Safia Ketou, translated from the French by Nadia Ghanem (Arablit.org). [read review]

(science fiction) Two astronauts are brought to a mysterious mauve-colored planet, where the alien leader entrusts them with a horrifying responsibility.

“The Loneliest Ward” by Hao Jingfang, translated from the Chinese by Ken Liu (Clarkesworld). [read review]

(science fiction) A disease of acute social anxiety has swept the world, leaving people in semi-comas, and one of the nurses who cares for them is herself addicted to social media.

 

SEPTEMBER

“Animals of Ure” by Daryna Stremetska, translated from the Ukrainian by Maksym Bakalov (Three Crows Magazine).

“The Wind Cave” by Haruki Murakami, translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel (The New Yorker).

“Children of the Endless Sea” by Suvi Kauppila, translated from the Finnish by the author (Samovar).

“The Foodie Federation’s Dinosaur Farm” by Luo Longxiang, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld).

(science fiction) Humans in the far future have been breeding dinosaurs for foodie-culture enjoyment, but dinosaur meat becomes tastier the more intelligent the animal is…

 

OCTOBER

“The Amputated Arms” by Vilhelm Bergsøe, translated from the Danish by Julian Hawthorne (The Short Story Project).

(gothic horror) A work of late-19th-century gothic horror depicting the tensions between science and the supernatural.

“Our Lady of the Scales” by Mélanie Fazi, translated from the French by Edward Gauvin (World Literature Today).

(fantasy) A woman navigates the emotional and biological consequences surrounding her hysterectomy. Both before and after the procedure, a statuary garden at her lover’s family’s home attracts her with its stony beauty and invulnerability.

“Green Apples From the Garden of Eden” by Boris Sandler, translated from the Yiddish by Jordan Kutzik (In Geveb).

“Health for All” by Yoss, translated from the Spanish by George Henson (World Literature Today). [paywall]

“The Facecrafter” by Anna Wu, translated from the Chinese by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld).

(science fiction) Following nuclear war, humans have been forced to live underground. When the woman in charge of the remains of humanity’s art finds that some pieces have gone missing, she sets out to discover what happened and encounters a strange extra-dimensional creature.

 

NOVEMBER

“A Tomato’s Last Good Deeds” by Getsl Selikovitch, translated from the Yiddish by Michael Shapiro (In Geveb).

(magical realism) A tomato recounts its brief life and its end as a projectile sent into the face of a public speaker.

“Electric Geisha” by Duchy Man Valderá, translated from the Spanish by ? (Big Echo).

“The Love Letters” by Peng Simeng, translated from the Chinese by S. Qiouyi Lu (Clarkesworld).

(science fiction) The captain of a spaceship writes to the woman he loves as he and his crew travel into the deepest reaches of the galaxy in search of rare minerals.

“A Portuguese Ghost” by Miguel Gomes, translated from the Spanish by Katie Brown (Latin American Literature Today).

City X: A Novel in 101 Tweets” by Alberto Chimal, translated from the Spanish by Sara Caplan, Rita Correa, Mónica Bravo Díaz, Rachel Echeto, Emily Gilmore, Lauren Hammer, Hannah Mitchell, Matthew Mogulescu Ross, and LaTasha Weston (Latin American Literature Today).

(apocalypse) “Something is about to happen, something catastrophic, that is marked by a series of signs, things happening somewhere, in a city, perhaps Mexico City or somewhere else, which the inhabitants themselves cannot see, but those of us who are watching from the outside can.”

 

DECEMBER

Excerpt from Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri, translated from the Japanese by Morgan Giles (Words Without Borders).

“The Remotest Recollection” by Honza Vojtíšek, translated from the Czech by Milan Žáček (Aphelion).

“A Balloon Seller” by Takane Kiuchi, translated from the Japanese by ? (Bewildering Stories).

“The Parting of the White and the Black” by Massimo Soumaré, translated from Italian by ? (Altered Reality Magazine).

“The Reunion” by Chen Qiufan, translated from the Chinese by Emily Jin and Ken Liu (MIT Technology Review).

“The Substance of Ideas” by Clelia Farris, translated from the Italian by Rachel Cordasco (Future Science Fiction Digest).

(fantascienza) Two teenagers living on a kibbutz discover a seemingly-fantastic underground pool filled with wondrous creatures, including some that resemble pincushions, whose eggs can alter the mental states of any humans who eat them…

“The Emperor of Death” by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, translated from the Russian by Julia Meitov Hersey (Future Science Fiction Digest).

“Wordfall” by Liang Ling, translated by Nathan Faries and Zhao Li (Future Science Fiction Digest).

“Paper Men” by Denis Álvarez Betancourt, translated from the Spanish by ? (Unfit).

“The Price of Eternity” by Laura Quijano Vincenzi, translated from the Spanish by Jerry L. Robinette (Samovar).

“Fluxless” by Mike Jansen, translated from the Dutch by the author (Samovar).

“Master Zhao: The Tale of an Ordinary Time Traveler” by Zhang Ran, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld).

“Us and Them” by Swylmar dos Santos Ferreira, translated from the Portuguese by ? (Aphelion).

 

 

 


 

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