The Curve of the World by Vonda N. McIntyre
Vonda N. McIntyre’s posthumously published novel *The Curve of the World* returns to full‑length fiction with an alternate‑history setting dominated by the matriarchal Idaean civilization and a faint thread of sea‑people mythology. The narrative follows trade manager Iakinthu on a perilous Mediterranean‑to‑North‑America voyage, confronting barbarian raids, a sea monster, and complex gender dynamics. Editors completed the unfinished manuscript, smoothing many gaps but leaving loose threads that affect pacing. Critics applaud McIntyre’s immersive world‑building while noting the latter half drifts into a travelogue of wonders rather than tight plot progression.
Planet of Ghosts and Other Stories by Wesley R. Bishop
Wesley R. Bishop’s *Planet of Ghosts and Other Stories* is a tightly woven short‑story collection set in a near‑future Earth spiraling toward ecological and technological collapse. The anthology links disparate tales—ranging from cult‑driven escape plans to generation‑ship colonists and time‑traveling...
The Illuminated Man by Christopher Priest and Nina Allan
The Illuminated Man: Life, Death and the Worlds of J.G. Ballard combines an unfinished biography by Christopher Priest, who died in 2024, with extensive additions by his partner Nina Allan. The hybrid volume is presented as three books in one,...
Isaac by Allee Mead
Allee Mead’s debut novella *Isaac* follows Elanor, a grieving woman who turns to a caretaker robot for emotional support. The story reframes common AI‑romance tropes by presenting the robot as a non‑sentient, large‑language‑model‑like assistant rather than a sentient lover. Both...
Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories About Modern Midwest Monsters Edited by Randy Brown
Randy Brown’s anthology *Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn* gathers 77 Midwest‑set poems and micro‑stories that blend folklore, horror, and humor around three motifs: legendary cryptids, Japanese kaiju, and corn. The pieces explore how isolation and agriculture shape local monsters, from mutated...
Krackle’s Last Movie by Chelsea Sutton
Chelsea Sutton’s debut novella *Krackle’s Last Movie* follows Harper, an assistant who pieces together a documentary on people altered by Curious Monster Syndrome after filmmaker Minerva Krackle disappears. The work blends speculative horror with cultural criticism, using monsters as metaphors...
Refuse
Megan Branning’s poem “Refuse” debuted in the April 20 2026 issue of Strange Horizons, a leading speculative‑fiction magazine. The piece weaves vivid images of rusted bikes, a deer skull, and hot‑pink yarn to critique decades of waste and environmental neglect. Branning, a...
Podcast: Four Steps to Hunt a God
Strange Horizons launched a new fiction podcast episode on April 20, 2026, featuring a reading of Athar Fikry’s short story “Four Steps to Hunt a God.” The piece is narrated by Emmie Christie and streamed via major platforms such as...
Book of Potions by Lauren K. Watel
Lauren K. Watel’s *Book of Potions* is a debut collection of prose poems that meld surreal absurdity with raw emotional insight. The work interrogates the gap between outward façades and inner realities, using recurring motifs like the white‑room and portrait...
The Faith of Beasts by James S. A. Corey
The Faith of Beasts, a 2026 novella by James S. A. Corey, continues the Captive’s War saga by scattering human survivors of Anjiin across labs, survey missions, and space fleets under the Carryx Empire. The story shifts from overt rebellion...
The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older
Malka Older’s third Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti novel, The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses, deepens the series with a Sherlockian mystery set on the Jovian colony Giant. The book showcases intricate worldbuilding—new language, Jovian melancholy, and a society grappling with...
When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-Yi Lee
Wen‑Yi Lee’s debut novel *When They Burned the Butterfly* reimagines 1972 Singapore as a magical underworld where fire‑wielding teenagers navigate gang politics, romance, and state repression. The protagonist, Adeline Siow, inherits flame‑magic and joins the all‑female Red Butterfly gang, confronting...
Dispelling Fantasies: Authors of Color Reimagine a Genre by Joy Sanchez-Taylor
Joy Sanchez‑Taylor’s *Dispelling Fantasies* critiques the Eurocentric, patriarchal foundations of mainstream fantasy and highlights a decade‑plus surge of speculative works by authors of color. By foregrounding characters who are non‑white, gender‑nonconforming, or asexual, the book argues for a reimagined genre...
The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu
Brionni Nwusu’s debut, The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter, reimagines the Faustian bargain through a Black diaspora protagonist who gains immortality to document humanity’s beauty amid oppression. The novel weaves real historical figures into Nella’s centuries‑spanning adventures across...
An STD Could Save Your (Chest)nuts
Chestnut blight, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, has decimated American chestnut populations, killing billions of trees since the late 1800s. European researchers discovered that infecting this fungus with the mycovirus Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 (CHV1) dramatically reduces its virulence. The virus...