The Sword and Laser discussion

Where do you go for short stories?

I like Popcorn Fiction at http://www.mulhollandbooks.com/popcor....

I'd love to hear everyone else's favorites.

I don't read as much short fiction as I'd like, but apparently that's more than most.

My usual free sites are

Strange Hrizons
http://www.strangehorizons.com/

Clarkesworld
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/

and, Lightspeed
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/

I also get the odd anthology, I really liked The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology, Steampunk, and Fast Ships, Black Sails.

My favorite short story writer of all time remains Washington Irving. Though I always find it odd that his story about a guy sleeping for twenty years is called "Rip Van Winkle," while his story about a guy who rips peoples heads off is called "Sleepy Hollow."

There are many good small press magazines that publish short stories. Here's one site to find them: http://www.ralan.com/.

I don't read all that many, I'm usually busy writing them. There are a number of people on G+ who post their work there. David Grigg is a good one to check out. https://plus.google.com/u/0/108429362...

Anyone read/hear any good short stories lately?

I'm going through Garder Dozois' Year's Best anthologies one by one at the moment (up to #8 right now).

Also I just bought subscriptions to Asimov's and Analog, and my library has subscriptions to Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Beyond that, on my shelf are The Future is Japanese: Science Fiction Futures and Brand New Fantasies from and about Japan., Superheroes, Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear, Worlds That Weren't, and Wild Cards.

Also I subscribe to Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Escape Pod, Starshipsofa, Protecting Project Pulp, Dunesteef, Toasted Cake, and I used to do Beam Me Up podcasts.

So, yes, I suppose I do like short stories. And no wonder my novel count has dropped recently!

I'd have to say my favorite short story so far is Inconsistent Moon by Larry Niven

I just read Niven's classic 'The Soft Weapon' in his Playgrounds of the Mind anthology. It was used in an episode of the old animated Star Trek.

The best short stories I've read in the last few years were in the collection "Stories of Your Life and Others" by Ted Chiang.

Tor has free short stories on their website:
http://www.tor.com/stories

Beneath Ceaseless Skies publishes free issues bimonthly:
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com

The most recent ones I've read are Kevin Hearn's free Iron Druid Chronicle short stories. They're free on his website

http://www.kevinhearne.com/short-stories

Here are a few I've read relatively recently:

Black Gate #15

Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery

The Sword & Sorcery Anthology

Hmmm . . . I think I see a pattern . . . I've also picked up from Amazon individual short stories by Mira Grant and John R. Fultz, amongst others. I'm hoping that e-publishing means that over time we'll see more stories appearing in varying lengths, especially in the 20K-40K word range, which is a bit too short for a standalone book, a bit too long for a regular anthology, but kind of a sweet spot for fantasy, SF and horror fiction.

I love short stories! If I was more consistent with my reading, I'd subscribe to Analog and Asimov's. As it is, my used bookstore often sells the big anthologies for like 50 cents so I have quite a few of the Dozois best of the year books.

Sfsignal's new 'Crossing the Gulf' podcast just did an episode discussing some Greg Egan short stories. They've also discussed Ted Chiang's short stories in the past. One of the hosts is a physicist: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012...

Anthology editor John Strahan has a new podcast called 'The Last Short Story', but there's only been one episode so far, where they discussed an issue of Asimov's: http://www.jonathanstrahan.com.au/wp/...

I subscribed to Asimov's a few months ago. I mostly read it in the Kindle app on my SGS3 while on public transport or waiting to pickup takeaway (takeout for the americans!).

I know it's a good story when I want to continue reading asap after getting home.

I think it's good value.

I realized I didn't say thank you for all the great suggestions. I visited all the sites. Fantastic recommendations. Thank you.

A couple of sources for free online fiction:

http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/

http://www.blackgate.com/ is also starting to post the occasional short story.

Some more freebies

Clarkesworld
Light speed
Redstone
Apex
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Cosmos
AE

All are pro markets meaning they can get Nebula voted

Ah yes, nature runs a short story on the futures section