Science Fiction: The Short Stuff discussion

The SF short story for November 2025 is "Strays" by Scott William Carter, published in the September/October 2025 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. We're on the bleeding edge of new. Therefore, I have no information right now to share on this story. I'll try to read it soon to let you know something about it.

If you care to join in with this month's reading, but lack a subscription to the magazine, you can purchase the September-October 2025 Asimov's Science Fiction ebook from various digital platforms, including a single-issue purchase on Barnes & Noble and through their own website, which offers the digital edition on stores like Amazon Kindle and Magzter. For a subscription, you can also buy directly from the official Asimov's Science Fiction website, which offers digital subscriptions for purchase.

This story was surprisingly strong, four and a half stars! A husband and wife team are on a mission to take a spaceship out to nuclear missiles inbound from an enemy planet and dismantle them before they reach Earth. Given the distances they have to travel, they go in and out of cryo (suspended animation) to accomplish this. All their friends and family on Earth died long ago. The wife wonders after a while what the point is. But husband wants to stay on mission. Their disagreement and how it plays out forms the basis for this really startling and well-told story. Highly recommended.