Cool, Calm, and Collected: 5 Exciting Upcoming SFF Story Anthologies

2 weeks ago 12

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Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading. Twitter: @MissLiberty

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Hello, my friends! You know how this goes—here is the part where I tell you how much I love books. Because it’s true! Omgggggg, do I love reading. And reading new releases and learning about upcoming books is getting me through 2026, which has already been 17 years long.

But what is not long are short stories! I never feel like I read enough short stories, even though we are offered a plethora of amazing collections each year. I am always trying to correct that, and perhaps I will do it with these five exciting collections of the speculative flavor I love.

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I Am the Ghost Here: Stories by Kim Samek (The Dial Press, February 24)

Never mind that I may have to buy this book for the cover alone; the insides also sound incredible. This debut collection is 12 fantastical stories about 12 different women. Each is dealing with the modern horrors of social media, bodily autonomy, and technology, like a DoorDasher who becomes the star of someone else’s reality show, a gymnastics coach whose heart is in a jar, and soulmates who learn they weren’t so much fated to meet as set up by advertisers.

Slow Stories by Bette A. (The Unnamed Press, March 3)

This anthology features people experiencing alternate histories and parallel worlds, and is being compared to the world-building of Italo Calvino. There’s a man who is crossing a desert while carrying a huge rock; a man who refuses to fight disrupts plans for a memorial; doors appear and disappear on a house as babies are born; creatures try to solve an existential riddle; and more.

River of Bones and Other Stories by Rebecca Roanhorse (S&S/Saga Press, March 3)

Bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse has had a few amazing novels that we rave about on Book Riot all the time, like Black Sun and Tread of Angels. And this, her first collection, gathers up some of her award-winning stories, such as “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” and “A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy,” and also includes a new novella set in the world of her debut novel, Trail of Lightning.

Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom, March 24)

Speaking of favorites: Amal El-Mohtar’s solo debut novel, The River Has Roots, was picked as one of Book Riot’s best books of 2025. And now we are already being spoiled with a new book, a collection of her multi-award-nominated and winning short works of fantasy fiction. These stories are told in various formats, such as letters, diary entries, and reference materials.

Rabbit Test and Other Stories: Stories by Samantha Mills (Tachyon Publications, April 21)

And last but not least, a debut collection of exciting, subversive stories, including the title story, about abortion rights, which won the Nebula, Locus, and Sturgeon awards. Other stories in this book feature a floating library, a time-traveling fisherwoman who can’t seem to get the landing time right, and two witches who fight over the gate between the living and the dead.

Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.