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Reactor Free Short Fiction 2021

Free short stories and novellas published on Reactor (formerly tor.com). Available for reading online on the Reactor Magazine.

Since launching in 2008, Tor.com’s short fiction program has been producing touching, funny, and thought-provoking stories, and this year was no different! In 2021, we published 15 original short stories, another 15 novelettes, plus one novella. These ran the gamut from hard science fiction to epic fantasy, from horror to dystopia, from fairy tales to space opera. We’ve rounded them all up below, and you can also find Tordotcom Publishing’s impressive output of novellas and novels here.

We are tremendously proud of our authors, illustrators, and editors for creating such wonderful short fiction this year. We hope that you will nominate your favorites for the Hugos, Nebulas, and other upcoming awards which honor outstanding works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror—but most of all, we hope that you have enjoyed reading these stories as much as we have!

A Better Way of Saying

A Better Way of Saying
BySarah Pinsker

6 Readers 3.2

Across the Dark Water

Across the Dark Water
ByRichard Kadrey

9 Readers 3.3

An Easy Job

An Easy Job
ByCarrie Vaughn

6 Readers 4

Annie Without Crow

Annie Without Crow
ByMichael Swanwick

2021 • 27 pages

Aptitude

Aptitude
ByCooper Shrivastava

4 Readers 4.5

Baby Teeth

Baby Teeth
ByDaniel Polansky

2021 • 6 Readers • 49 pages 4.5

Black Leg

Black Leg
ByGlen Hirshberg

2021 • 1 Reader • 32 pages

Blood in the Thread

Blood in the Thread
ByCheri Kamei

3 Readers 4

Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre

2021 • 5 Readers • 50 pages 4.6

Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels

2021 • 7 Readers • 32 pages 4.1

L'Esprit de L'Escalier

L'Esprit de L'Escalier
ByCatherynne M. Valente

14 Readers 4.6

Let All the Children Boogie

4 Readers 4.3

Masquerade Season

Masquerade Season
ByPemi Aguda

2021 • 2 Readers • 19 pages 4.5

Now We Paint Worlds

Now We Paint Worlds
ByMatthew Kressel

2021 • 3 Readers • 32 pages 4

Questions Asked in the Belly of the World

2021 • 2 Readers • 40 pages 4

Ripple Effects

Ripple Effects
ByLaura J. Mixon

2021 • 102 pages

Sand

Sand
ByJasmin Kirkbride

5 Readers 4

#Selfcare

#Selfcare
ByAnnalee Newitz

9 Readers 3.4

Shards

Shards
ByIan Rogers

3 Readers 5

Skin Deep

Skin Deep
ByAlan Brennert

2021 • 3 Readers • 32 pages

Small Monsters

Small Monsters
ByE. Lily Yu

8 Readers 4.7

#Spring Love, #Pichal Pairi

1 Reader 4

The Far Side of the Universe

The Far Side of the Universe
ByNoc,Michelle Deeter(Translator)

2 Readers 3

The Future Library

The Future Library
ByPeng Shepherd

26 Readers 4.3

The Lay of Lilyfinger

The Lay of Lilyfinger
ByG.V. Anderson

6 Readers 5

The Red Mother

The Red Mother
ByElizabeth Bear

2021 • 4 Readers • 32 pages 4.3

The Station of the Twelfth

1 Reader

The Tinder Box

The Tinder Box
ByKate Elliott

6 Readers 4

The Tyger

The Tyger
ByTegan Moore

2 Readers 3

The Wonderful Stag, or The Courtship of Red Elsie

8 Readers 3.5