“Short stories have to accomplish a nearly impossible magic trick: to introduce a world often
much stranger than our own and make you care about it in a matter of pages ” writes R. F. Kuang
in her introduction. “The most important part of this magic trick is just a willingness to get
weird.” The stories in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 are brimming with
bizarre and otherworldly premises. Women can’t lie or fall in love. Fathers feed their children
ghost preserves. Souls chase one another through animal incarnations. Yet these stories are
grounded deeply in our reality. Out of these stories’ weirdness emerges the cruelty of border
enforcement the horror of legislation restricting reproductive freedom the frightening pace
of AI. The result is a stunning immersive intensely felt experience showing us less of what
the world is and more of what it could be. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023
includes Nathan Ballingrud • KT Bryski • Isabel Cañas • Maria Dong • Kim Fu • Theodora Goss •
Alix E. Harrow • S. L. Huang • Stephen Graham Jones • Shingai Njeri Kagunda • Isabel J. Kim •
Samantha Mills • MKRNYILGLD • Malka Older • Susan Palwick • Linda Raquel Nieves Pérez • Sofia
Samatar • Kristina Ten • Catherynne M. Valente • Chris Willrich
