Top Indie Science Fiction and Fantasy Reads
"The Shrine Keeper" gets Honorable Mention
Honored samurai, ruthless ronin, wayward vagabonds, shadowy ninja and helpless villagers... welcome.
2023 and 2024 were big years for me. I had 4 stories and 1 TRPG published — “The Shrine Keeper”, “Something CUTE This Way Comes” and “Dark Hour” in 2023, Bioheist: The Hellflesh Heist and “Fathom” published in 2024, and I finished 2 others (yet unpublished).
Nearly every story went to Bruce Bethke’s Stupefying Stories and that is where I would like to focus this issue of the newsletter, not on my accomplishments, but on those of all the other top-read stories on Stupefying Stories for 2024. If you celebrate indie fiction, don’t hesitate to dive in and, BY ALL MEANS, share your favorites with everyone.
Every story listed under the following URLs is absolutely FREE. No signups, clickthrus, ads or other BS. Each story can be clicked and read as quickly as turning the page on a physical book. So treat yourself to over 25 free stories (and the hundreds of others on Bruce’s site)!
The Top Ten
From pieces set in the fictional universe of Space: 1999 to demons working with smartphones, covering horror, humor, scifi, and fantasy, the Top Ten stories were as varied and vibrant as the authors who penned them.
The number one spot went to “The Pros and Cons of Time Travel,” by James Blakey, and it is a wicked piece of science fiction. All the stories can be read within a few minutes. They are all cut-to-the-bone works of art that slam character, worldbuilding and (usually) a nice twist straight into your brain via 1000 words or less. It’s not hard to see why this one is number one.
Five More Top Reads
A little less “varied” perhaps, but still all the powerful, the next five stories cover creatures to fading into eternity, and more more into philosophical and maudlin atmospheres of fiction. Karin Terebessy holds the top two spots; a regular at Stupefying Stories (and other fiction publication sites), she always has a kind word for the other authors (including a lovely comment on “The Shrine Keeper”).
Honorable Mentions
Stone-cold humor and the king of rock’n roll feature in the honorable mentions section, which offers up no less than 19 stories. Again, these are among the top-read stories on the site for 2024. Bruce was kind enough to list not only “The Shrine Keeper”, but also “Fathom” which were written/published just over a year apart. My personal favorites were Getting Sponsored,” by Eric Fomley (dystopian) and “Wielder of Wit,” by Ian Li (fantasy/humor).
That’s it for this issue. I appreciate your time and reads. Please consider sharing this with newsletter with your friends, and leave a comment for the authors on their stories. They love to hear what you have to say.
Later daze!
Made in DNA