Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2026

Of science fiction and fantasy, guest editor Olivie Blake writes, “It’s hard to look upon these genres and not see tools of life preservation.” The characters in these pages embody this sentiment as they choose to forge ahead despite the most daunting obstacles. An inscrutable woman imprisons a monster in her bathtub, a sentient spaceship carries 10,000 frozen human embryos to a distant space colony, a memory tailor alters memories for customers seeking a different past, and a girl goes to great lengths to attend a prestigious magical university. From dystopian resistance to utopian deceit, these stories acknowledge the helplessness, anger, and despair so prevalent in the world. But, as Blake reassures us, they also convince us that ultimately “faith, persisting and unshakable, will be enough to win.”THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY 2026 INCLUDES: SARAH LANGAN • THOMAS HA • ALIX E. HARROW • ALEX IRVINE • NAOMI KANAKIA • ISABEL J. KIM • RICH LARSON • RAY NAYLER • P.C. VERRONE • AND OTHERS

Olivie Blake is the New York Times bestselling author of speculative fiction for adults, including The Atlas Six trilogy, Alone with You in the Ether, Masters of Death, the short story collection Januaries, and her most recent novel, Dreamland. With Little Chmura, she is the co-creator of the graphic series Clara and the Devil. As Alexene Farol Follmuth, she is also the author of the young adult novels My Mechanical Romance and Twelfth Knight. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. John Joseph Adams is the series editor of The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy and the editor of the Hugo Award–winning Lightspeed, and of more than forty anthologies, including Lost Worlds & Mythological Kingdoms, The Far Reaches, and Out There Screaming (coedited with Jordan Peele).