Science Fiction Litrpg

The best of the year's science fiction and fantasy stories as selected by the multiple award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan. Distant worlds, time travel, epic adventure, unseen wonders, and much more! The best, most original and brightest science fiction and fantasy stories from around the globe from the past 12 months are brought together in one collection by multiple award winning editor Jonathan Strahan.

On the fourth floor in Virelia, Nathaniel and Group 4 are gearing up to take down one of the Four Calamities. With their newly formed guild, Angry Kittens, they challenge the city’s powerful matriarch and the five big guilds. Meanwhile, the bus-sized ants are leaving their distant nests and ominously marching toward the city. No one knows why. It's time to confront The Colony, battle The Fallen Hero, tackle The Living Tree, and uncover the mystery of the fourth Calamity.

Arden was left in the village by a dying mage, who never returned. With no way out of the village on his own, he had always held onto the hope that one day his magic would awaken and give him access to his spheres. But he’s about to turn eighteen and it’s never come. Instead, he’s settled into his lot as a sarcastic and quick-witted innkeeper. That all changes one night when his old flame, who escaped the village to become a mage’s anchor, returns. Ard’s life is about to go through some dramatic changes, and he’s not ready for them.

There is a newborn evil god—and his name is Ashlock. While technically true, it's a reputation he desperately wishes to change. But with prophecies citing his involvement in the destruction of the world and fanatic members of his cult being a little too good at evil marketing, he has to run with it. After all, he has bigger problems to face. Vincent Nightrose has fully awakened, and the looming Beast Tide is rumored to contain Monarch Realm-level beasts.

For all his 21 years, Zephyr has been a cultivator of the Carefree Path and a martial artist. He always assumed he would take the vows and become a monk, but his plans are thrown to the wind when he receives a letter from the Grand Sage to attend the Schools of Elemental Magic.

Maximilian is the last of the noble Valevsky lineage. His entire family was put to death for an alleged attempt on the powerful Duke of Odoevsky, who had his eye set on the Valevsky's land. The young man managed to avoid execution, but not punishment. From here on out, he's condemned to life as a doomed soldier. The front line in the fight against the dark god Skron's mutated creatures. "Do or die"—that's the doomer motto that has been drilled into the last of the Valevsky's head. The Duke took everything from him but his honor and a thirst for revenge.

Lucius had nothing: no home, no hope, no future—just a shadowy past and a lifetime of being overlooked. But when the god who held back the Abyss is slain, he's thrust into a new reality defined by brutal struggle. To stay alive, he'll need to think fast, hit hard, and gain experience with every fight. The climb begins now, and Lucius won't be left at the bottom.

They were told to stay out of the ten-day war, but their side lost in the first hour. Their future is at stake, so now the Butcher and the other workers have to do the impossible: Win a war without anyone know they are fighting. Luckily, they have Fearless Leader on their side to help them carry out their campaign of terror and sabotage as they use every dirty trick they can think of to even the odds. Twenty-Five workers with no weapons or magic versus two-hundred and fifty regular players. The other side is in for a big surprise.

Wulf is one of the last survivors of the demonic apocalypse. At the brink of oblivion, he’s sent back forty-one years to prevent the end. Now he’s a first-year again at Istalis Academy. Having his advancement reset is an opportunity to do everything better. But Wulf is sent back with a seemingly useless crafting class. Nobody can know or he’ll be expelled from his fighter program, where he’ll be expected to channel his abilities through the hollowed-out vessels of stone giants.

Adam isn't isn't even given the chance to lick his wounds after a deep betrayal before a mysterious force pulls him into into a new, fantastical world. He doesn't mind much. Penniless, luckless, and aimless, Adam wasn't particularly fond of his old world anyway. Maybe this can be the fresh start he needs. First, he'll have to deal with being attacked by shadowy monsters, imprisoned by guardsmen, and pressed into service by the resident nobility. But unlike Earth...he's not entirely powerless.

Arktania is a virtual game with a steampunk style. It's a place where magic spells, enchanted artifacts, steam-powered machines, firearms, and mechanical golems are a part of everyday life. Gamer Andrew Falk begins his journey in a small village on the border of Orcish territory. The locals are the keepers of many secrets, but their behavior is too realistic for characters in a game; so realistic, in fact, that Andrew starts to treat them as if they were real people.

With the newly hatched Nishari at his side, it is finally time for Hump to face his fate in Drakalyn, home of the wolf dragons, but to get there he must venture through the Fallen Lands—a realm lost to dungeons and monsters. Only, time is not on his side. The Book of Infinite Pages has awoken, and if Hump fails to master his manifested soul, others will seek to claim it. Even in these distant lands, a new danger approaches, and it seeks the blood of a goddess. The Dragon Keepers are all that stand between Celaine's people and death. The White Flame must blaze again.

In the aftermath of the demon invasion, Ilea makes her way to Riverwatch to find a home for a wayward mind weaver (ensuring he doesn’t eat anyone along the way). After traveling, reuniting with old friends, and some light punching, Ilea's life, it seems, is slowly returning to normal. But dire news awaits her upon her return to Ravenhall.

Victor Sandoval—now hailed as the legendary Lord Victor—has leveled up his rank and skills like no other Sojourner in memory. He now has thriving lands, ever-increasing power, and a new love, the warrior woman Valla. That is, until she decides she needs a bit of space—away from Victor's, shall we say, expansive shadow—to discover herself. But when you may live for millennia, you don't want to rush into a romantic commitment anyway, right?

Reality is cruel. The rising level of technological development has led to a rising level of unemployment. They're laying off everybody, from teachers to technical servicemen. What's the point of holding onto a person if they can be replaced by an advanced mechanism? But what are the people to do? How are they to live? Where are they to get money from? There is only one answer - Barliona. The official government project is gathering steam, luring more and more people into its net.

Stuck under a mountain of debt, Ike can only dream of the world of hunters. Ranks, power, and the System are out of his reach, until the day he awakens a Unique skill. Ike must break out of the slums and overturn the hierarchy of the System to fulfil his dream of becoming the ultimate hunter. Harvesting the skills of monsters, he turns against the world's logic.

The Resistance has won, but it was Pyrrhic victory. With Sanctuary in flames and Nova missing, it's up to Magnus to turn the tides of war against the Legatus. But will it be enough? Amid this turmoil, Ubiquity Prime's subjugation fleet steadily approaches Kelruhn, promising total annihilation. Up against the greatest foes of his life, Magnus must lead his meager forces in a war where failure is not an option, and the fate of two worlds hinges on the actions of one man.

Melvin Murphy is your average everyday teen... until he finds the System. Melvin has normal problems. High School. Tests. Trying to find a girlfriend (and failing... miserably). But one day he awakens with access to a System that governs all magic. In his attempt to summon a teacher to show him the ropes, he botches the ritual and accidentally summons a magic-wielding girl named Kalliphae. Sure, she's powerful and deadly. A femme fatale who's more intimidating than even the most popular girls at school.

I was having the perfect day when I suddenly found myself on the wrong side of an interdimensional portal. Instead of a weekend in wine country, I wound up in a trailer park that seemed stuck in the 1980s and filled with... goblin women? By the way, since when are goblins real? And why are the women so hot?

Having survived their journey into the Dark Heart, Arthur and his dragon, Brixaby, have a new goal: complete their Legendary card sets. Unfortunately, the next Legendary card is locked away in Blood Moon, a hive with a reputation for chaos, lawlessness, scourgling eruptions, and—rumor has it—dedicated dragon hunters. Still, Arthur and his retinue feel they have little to fear. Then again, they also don't have much knowledge of what actually lies ahead.