Lectori salutem.
Welcome to our first issue of 2026. The year got off to a busy start at our editorial “offices”, as Sci Phi Journal received its largest volume of short fiction submissions to date. The crew spent many a night reading, contemplating and discussing the countless thoughtful and surprising pieces – the review experience was, once again, like placing a gentle hand on the pulse of the international sci-fi community and discovering what moves our authors in this day and age.
If hundreds of creative minds from around the globe are an indication, we as humans are equal part concerned and fascinated by near-future challenges, from the rise of artificial “intelligence” and the sense of alienation brought on by ubiquitous technology, to a diverse menu of options for ending the world as we know it. Meanwhile, we also remain intrigued by the less practical: ephemeral vistas of distant worlds, cosmic time scales and philosophical musings.
The short fiction presented in this issue traverses a broad spectrum of the above SF landscape, taking us from the exploits of Greek gods and ancient miracles to the travails of insurance administration during an alien invasion and budgetary concerns within the bureaucracies of subterranean survivors. We also pick up the thread of our erstwhile series publishing the missing pieces of Romanian SF master Gheorghe Săsărman’s imaginary cities hitherto unavailable in English – we hope to complete the entire cycle in our four quarterly issues this year.
Two essays complement this tour of the literary horizon, one on sci-fi anthologies by Mina, and another on the television series Severance by Jimmy Alonso Licon. As customary since 2021, our publication is graced by original cover art from the inkwell of Belgian solarpunk artist Dustin Jacobus.
May your reading pleasure, here and elsewhere, bring joy to your neurons!
Speculatively yours,
Sci Phi co-editors and crew
Ps: We hope to encounter many of you at the 2026 EuroCon in Berlin, Germany, on 2-5 July, where you’ll be able to meet and confabulate with most of us in person, either at our various panel discussions or over a stein of Teuton ale.
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