''Tor.com'' is an online

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

magazine published by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

, a division of

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

. From 2014 to 2020, Tor.com was also the name of an

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

of Tor Books publishing science fiction and fantasy novels and novellas. In 2020, the imprint was renamed Tordotcom.

History

The magazine was established in July 2008 and, as of 2014, reported having 1.5 million readers each month. It publishes articles and reviews related to English language science fiction and other speculative fiction, as well as original short science fiction. Unlike traditional print magazines like ''

Asimov's ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...

'' or ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'', it releases online fiction that can be accessed free of charge.

Reception

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American people, American science fiction author and editing, editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of ...

called ''Tor.com'' "one of the coolest and most eclectic genre-oriented sites on the Internet". He felt in 2011 that its short fiction output that year was weaker than usual, but said it was still a fascinating place to visit. In 2014, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' Damien Walter remarked on a "digital renaissance" in short SF, and cited a new generation of online magazines, including ''

Lightspeed The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit fo ...

'', ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

'', ''Tor.com'' and ''

Escape Pod An escape pod, escape capsule, life capsule, or lifepod is a capsule or craft, usually only big enough for one person, used to escape from a vessel in an emergency. An escape ship is a larger, more complete craft also used for the same purpose ...

'', as having transformed the genre. Of these, he described ''Tor.com'' as "the reigning champion of science-fiction magazines". He noted the broad range of its output, and said that it had published "many of the most exciting new talents" such as

Maria Dahvana Headley Maria Dahvana Headley (born June 21, 1977) is an American novelist, memoirist, editor, translator, poet, and playwright. She is a ''New York Times''-bestselling author as well as editor. Her work includes ''Magonia'', a young-adult space-fant ...

and Karin Tidbeck. In 2018, Dozois noted that there had been a dramatic resurgence in novellas, with more than 80 published, and attributed the development to ''Tor.com'' publishing's "ambitious new program". The same year, ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...

'' Andrew Liptak called ''Tor.com'' the publisher of "sci-fi’s most innovative stories", noting the critical acclaim of its output such as

Nnedi Okorafor Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels ''Who Fears ...

’s '' Binti'' and

Martha Wells Martha Wells (born September 1, 1964) is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. He ...

’ ''

Murderbot ''The Murderbot Diaries'' is a science fiction series by American author Martha Wells and published by ''Tor.com''. The series is about a part robot, part human construct designed as a Security Unit (SecUnit). SecUnit manages to override its gove ...

'' series, which have won

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

and

Nebula Awards The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

Awards

''Tor.com'' has won six

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

s for Best Magazine (2015, 2017–21), breaking a 40-year-long streak where the category was only won by ''Asimov's'' and ''

F&SF ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...

'' (in addition to ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award' ...

'' itself). For its art direction, Irene Gallo received the 2014

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

for Professional Work. There have also been several award-winning collections of ''Tor.com'' content. Reviews and commentary by

Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh and Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel ''Among Others'', which won the Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and ''Tooth and Claw (novel), Tooth ...

were collected in the books ''What Makes This Book So Great'' and ''

An Informal History of the Hugos ''An Informal History of the Hugos'' (subtitled ''A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953–2000'' is a 2018 reference work on science fiction and fantasy written by Jo Walton. In it, she asks if the nominees for the Hugo Award for Best ...

'', with the former winning the 2014 Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction, and the latter nominated for the 2019 Hugo and Locus Awards. The fiction anthology, ''Worlds Seen in Passing: 10 Years of Tor.com Short Fiction'', won the 2019

World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

References

Sources

* * {{CurrentAmericanSFMagazines Speculative fiction magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 2008 Science fiction webzines 2008 establishments in the United States Speculative fiction websites Fantasy fiction magazines