The latest stories, poems, and games from author, poet, and Nebula award-winning game writer Stewart C Baker.
“The Spacefarer’s Guide to Connecting with Your Daughter’s Descendants”
When Margot drops out of near-lightspeed to follow her runaway daughter, the math catches up: what took Margot a few minutes took Hime decades. She can’t fix what she’s broken, but she might earn a second chance to do better.
Adventitious, August 2026
Two Wolves Inside You
A very short Twine game about having two wolves inside you, written for Neo Twiny Jam 2026.
“Walking Tour of Scarborough in Nuclear Winter”
The tour starts the same way they all do—in the Spa’s outdoor suncourt, as the bloated, swollen sun tries its best to pierce the eternal grey clouds and reach the ashen waves below.
One part eldritch horror, one part post-apocalyptic nightmare, one part jaunty seaside holiday. Add wealthy patrons, season with guilt, feed to your terrifying overlords, and get out fast.
Published in Pseudopod, March 13, 2026
image credit: Scarborough Spa by Derwisz, used under a CC-BY-NC-SA license.
“You, Who Sought the Stars’ Distant Light”
By the time you boarded me, you were already dead. Or rather, I had killed you.
A sentient spaceship must struggle with ideas of loyalty and duty when boarded by an unexpected visitor with access to their systems.
Published in Analog, January/February 2026.
Crescent Sea Story
You wake on a boat in the midst of a vast, ruined ocean. You have no memories. You have no belongings. Your only companions are five fragments of your missing self.
A powerful urge draws you southward towards what you know is your destiny, but before you can grasp it you must reclaim your identity. Follow your fragments through your own past and discover what happened to the world—and to you alongside it.
Memories are mutable. The future is unwritten. But can you ever truly change who you are?
Written for IFComp in September, 2025
Spire, Surge, and Sea
In a far-future seascape cursed by the ancients, will you make mankind’s last home a haven or a fortress?
Back rebels or royals, or pursue your own rise to power. Speak for the spirits or fight for your own kind, or try to reconcile both by uncovering ancient injustices. Heal the creatures afflicted by a magical rot or defeat them in the name of defending the ones you love. Shape humanity’s destiny with magic, alchemy, or high-tech masonry.
Spire, Surge, and Sea is a 380,000-word science fantasy epic where the gods, the spirits, and your king are watching your every move.
Published by Choice of Games in July, 2025.