The same year, The Verge 's 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’s Binti and Martha Wells’ Murderbot series, which have won Hugo and Nebula Awards. 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'. 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 and Karin Tidbeck. Of these, he described Tor.com as 'the reigning champion of science-fiction magazines'. In 2014, The Guardian 's Damien Walter remarked on a 'digital renaissance' in short SF, and cited a new generation of online magazines, including Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Tor.com and Escape Pod, as having transformed the genre.

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. Gardner Dozois called Tor.com 'one of the coolest and most eclectic genre-oriented sites on the Internet'. Unlike traditional print magazines like Asimov's or Analog, it releases online fiction that can be accessed free of charge.

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

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