Our exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read that we wanted you to know about.
“Slow Victory” by Juanjo Bazan (free at Daily Science Fiction, May 24, 2018)
A time traveler heads back for a meeting in the woods with a young woman “hiding from the army of uninformed and ignorant men.” Bazan offers up a different take on time travel here, a more intimate, more quiet sort of tale than is often told in this sub-genre.
February 4th, 2019. Bill Capossere, Marion Deeds and Tadiana Jones | Karin Tidbeck | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Our exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read recently that we wanted you to know about.
“Birch Daughter” by Sara Norja (2018, free at Fireside Magazine)
“Birch Daughter” is about Aino, a young woman whose mother was turned into a birch tree by an evil spell. After hearing from the forest-folk in her dreams, Aino sets out to save her mother from her fate.
There’s a certain delicacy to “Birch Daughter.” From the first few lines it made me acutely aware of every choice every character made,
January 21st, 2019. Skye Walker, Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman and Bill Capossere | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
“Thirty-Three Percent Joe” by Suzanne Palmer (2018, free online at Clarkesworld, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue)
Science fiction humor is very hard to pull off, and rarely works for me. This Suzanne Palmer story is a radiant exception. Palmer hits a grand-slam with a human soldier who has 33% of his body replaced with smart parts, including a heart,
November 12th, 2018. Marion Deeds, Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones | Daryl Gregory, Suzanne Palmer | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Our reviews of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. For this year’s Halloween week column, we offer a selection of haunted house stories. (The first story is admittedly pushing the boundaries of that classification, but it was too good to leave out.)
“The Man in the Woods” by Shirley Jackson (published 2014, free in The New Yorker)
Christopher, a college student, leaves school one day for reasons he can’t even articulate to himself, and walks for days through towns and fields,
October 29th, 2018. Tadiana Jones | Kelley Armstrong | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Our weekly exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read that we wanted you to know about.
“Waves of Influence” by D.A. Xiaolin Spires (2018, free at Clarkesworld magazine, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue)
Chenghui, a clever young Chinese woman, has committed fraud to win a contest to be trained by Meixiu, an internet sensation and social influencer. Chenghui’s sister, Yixuan, is a devoted fan of Meixiu, and is also slowly dying of a heart ailment.
October 1st, 2018. Marion Deeds, Tadiana Jones and Bill Capossere | Kevin J. Anderson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Our feature exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read that we want to share with readers.
“Field Biology of the Wee Fairies” by Naomi Kritzer (2018, free at Apex Magazine, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue)When Amelia turns fourteen, everyone assures her that she’ll catch her fairy soon. Almost every girl catches a fairy, and the fairy will give you a gift if you promise to let her go. The gift is always something like “beauty or charm or perfect hair or something else that made boys notice you.” What no one around Amelia realizes is that she doesn’t want to catch a fairy.
September 24th, 2018. Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman, Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere | Brian McClellan, Genevieve Valentine, Kelly Robson, Naomi Kritzer | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Our exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read that we wanted you to know about.
“Death and the Compass” by Jorge Luis Borges (1954, free online version)
When Edgar Allen Poe goes in for creating an all-divining detective, you get “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”; when Gene Wolfe does it, you get “The Detective of Dreams”; when Jorge Luis Borges does it, you end up with “Death and the Compass”. No disrespect to Poe or Wolfe,
September 10th, 2018. Nathan Okerlund, Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman and Bill Capossere | Jorge Luis Borges, Lavie Tidhar | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Our exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read that we wanted you to know about.
“Welcome to Your Authentic Indian ExperienceTM” by Rebecca Roanhorse (2017, free at Apex Magazine, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue)
Accolades have been pouring down on this 2017 SF short story, which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and is also a Sturgeon Award nominee, a Locus Recommended Short Story, a Apex Magazine Reader’s Choice Winner. Additionally, Rebecca Roanhorse won the Hugo’s John W.
August 27th, 2018. Tadiana Jones, Kat Hooper and Sandy Ferber | C.L. Moore, Henry Kuttner, Jeff VanderMeer, Rebecca Roanhorse, S.B. Divya | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Our exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few recent stories we’ve read that we wanted you to know about.
“Meat And Salt And Sparks” by Rich Larson (June 2018, free at Tor.com, 99c Kindle version)
Al Huxley and Cu are detectives and partners in this near-future SF tale. Cu is a chimpanzee whose intelligence has been enhanced to human-level through a company’s cruel and illegal experimentation. Granted “personhood” rights ― and a hefty settlement ― in a court case,
July 16th, 2018. Tadiana Jones and Marion Deeds | Pat Murphy, Tina Connolly | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
At Fantasy Literature, we love fearless women!
Women are shining in every genre of speculative fiction, and it is no longer enough to say “Women are here.” Instead, #FearlessWomen everywhere are taking a stand to say “Women will thrive here.”
Highlighting major titles from bestselling authors V.E. Schwab, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jacqueline Carey as well as titles from acclaimed and debut authors such as Mary Robinette Kowal, Tessa Gratton, Sam Hawke, and Robyn Bennis,
July 3rd, 2018. Jana Nyman | Mary Robinette Kowal | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…