Today Fantasy Literature welcomes Caighlan Smith, whose short fiction has been featured at Tor.com and whose full-length novel, Children of Icarus (which I reviewed here), is now available! Ms. Smith took some time to chat with me about malleable myths, academia, and ridiculously tasty drinks. And we’ve got a copy of Children of Icarus to give away to one lucky commenter with a U.S.-based mailing address!

Jana Nyman: Congratulations on your recent graduation from university! Was it hard to balance writing an internationally-published novel against your studies, or are you the type of person who revels in that kind of pressure? How did you manage the stress?

Caighlan Smith: Thank you! A part of me still can’t believe I’ve ... Read More

Children of Icarus by Caighlan Smith

With her latest novel, Children of Icarus, Caighlan Smith takes what could have been a rehash of too-familiar YA tropes — a futuristic/dystopian setting, a promised paradise hiding a terrible secret, a band of scrappy teenagers rebelling against a faceless government — and enlivens them with innovative twists and updates on familiar Greek myths like Icarus, Daedalus’ labyrinth, and all manner of monsters.

Children of Icarus’s nameless narrator lives in the walled city of Daedalum; everything she could need, from markets to education to a temple dedicated to the fallen angel Icarus, is located in her apartment building. Once a year, a lottery is drawn from all the names of the children aged 10 - 16 in the city, and those who are chosen have the gr... Read More

This week's crop of short speculative fiction stories includes a couple of highly recommended stories from prior years, as well as some very recent stories, all available on the internet for free.

Lion Walk by Mary Rosenblum (2009, originally in Asimov’s, reprinted and free online in July 2016 Clarkesworld, paperback magazine issue)


Tahira Ghani is a manager and park ranger for a Pleistocene-era wild animal park in the U.S. prairie lands, near the Rockies. Using genetic manipulation and interbreeding programs with existing animal species, gene engineers are in the process of recreating many long-extinct animals, including giant sl... Read More

Our weekly exploration of free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. We've found some excellent stories this week!

 


“Probably Still the Chosen One” by Kelly Barnhill (Feb. 2017, free at Lightspeed, $3.99 Kindle magazine issue)

Eleven year old Corinna discovered a strange metal door in the cupboard under the sink of her home, which is a portal to the magical land of Nibiru, where she is hailed as their Princess, their Chosen One. After spending a year and a day in war-torn Nibiru, where she learned swordfighting, battle tactics and survival skills fighting with the Resistance again... Read More

Caighlan Smith wrote her first novel, Hallow Hour, in her final year of high school in St. John's. Inspired by her love of fantasy and the supernatural, Smith's work combines the fun and action of video games with the urgency of post-apocalyptic survival. She is studying English at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Hallow Hour, the first book in the SURREALITY series, was signed with a publisher when she turned 19. To date, she has written 14 novels and one novella. Her great loves are reading, gaming and, of course, writing. Smith's newest YA Fantasy novel Children of Icarus is now out in the UK with publisher Curious Fox and will be released August 1st 2016 in North America by Switch Press. Pre-order it via  Read More