The ghoul choked out, “I didn’t know you were a…” “Say it.” Kai smiled. “…a demon.” “You idiot.” Kai leaned closer to whisper, “I’m the demon.” Kaiisteron – Prince of the Fourth House of the underearth, of the tent of Kentdessa Saredi – wakes up in a glass coffin in an underground, underwater chamber, with
“While Earth’s children live, the enemy shall fear us.” Kyr (Valkyr to, well, not her friends, since she doesn’t actually have any), has been raised to be the perfect soldier. One of the last of the genetically-tailored Warbreed, she’s faster, stronger, and a better fighter than almost everyone else on Gaea Station (the last holdout
Two of this year’s Hugo-nominated novellas are included in one short story collection, (Adventures in Space (Short stories by Chinese and English Science Fiction Writers). Both stories also feature Earth’s attempt to seed life on another planet, but in completely different ways. Neither attempt goes to plan, and it’s left up to the reader to
“Men find it easier to believe they have been swindled by a witch than outwitted by a woman.” From the grand storytelling tradition of Sinbad the Sailor comes Shannon Chakraborty’s Medieval-era tale of Amina al-Sirafi. Sailor, adventurer, pirate, witch. Famous and infamous (depending on who you talk to) for her ability to fight, explore, steal,
“I’m going home to the Singing Hills abbey…” Nghi Vo’s latest installment in the Singing Hills Cycle is a bit of a departure from the previous novellas. Cleric Chih isn’t travelling to an exotic location to collect new stories. Instead, they’re returning to the Singing Hills abbey to be reunited with their old friend Cleric
…she didn’t know what had happened to the stranger either, but she found her inclination was that he hadn’t dropped off the edge of the settlement into the featureless and crushing gasses of the planet. Or at least, if he had, it hadn’t been by choice. Humanity has been transplanted to space in Malka Older’s
Two of the remaining three novelettes this year could be considered dystopian (depending on how negatively you view the universe of Martha Wells’s Murderbot series), and the third takes place in America in what could be called the Golden Age, just not for everyone. “Never Eaten Vegetables” – H.H. Pak She glides through the night
John Scalzi’s Hugo-nominated novel Starter Villain is a surprisingly light-hearted look at the section of the population with the kind of power and money that can make changes on a global scale and not bother with pesky little things like rules. And we see all of this through the eyes of former business journalist and
It’s the end of April, there’s less than fifteen weeks until this year’s Hugo Award ceremony, and I’ve got nineteen entries in the main fiction categories to read. So what the heck, we’re doing two novellas this week instead of one. And I swear, I didn’t deliberately pick these two based on similar themes in