Short Stories 366:198 — “The Natural Order of Things,” by Jess Faraday

In Shadow of Justice, we've watched Constable Simon Pearce entertain the chance of something more than a quick dalliance, despite the realities facing him in late 1800's London, and we've seen him find murder—and deliver justice—in London, Edinburgh, and then smaller villages of England, and that's where we catch up with him in "The Natural …

Short Stories 366:197 — “Transitions,” by Gwen Benaway

Edit: A letter was brought to my attention about Gwen Benaway. I really caution anyone reading it to avoid the comments that follow it (they are full of transphobia, among other things), but given that the anthology is presented as a place to find many #ownvoice authors, it's worth noting. (See also below re: the …

Short Stories 366:196 —”Lyes,” by Craig Laurance Gidney

So, this story appeared in Skin Deep Magic: Short Fiction from Craig Laurance Gidney back in 2014, and I was reading it at roughly the time the Aunt Jemima discourse hit my timelines during quarantine, and honestly it felt like a sort of kismet moment. The idea behind this story breathes in a kind of …

Short Stories 366:195 — “Redemption,” by Lesley Nneka Arimah

"Redemption" closes out What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, and it does so with a brilliant story that does so much in the space of a short time, but keeps it all alight at once: the weight of disbelief in the face of sexual abuse, the confusing tangle of emotions when …

Short Stories 366:194 — “The Wish-Giver,” by Ana Mardoll

With this story, my journey through the transgender and nonbinary fantasy stories of No Man of Woman Born concludes, and I have to say it ends on a lovely, gentle note. "The Wish-Giver" almost feels like a fairy tale, in that the set-up starts large and winnows down: we hear about a dragon capable of …

Short Stories 366:193 — “A Thief By Any Other Name,” by Violette Malan

I do love a good grifter story, and in this latest trip to the interstellar supermarket in The Clan Chronicles: Tales from Plexis, Violette Malan delivers exactly that. A woman who lives on the edges of legality on Plexis finds herself at the wrong end of a "negotiation" with a "Scat." The Scat are often …