Short Stories 366:17 — “The Unfathomable Sisterhood of Ick” by Charlie Jane Anders

I walked the dog a little bit extra while I listened to this story (Max says thank you, Charlie Jane Anders) to give you an idea of how quickly I fell into this narrative and how much I wanted to see where it was going. Set in a future that's still quite recognizable, the main …

Short Stories 366:16 — “After the Deluge,” by Peter Golubock

If a post-apocalyptic pirate story set in the long-flooded New York sounds like something you'd enjoy, Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) has you covered with Peter Golubock's tale of the Pizza Rat, a pirate ship preying on those who ply the waters above what was New York City (which is still there, …

Short Stories 366:15 — “Delhi” by Vandana Singh

Oh wow, this story. People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction delivers yet again. First, the concept of it is such a clever little wrinkle: a man, Aseem, can see glimpses of other times. For a long while, it was just assumed he was mentally ill; he was hallucinating of course, and as such his life …

Short Stories 366:14 — “Rivers Run Free,” by Charles Payseur

I'm not sure what the prose equivalent is of a standing ovation, but that's what I want to open this with. This was absolutely pitch-perfect. "Rivers Run Free" is the opening tale in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 anthology, and holy flying crap what a way to start. Seriously. Just... I mean... …

Proof of Concept

Back in 2018, I did a monthly flash fiction draw. Three draws from a deck of cards to get a writing prompt of: genre, setting, and object. 1,000 words, and a flash fiction story in the chosen genre, set in the chosen setting, including the chosen object. Well, this year, Cait Gordon picked up the …

Short Stories 366:13 — “Heavy Lifting,” by A. T. Greenblatt

Sometimes I think the deftest "world in peril" stories are the ones that tell us enough about how things have gone wrong but don't tell us everything, and "Heavy Lifting," from A.T. Greenblatt (found in Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction) has that balance down perfectly. It was all the more enjoyable in knowing of the …