Sunday Shorts—The Dead Pirate’s Cave by Soumya Mukherjee

This latest story from Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) hits that "Time" part and presses fast-forward rather than rewind, "The Dead Pirate's Cave." In it, a young woman and a young man are both held captive by pirates, the woman because her father was the only person whose blood was cleared for …

Sunday Shorts—Make My Bread by Sarah Caulfield

This tale, found in A Few More Winter Tales, is more of the sad and sorrowful 'A Christmas Carol' sort, and it, too features a ghost. It begins with a Midwife, Kelby, calling for a bone collector, Rusalka, to come to her village and deal with a man who is wandering about in spirit form …

Sunday Shorts—A Smuggler’s Pact by Su Haddrell

If there's a single complaint I could make against Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space), it's this: I want more. That's faint criticism, though, and makes me want to check out other authors, including Su Haddrell, which brings me to "A Smuggler's Pact." Here we meet a pirate captain's mate, a woman who …

Sunday Shorts—The Patchwork Girl by Evelyn Deshane

This story, from We Shall Be Monsters, is so intrinsically queer and—something I freaking adore—queerly empowering that I basically fell in love from pretty much the get-go. From the nonbinary lead POV, to the slow revelations of the narrative, this is a contemporary fantasy with the perfect amount of magic and fantasy to counter the …

Sunday Shorts—Birthday Girl by Rachel Swirsky

As someone who writes contemporary spec-fic, I'm a little embarrassed to admit it took me almost until the end of this short story from Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction to spot the science fiction. The story here is a woman visiting her niece on her niece's birthday, bringing a present, and being very nervous as …

Sunday Shorts—Rib of Man by Geonn Cannon

Found in Scourge of the Seas of Time (And Space), "Rib of Man" reads like the start of an adventure, and while it did make me wish there was more, that's not meant to be a criticism. We meet a pirate captain heading her crew back to port after what has been a successful streak, …