Return to 2016 Best SF/F Short Fiction
Best Stories
Novella
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(SF) Charles Mann leads a wild,
exciting life, which he shares with millions who join his
"live-link."
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(SF; Andrea Cort) On Caithiriin,
murderers get a choice between execution or anti-violence treatment. No human
has had to make that choice before, but it's suspicious that the natives
almost always prefer death.
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Novelette
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(SF) Old Mr. Coanda fans Jimmy's love
for outer space by showing him how to build and launch real rockets.
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Ten Poems
for the Mossums, One for the Man by Suzanne
Palmer Time: 24m (Novelette) Issue: Asimov's 07|16
(Hard SF) Davin is spending a year
alone on Ekye to observe the local wildlife and, he hopes, to recover his
lost creativity.
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(Fantasy) From prehistoric times, the
stone man crouched on a hill. Every now and then a person would find it and
try to get it to do something. But to succeed was to die.
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(High Fantasy; Raffalon) As a thief, Raffalon
has made a few enemies, but he didn't think anyone was mad enough to hire an
assassin.
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Short Story
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(High Fantasy) The old magician rarely
takes students, but young Schmendrick has so much potential--if he could just
make his spells come out right.
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Notable Stories
Novella
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(Horror) At a crime scene, Yutu and
her boss Nathan both suspect supernatural involvement. Even with her Native
American magic and his voodoo, it will be a challenge.
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(Alternate History) A private
detective takes a job guarding Albert Einstein as he flees the Nazis on an
ocean-liner-sized airplane.
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(SF) Rist descends from the highlands
and is captured by the lowlanders, who've never seen a human being as small
as him. He struggles to learn their language and adapt to their ways
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(SF) Khifi makes a good living as a
pilot, but she used to be a homeless kid on the Tanduou docks. So she cares
when she gets hints that something bad is happening--something involving
kids, aliens, and more.
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(SF) On Skipbrudden, each child must
pass four tests to earn the right to become an adult. Arvie is a precocious
kitten, which means he'll face the tests sooner than most.
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The
Journeyman: In The Great North Wood by Michael F.
Flynn Time: 1h:16m (Novella) Issue: Analog 06|16
(SF; The Journeyman) Teodorq and his
friend Sammi agree to organize security for a nobleman's archaeological
expedition. They expect danger from the local tribes, but not from the
artifacts themselves.
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(Horror) Middle-aged bachelor, Greg
Kellog, has a secret knack for making small changes to reality by
"lying." To stop a series of deaths, "small changes" may
not be enough.
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(SF; Andrea Cort) Draiken used to be a
spy, but now he wants revenge on his former masters, and he has a complicated
plan to enlist a former associate.
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(SF) In 2066 a woman struggles over
continuing life-support for her comatose mother and over what to do with the
things she's leaving behind.
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Where
There is Nothing, There is God by David
Erik Nelson Time: 1h:14m (Novella) Issue: Asimov's 12|16
(Time Travel) Paul finds a job selling
drugs for the mafia in 1770s America.
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(SF) A violent Martian mining town
reconstructs Wyatt Earp to try to restore order.
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Novelette
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(SF Apocalypse) The kilometer-wide
asteroid didn't quite destroy civilization, but the things it brought with it
just might finish it off.
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(Space Opera) Weihan survives the
meteor strike that destroys his home, but it changes his life forever.
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(SF; Lydia Duluth) The AIs contract
Lydia to check out an unusual planet and the secretive corporation that's
supposed to be developing it.
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Detroit
Hammersmith Zero-Gravity Toilet Repairman (Retired) by Suzanne
Palmer Time: 24m (Novelette) Issue: Analog 09|16
(Hard SF) At the height of diplomatic
meetings, the toilets in the Station start to malfunction, even though
diagnostics say nothing is wrong. So they call for an expert.
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Everyone
from Themis Sends Letters Home by Genevieve Valentine
Time: 30m (Novelette) Issue: Clarkesworld 121
(SF) The crew of the Themis colony
write home about their struggles with a mission and a world that seems to be
more than a little off.
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(SF Humor) Ruth, a 22-year-old Walmart
cashier, meets a very weird-and-scary-looking alien, who seems down on his
luck, and brings him home with her.
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(Superheroes) A kid who was burned to
death returns to life as a human torch, eager for revenge. Old Man Gasper has
a similar story, a different power, and advises caution.
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(SF) Before Mimi dies from
Alzheimer's, Walter gets her an illegal consciousness transfer done in India.
Then all he has to do is sneak the copy back into the US.
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(SF) Nawiz has pursued the boy who
ruined her life across the galaxy. Before she can get her vengeance, they're
both swallowed by a gigantic sea creature, and it will be a struggle merely
to survive.
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(Solar System SF) Captain Jerwin has a
space station to finish, but she finds time to worry about a crewman past
retirement age who can't handle Earth gravity.
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(Mind Uploading) Jix tells how her
twin sister left their planet and their god, starting with how they met a
handsome offworlder.
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(Near-Future SF) Lucas does jobs for
backups that their human originals won't agree to. But some backups are more
trouble than others.
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(Alternate Reality) Old man Rendezvous
tells outrageous stories about Jack Kennedy, and he's hunting an artifact in
the drowned ruins of Cape Canaveral.
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(Near-Future SF) Benji was an ordinary
terrier until his master decided to have him sentientized.
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(Near-Future SF; Project Empathy)
Angelina struggles with life now that she's lost her chip, and she's not sure
how to get back on track
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(SF Mystery) Angelo investigates the
mystery of an invisible man who manages to attack victims despite his being
confined to a cell.
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(SF/Horror) Tom and Sam were
supersonic test pilots in the 1950s before Sam died flying a plane that could
go “sideways.”
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(Hard SF) The Phoenix project aims to
send a group of enhanced children to another star before Earth becomes
uninhabitable. Their mothers have a hard time letting them go.
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(Historical SF) In 1955, Nancy's best
friend Ellen dates a bad boy who introduces her to Bug Town, where aliens
live. Nothing is the same after that.
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(SF AI) Unbeknownst to most people,
almost everyone in the world is really a robot. Aixia helps keep the system
running, but allows himself to become attached to a human boy he saved.
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(Modern Fairy Tale) On a rich estate
in 1890s upstate New York, the cook loves serving her famous boss, but hates
feeding his cats.
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(Fantasy/SF) Alaric the minstrel
accompanies a caravan through the desert. When water runs short, they hazard
a visit to a dangerous "city" from a forgotten past.
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(Slipstream) When a house becomes
unlivable, everyone inside dies, and no one can ever go in it again. On Hope
Street, one by one, the houses are becoming unlivable.
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(SF) The crew exploring planet
Omega-Alpha are dismayed to see their spaceship take off, leaving them
marooned.
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(Historical Fantasy) The Victorian
England postal service sends Mr. Hewell to investigate some problems with the
mail in Binderwood, where something very strange seems to be happening.
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The Language of the Silent
by Juliette Wade and Sheila Finch Time: 32m (Novelette)
Issue: F&SF 03.04|16
(Hard SF) En route to planet Enikiu,
an accident ruptures Ifigenia's eardrums--a disaster for a translator. She
can get them fixed on Earth, but first she explores Enikiu a little, with
unexpected consequences.
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(Hard SF) Mitchell was a navigator on
the Francis Drake, but something terrible happened. The doctors tell him he's
losing his mind, but he doesn't believe them. If only he could remember what
happened.
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(Horror) Twenty-five years ago, at the
end of the summer after high-school, something terrible happened to Cliff and
his friends in the water ride at the local amusement park. Today they're
going back there.
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(Fantasy) Someone (or something) is
taking Grandma Harken's tomatoes, but finding the thief leads to a real
mystery--and danger.
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(SF) In 2040, Colin gets more than he
bargained for when he asks the AIs at tech giant PinPoint to track down
information about a mysterious great aunt who vanished in 1965.
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(Near-Future Hard SF) Lita learned
Rob's obsession with alternate universes in college, but waning interest in
science made it hard for him to explore it.
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(Fantasy Math) A strange student give
Professor Dunn a math problem whose solution will change the world.
Literally.
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(Hard SF) Fresh from Earth, Peter
finds himself assigned to an unpromising part of the colony planet, and he
finds the natives even harder to talk with than he'd expected.
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(Post Singularity) James seeks
fulfillment through his sculpture, even though it all seems pointless in a
perfect world run by Ais.
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(Post Apocalypse) Hanger lives in a
canvas bag on the outside of the Empire State Building, but the secrets to
survival are hidden in the deadly mist far below.
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(Surreal) Audrey, a one-armed country
girl, is fascinated by the murder trial of a talented three-armed man from
the next county.
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Short Story
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(Near-Future SF) Jesse Is just in the
third grade, but his dad sends him letters telling him about the time-machine
experiment he's working on.
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(SF) A woman spends the night with a
man who seems like no man she's ever met in this world.
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A Partial List of Lists I Have Lost Over Time by Sunil Patel2
Time: 02m (ShortStory) Issue: Asimov's 03|16
(SF Short-Short) Entirely via lists,
the narrator tells a story about fighting his duplicate from another
dimension.
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(SF Humor) Nigerian astronaut Abacha
Tunde has been abandoned in space since 1990 and he would appreciate some
help getting home.
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(Portal Fantasy) Blank and Cipher
walked away from Solution City for moral reasons, but once they see what our
world is like, they have regrets.
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(Transhuman SF) StateCorp has made a
fortune creating modified humans with animal characteristics. They take care
of failures like Cat, but at a price.
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An Open Letter To The Person Who Took My Smoothie From The Break Room
Fridge by Oliver
Buckram Time: 02m (ShortStory) Issue: F&SF 07.08|16
(Cartoon Humor) Someone in the
Alliance of Doom has stolen Dr. Nemesis's smoothie, and he e-mails his fellow
super-villains to complain.
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(Near-Future SF) Willem loves Dr.
Isley more than he loves his real life. Even though she's just a character in
a soap opera.
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Aphrodite's
Blood, Decanted by Jennifer Campbell-Hicks
Time: 08m (ShortStory) Issue: Clarkesworld 120
(AI Fantasy) The humans disappeared
years ago, but the Factory AI can't accept that they're gone, so he makes a
plan to bring them back.
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(Modern Fantasy) When Penny's house
burns, she rebuilds a smaller place on the ashes. She only misses a few of
the contents, and really wishes for a way to get them back.
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(Urban Fantasy) Julia hunts for a
mysterious white horse in Central Park, certain it must be a unicorn that can
heal her friend who is dying of cancer.
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(SF, ~2060) A man reviews drawings and
descriptions of animals he knew and loved during his life, updating them to
reflect recent changes. Very moving.
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Caspar D.
Luckinbill, What Are You Going to Do? by Nick
Wolven Time: 22m (ShortStory) Issue: F&SF 01.02|16
(SF) When "mediaterrorists"
attack, the disrupt Caspar's comfortable life in a near-future where everyone
is connected.
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(SF Fantasy) When Earth's day changed
to 96 hours, some adapted (with drugs) and some did not (with lights). Now
they hate/fear each other. But two young people are curious.
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(Military SF) Constanza flies a
stealthed warplane for the US in a near-future war, and she's picked for a
series of special missions carrying a single, silent, soldier up to the front
and back.
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(Fable) A crocodile visits a man whose
ambitions have led him far away from home and family.
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(SF Mystery) When Maria witnesses a
ten-year-old boy being abducted, she chases the van with her delivery drone,
and calls for everyone on the net to help.
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(Tale) In the style of the Arabian
Nights, this story tells the tale Batyr related to his wife after an evening
with a great poet.
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(Alien Invasion) You are building a
home on an alien world, despite the objections of the natives and the
complaints of your wife and children.
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(Modern Fantasy) Abused by his father,
Rafi leaves his small town, but he sends his best friend Becca a gift that
will change both their lives.
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(Slipstream) B's werewolf dad beats
her, but what really gets her down is she hasn't become supernatural like her
friends have.
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(Horror) Halla is an artist, and every
winter she rents a villa where she can work with almost no human interaction
at all.
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(Hard SF) Charlie's team has been out
of touch with the Mars mission for a month. While she's attending her
mother's funeral, a mysterious 47-second-long message arrives.
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(Military SF) Corporal Beckett wants
to avenge his father, who was killed by a legendary sniper. The rebels
against Terra sing songs about the sniper, and they may hold the clue to
finding him.
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Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
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(Hard SF) On 61 Virginis b, Keller
endures the cold, the two gravities, and the poisonous air at 30-atmospheres
to study the only alien artifact ever found by humans.
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(Alternate History Fantasy) In a
modern San Francisco in a world with super heroes and monsters, a retired
super villain hires a detective to investigate the death of a giant octopus.
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(Hard SF) Daisy's efforts to build a
stasis machine are failing, and she's failing as a mother too.
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Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
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(Near-future SF) A gene designer and
her husband visit the tomb of Charlemagne and think about how they're about
to turn the world upside down.
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(Post Apocalypse) Filip is an advanced
AI, and his job is taking care of Ella, who may be the last person left on
Earth.
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(Christian Fantasy) Andrew obsesses
over a used soul he picked up in the gift shop during a tour of Hell.
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(Horror) In near-future Toronto, a
young Chinese-Canadian girl sneaks out to seek the services of an illegal
underground surgeon.
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Not by
Wardrobe, Tornado, or Looking Glass by Jeremiah Tolbert
Time: 17m (ShortStory) Issue: Lightspeed 69
(Portal Fantasy) Rabbit holes open at
random, summoning people to fairy-tale universes where they are the heroes.
Louisa keeps waiting for one to open for her.
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Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition by Michelle Ann King Time: 08m (ShortStory) Issue: Interzone 263
(Magical Realism) Just outside Las
Vegas, The Fracture is a place where reality itself seems to be broken.
Damita manages the visitor center and gift shop.
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(SF) Three different people share a
remote robotic body. They have three different reasons and three different
experiences.
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(SF Android) You adopt an android
baby. You name him Ben. He grows amazingly fast.
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(SF) A robot discovers it has artistic
talent and sets out to save the world by tattooing stars on people.
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(SF) Fourth-grade Emma lives in
Florida with her grandparents. Emma doesn't fit in at school, and Grandma
doesn't help by saying the family is from outer space and aliens are coming
for them soon.
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(Folk Tale) Sal, the country witch,
took a razorback hog as her familiar and named him Rawhead. Sal was a good
witch, but then Rawhead disappeared. Simple, but effective.
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(SF Horror) An asteroid miner is cast
adrift by a collision. Her suit can preserve her life indefinitely, but not
her sanity.
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(SF) When a feral robot steals her
phone, Renee acquires a keen interest in the little robotic ecosystem that
flourishes in the park.
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(Fantasy Horror) The narrator resents
being transformed into a monster to fight for her tribe, not least because
she thinks they're screwing it up.
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See The
Unseeable, Know The Unknowable by Maria Dahvana Headley Time: 16m (ShortStory) Issue: Lightspeed 76
(Modern Fantasy) A circus comes to
town, but the tickets are for fifty years ago or fifty years from now.
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(Horror) The singer in a band copes
with the discovery that one of his songs caused people to commit suicide.
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(Near-Future SF) Gwen and Eliza are
college roommates who start a business making miniature houses that can talk
about the murders committed there.
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(Fantasy Humor) The world's greatest
assassin sits in his lair, waiting for people to come to him to beg his
assistance.
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The Birth
Will Take Place on a Mutually Acceptable Research Vessel by Matthew Bailey1 Time: 17m (ShortStory) Issue: Lightspeed 71
(SF) You're having a baby. The first
Human-Tharkan hybrid. And everyone wants into the act--including both
governments.
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(SF) After an alien terrorist kills
Majd's little brother back on Earth, he struggles to accept it, and starts
making changes to his own life.
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The
Continuing Saga of Tom Corbett: Space Cadet by James Van
Pelt Time: 17m (ShortStory) Issue: Analog 12|16
(SF Adventure) Everyone calls Tomika
"Space Cadet," but she really feels she doesn't belong in this
world.
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(Hard SF) Seventeen-year-old Allegra's
mad father has trapped them both on 51 PegasiD. They'll both die there unless
she can find a way to get help.
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Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
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(SF) An AI trying to establish a human
colony discovers there's an individual it cannot account for.
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(High Fantasy) An immortal assassin
threatens the new king, so he has his sister trained as the ultimate
bodyguard.
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The Grocer's Wife: Enhanced Transcription by Michael Libling
Time: 18m (ShortStory) Issue: Asimov's 02|16
(SF) Thomas is in the early stages of
Alzheimer's, and his wife, Lynn, is trying to support him. Andy is spying on
him, and wondering why the government is interested in a retired grocer.
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(SF) In near-future Cornwall, England,
Travis and his wife specialize in arrangements of genetically engineered
flowers that release pheromones that mimic their traditional virtues.
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(SF) Noel works at his uncle's company
managing a machine that predicts when old fads will come back into style. He
peeks at historical trends and finds something disturbing.
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(SF Humor) Quigby's philosophy is to
find employment that will let him spend the rest of his days doing nothing as
enjoyably as possible. A little philosophy can be a dangerous thing.
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(Slipstream) An old man lies dying,
his faithful companion at his side.
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(SF) A woman appears to be helping a
child recover from some form of brain damage. His perceptions and memory are
off, but something is off about her too.
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(Math SF) Explorers find a wrecked
alien spaceship, a dead alien, and a logbook that suggests he came from a
world with different laws of physics.
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(Historical Fantasy) Horace was a
celebrated blues player, but he failed to make the move to jazz. Now he's
washed up, and desperate enough to sell his soul, if need be.
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(Modern Fantasy) In the near future,
Ben uses cryosleep for a side-effect: while he's under, he can meet his dead
wife. Trouble is, he has a new wife.
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(Fantasy) Neal and Killian are young
lovers. Together they think they can keep the dragons from destroying the
world.
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(Historical Fantasy) In 1961, Larry
joins the LA mob as an enforcer, keeping the wrong people from fixing the
horses. But does that include an old man who only talks to them?
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(SF) Janet chairs the governing board
for the asteroid 1820 Geographos, so she's on the hook when a mystery vessel
shows up, hacks their computers, and docks without permission.
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(Religious Fantasy) An old man quizzes
a dying youth in a place between life and death.
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(Horror) Following a disaster in
Antarctica, MacReady spends summer 1983 in New York and starts to wonder what
he might have brought back with him.
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(Horror) A mad little child speaks
only to the boarder, and her message is too terrible to believe.
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(SF Horror) EncelaCorp
"streams" the consciousness of explorers to distant parts of the
galaxy. Jonathan worries that the experience may have changed his wife somehow.
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Welcome to
the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station | Hours Since the Last
Patient Death: 0 by Caroline M. Yoachim
Time: 07m (ShortStory) Issue: Lightspeed 70
(SF Humor) A choose-your-own-adventure
story in which you navigate the clinic on a space station full of aliens.
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(Navajo Fantasy) An old Navajo myth
intersects the modern world unexpectedly.
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(Horror) Death comes for the
witch-doctor, but he's not ready to go quite yet.
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(Mythological Fantasy) In biblical
Egypt, a Hebrew woman driven mad by the loss of her son finds a baby in the
bulrushes.
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(SF Thriller) The narrator is a con
man in near-future Thailand, and he has a scheme that might net him enough to
retire.
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