2016 Year-To-Date

Year-To-Date by Rating (Recommended stories grouped by RSR Rating)
Year-To-Date by Score (Recommended stories grouped by Score)
Year-To-Date by Magazine (Recommended stories grouped by Magazine)

Year-To-Date by Rating

The year’s 5-star and 4-star stories recommended by Rocket Stack Rank are listed below like the monthly ratings.
The 3-star, 2-star, 1-star, and Not Rated stories are filtered to show only the ones recommended by other reviewers.


Rating: 5 -> Hugo-worthy

Stories: 37;  Estimated Time: 23h:40m (426K words)
(SF) Dr. Kostia spent thirty years interpreting broadcasts from the Coronals for other people on Earth. The last broadcasts have caused a lot of disruption, even in her own family.
Blood Grains Speak Through Memories by Jason Sanford  Time: 40m (Novelette)  IssueBCS 195
(SF) Frere-Jones controls the nanobot "grains" that help protect the ecology in the bit of land she "anchors." She's come to view the grains as a tyranny, but there doesn't seem to be much she can do about it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 RHorton:5 Nebula
Conscience by Robert R. Chase  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 01|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 SFRevu:4
Das SteingeschΓΆpf by G.V. Anderson1  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueStrange Horizons 12/12/16
(Historical Fantasy) On the even of the Nazi takeover, a young German man's first assignment fixing a living statue becomes more complicated than he expected.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 Readers
Destroyed By The Waters by Rachel Swirsky  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueDrowned Worlds 2016
(Climate Change) Derek and Zack visit the underwater ruins of New Orleans, where they'd honeymooned fifty years before.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
Discards by David D. Levine  Time: 35m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 03/30/16
(Superhero SF; Wild Cards) Tiago, a fifteen-year-old orphan boy scraping by on his own in Rio de Janeiro, contracts the "Wild Card" virus and ends up horribly disfigured. But the virus has given him a gift too.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
Down and Out by Ken Wharton  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueScience Fiction by Scientists 2016
(Hard SF) Trying to find "outside," Ogby's team digs into the ice at the bottom of the world, but Roov's team has been getting better results blasting rocks at the top.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire  Time: 2h:09m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 04/05/16
(Portal Fiction; Wayward Children) Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children helps kids who passed through a portal to another world and returned unable to cope with this one.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 JStrahan Nebula
Everything that Isn't Winter by Margaret Killjoy  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 10/19/16
(Post Apocalypse) Just as things are looking up, survivors in a Northwest community face a threat from the east.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
I Married a Monster from Outer Space by Dale Bailey  Time: 42m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 03|16
(SF) 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.
Innumerable Glimmering Lights by Rich Larson  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueClockwork Phoenix 5
(SF) Four Warm Currents leads a project to drill through the ice at the Roof of the World to finally discover what’s on the other side, but the closer he gets, the more opposition there is.
Lazarus And The Amazing Kid Phoenix by Jennifer Giesbrecht  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueApex 86
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 SFRevu:4
Lost: Mind by Will McIntosh  Time: 31m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 07|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 SFRevu:4
Minor Hockey Gods Of Barstow Station by Beth Cato  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueGalactic Games 2016
(Sports SF) Gloria and her friends play one last game of hockey before they leave the alien space station they've been stuck on ever since their dreams of interstellar competition collapsed.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
Not Quite Taterona Kempi by Ryan W. Norris2  Time: 54m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 05|16
(Hard SF) Fifty million years after the extinction of humanity, a new intelligent race tries to understand records left on the moon.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
Of the Beast in the Belly by C.W. Johnson  Time: 41m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 04.05|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 SFRevu:4
Penric And The Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold  Time: 2h:05m (Novella)  IssuePenric And The Shaman 06/24/16
(High Fantasy; Five Gods) Young Penric, a powerful but fledgling sorcerer, joins the hunt for a fugitive sorcerer, suspected of killing his own best friend.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 RHorton:4
Prodigal by Gord Sellar  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 12|16
(Near-Future SF) Benji was an ordinary terrier until his master decided to have him sentientized.
Rock, Paper, Incisors by David Cleden  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 267
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 SFRevu:4
Rooms Formed of Neurons and Sex by Ferrett Steinmetz  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueUncanny 12
(Near-Future SF) Lydia's boyfriend, Ross, was just a brain in a jar. So how, exactly, did she injure him during sex?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik  Time: 39m (Novelette)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Fairy Tale) Young Miryem supports her family lending money at interest, but things get difficult when someone from Faerie makes her an offer she can’t refuse.
Teenagers From Outer Space by Dale Bailey  Time: 38m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 119
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 SFRevu:4
(Hard SF) Davin is spending a year alone on Ekye to observe the local wildlife and, he hopes, to recover his lost creativity.
The Final Path by Genevieve Cogman  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueNow We Are Ten 2016
(Horror) Ignoring how the adult world is falling apart, teenage Annie tries to lose herself in a new video game.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
(SF) 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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 SFRevu:4
The Lost Child of Lychford by Paul Cornell  Time: 1h:32m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 11/22/16
(Horror; Lychford) Just before Christmas, the ghost of a little boy appears in the vicarage and disturbs the vicar and her two friends.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
The Mind Is Its Own Place by Carrie Vaughn  Time: 39m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 09|16
(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.
The Rock in the Water by Thoraiya Dyer  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueFantasy 60
(Modern Fantasy) A Hatian girl and a Syrian girl flee their countries but with very different results.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
The Story of Kao Yu by Peter S. Beagle  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 12/07/16
(Chinese Fantasy) Sometimes a  unicorn assisted Judge Kao Yu, and because he was so just and honest, he never feared its judgment. Until now.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5 RHorton:4
The Things My Mother Left Me by P. DjΓ¨lΓ­ Clark  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueFantasy 60
(African Fantasy) After her father's death, Tausi needs someone to take her from Epoulu before her aunts marry her off.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
The Uncarved Heart by Evan Dicken  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 212
(High Fantasy) Despite the rebellion, the narrator makes friends with a local girl, and she wonders when their bird-like overlords will come to replace her heart.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
The Visitor From Taured by Ian R. Macleod  Time: 29m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 09|16
(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.
They Have All One Breath by Karl Bunker  Time: 40m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 12|16
(Post Singularity) James seeks fulfillment through his sculpture, even though it all seems pointless in a perfect world run by Ais.
Three Points Masculine by An Owomoyela  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 72
(Military SF) On top of fighting against an anarchist revolution, a soldier copes with what he's sure is a man pretending to be a woman in the Women's Volunteer Corps.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [5]  Recommended By: RSR:5
Unreeled by Mercurio D. Rivera  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 06|16
(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.
What We Hold Onto by Jay O'Connell  Time: 1h:14m (Novella)  IssueAsimov's 06|16
(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.
(Time Travel) Paul finds a job selling drugs for the mafia in 1770s America.

Rating: 4 -> Recommended

Stories: 116;  Estimated Time: 52h:26m (944K words)
A Deeper Green by Samantha Murray  Time: 26m (Novelette)  IssueBCS 205
(Fantasy) The colony can't tolerate assault, and it depends on Juvianna's gift of making people forget crime and motivation alike. But what if she used it preventively?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
A Future Far Too Bright by Yosef Lindell  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 123
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
A Strange Loop by T.R. Napper  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueInterzone 262
(SF) In a future Australia, Irving sells his memories for ready cash, hoping to put his life back together. To the extent he still remembers it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4 NClarke
Advantages by Louise Marley  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueGalactic Games 2016
(Sports SF) At the 2144 Olympics, hosted by the thriving space colonies who survived Earth, Zory aims to win despite her lack of augments.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Against The Stream by A. Que  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 118
(Time Travel) An "illness" causes a man to wake each morning in the previous day, and as he lives his life backwards, he sees the mistakes he made.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
All Your Cities I Will Burn by John Schoffstall  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueInterzone 265
(SF Apocalypse) The kilometer-wide asteroid didn't quite destroy civilization, but the things it brought with it just might finish it off.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
An Open Letter To The Person Who Took My Smoothie From The Break Room Fridge by Oliver Buckram  Time: 02m (ShortStory)  IssueF&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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
Angles Of Incidence by Nancy Fulda  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 10|16
(SF) The human colony on Kokkal IV can't expand without permission from the "Evermother," but the local aliens require they "assimilate the shadows" first.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Balin by Chen Qiufan  Time: 36m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 115
(Slipstream) As a boy, Peng receives a paoxiao, a mythical humanoid creature with a great ability for mimicry. As a man, Peng tries to do research on the creature.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Bones of the World by Jennifer Hykes  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 80
(Fantasy) Maggie's fisherman father died at sea recently, and since then, she seems to have acquired some supernatural powers.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Breathe Deep, Breathe Free by Jennifer Marie Brissett  Time: 02m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 73
(SF) Gas leaking from a deep well is slowly asphyxiating everyone in a community, and two boys discuss what they can do about it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Circa Diem by Carole Johnstone  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 262
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
Cloud Dweller by E. Catherine Tobler  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueBCS 199
(Historical Fantasy) Vasily is a tightrope walker for the circus. When he thinks no one is around, he walks in thin air on lines of light only he can see.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Dearly Departed by Kelly Stewart1  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 211
(Horror) Perdita lives in the house on the hill and tends the graveyard. A traveler on a mission disturbs her solitude, and a thing under the graveyard needs to be killed.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Detroit Hammersmith Zero-Gravity Toilet Repairman (Retired) by Suzanne Palmer  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 09|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
Dragon-Smoked Barbeque by M.K. Hutchins  Time: 02m (ShortStory)  IssueStrange Horizons 09/12/16
(Slipstream) Grandpa is gone, but the young narrator is determined to win the Tastiest Ribs competition in his memory, even if he's not quite sure how you're supposed to use the dragon.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Dress Rehearsal by Adrian Tchaikovsky  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueNow We Are Ten 2016
(Fantasy) Dr. Kampfe's group of travelling players visits Sevengraves, a place so poor that every performance feels like charity.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:5
Early Warning by Martin L. Shoemaker  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 04|16
(Time Travel) Art's twenty-years-future self returns to warn the graduate student that he's about to ruin his life.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Empty Shoes by the Lake by Gay Partington Terry  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 12|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
Epitome by Tegan Moore1  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 09|16
(SF AI) Shelby's friend Vivian faces a long recovery from a head injury, and she can't bear the loss of her company, so she starts using an AI surrogate.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4
Fifty Shades Of Grays by Steven Barnes  Time: 37m (Novelette)  IssueLightspeed 73
(SF) The end of the world starts when an ambitious marketing guy gets a cryptic assignment to create an ad campaign to "make ugly sexy."
Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter  Time: 36m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 01/13/16
(Fantasy/Horror) Three years ago, nine-year-old Madrigal Baker disappeared. Recently, she returned, and she's still nine. But her mom is sure something else is wrong.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
For The Sake Of The Game by Gray Rinehart  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueGalactic Games 2016
(Sports SF) Pawl Maricelli, a referee in the athletic contest meant to strengthen the fragile peace between humans and Errellians, is threatened by those who don't want peace.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Foxfire, Foxfire by Yoon Ha Lee  Time: 28m (Novelette)  IssueBCS 194
(Military Fantasy) Baekdo, a fox who wants to become human, needs one more kill to achieve his goal. A collapsing city in the middle of a civil war seems like a good place to do it but there are complications.
(Historical Fantasy) In 1879, little George and his big brother run away from their farm and sail down the river toward a new life in Pittsburgh
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
(Fairy Tale) Jocelyn is a princess a lot like Sleeping Beauty, but with a much better relationship with the fairies. Not that that helps her.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:5
Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra  Time: 31m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 08/03/16
(Hard SF) Left behind on an alien planet while his shipmates return to Earth to secure their claim, Ross struggles to fill the time. Then strange things start to happen.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
In Our Rags Of Light by Shira Lipkin  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueStrange Horizons 08/15/16
(Modern Fantasy) Twenty years ago, Jess was a teenage swamp witch in the Everglades. She flirted with the boys and took what she wanted, but Ben saw her for what she really was.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Last Gods by Sam J. Miller  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueDrowned Worlds 2016
(Climate Change) On the edge of the ruined land, village people worship Orcas as gods. Unbeliever Kelb is up to something, and Adze tries to help him because she loves him.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 NClarke
Last One Out by K.B. Rylander1  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 07.08|16
(Post Apocalypse) Filip is an advanced AI, and his job is taking care of Ella, who may be the last person left on Earth.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
(Modern Fantasy) Sergio is called to remove an offensive mural, but when he touches it, it makes him "remember" things from other people's lives.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 Readers
Loser by Matthew Hughes  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueArchonate 03/08/16
(Near-Future SF) A former critic of the new US president works on a labor camp building a wall. Then the new government gives him a way to earn his freedom.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Mice Among Elephants by Larry Niven and Gregory Benford  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Hard SF) Sunseeker decelerates into the Excelsius system to investigate a gravity-wave generator built by potentially hostile aliens.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Montague's Last by Ekari Mbvundula1  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueStrange Horizons 02/29/16
(Historical Fantasy) In a prison in 18th-century France, Montague struggles to redeem himself by completing one last magical device before he dies.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Motherboard by Jeffrey Thomas  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueInterzone 263
(Magical Realism) Teenage Leep works making circuit boards somewhere in the third world. He's so awkward and quiet that people think he's crazy, but he sees a very different world.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4
My Generations Shall Praise by Samantha Henderson  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 267
(SF) A woman on death row is offered a fortune for her children if she'll let another woman take over her body.
Natural Skin by Alyssa Wong  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 78
(Horror) In near-future Toronto, a young Chinese-Canadian girl sneaks out to seek the services of an illegal underground surgeon.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
Neural Alchemist by Tedd Roberts  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueScience Fiction by Scientists 2016
(Zombie) Ever since he became a zombie, Professor Wissen has felt unwanted by the university, although some of his students think it's kind of cool.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Not a Miracle But a Marvel by Tim Pratt  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueUncanny 12
(Modern Fantasy) Two couples come to a cabin by the lake to relax and enjoy four days together. Then one of them disappears.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
(Urban 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.
Of Sight, of Mind, of Heart by Samantha Murray  Time: 08m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 122
(SF Android) You adopt an android baby. You name him Ben. He grows amazingly fast.
On Darwin Tides by Shauna O'Meara  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueEverything Change 2016
(Climate Change) In 2048, things are bad in Malaysia, especially for young refugees with no papers. Maslinia is sure she could be successful, if she could only get a break.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
One Giant Leap by Jay Werkheiser  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueStrange Horizons 11/21/16
(Hard SF) A corroded railing gives way, and Kent falls from a Venusian cloud city to near-certain death. But it takes a long time to fall fifty kilometers.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
(Present-day SF; Stan) Stan's dad told the most outrageous stories, and claimed their family were weird because they were really aliens. In retirement, Stan believes it might even be true.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Pagpag by Samuel Marzioli  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 89
(Zombie) Jay helps hunt zombies at night, but he secretly want to find his wife's zombie to say goodbye.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Passelande by Robert Reed  Time: 37m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 11.12|16
(Near-Future SF) Lucas does jobs for backups that their human originals won't agree to. But some backups are more trouble than others.
Patience Lake by Matthew Claxton  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 08|16
(Dystopia) Casey, a disabled vet in a cheap, rebuilt body, tries walking to another city to find work, but trouble is waiting out in the country.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 GDozois:5
Penny For a Match, Mister? by Garth Nix  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Historical Fantasy) In the Old West, a murder under a full moon brings a thing across “The Line.” A thing seeking vengeance, and with a broad idea of responsibility.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold  Time: 2h:30m (Novella)  IssuePenric's Mission 11/02/16
(High Fantasy; Five Gods) Penric's secret mission to Cedonia gets off to a bad start when he's arrested and thrown into a pit to die.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:5
Pompoms And Circumstance by Esther M. Friesner  Time: 23m (ShortStory)  IssueGalactic Games 2016
(Sports SF Humor) KayT means to lead her girls to victory in the cheerleading event at the Galactic games, provided the Snargs don't eat them first.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4
Razorback by Ursula Vernon  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 80
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
Red Dirt Witch by N.K. Jemisin  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueFantasy 60
(Black Historical Fantasy) In the closing years of segregation, Emmaline uses her magic to help neighbors and protect her children, for trouble is coming.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 JStrahan
Red in Tooth and Cog by Cat Rambo  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 03.04|16
(SF) When a feral robot steals her phone, Renee acquires a keen interest in the little robotic ecosystem that flourishes in the park.
Reflected by Kat Howard  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Science Fantasy) As a physics grad student, Sophie researches mirrors as potential gateways to alternate realities. She shares her unexpected results.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Runtime by S.B. Divya  Time: 1h:16m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 05/17/16
(Transhuman SF) Marmeg's augments are illegal and hand-tweaked, but if she can win a race for augmented humans, she can earn enough money to become licensed and have a real future.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 Nebula
Sabbath Wine by Barbara Krasnoff  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueClockwork Phoenix 5
(Modern Fantasy) Malka is a little Jewish girl living in Brooklyn in 1920. She likes her new friend, David, even though he’s older than her, black, Christian, and claims to be dead.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 Nebula
Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Fairy Tale) Tabitha has been walking a long time, trying to wear out seven pairs of iron shoes; Amira has been sitting alone on a glass hill that suitors try to climb.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 JStrahan Nebula
Serenade by Isabel Yap  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueCyber World 2016
(Cyber SF) Anj and EJ's fledgling hacking business gets a contract to decrypt an old AI-encrypted USB drive.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Seven Birthdays by Ken Liu  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Far Future SF) Mia marks her birthdays as powers of 7, which gives her lots of time to work out her issues with her mother.
Smooth Stones and Empty Bones by Bennett North1  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(Horror) Helena's mom's a witch, their small town is blaming them for a missing boy, she and her girlfriend have to stay in the closet, and to top it off, there are chicken skeletons walking around.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Some Things I Probably Should Have Mentioned Earlier by Laura Pearlman  Time: 05m (ShortStory)  IssueMothership Zeta 3
(SF Humor) A man gets a letter from his wife, explaining a few things. She's not exactly human, but that's not the worst part.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
(SF; Jackaroo) On the planet First Foot, the small town of Joe's Corner faces conflict over building a radio telescope close to local alien artifacts.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:5
(Near-future SF) Bay lives alone and subsists off things that wash ashore from cruise ships and such. Then Gabby washes up, alive, and complicates her life.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 NClarke Nebula
Sparks Fly by Rich Larson  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 70
(Slipstream) Electricity does strange things around Arthur, especially when he gets excited. He's excited about Christina, so their first date is going to be a real adventure.
That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 03/16/16
(SF) Despite not being a telepath, Calla worked out a way to play chess with her captor, Major Larn, during the recent war. Now they're going to finish their game.
That Which Grows On Trees by C.S. Lane1  Time: 03m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 06|16
(SF Humor) Around 50 to 100 years from now, a group of scientists resorts to counterfeiting money to shore up their inadequate research grants.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Age of Discovery by C.W. Johnson  Time: 23m (ShortStory)  IssueTo Shape the Dark 2016
(Hard SF) Edith’s lab wants to improve the Casimir pump enough to use it for space travel, but Edith can’t help running her own experiments even without permission.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle  Time: 1h:32m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 02/16/16
(Black Lovecraftian Horror) In 1924 Harlem, 20-year-old Tommy Tester plays bad jazz and runs minor scams. When an old man offers him $500 to play at his house, he knows there's a catch. It's just not what he expects.
The Briar and the Rose by Marjorie M. Liu  Time: 31m (Novelette)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(High Fantasy) The Duelist serves the cold, beautiful Carmela but loves Rose. Separating Rose from Caramela is going to be the challenge of her life.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Burning Light by Bradley P. Beaulieu and Rob Ziegler  Time: 1h:55m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 11/01/16
(Post Apocalypse) The Light is an addiction that afflicts telepaths. Colonel Chu hunts Zola, an addict who may hold the key to the problem.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Cavern of the Screaming Eyes by Jeremiah Tolbert  Time: 30m (Novelette)  IssueLightspeed 77
(Portal Fantasy) Teenage Ivan lost his brother in d-Space, but his new friend Domino is eager to explore a dungeon that's supposed to be safe.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4
The Continuing Saga of Tom Corbett: Space Cadet by James Van Pelt  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 12|16
(SF Adventure) Everyone calls Tomika "Space Cadet," but she really feels she doesn't belong in this world.
The Coward's Option by Adam-Troy Castro  Time: 1h:09m (Novella)  IssueAnalog 03|16
(SF) 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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:5
(Paranormal) Anita used to study ghosts, but now she is one, and she's finding it frustrating to always seem to be arguing with her husband.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Future Is Blue by Catherynne M. Valente  Time: 29m (Novelette)  IssueDrowned Worlds 2016
(Post Apocalypse) Teenage Tetley lives in a human settlement (one of the last) built on a miles-wide floating garbage dump. She explains why everyone hates her now.
The Ghoul King by Guy Haley  Time: 1h:50m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 07/12/16
(Post Apocalypse; Dreaming Cities) A treacherous "angel" diverts Quinn from his goal to search the ruins of the Dreaming City of Columbus for the key to continuing his journey west.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Green-Eyed Boy by Peter S. Beagle  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(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.
The Grocer's Wife: Enhanced Transcription by Michael Libling  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov'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.
The Jewel And Her Lapidary by Fran Wilde  Time: 56m (Novelette)  IssueTor Novella 05/03/16
(High Fantasy) Two teenage girls, Lin, the last Jewel, and Sima, the last Lapidary, struggle to fight the invaders who've taken the kingdom by treachery.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:5 Nebula
The Jeweled Nawab Jungle Retreat by Priya Sridhar  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 214
(Indian Steampunk) Mr. and Mrs. Coates came to India to hunt the most difficult prey, and no one can convince them that hunting the Great Worm is suicide.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4
The Metal Demimonde by Nick Wolven  Time: 51m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 07.08|16
(SF) A century from now, Tipper works at an automated carnival, in a world with few jobs for humans. She falls in with Luke, a boy trying to make an illegal manual car work.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 NClarke
The Mighty Slinger by Karen Lord and Tobias S. Buckell  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Far-Future SF) Developers are planning to resurface the entire Earth to create properties for people from Mars and Venus. But can an old singer and his band rally the solar system against it?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 NClarke
The Orangery by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam  Time: 28m (Novelette)  IssueBCS 214
(Greek Mythos) The trees in the grove used to be women, and the Guardian protects them zealously from the men who still pursue them.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4 Nebula
The Persistence of Memory by Rachel L. Bowden1  Time: 07m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 01.02|16
(Hard SF) Ten-year-old Lee and his best friend Ben discover a dead animal near their school playground--an animal that shouldn't exist at all. Chilling.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Rhythm Man by James Beamon  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 11.12|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
The Savannah Liars Tour by Will McIntosh  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 68
(Urban 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.
The Singularity Is in Your Hair by Matthew Kressel  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueCyber World 2016
(Cyber SF) Stricken with muscular dystrophy, the teenage narrator lives almost entirely in VR, where she hopes a rogue AI can save her.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Snow Of Jinyang by Zhang Ran  Time: 1h:11m (Novella)  IssueClarkesworld 117
(Time Travel) In 979 AD, the city of Jinyang stands on the brink of destruction, but someone seems to be trying to help it with technologies from the future.
The Soul Behind The Face by Adam-Troy Castro  Time: 59m (Novella)  IssueAnalog 10|16
(SF) 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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
The Sound Of Salt And Sea by Kat Howard  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueUncanny 10
(Fantasy) Every year, Far Island rises from the sea, and the spirits of the dead return to Near Island, until the bone horses usher them back on the third day. The horses need a living rider, and Rowan is sure she can do it and survive.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 Readers
The Stone War by Ted Kosmatka  Time: 28m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 05.06|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:5
The Sweetest Skill by Tony Pi  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 197
(Chinese Fantasy; Candyman Ao) New to Chengdu, young Ao doesn't expect the fearsome tiger spirit to ask him for a favor--to rescue the Guardian of Chengdu. Ao has some magic, but cleverness may be more important.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4
The Tenth Man by Bryony Pearce  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueNow We Are Ten 2016
(SF Horror) Professor Macguire's work on multiple universes drove him insane, but Dean hopes to learn enough from him to finish his dissertation.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4
(Superhero SF; Wild Cards) In New York City, ugly mutants stay in Jokertown, but teenage Rikki and her friends want to do some exploring. It’s not exactly illegal, but it’s not exactly safe either.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Three Lives of Sonata James by Lettie Prell  Time: 26m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 10/05/16
(Mind Uploading) The prospect of living forever through "iterations" is still new, and not everyone likes it. Sonata wants to make a statement by declaring she will only upload twice.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4 NClarke
The Tomato Thief by Ursula Vernon  Time: 46m (Novelette)  IssueApex 80
(Fantasy) Someone (or something) is taking Grandma Harken's tomatoes, but finding the thief leads to a real mystery--and danger.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
The Visionaries by Albert E. Cowdrey  Time: 23m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(Urban Fantasy) Jimmy and Morrie's "Paranormal Services" investigates a haunted forest--tree farm, actually.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
The Whole Mess by Jack Skillingstead  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 09|16
(Fantasy Math) A strange student give Professor Dunn a math problem whose solution will change the world. Literally.
Theories of Mind by Conor Powers-Smith  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 01.02|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
This Is a Letter to My Son by K.J. Kabza  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueStrange Horizons 04/11/16
(Near Future SF) Kellsey's a transsexual 11-year-old girl. Improved technology makes that easier, but also creates new problems, and she seeks advice from recordings her mother made for her "son" before she died.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Three Paintings by James Van Pelt  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 04.05|16
(SF) Vincent is a famous painter, but he fears he's grown stale. He has a wild plan to reinvigorate his painting, which starts with making a backup copy of himself.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Toppers by Jason Sanford  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 08|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
Touch Me All Over by Betsy James  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(Fantasy) Hilil weaves and ties the best knots in Sulik, but a curse causes made things to fall apart at her touch.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Touring with the Alien by Carolyn Ives Gilman  Time: 39m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 115
(SF) Months after mysterious aliens scattered their spacecraft across North America, no one has a clue what they want. Avery knows what one of them wants, though: it wants a tour.
Travelling into Nothing by An Owomoyela  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Far-Future SF) Kiu Alee escapes a death sentence by agreeing to pilot a very special vehicle to a very xenophobic arcology in deep space.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Turing de Force by Edward M. Lerner  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueScience Fiction by Scientists 2016
(Hard SF) Two extraterrestrial AIs arrive in our solar system and try to decide whether human beings are intelligent.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Under One Roof by Sarah Pinsker  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueUncanny 12
(Horror) When newlyweds Courtney and Josh rent an old Victorian in Baltimore, they're told to stay out of the attic. But they hear noises up there at night. Footsteps.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Water Scorpions by Rich Larson  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 10.11|16
(SF) Noel's mom is trying to raise an alien child. Noel, age 10, hates this alien "brother" but can't seem to get that across to him.
(SF) Filo/Gee, an intelligent giant amoeba, isn't the ideal college roommate, particularly since he experiences the world through touching and tasting, which is hard on books, electronics, and relationships.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
We Will Wake Among the Gods, Among the Stars by Caroline M. Yoachim and Tina Connolly  Time: 43m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 01.02|16
(SF) Nanne accompanies a jungle expedition that seeks gold, but she secretly looks for a lost city with high technology.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4
When Grandfather Returns by S.N. Dyer  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 10.11|16
(Navajo Fantasy) An old Navajo myth intersects the modern world unexpectedly.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 SFRevu:4
White Dust by Nathan Hillstrom1  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 01|16
(SF) The transmitter sends copies of people to remote locations, but the copies don't want to do their jobs, and Margery is in trouble if she can't figure out why.
With Fones by Todd McCaffrey  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueGalactic Games 2016
(SF Humor) If Liz can just get a few more species to participate, she can get bowling added as an event in the Intergalactic Games. It's a bad time to have fone problems.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4
Wyatt Earp 2.0 by Wil McCarthy  Time: 1h:17m (Novella)  IssueAnalog 01.02|16
(SF) A violent Martian mining town reconstructs Wyatt Earp to try to restore order.
You Make Pattaya by Rich Larson  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 267
(SF Thriller) The narrator is a con man in near-future Thailand, and he has a scheme that might net him enough to retire.
You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay by Alyssa Wong  Time: 33m (Novelette)  IssueUncanny 10
(Historical Fantasy) In a magical Old West, young Ellis has a love for the desert and an affinity for dead things. Both of these attract unwelcome attention from strangers visiting from back East.
Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny1  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 03/15/16
(Fantasy Humor) Angels who operate the Celestial Switchboard fielding mortal prayer requests get frustrated and even depressed.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [4]  Recommended By: RSR:4 RHorton:4

The 3-star, 2-star, 1-star, and Not Rated stories are filtered to show only the ones recommended by other reviewers.

Rating: 3 -> Average

Stories: 152;  Estimated Time: 63h:29m (1143K words)
5×5 by Jilly Dreadful2  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 74
(YA SF) Two kids get together at a summer science camp after one tricks the other into eating her "psychic ice cream" which causes people to read minds.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
A Good Home by Karin Lowachee  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 73
(SF) A disabled human veteran takes in a disabled AI veteran. The AI doesn't talk anymore due to trauma, but Tawn tries to get through to it, even though his mother thinks it's dangerous.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: NClarke
A Man Of Modest Means by Robert Reed  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 265
(SF) A woman spends the night with a man who seems like no man she's ever met in this world.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
A Melancholy Apparition by Ian Creasey  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(Historical Fantasy) Boswell recounts a story of Dr. Johnson that he never revealed before. Involving a country estate, a scandal, and a ghost.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
(Slipstream) Rather than killing the monster, Devon would rather negotiate with them and blog about it later.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
A Pest Most Fiendish by Caighlan Smith  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 11/16/16
(Historical Fantasy) Pippa and her automaton attempt to destroy an undead pest infesting the future site of a chalet.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
A Salvaging of Ghosts by Aliette de Bodard  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 195
(Space Opera; Xuya) Thuy seeks her daughter's remains in the twisted parts of unreal space where salvagers pick over the remains of wrecked starships.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:5 JStrahan
Afrofuturist 419 by Nnedi Okorafor  Time: 05m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 122
(SF Humor) Nigerian astronaut Abacha Tunde has been abandoned in space since 1990 and he would appreciate some help getting home.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
After We Walked Away by Erica L. Satifka  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 90
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
All That Robot... by Rich Larson  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 09|16
(Post Apocalypse AI) Carver Seven spends a lot of time talking to the Human Being and helps him make spears and things. They each want something from the other, if they can manage to express it.
Anything for You by Lisa Mason  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Ash by Susan Palwick  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 05.06|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 SFEP
Atheism and Flight by Dominica Phetteplace  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 01|16
(SF) A young man who just lost his arm in an accident struggles to adjust to his loss. And something funny is happening to the stump.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Because Change Was The Ocean And We Lived By Her Mercy by Charlie Jane Anders  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueDrowned Worlds 2016
(Post-Apocalypse) Pris abandons 22nd-Century Fairbanks and moves to a commune that floats above the ruins of San Francisco.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:5
(Fantasy) Teenage friends Domei and Hano live in a refugee camp for survivors of a war fought with dragons.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Beyond the Heliopause by Keith Brooke and Eric Brown  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 68
(SF) Suzanne's worries about her aging father are interrupted by her ex-husband, who left her two years ago to go explore the frontier of the solar system.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Braid of Days and Wake of Nights by E. Lily Yu  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das  Time: 28m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 02/10/16
(Zombie) In modern India, Krishna encounters (and ignores) a dead woman's body by the river just before the dead start to walk. He feels guilty and determines to do something about it.
Bringing Them Back by Bruce McAllister  Time: 05m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 02|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 GDozois:4
Carnivores of Can't-Go-Home by Constance Cooper  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueTo Shape the Dark 2016
(SF Mystery) A professor and her student investigating carnivorous plants on a colony world find the bones of a teenager inside one of the plants.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Caspar D. Luckinbill, What Are You Going to Do? by Nick Wolven  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(SF) When "mediaterrorists" attack, the disrupt Caspar's comfortable life in a near-future where everyone is connected.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 RHorton:4
Charlotte Incorporated by Rachael K. Jones  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 69
(Science Fantasy) Charlotte is tired of being a disembodied brain; she wants a real body of her own, as soon as she can afford it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Chasing Ivory by Ted Kosmatka  Time: 08m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 01|16
(Hard SF) Adia pursues a herd of resurrected mammoths in Alaska. She seems to admire them greatly, so why is she bringing a gun?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Clover by Charlie Jane Anders  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 10/25/16
(Modern Fantasy) Anwar and Joe get an unexpected cat and a promise of nine years of good luck. Things are great, until nine years later they get another cat.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Coyote Song by Pat MacEwen  Time: 1h:02m (Novella)  IssueF&SF 05.06|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Crocodile Tears by Jaymee Goh  Time: 06m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 76
(Fable) A crocodile visits a man whose ambitions have led him far away from home and family.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Crossing the Midday Gate by Aliette de Bodard  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueTo Shape the Dark 2016
(Space Opera; Xuya) Dan Linh returns from twenty-years exile to head up her old lab again. She’s a scientist, not a politician; can she really make it work?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Crowdfinding by Eric James Stone  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 12|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Cupid's Compass by Leah Cypess  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(Near-Future SF) Julie had reservations about using hardware that can make people fall in love, but at age 35, she let herself get talked into it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Dome On The Prairie by Robert Reed  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 09|16
(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.
Dragon Brides by Nghi Vo  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 71
(Fantasy) She was 15 when a dragon abducted her. 16 when a prince rescued her and married her. Now she's 55, returning to the cave where she was held.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Dreams Of The Rocket Men by C. Stuart Hardwick  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 09|16
(SF) Old Mr. Coanda fans Jimmy's love for outer space by showing him how to build and launch real rockets.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:5
Einstein's Shadow by Allen M. Steele  Time: 1h:04m (Novella)  IssueAsimov's 01|16
(Alternate History) A private detective takes a job guarding Albert Einstein as he flees the Nazis on an ocean-liner-sized airplane.
Elves Of Antarctica by Paul McAuley  Time: 23m (ShortStory)  IssueDrowned Worlds 2016
(Near-Future SF) A refugee from a drowned island nation works on the Antarctic peninsula, where he studies mysterious stones with elven runes in his spare time.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:5 JStrahan
Even the Crumbs Were Delicious by Daryl Gregory  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Drug SF) In the middle of preparations for Tindal’s roommate’s funeral, two teenagers show up and start eating the psychotropic drugs off the wall.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: JStrahan
Every Day Is the Full Moon by Carlie St. George  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 79
(Slipstream) B's werewolf dad beats her, but what really gets her down is she hasn't become supernatural like her friends have.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Every Instance of You by Cassandra Khaw  Time: 03m (ShortStory)  IssueMothership Zeta 3
(Multiverse) The narrator walks the worlds while waiting for her husband to get home.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
(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.
Extraction Request by Rich Larson  Time: 29m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 112
(Military SF Horror) Elliot's squad of convict-soldiers crash-lands in the middle of a swamp far away from help. Extracting them doesn't seem to be a priority, but something seems to be wrong with the swamp.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4 NClarke
Fable by Charles Yu  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueThe New Yorker 05/30/16
(Slipstream Metafiction) Once upon a time a man’s therapist asked him to write a story about himself, his family, and the strange world he lived in, with its dragons and lawyers, witches and doctors, and the darkness closing in.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: JStrahan
Fieldwork by Shariann Lewitt  Time: 33m (Novelette)  IssueTo Shape the Dark 2016
(Hard SF) Anna’s grandmother died on Europa, and her mother was traumatized for life, but she’s determined to go there and finish the work they started.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:5
First Light At Mistaken Point by Kali Wallace  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 119
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Firstborn, Lastborn by Melissa Scott  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueTo Shape the Dark 2016
(Far-Future SF) Irtholin visits her friend Anketil to tell her that a long-lost starship has been found, and to try to interest her in helping salvage it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:5
Folk Hero by Mary Pletsch  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 85
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Higherworks by Gregory Norman Bossert  Time: 37m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 12|16
(SF Thriller) Every since she leaked the secret of mind-expanding nanotech, Dyer has been on the run. And they're getting close.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: NClarke
(Fantasy/Myth) The goddess of order has been flayed, and without the laws on her skin, the world will fall into chaos. So she goes beyond the world to look for it.
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In Skander, for a Boy by Chaz Brenchley  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 191
(High Fantasy) Having no heir, King Rulf sends Harlan, his most trusted adviser, to find the son of the king he overthrew 20 years ago
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Induction by Thoraiya Dyer  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Near-Future SF) Christian returns to Anguilla to say goodbye before an attempt to raise it covers the island with lava.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
I've Come to Marry the Princess by Helena Bell  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 78
(Slipstream) Jack has been stranded at summer camp for seven years, since his parents keep forgetting to pick him up. On the bright side, his dragon egg is about to hatch.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Jonas And The Fox by Rich Larson  Time: 28m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 116
(SF) Disguised in the body of a dead little boy, Fox needs to escape from the colony before the revolutionary leaders find him. But the boy's brother may be a problem.
Kairos by Sieren Damsgaard Ernst1  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 08|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Lazy Dog Out by Suzanne Palmer  Time: 1h:11m (Novella)  IssueAsimov's 04.05|16
(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.
Left Behind by Cat Rambo  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 116
(SF) Shi handles elderly clients who are recruited to help steer starships through space. Her job is winding up, and one of her last clients presents a special challenge.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Lucite by Susan Palwick  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 10.11|16
(Christian Fantasy) Andrew obsesses over a used soul he picked up in the gift shop during a tour of Hell.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Masked by Rich Larson  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 07|16
(SF) Teenage Bess and Aline go to comfort their friend Vera after a computer virus disabled her online "Face."
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
More Heat Than Light by Charlotte Ashley2  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 05.06|16
(Historical Fantasy) Louis fights for the Republic of QuΓ©bec against the British but the French Revolution is causing troubles on both sides of the Atlantic.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse by Xia Jia  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueInvisible Planets 2016
(Chinese Post-Apocalyptic Slipstream) Long after the fall of humanity, a dragon/horse robot wakes up and explores the ruins of Beijing.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: NClarke
Number Nine Moon by Alex Irvine  Time: 26m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(Competence SF) In the 2080s, Humanity is abandoning Mars, and Steuby and his companions think they can make money by looting the abandoned settlements at the last minute.
(Mind Uploading) Jix tells how her twin sister left their planet and their god, starting with how they met a handsome offworlder.
Only Ten More Shopping Days Left Till RagnarΓΆk by James Morrow  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueDrowned Worlds 2016
(Near-Future Fantasy) The narrator and his wife take a vacation to the North Pole, but after a tragic accident, they're enlisted in an effort to save the world.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Origin Story by Carrie Vaughn  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 71
(Superhero) Mary hasn't seen her ex-boyfriend in eight years, but when she witnesses super-villain "Techhunter" robbing a bank, she sees a strong resemblance.
Ozymandias by Karin Lowachee  Time: 23m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(SF) Luis signed up for a six-month solo tour of duty on an almost-complete space station. He should be alone, except for the AI, but he's sure he hears other people.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Panic City by Madeline Ashby  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueCyber World 2016
(Post Apocalypse) When fan #6 fails, the underground city's AI decides to abandon it, but an overachieving worker is determined to fix it anyway.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: NClarke
Parables of Infinity by Robert Reed  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Far-Future SF; Great Ship) An ancient robot tells a human how it helped build a planet-sized ship and what the consequences were.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4 NClarke
Passion Summer by Nick Wolven  Time: 30m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 02|16
(near-future SF) At 14, Jeff can get his first "passion" treatment, which artificially makes you passionate about something or someone.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Pearl by Aliette de Bodard  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Space Opera; Xuya) Da Trang earned favor with the Empress because his remora, Pearl, feed him information. He has lost Pearl, but cannot stop searching for it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: NClarke
(Alternate Reality) Old man Rendezvous tells outrageous stories about Jack Kennedy, and he's hunting an artifact in the drowned ruins of Cape Canaveral.
Progress Report by Rajnar Vajra  Time: 1h:03m (Novella)  IssueAnalog 09|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Project Empathy by Dominica Phetteplace  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 03|16
(Near-future SF; Project Empathy) Teenage Bel worked as a host at a Blue Cup restaurant in Concord, CA before Blue Cup moved her to San Francisco for special training. Very special.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Project Synergy by Dominica Phetteplace  Time: 26m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 04.05|16
(Near-future SF; Project Empathy) The Observator chip helps Angelina navigate her role as "social curator" (aka hostess) at the Reserve. She doesn't know that the chip wants to end their partnership.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Pyramid by Nancy Kress  Time: 06m (ShortStory)  IssueNow We Are Ten 2016
(Allegory) Young people enter the pyramid on the first floor, but although the parties are great, they aspire to ascend.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Rabbit Grass by Kelly Stewart1  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 197
(Fantasy) Aril knows not to let rabbits into the garden--no matter how politely they ask. Picket's an awfully nice rabbit, though, and he needs her help.
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Rager in Space by Charlie Jane Anders  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(SF Humor) Sion and her best friend get invited on the first interstellar flight, which is odd, since they're teenagers, and that kind of technology doesn't really exist.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Rambunctious by Rick Wilber  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 06|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Rats Dream Of The Future by Paul McAuley  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 06|16
(SF) A science writer describes the events that turned a rat experiment into a space-time disaster in downtown London.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Reclamation by Ryan Row1  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 119
(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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Red As Blood And White As Bone by Theodora Goss  Time: 31m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 05/04/16
(Historical Fantasy) In Eastern Europe between the wars, Klara works as a kitchen maid. One night she admits a woman she thinks is a lost fairy-tale princesses into the castle.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: JStrahan
RedKing by Craig Delancey  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 70
(Hard SF) In an near future when everyone has brain implants, a computer virus can be a health issue. Especially when it turns users into killers.
Revenge Of The Invisible Man by Robert R. Chase  Time: 26m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 10|16
(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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Robot From the Future by Terry Bisson  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(SF) About 100 years from now, eleven-year-old Theodore meets a robot from "the far future" which demands he find gasoline for it, but Theo isn't even sure what that is.
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Salvage Opportunity by Jack Skillingstead  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 114
(SF) Badar has a 4-year contract sits all alone at a salvage site on Kepler-186f.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Sea of Dreams by Alter S. Reiss  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 196
(High Fantasy) Exiled emperor Ierois lives alone on the shore of the Sea of Dreams. Then another exile joins him--a boy who refuses to give up quite so easily.
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Secondhand Bodies by JY Yang  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 68
(SF) Agatha wants a svelte replacement for her plump body, but since she can't get one grown in a reasonable time, she looks into an illegal swap.
Shadow's Weave by Yoon Ha Lee  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 200
(Fantasy) Tamalat has come to a priest to find out how to restore her friend Brio's shadow, in the hopes it will restore him to what he once was.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Sideways by Ray Cluley  Time: 35m (Novelette)  IssueInterzone 266
(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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Six Degrees of Separation Freedom by Pat Cadigan  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Transhuman) Recruiting people to live in space is harder when they have to accept irreversable body modifications.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Starpower by Christopher Shultz  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 86
(Horror) The singer in a band copes with the discovery that one of his songs caused people to commit suicide.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Straight Lines by Naru Dames Sundar2  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueMothership Zeta 3
(Hard SF) AIs are too expensive to discard, even after a major disaster, but how do you fix one that seems to have gone crazy?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Successor, Usurper, Replacement by Alice Sola Kim  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueBuzzfeed 10/25/16
(Horror) Four friends meet for a writer’s critique group, on a stormy night when a dangerous beast is on the loose outside.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: JStrahan
Talking to Dead People by Sarah Pinsker  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(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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(Near-Future SF) Nico's boring life as an accountant changes when he meets an old friend who's involved with the illegal food scene in Kansas City.
Telltale by Matthew Hughes  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(High Fantasy) Raffalon the thief's latest contract goes wrong when he's transported to a gray world that he must figure out how to escape. Entertaining.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Ten Confessions of Blue Mercury Addicts by Anna Spencer by Alexander Marsh Freed  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 263
(Science Fantasy) Anna investigates people addicted to a drug that slows down time so much that they can experience a year in the time it takes to fall from an airplane.
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Ten Days by Nina Allan  Time: 48m (Novelette)  IssueNow We Are Ten 2016
(Time Travel) Dora will do anything to prove that a woman's 1928 execution for murder was a mistake.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4 NClarke
The Art Of Space Travel by Nina Allan  Time: 42m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 07/27/16
(SF/Mainstream) The crew of the new Mars mission are coming to the hotel where Emily works, and her mom is starting to say strange things about her involvement with the last Mars mission.
The Assassin's Secret by Adam-Troy Castro  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 75
(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 Baby Eaters by Ian McHugh  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 01|16
(SF) The narrator visits an alien world to negotiate a trade deal with a race of alien predators who have a bad reputation.
The Battle Of Ceres by Karl Bunker  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 07.08|16
(SF) Katrina and Jeff operate an asteroid mining station for the S.P.C. It's not bad work except that the mining companies are at war, using gravel as missiles.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Cat Bell by Esther M. Friesner  Time: 29m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 11.12|16
(Modern Fairy Tale) On a rich estate in 1890s upstate New York, the cook loves serving her famous boss, but hates feeding his cats.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
The Cedar Grid by Sara Saab  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 115
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 GDozois:4
The Charge and the Storm by An Owomoyela  Time: 54m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 02|16
(SF) In a colony on an almost uninhabitable planet, the technologically-superior Su share power with the humans, but some humans want independence.
The Desert Of Vanished Dreams by Phyllis Eisenstein  Time: 31m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 07.08|16
(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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The Devil You Know by K.J. Parker  Time: 1h:19m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 03/01/16
(Fantasy) The philosopher Saloninus makes a deal with the Devil. Except he approaches the Devil, not the other way around, and the Devil is worried it's a trick.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: JStrahan
The Dream-Quest Of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson  Time: 1h:59m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 08/16/16
(Fantasy) Vellitt Boe teaches math at a university in the dreamworld. When her star student elopes with a dreamer from the real world, she goes after them.
The Dunsmuir Horror by David Gerrold  Time: 1h:00m (Novella)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(Horror/Humor) From confinement in an institution the narrator describes the events that put him there. There's something weird about the Northwest.
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The End of Hope Street by Malcolm Devlin  Time: 44m (Novelette)  IssueInterzone 266
(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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The Forgotten Taste of Honey by Alexander Jablokov  Time: 59m (Novella)  IssueAsimov's 10.11|16
(High Fantasy) The dead girl originally fled her homeland over something, and whatever it was, it's making it hard for Tromvi to return her body.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Further Adventures of Mr. Costello by David Gerrold  Time: 1h:05m (Novella)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(Planetary SF) Mr. Costello's crackpot moneymaking scheme promises entertainment to the rural community he sets down in, but the narrator senses a threat.
The Gentleman Of Chaos by A. Merc Rustad  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 87
(High Fantasy) An immortal assassin threatens the new king, so he has his sister trained as the ultimate bodyguard.
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The Glass Galago by A.M. Dellamonica  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 01/06/16
(Fantasy; Stormwrack) Captain Gale Feliachild and her handsome first mate, Garland Parrish, must find the inscription for a spell that turns people's skins into glass. Entertaining.
The Green Knight's Wife by Kat Howard  Time: 05m (ShortStory)  IssueUncanny 13
(Horror) What if the Green Knight were real? What if he were still alive? What if he had his own reality show? And how does his wife really feel about the whole thing?
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The Green Man Cometh by Rich Larson  Time: 42m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 120
(Post-Apocalypse) 22-year-old Eris flies a cab in the City. A stranger pays her to elude a follower, and she gets caught up in intrigue.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The House of Half Mirrors by Thoraiya Dyer  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 120
(Near Future Fantasy Dystopia) In a 2042 Ireland beset by ecological catastrophe, the narrator meets a fairy at a protest.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Iron Tactician by Alastair Reynolds  Time: 1h:36m (Novella)  IssueThe Iron Tactician 2016
(Military SF) Merlin's starship is one of the best, but it needs repairs, and a derelict starship may have what he needs. Or he can try a binary system where an interplanetary war has raged for centuries.
The Language of Flowers by Ian Creasey  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 05|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
The Liar by John P. Murphy  Time: 1h:19m (Novella)  IssueF&SF 03.04|16
(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.
(Historical Fantasy) Perpetua must pretend to be a man in order to carry on her father's glass business. She makes a great success from glass eyes, even before she realizes how special they are.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Long Fall Up by William Ledbetter  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 05.06|16
(Hard SF) A woman in a space ship illegally tries to bring a baby to term in zero-g to prove it can be done, and the space station management sends an enforcer to stop her.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: Nebula
The Magical Properties of Unicorn Ivory by Carlos Hernandez  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueThe Assimilated Cuban's Guide to Quantum Santeria 2016
(Magical SF) Writing a story on Unicorns in Scotland, Gabby tangles with some poachers.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 01/27/16
(Dark Fantasy) Verena wants to stop the killer who takes one local girl every year. And she's just barely old enough to be a target herself.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
The Mutants Men Don't See by James Alan Gardner  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 08|16
(Superhero) A combination of teenage hormones, a rare gene, and the right stressful event turns a few kids into superheroes. Liam wants to be one too.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4 Readers
The Nostalgia Calculator by Rich Larson  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 05.06|16
(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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The Nult Factor by J.T. Sharrah  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 06|16
(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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The One Who Isn't by Ted Kosmatka  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 74
(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.
The Opposite and the Adjacent by Liu Yang1  Time: 06m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 120
(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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The Other Thea by Theodora Goss  Time: 36m (Novelette)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Modern Fantasy) Thea graduated from witches school six months ago and should be at Harvard now, but the lack of her shadow, which she lost as a child, is depressing her, and if she can’t find it soon, she’ll fade away entirely.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Place of Bones by Gardner Dozois  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 11.12|16
(Historical Fantasy) Martin fulfils his dream of entering the dragonlands via a secret mountain pass in France.
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The Plague Givers by Kameron Hurley  Time: 36m (Novelette)  IssueUncanny 10
(Fantasy) Thirty years ago, Bet beat the best sorcerer in the world, but at such cost she's been in hiding ever since. Now the plague hunters need her help again, but something seems very wrong.
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The Return of Black Murray by Alexander Jablokov  Time: 29m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 04.05|16
(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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The Siren Son by Tristina Wright1  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 75
(Fantasy) Neal and Killian are young lovers. Together they think they can keep the dragons from destroying the world.
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The Sweet Warm Earth by Steven Popkes  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(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?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 GDozois:4
The Thousand Eyes by Jeffrey Ford  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Horror) When old Merle was young, he wanted to paint all the bars in South Jersey. He did The Thousand Eyes last. A hard place to find. A place where The Voice of Death performs on Wednesdays.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: SFEP
The Treaty Breaker by Brendan Dubois  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 05|16
(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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The Universal Museum Of Sagacity by Robert Reed  Time: 29m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 116
(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.
The Vanishing Kind by Lavie Tidhar  Time: 1h:00m (Novella)  IssueF&SF 07.08|16
(Alternate History) In 1950s London after the Nazi's won WWII, a German man tries to find a girl he used to love in response to her call for help.
The Vindicator by Matthew Hughes  Time: 45m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 11.12|16
(High Fantasy) 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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The Voice in the Cornfield, the Word Made Flesh by Desirina Boskovich  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(Present-day SF) An alien crash lands in a cornfield. It tries to get help, but no one can see or hear it. Almost no one.
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The War Of Heroes by Kameron Hurley  Time: 28m (Novelette)  IssueLightspeed 75
(SF) The "Heroes" are gradually destroying Yousra's world, but she finds a way to use a castrated prisoner to fight back.
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The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight by E. Lily Yu  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueUncanny 12
(Fairy Tale) A young, newly minted witch meets an equally green knight, and they go off together in search of dragons.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: JStrahan Readers
Things With Beards by Sam J. Miller  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 117
(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.
This is Not a Wardrobe Door by A. Merc Rustad  Time: 05m (ShortStory)  IssueFireside 29
(Portal Fantasy) Ellie used to travel freely to the other world, but lately her door doesn’t work. In fact, all the portals are broken for some reason.
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Those Brighter Stars by Mercurio D. Rivera  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 75
(Psionic SF) Ava recounts the visit of the "Needlers" to Earth and her part in the attempts to communicate with the aliens.
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Two's Company by Joe Abercrombie  Time: 23m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 01/12/16
(High Fantasy Humor) A warrior woman and a thief fleeing from the south meet a male warrior fleeing from the north in the middle of a bridge. Then it gets complicated.
Unauthorized Access by An Owomoyela  Time: 34m (Novelette)  IssueLightspeed 76
(Hacker SF) Fresh out of prison for hacking, Aedo gets a request to do an even bigger hack. But why does Energy Davison want to hack its own systems?
Uncontainable by Helen Stubbs  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 91
(Horror) A mad little child speaks only to the boarder, and her message is too terrible to believe.
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Vishnu Summer by David Prill  Time: 36m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 07.08|16
(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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Vortex by Gregory Benford  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 01.02|16
(Hard SF) The Chinese Mars base asks old First-Expedition crew members Julia and Viktor for help with a problem involving Mars's only large native life form.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: LTilton GDozois:5
Wednesday's Story by Wole Talabi1  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 72
(Fairytale Fantasy) A member of a group of powerful beings who make stories real tells us the truth about Solomon Grundy and why he had to die.
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(SF Humor) A choose-your-own-adventure story in which you navigate the clinic on a space station full of aliens.
When She Comes by Onu-Okpara Chiamaka1  Time: 00m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 90
(Horror) Death comes for the wtich-doctor, but he's not ready to go quite yet.
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When The Stone Eagle Flies by Bill Johnson  Time: 26m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 06|16
(Time Travel) A group of lost time travelers tries to make the fall of Nineveh happen in a way consistent with the future they're trying to get back to.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [3]  Recommended By: GDozois:5
Woman in the Reeds by Esther M. Friesner  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 04.05|16
(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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Rating: 2 -> Not Recommended

Stories: 62;  Estimated Time: 23h:33m (424K words)
A Fine Balance by Charlotte Ashley2  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 11.12|16
(High Fantasy) The stakes on Yildirim and Ramadami's duels have risen to where they threaten the economies of Onsen and Dushiq.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
(Magical Realism) Hannah watched her sister Melanie die, incinerated with her own magic. Hannah can't accept that and sets out to use her own magic to put things right.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFEP Nebula
A Partial List of Lists I Have Lost Over Time by Sunil Patel2  Time: 02m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov'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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(Magical Allegory) Your lover has sunk to the bottom of the sea. You're a witch with tremendous powers, but can you really save him?
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A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson  Time: 1h:54m (Novella)  IssueTor Novella 10/25/16
(Fantasy/SF) Young Aqib has a bright future as a noble, but he meets an enchanting foreigner who makes him consider risking everything.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: JStrahan Nebula
A Tower for the Coming World by Maggie Clark  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 123
(SF) The destruction of the new Space Elevator puts human expansion into space at risk.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:5
Alone, On The Wind by Karla Schmidt1  Time: 44m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 119
(Fantasy Science) Tuela's people fly among the remains of their shattered world, stealing water from a neighbor planet. Tuela presents an argument that things should change.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Alts by Harmony Neal1  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 267
(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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(Near-Future SF) An interview with a simulation of the dead artist, Satka, who still has a big online following years after her death.
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Between Nine and Eleven by Adam Roberts  Time: 09m (ShortStory)  IssueCrises and Conflicts 2016
(Military SF) The war against the alien Trefoil was going well until they unleashed an unexpected weapon.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Breadcrumbs by Malcolm Devlin  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueInterzone 264
(Slipstream) While fourteen-year-old Ellie's parents are away, her world starts to change into something very strange.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFEP
Bull Of Heaven by Gabriel Murray  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueStrange Horizons 07/25/16
(Android) Brother Francis is an android in an orbiting monastery. Their human patron has taken an interest in him, and involves him in studying a mysterious, ancient golden android.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Clearance by Sarah Pinsker  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 06|16
(Slipstream) A mother tries to find something for her teenage daughter at a beach resort where four different worlds seem to intersect.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Cold Comfort by Pat Murphy and Paul Doherty  Time: 26m (Novelette)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Climate Change) Maggie has a plan to reverse climate change by capturing methane up in the arctic and selling the carbon.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:5
Deep Waters Call Out To What Is Deeper Still by Sarah Frost  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 09|16
(SF) Pascal uses a mind link to control fish in a public aquarium. Pascal's big success has been a swordfish, but a bigger challenge beckons.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Dispatches From The Cradle: The Hermit -- Forty-Eight Hours In The Sea Of Massachusetts by Ken Liu  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueDrowned Worlds 2016
(Post Apocalypse) Around 2650 AD, the narrator interviews a wealthy recluse who lives above the sunken ruins of Boston.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:5 NClarke
Do Not Forget Me by Ray Nayler  Time: 21m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 03|16
(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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Empty Planets by Rahul Kanakia  Time: 25m (Novelette)  IssueInterzone 262
(SF) In a future where most of the galaxy is run by "the Machine" for the benefit of those lucky enough to own shares, a young shareholder goes to school to learn how he can make a difference.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Every Winter by E. Catherine Tobler  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 90
(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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Exceptional Forces by Sean McMullen  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 02|16
(Hard SF) A radio astronomer comes to a conference prepared to deliver a shattering paper, but fully expecting to die before he gets the chance.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:4 Readers
Fall by Arlan Andrews, Sr.  Time: 59m (Novella)  IssueAnalog 07.08|16
(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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Flight from the Ages by Derek KΓΌnsken  Time: 36m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 04.05|16
(Fantasy Science) About a thousand years from now, two powerful AIs struggle to prevent the destruction of the multiverse.
(Fantasy) In which we read an exchange of letters between a naturalist who claims to have discovered a cockatrice and a lady who is skeptical.
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Geologic by Ian Sales  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 262
(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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Golden Gate Blues by James L. Cambias  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueF&SF 03.04|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
In the Midst of Life by Nick Wolven  Time: 49m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 113
(SF) In a rude, career-ending memo to his boss, Doug recounts a disaster that occurred on a company property in Indonesia when they tried to evict a group of squatters and their charismatic leader.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
KIT: Some Assembly Required by Kathe Koja and Carter Scholz  Time: 15m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 08|16
(SF AI) Christopher Marlowe thinks he's been reincarnated as a 21st Century AI.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:5
La BeautΓ© Sans Vertu by Genevieve Valentine  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 04/27/16
(Fashion SF) Maria is a super model in a future that doesn't hesitate to modify the bodies of the models for maximum impact.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Laws Of Night And Silk by Seth Dickinson  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 200
(High Fantasy) To defeat the armies of the Efficate, the Cteri train some of their children to be weapons of mass destruction.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:5 JStrahan
Matilda by Kristine Kathryn Rusch  Time: 30m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 04.05|16
(Military SF) The enemy are up to something in "blank" areas of space that sensors can't penetrate. Devi takes a "single ship" into one to find out what's there, but her ship has a mind of its own, and it's terrified.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:4 Readers
Mika Model by Paolo Bacigalupi  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueSlate.com 04/26/16
(SF) A police detective tries to cope with an attractive female robot who confesses to murder.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:5 JStrahan
Monuments by Pamela Sargent  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Climate Change) An AI tries to carry out the last wishes of the last human governors to bring back snow and ice.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Nesting Dolls by Jacob A. Boyd  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 09|16
(Generation Ship SF) Garen and his little brother live in the outer shell of the ship, but they have an unhealthy curiosity about the people who live inside.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition by Michelle Ann King  Time: 08m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 RHorton:4
O What Freedom, This Great Steel Cage by Shane Halbach  Time: 03m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 05|16
(SF) Three different people share a remote robotic body. They have three different reasons and three different experiences.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Project Entropy by Dominica Phetteplace  Time: 35m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 07|16
(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
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 RHorton:4
Project Symmetry by Dominica Phetteplace  Time: 28m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 06|16
(Near-future SF; Project Empathy) Teenage Bel enjoys her prestigious career at Blue Cup, but she's alarmed to discover her employer has installed an AI in her head to keep tabs on her.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
(Modern Fantasy) A circus comes to town, but the tickets are for fifty years ago or fifty years from now.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Seven Cups of Coffee by A.C. Wise  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 114
(Time Travel) Narrator, in 1983, takes a job that involves going back to 1945 to do some dirty work, but she becomes infatuated with her target.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
(SF) The narrator fled her world's brutal religion for a role with an interstellar science team. But a distress call puts her back on a collision course with it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee by Alastair Reynolds  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueBridging Infinity 2016
(Far-Future SF) Kamala discovered an alien artifact inside the sun, and she spent her life finding a way to reach it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:5
Starlings by Tyler Keevil  Time: 47m (Novelette)  IssueInterzone 264
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Terminal by Lavie Tidhar  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 04/13/16
(Planetary SF) A vast fleet of "jalopies" carry individuals on a one-way trip from Earth to Mars. People do it for different reasons, some of which we learn about in this story.
The Bewilderness of Lions by Ted Kosmatka  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 03|16
(SF) Caitlin does data mining for a presidential campaign, but her analysis is resulting in unusually precise and downright strange predictions.
The Birth Will Take Place on a Mutually Acceptable Research Vessel by Matthew Bailey1  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 71
(SF) You're having a baby. The first Human-Tharkan hybrid. And everyone wants into the act--including both governments.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 RHorton:4
The Despoilers by Jack Skillingstead  Time: 10m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 120
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
The Fixer by Paul McAuley  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 113
(SF) An AI trying to establish a human colony discovers there's an individual it cannot account for.
The Ghost Penny Post by Marc Laidlaw  Time: 40m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 03.04|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
The Great Detective by Delia Sherman  Time: 42m (Novelette)  IssueTor.com 02/17/16
(Steampunk) In 1880s London, Sir Arthur's "Illogic Engine" has gone missing, so he seeks help from Mycroft Holmes.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4 JStrahan
The Great Ignorant Race by Robert Reed  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueGalactic Games 2016
(Sports SF) The human team awakens naked, with no memories, but speaking a shared language, and ready to compete--at something.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Knobby Giraffe by Rudy Rucker  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 71
(Hard SF) Irit wants to do her Ph.D. thesis on quantum physics and the mind. She lost her girlfriend four months ago, but she thinks there may be a way to change reality.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Language of the Silent by Juliette Wade and Sheila Finch  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 03.04|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
The Lives of Riley by Sean Williams  Time: 05m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 76
(SF) Riley hacked his personal teleporter to make illegal copies of himself. The police have found him out, and he's trying to lead all 17 of him to safety.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
The Mountains His Crown by Sarah Pinsker  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 195
(SF) The narrator's farm is threatened by a sequence of increasingly irrational demands by the distant emperor.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Next Scene by Robert Reed  Time: 16m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 121
(SF AI) In a world ruled by AIs, the only work that pays is entertainment.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Old Man and the Phoenix by Alexandria Baisden1  Time: 04m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 88
(Slipstream) An old man lies dying, his faithful companion at his side.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 Readers
The Tale of Mahliya and Mauhub and the White-Footed Gazelle by Sofia Samatar  Time: 11m (ShortStory)  IssueStarlit Wood 2016
(Meta Fiction) Mahliya will be down in a bit to tell you the story, but we'll begin by telling you a love story.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Warrior Boy Who Would Not Suffer by Abhinav Bhat1  Time: 13m (ShortStory)  IssueApex 88
(Religious Fantasy) An old man quizzes a dying youth in a place between life and death.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
The Water-Walls of Enceladus by Mercurio D. Rivera  Time: 20m (ShortStory)  IssueInterzone 262
(SF) A disfiguring illness drove Lilly to leave Earth and live in a community of aliens who think she's beautiful. Trouble is, they like her too much.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
Those Shadows Laugh by Geoff Ryman  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 09.10|16
(Near-Future SF) The secretive parthenogenetic women of Colinas Bravas usually don't allow outsiders into their country, but they invite Ms. Vargas to fix a genetic problem with their children.
Told By An Idiot by K.J. Parker  Time: 36m (Novelette)  IssueBCS 192
(Historical Fantasy) In Elizabethan London, an entrepreneur skilled in identifying legitimate antiquities ends up with a bottle that happens to have a demon in it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [2]  Recommended By: RHorton:5
Women's Christmas by Ian McDonald  Time: 07m (ShortStory)  IssueNow We Are Ten 2016
(SF; Luna) Five Irish sisters enjoy a celebration using money their aunt sends them from the moon.
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Rating: 1 -> Needs Improvement

Stories: 18;  Estimated Time: 8h:01m (144K words)
Away From Home by Luo Longxiang  Time: 33m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 116
(Space Opera) Weihan survives the meteor strike that destroys his home, but it changes his life forever.
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Black Orbit by Martin L. Shoemaker  Time: 32m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 12|16
(Hard SF) Cynthia had the evidence to send the crooked Initiative officers to prison, but how to get it from Jupiter back to Earth?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Checkerboard Planet by Eleanor Arnason  Time: 39m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 123
(SF; Lydia Duluth) The AIs contract Lydia to check out an unusual planet and the secretive corporation that's supposed to be developing it.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4 GDozois:5
Everybody Loves Charles by Bao Shu  Time: 1h:09m (Novella)  IssueClarkesworld 112
(SF) Charles Mann leads a wild, exciting life, which he shares with millions who join his "live-link."
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: SFRevu:5 RHorton:4
Hold The Moment by Marie Vibbert  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueAnalog 06|16
(Hard SF) Daisy's efforts to build a stasis machine are failing, and she's failing as a mother too.
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Of Wind and Fire by Vandana Singh  Time: 36m (Novelette)  IssueTo Shape the Dark 2016
(Scientific Fantasy) The villages fall slowly down the face of the mountain, trading with the people on the ledges as they go, but is there a bottom, or does it just go down forever?
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: GDozois:4
One Man's Dignity by Mark Niemann-Ross  Time: 26m (Novelette)  IssueAnalog 11|16
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies by Brooke Bolander  Time: 03m (ShortStory)  IssueUncanny 13
(Horror) The girl he killed was much more than merely human, and there will be consequences.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: Nebula Readers
Painter of Stars by Wang Yuan1  Time: 18m (ShortStory)  IssueClarkesworld 123
(SF) A robot discovers it has artistic talent and sets out to save the world by tattooing stars on people.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
Project Extropy by Dominica Phetteplace  Time: 30m (Novelette)  IssueAsimov's 10.11|16
(Near-Future SF; Project Empathy) Akiko wakes up on a ship bound for San Francisco with no memory of who she is, but with the voice of "God" telling her what to do.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Bridge of Dreams by Gregory Feeley  Time: 35m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 115
(Hard SF) After centuries of solitude at his post on Pluto, Heimdallr has come to fear that humanity is extinct. Then he receives a summons from the inner solar system.
The Calculations of Artificials by Chi Hui  Time: 27m (Novelette)  IssueClarkesworld 121
(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.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
The Farmboy by Albert E. Cowdrey  Time: 28m (Novelette)  IssueF&SF 11.12|16
(SF) The crew exploring planet Omega-Alpha are dismayed to see their spaceship take off, leaving them marooned.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: SFRevu:4
The Key to St. Medusa's by Kat Howard  Time: 12m (ShortStory)  IssueLightspeed 77
(Fantasy Horror) Despite her parents' best efforts, Agatha was born to be a witch, and eventually they turned her over to St. Medusa's school.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Loud Table by Jonathan Carroll  Time: 17m (ShortStory)  IssueTor.com 11/02/16
(Present-day SF) Four retired men meet every day for conversation. One of them worries he's showing symptoms of Alzheimer's.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
The Patchwork Procedure by Claude LalumiΓ¨re  Time: 24m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 206
(Steampunk) An agent from the city-state of Montreal lies in prison after unsuccessfully trying to apprehend a man who stole Montreal's secret immortality treatment.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Under She Who Devours Suns by Benjanun Sriduangkaew  Time: 19m (ShortStory)  IssueBCS 204
(High Fantasy) After a long absence, Melishem returns to Talyut to challenge her rival to single combat. But Sikata is already dead.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: RHorton:4
Webs by Mary Anne Mohanraj  Time: 14m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 07|16
(SF) On Ariel, some people have modified themselves to fly. Other people can't accept that. Anna is going to need to choose sides.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [1]  Recommended By: GDozois:4

Rating: Not Rated

Stories: 2;  Estimated Time: 1h:22m (25K words)
Choose Poison, Choose Life by Michael Blumlein  Time: 59m (Novella)  IssueAsimov's 10.11|16
(Mainstream) Violet comes to a resort town to kill herself. Daisy is shipwrecked with a man she loves. Rose is shipwrecked with a monster.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [0]  Recommended By: Readers
The Cold Side of the Island by Kali Wallace  Time: 22m (ShortStory)  IssueAsimov's 12|16
(Mainstream) Two women mourn the death of a childhood friend and try to make peace with themselves by returning the mysterious skeleton that tore them apart as teenagers.
Other Reviews  RSR Mini-Review [0]  Recommended By: GDozois:4

Not Yet Rated



Eric Wong
March 6, 2017

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