Cosmic Crust, by Alex Sherman

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Horror) The world is dying, but Bhu’s biggest priority is to keep his dog well-fed. Fortunately, his boss at the restaurant where he works can help him. (5,601 words; Time: 18m)

Sinew and Steel and What They Told, by Carrie Vaughn

[Single]

★★★★☆ A moving tale and a nice set up for more stories.

(Space Opera) Graff just had an accident so severe that he can no longer keep the secret that he’s a cyborg from his crewmates and his lover. (4,432 words; Time: 14m)

The Touches, by Brenda Peynado

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Virtual Reality) Humanity lives in virtual reality as much as it can, but sometimes there are things you have to do in the real world—no matter how dangerous that is. (7,152 words; Time: 23m)

Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy, by JY Yang

[Single]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Clockwork Fantasy) Lynette hasn’t seen Mirror Boy for years. Not since she was young and desperate and he replaced her reflection and comforted her. Now he’s back and telling her she needs to run for her life. (9,157 words; Time: 30m)

Beyond the El, by John Chu

[Single]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Modern Fantasy) Connor works at a restaurant in New York where he has a magical touch with food (literally). Problems with his family keep interfering with his career, though. (5,989 words; Time: 19m)

The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir, by Karin Tidbeck

[Single]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Adventure) Saga does maintenance work on an old, living starship. Skidbladnir is doing poorly lately, and Saga’s boss is determined to save her, even if no one else wants to. (5,620 words; Time: 18m)

Under The Spinodal Curve, by Hanuš Seiner

[Tor.com]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Fantasy Science) The narrator’s girlfriend is the residual personality of a metallurgist who’s away for six months crafting nanomaterials. But when her primary personality reunites with her body, will she still love him? Or even remember him? (4,541 words; Time: 15m)

You Know How the Story Goes, by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

[Tor.com]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Ghost Story) In midwinter, just after midnight, the narrator hitches a ride with a strange woman as cold as the night itself. (7,033 words; Time: 23m)

Where Would You Be Now?, by Carrie Vaughn

[Tor.com]

★★★☆☆ Good Setup for a Longer Story

(Post-Apocalypse; Coast Road) It has only been five years since The Fall, but the clinic where teenage Kath works is the only medical service for two hundred miles. (8,998 words; Time: 29m)

Readers of the novel, Bannerless, will recognize “Auntie Kath.”

Mandelbrot the Magnificent, by Liz Ziemska

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(Historical Fantasy) An account of how the young Benoit Mandelbrot learned he could affect physical reality with his mathematics and how he tried to mount a defense against the Nazi’s in France. (20,135 words; Time: 1h:07m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

See related articles on Tor.com.

This World Is Full of Monsters, by Jeff VanderMeer

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(Apocalypse) The narrator is a writer who finds a story on his porch. A story that enters his body, grows out of the top of his head, and destroys the rest of the world. Then things get strange. (10,048 words; Time: 33m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

The Lamentation of Their Women, by Kai Ashante Wilson

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(Horror) ‘Nisha only has five hours to get across New York to her dead aunt’s apartment before the city comes to throw away all her stuff. She’s not even sure it’s worth it, but they said her aunt was a witch . . . (9,141 words; Time: 30m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

The Library of Lost Things, by Matthew Bright

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(Fantasy) Tom takes a job as an indexer in a library that exists outside of space and time for the purpose of collecting books and manuscripts (among other things) that were lost. (5,879 words; Time: 19m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Waiting on a Bright Moon, by JY Yang

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(Space Opera) Xin’s orderly life on Eighth Colony changes forever when she ushers a mutilated body through the portal. (9,957 words; Time: 33m)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Needs Improvement

Red, by Ramsey Shehadeh

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(Contemporary Fantasy) Ansel feels guilty about his little sister’s disappearance six months ago, and his search for her leads him into the world of a board game their family played. (4,345 words; Time: 14m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Heartbreaking and Mysterious

Hexagrammaton, by Hanuš Seiner

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(SF) A woman approaches the narrator to help her smuggle a special package to the human survivors of an alien virus that could make people something more than human. (10,180 words; Time: 33m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

Mental Diplopia, by Julianna Baggott

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(Apocalypse) A fatal illness that causes people to relive the best moments of their past sweeps the world. (4,541 words; Time: 15m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Ecdysis, by Julianna Baggott

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(Surreal) A.S. returns from life in a simulation to check on the sister and abusive father he left behind. (2,545 words; Time: 08m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

The Greenest Gecko, by Ploy Pirapokin

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(Dystopia) Fon works in the Ministry of Merit, coming up with ways devout citizens of Bankim can “make merit” for the next life. She’s good, but her boss keeps taking the credit for her hard work, and she wants a little something in this life. (6,351 words; Time: 21m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

The Virtual Swallows of Hog Island, by Julianna Baggott

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(Virtual Reality) Archer designs virtual worlds that help people with their therapy. He despises his boss, who has an unhealthy interest in one patient and neglects the others. (4,881 words; Time: 16m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average