What Cradles Us But Will Not Set Us Free, by Nin Harris

[Strange Horizons]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Horror) Kamala remembers growing up in this house, but she’s not sure why she’s there now or what happened to the other people she remembers. Or why her new boyfriend sometimes turns into a crocodile. (5,975 words; Time: 19m)

Dreams Strung like Pearls Between War and Peace, by Nin Harris

[Clarkesworld]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Steampunk) Raneka enjoys her life as an heiress and tries hard not to be associated with the revolutionaries her grandfather was involved with. But something big is coming, whether she wants it or not. (6,776 words; Time: 22m)

When Sirens Sing of Roses and of Delegated Power, by Nin Harris

[BCS]

★★★☆☆ Average

(High Fantasy) The Mermaid Queen Mother wants her silver serving dish back from at Arch Wizard, but rather than asking, she sends three sirens to steal it. (5,201 words; Time: 17m)

Violets on the Tongue, by Nin Harris

[Clarkesworld]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(SF Colony) Eshe looks for purpose on the distant world that humanity teleported to after the Earth was destroyed. (6,054 words; Time: 20m)

Benefactors of Silence, by Nin Harris

[BCS]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Colony SF) On a lost colony planet, wars between rival empires have almost destroyed the nation of Lusini, but the narrator has a love for the old country, and lives with a survivor, who tells him what was lost. (1,782 words; Time: 05m)

Reversion, by Nin Harris

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(SF) Expelled from Tortz and separated from her alien lover, Askriti has fled to her homeworld, where she has to submit to a ceremony before they’ll consider her human again. (6,678 words; Time: 22m)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Needs Improvement

Prosthetic Daughter, by Nin Harris

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(Transhuman) Zhen-Juan suffered a data theft that not only stole her memories, it stole everyone else’s memories of her too. (5,881 words; Time: 19m)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Needs Improvement

What the Stories Steal, by Nin Harris

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(Future Fantasy) Ipsita's husband lost his mind when he killed the sacred animals, but she thinks there's a way to get it back. (5,253 words; Time: 17m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

This story is set in the future on an Earth-colonized planet but but the plot is strongly concerned with supernatural things.

Morning Cravings, by Nin Harris

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(Magical SF) Derthye is a human who likes eggs. Her husband is a Barlishya, who is forbidden from eating eggs. This presents a problem. (1,483 words)

Rating: 2, Nor Recommended

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Tower of the Rosewater Goblet, by Nin Harris

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(Fantasy) Erheani wanted to be a master storyteller, and the first task her teachers set for her was to update an old classic tale. But there are tales within tales... (5,874 words; Time: 19m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆, Not Recommended

Your Right Arm, by Nin Harris

Clarkesworld Magazine, November 2015; 2,791 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story

On a spaceship in the far future, Rasakhi tells the story of how the last human died.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: It gradually becomes clear that the creatures on the starship were what humans used to call elves and fairies. We end up learning that the last human had a reasonably dignified death, as he had wanted to, so the story does have a conclusion.

Con: Much of this remains very confusing. Are they elves or ghosts? What is this mention of "magic" about? And what happened to all the other humans?