To Us May Grace Be Given, by L.S. Johnson

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★★★★★ Intense and Powerfully Moving

(Western Fantasy) Addy and her mom barely scratch out a living on their homestead. Bill Boyland is going to take their land away, but Addy’s mom is ready to do a deal with the devil to stop him. (15,368 words; Time: 51m)

The Birding: A Fairy Tale, by Natalia Theodoridou

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(Apocalypse) A plague has turned almost everyone in the world into birds, but Maria is determined to make her way home and find her husband. (8,640 words; Time: 28m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Trette's Bones, by Grace Seybold

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(Dark Fantasy) In a town where becoming an adult means surrendering a body part and getting a ghostly replacement, the narrator opts to sacrifice a finger, but their twin sister has something extreme in mind. (8,167 words; Time: 27m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Shikasta, by Vandana Singh

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(SF Exploration) Four college friends collaborated on a probe to an extrasolar planet. Now they’re struggling to make sense of what the probe is telling them and wondering if they need new definitions for life and even for science itself. (14,251 words; Time: 47m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

Death on Mars, by Madeline Ashby

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(SF Adventure) Four women staffing an advance base on Phobos get a male visitor who brings them some bad news. (8,206 words; Time: 27m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Moving and thought-provoking

The Baker of Mars, by Karl Schroeder

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(Near-Future SF) Lots of Earth people are earning money operating drones on Mars to construct habitats for colonists—assuming someone can get around the fact that it’s illegal to own land up there. (7,705 words; Time: 25m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Falling in Love with Martians and Machines, by Josh Pearce

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(Near-Future SF) Chromium Jim and Babe work their way north to Alaska by winning rocket-powered drag races along the way. (8,363 words; Time: 27m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

The Wind's Departure, by Stephen Case

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(High Fantasy) Diogenes ought to be using the magician’s floating castle to help the emperor, but he feels obliged to honor his promise to restore Sylva’s body to her—even if it destroys the world. (10,901 words; Time: 36m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Low Bridge! Or The Dark Obstructions, by M. Bennardo

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(Historical Fantasy) On the Erie Canal, a young man and his bride confront an author who doesn’t believe in the supernatural at all. (8,086 words; Time: 26m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

There is almost no speculative element in this story.

Three May Keep a Secret, by Carlie St. George

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(Horror) At a drunken party, Scarlett tells the new boy a ghost story she’d promised her now-dead best friend she’d never repeat. (7,682 words; Time: 25m)

Rating: ★★★★★ Tense yet Endearing

Looking for Laika, by Laura Mauro

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(Alternate History) In 1988 England, 13-year-old Pete obsesses over the threat of nuclear attack, while his 5-year-old sister obsesses over Laika, the space dog. (11,786 words; Time: 39m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

This story barely has any speculative element at all.

Our Sacred Honor, by David Weber

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(Dystopia) Eloise’s little sister is kidnapped and she risks her own life trying to rescue her. (14,791 words; Time: 49m)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ Needs Improvement

Shore Patrol, by Jack Campbell

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(Military SF) Ensign Geary gets stuck with shore patrol at the last minute, and he’s got his hands full. He’s got four of the worst recruits to try to supervise five ships full of sailors, marines, and airmen, and no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse. (7,630 words; Time: 25m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Entertaining, Satisfying, Amusing

Recommended By: RHorton:4

Taste of Ashes, by Charles E. Gannon

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(Space Opera) Trevor Corcoran was one of the few human survivors of the battle at Barnard’s Star. Now the victorious Arat Kur want him to deliver their surrender demands to the leaders on Earth. But is there any way to turn the situation to Earth’s advantage? (15,486 words; Time: 51m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

This should only be read by someone who has already read at least the first two books in the Terran Republic series. Otherwise, it will spoil the story for you.

Night Passage, by Alastair Reynolds

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(SF Adventure) Captain Bernsdottir wakes from hibernation with her ship stalled next to a vast alien artifact and a mutiny in progress. (14,142 words; Time: 47m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Great story with lots of tension and twists.

Recommended By: GDozois:4 RHorton:5

Imperium Imposter, by Jody Lynn Nye

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(Space Opera) Young Lord Thomas was supposed to be abducted as part of a ruse to distract attention while his mentor performed a secret mission. When the mentor is abducted by mistake, Lord Thomas has to execute the mission himself. If he can remember it. (8,986 words; Time: 29m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

The Wages of Honor, by Catherine Asaro

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(SF Adventure) Eldrin and Althor have grown up in the low-tech, honor-based culture of their father’s world, but they are heirs to their mother’s high-tech, off-world culture. At age 16, each will have to choose between honor and necessity, with results that will change them and even their world. (12,098 words; Time: 40m)

Rating: ★★★★★ Great Characters in a Great Setting

The Good Shepherd, by William C. Dietz

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(Military SF) Murphy is a cyborg killing machine. Escorting a teenage girl through a jungle during the middle of a rebellion isn’t what he was designed for, but it’s not what teenage girls are designed for either. (8,211 words; Time: 27m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

I never read any of the other “Legion of the Damned” stories, but I don’t think that’s necessary before reading this one

The Waters Of Kanly, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

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(SF Adventure; Dune) A year after Harkonen treachery killed Duke Atreides, Gurney Halleck leads what remains of his men and plots vengeance against the Harkonen governor. (11,313 words; Time: 37m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Renegat, by Orson Scott Card

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(SF Adventure) Andrew (“Ender”) Wiggin and his sister Valentine arrive on planet Catalunya to investigate the murder of a man who was trying to prove a local life form was intelligent. (16,776 words; Time: 55m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended