Murmured Under the Moon, by Tim Pratt

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Fun, Clever, and Satisfying

(Portal Fantasy) The mortal head of the Fairy Library finds forces unknown sacking the library and is thrown back to her home in Oakland when she tries to stop them. Librarians don’t give up that easily though. (7,780 words; Time: 25m)

Quality Time, by Ken Liu

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Remarkably accurate and interesting on several levels

(SF Robot) The narrator joins a big Silicon Valley company to work on home robots, and she’s excited when her ideas seem to work out—at first. (8,360 words; Time: 27m)

Recommended By: 📙JStrahan+2 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)

Byzantine Empathy, by Ken Liu

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Thoughtful, Detailed, Shocking

(Near-Future SF) Two women compete to use virtual reality and cryptocurrencies to redirect the money that supports refugees and change the world. But will empathy or reason win? (12,449 words; Time: 41m)

The Fall and Rise of the House of the Wizard Malkuril, by Scott Lynch

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ A great tale of hubris and redemption

(SF Fantasy) When the wizard has a fatal accident, his house AI tries to run things in his absence. (12,659 words; Time: 42m)

The Staff in the Stone, by Garth Nix

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Nice characters, fun plot

(Fantasy Thriller) The villagers find a wizard’s staff sticking out of an ancient stone obelisk, but only Colrean knows just how dangerous it is and what sort of dangers it may attract. (11,314 words; Time: 37m)

Recommended By: 📙JStrahan+2 👍RHorton.r+2 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)

The Governor, by Tim Powers

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Chilling, with Just the Right Twist

(Modern Fantasy Horror) When the old wizard dies in a car accident, his family gets together in his old house to try to find his talisman so they can have control over him before he reincarnates himself. (8,617 words; Time: 28m)

The Lovecraft book in the story is “The Outsiders and Others,” a 500-page collection of Lovecraft’s stories. It has been called “the beginning of serious specialist publishing of fantastic fiction in America.”

The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable, by Matthew Hughes

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ A Different Kind of Magical Contest

(Dark Fantasy Adventure) Masquelayne knows he’s the best magician around, so when he loses a magical contest to an upstart, he’s determined to have his revenge. (10,204 words; Time: 34m)

Master Zhao: The Tale of an Ordinary Time Traveler, by Zhang Ran

[Clarkesworld]

★★★★☆ Well-written and a fun read.

(Time Travel) Master Zhao shares his tale of how he discovered his time-travel ability and what he’s done with it. But why hasn’t he used it to become more successful? (12,833 words; Time: 42m)

The Lady of Butterflies, by Y.M. Pang

[F&SF]

★★★★☆ Captivating

(High Fantasy) A beautiful northern lady appears mysteriously in a southern Emperor’s garden, and Lady Rikara takes care of her while trying to learn who she is and how she got there. (8,952 words; Time: 29m)

Recommended By: 👍RSR+1 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

Mixipoxi Learns to Drive, by Joyce Schmidt and Stanley Schmidt

[Analog]

★★★★☆ A Most Delightful Alien Visitor

(Alien Visitor) Humanity knows there was an alien attack a few years back, they don’t know the government is hiding one. That gets harder when he insists on learning to drive a car. (16,375 words; Time: 54m)

Recommended By: 👍RSR+1 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

Pandora's Pantry, by Stephen L. Burns

[Analog]

★★★★☆ Heartwarming

(Near-Future SF) A live-action, reality-TV cooking show gets an emergency replacement chef who’s not what anyone is expecting—or even knew was possible. (8,922 words; Time: 29m)

Once on the Blue Moon, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ A Guilty Pleasure

(SF Adventure) Twelve-year-old Colette is scary smart and has an attitude to match. When hijackers take over the interplanetary cruise ship she and her parents are on, they don’t know what they’re getting into. (10,690 words; Time: 35m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+1 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)

The Horror of Party Beach, by Dale Bailey

[Lightspeed]

★★★★☆ For Fans of 50s Horror Movies

(SF-Movie Horror) Summer of 1955, the last summer of high school. Mike remembers his girlfriend and how wonderful it was being in love. And he remembers the awful things that happened at the end. (9,434 words; Time: 31m)

The Crow Knight, by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

[BCS]

★★★★☆ Thought-Provoking.

(Epic Fantasy) When an unkillable black crow haunts the princess, Wynn goes beyond the kingdom to find the only weapon that can destroy it. (11,440 words; Time: 38m)

Court of Birth, Court of Strength, by Aliette de Bodard

[BCS]

★★★★☆ Clever, Exciting, Moving

(Alternate History Fantasy; Dominion of the Fallen) In an alternate post-war France, Samariel, a junior fallen angel, appeals to much more powerful one for help recovering a mortal child whom he doted on but who seems to have been kidnapped. (10,641 words; Time: 35m)

There’s no need to read the rest of the Dominion of the Fallen stories in order to enjoy this one; it stands alone quite well. I liked this one well enough that I went and read the rest of the series (which is quite good), so I can attest that it's fine to start with this one.

Nine Last Days on Planet Earth, by Daryl Gregory

[Tor.com]

★★★★☆ Epic story, full of surprises

(Alternate History Alien Invasion) LT is ten when the alien seeds fall, and he spends the rest of his life studying them as they take over more and more of the planet. (11,874 words; Time: 39m)

Singles' Day, by Samantha Murray

[Interzone]

★★★★☆ Four Stories in One

(Dystopia) An overcrowded Earth celebrates “Single’s Day” every November to honor those who stay single. And a few lucky people get a ticket on a starship to a new world. If they’re really ready to go. (9,027 words; Time: 30m)

The Last to Matter, by Adam-Troy Castro

[Lightspeed]

★★★★☆ Who Knew the End of the World Could Be So Entertaining?

(End of the World) The city is dying and its immortal human inhabitants seem inclined to die with it. Except for Kayn. (8,586 words; Time: 28m)

A Study in Oils, by Kelly Robson

[Clarkesworld]

★★★★☆ Interesting Protagonist in an Interesting Setting

(SF Thriller; Lucky Peach) A young hockey player charged with murder on the moon seeks asylum on Earth, but unhappy Lunarians are trying to find him. (12,009 words; Time: 40m)

Recommended By: 👍GTognetti+1 👍KBurnham+2 👍RSR+1 👍STomaino+2 (Q&A)

The Huntsman and the Beast, by Carrie Vaughn

[Asimov's]

★★★★☆ A delightful subversion of Beauty and the Beast

(Fantasy Adventure) The prince’s huntsman finds himself trapped in an abandoned castle, prisoner of a once-human beast. (11,019 words; Time: 36m)