Escape From Caring Seasons, by Sarah Pinsker

[Anthology]

★★★★★ Who Knew a Slow-Motion Chase Could Be So Exciting?

(SF Thriller) Zora and Anya hoped to spend their golden years in an assisted living facility they helped design. But now it’s under new management, which is keeping Anya in the hospital, so Zora decides to break her out. (8,299 words; Time: 27m)

Bloom, by Kate Elliott

[Anthology]

★★★★★ A Rich Setting, A Complex Plot, and Sympathetic Characters

(Alternate History Fantasy; Spiritwalker Trilogy) Autumn House is failing for lack of new magisters, so Titus grudgingly accepts the aid of a young diviner, even if she is a woman. (16,441 words; Time: 54m)

The Wolf and the Manticore, by Greg van Eekhout

[Anthology]

★★★★★ A Slipstream Thriller in a Dog-Eat-Dog World

(Alternate Reality Dark Fantasy) Agnes works at the La Brea Tar Pits helping the Kingdom of Southern California make magical munitions, but she’s secretly spying for the Northern Californians. Unfortunately, someone has figured this out. (10,430 words; Time: 34m)

Fitting In, by Max Gladstone

[Tor.com]

★★★★★ Loveable characters in a great caper tale

(Superhero; Wild Cards) A retired superhero and a conspiracy theorist join forces to gather evidence against a mobster who’s trying to force their friend to sell her property to him. (13,710 words; Time: 45m)

Intervention, by Kelly Robson

[Anthology]

★★★★★ Rich Interplay of Characters and Setting

(SF Adventure; Lucky Peach) Jules loves children and has been doing crèche work for fifty years. Her final crèche graduates soon, and she’s got a choice of places in the solar system she might go. (8,736 words; Time: 29m)

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

This is set in the Lucky Peach universe, but with different characters in a different place and time, so there's no issue with reading this first, nor any need to read the other material to enjoy this story.

When We Were Starless, by Simone Heller

[Clarkesworld]

★★★★★ Touching and Bittersweet, with Tension and Excitement

(Post-Apocalypse; Shrouded Earth) In the ruins of far-future Earth, Mink’s tribe desperately needs the resources of a large building that vanished humanity left, but she needs to purge it of “ghosts” first—and it has lots of them. (13,204 words; Time: 44m)

Inscribed on Dark Water, by Gregor Hartmann

[Interzone]

★★★★★ Good characters, Cool Setting, Great Story

(Colony SF; Zephyr) Olani’s internship is a disappointment. She’s a glorified janitor, her boss is a religious fanatic, and now a crew of inspectors may shut the whole operation down. Which might also be an opportunity. (8,205 words; Time: 27m)

Although the author has many other stories set on planet Zephyr, this is a completely stand-alone story; you lose nothing by reading this one first.

Harry and Marlowe and the Secret of Ahomana, by Carrie Vaughn

[Lightspeed]

★★★★★ Cool setting, fun characters, interesting conflicts

(Steampunk Adventure; Harry and Marlowe) In a storm, in an alternate 1890s South Pacific, their airship crashes on a Pacific Island occupied by surprisingly high-tech natives. (9,971 words; Time: 33m)

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

Broken Wings, by William Ledbetter

[F&SF]

★★★★★ A Great Adventure With Great Characters

(SF Adventure) Marcie’s “boyfriend” comes into Deimos station unexpectedly with an even more unexpected cargo. He wants her help, but they’ve never met in person, and the cargo isn’t the only unexpected thing. (9,031 words; Time: 30m)

Lieutenant Tightass, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Exciting story with good characters

(Space Opera; Diving Universe) Coop is eager to make a difference in his first mission as a new lieutenant on a search-and-rescue ship, but the rest of the crew doesn’t seem to work very hard or care very much, and they definitely don’t appreciate his meddling. (12,872 words; Time: 42m)

Recommended By: SFRevu+1 GTognetti+1

Although this story is set in the author’s Diving Universe series, it’s a prequel to the others, so it has no dependencies on the rest, nor does it spoil any of the later stories. This makes it an excellent starting point for the series as a whole, as well as a great stand-alone read

What Is Eve?, by Will McIntosh

[Lightspeed]

★★★★★ Clever plot with great characters

(YA SF) Ben’s parents send him to a special camp for gifted students, but the camp rules are very strange and one of his classmates is so weird he wonders if she’s from another planet. (10,145 words; Time: 33m)

Cry of Desire in a Shrouded Land, by Emily McIntyre

[BCS]

★★★★★ A Gripping Tale, Spun from Many Threads

(High Fantasy) Lukas has grown rich selling his magic wish-fulfillment tea, but he’s dissatisfied, and his wife is looking elsewhere. Two young people come into their lives and everything changes. (10,808 words; Time: 36m)