What Price Humanity? by David VanDyke

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(Military SF) When Vango, a top pilot for EarthFleet, awakens in virtual reality following a battle against the aliens invading the solar system, he figures they're repairing damage to his body. But something seems wrong. (10,402 words; Time: 34m)

Rating: ★★★★★, Award-Worthy

Flashpoint: Titan, by Cheah Kai Wai

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(Military SF) A Japanese torch ship paying a visit to Titan gets a request for help from the colony, which is under attack. (11,927 words; Time: 39m)

Rating: ★★★★☆, Recommended

Seven Kill Tiger, by Charles W. Shao

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(Near-future SF) Zhang Zedong directs Chinese investments in Africa, but productivity is so poor his superiors are threatening him, so he considers drastic action. (5,124 words; Time: 17m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆, Not Recommended

Asymmetrical warfare, by S.R. Algernon

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(Military SF) Earth is invaded by starfish-like creatures who seem a bit confused about us. (971 words; Time: 03m)

Rating: ★★★★☆, Recommended

Tuesdays With Molakesh the Destroyer, by Megan Grey

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(Slipstream) The teen narrator's mother makes her shovel the drive for their aged neighbor--despite his being a retired demon from Hell. (3,966 words)

Rating: 5, Award-worthy

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Wings of Sorrow and Bone, by Beth Cato

[Single]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Steampunk) Rivka hates how Mr. Cody makes goblin cyborgs for fights in the arena, but what can a foreign teen-age girl in a strange city do to stop him? (28,000 words; Time: 1h:33m)

Recommended By: 🏆Nebula+2 (Q&A)

Although this novella takes place in the author's "Clockwork Dagger's" universe, it stands alone perfectly well.

Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor

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(Space Opera; Binti) Binti sneaks away from her home in a future Namibia so she can attend the galactic university. The Himba never leave home, so her parents disapprove, and the universe isn't quite ready for her either. (20,100 words; Time: 1h:07m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

Recommended By: Nebula Hugo Locus

See related articles on Tor.com.

Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds, by Rose Lemberg

[BCS]

★★★★☆ Recommended

(High Fantasy; Birdverse) Raised by her grandmothers, Aviya thinks about her future, and thinks about trying to find the source of a magical scrap of "cloth of the wind." (14,023 words; Time: 46m)

Recommended By: 🏆₁Nebula+3 📙₂SBerman.L+1 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)

Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, by Kai Ashante Wilson

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(SF "Magic") Demane is a young "sorcerer" whose magic is half-forgotten high-tech. He's helping guard a caravan which needs to pass through the Wildeeps, a place with dangerous magic of its own. (45,100 words; Time: 2h:30m)

Rating: ★★★★★ Award-Worthy

NOTE: Although this work exceeds the 40,000-word limit for a novella, Tor is marketing it as one, and the Hugo rules allow the organizers to treat it as such under section 3.2.7 of the WSFS Constitution. See related articles on Tor.com.

Witches of Lychford, by Paul Cornell

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(Modern Fantasy; Lychford) An English village contains a barrier between worlds, and three very different women must work together to protect it from destruction by a new supermarket. (30,000 words; Time: 1h:40m)

Rating: ★★★★★ Award-Worthy

See related articles on Tor.com.

The Bone Swans of Amandale, C.S.E. Cooney

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(Dark Fantasy) Dora Rose's whole family have been slaughtered. Maurice saves her because he loves her, and is ready to help her get revenge. Even though he's a rat and she's a swan in their true forms.  (28,317 words)

Rating: 4, Recommended

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Black Dog, by Neil Gaiman

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(Horror) A young American man wanders into a gloomy English village where legend tells of a spectral black dog which is the harbinger of death. (13,600 words; Time: 45m)

Rating: ★★★★☆, Recommended

Recommended By: SFEP

Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers, by Alyssa Wong

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(Horror) Meimei dates really bad guys. Who want to use her. Who don't know what they're in for. (6,975 words; Time: 23m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Recommended

Recommended By: SFRevu:4 SFEP JStrahan Nebula KTB

The Lily and the Horn, by Catherynne M. Valente

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(High Fantasy) Laburnum castle hosts key nobles from across the kingdom as well as the king himself for an enormous feast--a feast that's equivalent to a war. (5,223 words)

Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story

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The Father, by Kola Heyward-Rotimi

Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2015; 3,094 words
Rating: 2, Not recommended

The church of the Goddess plans to sacrifice the engineers who recreated the "seeds of the goddess" for them, but Madhav plans to escape.

We Jump Down Into the Dark, by M. Bennardo

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(Hard SF) Anders joins a mission to try to save two people from a colossal space station before it twists itself apart. (~5,284 words)

Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story

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A Brief History of Whaling with Remarks Upon Ancient Practices, by Gabby Reed

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(SF) Learn all about whales in space. This story is NOT available for free online; you have to buy the issue to read it. (1,200 words)

Rating: 1, Needs improvement

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Braid of Days and Wake of Nights, by E. Lily Yu

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(Urban Fantasy) Julia hunts for a mysterious white horse in Central Park, certain it must be a unicorn that can heal her friend who is dying of cancer. (6,480 words; Time: 21m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆, Average

Recommended By: SFRevu:4

Touch Me All Over, by Betsy James

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(Fantasy) Hilil weaves and ties the best knots in Sulik, but a curse causes made things to fall apart at her touch. (5,251 words; Time: 17m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Recommended

Rockets Red, by Mary Robinette Kowal

[Collection]

★★★★☆ Sweet and Moving

(Punchcard Punk; Lady Astronaut) In 1974, twenty years after Mars was settled, Aaron tries to put on the first Martian fireworks display--despite his mother's attempts to help him. A sweet little story. (2,370 words; Time: 07m)

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