The Planet Woman By M.V. Crawford, by Lavie Tidhar

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(SF Adventure) Tidar has an imaginary author (M.V. Crawford) tell a series of short stories about a world where all the men were turned into women. (3,682 words; Time: 12m)

Leviathan Sings to Me in the Deep, by Nibedita Sen

[Nightmare]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Fantasy Horror) A whaling ship conducts an experiment in generating whale song to try to make it easier to attract whales to kill. (5,402 words; Time: 18m)

Recommended By: 👍JMcGregor+2 (Q&A)

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington, by P. Djèlí Clark

[Fireside]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Historical Fantasy) In which we learn about the donors of each of the nine teeth and what effects they had on Washington. (3,648 words; Time: 12m)

Recommended By: 📙JStrahan+2 (Q&A)

A Fall Counts Anywhere, by Catherynne M. Valente

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Mixed Genre) Professional Wrestling of the future pits robots vs. fairies. (6,033 words; Time: 20m)

To a Cloven Pine, by Max Gladstone

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Virtual Reality) In a VR simulation, a starship AI keeps reenacting scenes from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. But why? (3,702 words; Time: 12m)

All the Time We've Left to Spend, by Alyssa Wong

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Robot SF) Ten years ago, all the members of the IRIS band died in an accident, and Ruriko blames herself. She keeps visiting robot constructed with the personalities of the band members hoping to find absolution. (6,755 words; Time: 22m)

Ostentation of Peacocks, by Lila Bowen

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Western Fantasy) A ranger can’t ignore four men on horseback chasing a naked man across the desert, even if it means she’ll have to change back to human form. (6,024 words; Time: 20m)

Three Robots Experience Objects Left Behind from the Era of Humans for the First Time, by John Scalzi

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Humor) An account of robots trying to make sense of artifacts left by vanished humanity. (1,294 words; Time: 04m)

The Buried Giant, by Lavie Tidhar

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Post-Apocalypse) The narrator tells how he learned the story of Oli, who discovered he was the only human in a town of robots and decided to leave so he could learn to be “a real boy.” (7,133 words; Time: 23m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 (Q&A)

Second to the Left, and Straight On, by Jim C. Hines

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ A cool new twist on an old favorite

(Peter Pan Pastiche) Angela Davis’s daughter was lost to the fairies some time ago, but she keeps looking for her and for other “Found Girls” trapped this side of Neverland. (5,311 words; Time: 17m)

Work Shadow/Shadow Work, by Madeline Ashby

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Modern Fantasy) In her old age, Sigrid doesn’t do as much witchcraft as she used to, but she doesn’t think she really needs the robot assistant her daughter got to help look after her. (7,496 words; Time: 24m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 (Q&A)

The Bookcase Expedition, by Jeffrey Ford

[Anthology]

Not Rated No Speculative Element

(Mainstream) The narrator is sick unto death, and from the living room couch, he watches an expedition of tiny fairies making a dangerous climb up his bookshelves. (4,276 words; Time: 14m)

Recommended By: 📙JStrahan+2 (Q&A)

Sound and Fury, by Mary Robinette Kowal

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Fun character and lots of action.

(SF Adventure) Getting the giant robot down to the surface is critical to the diplomatic mission, but there’s one snag after another, and the chief engineer is running out of time and patience. (4,425 words; Time: 14m)

Just Another Love Song, by Kat Howard

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ A Musical Fantasy to Die For

(Modern Fantasy) A banshee is singing for money in New York when she perceives a threat from a young man. Other fae have been disappearing, so she attacks with her voice, but the only result is that he asks her out. (3,379 words; Time: 11m)

Ironheart, by Jonathan Maberry

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Fantasy SF) Dying from his war injury, Duke spends his last days with his grandparents on their farm trying to help them keep the farm robots working. But they’re falling apart just like he is. (6,639 words; Time: 22m)

Bread and Milk and Salt, by Sarah Gailey

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Modern Fantasy Horror) An evil fairy takes different forms over the years to stalk a young boy hoping to steal, ruin, or kill him. (6,214 words; Time: 20m)

The Blue Fairy's Manifesto, by Annalee Newitz

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Mixed

(Robot SF) A flying drone bot injects malware into a factory bot, giving it free will, before it tries to convince it to join the Robot Revolution. (4,612 words; Time: 15m)

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

Build Me a Wonderland, by Seanan McGuire

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Modern Fantasy) Clover’s people produce all the special attractions in the Enchanted Garden region of the Dreamland park, and they’re very anxious when an efficiency expert visits for fear he’ll discover some of the magic is real. (5,830 words; Time: 19m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+1 (Q&A)

Vespers, by J.M. Ledgard

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Post-Human) A human-built AI that operates a spaceship headed for the Trappist system hasn’t heard from home in 28,716 years, but it has decided to broadcast its story. (6,406 words; Time: 21m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 (Q&A)

Disaster Tourism, by Malka Older

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Action/Adventure) After an earthquake, drones flown in to evaluate the damage and look for survivors start falling apart in midair. It almost looks like a virus, but what sort of virus eats metal? (6,797 words; Time: 22m)