“Short stories, more than anything, are a snapshot of an author in a particular time and place, and the stories collected here are no exception. Authors, like all people, grow and change throughout the years, and while certain themes may recur throughout a body of work, the person writing the story, if they are lucky,…
Tag: Kidnapping
The Fake Divination Offense by Sara Raasch
“To be fair, we were broken for a very long time. And I’m not saying we’re both perfectly functional, wholly healed adults—gods, no. But I think you see healing as a straight line, and any symptoms mean going backward, but I’ve found healing is more of a …squiggle.” Orok star defensive tank on the Philadelphia…
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton
“All may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology. Cheating is practically one of our scientific principles.” Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, capturing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain,…
Ghostsmith by Nicki Pau Preto
“I am a bonesmith, like my father before me, and the best damn valkyr of my generation. I can’t command your ghost, but I can break your fucking bones.” Wren is still reeling from the revelation that the mother she thought was dead is actually the Corpse Queen, a ghostsmith with the terrifying power to…
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
“Your enemy looking like you—recognizing yourself in your enemy—made it so much worse because it mirrored back to you all the darkness you held.” Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service…
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi
“We all live to serve you. I had forgotten that for a moment, but don’t worry, my king, I will not forget again.” Òdòdó’s hometown of Timbuktu has been conquered by the the warrior king of Yorùbáland. Already shunned as social pariahs, living conditions for Òdòdó and the other women in her blacksmith guild grow…
Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto
“Reaping might provide peace, but the undead wanted to live, just like everything else.” From Goodreads: In the Dominions, the dead linger, violent and unpredictable, unless a bonesmith severs the ghost from its earthly remains. For bonesmith Wren, becoming a valkyr—a ghost-fighting warrior—is a chance to solidify her place in the noble House of Bone…
Eartheater by Dolores Reyes
“Señorita Ana came to me on nights I slept without waking. In my dreams, below the sign she was found under and over earth made electric by the acrid light that exuded off bones turning to dust, Señorita Ana rotted like flesh off a dead dog on the road. Her bones weren’t meek like domesticated…
Ravensong by TJ Klune
“It’s perfect because it’s imperfect. Like you. Like Gordo. Like all of us. It’s perfect because of the intent. Of what it means.” Gordo Livingstone never forgot the lessons carved into his skin. Hardened by the betrayal of a pack who left him behind, he sought solace in the garage in his tiny mountain town,…
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
“Sometimes you risk everything for a life worth living, even if you’re not the one that’ll be alive to see it.” Stolen from Goodreads: In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are…
The Great Book Wyrm 