The Transubstantiation, by Evan Dicken

[BCS]

★★★★★ When Heroes fall, there are still heroes.

(Fantasy Adventure) Deff and his team hunt the countryside for illegal Heroes, whom they kill and then sell the body parts. Something truly terrible happened with these “Heroes” in the recent past, and it’s not entirely done. (11,386 words; Time: 37m)

An Important Failure, by Rebecca Campbell

[Clarkesworld]

★★★★★ A story of an obsession to make something beautiful in a world that’s falling apart.

(Climate SF) In a world desperate for wood for fires and paper, a man and his brother look for a tree good enough to make a world-class violin. (9,702 words; Time: 32m)

Knock, Knock Said the Ship, by Rati Mehrotra

[F&SF]

★★★★★ Solid Characters, Interesting Plot, Heartwarming.

(SF Thriller) Deenu, a refugee from the destroyed Lunar colony carrying a debt she’ll never pay back, works a dead-end job on a slightly shady cargo ship with a slightly unhinged AI. And then the cops show up. (5,708 words; Time: 19m)

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

Clever Jack, Heavy with Stories, by R.K. Duncan

[BCS]

★★★★★ An unexpected adventure in a beautiful, dangerous place.

(Portal Fairy Tale) Teenage Jack, the cook’s boy, and Roderick, Lord Robert’s son, are unlikely but unshakable friends, even when Roderick has to marry a grown woman. Even when Jack has to venture to elf-land to rescue them. (6,002 words; Time: 20m)

Recommended By: 👍GTognetti+1 (Q&A)

Berlin Is Never Berlin, by Marko Kloos

[Single]

★★★★★ Well-Paced Tension and Action with a Heart of Gold.

(Superhero; Wild Cards) Babysitting/bodyguarding a group of rich kids should be easy money, especially for a tough joker-ace like Khan—provided he doesn’t end up killing them himself. (17,389 words; Time: 57m)

You need to at least understand the premise of the Wildcards series to make any sense out of this story.

Eyes of the Forest, by Ray Nayler

[F&SF]

★★★★★ Plenty of excitement in a beautiful, deadly setting.

(SF Adventure) To become a Wayfarer, Sedef needs to master the dangers of the forest on her planet, which kills anything that doesn’t glow. And she has to survive an emergency run, seven hours each way, alone. (5,667 words; Time: 18m)

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

Byzantine, by Holly Messinger

[F&SF]

★★★★★ A delightfully complex tale at the end of an era.

(Historical Fantasy) In 1453, just before the fall of Constantinople, a slave boy secretly learns from a djinn and looks for a way out. (18,326 words; Time: 1h:01m)

A Solitary Crane Circles Cold Mountain, by Gregor Hartmann

[F&SF]

★★★★★ Cool characters in a chilling setting.

(Dystopia) Lili’s Foundation is close to launching their generation ship if Lili can figure a way to make the society stable and if the world government can be convinced it doesn’t undermine harmony. (6,025 words; Time: 20m)

The Last Legend, by Matthew Hughes

[F&SF]

★★★★★ A moving story with plenty of tension and excitement.

(Fantasy Adventure) When young Ardal’s parents die, his future prospects get worse and worse until he flees town with little more than the clothes on his back and a book of children’s stories. (11,226 words; Time: 37m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

Finna, by Nino Cipri

[Single]

★★★★★ A love story, and adventure story, and a tale of finding yourself

(Multiverse Adventure) When a wormhole opens up in the furniture store where they work, teenage Ava and her non-binary ex are ordered to go in it to hunt for a missing customer. (25,710 words; Time: 1h:25m)

See related articles on Tor.com.

Opportunity Space, by Nathan Hillstrom

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Rich Setting, Cool Characters, Great Action!

(Space Opera) If Kova can convince the Washe to sign the agreement with the Fiscality, she’ll save their species from extinction and advance her career hugely, but they’re reluctant to sign, her ship is under attack, and there’s something really weird going on. (13,020 words; Time: 43m)

Semper Augustus, by Nancy Kress

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Rich setting, Cool Characters, Great Writing

(Dystopia) Alien technology has been a big boon for some Americans, but everyone else has slid into poverty. Little Jennie knows things should be better, and over time, she tries different ways to change her world. (40,182 words; Time: 2h:13m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+2 (Q&A)

Midstrathe Exploding, by Andy Dudak

[Analog]

★★★★★ Really cool setting, interesting characters

(Future Fantasy) Two-hundred years after the bomb, tourists come from all over to stand behind the slowly expanding temporal wave-front and witness the slow-motion destruction of Midstrathe. (3,190 words; Time: 10m)

If You Take My Meaning, by Charlie Jane Anders

[Single]

★★★★★ Cool Setting, Fun Characters, Interesting Plot

(Colony SF) Alyssa seeks out the aliens who can give her an augment that will let her exchange thoughts and feelings with other humans. But why does she want it, and what is the cost? (8,540 words; Time: 28m)

Upright Women Wanted, by Sarah Gailey

[Single]

★★★★★ A Powerful Coming-of-Age Story

(Post-Apocalypse Dystopia) Esther needs to escape from a theo-fascist America before people find out she’s a lesbian, so she runs away with the women who run a travelling library, but they’re not what she thinks they are. (36,523 words; Time: 2h:01m)

See related articles on Tor.com.

Generation Gap, by Thoraiya Dyer

[Clarkesworld]

★★★★★ Unexpectedly Powerful

(Alien SF) Young Wipwai’s tribe has always fought their neighbors, but she’s secretly made friends with one of them, and they plot a future of peace. (9,996 words; Time: 33m)

Monster, by Naomi Kritzer

[Clarkesworld]

★★★★★ Overwhelming

(SF Thriller) Cecily goes in search of her highschool best friend, who seems to have hidden in China where he’s using her research to try to create enhanced human beings. (10,936 words; Time: 36m)

The Palace Of Dancing Dogs, by Allen M. Steele

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Good Conclusion to a Fun Adventure

(Lost Colony; Sanctuary) The story concludes with the humans from Sanctuary coming to the capital of the empire, where they can present their case to the Empress herself. Assuming they can get her to listen. (22,980 words; Time: 1h:16m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

You must read this series from the beginning for this story to make any sense. It will help a lot if you’ve also read the original short story, Sanctuary, which describes what happened to the original starships to visit τ Ceti-e .

The Menace from Farside, by Ian McDonald

[Single]

★★★★★ Lots of Fun and Excitement Once It Gets Going

(Hard SF Adventure; Luna) A teenage girl from a very non-traditional lunar family leads her siblings on a dangerous adventure to see the first footprint on the moon. (32,317 words; Time: 1h:47m)

This story has a bit of a slow start, but there’s plenty of fun and excitement once the kids get out onto the lunar surface. This is a good way to get into the author’s Luna series, which includes a number of novels and short stories, because this story is a prequel and pretty much stands alone. See related articles on Tor.com.

Shucked, by Sam J. Miller

[F&SF]

★★★★★ Perfectly Chilling

(Horror) A young American couple in Italy gets a proposition from an older man: $10,000 for an hour of the young man’s time. They do need the money, but . . . (4,181 words; Time: 13m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+1 (Q&A)