The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex, by Tamsyn Muir

[Single]

★★☆☆☆

(Future Fantasy Mystery) Two young students are attached to a team reopening Dr. Sex’s study after 400 years. But someone seems to have got in 200 years ago and left his or her skeleton there. (8,632 words; Time: 28m)

Yellow and the Perception of Reality, by Maureen F. McHugh

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(SF) June’s sister Wanda suffered some kind of brain damage in an experiment aimed at learning the nature of reality. Two other people died in that experiment, and June would like some answers. (8,800 words; Time: 29m)

Everything's Fine, by Matthew Pridham

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Slipstream Horror) Today’s a big day at work, but just walking there looks to be a death-defying challenge, what with people randomly turning into monsters and such. (4,732 words; Time: 15m)

Juice Like Wounds, by Seanan McGuire

[Single]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Portal Fantasy; Wayward Children) In the Market, every exchange has to give fair value to both sides. Lundy and her friends want to do a quest that’ll generate so much fair value that they never have to work again. But they’re just kids. (5,894 words; Time: 19m)

The Ones Who Look, by Katharine Duckett

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(SF Thriller) Zoe works for a company that uploads people’s minds to “Heaven,” and she dates a coworker from Engineering. She’s very loyal and very work-focused, but even see can see something’s not quite right. (10,827 words; Time: 36m)

The Night Soil Salvagers, by Gregory Norman Bossert

[Single]

★★☆☆☆

(Horror) Night Soil, of course, is human feces, but the salvagers to more than just collect that; they deliver other things too—if you’re willing to deal with them, that is. (6,617 words; Time: 22m)

Two Truths and a Lie, by Sarah Pinsker

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Horror) Stella’s helping an old high-school friend clean out his dead brother’s house, but the brother was a hoarder, and the task is horrible in several ways. (11,890 words; Time: 39m)

We're Here, We're Here, by K.M. Szpara

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(SF Drama) Tyler loves being in a boy band, but the label doesn’t want him showing affection for one of the other boys in the band. (7,437 words; Time: 24m)

The Tourist, by Alex Sherman

[Single]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(SF Horror) A student comes to a remote asteroid to study the “squatters,” genetically modified humans have created a society based on naked mole rats. (5,028 words; Time: 16m)

Beyond the Dragon's Gate, by Yoon Ha Lee

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(SF Thriller) Anna’s an AI expert who’s called in to figure out what a new upgrade is causing AI-captained ships to destroy themselves. (3,925 words; Time: 13m)

Benjamin 2073, by Rjurik Davidson

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Hard SF) Ellie wants to restore the extinct thylacine of Australasia, but her animals keep dying, and her funding it about to be cut. (6,112 words; Time: 20m)

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.

Anything Resembling Love, by S. Qiouyi Lu

[Single]

★★☆☆☆

(Allegory) In a world where people’s sexual discomfort expresses itself visibly but it’s a faux pas to let anyone see it, a girl who expresses centipedes struggles to get by. (5,615 words; Time: 18m)

Of Roses and Kings, by Melissa Marr

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Alice-in-Wonderland Pastiche) After the events in the story, Alice became the new Red Queen, and here, in the words of her Personal Maid, Beatrice, we learn just what sort of queen she became. (8,094 words; Time: 26m)

If you haven’t read the original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this story will make absolutely no sense to you.

An Explorer's Cartography of Already Settled Lands, by Fran Wilde

[Single]

★★☆☆☆

(Exploration) A generation ship arrives at its target planet only to discover a civilization has arisen in the centuries since it was launched. The captain sends the navigator out to explore the planet and see if there’s a place for them there. (3,611 words; Time: 12m)

Recommended By: 👍MHaskins+1 (Q&A)

Go Fish, by Ian Rogers

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Paranormal Investigation) A team of unlikely investigators comes to a warehouse to look into the murder of a security guard whose body was literally torn to shreds. (11,956 words; Time: 39m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

Little Free Library, by Naomi Kritzer

[Single]

★★★★☆ A delightful adventure in books and revolution.

(Uncanny Horror) When Megian sets out her homemade book exchange, a mysterious neighbor starts trading objects and art for the books, but some of the items don’t seem to come from this world at all. (2,518 words; Time: 08m)

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

Cosmic Crust, by Alex Sherman

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Horror) The world is dying, but Bhu’s biggest priority is to keep his dog well-fed. Fortunately, his boss at the restaurant where he works can help him. (5,601 words; Time: 18m)

The Visitor: Kill or Cure, by Mark Lawrence

[Single]

★★★★☆ A Stirring Fight Between Good and Evil

(Superhero Thriller; Wild Cards) Ruby is a powerful “Ace” who cynically does dirty jobs for bad people who help her keep her pain under control. Her world changes when a job puts her in contact with an elusive, childish, but very powerful Ace who won’t give in. (10,283 words; Time: 34m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

This is set in the Wild Cards universe, which diverged from ours in 1946, but to appreciate this story you really only need to be familiar with the premise (i.e. you need to know what “Jokers,” “Aces,” and “Nats” are).

The Night Sun, by Zin E. Rocklyn

[Single]

★★★☆☆

(Horror) A wife and her abusive husband got for a weekend in a remote cabin to try to straighten things out, but the dead deer they hit on the way there is a bad omen. Dead before they hit it, but it walked off anyway. (9,190 words; Time: 30m)