Fictional Worlds

PodCastle 600: Flash Fiction Extravaganza — Flash Fiction Contest V Authors : Nathan Susnik, Michelle Muenzler, KT Bryski and R. K. Duncan Narrators : Kai Hudson, Philippa Ballantine, Jen R. Albert and Wilson Fowlie Host : Craig Jackson Discuss … The Cost of the Revolution in Three Marvelous Confections By R. K. Duncan . . . Do you know what we really lost when Tarvagost’s corpse went over the railing and we got the republic? I managed an invitation to the Spire that last night. I was out on…

PodCastle 591: His Giant Heartbeat Author : Natalia Theodoridou Narrator : C. A. Yates Host : Jen R. Albert Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 591: His Giant Heartbeat is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. His Giant… I smoke with my back to the caravan while I wait for B and his client to finish. It’s a drippy afternoon, deep in the fenlands. We’ve parked the caravan next to a mere, marshy and rotten green. via Pocket

PodCastle 592: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — The Axiom of Choice Author : David W. Goldman Narrator : Eric Luke Host : Craig Jackson Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally appeared in The New Haven Review, Winter 2011. Rated … The three of you have lingered outside the darkened club an hour beyond the show’s end. Your palms rest atop your guitar case, which stands vertical before you on the cracked sidewalk. via Pocket

PodCastle 590: Labyrinth, Sanctuary Author : A.E. Prevost Narrator : Lisa Hicks Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in Sword and Sonnet, edited by E Catherine Tobler, Aidan Doyle and Racha… Labyrinth, Sanctuary By A.E. Prevost Constance carves her timeworn tracks into the thirsty rock. With silent steps her footfalls smooth the stone, century into century, grooves and gullies growing green as time and seed take hold. via Pocket

PodCastle 593: Balloon Man Balloon Man By Shiv Ramdas If it hadn’t been for the camel, Mithun might never have noticed the old balloon seller at all. He almost didn’t notice the camel either. If he’d been looking for it, he probably wouldn’t have… If it hadn’t been for the camel, Mithun might never have noticed the old balloon seller at all. He almost didn’t notice the camel either. If he’d been looking for it, he probably wouldn’t have. via Pocket

PodCastle 581: Fathoms Deep and Fathoms Cold Author : Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Narrator : Brian Murphy Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Submerged anthology, edited by S.C. Butler and Joshua Palmatier.  Content w… Fathoms Deep and Fathoms Cold By A. Merc Rustad Tage lights a cigarette and watches the man in the scarlet fedora come nearer. Hat like that’s hard to miss. This one’s his contact. His heartbeat gets quick. The docks are loud, briny, thick with bodi…

PodCastle 582: Life in Stone, Glass, and Plastic Author : José Pablo Iriarte Narrator : Karlo Yeager Rodríguez Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Strange Horizons. Rated: PG-13, for h… Cleaning up graffiti was an everyday job for Sergio, pero esto . . . Could you even call this graffiti? Graffiti normally was spray-painted. Wait — that wasn’t true. Indoor graffiti typically was done in permanent marker. via Pocket

PodCastle 583: The Resurrectionist Author : J. P. Sullivan Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published in the August 2017 issue of Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicin… The Resurrectionist “Yes, I can bring your wife back from the dead,” I told the farmer, who had reasonable doubts about my abilities. “Just realize that it might not be what she wants.” “She wants to see her children again,” he said. He’d told me hi…

PodCastle 584: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — In Metal, In Bone Author : An Owomoyela Narrator : MarBelle Host : C. L. Clark Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Eclipse Online. You can read it here! Rated R, fo… Colonel Gabriel met him in a circle of canvas-topped trucks, in an army jacket despite the heat of the sun.  he stood a head taller than Benine, with skin as dark as peat coal, with terrible scarring on one side of his jaw. via Pocket

British Fantasy Award Shortlist! The dragon is getting stuffed on celebratory cake this week! The British Fantasy Society shortlist has been announced and PodCastle and PseudoPod have both been nominated under the Best Audio category! Also, Alasda… The dragon is getting stuffed on celebratory cake this week! The British Fantasy Society shortlist has been announced and PodCastle and PseudoPod have both been nominated under the Best Audio category! via Pocket British Fantasy Award Shortlist! - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2LF9GjY

PodCastle 585: Getaway Author : Jennifer Hudak Narrator : Jen R. Albert Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 585: Getaway is a PodCastle original. Content warnings for disordered eating, body dysmorp… Ten days after her family installed themselves in their summer cottage on Greenpenny Lake, Leena separated from her body for the first time. She peeled from herself like a sticker from its backing, and hovered inches from the ceiling. via Pocket

PodCastle 586: The Masochist’s Assistant Author : Auston Habershaw Narrator : Matt Dovey Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Rated PG-13, in… Each morning at precisely seven, Georges, famulus to Magus Hugarth Madswom, stabbed his master in the heart. via Pocket

PodCastle 587: Strange Waters Author : Samantha Mills Narrator : C. L. Clark Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Strange Horizons. Rated: PG, for a parent guiding herself home. Strang… Fisherwoman Mika Sandrigal was lost at sea. She knew where she was in relation to the Candorrean coastline and how to navigate back to her home city, Maelstrom. She knew the time of day. She knew the season. She knew the phase of the moon and the pa…

PodCastle 588: Willing Author : Premee Mohamed Narrator : Peter Behravesh Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums First published in Principia Ponderosa anthology by Third Flatiron Press, March 2017. Rated: PG-13… Bought bred, the new cow had cost three thousand dollars, and so as night fell with no sign of the calf, it was Arnold himself who trudged back and forth between the house and the barn, waving away the hired hands. via Pocket

PodCastle 576: When Leopard’s-Bane Came to the Door of Third Heaven Author : Vajra Chandrasekera Narrator : Peter Behravesh Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Liminal. Rated: PG-13, f… We stand at attention all day at the top of the green tower. L and I stand on either side of the door to the third nonsensual heaven. The rifle is heavy and I develop a lean as the day wears on, until L hisses at me from the far side of the door and…

PodCastle 577: Temptation Author : Karuna Riazi Narrator : Farah Naz Rishi Host : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 577: Temptation is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. A special episode in … When was the last time food glided over her tongue? It was funny how Kayla couldn’t even remember what it was she ate. via Pocket

PodCastle 578: The Bone Poet and God Author : Matt Dovey Narrator : Eliza Chan Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Sword and Sonnet. Rated PG. The Bone Poet and God by Matt Dovey Ur… Ursula lifted her snout to look at the mountain. via Pocket

PodCastle 579: I Am Not I — Part 1 Author : G. V. Anderson Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Rated R, for human p… I found the emporium on old Tanners Row. A prime location, to be sure — within pissing distance from a Saps’ slum. Its proprietor, Madame Qlym, boasted better pickings in her own back garden than any other acristologist in the city. via Pocket

PodCastle 580: I Am Not I — Part 2 Author : G. V. Anderson Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Rated: R, for human … I shook the bees from my jacket; they’d got cosy in my pockets and inside the lining. “I’m quite well, I assure you,” I said. I didn’t feel well. The walls and furniture around me seemed to move although I stood still, and small noises crashed in my…

PodCastle 564, ARTEMIS RISING: One More Song Author : Eliza Chan Narrator : Sofia Quintero Host : Elora Gatts Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Artist : Yuumei Discuss on Forums Previously published by World Weaver Press in their Sirens anthol… After Mira closed the door the selkie shed her skin, leaving the mottled grey fur in a heap like stepped-out-of work clothes. Mira handed her one of the many robes hanging on the hat stand and kept her eyes on her blue and green rug, only catching g… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io PodCastle 564, ARTEMIS RISING One More Song - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2SPd5vt

PodCastle 566, ARTEMIS RISING DOUBLE FEATURE: Starr Striker Should Remain Capitol City’s Resident Superhero, by Keisha Cole, 10th Grade Student; All the Fishes Singing Authors : Amanda Helms and Hester J. Rook Narrators : Maxine L. Moore and Nadia… Despite the call to ban Starr Striker from Capitol City for “attacking” Captain Thunder, she should remain our resident superhero. She tweets cute baby octopus pictures every Thursday. via Pocket

PodCastle 567, ARTEMIS RISING: The Weaver Retires Author : Kai Hudson Narrator : Jen R. Albert Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Artist : Yuumei Discuss on Forums PodCastle 567, ARTEMIS RISING: The Weaver Retires is a PodCas… They come from all over: exotic, far-off places with names Weisa can barely pronounce. Australia. Japan. Venezuela. Last week, some alien-sounding place called Pen-sil-vay-ni-yah. Her grandson Ashti says they come because she’s famous. via Pocket

PodCastle 568: The Pull of the Herd Author : Suzan Palumbo Narrator : S.B. Divya Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published at Anathema. Content warning for violence against women. Rated: PG-13… My doeskin calls to me from under the woollen blankets in the cedar chest at the foot of our bed. Diya murmurs beside me, eases back to sleep. I cling to her, try to calm the panic welling in my chest by inhaling her cardamom scent. via Pocket

PodCastle 565, ARTEMIS RISING: I Am Fire; I Am Tears Author : Wendy Nikel Narrator : Veronica Giguere Host : Ace Ratcliff Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Artist : Yuumei Discuss on Forums PodCastle 565, ARTEMIS RISING: I Am Fire; I Am Tears … Ulykke crouched in the darkness, just beyond the sunray’s reach. Before her, along the forest path, an entourage of huntresses passed on horseback, armed with arrows and blades of finest silver and armor too strong for even Ulykke’s teeth to pierce.… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io PodCastle 565, ARTEMIS RISING I Am Fire; I Am Tears - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2u4wyOH

PodCastle 569: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — The Yew’s Embrace Author : Francesca Forrest Narrator : Stephanie Malia Morris Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Peter Behravesh and Peter Wood Discuss on Forums Originally published in Strange Horizons… We could still see the old king’s blood in the cracks in the flagstones beneath the new king’s feet when he announced to us all that this was a unification, not a conquest, and that we had nothing to fear from the soldiers that fenced us round. via …

Flash Fiction Contest V Opens Today! The Escape Artists Flash Fiction Contest opens today! The contest will be taking submissions from today, April 15, 2019, and ending on April 30, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Remember, each author may submit one ori… The Escape Artists Flash Fiction Contest opens today! The contest will be taking submissions from today, April 15, 2019, and ending on April 30, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Remember, each author may submit one original fantasy story of 500 words or les…

PodCastle 570: Elegy for a Slaughtered Swine Author : Rafaela Ferraz Narrator : Carlo Matos Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 570: Elegy for a Slaughtered Swine is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-1… Men do not often cook, out behind these hills. It’s women’s domain, the kitchen, but they’ve shown me the ways of all that is theirs to rule. I could cook up a soup or a curse without leaving this room. The former is simple. Cabbage and potato and s…

PodCastle 571: The Guitar Hero Author : Maria Haskins Narrator : Setsu Uzume Host : Hamilton Perez Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Kaleidotrope. Rated PG-13. The first time Bella, Alice, and I exorc… The first time Bella, Alice, and I exorcised a demon it was an accident: a pentagram doodled backstage, some quotes from The Exorcist, and suddenly that vocalist from the band we were opening for wasn’t quite himself anymore. Who knew hellfire was s…

PodCastle 572: Into the Wind Author : Marie Brennan Narrator : Karen Bovenmyer Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Children of a Different Sky, edited by Alma Alexander. Rated PG. Into the Wind by Marie Bre… The tenements presented a blank face to the border: an unbroken expanse of wall, windowless, gapless, resolutely blind to the place that used to be Oneua. via Pocket