Fictional Worlds

PodCastle 601: A Thousand Tongues of Silver Author : Kate Heartfield Narrator : Alyson Grauer Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Lackington’s. Rated PG-13. A Thousand Tongues of Silv… PodCastle 601 A Thousand Tongues of Silver - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/332TgWL I am a book. My pages are purple. This is how they made me. First, they flayed the calves, stretched and scraped their wet skins. Then they mixed lichen and leaves, rotted in human urine, to mimic the purple that comes of torturing sea snails to for… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

Grampa Leg heaved his large, square frame from the floor and trundled across the family room to where the youngster sat. Deep in concerned thought, the child twiddled his long fingers, picking at the rubbery fingertips. Ma watched from the corner of…

PodCastle 602: Franken-Puppy Author : Derek Künsken Narrators : Jay Odjick, Charlotte Ashley, J. M. Frey, Rati Mehrotra, Sylvain Neuvel, KT Bryski and Brandon Crilly Host : Jen R. Albert Audio Producer : KT Bryski Discuss on Forums PodCastle 6… In the third yard, the puppy darted a suspicious look back at its tail. Then, as if remembering what he’d been doing, he swung his head forward, panted, and sat in the grass. Beyond the ratty picket fence, patched skyscrapers stood in the hazy blue …

Captain Agnes Parker rubbed the back of her sore neck and rolled her shoulders. If anyone had told her how many tedious tasks a captain had to deal with every week… Currently, she was examining the ship supply lists as certain items kept going astra…

PodCastle 603: Copy Cat Authors : K. A. Teryna and Alex Shvartsman Narrator : Yaroslav Barsukov Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Strange Horizons. Rated PG-13 for cunning felines an… Imagine a Russian cat. Not just any Russian cat, but a cat from Leningrad. Those who claim passing familiarity with Russian literature might imagine a cat straight off the pages of Pushkin or Bulgakov. via Pocket

We came to their planet to study them. But we found their understanding of the universal mechanisms to be shockingly limited. We’ve managed to locate only one man, thus far, among billions, who possesses any true grasp of the situation. His name is …

PodCastle 604: No Mercy to the Rest Author : Bennett North Narrator : C. L. Clark Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 604: No Mercy to the Rest is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13 for super-villain… Sadie parked in the lee of Castle Inferno, where she would be spared from the wind, and sat while the engine ticked, trying to convince herself to let go of the steering wheel. The castle stood stark against the sky, dark stone walls leaching the sa… PodCastle 604 No Mercy to the Rest - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/36pB6ka

Since I woke up in the base hospital, there’s been a steady stream of people coming and going and being nice to me in between. The burns on my hands are being dealt with: they don’t hurt at all now. The skin just feels tight under the bandages. via …

PodCastle 607: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — Who in Mortal Chains Author : Claire Humphrey Narrator : Julia Rios Hosts : Jen R. Albert and KT Bryski Audio Producer : KT Bryski Discuss on Forums Originally published by Strange Horizons. Previously a… Ryder was a brewer in those days, when brewing was a thing no one much cared to do. He was well loved among a circle of twenty or so, every one with a lost art. Mylene was a weaver; Tom worked leather; Eskil kept bees. via Pocket

Tomi Mura, a specialist in inter-planetary law, sat aboard a six-person capsule en route to Planet Arazan. The magnetic-field modulator of the small hyperbolically propulsed vessel gave her the sensation of gliding gently through the depths of an im…

PodCastle 608: The Epic of Sakina — Part 1 Author : Shari Paul Narrator : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fiyah Lit Mag Issue 5. Rated PG-13. The Epic of Sa… The moon was a pale, golden disc in a lavender sky. Sakina, in a brilliant blue caftan that brought out the colour in her skin and eyes, strummed her kora a few times to check the tuning. via Pocket

The queue was massively long. Fridays were always the busiest. Everyone would clock off early so that they could get a decent night’s sleep. Garth was probably thirty people away from the check-in point and the building’s entrance. He checked his wa…

PodCastle 608: The Epic of Sakina — Part 2 Author : Shari Paul Narrator : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Fiyah Lit Mag Issue 5. Rated PG-13. The Epic of Sa… The ride back to her father’s house had never felt so long, doubly so under Naima’s interrogation. Sometime during the wait for Sakina’s return at the barracks, Naima had spoken to a few of the guards and decided that Leif was a djinn. via Pocket

Author: Jae Miles, Staff Writer Where did your rock ‘n’ roll fable go, Ella May? Did it get lost way back amongst the evergreens, or did it get too close to the railroad tracks, and go under them drivin’ wheels? “Can I help you?” I remember when you…

PodCastle 606: River’s Giving Authors : Heather Shaw, Tim Pratt and River Shaw Narrator : Kyle Akers Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : KT Bryski Discuss on Forums PodCastle 606: River’s Giving is a PodCastle original. Rated PG for jolly old… Once upon a time, there was a boy named Alexander who lived in a village by a river in a valley in the shadow of a mountain. Every year when the days grew short and the air grew cold and the snow fell, the village would hold a celebration called Riv… PodCastle 606 River's Giving - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2ER9ngo

Author: David C. Nutt The Bailiff stood and took a deep breath. Once he prided himself on being able to do his entire spiel in one breath. However, with the newest fad of rolling one’s last three past lives into one’s current name…well, breath frequ…

PodCastle 610: Charlemagne and Florent Author : Ranylt Richildis Narrator : Dominik Parisien Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums First published by Myths Inscribed. Rated PG. Charlemagne and Florent By Rany… This is what happened to les deux bretons before I met them, back in the 70s when they were boys in Vannes. One was abandoned at nineteen months (no one knows why, or by whom), the other orphaned by a car wreck at age three. via Pocket

Author: Alex Z. Salinas I pressed my palm against the reinforced window in my bedroom. The glass felt cool, exactly like they felt in my previous life. The difference was that on the other side of this one, there was stretched before me an infinite …

For Your Consideration: PodCastle Award Eligibility 2019 In 2019, PodCastle produced 15 original stories and 33 reprints. For your consideration, we present the Escape Artists stories which are eligible for nomination in the upcoming award season. … In 2019, PodCastle produced 14 original stories and 34 reprints. For your consideration, we present the Escape Artists stories which are eligible for nomination in the upcoming award season. PodCastle itself is eligible for the Best Semiprozine Hugo…

Sean sighed as he leaned his head back against the tree. The good ones always left him with this amalgamation of thoughts and feelings, this clash of excitement and longing with the realization of routine and boredom. via Pocket

PodCastle 611: Yo, Rapunzel! Author : Kyle Kirrin Narrators : Alasdair Stuart, C. L. Clark, Setsu Uzume, Matt Dovey, Jen R. Albert, Peter Behravesh and Mur Lafferty Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastl… Yo, Rapunzel! And lo, the Princess said: “Motherfucker, I am content.” “But Princess!” said the Knight, from the base of the Princess’ tower. His armor-clad ass was parked atop a huge black stallion, which the Princess found not only pompous, but en… PodCastle 611 Yo, Rapunzel! - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2U6ZNyz

It made headlines. It was the talk of social media for a week which is, like, forever. No one knew who and that was cause for amazement too; since World Citizenship came online there simply weren’t any unknowns left. It was crazy! via Pocket

PodCastle 612: She Searches for God in the Storm Within Author : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Narrator : Stephanie Malia Morris Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Originally published in Sword and Sonnet. Content warning: domestic v… When I arrived at my grandmother’s, in the stillness of predawn, like some restless cat stalking, she was waiting for me on the front porch. It was as if she’d been expecting me. I suppose if she had been watching the sky, she was, because I could b…

Rick saw the Universe in folds. He coded a program that could make anything in origami. You put in, say, a rhino, and it would make the plan, complete with lines for the folds, and when you were finished, it looked exactly like that rhino. Exactly. …

PodCastle 613: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — Hoywverch Author : Heather Rose Jones Narrator : Sarah Goleman Host : C. L. Clark Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums This story was a PodCastle original that aired back in 2015. Rated PG.… Elin verch Gwir Goch oed yn arglwydes ar Cantref Madruniawn wrth na bo i’w thad na meibion na brodyr. A threigylgweith dyvot yn y medwl vynet y hela. Ac wrth dilyt y cwn, hi a glywei llef gwylan. Ac edrych i fyny arni yn troi, a synnu wrthi. A’y the…

Author: David C. Nutt “How’d did your last trip go Vincent?” (Sigh) “Not good Director. We keep hitting the same walls. No matter what we do, nothing has an effect.” “Nothing?” “You heard it right chief, nothing.” “Maybe we should go for a larger ef…

PodCastle 614: White Noon Author : Aidan Doyle Narrator : Julie Hoverson Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 614: White Noon is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. White Noon By Aidan Doyle The do… The dogs’ barking let me know I had visitors. I reluctantly left my chair by the fire, pulled on my boots, and took my thundergun from its place on the wall. I rarely had any visitors apart from Magnus, which was how the dogs and I liked it. via Poc…

Tapestries hang on the walls of a room where anatomical diagrams and scientific charts would have been, centuries ago. Two men stand reading a display that floats above the supine form on the chrome table at the centre of the room. via Pocket

Rated R for adult themes. The stagecoach lurches to a halt in a clearing beside the road. Four wild-eyed black geldings rear up and whinny as the top-hatted stage driver cracks a whip over their heads. via Pocket

‘So, what’s your star sign?’ Mary asked, and took a sip from her glass, she watched him closely over the rim. It was one of her stock questions on first dates. You could tell a lot about a man, depending on how he reacted. His actual star sign was i…