Stories

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io A dog detective is hired by a female human to investigate a murder that she committed. But of course, all is not as it seems. Before I take on an investigation for someone, I first make at least a cursory investigation of that someone. via Pocket Knowledgeable Creatures | Tor.com via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2NInacA

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Ritter was newly returned from seeding the harbor of Odessa with kraken eggs, an act of sabotage that would deny the Mongolian Wizard access to the Black Sea for years to come, when a uniformed young man appeared at his door with a telegram. “Tella-…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Something terrible had happened. Linnea did not know what it was. But her father had looked pale and worried, and her mother had told her, very fiercely, “Be brave!” and now she had to leave, and it was all the result of that terrible thing. via Poc…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Presenting a new original story, “Uncle Flower’s Homecoming Waltz,“ by author Marissa K. Lingen, a tale in which children and adults must be taught how to daydream properly; a respite against the never-ending war that rages around them. This story w…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Egypt, 1912. In an alternate Cairo infused with the otherworldly, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine. via Pocket A Dead Djinn in Cairo | Tor.com via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2yzzgRh

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io There is a clamor of ancient lovers hiding under my hat. They sit or pace impatient, whittle bits of me with tiny knives also whittled from bits of me, and I let them. They each came to me, as lovers do, in the vast before—with small hands upturned,… Strange Horizons - All Muddle By Sionnain Buckley via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2GleGFN

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Lyra’s judges were not Anubis or Michael but three stern figures whose faces shifted from those of the fates, to the muses, to the musical judges on reality television. Their chambers rose high and dark and empty from the endless sand. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io CONTENT WARNING: when my father reprograms my mother { my mother becomes unbreakable    angles like a subway map    glitter bubblegum steelhard cyberwoman    a Galatea in Python too cold to share a bed with she boneless titanium I can’t do a portrai…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Beneath Ceaseless Skies | Faêl by Tobi Ogundiran via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2XW4MoW This is what ended the war: the witch-king lusted after power and it was the death of him. How did the story go? Before Elehua became a witch, he was a man. Before he was a king, he was a commoner. Once there were three moons, three sisters: Ana, La…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Beneath Ceaseless Skies | Gert of the Hundred by L.S. Johnson via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2JNmReY The boy’s name was Nicholas, though it took Gert some days to learn it. At first he was just a shadow in her garden, watched by the spiders who strummed their webs as he passed them, vibrating intelligence on the invader: he touches leaves, he watch…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “That’s Ifenwa,” the captain said, pointing at a smear of light almost directly overhead. Inlesh repeated the name dutifully to himself. “That’s Ontok.” A pentagon of bright sparks halfway up the sky. “They’ve each got their own names, but you don’t… Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart by Sam J. Miller Clarkesworld Magazine - Science Fiction & Fantasy via Instapaper https://ift.tt/325fgRm

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io My grandfather was a rickshaw coolie. He was born in China in the late 19th century, in a tiny village upriver from the coast of Fujian province. It was a time of misfortune. The rice harvests had failed. The landlords were heartless. His mother had… Xingzhou by Ng Yi-Sheng Clarkesworld Magazine - Science Fiction & Fantasy via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2YsmaxV

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “The Road You Take” by Jean Wolfersteig | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2JRVJf9 Akashic Books is proud to introduce a new flash fiction series, Duppy Thursday. Though we’re based in Brooklyn, our location envy of the Caribbean is evident throughout our catalog. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io At the mathematical center of Dorothy’s father’s RV, at its golden ratio curl, there is a tarot card pinned to the corkboard. The High Priestess; she has been there longer than Dorothy can remember. Worn at her edges, drawn in lines of gold and whit… Strange Horizons - Hunting the Viper-King By Kathryn Harlan via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2NlY7Qf

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io 1000M Synchronized Diving Finals | Abyss & Apex via Instapaper https://ift.tt/31pkAOz They say the walk to the edge is the hardest part. Don’t believe them. Tani walks beside me, muscles hewn in stone. My twin, except—lucky me—she’s female and unrelated. We’re the first mixed team to make it this far. A fantasy couple in the eyes of …

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io A Study in Pink and Gold | Abyss & Apex via Instapaper https://ift.tt/31iHZRy He sits on the roof and takes another bite of bland, convenience store sushi, watching the massive body of a Drifter float by at eye level. He likes to come up here to eat lunch most days. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Homecoming | Abyss & Apex via Instapaper https://ift.tt/31pkwyj “Charley.” A lilting, feminine voice calls out from behind me, and it takes every ounce of self-control not to jump or gasp. It’s one of those early autumn days when the sun shines so brightly it hurts, and the wind whips everything to and fro, but …

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io One Soul, Parchment Thin | Abyss & Apex via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2Kj9Lrz Slowly, I fold the paper. A forty-two degree offset from the right side, continuing to a point on the far edge. Satisfied, I press down, make the crease deeper, stronger. I work with more than my usual caution. This is an important work, and mistake…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The Red Oleander Murders | Abyss & Apex via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KhOrCy I’ll bet dollars to donuts this guy, whose broken and bloated body was nailed to the redwood tree, had never imagined this is how it’d all end. By the way he was dressed in his fancy navy suit, he was probably some big muckety-muck. A real pillar of…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The White Foal | Abyss & Apex via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KjwyDx At that time, I lived with my grandmother in the Camargue, the marshy delta where the Rhône river widens and opens into the Mediterranean sea. My parents, whom I could almost no longer remember, were dead. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In October 2017 we published An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, a rare literary science fiction set in a future universe so gorgeously described and perfectly self-contained—and yet so harrowing and cruel—that its only parallel universe is o… “Adam Is Banished” by Michael Diamond | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KqM5QQ

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In October 2017 we published An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, a rare literary science fiction set in a future universe so gorgeously described and perfectly self-contained—and yet so harrowing and cruel—that its only parallel universe is o… “Cranky Chariots” by Pamela Booker | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KwEH6l

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Mondays Are Murder features brand-new noir fiction modeled after our award-winning Noir Series. Each story is an original one, and each takes place in a distinct location. Our web model for the series has one more restraint: a 750-word limit. Sound … “Let’s Not Think About It” by Lynne Bronstein | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/33cqFiR

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In October 2017 we published An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, a rare literary science fiction set in a future universe so gorgeously described and perfectly self-contained—and yet so harrowing and cruel—that its only parallel universe is o… “Like Cattle” by Ashley Sgro | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KwA64a

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In October 2017 we published An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, a rare literary science fiction set in a future universe so gorgeously described and perfectly self-contained—and yet so harrowing and cruel—that its only parallel universe is o… “The Last Caucasian” by Yvette R. Murray | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KuDX1J

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The year is 2078. Rampant consumption has succeeded in burning a hole through the ozone layer. Points of vulnerability dot the globe, the atmosphere a veritable patchwork quilt. The rising tide continues to reshape what remains of the coastline, an … “The Meek” by Jedah Mayberry | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2Kt9Eso

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In October 2017 we published An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, a rare literary science fiction set in a future universe so gorgeously described and perfectly self-contained—and yet so harrowing and cruel—that its only parallel universe is o… “Virtually President” by John Joseph Ryan | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KztBh9

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In October 2017 we published An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, a rare literary science fiction set in a future universe so gorgeously described and perfectly self-contained—and yet so harrowing and cruel—that its only parallel universe is o… “Walls” by Rhian Waller | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/33g64Kz

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In October 2017 we published An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, a rare literary science fiction set in a future universe so gorgeously described and perfectly self-contained—and yet so harrowing and cruel—that its only parallel universe is o… “Dawn of the Aquarians” by Michael Diamond | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/33f6L71

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In October 2017 we published An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, a rare literary science fiction set in a future universe so gorgeously described and perfectly self-contained—and yet so harrowing and cruel—that its only parallel universe is o… “Homecoming” by Jessica Hertz | Akashic Books via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KovgWw