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

A suspenseful near-future story about what happens during the vetting process of a researcher from the Middle East, who is trying to enter the US to continue his studies, and the immigration lawyer assigned to his case, who is dying of cancer. via P…

The Hundredth House Had No Walls | Tor.com via Instapaper https://ift.tt/34Ciygm The King was bored. For five hundred years he had been King of the country of Myth and Shadow, and he was a good king, if a slightly bewildered one. The countryside rolled with treacherous forests rammed full of all the requisite enchanted creatures…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io When Vivian and her daughter witness the family matriarch die without leaving a corpse, Vivian can no longer ignore the family “gift” or the choice that lies before her. I nearly drop the plate I am holding. via Pocket

Lou has a magic box. It makes people do things they normally wouldn’t. And Lou likes to watch.

A tale of magic, revenge, and bitter death on the rain-spattered streets of the great city. This is epic fantasy not in the tradition of Tolkien, but, instead, sensual, ominous, shot through with t…

Of the son of a High Duke of the interstellar Empire, much glory is expected. And expected. And still expected, despite endless proof that young Dennison Crestmar has no talent whatsoever for war. …

For millions of years, life on Earth has taken its cues from the rising and setting of the sun, and for most of human history we’ve followed the same rhythm. via Pocket

Love has no time limits, but life does. Elizabeth Bear gives us a future where life and love and identity have so many more options than they do today.

Salipa and Telo have perfect lives in the virtual reality world that humanity has retreated to after bacteria and viruses resistant to all medications take over the outside world. But when the robo…

A horror tale about the Witch Bride, second wife of a King, and the discord between her and her young stepson.

Baltimore isn’t safe. Not even for the predatory meat that stalks its nights. Searching for victims who won’t be missed, meat doesn’t feel regret or pain—only thirst. But the meat…

Vlad has grown distant from his wife. His son has trouble at school. And he has to keep his sharp teeth hidden.

“Fabulous Beasts” by Priya Sharma is a horror novelette about a strange woman living in luxury with her lover, but irrevocably tied to her childhood of deprivation and dark secrets in n…

An alternate history short story looking at decisions and consequences, and what it takes to pull the trigger.

The planet of Quányuán is arid to the point of being uninhabitable. Wetness is a concept left back on Earth. That doesn’t stop one elderly woman from stepping outside the safety of the colony whene…

Anger is an energy. A young girl, a slave in the South, is presented with a moment where she can grasp for freedom, for change, for life. She grabs it with both hands, fiercely and intensely, and t…

The beginnings of a tentative friendship between two roboticists complicate over career envy, female beauty, and a stolen robot designed to resemble a famous Korean actor.

I am American. We are all Americans. The year is 1942. A Japanese-American girl’s life is turned upside down by Executive Order 9066, and she must cope with a life confined to the barbed wire…