The year I turned ten, the war almost ended. The Chinese army fell back beyond the northern border of Cao Bằng, leaving behind thousands of widows, wide swathes of burned ground, and their great war bells in their haste. via Pocket

Two neutron stars, ten times the mass of the sun collided, unleashing a cataclysm—an explosive kilonova, whose massive gravitational waves undulated through the dark mantle of spacetime, forging in their course a planetary system composed of fifteen…

PodCastle 589: The Horrible Deaths of Helga Hrafnsdóttir Author : Christine Tyler Narrator : Sigríður Gunnarsdóttir Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 589: The Horrible Deaths of Helga Hrafnsdóttir … The day Helga Hrafnsdóttir went up the Ævilok tree, the entire village held its breath. From the time of her birth, the Ævilok that grew beside Helga’s home had sprouted the most horrible flowers. via Pocket

The disease passed quickly and no one was spared. First, it neutered the men. Women became infertile. Men atrophied and women thickened. Hair sloughed off and torsos turned flat. The two sexes equalized and thus division was lost. via Pocket

PC 594: The Deliverers of Their Country The Deliverers of Their Country By E. Nesbit It all began with Effie’s getting something in her eye. It hurt very much indeed, and it felt something like a red-hot spark — only it seemed to have legs as wel… The Deliverers of Their Country By E. Nesbit It all began with Effie’s getting something in her eye. It hurt very much indeed, and it felt something like a red-hot spark — only it seemed to have legs as well, and wings like a fly. via Pocket

In the beginning, humanity looked to the stars, and saw gods. In their golden age, they went among the stars, as if they were gods. via Pocket

PodCastle 595: The Feast Author : K.C. Mead-Brewer Narrator : Jen R. Albert Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Carve Magazine. Content warning for violence against women, suicide, and… The Feast By K.C. Mead-Brewer We took Emmaline on what promised to be a particularly stormy night. It wasn’t hard to do, especially since all the police and alarm company people were right there in the mob with us. via Pocket

Miriam opened the door of the caravan-turned-time machine. Dry, hot air blew in. She shaded her eyes against the brightness. They had landed where they had planned: at the base of a range of hills, nothing around them but arid land that matched the …

PodCastle 596: The Satyr of Brandenburg — Part 1 Author : Charlotte Ashley Narrator : Setsu Uzume Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March-Apr… By the inebriated light of dawn, October the 23rd, 1700, a swarthy figure skulked in the rosebushes lining the Villa del Sulcis, outside the Sardinian town of Soleminis. The lurker clambered onto the tavern’s windowsill muttering badly hushed curses… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io PodCastle 596 The Satyr of Brandenburg — Part 1 - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2MMfDt9

The spokesman for the Nui, Jesús the Giant, considered me with a foreboding and weakly threatening glare. “I have negotiated successfully with races on twenty planets. I know you have something to tell me, Gloria.” via Pocket

PodCastle 597: The Satyr of Brandenburg — Part 2 Author : Charlotte Ashley Narrator : Setsu Uzume Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March-Apr… Donshead Doombellows accompanied La Héron to confront Piacere, for she knew better than to go alone. “Witnesses,” she told the ogre. “We can remember each other. That will help.” via Pocket

Perhaps the most famous planet in the colonized Galaxy– aside from Earth, of course– Centauri B Prime may have the highest standard of living in the Milky Way. via Pocket

PodCastle 598: The Sound of His Voice Like the Colour of Salt Author : L. Chan Narrator : Leeman Kessler  Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Dark. Rated PG-13 for ghosts and the t… The Sound of His Voice Like the Colour of Salt By L. Chan The ghost boy was the colour of bone, of gossamer spider web, of salt trails of dried tears. He still had his shape, his outline. via Pocket

I make the coffee in the French press like I do every morning. Then, I regret it by the time I reach the City Freezing Works. A doubled edged elixir, the coffee rouses me from my bed and then inspires uninhibited vomiting by the time I reach downtow…

PodCastle 599: The Two-Choice Foxtrot of Chapham County Author : Tina Connolly Narrator : Julie Hoverson Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, S… There were two things we girls all knew that summer. One, that Tony Latham had turned into the finest drink of water ever to strut this two-bit one-horse no-account town. via Pocket

Red emergency lighting makes more shadows than seem possible. President Booker leans back from the table and looks sideways at the one shadow he knows. “Clarence Dimitri. via Pocket

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…

From the couch, engineer Stanislaw Hast looked past the grey-suited, female psychiatrist and through the broad window. The star, a long dying sub-giant, threw a dusk of burnt ochre over the orbiting city, its rays painting the sunward face of tall b…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer “It’s a pure stroke of genius that I was able to downsize the stabilizer assembly in time for the conference.” Stuart fiddled with his bowtie with his free hand while piloting the sedan with the other. via Pocket

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

It emerges from whatever variety of nowhere that allowed it to traverse the vast distances between the worlds of the Beacon, and I know that it’s a Stranger. 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

A software bug killed 64 people this month before it was discovered. The administrators have brought the system down and a patch is working its way through the emergency release process. 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

Slumped in the alley, the woman repeated the name like a prayer, mostly forgotten long ago. No, that wasn’t it. Passersby ignored her: just another failed rebel unable to move on. 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

It’s the lack of sleep that’s the worst. I can live with the brutal beatings, the agony of untreated broken bones, the drugs that fuck with your head, the insidious cold, the gnawing hunger, the burning thirst and the routine rape, but I would liter…

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…

“He’s up. Turn it on,” someone says. The doctor. As I open my eyes, the whiteness hits. It’s like I’m having an idea, but it’s too much for my brain to hold. I squeeze my eyes shut and gasp, trying to… via Pocket