Fantasy Fiction and Audio Fiction, SF Flash Fiction.

It's just a strange coincidence that all the longer works are fantasy, while all the SF stories are flash fiction this morning.  All sound quite good so check them out.  Some bad news, the BCS audio stories "are on hiatus for a few issues." Let us hope that it's a very few issues; their audio is usually extremely good.  More later, barring disaster.


[Art from "Heads Will Roll" linked below]







Fiction
At Beneath Ceaseless Skies:

"The Telling" by Gregory Norman Bossert. Fantasy.

      "The bees' solemn procession across pillow and cheek had been silent, their wings folded and still; when they crept back out over the sash they had disappeared as if not flying but falling into the darkness.  Their feet had pricked, Mel remembered, and their fur had tickled as they worked their way through lips, teeth, and tongue.  They had smelled of barley and clover and a dark musk that made Mel think of Travelers’ wagons on market day."
"The Scorn of the Peregrinator" by John E.O. Stevens. Fantasy.

      "The next noise I knew quite well; a sword drawn through a belt-ring. And there stood a small man, lost in a vast feathered cloak-and-cowl with a great ash-roc plume curling up from a thick combed headband, pointing a long needle of steel at me, his arm shod in small quills like an ant-hunter. I swear I heard a tinny, whistling call as my eyes took him in."

At Paizo: "Killing Time" [Now Complete] by Dave Gross. Fantasy.
       She looked me over again, her eyes lingering on my arms, the spurs on my elbows, my fists, and all the fights carved into my red leather jacket. "I thought you might be the sort of man who had killed before."

At The Silver Blade: "The Guild of Swordsmen" by Kristin Janz. Fantasy.
      "She woke, lying on her left side, the hilt of her naked sword under her right hand.  There was someone in her room.  Not Alzadin.  Not Saulius.  Definitely not Merolliay.  The door was closed, the window open.  Moonlight flooded the room."

At Tor.com: "Heads Will Roll" by Lish McBride. Fantasy.
     "Lena’s not your typical animal trainer. And when she and her unicorn partner, Steve, decide to enter a fight, it’s definitely not your typical fight…."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Homo Homaru" by Ellen Denham.
• At Nature: "Transmission received" by Peter J. Enyeart. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Art of the Deal" by Bob Newbell. Science Fiction.

Audio
At PodCastle: "Architectural Constants" by Yoon Ha Lee. Fantasy.
     "Eskevan Three of Thorns had dropped his lensgear in the gutter. Twice he had been splashed by murky water while determining the best way to retrieve the lens. He had another hour before the water started circulating. Having sullied the yellow-trimmed coat that declared him a licensed librarian, Eskevan felt doubly reluctant either to remove his gauntlets or to plunge them into the water."

Other Genres
At Every Day Fiction: "How the Day Was" by Jennifer Delisle.