This is a conversation that I’m sure has played out countless times across kitchens and living rooms around the world as children, friends and partners patiently try and explain the difference between a video game universe and a tabletop wargaming univ…
“But then her tiny nostrils flared, and I knew I was dead.”
“The Woman With the Long Black Hair” by Zach Shephard — “The string-dolls and paintings puzzled her. So much reverence . . .” — and “We Love Deena” by Alice Sola Kim (previously) — “I don’t remember which attempt it was, how many people I had been s…
“observed the hunter’s nephew, with severely limited enthusiasm”
Light fantasy stories with some silly bits. “The Family Business” by Andrea Tang is a modern fairy tale about a Korean-American teen. “Janet and I Try to Get Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts at the Gilbert Rd Super Target. It’s the One in Scottsdale. No, t…
Nominees for the Goodreads Choice Awards 2021
The opening round nominees for the Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced. More than a dozen have previously appeared on Fanfare. Within each category, the nominees are sorted here to approximate very roughly how many Goodreads users have read the…
scars, cracks, blood, and video games
“That Story Isn’t the Story” by John Wiswell (previously) is a fantasy story about escape and recovery from abuse (author interview). “Everything Anton owns goes in one black trash bag. His ratty yellow sketchpad, which he bought to draw the other fami…
Consciousness simulacra and a dusty mirror
The science fiction story “Proof by
Induction” by José Pablo Iriarte and the fantasy story “Basilisk
and Sons” by Timothy Mudie both center men trying to deal with
complicated emotions while grieving and carrying on their fathers’ work.
The former …
“And then tomorrow I’ll open my next manila folder and do it again.”
Gods, demons, angels, etc. deal with bureaucracy and support groups in some short fantasy stories. “Magicians at Law” by Grace Seybold has arbitration and a kitty-cat: “Hm. I’m assuming, given the smell, this was a standard demonic service contract?” “…
5 short Diwali stories
By Iona Datt Sharma (previously
on Diwali): “Light
and fire: five stories for Diwali (2018)”, a collection of miniature
stories for the festival.
Quakers… in… SPACE… (and time, and alternate realities)
The November issue of the American Quaker magazine Friends Journal is dedicated to speculative fiction and sci-fi. If you’re a fan of The Dazzle of Day, read on! Here’s the introductory essay by Quaker SFF writers Annalee Flower Horne and Hilary B. Bis…
“The music, at least, did not make me feel like an outsider.”
Three short speculative stories about love, yearning, and relationships beyond the human boundary. “Cold Wind” by Nicola Griffith: “From the park on Puget Sound I watched the sun go down on the shortest day of the year.” “Traveling Mercies” by Rachael …