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Catherynne M. Valente

10 free-to-read stories indexed on Quasar

L'Esprit de L'Escalier

Catherynne M. Valente Tor.com 2021 Novelette Mythology 9,320 words

In this provocative and rich retelling of the Greek myth, Orpheus, the musician son of Apollo and Calliope, successfully rescues his wife Eurydice from Hades after her untimely death.

Fairy Tale RetellingTraumaIntertextual

Content warnings 2

body-horrordeath

The Future Is Blue

Catherynne M. Valente Drowned Worlds 2016 Novelette Post Apocalypse 8,800 words

Teenage Tetley lives in a human settlement (one of the last) built on a miles-wide floating garbage dump. She explains why everyone hates her now.

Speculative FictionPolitical ResistanceUnreliable Narrator

Content warnings 4

deathsexual-violencesubstance-useviolence

The Sin of America

Catherynne M. Valente Uncanny 2021 ShortStory Horror 5,587 words

"There’s a woman outside of a town called Sheridan, where the sky comes so near to earth it has to use the crosswalk just like everybody else. … There’s a woman outside of Sheridan and she is eating the sin of America."

Folk HorrorColonialismSatirical

Content warnings 3

child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolence

The Difference Between Love and Time

Catherynne M. Valente Someone in Time 2022 Novelette 9,383 words

Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.

The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild

Catherynne M. Valente Clarkesworld 2015 Novelette 15,505 words

Surreal tale about the loves and losses of Violet Wild, a girl from the purple country, who crosses the spectrum accompanied by a unicorn, a sorrow, and a herd of time squirrels.

Fairy Tale RetellingSurvivalWhimsical

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

When He Calls Your Name

Catherynne M. Valente Uncanny 2025 Novelette Fantasy 10,619 words

"There’s nights in the deep end of summer so hot and thick and wet you can feel the dark wrinkling up your fingers like bathwater—and my last night breathing was one of those. 2 a.m. came to ring my bell and found me perfectly awake, swinging back and...

Southern GothicGrief And LossSardonic

Content warnings 3

abusebody-horrorviolence

The Lily and the Horn

Catherynne M. Valente Fantasy 2015 ShortStory High Fantasy 5,223 words

Laburnum castle hosts key nobles from across the kingdom as well as the king himself for an enormous feast--a feast that's equivalent to a war.

Color, Heat, and the Wreck of the Argo

Catherynne M. Valente Strange Horizons 2020 Novelette Fantasy 9,199 words

"Big Edie was a useless piece of shit. Johanna Telle found the most significant relationship of her life on a Saturday afternoon in late May, sitting on one of those excruciatingly handmade quilts crafty stay-at-homes used to make out of their precious...

SlipstreamConsciousnessLyrical

Content warnings 2

deathviolence

Can You Hear Me Now?

Catherynne M. Valente Uncanny 2023 ShortStory Science Fiction 5,908 words

"Wait, stop. Pause. Don’t move. Please. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Just…don’t touch anything. The remote, your phone, your always-listening voice-activated digital assistant designed to make modern life a breeze. Accept my cookies. Agree to...

Social SatireCorporate PowerSecond Person

White Lines on a Green Field

Catherynne M. Valente Uncanny 2026

For Seanan McGuire. And Coyote.   Let me tell you about the year Coyote took the Devils to the State Championship. Coyote walked tall down the halls of West Centerville High and where he walked lunch money, copies of last semester’s math tests, and unlit...

Folk HorrorMotherhoodMidwest USA

Content warnings 1

sexual-content