To become a Wayfarer, Sedef needs to master the dangers of the forest on her planet, which kills anything that doesn’t glow. And she has to survive an emergency run, seven hours each way, alone.
Ray Nayler
23 free-to-read stories indexed on Quasar
"The causes of the disaster are these: First: The estimations of this planet’s temperature were incorrect. The beacon should never have been placed. This planet is no more capable of supporting human life than our own polar wastelands. Second: My...
Content warnings 1
death
"The glass-bottomed ice cream truck floated above the rooftops, playing “All Around the Mulberry Bush” through a cracked speaker, searching for teeth to rot. A neighbor’s too-loud radio said “Kennedy” two or three times a minute. Except for those slivers...
"Alvin was slumped in the passenger seat of the open-top Willys terraplane. Two thousand feet below us, the Black Sea lived up to its name: a sheet of ebony darker than the sky above, its featureless surface relieved only by the scattered flecks of night...
"Irada the blacksmith ran a hand over the dents in Muallim’s chest. Most were superficial, but one was deeper than the others. The paint here was chipped. She could see some corrosion underneath. “I’m going to have to remove your whole chest plate,...
A young man spends all he has to care for his sister who lies in a coma. Or so it seems.
"I met a woman whose job is to help you forget. Erasing your memories seems like something no one would trust a stranger with, I know. But then—therapy, right? We trust strangers with that. Maybe we think strangers have no reason to hurt us. No personal...
Not reviewed by Rocket Stack Rank.
Content warnings 3
deathmental-illnesswar
"They found the torn lamb in the gold spring grass, beside the gravel road. The flies had found it first. But the flies were still lazy and slow. Later in the season, when they found a feast like this, you would be able to hear them buzzing from a distance."
Content warnings 2
sexual-violenceviolence
In an alternate 1950s with robots, spaceships, and flying cars, the US Army sends a robot father to the son of a dead soldier.
"November 1938 “What we are looking for,” said the doctor, “are photographs to help us document the treatment’s effect upon the patient. We need a picture before the treatment and afterward. Those are for the hospital files. But we also want photos taken...
"The two boys had almost crested the hill. “Keep up,” the first boy said. “I’m telling you: You want to see this. It’s not a eunuch. It’s something else. I saw it for myself.” “We aren’t supposed to be here,” the second boy said. “What if the other...
"So, what do you think?” “I think they are the crappiest aliens ever.” The dunes, as well, were nothing like Bo had imagined dunes ought to be. They were just ugly humps of sand with grass, mostly dead, sticking out of them in patches. The vague path wound...
"I see my first berb of the day before breakfast. I’m standing on the porch, drinking a cup of coffee and looking out over the Mojave to the east. Dawn has come. The desert is a hundred yellows: citron to pineapple, canary to corn, daffodil to flame. Out...
"Sal looked at the motionless red dot on the screen. With two fingers she zoomed in. The dot was on U.S. 50 in Nevada, miles from anything that even had a name. She grabbed the GPS coordinates. The nearest service station was seventy kilometers from there....
When it sees its neighbors torn down, a smart building appeals to the government not to let it die.
"Well, at least we’ll finally be able to get some hours.” “Ruthless.” “I’m serious. Maybe they’ll finally be forced to make one of us full time.” “It’ll never happen. They’ll just hire another part-timer.” The two workers were in the break room. In the...
A weary resilience worker should know better than anyone: no one is safe when the world is always ending…
Content warnings 1
death
"As the vehicle tumbled past him, Bashim saw the passenger’s grinning white teeth in a face masked by desert dust and violet Worldshapers. The tailpipes coughed fire, so close Bashim could feel their alcohol heat. The sheared-off wheel bounced past, a...
Years ago, Irem went to the stars, but the results were disappointing, and now she’s trying to settle back into an Istanbul grown strange to her.
On an agricultural planet, on the night they celebrate the harvest, a young man plans a secret rendezvous with his forbidden lover.
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
Baris watches helplessly as Hazan’s obsession with her work destroys her.
August has come to town to kill a man, but first he decides to spend the night with a woman.