If the Martians Have Magic
ShortStory 7,099 words Recommended by 8 award/anthology sources
"The first Martian War was won not by man, but microbes. The second we fought with Martian weapons that nearly broke the world. The third invasion we stopped by our own hands, using magic.” —Wei-Yin Sun, Imperial Historian in the Court of the Empress Dowager, Restoration Period."
Content warnings 2
deathwar
Quasar links out; the story lives on Uncanny, where the author gets the click.