"WHEN PROTESTERS TAKE out the power at her Silicon Valley office, Chaya is at home, watching a golem pull dandelions. ... She lays her golem gently down by the riverside. A single tap on her phone activates the preprogrammed subroutine that wipes the alef...
F&SF
11 free-to-read stories from F&SF
Young Garrin, bastard brother to King Ciar, is sent to find Queen Ella’s stepsister and bring her to the castle. Not everyone lives happily ever after.
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.
A young musician/writer’s attempt to recover his online social standing leads him to dangerous people whose idea of “art” can be life-threatening, especially to the desperate.
"INTERVIEWER We’ve spoken about your use of the “weird” in your stories, but have you personally ever experienced anything akin to something that might happen to one of Lovecraft’s characters? BOEKNER Yes — despite all evidence to the contrary, I remain...
"I know a nanomask when I see one, especially when the wearer’s making eye contact. There’s something about how the mask melds around the lids — it’s just a little bit stiff, but you have to really know what you’re looking for to tell. But people in...
"Dill.” Keith settled down next to her on the storage tub they used for a bench. “The plant was just big enough to trim.” “Ooo.” Blaine kissed him in the steam over her cup. “My man can COOK.” After two months on Mars trying to get anything to grow, after...
"THE HOUSE SOARED NORTH, then veered west, where the land went up and up, and the buildings went up and up, like a metallic wave cresting ahead of the distant mountains. The house could see the prairies from where it crouched but could not see the thing it...
"THE FIRST TIME SHE AWOKE on the bus, Adachukwu Ejiofor discovered that her ankles, wrists, and one kneecap had taken their leave of her while she wasn’t looking. She still had the other kneecap and her hands and feet, though, making her disappearance...
Mara has no id and suffers under the delusion she’s from the future. Trish gets her a job at the country club anyway. That may have been a mistake.
In France in 1699, a magical fighter comes to Caen to duel with creatures from faery.