• Listen to “All the Painted Stars” by Gwendolyn Clare at Clarkesworld.
• Listen to “The Ballad of Delphinium Blue” by Samantha Henderson.
• Listen to “Beautiful Dreamer” by Edward McKeown (Part 2) at Beam Me Up.
• Listen to “Biba Jibun” by Eugie Foster at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Fruit Jar Drinkin’, Cheatin’ Heart Blues” by Patty Templeton.
• Listen to “Martian V F W” by Vandenburg at The Drama Pod.
• Listen to “Scattered Along the River of Heaven” by Aliette de Bodard.
• Listen to “Surviving the eBookalypse” by Randy Henderson at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “What Everyone Remembers” by Rahul Kanakia at Clarkesworld.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• Bleeding Cool offers a preview of Kirby Genesis #0 And #1
• CBR offers a preview of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #6.
• CBR offers a preview of Crossed: Badlands #1
• CBR offers a preview of Danger Girl: Revolver #1
• CBR offers a preview of Murky World #1
• CBR offers a preview of Supergirl #5
• Read “The Situation,” an original comic story created by Jeff VanderMeer and Eric Orchard, about the perils of office politics in a world eerily different from ours.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Listen to the flash fiction story “Breakfast in Dread” by Bettina Borg Cardona.
• Listen to the flash fiction story “The Madness of Andelsprutz” by Lord Dunsany.
• Read the flash fiction “AI Robot” by Patrick Dey at Flash Fiction Online.
• Read the flash fiction “All or Nothing” by Nancy Fulda at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Cuy” by Michele Markarian at Yesteryear Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Dumb as Dirt” by Garth Upshaw at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Homecoming” by M. Darusha Wehm at Luna Station.
• Read the flash fiction “Into the Forest” by Dana Dupont at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “The Relative Densities of Seawater and Blood” by An Owomoyela at Brain Harvest.
• Read the flash fiction “Sea Ink” by Jennifer Linnaea at Flash Fiction Online.
• Read the flash fiction “Sixty-one by Seventy” by K.G. Jewell at Daily SciFi.
• Read the flash fiction “Stonehenge in his Garden” by Gerald Warfield.
• Read the flash fiction “Subway” by Eric Suhem at Weirdyear.
• Read the flash fiction “Things Exist by Imitation of Numbers” by Benjamin Rosenbaum at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “War Song I – Torvenfell” by Ram Iyer at Yesteryear Fiction.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download Moon Spell by Samantha Young for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Read an excerpt of Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds at Gollancz.
• Read an excerpt of The Butcher of Anderson Station: A Story of The Expanse by James S.A. Corey at Orbit Books.
• Read an excerpt of Mass Effect: Deception by Willian C. Dietz at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of Overkill by Robert Buettner at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Quick Bites: A Short Story Collection by Jennifer Rardin.
• Read an excerpt of Ragnarok by Patrick A Vanner at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Something Wikkid This Way Comes by Nicole Peeler.
• Read an excerpt of Unfallen by Lilith Saintcrow by Lilith Saintcrow at Orbit Books.

Poetry

• Carrington’s Ferry by Mike Allen

Serial Fiction

• Nothing is Beyond by Davy Minor is a new sci-fi series you can read for free.

Short Stories

• Download “The Taste of Promises” by Rachel Swirsky. [PDF]
• Read “All the Painted Stars” by Gwendolyn Clare at Clarkesworld.
• Read “Always True to Thee, in My Fashion” by Nancy Kress at Lightspeed.
• Read “Bloodstone” by R.B. Payne at Wily Writers.
• Read “Captain Clone” by Deborah Walker at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “Cosmic Love” by Harry Markov at The World SF Blog.
• Read “The Driver” by Rahul Kanakia at Nature.
• Read “Death Reported of Last Surviving Veteran of Great War” by Dan Abnett.
• Read “Eliza” by Joshua Reynolds at Lovecraft eZine.
• Read “Enter Here” by FJ Bergmann at Eschatology Journal.
• Read “The Five Elements of the Heart Mind” by Ken Liu at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “Hel’s Half-Acre” by Jack Campbell at Baen eBooks.
• Read “The Johnson Maneuver” by Ian Douglas at Baen eBooks.
• Read “Judgement Day” by Gary Cuba at Eschatology Journal.
• Read “Jungle Walkers” by David Klecha & Tobias S. Buckell at Baen eBooks.
• Read “The Last Run of the Coppelia” by Genevieve Valentine at Baen eBooks.
• Read “The Metal Men of Mars” by Joe R Lansdale at Tor.com.
• Read “My Bicycle, 4500 A.D.” by Stephen Case at AE SciFi.
• Read “Scattered Along the River of Heaven” by Aliette de Bodard at Clarkesworld.
• Read “The Spaces Between Space” by Brett J. Talley at Lovecraft eZine.
• Read “The Spaces In-Between” by A.B. Doh at StoryTime.
• Read “A State of Variance” by Aimee Bender at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “Story with Pictures and Conversation” by Brontops Baruq.
• Read “Sweet Embrace” by T. M. Hunter at Mindflights.
• Read “Tark Left Santiago” by Joseph S. Pulver, SR at Lovecraft eZine.
• Read “The Tower And The Kite” (Part 2) at Philippine Genre Stories.
• Read “The Vessels” by Nancy O. Greene at Lovecraft eZine.
• Read “What Everyone Remembers” by Rahul Kanakia at Clarkesworld.
• Read “White Noise” by Michael Matheson at Lovecraft eZine.

Vintage Fiction

• Download the short story “The Girl in the Golden Atom” by Ray Cummings from Librivox at the Internet Archive.
• Download the short story “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir from Librivox.
• Download the short story “Subspace Survivors” by E. E. Smith from LibriVox.
• Listen to The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux from CBS Radio Mystery Theater at Journey Into…
• Read the short story “The Sanatorium at the Sign of the Hourglass” by Bruno Schulz (1937) at Weird Fiction Review.

Zines and Periodicals

• Download issue ten of Shimmer Magazine. This issue features Nir Yaniv’s “A Painter, a Sheep, and a Boa Constrictor,” which was reprinted in Rich Horton’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2010.

• Listen to author Alberto Chimal of Mexico City reads his story “Variation on a Theme of Coleridge” from Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic, an anthology of new Mexican fiction never before translated into English at Oneironomicon.
• Listen to “Balfour and Meriwether in The Vampire of Kabul” by Daniel Abraham.
• Listen to “Beautiful Dreamer” by Edward McKeown at Beam Me Up!
• Listen to “Black Hill” and “The Worm That Gnaws” by Orrin Grey at Journey Into…
• Listen to “The Day the Icicle Works Closed” by Frederik Pohl at Podmatic.
• Listen to “Found Manuscript” by David Lindblad at Cthulhu Podcast.
• Listen to “Health Tips for Traveller” by David W. Goldman at Toasted Cake.
• Listen to “Illusion” by Jean Rhys at Miette’s.
• Listen to “The Martian Chronicles” by Cory Doctorow (Part 2) at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “On the Acquisition of Phoenix Eggs” by Marissa Lingen at Lightspeed.
• Listen to “Pageant Girls” by Caroline M. Yoachim at Toasted Cake.
• Listen to “Rain” by Abby Manheim at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Revenants” by Judith Tarr at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “Singularity Knocks” by Will Ludwigsen at The Drabblecast.
• Listen to “A Study In Flesh And Mind” by Liz Argall at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “The Thing in the Attic” by James Blish at Drama Pod.
• Listen to “The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds” by Seth Dickinson at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Listen to “Unglued” by Amber D. Sistla at Toasted Cake.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of Batman #5
• CBR offers a preview of Blue Beetle #5
• CBR offers a preview of Catwoman #5
• CBR offers a preview of Green Lantern Corps #5
• CBR offers a preview of Steed and Mrs. Peel #1
• CBR offers a preview of Supergirl #5
• Major Spoilers offers a preview of Scam #1

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Listen to the flash fiction story “Cowpokin’!” by Matthew Sanborn Smith.
• Read the flash fiction “Box” by Richard Fuller at Quantum Muse.
• Read the flash fiction “Dancers by the Hedge” by Anahita Ayasoufi at Yesteryear.
• Read the flash fiction “Electric Company” by Melissa Mead at Daily Sci-Fi.
• Read the flash fiction “Grandma Bixby’s Teeth” by Harris Tobias at Quantum Muse.
• Read the flash fiction “The Lightning Gun” by Antoinette Rydyr at AntipodeanSF.
• Read the flash fiction “Parallel Universes” by Madeline Leong at Short-Story.me.
• Read the flash fiction “Sale!” by Lissy Jones at Weirdyear.
• Read the flash fiction “Sweet Pain” by Carl Alves at Short-Story.me.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download The Book of Deacon by Joseph Lallo for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Call of the Herald by Brian Rathbone for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Dark Earth by Jason Halstead for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos for the Kindle.
• Download Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur by Ruth Nestvold.
• Download Thirst by Claire Farrell for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download TimeSplash by Graham Storrs for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Read an excerpt of 77 Shadow Street by Dean R. Koontz at Scribd.
• Read “A Tinker of Warhoon” by Tobias S. Buckell from the anthology Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom at io9.
• Read an excerpt of Artic Rising by Tobias S. Buckell at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Ashes of Candesce by Karl Schroeder at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe at Orbit.
• Read an excerpt of A Monster’s Notes by Laurie Sheck at Random House.
• Read an excerpt of Taft 2012 by Jason Heller at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan at Orbit.

Poetry

• “The Eagle” by Ambar Past
• “The Lord Charon” by Tony Grist

Short Stories

• Download “The Witches: An Extraordinary Tale” by Gerrard Wlson at Smashwords.
• Read “Always True to Thee, in My Fashion” by Nancy Kress at Lightspeed.
• Read “Baby, Your Body’s My Bass” by Edward W. Robertson at AE SciFi.
• Read “A Better Offer” by Jamie Mason at AE SciFi.
• Read “Calibrated Allies” by Marissa Lingen at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “A Crisis of Unicornian Proportions” by Dr. Ace T. Jericho at the Lair.
• Read “Clay Cast Cats” by TCA Lakshmi Narasimhan at The World SF Blog.
• Read “Dinner Guests” by Ivan Dorin at AE SciFi.
• Read “Founding Fathers” by Edward W. Robertson at AE SciFi.
• Read “God’s Obituary” by Brent Alan James at Words without Borders.
• Read “Homecoming” by M. Darusha Wehm at Luna Station Quarterly.
• Read “How Sleep the Brave” by Jack Skelter at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “The Immaculate Conception of Private Ritter” by Seth Dickinson at Asimov’s.
• Read “In the Dead of the Night” by Gordon Rowlinson at Quantum Muse.
• Read “Les Amoureus” by Alison Bwalya Erlwanger at StoryTime.
• Read “Killing Time” by Harris Tobias at Quantum Muse.
• Read “The Lady of the Lake” by E. Catherine Tobler at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “Loob” by Bob Leman at Weird Fiction Review.
• Read “On the Acquisition of Phoenix Eggs” by Marissa Lingen at Lightspeed.
• Read “Recognizing Gabe: un cuento de hadas” by Alberto Yáñez.
• Read “Seizing Cervantes” by Antônio Xerxenesky at Words without Borders.
• Read “The Tides of the Heart” by David D. Levine at Bentopress.
• Read “The Tower And The Kite” by Matthew Jacob F. Ramos at Philippine Genre.
• Read “Where All Things Perish” by Tanith Lee at Weird Fiction Review.

Vintage Fiction

• Download the novel The Time Machine by H. G. Wells at Project Gutenberg.
• Listen to the short story “A Crystal Age” by William Henry Hudson at Librivox.

• Download The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis from Ancient Faith.
• Listen to “Balfour and Meriwether in The Vampire of Kabul” by Daniel Abraham.
• Listen to “Blue Lace Agate” by Sarah Monette at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Listen to “The Milton Feinhoff Problem” by Mark Onspaugh at Journey Into…
• Listen to “Project Top Hat” by Julie Hoverson at 19 Nocturne Boulevard.
• Listen to “The Republic of the Southern Cross” by Valery Bryusov at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Scattered Along the River of Heaven” by Aliette de Bodard at Clarkesworld Magazine.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of Batman: Earth One
• CBR offers a preview of Deadlands: Black Water #1
• CBR offers a preview of Fearless TPB
• CBR offers a preview of Dungeons & Dragons 100-Page Spectacular #1
• CBR offers a preview of King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword #1
• CBR offers a preview of Scarlet Spider #1
• CBR offers a preview of Whispers #1
• CBR offers a preview of Wolverine #300
• iFanboy offers a preview of Demon Knights #5
• Major Spoilers offers a preview of Dead Man’s Run #1

Flash and Micro Fiction

• 55 Fiction is a form of microfiction with a few rules, including a limitation to 55 words. The New Times holds an annual 55 Fiction competition, and some of the results are quite good: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.
• Listen to the flash fiction story “Fine-Tuning the Universe” by Merrie Haskell.
• Read the flash fiction “Birds of a Feather” by Thomas Canfield at Short Stories.
• Read the flash fiction “Courtly Love” by Katherine Tomlinson at Luna Station.
• Read the flash fiction “A Dark Premonition” by Susan Martin at Weirdyear.
• Read the flash fiction “The Lightning Gun” by Antoinette Rydyr at Antipodean SF.
• Read the flash fiction “A Little Wild Mustard” by Danica Cummins at Brain Harvest.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download The Ashes of His Fathers by Eric James Stone for the Kindle.
• Download The Crows by G.P. Burdon from Smashwords.
• Download The Serpent and the Grail by A. A. Attanasio for the Kindle.
• Read an excerpt of 77 Shadow Street by Dean R. Koontz at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of Ashes of Candesce by Karl Schroeder at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Artic Rising by Tobias S. Buckell at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison at Harper Voyager.
• Read an excerpt of Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind by Kitty Ferguson.
• Read “Spectral Expectations” the first story in the Goddesses & Other Stories anthology by Linda Nagata at BookView Cafe.

Poetry

• “Loki, Dynamicist” by Michele Bannister

Short Stories

• Read “Across the Metaverse” by John Krissilas at MindFlights.
• Read “All the Painted Stars” by Gwendolyn Clare at Clarkesworld.
• Read “Baby, Your Body’s My Bass” by Edward W. Robertson at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “Bird Nest Soup” by Madeline Bridgen at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “Clay Cast Cats” by TCA Lakshmi Narasimhan at WorldSF.
• Read “The Clockwork Swan” by Emily Graham at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “The Conversation” by Lawrence Buentello at Residential Aliens.
• Read “A Demon of Almansol” by Alter S. Reiss at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “Double Rations” by Nicky Drayden at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “The End of Owln’s Malt” by A.A. Garrison at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “Evolution’s End” by Lee Beavington at Kasma.
• Read “The Falcon” by Michael Aronovitz at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “The File” by Alexander Foxx at Residential Aliens.
• Read “Finders, Keepers” by Michael Jasper at the author’s website.
• Read “Gallery of Vanquished Art” by Daniel Ausema at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “Gene Wars” by Paul McAuley at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “The Goose and Cradle” by David Austin at Heroic Fantasy.
• Read “Her Long Hair Shining” by Simon Kewin at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “Human Resources” by Tristan Roybal at Quantum Muse.
• Read “Ice in our Veins” by Rhiannon Held at Redstone Science Fiction.
• Read “In the Cold” by Kelly Jennings at Strange Horizons.
• Read “In the Dead of the Night” by Gordon Rowlinson at Quantum Muse.
• Read “Killing Time” by Harris Tobias at Quantum Muse.
• Read “Land of Fire and Ashes” by Colin P. Davies at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “The Least of the Deathly Arts” by Kat Howard at Subterranean Press.
• Read “The Lion’s Den” by Devin Miller at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “Motherhood” by Christopher Miller at Redstone Science Fiction.
• Read “Others” by Kelly Ledbetter at Residential Aliens.
• Read “Oubliette” by J. Kelley Anderson at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “The Princess Trap” by Peter Darbyshire at Heroic Fantasy.
• Read “The Prowl” by Gregory Frost at Apex.
• Read “The Red Threads and the Green Man” by Kenneth Burstall at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “Scattered Along the River of Heaven” by Aliette de Bodard at Clarkesworld.
• Read “So Glad We Had This Time Together” by Cat Rambo at Apex.
• Read “The Softness of Her Throat” by John Hayes at Wiley Writers.
• Read “Sweetheart Showdown” by Sarah Dalton at Apex.
• Read “Swift, Brutal Retaliation” by Meghan McCarron at Tor.com.
• Read “Tea in the Sahara” by Daniel Braum at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “The Third Wish Is Always the Killer” by Louis N. Gruber.
• Read “A Time to Weep” by Daniel Huddleston at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “The Twenty Eighth Article” by Michael Bishop at Quantum Muse.
• Read “Under A Mound Of Earth” by Celestine Trinidad (Part 2) at Philippine Genre.
• Read “The Unexpected Geographies of Desire” by Fábio Fernandes.
• Read “Vici” by Naomi Novik at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “Water Can’t Be Nervous” by Jonathan Carroll at Subterranean Press.
• Read “Wedding Wizard” by Heather Kuehl at Residential Aliens.
• Read “What Everyone Remembers” by Rahul Kanakia at Clarkesworld.
• Read “The Wizard Maker” by Alyson B Cresswell at Another Realm.
• Read “You Have Never Been Here” by M. Rickert at Lightspeed Magazine.

Zines and Periodicals

• Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction #39 is now available for free download.

• Listen to “Bad Dogs Escape” by James Patrick Kelly at EscapePod.
• Listen to “Black Hill” by Orrin Grey at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Catastrophe Baker Makes First Contact” by Mike Resnick at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Fermaville” by Paul Di Filippo at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “How Many Miles to Babylon?” by Megan Arkenberg at Lightspeed.
• Listen to “The Man Who Lived Backwards” by Charles F. Hall at Classic Tales.
• Listen to “Read This Quickly, For You Will Only Have a Moment…” by Stephen Case at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Listen to “Scattered Along the River of Heaven” by Aliette de Bodard.
• Listen to “A Window, Clear as a Mirror” by Ferret Steinmetz at PodCastle.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of Action Comics #5
• CBR offers a preview of Detective Comics #5
• CBR offers a preview of Fatale #1
• CBR offers a preview of Hell Yeah #1
• CBR offers a preview of Justice League International #5
• CBR offers a preview of Men of War #5
• CBR offers a preview of Nowhere Man #1
• CBR offers a preview of Red Lanterns #5
• iFanboy offers a preview of The Massive by Brian Wood
• iFanboy offers a preview of Winter Soldier #1

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction “The Clockwork Swan” by Emily Graham at Abyss & Apex.
• Read the flash fiction “Gifted and Talented” by Sadie Mattox at Daily SciFi.
• Read the flash fiction “Human Resources” by Tristan Roybal at Quantum Muse.
• Read the flash fiction “Run Away” by Emma Sibley at Luna Station Quarterly.
• Read the flash fiction “Ten Seconds” by Scott W. Baker at Daily Science Fiction.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download The Book of Deacon by Joseph Lallo for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Call of the Herald by Brian Rathbone for the Kindle.
• Download Dark Earth by Jason Halstead for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos.
• Download Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Resonance by Eric James Stone for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Thirst by Claire Farrell for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Read an excerpt of Article 5 by Kristen Simmons at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Artemis by Philip Palmer at Orbit Books.
• Read an excerpt of Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan at Orbit Books.
• Read an excerpt of The Winds of Winter by George R. R. Martin at the author’s website.

Poetry

• “Fallen” by Shannon Connor Winward

Short Stories

• Read “Absence Makes the Heart” by Donna Glee Williams at MindFlights.
• Read “All the Painted Stars” by Gwendolyn Clare at Clarkesworld.
• Read “All The Wrong Places” by Val Nolan at COSMOS magazine.
• Read “Baby, Your Body”™s My Bass” by Edward W. Robertson at AE SciFi.
• Read “Bird Nest Soup” by Madeline Bridgen at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “Chit Win” by Deborah Walker at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read “The Death of Roach” by Spencer Ellsworth at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “Double Rations” by Nicky Drayden at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “The End of Owln”™s Malt” by Aaron Garrison at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “The Falcon” by Michael Aronovitz at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “Gallery of Vanquished Art” by Daniel Ausema at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “Gaslight” by Jeffrey Ford at The Revelator.
• Read “The Goose and Cradle” by David Austin at Heroic Fantasy.
• Read “How Many Miles to Babylon?” by Megan Arkenberg at Lightspeed.
• Read “Ice in Our Veins” by Rhiannon Held at Redstone Science Ficton.
• Read “Kitty’s Zombie New Year” by Carrie Vaughn at Tor.com.
• Read “The Lion’s Den” by Devin Miller at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “MonitorBot and the King of Pop” by Jessica Barber at Strange Horizons.
• Read “Mother Doesn’t Trust Us Anymore” by Patricia Russo at Giganotosaurus.
• Read “Motherhood” by Christopher Miller at Redstone Science Fiction.
• Read “One Free Go” by Michelle Ann King at Wily Writers.
• Read “The Red Threads and the Green Man” by Kenneth Burstall at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “Scattered Along the River of Heaven” by Aliette de Bodard at Clarkesworld.
• Read “Tea in the Sahara” by Daniel Braum at Kaleidotrope.
• Read “The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Her Field-General, and Their Wounds” by Seth Dickinson at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “The Unexpected Geographies of Desire” by Fabio Fernades.
• Read “Vici” by Naomi Novik at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “What Everyone Remembers” by Rahul Kanakia at Clarkesworld.
• Read “The Wizard Maker” by Alyson B Cresswell at Another Realm.

Author: Guillermo Del Toro
Series: The Strain Trilogy, Book 3
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Horror / Fantasy
Release: October 25, 2011
Length: 384 pages (Hardcover)

Book Rating: C- (65 / 100)
Series Rating: C+ (75 / 100)

Verdict

The Night Eternal is an unfortunately weak conclusion to the single most cinematic book series released in recent memory. Overall, the quality of the book is inconsistent with the previous two entries in the series. Even so, Del Toro’s horror trilogy might have gone down in history as one of the classics of the genre, if not for the eleventh hour incorporation of Christian mythology as the lynch-pin in the story’s climax. All in all, the book is nearly a complete disappointment.

Pros: Very cinematic prose. Excellent action sequences. Fantastic premise.

Cons: Inconsistent tone. Characters don’t ring true. Heavy reliance on deus ex machina devices. Sappy conclusion.

Synopsis

In Brief: The world has fallen under the control of vampires. The world’s leaders have been executed. Drones patrol the streets. Humans have been herded into breeding camps en mass. The sun has been blotted out by a series of catastrophic nuclear meltdowns. But even amidst the impossible situation, a small core of resistance remains. A small group has uncovered the key to the mystery of vampires’ origin, and if they can locate the master vampire’s birth place, there’s a chance that they may be able to destroy him.

Official: It’s been two years since the vampiric virus was unleashed in The Strain, and the entire world now lies on the brink of annihilation. There is only night as nuclear winter blankets the land, the sun filtering through the poisoned atmosphere for two hours each day—the perfect environment for the propagation of vampires.

There has been a mass extermination of humans, the best and the brightest, the wealthy and the influential, orchestrated by the Master—an ancient vampire possessed of unparalleled powers—who selects survivors based on compliance. Those humans who remain are entirely subjugated, interred in camps, and separated by status: those who breed more humans, and those who are bled for the sustenance of the Master’s vast army.

The future of humankind lies in the hands of a ragtag band of freedom fighters—Dr. Eph Goodweather, former head of the Centers for Disease Control’s biological threats team; Dr. Nora Martinez, a fellow doctor with a talent for dispatching the undead; Vasiliy Fet, the colorful Russian exterminator; and Mr. Quinlan, the half-breed offspring of the Master who is bent on revenge. It’s their job to rescue Eph’s son, Zack, and overturn this devastating new world order. But good and evil are malleable terms now, and the Master is most skilled at preying on the weaknesses of humans.

Now, at this critical hour, there is evidence of a traitor in their midst. . . . And only one man holds the answer to the Master’s demise, but is he one who can be trusted with the fate of the world? And who among them will pay the ultimate sacrifice—so that others may be saved?

Story Elements

Atmosphere / Emotional Impact: B+ (90 / 100)
Character development: B+ (90 / 100)
Pacing: B+ (90 / 100)
Plot: F (35 / 100)
Prose: B+ (90 / 100)
World-building: D- (50 / 100)

Review

Del Toro’s vampires were satisfyingly dark, and every aspect of The Strain (and its subsequent sequel) screamed Hollywood blockbuster. The novel’s intricate story, which followed an epidemiologist, was woven thick with the realistic scientific details of a Michael Crichton novel, but it progressed with the dark atmosphere and deliberate prose of Stephen King’s best work. The result was gripping, to say the least.

Sadly, at the outset of the third novel in the trilogy, Del Toro takes a different tact. Where The Strain was a page-turning horror novel and The Fall was an edge-of-your seat action novel, The Night Eternal is presented as a psychological thriller.

Somewhere in the two years that passed between the second and third book in the series, the book’s cast of characters flattened into sullen shells. The vigor and determination drained from them completely, they’ve become imminently less interesting. The plot shifts from chase scenes and gun fights to emotional conflicts, as the characters each grapple with their own emotional baggage in the wake of the apocalypse. This shift in storytelling technique is disappointing, but not unforgivable.

Where The Night Eternal will loose most readers is with the introduction of a Biblical back story that ties the origins of the series’ vampires to the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah and sets the stage for the massive deus ex machina that concludes the series.

Readers who enjoyed The Strain and The Fall may want to wait for the movie adaptation of The Night Eternal, rather than wading through the disappointment first-hand.

Similar Books

If you enjoy this series, you may also enjoy these similar titles:

• Infected: A Novel by Scott Sigler
• The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
• The Passage: A Novel by Justin Cronin
• Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Previous Books in this Series

• 1. The Strain
• 2. The Fall

Further Information

• Read an excerpt of The Night Eternal at NPR.
• Visit the official website of The Strain Trilogy.

• Listen to “Ass-Hat Magic Spider” by Scott Westerfeld at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “A Fairy Tale of Oakland” by Tim Pratt at Drabblecast.
• Listen to “Fortitude” by David Brin at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “A Hundred Thousand Armstrongs” by Zoltán László at The World SF Blog.
• Listen to “Limits” by Donna Glee Williams at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Long Winter’s Nap” by Catherine H. Shaffer at EscapePod.
• Listen to “The Mansion” by Henry van Dyke at Journey Into…
• Listen to “One Free Go” by Michelle Ann King at Wily Writers.
• Listen to “The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke at Drabblecast.
• Listen to “Til Human Voices Take Us” by Lewis Shiner at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “Widdershins” by Robert Mammone at Pseudopod.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of Avengers Annual #1
• CBR offers a preview of Black Fire OGN
• CBR offers a preview of Brody’s Ghost #1
• CBR offers a preview of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #5
• CBR offers a preview of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – War #1
• CBR offers a preview of Ultimate Comics X-Men #5
• Comic Alliance offers a preview of Dark Crystal: Creation Myths
• Comic Attack offers a preview of Dark Matter #1
• Comic Attack offers a preview of Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Listen to the flash fiction story “Coming Home” by Maria Alexander at Pseudopod.
• Listen to the flash fiction story Nexoskeleton at Hairy Mango.
• Read the flash fiction “The Black Spirits Which Rage In The Belly Of Rogue Locomotives” by Rahul Kanakia at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Don Sebastian’s Treasure” by Colin Harvey at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “The Infinite City” by Chris Griglack at Yesteryear Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Red, Gold” by F.J. Bergmann at Brain Harvest Magazine.
• Read the flash fiction “A Stitch in Space-time” by Nicky Drayden at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “The Wrong Christmas” by Harris Tobias at Quantum Muse.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download The Black Seas of Infinity by Dan Henk for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Everliving by Christina Dudley for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Serial Killers Incorporated by Andy Remic for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Read an excerpt of “The Briar King” by Greg Keyes at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of Halo: Primordium by Greg Bear at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot at io9.
• Read an excerpt of Seed by Rob Ziegler at io9.
• Read an excerpt of Seven Princes by John R. Fultz at Orbit Books.
• Read an excerpt of Silver-Tongued Devil by Jaye Wells at OpenBook.

Short Stories

• Read “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis at Asimovs.
• Read “Christmas Eve at Harvey Wallbanger’s: A Harry the Book Story” by Mike Resnick at Baen Books.
• Read “Crystal Halloway and the Forgotten Passage” by Seanan McGuire at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “Dark Times in Hastarl” by Ed Greenwood from his novel Elminster: The Making of a Mage at Suvudu.
• Read “The Hammer of God” by Sir Arthur C. Clarke at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “Jackson Bluffs” by Alice M. Roelke at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “The King of Meteortown” by Andy Henion at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “Long Winter’s Nap” by Catherine H. Shaffer at Escape Pod.
• Read “Mail Order” by Martin Ivison at AE SciFi.
• Read “Pocket Gods” by Philip Hoshiwara at MindFlights.
• Read “The Sugarplum Favor” by Tad Williams at SF Signal.
• Read “‘Tis the Season” by China Miéville at Socialist Review.

Vintage Fiction

• Listen to the short story Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson at Librivox.
• Read the short story “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at Tor.com.

• Download The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis from Ancient Faith.
• Listen to “The Ghost of Christmas Possible” by Tim Pratt at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Misfit” by Marshal Latham at Journey Into…
• Listen to “Saint Nicholas’ Helper” by D.K. Thompson at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Watchbird” by Robert Sheckley at StarShipSofa.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of The Activity #1
• CBR offers a preview of The Infinite TPB, vol. #1
• CBR offers a preview of The Last Battle #1
• Comic Attack offers a preview of Buffy Season 9 # 5
• Comic Attack offers a preview of Conan the Barbarian #1
• Read an excerpt of The Annotated Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman at Tor.com.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction “Blang!” by Harris Tobias at Quantum Muse.
• Read the flash fiction “Through the Uprights” by Richard Butner.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download Silence the Siren by Jackie MacKenzie at Smashwords.
• Listen to an excerpt of Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson or read the first chapter at the author’s website.
• Read an excerpt of The Damned Highway: Fear and Loathing in Arkham by Nick Mamatas and Brian Keene at Weird Fiction Review.
• Read an excerpt of Postcolonialism and Science Fiction by Jessica Langer at io9.
• Read an excerpt of Switchblade Goddess by Lucy Snyder at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of The Wind Through The Keyhole by Stephen King at Tor.com.

Poetry

• “The Cabin and the Stars” by C. G. Olsen
• “Imageography” by Robert Frazier
• “On Moving Into Your New Home” by Brit Mandelo
• “Persephone in Autumn” by Mary Turzillo

Short Stories

• Read “Among the Dark Places of the Earth” by Julio Toro San Martin.
• Read “Ash and Dust” by Jennifer Mason-Black at Strange Horizons.
• Read “At Best An Echo” by Bradley H. Sinor at Lovecraftzine.
• Read “Beaumains” by Jo Thomas at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Billy O’Bannon’s Time Travel Dating Service” by Joseph L. Kellogg.
• Read “Black Betty” by Nisi Shawl at Crossed Genres.
• Read “A Clean Sweep With All the Trimmings” by James Alan Gardner at Tor.com.
• Read “The Curator” by Stuart Clark at the author’s website.
• Read “Digitall” by Stuart Clark at the author’s website.
• Read “Elder Instincts” by W.H. Pugmire at Lovecraft Zine.
• Read “If Dragon’s Mass Eve Be Cold And Clear” by Ken Scholes at Tor.com.
• Read “Just An Accountant” by Henrik Sandbeck Harksen at Lovecraft Zine.
• Read “Kolkata Sea” by Indrapramit Da at The World SF Blog.
• Read “The Last Recall” by Mason Ian Bundschuh at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Life in the Clouds” by Helen Lowe at the author’s website.
• Read “Maldoror Abroad” by K.J. Bishop at Weird Fiction Review.
• Read “The Mirror Men” by Stuart Clark at the author’s website.
• Read “My Other Half” by Maria Stanislav at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Nameless” by Helen Lowe at the author’s website.
• Read “Neural Net” by Ken Schneyer at Ideomancer.
• Read “The Orange Tree” by T.O. Giwa at StoryTime.
• Read “The Orphan Queen” by Michael John Grist at Ideomancer.
• Read “Paradox” by Lane Diamond at Smashwords.
• Read “The Parting Glass” by Andrew Penn Romine at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “Pawn to King Four” by Timothy Zahn at Baen.
• Read “Portrait of a Courtesan” by Megan Arkenberg at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Reading in Bed” by Joan Aiken at Tor.com.
• Read “The Remote-Controlled Doggirl” by Lara Ek at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Second Place” by Sarah A. Drew at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Signs Following” by Erica Satifka at Ideomancer.
• Read “Stone City, Old as Immeasurable Time” by Kelda Crich at Lovecraftzine.
• Read “Young Lions” by Zachary Jernigan at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Zeppelin Follies” by Cat Rambo at Crossed Genres.

• Listen to “Aldo” by Michael C. Thompson at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Chicken Noodle Gravity” by J. Daniel Sawyer at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “The Heroics of Interior Design” by Elise R. Hopkins at Drabblecast.
• Listen to “Hunted Heroes” by Robert SilverBerg at DramaPod.
• Listen to “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen at Classic Tales Podcast.
• Listen to “Ties of Silver” by James L. Sutter at PodCastle.
• Listen to “To My Wondering Eyes Did Appear” by Larry C. Kay at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Torn Away” by Joe R. Lansdale at Fantasy Magazine.
• Listen to “Watchbird” by Robert Sheckley at StarShipSofa.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of Carnage U.S.A. #1
• CBR offers a preview of Everlast
• CBR offers a preview of Fatale #1
• CBR offers a preview of Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand OGN
• CBR offers a preview of Killing Pickman
• CBR offers a preview of The Li’L Depressed Boy, Vol. #0
• CBR offers a preview of The Manhattan Projects #1
• CBR offers a preview of The Red Wing TPB
• CBR offers a preview of Saga #1
• CBR offers a preview of Sacrifice #1
• CBR offers a preview of The Strain #1
• CBR offers a preview of Witch Doctor TPB, vol. #1
• iFanBoy offers a preview of Avengers: X-Sanction #1
• iFanBoy offers a preview of Avengers VS. X-Men #0
• iFanBoy offers a preview of The Secret History of D.B. Cooper #1
• Tor.com offers a preview of The Annotated Sandman, Vol. 1

Flash and Micro Fiction

• 55 Fiction is a form of microfiction with a few rules, including a limitation to 55 words. Started as a contest in a local San Luis Obispo, California alt-weekly paper in 1987, the contest has been replicated elsewhere, including two related books and two unrelated websites. The latest contest is now done.
• Read the flash fiction “Autopsy” by Budge Burgess at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Character is What You Are” by Michael R. Fletcher.
• Read the flash fiction “During the Eclipse” by Christopher Owen at Weirdyear.
• Read the flash fiction “Last Wish” by J. S. Hill at Weirdyear.
• Read the flash fiction “Love And Perpetual Motion” by Bart Meehan at AntiSF.
• Read the flash fiction “The Macroscope” by Lou Caravelli at Antipodean SF.
• Read the flash fiction “Sloth the Lazy Dragon” by Regan W. H. Macaulay.
• Read the flash fiction “Still Life with Family” by Mary Bachran at Quantum Flash.
• Read the flash fiction “A Time to Kill” by Melanie Rees at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “To Be Not Me” by Jeff Samson at Brain Harvest.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download Avoiding Space Madness by Leslie K Ernest for the Kindle.
• Download The Awakened: Book One by Jason Tesar for the Kindle.
• Download The Bones of the Earth Part 1 by Scott Bury for the Nook.
• Download The Book of Deacon by Joseph Lallo for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download The Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Knights: The Eye of Divinity by Robert E. Keller for the Kindle.
• Listen to an excerpt of The Thirteen Hallows by Michael Scott at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Magic Kingdom For Sale: Sold! by Terry Brooks at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of Artemis by Philip Palmer at Orbit.
• Read an excerpt of City of Light and Shadow by Ian Whates at Issuu.
• Read an excerpt of Empire State by Adam Christopher at Issuu.
• Read an excerpt of The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells at Fantasy Book Critic.
• Read an excerpt of Sisterhood of Dune by Kevin J. Anderson.

Poetry

• Adrift in a City of Pulsing Light by Bruce Boston
• Dyson’s Isolationism by WC Roberts
• Low Profile by Aurelio Rico Lopez III
• Speechless Encounter by Shelly Bryant
• Wendy Darling Has Bad Dreams by Sally Rosen Kindred

Short Stories

• Read “Absence Makes the Heart” by Donna Glee Williams at MindFlights.
• Read “After the Days of Dead-Eye ‘Dee” by Pat Cadigan at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “Ah, Spring” by Keith Kennedy at AnotheRealm.
• Read “Ash and Dust” (Part 1 of 2) by Jennifer Mason-Black at Strange Horizons.
• Read “Beaumains” by Jo Thomas at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Billy O’Bannon’s Time Travel Dating Service” by Joseph L. Kellogg.
• Read “Black” by Robert Collins at Sam’s Dot Publishing.
• Read “Black Betty” by Nisi Shawl at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Clap Your Hands” by Eamonn Murphy at Sam’s Dot Publishing.
• Read “A Clean Sweep With All the Trimmings” by James Alan Gardner at Tor.com.
• Read “The Empire Never Ended” by Brian Trent at Electric Velocipede.
• Read “The God Thieves” by Derek Künsken at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “Hacker” by Siobhan Shier at Redstone Fiction.
• Read “Heartless” by Peadar Ó Guilín at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “Judgment Day” by Carla Girtman at Luna Station Quarterly.
• Read “Kitty’s Zombie New Year” by Carrie Vaughn at Tor.com.
• Read “Kolkata Sea” by Indrapramit Das at World SF.
• Read “The Last Recall” by Mason Ian Bundschuh at Crossed Genres.
• Read “The Librarian” by Michelle T. Tan at Philippine Genre Stories.
• Read “Monsoon Metamorphosis” by Gary Every at Sam’s Dot Publishing.
• Read “My Other Half” by Maria Stanislav at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Plan B From Outer Space” by Dr. Ace T. Jericho, Rogue Journalist.
• Read “Portrait of a Courtesan” by Megan Arkenberg at Crossed Genres.
• Read “The Remote-Controlled Doggirl” by Lara Ek at Crossed Genres.
• Read “The River’s Children” by Shweta Narayan at Expanded Horizons.
• Read “Second Place” by Sarah A. Drew at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Time, Like Blood, on My Hands” by Eric Del Carlo at Redstone Fiction.
• Read “Torn Away” by Joe R. Lansdale at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “Tortured” by Caragh M. O’Brien at Tor.com.
• Read “Washishisha” by Robert P. Hansen at Sam’s Dot Publishing.
• Read “Young Lions” by Zachary Jernigan at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Your Minute Starts Now” by Jacob A. Boyd at Cosmos Magazine.
• Read “Zeppelin Follies” by Cat Rambo at Crossed Genres.

The always-excellent Craig Mod of Flipboard on “beautiful books” and the future of storytelling in age of digital books – a must-watch for any storyteller, designer, and media observer.

• Listen to “Claude and the Henry Moores” by Casey Wolf at Beam Me Up.
• Listen to “The Best Boy, The Brightest Boy” by Megan R. Engelhard.
• Listen to “Dream Engine” by Tim Pratt (Part 2) at Journey Into…
• Listen to “Giant Episode: Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar Pirates of Sarskoe” by Garth Nix at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Honor Killing” by Ray Tabler at EscapePod.
• Listen to “People Who Live in Wax Houses” by Julie Hoverson.
• Listen to “Raft of The Titanic” by James Morrow at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “Sirius” by Ben Peek at Clarkesworld.
• Listen to “The Sighted Watchmaker” by Vylar Kaftan at Lightspeed.
• Listen to “The Stink of Animosity” by Rob E. Boley at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “This Strange Way of Dying” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia at PodCastle.
• Listen to “The Tunnel under the Earth” by Frederick Pohl at DramaPod.

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction “Blessed Curse” by Terri Rochenski at Yesteryear Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “The City is Landing” by Kristine Ong Muslim at Schlockzine.
• Read the flash fiction “Dreams of the End” by Bettina Borg Cardona.
• Read the flash fiction “The Girl in the Next Room is Crying Again” by Peter M Ball at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Schrödinger’s Outlaw” by Matthew W Baugh.
• Read the flash fiction “Substitution” by Brooke Juliet Wonders at Daily SciFi.
• Read the flash fiction “Three Blind Doctors” by Troy Manning at Quantum Flash.
• Read the flash fiction “Two Wise Men” by Martin Hill at Antipodean SF.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download DarkAge by Kirk Warrington for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download The Last Man by James Bailey for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Judgement by Fergus Bannon for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download The Phoenix and the Watchers’ Bargain by James Monaghan.
• Download The Undead: Zombie Anthology Edited by D.L. Snell for the Kindle.
• Read an excerpt of Cinder by Marissa Meyer at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Dead Fall Hotel by Steve Rasnic Tem at Weird Fiction Review.
• Read an excerpt of The Emperor’s Knife by Mazarkis Williams at SFSignal.
• Read an excerpt of Nested Scrolls: The Autobiography of Rudolf von Bitter Rucker by Rudy Rucker at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Planesrunner by Ian McDonald at Fantasy Hotlist.
• Read an excerpt of Scar Night by Alan Campbell at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine LEngle.
• Read an excerpt of The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer at Fantasy Hotlist.

Poetry

• The Cabin and the Stars by C. G. Olsen
• The Ghosts of Mars by Mary Jo Rabe
• Persephone in Autumn by Mary Turzillo
• On Moving Into Your New Home by Brit Mandelo
• Taking it Slow by David Kopaska-Merkel
• The Theater for Cloud Repair by Sandra J. Lindow

Serial Fiction

• Read “The Worker Prince” by Bryan Thomas Schmidt at Ray Gun Revival.

Short Stories

• Read “All The Wrong Places” by Val Nolan at Cosmos Magazine.
• Read “Autumn Trees” by Michael Schutz at Expanded Horizons.
• Read “Camera Lucida” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “The City of Silence” by Ma Boyong (Part 2) at World SF.
• Read “The Deepest Hour” by Tina Lonergan at Wily Writers.
• Read “The Dogs In the Trees” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “Ending The First Year Of PGS Online” by Kenneth Yu at Philippine Genre.
• Read “For Provisional Description of Superficial Features” by Matthew Battles.
• Read “The Gardens of Landler Abbey” by Megan Arkenberg at Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “Glitches” by Marissa Meyer at Tor.com.
• Read “The Gnomon” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “Honorary Earthling” by Nisi Shawl at Expanded Horizons.
• Read “The House of Aunts” by Zen Cho at Giganotosaurus.
• Read “I After the Cloudy Doubly Beautifully” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “In Which Faster-Than-Light Travel Solves All of Our Problems” by Chris Stabback at Clarkesworld.
• Read “Invasion: 2012″ by Dr. Ace T. Jericho, Rogue Journalist at the Lair.
• Read “Life Plus Seventy” by Ken Liu at Kasma Science Fiction.
• Read “The Manuscript of Belz” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “Memory” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia at Expanded Horizons.
• Read “Neural Net” by Kenneth Schneyer at ideomancer.
• Read “The Orphan Queen” by Michael John Grist at ideomancer.
• Read “Penelope Napolitano and the Butterflies” by Aliya Whiteley.
• Read “Pocket Gods” by Philip Hoshiwara at MindFlights.
• Read “Princess Courage” by Nadia Bulkin at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “Raft of The Titanic” by James Morrow at StarShipSofa.
• Read “River Crossing” by Clemence Makondo at Publish Your Story.
• Read “The Rotten Beast” by Mary E. Pearson at Tor.com.
• Read “Selected Transmissions from Synthesized Human Emulation Mk.8.014b, Otherwise Known as Katey” by Nikki Alfar at Philippine Genre Stories.
• Read “The Sighted Watchmaker” by Vylar Kaftan at Lightspeed.
• Read “Signs Following” by Erica Satifka at ideomancer.
• Read “Silently and Very Fast” (Conclusion) by Catherynne M. Valente.
• Read “Sirius” by Ben Peek at Clarkesworld.
• Read “The Sovereignties of Invention” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “Steel on Steel” by Shawn Carman at Legend of the Five Rings.
• Read “The Swordsman Whose Name Was Not Death” by Ellen Kushner.
• Read “Three Parables” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “Time Capsules” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “The Troop” by Harris Tobias at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “The Unicorn” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.
• Read “Unwinding Road” by Grace Seybold at AE SciFi.
• Read “The World & the Tree” by Matthew Battles at Red Lemonade.

• Listen to “Black Swan, White Swan” by Eugie Foster at Podcastle.
• Listen to “Claude & The Henry Moores” by Casey Wolf at Beam Me Up.
• Listen to “Doubleheader X” by John P. Murphy at Drabblecast.
• Listen to “The Dunwich Horror” by H.P. Lovecraft at 19 Nocturne Boulevard.
• Listen to “Loup Noir” by Julie Hoverson at 19 Nocturne Boulevard.
• Listen to “The Poor Girl Taken By Surprise” by Gemma Files at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Red Dawn: A Chow Mein Western” by Lavie Tidhar at Fantasy Magazine.
• Listen to “Running Out of Time” by Rob Walker at The Drama Pod.
• Listen to “Thanksgiving Day” by Jay Werkheiser at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “This Strange Way of Dying” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia at PodCastle.
• Listen to “The Tunnel under the Earth” by Frederick Pohl at The Drama Pod.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of Avengers Origins: Thor: For Asgard #1
• CBR offers a preview of Fox Bizarre, M.D. HC
• CBR offers a preview of Nancy in Hell (On Earth) #1
• CBR offers a preview of No Place Like Home #1
• CBR offers a preview of Pilot Season: Seraph #1
• CBR offers a preview of Pilot Season: Theory of Everything #1
• CBR offers a preview of Rust HC, vol. #1
• CBR offers a preview of Scarlet Spider #1
• CBR offers a preview of Witch Doctor: The Resuscitation #1
• Comic Alliance offers a preview of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Strain’ #1
• iFanboy offers a preview of Scarlet Spider #1

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction “The Bicycle Rebellion” by Laura E. Goodin at Daily SciFi.
• Read the flash fiction “CTRL V” by Duncan Shields at 365 Tomorrows.
• Read the flash fiction “Daddy’s Girl” by Leigh Kimmel at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Hypnagogia” by Mike German at Weirdyear.
• Read the flash fiction “Papercut Pete’s Blood-Stained MacGuffin” by Cameron Ashley at Beat to a Pulp.
• Read the flash fiction “Sand-Child” by Marie Croke at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Shadows” by M. J. Hall at 365 Tomorrows.
• Read the flash fiction “Venus at the Streetlight Lounge” by Cheryl Wood Ruggiero at Daily Science Fiction.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Read an excerpt of Artemis by Philip Palmer at Orbit.
• Read an excerpt of The Scar by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko at A Dribble of Ink.
• Read an excerpt of Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan at Orbit.
• Read an excerpt of The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston at Tor.com.

Poetry

• The Girl and Her Cloud by Alexandra Seidel
• Love in the Quantum Era by Greg Leunig

Short Stories

• Read “∞°” by Darin Bradley at Electric Velocipede.
• Read “The Ants” by Harris Tobias at Quantum Flash.
• Read “The City of Silence (Part One)” by Ma Boyong at The World SF Blog.
• Read “Dancing Together Under Polarized Skies” by Milena Benini at World SF.
• Read “Forest Born” by Deborah Walker at Luna Station Quarterly.
• Read “Ghost Hedgehog” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman at Tor.com.
• Read “Have you Ever Seen the Devil?” by T.A. Branom at Flashes in the Dark.
• Read “Life Plus Seventy” by Ken Liu at Kasma Science Fiction Magazine.
• Read “Kakoon” by Nyambura Kiarie at StoryTime.
• Read “Murder at Ford’s Theater” by Bob Conroy at Baen.
• Read “Penrose” by Ashanti Luke at Kasma Science Fiction Magazine.
• Read “The Poor Girl Taken By Surprise” by Gemma Files at Pseudopod.
• Read “A Reason to Fear Life, a Reason to Crave Death” by Andrew Kaye.
• Read “Red Dawn: A Chow Mein Western” by Lavie Tidhar at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “Steel on Steel” by Shawn Carman at Legend of the Five Rings.
• Read “This Strange Way of Dying” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia at PodCastle.
• Read “Thousand War Soldier” by Mjke Wood at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “Worthy” by Robert Denton at Legend of the Five Rings.

• Listen to “Beachcombing” by Ray Cluley at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Bearing Fruit” by Nikki Alfar at Drabblecast.
• Listen to “Black Swan, White Swan” by Eugie Foster at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Dream Engine, Part 1″ by Tim Pratt at Journey Into…
• Listen to “Driving X” by Gwendolyn Clare at Escae Pod.
• Listen to “The God-Death of Halla” by Tina Connolly at PodCastle.
• Listen to “The New Arrival” by Bettina Borg Cardona at Schlock Magazine.
• Listen to “Red Dawn: A Chow Mein Western” by Lavie Tidhar at Fantasy Magazine.
• Listen to “Repler” by Jonathan Lowe at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Snow” by John Crowley at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Listen to “Softlight Sins” by Peter F. Hamilton at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “To the Gods of Time and Engines, a Gift” by Dean Wells.
• Listen to “The Young Workman’s Letter” by Rainer Maria Rilke at Miettecast.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• BuyZombie offers a preview of The Walking Dead Issue 91
• CBR offers a preview of Avengers Origins: Quicksilver & The Scarlet Witch #1
• CBR offers a preview of Pilot Season: Seraph #1
• iFanboy offers a preview of The Ray #1
• IGN offers a preview of the Boondock Saints Graphic Novel
• io9 offers a preview of Justice League Dark
• Whedonesque offers a preview of Angel & Faith #4

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Listen to the flash fiction story “The Careerist’s Guide to the Sea, Part 2″.
• Read the flash fiction “Bubble Girl” by Dee Streiner at Every Day Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Freedom Someday” by Huw Langridge at 365 Tomorrows.
• Read the flash fiction “A Future in a Test Tube” by Eugen Spierer.
• Read the flash fiction “Heavy Hangs The Head” by Nathan Parshall.
• Read the flash fiction “Keeping an Eye Out for the Time Police Regardless” by Luc Reid at Every Day Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “The Last Necromancer” by Thomas F Jolly at Daily SciFi.
• Read the flash fiction “Silver Sixpence” by Craig Pay at Daily Science Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Smoke” by Jon-Paul Stracco at Yesteryear Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Time Skipper” by Clint Wilson at 365 Tomorrows.
• Read the flash fiction “Worst Ending Ever” by Kevin J. Phyland at AntipodeanSF.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download Shadow of the Sun by Laura Kreitzer for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download an excerpt of Isis Unbound by Allyson Bird at Black Static.
• Read an excerpt of Autumn: Disintegration by David Moody at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of The Human Blend by Alan Dean Foster at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan at Orbit Books.
• Read an excerpt of Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson.

Poetry

• Thumbelina Grows Up by Jenny Rossi

Short Stories

• Read “@carpetsalesrep” by Brenta Blevins at The journal of unlikely entomology.
• Read “Abandoned in the Courtyard of Youth” by C.A. Cole at Unlikely Entomology.
• Read “Centipede Girl” by Ada Hoffmann at The journal of unlikely entomology.
• Read “Christopher Raven” by Theodora Goss at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “Dancing Together Under Polarized Skies” by Milena Benini at World SF.
• Read “Fastening” by Patricia Russo at Electric Velocipede.
• Read “The Ferry Quick Like Rain: An Insect Tragicomedy” by Kirk Marshall.
• Read “Ghost Hedgehog” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman at Tor.com.
• Read “Hence the King from Kagehana, Pt. II” by Michael Anthony Ashley.
• Read “Houses” by Mark Pantoja at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “Makisig’s Heart” by Kate Osias at Philippine Genre Stories.
• Read “Milestones” by Natasha Msonza at Publish your Story.
• Read “Murder at Ford’s Theater by Bob Conroy” by Bob Conroy at Baen Books.
• Read “On the Sabbath Day Be Ye Cleansed” by Amanda C. Davis at Redstone SF.
• Read “Passive Resistance” by David Tallerman at Redstone Science Fiction.
• Read “Pink Gift” by Lindsey Walker at Luna Station Quarterly.
• Read “The Red Cord” by Wren Wallis at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Read “Red Dawn: A Chow Mein Western” by Lavie Tidhar at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “Sheep Lie!” by Barton Paul Levenson at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “Snow” by John Crowley at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “Such a Lovely Shade of Green” by Samantha Henderson.
• Read “Tomorrow is Waiting” by Holli Mintzer at Strange Horizons.
• Read “Trophy Wife” by Gary K. Shepherd at Another Realm.
• Read “Unwinding Road” by Grace Seybold at AE SciFi.
• Read “Worthy” by Robert Denton at Legend of the Five Rings.
• Read “The Veterans’ Club” by Robin Bailes at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “Zaar” by Forrest Aguirre at The journal of unlikely entomology.

Vintage Fiction

• Listen to the short story “The Book of Ghosts” by Sabine Baring-Gould at Librivox.
• Read an excerpt of Love of Mother-Not by Alan Dean Foster at Scribd.

Author: Robert Kroese
Series: Mercury Trilogy
Publisher: AmazonEncore
Genre: Sci-Fi / Comedy
Release: October 18, 2011
Length: 275 pages (Paperback)

Book Rating: B- (80 / 100)
Series Rating: B (85 / 100)

Verdict

Mercury Rises, like its predecessor, is a fast-paced, absurd story about an unlikely hero on a quest to save the world that plays out like an Adam Douglas re-write of Kevin Smith’s Dogma. The result is a light-hearted, pop-culture-studded romp that’s recommended escapism for any geek or urban fantasy fan looking for a good laugh. Unfortunately, as the second book in a trilogy, Mercury Rises features a somewhat unsatisfying ending that leaves the book feeling like a transitional piece.

Pros: Fast-paced. Hilarious. Witty dialogue.

Cons: A little over the top. A little long. Somewhat disappointing ending.

Synopsis

In Brief: The apocalypse is here, and the world ends not with a bang but with bureaucracy. The paperwork was in order, the proceedings were arranged, and the Antichrist had been designated, but just as the Four Attache Cases of the Apocalypse were unleashed, a cheery cherub named Mercury and his trusty side-kick Christine derailed the whole deal. However, despite their heroic efforts, it now looks as if someone in heaven is bound and determined to get things back on schedule. The question is, can Mercury avert the apocalypse twice?

Official: Jaded religion reporter Christine Temetri and Mercury, a renegade angel, have just thwarted two diabolical plots to destroy the world. But their work isn’t finished yet: mysterious powers outranking even the Heavenly bureaucracy seem intent on keeping the Apocalypse on track. While the world is plagued by natural disasters and nations prepare for war, crazed billionaire Horace Finch plots to use a secret device hidden beneath the African desert to discover the deepest secrets of the Universe—even if he has to destroy the Universe to do it. Meanwhile, unassuming FBI investigator Jacob Slater tries in vain to find a rational explanation for the mysterious destruction of downtown Anaheim—a quest that ultimately brings him to Kenya, where he meets Christine and Mercury. Together, the three must stop Finch from activating the device and tearing reality to pieces.

Review

Atmosphere / Emotional Impact: A- (95 / 100)
Characters / Character development: C (70 / 100)
Pacing: A- (95 / 100)
Plot: C+ (75 / 100)
Prose: C (70 / 100)
World-building: C (70 / 100)

Mercury Rises picks up right where Mercury Falls left off. Still reeling from the “Anaheim Event” from the climax of the previous book, Christine heads to Africa to work for a relief organization, only to find herself mired in yet another apocalyptic plot. This one involves ancient Babylon, where Mercury once worked building temples for Tiamat the demon. Over the course of series of flash backs, the story of Tiamat’s power grab is slowly fleshed out along with the hilarious story of Mercury’s encounters with Noah and his menagerie.

Mercury Rises is clearly not intended to be read as a stand-alone book, but Kroese does a good job of catching new readers up without slowing down his fast-paced plot.

Kroese’s novel’s combine the archangels, an assortment of minor demons, a Heavenly bureaucracy, and a cubicle farm in Hell into a Biblical slurry worthy of a Monty Python movie, all without breaking stride. His tongue-in-cheek depiction of heaven as a bureaucratic jungle of spiritual beliefs is a running gag that never gets old.

Though his plot feels like a Monty Python sketch, Kroese’s writing style is highly reminiscent Terry Prachett, seamlessly shifting back and forth from the outrageously absurd to a dry, insightfully satirical wit that never stops being funny. Think Douglas Adams, Robert Aprin, Christopher Moore, and Kevin Smith.

Since this is the middle volume in the trilogy, the ending of Mercury Rises is not very satisfying, but make no mistake, Mercury Rises is still a wild ride.

Disclaimer

The folks at Wunderkind PR sent The Great Geek Manual a copy of an advance review copy of Mercury Rises at no cost. We extend our sincere thanks to them; however, the free copy did not influence the opinion of this reviewer.

Similar Books

If you enjoy this book, you may also enjoy these similar titles:

• Douglas Adams’s Starship Titanic by Terry Jones
• Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
• The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• Phule’s Company by Robert Asprin
• Something from the Nightside (Nightside, Book 1) by Simon R. Green

Previous Books in this Series

• 1. Mercury Falls
• 1.5 Mercury Swings (Short Story)

Further Information

• Visit author Robert Kroese’s website.
• Watch Robert Kroese talk about Mercury Rises in an interview with SciFi4Me.

• Listen to “The God-Death of Halla” by Tina Connolly at PodCastle.
• Listen to “In the Harsh Glow of its Incandescent Beauty” by Mercurio D. Rivera.
• Listen to “King” by C. Deskin Rink at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Midshipman Hornblower: The Man Who Saw God” by C.S. Forester.
• Listen to “Number 21 Rue Le Sueur” by Edward McDermott at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “The Prize Beyond Gold” by Ian Creasey at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “War” by Aaron Ashley Garrison at Pseudopod.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of Avengers Origins: Luke Cage #1
• CBR offers a preview of Carbon Grey Origins #1
• CBR offers a preview of Kirby Genesis: Captain Victory #1
• CBR offers a preview of Pilot Season: Seraph #1
• CBR offers a preview of Ultra: Seven Days Deluxe HC #1
• CBR offers a preview of Who Is Jake Ellis Vol. #1
• iFanBoy offers a preview of Mudman #1

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Listen to the flash fiction story “The Careerist’s Guide to the Sea” (Part 2).
• Read the flash fiction “American Vampire” by Keith Good at Yesteryear Fiction.
• Read the flash fiction “Graceland” by Harris Tobias at Quantum Muse.
• Read the flash fiction “A Great Destiny” by Eric James Stone at Daily Sci-Fi.
• Read the flash fiction “The Legion of the Dead” by Andrew Bale at 365 Tomorrows.
• Read the flash fiction “Reserved Parking” by Casey Clabough at Weirdyear.
• Read the flash fiction “SCOTUS Defines Personhood” by Vonda N. McIntyre.
• Read the flash fiction “Shooting Stars” by Chris Stamp at Brain Harvest.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download At the Queen’s Command: The First Book of the Crown Colonies by Michael A. Stackpole for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Eye of the Witch (Detective Marcella Witch’s Series) by Dana E. Donovan for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Full-Blooded Fantasy by Nancy Farmer for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Second Star (Star Svensdotter #1) by Dana Stabenow for the Kindle.
• Download Shelter (Blood Haze: Book One) by Tara Shuler for the Kindle.
• Read an excerpt of Across the Universe and A Million Suns by Beth Revis.
• Read an excerpt of Magic on the Line by Devon Monk.

Poetry

• The Last Patrol by Tara Barnett
• Ralph Touchett Awaits Revision by Gwynne Garfinkle

Short Stories

• Read “Bleed” by Steven H. Newton at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “The Bobble Head of Doom” by Robert C. Eccles at Wily Writers Podcast.
• Read “Christopher Raven” by Theodora Goss at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “Dancing in the Winter Rooms” by David Tallerman at Electric Velocipede.
• Read “Eight” by Corinne Duyvis at Strange Horizons.
• Read “Fastening” by Patricia Russo at Electric Velocipede.
• Read “First Contact” by Theresa DeLucci at Tor.com.
• Read “The Gan Wait” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia at AE Sci-Fi.
• Read “Houses” by Mark Pantoja at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “The Kingdom of the Blind” by Maureen F. McHugh at Lightspeed Magazine.
• Read “Trophy Wife” by Gary K. Shepherd at Another Realm.
• Read “The Veterans’ Club” by Robin Bailes at Ray Gun Revival.

Vintage Fiction

• Listen to the Short Science Fiction Collection, which includes “Earthmen Bearing Gifts” by Fredrick Brown, “The Gun” by Philip K. Dick, and “Dead Man’s Planet” by William Morrison at Librivox.

Zines and Periodicals

• The November issue of Argentus is now online at SFSite.com.

• Listen to “The All-Pro – Episode 1″ by Scott Sigler at the author’s website.
• Listen to “Authorized Domain” by Cory Doctorow at Beam Me Up!
• Listen to “The Blood Garden” by Jesse Livingston at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Boxed In” by Marc-Anthony Taylorm at Escape Pod.
• Listen to “How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars” by Lisa Nohealani Morton.
• Listen to “The Invisibles” by Charles de Lint at Fantasy Magazine.
• Listen to “Rising Lion — The Lion Bows” by Zen Cho at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Rules for Living in a Simulation” by Aubrey Hirsch at Drabblecast.
• Listen to “Saved – Part 1″ by Arin Greenwood at Cast of Wonders.
• Listen to “Seven Spells to Sever the Heart” by K.M. Ferebee at Fantasy Magazine.
• Listen to “Silk For Moisture, Mud For Shine” by Amanda C. Davis at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “Still Small Voice” by Ben Burgis at PodCastle.
• Listen to “The Things – Part 2″ by Peter Watts at Beam Me Up.
• Listen to “To Seek Her Fortune” by Nicole Kornher-Stace at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “Year of the Rabbit” by An Owomoyel0a at Drabblecast.

Comics and Graphic Novels

• CBR offers a preview of Avenging Spider-Man #1
• CBR offers a preview of Defenders #1
• CBR offers a preview of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Fool Moon Vol. 1 HC
• CBR offers a preview of Northanger Abbey #1
• CBR offers a preview of Point One #1
• CBR offers a preview of X-Club #1
• Comic Alliance offers a preview of Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes
• iFanboy offers a preview of Daredevil #6
• iFanboy offers a preview of House of Night #1
• iFanboy offers a preview of Uncanny X-Men #2

Flash and Micro Fiction

• Read the flash fiction “Click” by B Whit at Short-Story.me.
• Read the flash fiction “A Kind of Magic” by Katie Pugh at Everyday Magic.
• Read the flash fiction “Special Ops” by Roi Czechvala at Quantum Flash.

Novels and Preview Chapters

• Download Flesh and Blood by Jay Bell for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Hal Spacejock by Simon Haynes for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Download Symbiosis by Lee Moan for the Kindle at Amazon.com.
• Listen to Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow at Voices…
• Read an excerpt of The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson at Tor.com.
• Read an excerpt of Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash at Scribd.
• Read an excerpt of Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed.
• Read an excerpt of Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson.

Poetry

• Missed Connection: Lizard in the Dog Park by Polenth Blake

Short Stories

• Read “Bleed” by Steven H. Newton at Ray Gun Revival.
• Read “Blue Dahlia” by Larisa Walk at Expanded Horizons.
• Read “The Bodyguard” by Noeleen Kavanagh at Aurora Wolf.
• Read “Boxed In” by Marc-Anthony Taylor at Escape.
• Read “Chasing Persephone” by Natalie Stachowski at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Counting Cracks” by George R. Galuschak at Strange Horizons.
• Read “The Execution of Zacharius Grubb” by Bethan Claire Price.
• Read “The Gan Wait” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia at AE SciFi.
• Read “Gaslight” by Jeffrey Ford at The Revelator.
• Read “Genocide Blonde” by Dirk Flinthart at COSMOS Magazine.
• Read “A Girl’s Guide To Love In The Big City” by Christine V. Lao at Genre Stories.
• Read “The Globe” by Sandi Reed-Chan at Aurora Wolf.
• Read “Grace Immaculate” by Gregory Benford at Tor.com.
• Read “Hence the King from Kagehana, Pt. I” by Michael Anthony Ashley.
• Read “How Maartje and Uppinder Terraformed Mars” by Lisa Nohealani Morton.
• Read “Hungry” by Ryan J. Southworth at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “Jason’s Shoes” by Richard Bist at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Jezebel’s Blouse” by Timothy T. Murphy at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Keeping Tabs” by Kenneth Schneyer at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “Kuda Kepang” by Fadzlishah Johanabas at Expanded Horizons.
• Read “The Old Factory Award” by Grey Freeman at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “On the Sabbath Day Be Ye Cleansed” by Amanda C. Davis at Redstone SF.
• Read “Passive Resistance” by David Tallerman at Redstone Science Fiction.
• Read “Permanent Purgatory” by Jamica Hooks at Luna Station Quarterly.
• Read “Random Fire” by Van Aaron Hughes at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “Read This Quickly, For You Will Only Have a Moment…” by Stephen Case.
• Read “Seven Spells to Sever the Heart” by K.M. Ferebee at Fantasy Magazine.
• Read “Silvergrass Mirror” by Amanda M. Hayes at Abyss & Apex.
• Read “Silently and Very Fast (Part Two)” by Catherynne M. Valente.
• Read “The Smell of Orange Groves” by Lavie Tidhar.
• Read “Unfit to Eat” by Tyus Barnwell at Expanded Horizons.
• Read “Worse Than a Devil” by Sarina Dorie at Crossed Genres.
• Read “Worst Ending Ever” by Kevin J. Phyland at AntipodeanSF.