Heads Will Roll

Author

Isabel Yap

Makino’s mother taught her caution, showed her how to carve her name into cucumbers, and insisted that she never let a kappa touch her. But when she grows up and her husband Tetsuya falls deathly ill, a kappa that claims to know her comes calling with a barbed promise. “A Cup of Salt Tears” is a dark...

Author	Aaron Corwin
ISBN	1466856394

Just in time for Halloween, we have a funny, sweet, and slightly skewed short story by Aaron Corwin, an up-and-coming writer from Seattle.

All Mathilde wanted for her birthday was a pony. Instead, she got a demon. Sometimes growing up means learning that what you think you want is not always...

Author	Veronica Schanoes
ISBN	1466868929

They made my father dance in thorns before they killed him.

I used to think that this was a metaphor, that they beat him with thorny vines, perhaps. But I was wrong about that.

They made him dance.

this free tor short is based on the grimm's tale The Jew in the Thorns , which is...

Author	Elizabeth Bear
ISBN	1429926007

jess was right, this is an amazing story.

“Mama Alice would say that God never gives us any burdens we can’t carry.”

The harpy says, Does she look you in the eye when she says that?

wow, so i waited too long to write my review for this, and between jess and karly and kat stark,...

Author	Elizabeth Fama
ISBN	1466827157

From the Falmouth Historical Society Collection

Cited as the only extant firsthand record of a mermaid encounter in New England waters, this deathbed letter from a great-grandfather to his great-grandson is more likely an instructive fiction--a parable of regret. Supposedly corroborating...

Author	Ray Wood
ISBN	1466868996

Claire's lover has no tongue. A slave liberated from a heathen temple, Aya cannot tell the story of her stolen voice, or of her and Claire's unfolding love. She cannot speak her pain, her joy, or her sorrow. And if she sees that which eludes the blind goddess of justice, she cannot bear witness. "In the Sight...

Author

Cassandra Khaw

“I hate you.” I crouch in front of him. “You have no understanding as to how much. You charmed little prick.”

I have to say I agree with this statement when I read about the horrific little brat kid and all of the things the stepmother was telling us he did. He deserved to boil!



He...

Author

Kameron Hurley

Bodies are only beautiful when they aren’t yours.

another fine, free tor short. these things are great because they allow you to sample authors completely risk-free! because it takes a special kind of author to be able to pull off a story whose concept revolves around a "corpse-jumping body...

Author

Jon Scieszka

Ten incredible trips into the unknown await you...

Blast off with:

• Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo an all-new and exclusive tale from Rick Riordan

• A Day in the Life by award-winning author/illustrator Shaun Tan

• Rise of the RoboShoes by Tom Angleberger...

Author

Kelley Armstrong

READ ONLINE WHILE IT WAS STILL FREE.

Review/Rating:

5 out of 5

Kat, unknowing to her, is a genetically modified vampire as one of the Edison Group experiments. Though, when Marguerite, a vampire, feels sorry for Kat, she helps her escape from the Edison Group. However, what...

Author	Gennifer Albin
ISBN	1466829567

In a world woven of secrets, a woman seeks a back-alley tailor for a sinister procedure, but she can't escape from her own tangled web of lies.

The women of Arras are expected to fall into assigned roles, serve as loving wives, and provide healthy children into the world's tapestry. But perfection...

Author	Jennifer Bosworth
ISBN	1466817208

Some men are born monsters . . . others are made so. In "Prophet," Rance Ridley, the teenage son of a cult leader, lives on an isolated compound, disconnected from modern civilization. There is no running water. No electricity. And no law but the Prophet's. When Rance is caught in an act of flagrant disobedience,...

Author

Sarah Rees Brennan

Introduction by Holly Black:

I had the privilege of reading this story many months ago and swooning over it almost as much as I swooned over Unspoken, the first book of Sarah Rees Brennan's gorgeously crafted modern gothic trilogy. Sarah's writing is incredible in that she is able to write these...

Author	Emmy Laybourne
ISBN	1466819634

It was just a test report. Like one of many, many he’d written up in the past. Except this time, several of the test subjects are dead…”

At first, Dr. James Cutlass had thought his new job at NORAD was thrilling and full of opportunities, but that was before the demonstration… “Dress...

Author

Jonathan Maberry

If you haven't read Rot & Ruin (the first of the Benny Imura books) I highly recommend that you do. This is shaping up to be a spectacular series with a lot of heart. Love the writing, love the world-building, love the characters -- especially Benny's older brother Tom (be still my heart). Book...

Author	Lavie Tidhar
ISBN	1466879882

In the last picture, I’m dead.

this is one of the best "covers" that these delightful tor shorts have produced so far, but in this case, the artwork is better than the story. don't get me wrong, it's not at all bad; it's a great idea, but i just thought its execution was a little unfocused. i loved...

Author	Sarah McCarry
ISBN	0765391945

Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:

A young woman, an aspiring author, moves to the big city to try to find success. What she finds instead is a life of hard knocks, and an ancient vampire who befriends her and sometimes helps her copyedit vampire romance books. Our nameless narrator...

Author	Theodora Goss
ISBN	0765395673

I am improbable, am I not?

Almost, but not quite, impossible.


theodora goss won my heart with the stunning free tor short Red as Blood and White as Bone, and after giving me something so perfectly perfect, it would have taken a complete dud to mar my high opinion of her. fortunately,...

Author	Marie Rutkoski
ISBN	1466831332

I read The Shadow Society back in 2015. I didn't love it, but I thought the writing was decent. So I figured I'd try this short story that's set in the same world.

It's really more of a character study than a story, introducing Zephyr (a Shade) and Joe (a human). We learn a little about the world's...

Author

Rachel Hartman

Oh my goodness, I'd forgotten how much fun it is to read about Seraphina, her dragon-tutor Orma, and plucky Princess Glisselda. "The Audition" really gives a great showcase of a few of the characters who appear in the full-length novel Seraphina, and this short story made me smile throughout because...

Author

Seanan McGuire

With their second child due to arrive any day, it would be reasonable for Jonathan and Frances Healy to stay safe at home. Unfortunately, the world has other ideas. A postcard from the mysterious coastal town of Gentling, Maine has Jonathan packing his bags and preparing for an adventure—and when...

Author	Ann Aguirre
ISBN	1466834714

This anthology includes short stories from six fierce young adult authors! Inside, you’ll find a futuristic zombie tale from Ann Aguirre, a science fiction thriller from Gennifer Albin, a nautical mermaid story from Elizabeth Fama, a story full of unicorns from Lish McBride, a postapocalyptic...