Just finished up a boatload of free short stories from various ezines. My favorite in this latest batch was easily
"Items Found in a Box Belonging to Jonas Connolly" by Laura E. Price from
Strange Horizons. A steampunk-ish tale (told through letters and scrap-book clippings) of a legendary airship captain.
My least favorite by far was
"A Hunter's Ode to his Bait" by Carrie Vaughn reprinted in
Fantasy Magazine. Just an atrocious bit of cheesy harlequin with a touch of "OH, HEY LOOK... A UNICORN!" Blechh
I also enjoyed "
Dancing the Warrior" by Marie Brennan. Told in two parts in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issues
#66 &
#67. I was pleasantly surprised here. This was a short prequel to her urban fantasy novels "
Warrior" and
"Witch"--that I fully admit I never would have given a fair shake from their descriptions alone. If the writing is similar, I may have to revise my opinion on these and similar urban fantasy novels.
"The House of Gears" by Jonathan L. Howard amused me a bit from
Fantasy Magazine (also available as a free podcast). This short story features the character of Johannes Cabal-- the necromancer from his somewhat popular novels. I liked it, but I'm not sure my 'like' would stretch to accommodate a novel-length sampling of a similar style.
Honorable mentions:
"The Book of Phoenix (Excerpted from the Great Book)" by Nnedi Okorafor from
Clarkesworld #54.
"Maneki Neko" by Bruce Sterling reprinted in
Lightspeed Magazine.
"Suited for Command" by Adam Colston from
Raygun Revival (strictly for its cheesy space opera-ish goodness)
The "Send to Kindle" browser addon is my friend.
