#ReadShortStories all over the place (106–110)

Stories from a variety of sources in this batch. Aside from finishing off my Hugo novelette reading (stay tuned for a round up of all those stories), I listened to an audio story while travelling (possibly it was a novella, but I'm including it here) and read a paper story, so a range of formats.


Rules for the Care and Maintenance of Phoenix Eggs For Wayward Daughters by Tansy Rayner Roberts — An amusing flash/listicle story about caring for a Phoenix egg, just like it says in the title. Source: Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Patreon (and subsequently newsletter)

When We Were Starless by Simone Heller — Exquisitely detailed world building as we follow a tribe and their spiritual leader across a world unable to sustain life. Their world is very different from ours and, although the tribe is not human, they are recognisably people who have forgotten their distant past and are distrustful when confronted with a remnant of it. The story felt fantastical when I started reading but became more clearly science fiction as I read further. A very well-thought-out story. Source: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/heller_10_18/

Into Darkness by Anike Kirsten — Implausible but sort of interesting flash. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01798-z

Let Sleeping Princes Lie by Tansy Rayner Roberts — An entertaining story in a parody fairytale world with royalty and reporters and the need to dodge stray spinning wheels. I enjoyed it. Source: http://sheepmightfly.podbean.com/e/let-sleeping-princes-lie-part-1 (also available in print)

The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly — A fantasy story about magical pastries that forcibly evoke certain memories. Well, the actual story is about the wife of the baker that makes them and the tyrannical King who has taken the throne. It was an interesting that I enjoyed even as I wondered how it would end satisfactorily. Source: https://www.tor.com/2018/07/11/the-last-banquet-of-temporal-confections-tina-connolly/