Or, what is one little bride against so many dropper-inners?

The story of rookie pilot Lt. Halley’s first drop ship command.A short story in the Terms of Enlistment universe.

Hunting strange game in his underwater jungle, Pierson knew the terrible odds against himself — and ignored them.

A couple is concerned when their dog behaves increasingly bizarrely: first to their chagrin, and, eventually, to their alarm.

Jonathan Carroll (b. 1949) is an award-winning American author of modern fantasy and slipstream novels. His debut book, The Land of Laughs (1980), tells the story of a children’s author whose imagination has left the printed page and begun to influence reality. The book introduced several hallmarks of Carroll’s writing, including talking animals and worlds that straddle the thin line between reality and the surreal, a technique that has seen him compared to South American magical realists.

Outside the Dog Museum (1991) was named the best novel of the year by the British Fantasy Society, and has proven to be one of Carroll’s most popular works. Since then he has written the Crane’s View trilogy, Glass Soup (2005) and, most recently, The Ghost in Love (2008). His short stories have been collected in The Panic Hand (1995) and The Woman Who Married a Cloud (2012). He continues to live and write in Vienna.

Dr. Feyrouz Hanafusa is a curator at Yale in the 23rd century. Space exploration is still ongoing, and signs of life have been discovered on a planet near TRAPPIST-1. Signs, Dr. Hanafusa realizes, that suspiciously resemble drawings in the Voynich manuscript, which no one has been able to decipher in over eight hundred years.

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

From Nigerian author ‘Pemi Aguda comes “Masquerade Season,” a Tor.com Original short story

Pauly is a good son. When he brings home three beautiful Masquerades, he’s expecting that his mother will be proud of him. But when his mother begins asking favors of his Masquerades, he realizes that being a good son sometimes means disobeying.

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

If you read the story, let me know what you think. If you *like* the story, feel free to tell others. If you *really* like it, feel free to toss cold hard PayPal cash my way via the “tip jar.”.http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=24365

Baltimore isn’t safe. Not even for the predatory meat that stalks its nights. Searching for victims who won’t be missed, meat doesn’t feel regret or pain—only thirst. But the meat remembers something more… doesn’t it? is there more to eternal life than finding another drink?

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

«…– Кот пришел, – раздалось неподалеку.– А кто тебя просил приходить? – машинально ответил Иван Матвеевич.– Никто. Я сам пришел.За спиной Ивана Матвеевича произошло какое-то движение. Он оглянулся. На жесткой скамье сидел белоснежный кот. Массивная голова на длинной шее, тело сильное и худое, хвост же – полосато-серый, будто с чужого плеча. Иван Матвеевич пригляделся. Сомнений не было – кот был настоящий и звуки он издавал вполне человеческие…»

Рассказ

For the first and last time, he was up there on the lightning green, where some have a prayer — some have a putt — and some, unbelieving, snatch greatness from another man’s victory!

It took more than a beautiful girl to sweep George off his feet. It took a pair of skis.

The first short story collection by award-winning author Ekaterina Sedia!One of the more resonant voices to emerge in recent years, this Russian-born author explores the edge between the mundane and fantastical in tales inspired by her homeland as well as worldwide folkloric traditions.With foreword by World Fantasy Award-winner Jeffrey Ford, Moscow But Dreaming showcases singular and lyrical writing that will appeal to fans of slipstream and magical realism, as well as those interested in the uncanny and Russian history.

The incredible words in the diary stood — clearly accusing: Last night I sharpened the kitchen knives for her. When I finished the largest carving knife she took it and held it so tightly her knuckles showed white. “This is my pet,” she said. “I call it Mr. Killer”.

“All he has to do is bypass the gatekeeper of the thrice-tenth kingdom and bring me a fern flower, a dragon’s heart, and a rusałka’s lock of hair. Easy.”On the outskirts of a quiet Canadian town, in a cabin perched on chicken feet and surrounded by a fence of skulls, live Baba Yaga and her ward, Aurelia. Young Aurelia yearns for romance, for adventure, for freedom from her baba—but every one of Aurelia’s suitors so far has failed Mrs. Yaga’s three simple tasks. When her last—and favourite—date disappears, Aurelia must decide to continue her daydreams of freedom, or embark on an adventure of her own.

Michael Cunningham, Francine Prose, Aimee Bender, Kelly Link, Jim Shepard, and more than thirty other extraordinary writers celebrate fairy tales in this thrilling new volume. Inspire by everything from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" and "The Little Match Girl" to Charles Perrault's "Bluebeard" and "Cinderella" to the Brothers Grimm's "Hansel and Gretel" and "Rumpelstiltskin" to fairy tales by Goethe and Calvino and from China, Japan, Vietnam, Russia, Norway, and Mexico, here are stories that soar into boundless realms, filled with mischief and mystery and magic, and renewed by the lifeblood of invention. Although rooted in hundreds of years of tradition, they chart the imaginative frontiers of the twenty-first century as powerfully as they evoke our earliest encounters with literature.