I’ve run into a slew of really good short fiction lately. For example:
Robot by Helena Bell. When I tell people I hate flash fiction but don’t have a problem with stories that just happen to be very short, this is the kind of story I mean as what I like. It’s lush, structurally interesting, and exactly the right length.
Love Might Be Too Strong a Word by Charlie Jane Anders. I got to hear a big chunk of this one read by Charlie Jane herself at WisCon and it was brilliant and I was vexed when she didn’t get to the ending. Then I got to be pleasantly surprised when it turned up on my podcast while biking to dinner one night. I took my time getting to dinner.
The Three Feats of Agani by Christie Yant. This story is beautiful and tragic and I spent the whole time terrified it would have the wrong ending. It didn’t.
These are all, incidentally, availbale by podcast, since it’s about the only way I’m keeping up with short fiction these days. Also, one of these stories is a secret member of the pro-villainist movement. I won’t say which, because that would be spoilers.
Anaea Lay 