Science Fiction & Fantasy

We named our ship The Bear. It was from a fairy-tale—the one about the woman who traveled impossible distances to find her prince—but it was also a promise. Warm and powerful. Distinctly animal against the ship’s chrome and emptiness. It inspired hope. It promised we too would travel impossible distances.
We brought along everything we had: [...]

This episode features “East of the Sun, West of the Stars” written by Brit E. B. Hvide. Published in the February 2019 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker.

The text version of this story can be found at:
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/hvide_02_19

Support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/clarkesworld

 

 Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 149 - East of the Sun, West of the Stars by Brit E. B. Hvide [35:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (31034)

Nobody knows what happened. Except that I was four and standing near the top of the stairs, and then suddenly I had reached the bottom of the stairs. And those were some very bad stairs. Steep and old, made from maple or oak or another tough wood. My mother, who was her own kind of [...]

I’d seen a hologram of my withered lungs, and heard the doctors tell me I only had a few days left. So when Katherine arrived at my bedside, I couldn’t help reflecting that she was the last woman in my life. It had ended a year ago; she preferred the aliens’ company to mine. But [...]

I’m beginning to regret my life choices, Saul. Also, hello from the edge of the galaxy.
Also, surprise! I know this isn’t what you had in mind when you said “Keep in touch, Hazel” but this planet doesn’t exactly invoke the muse of letter writing. The muse of extremely long voice messages however . . .
So. Want to know [...]

I was the first. Not the first to touch the God, but to notice the effects of the Godflesh. Mother and I had walked up to where the God’s hand had landed, crushing houses and flattening trees. The left hand had buried itself partially in the ground, palm down, so even though the pinky finger [...]

Mail type: L-1\regular mail (audio file)
Confidentiality ranking: 0
Sender: Larry Wu, Ministry of Justice A-3190 Detainment Center
Recipient: Confederation Justice Emergency Relief and Special Pardon Committee
Respected Committee Members:
I trust that all of you, upon receiving this message, already have a suitable understanding of my case. I should note [...]

“Thank you very much,” you say, concluding the oral portion of the exam. You gather your things and exit back into the brightly lit hallway. Photos line the walls: the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu. The sun shines on each destination, the images brimming with wonder. You pause before the Golden [...]

Tash was wise to the ways of wind. She knew its many musics: sometimes like a flute across the pipes and tubes; sometimes a snare-drum rattle in the guy-lines and cable stays or again, a death drone-moan from the turbine gantries and a scream of sand past the irised-shut windows when the equinox dust storms [...]

This episode features “They Have All One Breath” written by Karl Bunker. Originally published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, December 2016. Reprinted in the January 2019 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker.

The text version of this story can be found at:
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/bunker_01_19_reprint

Support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/clarkesworld

 

 Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 149 - They Have All One Breath by Karl Bunker [83:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (40528)