At the beginning of each month, we here at Tor.com will post the next two months of our schedule of original short fiction. Check back monthly to get excited for upcoming short stories, novelettes, and novellas on Tor.com! Below the cut you’ll find information on new stories in February and March by Kathleen Ann Goonan, Marie Brennan, Adam Christopher, Daniel José Older, and more.
This month’s fiction contains demon lovers, Nazi secrets, brilliant parrots, space marines, and cockroaches galore. To find out more, check below the cut.
February 4
“Space Ballet”
Written by Judith Moffett
Edited by David G. Harwell
Illustration by Richard Anderson
Students at the Center for Dream Research struggle to interpret a cryptic precognitive dream, a group effort that may avert a disaster. Presented as part of the Anderson Project
February 5
“Mad Maudlin”
Written by Marie Brennan
Edited by Paul Stevens
Illustration by Iain McCraig
For to see mad Tom o’Bedlam, ten thousand miles she’s traveled.
February 12
“Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?”
Written by Kathleen Ann Goonan
Edited by David G. Hartwell
Illustration by Richard Anderson
Kathleen Ann Goonan’s stories and novels often evoke a deep desire for some form of utopian future, both better and somehow wilder that the present. This is a story about an animal rights activist and a genius parrot, inter-species communication, and the dream of space, a great leap forward in several ways.
February 19
“The Price of Doing Business”
Written by D.B. Jackson
Illustration by Chris McGrath
Ethan Kaille is a Thieftaker in Boston in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Having suffered losses and reversals in his life, he is neither naive nor without considerable personal resources. He isn’t just a detective; he’s also a conjurer, which makes him someone who lives on the margins of polite society. Some people fear his powers; others merely find him a distasteful rogue who should simply go away.
February 25
“Cold War”
Written by Adam Christopher
Edited by Paul Stevens
Illustration by Victor Mosquera
Dropped on a frozen planet under suspicious circumstances, a group of marines struggles to discover the true objective of their mission. “Cold War” is set in the same universe as Adam Christopher’s novel The Burning Dark.
February 26
“Jubilee”
Written by Karl Schroeder
Edited by Marco Palmieri
Illustration by Richard Anderson
A new short story by Karl Schroeder, set in the same universe as his upcoming science fiction novel Lockstep.
March 5
“The Ugly Woman of Castello Di Putti”
Written by Alyx Dellamonica
Returning to the world of Stormwrack where she set the tor.com story “Among the Silvering Herd,” A.M. Dellamonica offers a new story that takes us deeper into this fascinating world, the site of her new fantasy novel Child of a Hidden Sea. The Fleet, integral to the governing of a world that is mostly water sprinkled with a number of islands, must deal with a unique form of magic, Inscribing, which is so subtle that its effects can sometimes only be known in retrospect. When a ship of the fleet visits an island where scripping is common, the crew members of the sailing vessel Nightjar are at a disadvantage when faced with local matters of which they know little or nothing at all. Strangers on the shore, indeed, they may enjoy the local customs… but also may attract unwonted attention that could cost them more than embarrassment or money.
The Castello di Putti has a suggestive sound to it, but don’t be deceived. This is a story of civil strife, of culture shock, and ultimately of the risks and rewards of naval duty. Filled with Dellamonica’s fresh, inventive worldbuilding and the joie de vivre of a society in flux, it shows a side of Stormwrack very different from what she presented in the previous tale.
March 11
“Nothing to Fear”
Written by Eric Walters
Edited by Wes Adams
Illustration by Thom Tenery
An upcoming story by the author of The Rule of Three.
March 12
“I Can See Right Through You”
Written by Kelly Link
Edited by Ellen Datlow
Illustration by Gérard Dubois
“I Can See Right Through You,” by Kelly Link, is an off-kilter ghost story (or not) about an estranged couple who have remained friends long after they were originally paired in a vampire movie that made them famous. Now the demon lover searches out his former lover in Florida while she is in the middle of filming a tv episode about ghost hunting.
March 18
“Doppel”
Written by Lindsay Smith
Edited by Kate Jacobs
Illustration by Jeffrey Alan Love
Told in a series of espionage transmissions, “Doppel” is the story of a British agent in occupied France. When he meets a charismatic SS officer who seems to be guarding a great and powerful secret, he must decide whether to abandon his mission and discover what the Nazi is planning. But the truth might be darker and more dangerous than anything the British—or the Germans—can imagine.
March 25
“Noma Girl”
Written by Elizabeth Fama
Edited by Simon Broughton and Zoey Peresman
Because of a quirk of history during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, present-day America is rigidly divided between people who live and work during the hours of darkness—Smudges—and those known as Rays, who populate the day. A group of Smudges called the Noma live on the fringes of society in loose tribes, preying on Smudges and Rays alike. Gigi is a ruthless Noma, but in this prequel companion story to Plus One, she is ordered to abduct a cell phone hacker named Ciel Le Coeur and reveals a surprisingly tender heart.
March 26
“Anyway: Angie”
Written by Daniel José Older
Edited by Carl Engle-Laird
Illustration by Goñi Montes
Reza’s job has put her in the face of every kind of death. Thanks to her guns, her car, and her dapper style, she came through the Bad Years alive, but since losing Angie things haven’t been right. Tonight’s job threatens to bring the worst terrors of that time skittering back to life. A new urban fantasy story with more than a touch of horror from rising star Daniel José Older.
