None Owns the Air

“None Owns the Air” by Ken Liu “Push! Push! Damn it, put your backs into it!” Kino Ye’s voice rose to a panicked screech as the four sweat-drenched soldiers strained against the spokes of the giant winch. “Push!” But one of the spokes snapped as the man leaning against it fell face-first into the sand,…

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Quicken, the Chase, the Deer

Quicken, the Chase, the Deer 逐鹿中原 by Silvia Park I slice my palm with a knife and hold the jade blade so my brother can take it by the hilt. I look away because he’s struggled before with cutting himself and nothing rouses his embarrassment into rage like my neutral gaze. In the royal pavilion,…

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IF YOU ASK ME, I SHALL COME

“IF YOU ASK ME, I SHALL COME” Kestallen, tuluvanye by Ploi Pirapokin They were once six.   A father, the gem smith of kings and the king of gem smiths, renowned for bending an ivory metal that glittered more than gold and diamonds combined, drawing Western Kings over turbulent seas for sapphire collars fashioned into diadems…

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Drowned

“Drowned” by Lavie Tidhar This is a story my father told me, from the time before we came to live on the Land. In that time there were many wonders and magical things in the world. The world was very small then, unlike now. My father says the world was very large in the old…

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One Time, a Reluctant Traveler

“One Time, a Reluctant Traveler” by A. T. Greenblatt If you must know, I left because if I stayed in Nat’s house one night longer, I was going to unravel, like a tragic traveler in one of my family’s tales. And that was a story I didn’t want to be. My bike was already packed….

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