Words of Power by Wendy N. Wagner. Narrated by J.S. Arquin. Featuring an afterword by Wendy N. Wagner.    Kádár scrutinized the flake of clay on the blade of the screwdriver. "He's just getting too old to be a war truck," she said. "Look at this clay. The logos barely flickers in it." Zugsführer Warren spat on the packed earthen floor of the machine house. "You know I can't see that magic shit," he growled. "And it wouldn't matter if I did. An order is an order, Gefreiter Kádár, and the Oberst needs every last golem out on the field." The small woman wiped the screwdriver clean on he ..read more

Words of Power by Wendy N. Wagner. Narrated by J.S. Arquin. Featuring an afterword by Wendy N. Wagner.    Kádár scrutinized the flake of clay on the blade of the screwdriver. "He's just getting too old to be a war truck," she said. "Look at this clay. The logos barely flickers in it." Zugsführer Warren spat on the packed earthen floor of the machine house. "You know I can't see that magic shit," he growled. "And it wouldn't matter if I did. An order is an order, Gefreiter Kádár, and the Oberst needs every last golem out on the field." The small woman wiped the screwdriver clean on he ..read more

An Evil Not Forgotten by Erik Buchanan. Narrated by J.S. Arquin.  #fantasy #war #aftermath    The soft whickering of the horses, not used to his presence, penetrates into Tyler’s sleep. His eyes snap open and his hand claws for the knife beside his makeshift bed. Still dark. Still raining. Still in the barn, the straw scratching his back through the thick blanket wrapped around his body. Still alone with his memories. Pounding rain. Soaked powder. Men and horses fighting through the mud. Marching to the Mage's castle. Muskets gripped tight in cold fingers. The ground erupts unde ..read more

Seven Cups of Tea by Gwen C. Katz. Narrated by J.S. Arquin. #fantasy #steampunk #fairytale    This cup of tea is weak and bitter. It’s made of boiled roots, and the taste of dirt is still there. Eliza looks dubiously into the wooden cup. She likes sugar in her tea, white sugar especially, two lumps if she’s allowed it. But she senses that she will have no sugar at all for a very long time. The Prime Minister’s face hovers in her mind. His face is commanding rather than handsome, light-skinned, sharp-angled, with a clockwork acuity lens fixed over the left eye. His words echo in her e ..read more

Twentyone Twentytwo Seven by dave ring. Narrated by J.S. Arquin. #fantasy #urbanfantasy #magicrealism   “Drink, sir?” he asked. “Sure,” I said. “I thought I had to go to the cafe car for some reason.” “We are happy to accommodate you,” he said, and then mumbled something else through a pointed smile. His teeth gleamed white against the stubbled growth of beard on his jaw. “Sorry, what was that?” I asked, plucking the effervescent glass from the tray. Tiny pinpricks of coolness splashed against my wrist. “We are happy to accommodate you,” he said again, then quieter: “Andtakethephonefromun ..read more

Winter's Flowers by K.T. Wagner. Narrated by J.S. Arquin. #fantasy #magic #winter #snowqueen   The late September sun warms Gerda’s arthritic knees while sparrows chirp from the roof. Her knitting needles slide and click, keeping rhythm with the squeak of her rocking chair against the porch floor. Across each row, she knits in the present, then purls back in her memories. She learned to purl after Nan died. Every day since, Gerda remembers Kay. Today, her daydream is about their childhood garden in the garrets and gutters of a faraway town. Her hands turn the row, and the sweet scent of f ..read more

Grief by K.G. Anderson. Narrated by Rebecca Stern. Hosted by J.S. Arquin.  #scifi #aliens #grief #therapy “Out of the question.” I drew back from the speakerphone on my mahogany desk, shaking my head, relieved that Kathleen Wilson couldn’t see my reaction to her request. Kathleen was a former client, a close friend—and the director of the Extraplanetary Relations Council in Washington D.C. “Please, Moira! The exopsychologists here at the Council want to study the ambassador, not help zhirm. Please—anything you can do." I closed my eyes, opened them again, and looked across the room to the ..read more

Marry the Rat by L.M. Zaerr. Narrated by J.S. Arquin. #fantasy #magic #rats #love   The second steward climbed a white ladder and blew powder from his palm onto the clock. He was a monochrome person in a lavender livery and a frothy wig. I knew only that he suffered from bunions. “What is that powder?” I asked. “I won’t marry the rat!” “That’s no reason to poison her.” I knew the rat casually, and she seemed kind, in that haughty way of rats. “You can’t make me marry her. You’re the librarian, not the king.” “Fine. But you can’t blow handfuls of rat poison at her. I’ll call the palace gua ..read more

Bridge Over the Cunene by Gustavo Bondoni. Narrated by Theresa Bakken. Hosted by J.S. Arquin. #fantasy #zombies    Botoso knew he was in trouble.He had no idea how in the world he was ever going to get back to the village.He had no idea where the village was.This was the first time he’d ever been outside the stockade without his mother or one of the other village adults to take care of him, and the sun was setting redly over the horizon. But he wasn’t frightened.  He told himself that a future headman would never be frightened just because night was about to fall.  He would ..read more

Katabasis by Catherine George. Narrated by Jenna Hanchey. Hosted by J.S. Arquin.  #fantasy #PNW #pacificcoast    They found the foot on the beach the morning after the first winter storm. It was the dog that found it, really—the dog who caught the scent of something meaty and rotten, and strained at the leash until Hannah let him loose. There was no one on the rocky shore but the three of them anyhow, Hannah and Dave and Benji, no one to be bothered by the mutt as he ran snuffling through the sea-wrack. The storm had delivered a new crop of driftwood, heaved it up above the tide ..read more