The Hundredth House Had No Walls
Laurie Penny
5 stars
A charming and humourous fantasy short that teases all the old tropes in an amusing way. Read with a smile on my face all the whole time and a few guffaws sprinkled liberally throughout. Reminiscent of the better parts of Xanth and utterly delightful.

The Vetting
Michael Cassutt
3 stars
A lawyer battling cancer finds a new perspective while vetting a Syrian man who has been detained by ICE

Zeitgeber
Greg Egan
3 stars
A significant portion of the population suddenly finds their sleep schedules jumped 12-hours out of synch. An interesting premise but the story didn't really feel like it went anywhere.

Water: A History
K.J. Kabza
4 stars
A woman in her twilight years bonds with a youth seeking a bright future. As she reminisces about her youth on Earth and her adulthood on this new planet, she wonders if she has regrets. Beautifully executed and thoughtful.

As the Last I May Know
S.L. Huang
5 stars
A nation once devastated by a powerful weapon of mass destruction sets in place an unthinkable restriction to prevent themselves from casually inflicting the same on others. Now at war, their leader and a member of the Order must face a horrifying choice.

In Xanadu
Lavie Tidhar
3.5 stars
Wishing for something, anything at all, to happen to relieve your boredom has always been a dangerous game. An exhilarating break in routine leads to a sad sad surprising discovery.

The Touches
Brenda Peynado
4 stars
In a world overrun by mutated viruses, can humans living in the virtual world survive without genuine touch? Fascinating universe, but I'm not quite sure what I think of the ending.

Preciousl Little Things
Adrian Tchaikovsky
5 stars
A woman fighting to improve her position in society makes a discovery that upends the worldview of her entire community.

The Time Invariance of Snow
E. Lily Yu
5 stars
A magical blend of physics and fairytales. One of the best short stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading. ( )